President Ashraf Ghani on Sunday attended the Ashora (Tenth of Muharram) ceremony at the Imam Zaman Mosque in Kabul’s PD11, which was targeted by Daesh militants a month ago.
Ghani said in his speech at the mosque that one of Imam Hussain’s messages to the people was solidarity and unity and asked the people to keep this message in mind and to stand united.
Ghani also said religious diversity was something to be proud of and that all Afghans have an obligation to safeguard their religious values.
“We are in one line, we are one nation and we believe in one religion. Every one of our denominations (of Islam) brings us pride and all Afghans have an obligation to safeguard it,” said Ghani.
He also touched on tactics by insurgents to target mosques and other sacred places and said such activities cannot distance him from the nation.
“Today I am praying at the Imam Zaman mosque. Any threat that other worshippers accept, then Afghanistan’s president also accepts it with his heart,” Ghani added.
Ghani was accompanied by high-ranking officials and a number of participants at the ceremony urged the National Unity Government (NUG) to put national unity slogans into practice.
“I am happy that today our friends and the Afghan president have attended the ceremony. But I want all of us to put these (unity slogans) into practice because the Afghan ethnic groups need to accept each other and to close the gap between them,” MP Sayed Ali Kazimi said.
Minister of Hajj and Religious Affairs Faiz Mohammad Osmani also spoke at the mosque and said Ashora is a school and added that Imam Hussain by his uprising taught mankind the lesson of freedom and justice.
“Imam Hussain never wanted to acquire a position, but his message was that Muslims would never accept misery and slavery,” said Osmani.
Imam Zaman mosque was targeted a month ago by Daesh operatives in which nearly 50 worshippers, including women and children were killed and wounded.
Worshippers on Sunday, attending the Ashora ceremony, meanwhile called on government not to forget Imam Zaman mosque attack victims.
“Government should support the victims’ children so they can attend educational institutions and become educated,” Mohammad Mohsin Abdullah, a resident of Kabul, said.
“Father and mother is like a cap in the family, when that cap is missing, doubtless there will be problems,” Mohammad Mohsin, another Kabul resident said.
The Battel of Karbala (Ashora) took place on Muharram 10 in the 61 Hijri Year (AH) of the Islamic calendar (680 AD) in Karbala, in present-day Iraq. The battle took place between a small group of supporters and relatives of Prophet Muhammad’s grandson, Imam Hussain, and a larger military detachment from the forces of Yazid 1, the Umayyat caliph.