Issue No: 179
22nd November 2013
17th Muharram 1435 A.H.

Salamun alaykum,

Post-surgery review clinics:

Recently a close family member had undergone a surgical procedure and had to remain in hospital for close to a week. Prior to admission to the hospital, the patient had to attend clinic for various investigations in preparation for the surgery. Having undergone surgery and endured the stay in hospital, the patient is now delighted to be discharged from the hospital to return home. However in addition to medicine prescriptions, the discharge sheet included instructions for attending several sessions with the consultant and other medical departments as part of the post-surgery review clinics. Obviously having to return once again to all the cycles of medical check-ups did not sound pleasant to the patient. Nonetheless this post- surgery review clinic is an essential part of the care plan towards complete recovery.

Have you recently undergone a surgery?

The immediate response to this question, for a major number of readers of this issue, would be a resounding 'NO'. May you all be blessed with good health and be protected from any mishaps. Yet my response to the above question is that, "Yes, you and I have all undergone a surgery in the days of the previous week."

This procedure which we have been through was not the conventional type undertaken physically on patients in the hospitals operating theatres. This unique form of surgery was a spiritual procedure undertaken to ones nafs; the self. The 'surgery' was carried out in the arena of the Husayniyas and Imambadas where the 'scalpels' used for the operation were the valuable exhortations drawn from verses of the Noble Qur'an and the teachings of Ahlul Bayt a.s. Thereafter the recitations of the marthiyas, matam, flowing tears of grief and the –a'maal- devotions of Ashura were the medicines, bandages and sutures for treating the nafs undergoing this spiritual procedure.

What was the procedure for?

The procedure was to clear the blockages caused by accumulation of negative spiritual life threatening influences to ones' nafs impacted on it by the corrupt Yazidi and Shimr prompts. Thereafter the various days of majlis held at intervals upto the occasion of chehlum or arba'in –forty days after Ashura- serve as the post- surgery review clinics. These sessions too are essential for completing the process of treatment. Following this it is expected that the nafs of the 'patient' who is a committed azadar of Aba Abdillah Imam Husayn a.s. to now have recovered and have a good bill of spiritual health.

How did your 'surgery' go?

When attending the centres to listen to the majlis conveying the valuable verses of the Noble Qur'an and the teachings of Ahlul Bayt a.s. did you cleanse your nafs from the accumulated spiritual diseases? When mourning over the tragedy of Karbala as the tears rolled down your cheeks did you seek Divine forgiveness? When raising your hands high in the air accompanied with mournful chants of 'Ya Husayn', did you stitch up the gaps in the nafs so as to prohibit the re-entry of Yazidi influences? After completing the post-operative sessions upto arba'in, will your nafs have recovered to a state of complete good health?

How will I know?

The key indicator to the success of ones' spiritual operation is to check how one is closely being with Imam Husayn for the objectives which the Imam had set out from Madina. Ones' commitment today in upholding the values for which Imam Husayn and his noble companions achieved martyrdom on Ashura is a sign of complete recovery of the nafs and success of this unique surgery, InshAllah.

Fazle Abbas Datoo
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Resident Alim
Wessex Shia Ithna Asheri Jamaat