The day of Ashura "is commemorated by Shi'a Muslims as a day of mourning for the martyrdom of Husayn ibn Ali, the grandson of Muhammad at the Battle of Karbala on 10 Muharram in the year 61 AH (October 10, 680 AD)." (Wikipedia).
For more information about the significance of the Battle of Karbala in Islamic history and Middle East history, read my article, "9/11 And Karbala: The Stories We Tell Ourselves To Give Meaning To Our Deaths."
In a previous speech about Karbala and Husayn's sacrifice, Nasrallah said:
"This Karbala of yours O' my master we will never leave it, rather, we will remain in it. With our bodies and souls, with our minds and hearts, with our pens and rifles, with our love and hate, with our blood and tears, until we meet your Grandson, the Saviour of this Nation, and the Grandson of the Messenger of God, and the reformer of this religion, and the one who will manifest Divine Justice in this world.
As for us, God willing, we are waiting, we will meet that appointment, we will definitely not leave our Imam and Leader, for someone to deceive him, or for someone to take him away, or that someone kills him, or that someone severs his head, or let anyone make captives the women of this household.
Surely there took place a Karbala which ended with such tragedies. However, any Nation which truly maintains Karbala in its spirit, then its end will not be tragic."
From a sociological perspective, this is fascinating to watch. I don't think any other leader in the world receives as much admiration and love from his people as Nasrallah does. Is it blind obedience? Are these cult followers? But then what do you call Bush followers and Obama followers and Netanyahu followers? Do the masses everywhere love to follow and worship?
I'm still amazed that one man can have so many at his feet. Hitler, Stalin, and Khomeini were experts at mind control and mass manipulation. They knew how to hypnotize a crowd and fire up the people. They poisoned and controlled the minds of advanced civilizations: Germany, Russia, Persia.
Obama is also known for using rhetorical tricks and mass hypnotism techniques at campaign rallies and in his speeches to garner mindless support from the public.
I guess it's normal and natural that war-torn societies unite around one leader to defend themselves against the enemy and ensure their survival as a community. Southern Lebanon was demolished by war and humiliated by foreign powers (much like Germany, Italy, etc.) In such dire and hopeless circumstances, saviors rise to restore hope, pride, and dignity in the nation.
But, saviors can quickly turn into dictators. In Khomeini's Iran, it happened overnight.
