Torture Is Not Just
Hussein Rashid
For the last two weeks, Americans have been watching events unfold in Iran. Regardless of our depth of knowledge or political standings, we recognize that something profound is happening there. People are fighting to be heard, to be treated with dignity. We support and applaud them because it is part of our national character. We also stand aghast at the idea of a prison like Evin, where people are routinely detained for being in the wrong place at the wrong time, or for simply speaking their minds. We are disgusted when we hear that people are tortured into false confessions, or when we see images of a Neda-like figure.
As a Muslim, I feel another layer of disgust: these are other Muslims perpetrating violence against one another. The Iranian state claims to be creating a true Muslim state, but what they are really doing is reenacting the martyrdom of the Prophet Muhammad’s grandson Husayn — which took place in 680 A.D. — at every opportunity. The Battle of Karbala and the massacre of Husayn and his family are universally condemned as a sign of oppression, and of holding the power of this world higher than the judgment of God. In many countries, including Iran, there are yearly commemorations of the death of Husayn, to share in that suffering and to make sure the lessons of those ten days of torture are never forgotten. Continue reading