These days commemorate the anniversary of the events of Ashura in the year 61 AH, represent the reformist movement, the right-wing and freedom-seeking uprising of Hussein ibn Ali (AS) and his companions in the land of Karbala. A movement beyond time and place, religion, ethnicity and tribe.
Analyzing the events and personality of the leader of this movement and his humane deeds, as well as the first lady of the Husseini Revolution, is a very difficult task and impossible for this incompetent servant to explain. Therefore, I decided to study this issue from the point of view of loving Christians, as in the past, and the role of Hussein (AS) and Zainab (AS), these two manifestations of resistance and manifestation of all faith against all infidelity, polytheism and hypocrisy. I see a Christian man, the Christian whose famous words these days are the cyberspace of our colleagues in the Arab countries is: “If Hussein (AS) was one of us, we would raise a flag for him in every land and set up a pulpit and invite people to Christianity in the name of Hussein.”
After George Jardad, Victor Alkik, Suleiman Katani and Michel Kaadi, now Antoine Bara, my fifth Christian friend who is a companion and lover of the Ahl al-Bayt, writes and narrates his provincial views on the occasion of Ashura:
I first met Antoine Barra in August 2011. He came to visit me at our country’s cultural counseling center on Tuesday, August 25, to welcome me on the pretext of starting my new mission in Kuwait.
From the very beginning, with a happy face and an open face, he warmly shook my hand, a moment that still lingers in my mind as a fond memory after many years. While expressing satisfaction with this meeting, he congratulated me on my appointment as Iran’s cultural advisor in Kuwait and expressed hope that he would have good cooperation with our country’s cultural center.
I thanked him and appreciated his presence, and reminded him of my close association with some Lebanese Christian figures, including Joseph Al-Hashim, Suleiman Katani, George Jardad, and Victor Al-Kik, during my mission in Lebanon, and the attention of prominent Christian figures to explaining Ahl al-Bayt ideas. I praised their special devotion to the Shiite school.
I referred to the favorable conditions of Christian minorities in Iran and said that fortunately the followers of Jesus Christ enjoy desirable religious, political and cultural freedoms in Iran, and the existence of numerous active churches in different cities of our country is proof of this claim.
I thanked Antoine for explaining the dimensions of the character of the master of the free, Hussein ibn Ali, and the Ashura movement, and for the need to expedite joint projects in consultation, including the publication of his writings about Imam Ali, Hazrat Zainab, and Fatima. (Q) I emphasized a lot. Dr. Antoine considered the book of Hazrat Zeinab (PBUH) entitled “Zeinab Sarkha Akmalt Masira” and its Persian translation “Zeinab Faryad Farmand” to be published after 25 years of struggle, which should be a priority in our future work. I pledged to do so and it was quickly agreed that programs centered on Imam Hussein (AS) should be prepared for broadcast on Iranian channels, and I invited Mr. Bara to meet with the cultural officials of our country and visit Iran. This meeting was the beginning of the next extensive cooperation as well as my sincere and continuous friendship with this great figure to this day.
This friendship also became a family relationship. Antoine had four children and four grandchildren at the time. His last child, Yusuf, who had a master’s degree in music, had been reciting Tawashih for 11 years and had written many poems in praise of the Prophet (PBUH) and about Rumi.
There were few visits and occasions when his wife did not accompany him. A dignified and pious wife who had an extraordinary respect for each other and unwittingly showed it to others, and it is interesting that I have always seen this relationship between the Christian thinkers I mentioned, and this itself is taken from the teachings of Jesus Christ and the Imams of the Ahl al-Bayt.
