The story of Imam Hussain at Kerbala has served, historically as a great unifying narrative within the community, particularly the Shia community, and has served as an important means to sharing the message of Islam. In India, for example, where Islam never quite took off to become a majority of the population, the influence of the story of Imam Hussain is nevertheless immense, with Sunnis, Hindus, and Sikhs being influenced by the story, falling in love with it, honoring Hussain and participating in A’shoura processions and other commemorations.

The story of A’shoura is a powerful way to share the religion. However, in line with the history of the spread of Islam to lands with different cultures, the presentation of this story, and the form which the practice of aza’ takes needs to evolve to fit the customs and history of the new land in which it is to grow. This requires deep study of the history and cultural heritage of the West to discover common ties that can be used to help in this endeavor. Once this research is done, efforts can be done to present Islam in ways that tie organically into the cultural and historical heritage of these lands, and the practice of aza’ can take new forms that are harmonious with existing or past customs of these lands.

For example, one of the forms which aza’ takes is latimiyyat, which in English would best translate as elegy. There is a long tradition of elegiac songs in the English tradition. There are musical modes known to fit well to set the somber, mournful sort of tone needed to set songs of wistful remembrance. One can examine a number of English songs to get a glimpse of this, for example, "Farewell to Nova Scotia," "Northwest Passage," "Auld Lang Syne," and to some extent, "Amazing Grace." One simple way forward would be to take some of these well-known tunes and adapt powerful English lyrics with the subject matter being the story of Kerbala. Some mastery of English and of English poetry is needed for this. Also helpful would be for some young people to study music so as to get a better understanding of Western musical theory so as to be able to more lawfully compose pieces that fit within the Western tradition.

Also involved in aza’ is story-telling through majalis (gatherings with speeches) Muslims, or at least some amongst us can study systematically conventional Western forms and devices of story telling, whether in prose or poetry. Historical novels, epic poetry, non-linear narratives, frame narratives, verse and meter schemes can all be learned and adapted to tell the story of Imam Hussain and his companions and family at Kerbala.

Another means used in some parts of the middle east is theatrical re-enactments of the tragedy. There are well developed conventions of theatre used in the Western cultural heritage, particularly for tragedy, from Ancient Greek tragedy as seen in Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides, through Christopher Marlowe and Shakespeare in Renaissance England, through Friedrich Schiller in 18^th century Germany. Probably these form the best examples to draw upon in developing theatrical tragedy on the story of Kerbala.

Yet another forms commonly used overseas, and lately here in the West, are Muharram processions, where people walk through the street in a sort of somber parade in remembrance of the tragedy of Kerbala. As for some of the other forms, the tradition of funeral processions is one which is well established in the Western traditions, though less so than they once were. They are most often seen with the funerals of honored political leaders or fallen soldiers. Now of course the conventions of Muharram processions in the Muslim world differ significantly from those used in the West for funeral processions, there is still room to adapt and blend the conventions of Muharram processions with those of traditional Western funeral processions so as to make them more continuous with existing customs and more effective.

If we send some part of our community to work seriously on this, these forms of artwork can go far in helping to spread the awareness of the story of Kerbala amongst the average person here, capturing at the level of their heart the beauty of the ahlil bayt (as), and through that see what Islamic values really stand for. As well, updating to the modern world, we see the medium of video and film there as potential avenues to use to express and share the story of Kerbala.

As mentioned in another article, to really do this well requires that just as we send sons and daughters to study medicine and engineering to raise our status in society, so do we need to send some of our children to study literature, music, theatre, and film, so that we can help to raise the status of Islam. The youth who go into these fields need to be youth well grounded and strong in their religion to avoid being led astray by some of the people they would meet in such studies, but with these precautions in place, it is an important and necessary step. In this way, our community can begin to produce popular yet high art to reach the people here about the story of Imam Hussain and the ahlil bayt through customs that they are familiar with.