Mufazzal Ibn Umar narrates in a lengthy tradition from Imam Ja’far Sadiq (peace be upon him) regarding how Mohsin Ibn Ali (peace be upon him) will be brought on the Day of Judgement. He (peace be upon him) said:
“When Mohsin (peace be upon him) will be brought, he will be carried by Lady Khadija (peace be upon her) and Lady Fatima Bint Asad (peace be upon him) and they would be wailing. Then Her Eminence Fatima (peace be upon her) (on seeing her child) will exclaim,
هٰذَا يَوْمُكُمُ الَّذِي كُنْتُمْ تُوْعَدُوْنَ
“This is your day which you were promised.”
[Surah Anbiya (21): verse 103]
“On the day that every soul shall find present what it has done of good and what it has done of evil, it shall wish that between it and that (evil), there were a long duration of time”
[Surah Aale Imraan (3): verse 30]
Then Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) began to weep such that his beard was soaked in tears and then he (peace be upon him) said, ‘May that eye not be soothed which does not weep at the mention of this – i.e., at the martyrdom of Mohsin (peace be upon him).’ Hearing this, Mufazzal also wept for a long time and then asked, ‘O my master! What is the reward of these tears?’ Imam (peace be upon him) replied, ‘If he is on the truth then its reward cannot be enumerated.’
[Behaar al-Anwaar, vol. 53, p. 23]
The days of mourning are passing away very swiftly. It seems as if it was yesterday that the moon of Muharram was sighted and we invited Imam Husain (peace be upon him) as a guest in our houses, mourning places, and in our eyes. The moon of Muharram announced the news of the martyrdom of the beloved of Fatima (peace be upon her). The month of Muharram passed by and the month of Safar entered in such a manner that the daughters of Fatima (peace be upon her) had to enter the markets of Kufa and Damascus. The month of Safar brought along such tragedies with itself that Imam Sajjaad (peace be upon him) wept his entire life over it. Towards the end of Safar, such calamities befell Lady Fatima (peace be upon her) that she lost her father who was a mercy for the worlds and in 50 A.H. she witnessed the pieces of the liver of Imam Hasan (peace be upon him) from her broken grave. But, on 28th Safar 11 A.H., the moment the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him and his holy progeny) was martyred, in Rabi al-Awwal the house of purification was attacked so brutally that the unborn child of Imam Ali (peace be upon him) and Her Eminence Fatima (peace be upon her) was martyred in his mother’s womb by the tyrants. It was the martyrdom of Mohsin Ibn Ali (peace be upon him) which laid the foundation of Karbala. Hence, from 28th Safar till 8th Rabi al-Awwal i.e. till the martyrdom of Imam Hasan Askari (peace be upon him), the lovers of the Ahlul Bait (peace be upon him) observe these 10 days as ‘Ayyaam-e-Azaa-e-Mohsiniyyah’ so that the world comes to know that those Ahlul Bait whose love was ordained in the Holy Quran, how the Muslim Ummah treated them by defying the Quranic orders. Hence, it is our responsibility that although these 10 days are the last 10 days of the mourning period, however, our grief, weeping, and mourning should never reduce during this time because for us these might be the last days of the mourning period but, for the Ahlul Bait (peace be upon him) this was the beginning of their tragedies.
We pray to Allah to grant us the opportunity to observe these Ayyam-e-Azaa-e-Mohsiniyyah. Who knows whether this would be our last mourning opportunity? Lastly, to avenge the killing of Mohsin (peace be upon him) and the oppressions upon the Ahlul Bait (peace be upon him), hasten the reappearance of the Imam of our time, His Eminence Imam Mahdi (may Allah hasten his noble reappearance).
Aameen, O Lord of the worlds!