VOA标准英语2008年-Ashura March Held in London

By Catherine Drew
London
22 January 2008
 

This weekend saw millions of Muslims mark the day of Ashura around the world.  In central London, about 3,000 Shi'a Muslims gathered to commemorate¹ the martyrdom of Hussain Ibn Ali, the grandson of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. He and a small group of followers were slaughtered² at the battle of Karbala in Iraq, by the Arab rulers of 1400 years ago.  Many Shia's use the day to commemorate his life as well as focusing on current issues of concern -- as Catherine Drew reports from the British capital.

Ashura is commemorated³ throughout the Islamic world.  But the day is of particular significance to Shi'a Muslims who remember the martyrdom of Hussain Ibn Ali, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad and the man they consider to be his rightful successor.

Ashura means 10th, it falls on the 10th day of Muharram, the first month in the Islamic calendar.

Those marking the day wear mourning clothes and slap themselves as an expression of grief.

Participants say the day is dedicated⁴ to remembering Hussain's heroic struggle to keep the faith from corruption⁵, his battle against injustice⁶ and tyranny, and how that relates to the present.

One participant said, "Those things are still happening today, so that is why we try to remember what has happened even four centuries ago and why have not we changed."

Another participant said, "In the modern time, the main point, people get back, you know, to  work every day, back to religion and what we are doing now and try to be a better person, to be honest."

Yet another participant said, "What I can learn is peace; what I can learn is good conduct; what I can learn is [to be] good with people.  It does not matter where they are from because at this time, when he was ruling, you had Muslims and non-Muslims, you had Jews and Christians⁷ living in peace."

Many Shi'a relate Hussain's struggle against injustice to current issues.

The Ahl Al-Bayt society, which is named after the Prophet Muhammad's household, at Imperial College London used the start of the month of Muharram to highlight the shortage of clean water in the developing  world.

Society President Wasim Ukra says lessons can be learned from the martyrdom of Hussein. "Imman Hussain, who is the grandson of the Holy Prophet, peace be upon them, stood in the plains of Karbala in the desert fighting for this cause, and that is one of justice and human values.  He was denied this right, which was access to water.  Not just himself, but the women and the children, including up to two-month old babies.  So we can directly relate to this, the suffering they went through and relating to that to today, seeing what is happening in the world today."

Ashura commemorations have been marked by violence in the past, in Iraq and Pakistan. However, Shi'a living in Britain were able to march in peace.

1 commemorate   

vt.纪念，庆祝

参考例句：

• This building was built to commemorate the Fire of London.这栋大楼是为纪念“伦敦大火”而兴建的。
• We commemorate the founding of our nation with a public holiday.我们放假一日以庆祝国庆。

2 slaughtered   

v.屠杀，杀戮，屠宰( slaughter的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The invading army slaughtered a lot of people. 侵略军杀了许多人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Hundreds of innocent civilians were cruelly slaughtered. 数百名无辜平民遭残杀。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 commemorated   

v.纪念，庆祝( commemorate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Lincoln commemorated the soldiers killed in the battle in his address. 林肯在演说中表扬阵亡将士。 来自辞典例句
• You'll be commemorated for killing a spy, and be specially discharged. 你们每杀一个间谍将会被记录到特殊档案。 来自电影对白

4 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。

5 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

6 injustice   

n.非正义，不公正，不公平，侵犯（别人的）权利

参考例句：

• They complained of injustice in the way they had been treated.他们抱怨受到不公平的对待。
• All his life he has been struggling against injustice.他一生都在与不公正现象作斗争。

7 Christians   

n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Christians of all denominations attended the conference. 基督教所有教派的人都出席了这次会议。
• His novel about Jesus caused a furore among Christians. 他关于耶稣的小说激起了基督教徒的公愤。