Surah al-Fajr Embodies Philosophy of Ashura, Says Islamic Studies Professor
Speaking at the final session of an online seminar titled “Quranic Governance and Imam Hussein’s (AS) Uprising” on Tuesday, Hojat-ol-Islam Najaf Lakzaei, President of the Islamic Sciences and Culture Academy and a faculty member at Baqir al-Olum University, said, “In the sayings of the Ahl al-Bayt (AS), especially Imam Sadiq (AS), Surah al-Fajr is referred to as the chapter of Imam Hussein (AS).”
He explained that the Quranic chapter is associated with the martyrdom of Imam Hussein (AS) and his companions, who were killed in the Battle of Karbala in 680 CE. “The opening verses, ‘By the dawn and the ten nights’, alludes to the rising of light over darkness. Many commentators interpret this as symbolizing how Imam Hussein’s (AS) sacrifice ended the spiritual darkness that had overshadowed Islam,” Lakzaei said.
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According to him, the uprising of Imam Hussein (AS) prevented the destruction of Islam under the Umayyad ruler Yazid. “If this uprising had not occurred,” he noted, “as Imam Hussein (AS) himself warned, Islam would have been lost under Yazid’s rule.”
Lakzaei outlined three layers of interpretation that connect the Quranic chapter to Imam Hussein (AS). The second aspect, he said, refers to verses about ancient tyrants such as ‘Ad, Thamud, and Pharaoh, who are mentioned in the chapter. “They possessed great power and authority but sought to extinguish divine light and opposed God's prophets,” he said. He compared them to Yazid, describing the ruler as “part of the lineage of historical tyrants, while Imam Hussein (AS) stands alongside the prophets and saviors of history.”
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The third and most significant dimension, Lakzaei emphasized, appears in the final verses of the surah:
“O soul at peace, return to your Lord, pleased and pleasing [to Him], so enter among My servants and enter My Paradise.” (verse 27).
He stated that, according to hadiths, these verses describe Imam Hussein (AS), who reached the highest spiritual state of nafs al-mutma’inna (a soul at peace) and was granted the divine status of rāḍiya mardiyya—being both content with God’s will and approved by God.
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