Ongoing book project by Nad E Ali and Essay/ Text by Hassan Chima

It is said in relation to the horse of Hussain that when men became beasts, this beast showed humanity. I do not find this hard to believe. Animals can certainly feel happiness and pain. They often express feelings best described as love. Some animals are famous for having proven their fidelity towards the ones they love, incontestably and beyond doubt. No, Descartes was wrong: animals are not automata, and if this means heaven will be overcrowded with the souls of good animals, so be it.

Representations of the horse of Hussain, horses consecrated as such and entirely devoted to this enactment, are centerpieces of the Ashura procession during the month of Muharram.

Literally and figuratively, they are the center of gravity during the processions: they draw the entire weight of the crowd and its crush upon themselves, having created it by their absence and the anticipation of their arrival, running into its midst in narrow inner-city streets, and then pulling the procession behind them when they leave. The intensity they create with their presence is also a reminder for those witnessing it of the moment they are reenacting.

More than reenactment, though less than reincarnation, this is mourning for one man who had to be killed by thousands, and whose horse, himself mortally wounded, had to stumble into the camp where he had left his family: so that when they heard the news, they heard it from a friend.

Bibliography

1. Berger, John. Why look at animals?. Penguin, 2009.
2. Roman: Naqvi, Syed Zameer Akhtar, Khasoosi Ashra e Chehlum: Insan Aur Hewan. Markaz e Uloom e Islamia.