Abu Lulu's Shrine: Knowing Your Adversaries...

First, let us remember the story (source here), to rekindle our grief upon the murder of one of Islam's greatest-- Umar (RD), who even the Shaytan feared:

"When the year 644 A.D. dawned, that being the tenth year of his rule, Umar had the premonition that before the year ended, he would die.
Ayesha who was present on the occasion of the pilgrimage has left on record that as the party treaded the path between Mina and Mecca, some unseen person addressing Umar said:
"Upon such an Iman as thou be peace and blessings, With your deeds you have prepared for the journey to Heaven, In this journey no one can outstrip you. You brought glory to Islam, After you there will be distress, But so is the will of God. From God you came, and now to God return."
Ahu Musa Ashaari states that at that time he had a dream. In the dream he saw the Holy Prophet and Abu Bakr standing on a mountain. Umar stood at the base. Abu Bakr and the Holy Prophet asked him to come up and he climbed the mountain. The dream was interpreted to imply that the death of Umar was imminent.
On the last Friday in October 644, while presiding at the Friday Prayers Umar said that in a dream he had seen a bird peck at him and this implied that he was going to die. He said, "May be this is the last Friday prayer for me to preside, and thus ye faithful, farewell."
After the battle of Nihawand, many Persians, men, women, and children were taken as captives by the Muslims. The captives were sold as slaves. One of these slaves was Firoz alias Abu Lulu. He was purchased by Mughirah Shu'bah the Governor of Basra. This Firoz was a craftsman, a carpenter, an iron smith and a painter. Umar did not allow non-Muslim adult captives to reside in Madina. Mughirah sought special permission for the residence of Firoz in Madina on the ground that as he was a skilled craftsman, he would be of service to the people. Umar gave the permission as a special case.
One day, Firoz waited on Umar and complained that the tax which his master Mughirah was exacting from him was too high. He wanted the Caliph to reduce the levy. Umar enquired what work did he do. He said that he worked as a carpenter, painter, and an ironsmith. He added that he could make windmills as well. Umar next enquired as to the amount of the tax that he was required to pay to his master. He said that he had to pay two dirhams a day. Umar said that keeping in view the lucrative nature of the jobs done by him, the levy of two dirhams a day was prima facie not excessive. Umar said that he would, however, write to Mughirah, and examine the question further in the light of what Mughirah said. That did not satisfy Firoz, and he went away sulking. There were Persian children slaves in Madina. Seeing them, Firoz would say, "You have been enslaved at such a tender age. This Umar sees eaten my heart. I will take his heart out". He made for himself a dagger with a very sharp edge and smeared it with poison.
On the 1st of November 644 A.D. at the time of the morning prayer, Firoz went with his dagger to the Prophet's mosque and hid himself in a corner in one of the recesses of the mosque. When the faithful stood for prayer after straightening the lines, and Umar took up his position as the Imam to lead the prayer, Firoz emerged from his place of hiding and rushed at Umar. Firoz struck Umar six consecutive blows with his dagger, and Umar fell on the floor profusely bleeding.
Other persons rushed at Firoz, but he had the fury and frenzy of a desperate man about him. He struck right and left, and thirteen Muslims were wounded, some of them fatally [seven Sahabah died], before Firoz could be overpowered. At last realizing that he could not escape, Firoz stabbed himself to death with his own dagger. From the mosque Umar was carried home. When he regained consciousness he asked who was his murderer. He was told that his murderer was the Persian slave Firoz. Thereupon Umar said, "Praise be to God that I have not been murdered by a Muslim".
The physician administered him date cordial and milk. These could not be digested and gushed out of his wounds. That indicated that the wounds were fatal and that he could not survive for long.
The people around him praised him for his virtues and sterling qualities. He asked them not to praise him. He said: "All praise is to Allah. If all the treasures of this world were to be at my disposal, I would offer them as a ransom to be saved from the trial at the Day of Judgment." He then recited the Arabic verse:
"I have been unjust to my soul, Except that I am a Muslim, Say my prayers and fast."
Umar asked his son Abdullah to wait on Ayesha and beg her permission for his burial by the side of the Holy Prophet and Abu Bakr. Ayesha wept as she came to know that Umar was about to die. She said, "I had reserved this place for my own burial, but I give Umar precedence over myself. Let him be buried there". When Umar was told that Ayesha had given the permission, he felt happy and said, "God bless Ayesha. She has fulfilled my greatest wish. Now I can die in peace."
Then he asked his son to estimate the debt that he had to pay. He was told that the debt amounted to eighty six thousand dirhams. This included the salary that he had drawn from the Baitul Mal during the period of his caliphate. He instructed that the debt should be paid by the sale of his property. Thereafter Umar gave detailed instructions to his son regarding his funeral. He said:
"Be moderate in the expenses of my shroud, for verily if there is anything of good with God in my favor, He will give me in exchange what is better than it, and if I have been otherwise, He will strip me of all that I have. And be moderate in the grave that you dig for me, for verily if there be anything of good with God in my favor, He will widen it for me, and if I have been otherwise, He will make it narrow for me to squeeze my body. And let no woman go with my funeral. Praise me not for that which is not in me, for the Lord knows best what I am. Therefore when you carry me to the grave, hasten in your going for if there is anything of good with God in my favor you will speed me to that which is good, and if I have been otherwise, you will cast from your necks an evil that you bear."
Thereafter Umar turned his face to the Qibla and breathed his last. There was serene smile on his face as he lay dead."

That was the story of the Great Caliph Umar (RD). And the following is the story of the cowards who have elevated Abu Lulu', the Zorastrian murderer of Umar, to the level of saint, with a large shrine to celebrate this great crime. The following pictures were taken from two sources, one of them from Wikipedia (online encyclopedia). This is NOT a hoax. You can read more about it on Wikipedia here, and you can also see this shrine being defended on a shia forum here.

One guy at this shiachat forum comments (audhubillah mina shaytan-ul-ins), "It is your scholars abu hanifa and bukhari who are persian magis fire worshippers . Abu Lulu'a was a great persian muslim who has been praised by AhlulBayt for sending that tyrant to hell and his miserable destiny. Anyway what's your proof that he is magian from your sources ?"



Why is this reminder important at this time? Because of what is happening in Iraq, because of what is happening in Lebanon. We cannot close our eyes to reality. Ali (who is influenced by pro-regressives) on his forum Eteraz.org asked his readers to support the call of a Shia Imam's editorial in a US newspaper. Read it for yourself here, and see how slick and wicked these people are. The guy (I am talking about the Imam) talks about "external" involvement by Saudis, Egyptians, Jordanians, but casually forgets Iran and the Mahdi-army terrorists. So, before we let the lore of Ahmadinejad among the Sunnis get out of hand, and tales of the great victories of the Shiite Hezbollah, let us remember Shiites really believe, and what they really think of the Sahaba, and what their banners and slogans really are. Let us not forget who betrayed Muslims in the recent wars... in both Afghanistan and Iraq. Notwithstanding that their allies from the West soon realized too on their accord, that their allies were not the best of allies, after all; betray one, and you will betray others. May Allah help us all, and guide us all to the truth.

(Added 2/13/07) I will add that the majority of Sunni scholars consider Shias to be within the fold of Islam. Furthermore, what happened in Afghanistan & Iraq does not mean ALL Shias have the same 'problem'. Wherever we can cooperate, we should do so. Wherever we can help each other to solve the bigger issues, and help to stop the destruction of life and property anywhere, we should encourage that. The killing in Iraq is haraam, of both Shias and Sunnis. The killing of any innocent person is haraam, let alone a Muslim. The terrorists exist on both sides, but for the most part, the objective view seems to say that Shias (having the upper hand) are the bigger instigators in Iraq, so the Shias who reject this violence need to redouble their efforts to help stop the bloodshed.

I call upon the Shias to tell the Sunnis on this blog that they the shrine of Abu-Lulu is not a 'mainstream' view among them. I HOPE to hear those voices.

Picture Stories on this Blog are being Collected HERE.