TEHRAN – An Indonesian film director says that everyone should pay attention to the message of Ashura.

Dede Kaswar, the director of the short documentary, who won an award at the 5th Arbaeen international festival, shared us his experience about Arbaeen walk.

“Anyone outside the Shia community should pay attention because the battle of Imam Hussain vs Yazid's army was a symbol of battle between good and evil.”

“Western powers want Muslim countries to be submitted and to serve their agenda.”

“I had many memories during my trip. The one that impressed me much was the atmosphere of love I felt coming from people I met during my journey.”

Following is the text of the interview:

Q: What does Arbaeen walk has that makes it important? 

A: Arbaeen walk is important because it commemorates the struggle and martyrdom of Hussain ibn Ali, grandson of Prophet Muhammad, against the oppression of Yazid ibn Muawiyyah. And the gatherings of millions of pilgrims toward Imam Hussain's tomb in Karbala give strong emphasis and message to the world about who Imam Hussain was and history behind his death.

Q: Why should anyone outside the Shia community really pay attention?

A: Anyone outside the Shia community should pay attention because the battle of Imam Hussain vs Yazid's army was a symbol of battle between good and evil. And battle between good and evil will last forever. Therefore, what happened in Karbala will always be relevant with our life.

Q: What was your purpose when you started Arbaeen walk?

A: I first learned about martyrdom of Imam Hussain when I was in high school in 1998. From that moment I studied and read a lot about history of Battle of Karbala. The more I know what happened in Karbala the more I wanted to visit Imam Hussain's tomb in Karbala. Until by Allah's will I had the chance to take part in Arbaeen walk in 2018.

Q: What attracted you about the Arbaeen?

A: What attracted me the most about Arbaeen was the spirit of the people from different places and different countries who took hundreds even thousands of miles journey voluntarily to visit tomb of Imam Hussain.

Q: Do you have any interesting memories of Arbaeen that you want to share with us?

A: I had many memories during my trip. The one that impressed me much was the atmosphere of love I felt coming from people I met during my journey. Everyone was helping and serving everybody. It touched my emotions. I have been to mecca 3 times to umrah and hajj but I have never found spirit of love between people like I found in Arbaeen walk.

Q: What impressions do you think the Arbaeen walk has on different states of affairs of the current world?

A: I think Arbaeen's walk can be a strong message to the world about peace. Because people who took the Arbaeen walk came from various countries and backgrounds. Not just Shias, Sunni, even Christians, and people from other religion who know about Imam Hussein walked together with love and respect. Sadly, Arbaeen's walk hasn't been given fair portion by the world mainstream media. So even Arbaeen walk is the biggest yearly human gathering in the world, not many people around the world know about it. In my country Indonesia if I asked 10 people about Arbaeen's walk, most likely all 10 will answer: no idea.

Q: What do you think about military presence of foreign powers in Muslim countries? And what is your opinion about their departure from West Asia?

A: I think military presence of western powers in Muslim countries is for geopolitical purposes. They want Muslim countries to be submitted and to serve their agenda. Their agenda is oil, safety of Israel, and sale of weapons. I think their departure from middle east (West Asia) is a must but I think it will not happen. If they left middle east (West Asia), how do they get cheap oil, and keep Israel safe? and their weapon business will lose their biggest consumers: Arab Countries.