Ashura: This Blood Spilled in My Veins [Paperback]

Jalal Toufic (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 22, 2005

Al-Husayn, the grandson of the prophet Muhammad and the son of the first Shi'ite imam, 'Alî, was slaughtered alongside many members of his family in the desert in 680. This memory is torture to me. But, basically, one can say "this memory is torture to me" of every memory, since each reminiscence envelops at some level the memory of the origin of memory, the torture that had to be inflicted on humans in order to make them remember (Nietzsche). The memory that the yearly commemoration of 'Âshûrâ' is trying to maintain is not only that of the past, but also and mainly the memory of the future, namely the promise of the Parousia of the twelfth imam, the long-awaited Mahdî--notwithstanding the passage of a millennium since his occultation--as well as the corresponding promise of Twelver Shi'ites to wait for him. 'Âshûrâ': a condition of possibility of an unconditional promise.

Editorial Reviews

From the Author

Al-Husayn, the grandson of the prophet Muhammad and the son of the first Shi'ite imam, 'Alî, was slaughtered alongside many members of his family in the desert in 680. This memory is torture to me. But, basically, one can say "this memory is torture to me" of every memory, since each reminiscence envelops at some level the memory of the origin of memory, the torture that had to be inflicted on humans in order to make them remember (Nietzsche). The memory that the yearly commemoration of 'Âshûrâ' is trying to maintain is not only that of the past, but also and mainly the memory of the future, namely the promise of the Parousia of the twelfth imam, the long-awaited Mahdî--notwithstanding the passage of a millennium since his occultation--as well as the corresponding promise of Twelver Shi'ites to wait for him. 'Âshûrâ': a condition of possibility of an unconditional promise.

About the Author

Jalal Toufic is a thinker and a mortal to death. He is the author of Distracted (1991; 2nd ed., 2003), (Vampires): An Uneasy Essay on the Undead in Film (1993; 2nd ed., 2003), Over-Sensitivity (1996; 2nd ed., 2009), Forthcoming (2000), Undying Love, or Love Dies (2002), Two or Three Things I'm Dying to Tell You (2005), 'Âshûrâ': This Blood Spilled in My Veins (2005), Undeserving Lebanon (2007), The Withdrawal of Tradition Past a Surpassing Disaster (2009) and Graziella: The Corrected Edition (2009). Several of his books are available for download at his website: jalaltoufic.com.

Product Details

• Paperback: 108 pages
• Publisher: Small Press Distribution; The Post-Apollo Press; 1st edition (July 22, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 9953004609
• ISBN-13: 978-9953004600
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 7.3 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,736,806 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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