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THE
LIFE OF IMAM HUSSAIN (a)
by Dr. Haider Hussain Shamsi
(an excerpt from his book, " and The Message Continues".
DURING THE
TIMES OF THE PROPHET
The birth of second grandchild made the Prophet (s) very happy. He
came to the house of Imam All and his beloved daughter Fatima and named
the newborn Husain.
It is quoted by many narrators that the Prophet (s) often used to carry
his two grandsons on his shoulders. When people remarked on how much
he loved his grandsons, he used to say, "Hasan and Husain are the two
princes of the youth of paradise." People also quote from him as
praying to Allah by saying "O Allah, befriend those who befriend them
and be the foe to whoever designs to hurt them."
Regarding Imam Husain, it is quoted from him saying, "Husain is from
me and I am from Husain." It can only be inferred that this was the
utterance of no ordinary man, out of love with the progeny of his
daughter, but that of the
Prophet of Islam about whom Allah says "Nor does he speak out of
desire. It is naught but revelation that is revealed...... 111:3.
For about six years, his grandfather, the Prophet of Islam, nurtured
Husain just as his father had done before him. He was one of the
five included in the Qur'anic verse of Tat-heer. He was the youngest
of the representatives the
Prophet of Islam took with him at the Mubahala with the Christians of
Najran.
The significance of this nurture and representation must not be
underestimated. When the time came, he laid down his life and the
lives of his family members, as well as his friends to defend the Message
of Islam.
DURING THE TIMES OF IMAM ALI AND IMAM HASAN
After the death of his grandfather, Imam Husain grew up during the times
of the first dm caliphs and saw the way his father, hnam Ali, conducted
his affairs. When he was elected the Caliph to succeed Uthman,
Husain actively
participated in all assignments given to him by his father, whether in the
mosque or in the battlefield.
Imam Husain manifested the acme of obedience towards Imam Hasan during his
brief caliphate, and helped him actively on whatever was required of him.
He concurred with him in the matter of the truce with Muawiyah. He
never raised his voice in the presence of Imam Hasan, and would not interdict
him when he was preaching or was replying to questions.
When Imam Hasan was dying from poison, given to him according to
Muawiyah's plot, he called his brother Husain to his bedside and passed
the leadership of the faithful to him. Muawiyah, who had taken his
Treaty with Imam Hasan lightly, and had ignored it, made another
violation, and a fateful one which was to change for ever the course of
Muslim history, Muslim Ummah in the future. In total disregard of
his explicit understanding with Imam Hasan that he (Muawiyah) was not to
appoint his successor, he decided arbitrarily to appoint his son Yazid to
succeed him as the ruler of the Muslim world. Yazid was known for
his open display of a vicious life. Even though some of his
courtiers had cautioned Muawlyah against it, he started the campaign to
recruit fealty for his
son Yazid from all tribal chiefs and the prominent companions of the
Prophet who were alive at the time. The Hashimite clan, led by Imam
Husain refused to give their pledge of fealty to Yazid.
Muawiyah lived for ten more years after the martyrdom of Imam Hasan, but
the Hashimite clan was not forced into submission or subjugation.
However, the verbal abuse and other tactics used to reduce their influence
continued. Imam Husain continued his mission of peace and religious
education to all those who sought it from him.
THE CONFRONTATION WITH YAZID BIN MUAWIYAH AND THE
TRAGEDY OF KARBALA
Yazid had been raised in a life of luxury, and the principles or the
practices of Islam were remote to him. He had seen the success in
his father's cunning maneuvers against Imam Ali, and witnessed the insults
slung at the Imam and the Ahle Bait of the Prophet in the Friday
congregational prayers. He must have been made aware of Imam Ali's
contributions towards establishing the Islamic State under the Prophet of
Islam, and during which his pagan ancestors perished under the sweep of
Imam Ali's sword. History has accounted that eighteen of the clan of
Umayyah were slain in the Battle of Badr. Thus Yazid could harbor no
love for Imam Ali or his progeny. Now that he himself controlled the
vast Islamic empire, and that he himself wielded absolute power, he had
the best opportunity of avenging the blood of his ancestors.
As soon as he assumed the reins of the empire, Yazid decided to either
obtain the pledge of unconditional submission from the Imam or to have him
executed. His father had warned him about the steadfast nature of the
Imam. It was not possible for the Imam to accept the wicked ruler as
his religious leader; and he was also aware that Yazid would have him
killed for this. In fact, Yazid had given specific orders to his
cousin, Walid bin Uqba bin Abu Sufyan, the governor of Madinah that if the
Imam did not submit to his orders, he should be killed and his head be
sent to him (Yazid) for confirmation.
The Imam did not wish to be killed by a political plot in Madinah.
He decided to leave the relative comfort of his home in Madinah and
marched towards Makkah on Rajab 28,60AH. He care fully selected
those who would accompany him in his fateful journey.
Upon arrival of the Imam's group in Makkah, Sa'id bin As, the governor of
Makkah vacated his seat and rushed to Madinah to send first hand
information to Yazid. Yazid appointed Umar bin Sad as governor of Makkah,
again with the same specific orders against the Imam.
Yazid had realized that it was extremely difficult to have the Imam
assassinated in Madinah or Makkah, and that it would be relatively easy to
carry out his wicked plot elsewhere. Twelve thousand letters were
sent to the Imam,
inviting him to come to Kufa and establish the righteous rule of true
lslam. Some of these letters were signed by the respected companions of
the Prophet. Imam Husain was duty bound to respond to the call from the
faithful.
The Imam sent his cousin Muslim bin Aqeel to Kufa to size up the apparent
support for him. Muslim hurried to Madinah to pack for his long trip
to Kufa, and took with him two of his young sons, Muhammad and Ibrahim
aged 7 and 8 year respectively. As Muslim arrived in Kufa, he was
greeted by thousands of apparent supporters. He sent a letter to the
Imam saying that indeed there was a large enough support and that the
people wanted the Imam to come and lead them on the path of Righteousness.
Yazid was waiting for his plan to mature. He sent Ubaidullah bin
Ziyad to take charge from Nu'man bin Bashir, kill Muslim and send his head
to him Damascus.
In the large mosque of Kufa, Muslim led the prayers with a huge number of
apparent supporters. When Muslim turned to face the congregation at
the end of his prayers, he found just a handful of believers staying
behind him. Alas! It was too late to inform the Imam of the
treachery of the Kufans. Muslim was unable to fight his way out of
Kufa and was killed. This was followed by the slaughter of both of
his young sons.
The Imam was in Makkah for about four months. He found that he could
not perform his Haj with safety. Yazid had sent his men disguised as
pilgrims, with orders to kill Imam Husain. He decided that he would
not have his blood spilled in the Holy Sanctuary. He only performed
the Umrah instead of the full rituals of Haj, and started his fateful
march towards Kufa. His long supplication in Arafat is the epitome
of the sincerity in prayers and exhibition of devout faith in the Will of
Allah.
Umar bin Sa'd knew the price of failure. His counter part in Madinah
had failed to kill the Imam or to prevent him from leaving. He sent
Yahya bin Sa'id to stop the Imam from leaving Makkah. However, he
was unable to stall or stop the Imam who continued his journey towards his
destination.
While he was well on his way, he leamt of the martyrdom of his cousin
Muslim bin Aqeel. At that point, there was no turning back for the
Imam. He decided to continue his march to face his destiny. On the
way, he was intercepted by the army of Hurr, which forced the Imam's
caravan away from Kula on to a different direction, till it arrived in
Karbala, a dreaded waterless desert.
It was in this wilderness that the small caravan of the righteous Imam was
deprived of their basic necessities of food and water in the desert heat,
and of their right to a safe passage out of the oppressive regime of Yazid.
They
were denied access to any support from their well wishers, and were
instead encircled by a massive army of professional soldiers and were
ruthlessly killed in the desert of Karbala on Muharram 10, 61 AH. In
this massacre, eighteen Hashimites lost their lives. They were sons
and grand sons of Ali, Ja'fare Tayyar and Aqeel, from the progeny of Abu
Tallb, the protecting guardian of the Prophet of Islam.
After the bloody battle, the martyrs were beheaded and their bodies were
run over by the mounted soldiers. The tents were put to flame and
the belongings of the survivors were looted. The survivors were
first led to Kufa and then onwards to Damascus via a less frequented
route, lest there be reprisals from the believers for the massacre of the
family of the Prophet.
Despite the extreme odds the Imam had faced in this confrontation, his
strategy did not let this event emerge in the history as merely quelling
of an insurgence from a dissident group against the power of the ruler of the
time.
Instead, he laid down his life and the lives of his family and friends as sacrificial offerings whose blood was spilled on the hot desert sand for
no political ambition.
The survivors after the blood bath consisted of Ali ibn al-Husain, the
sick young son of Imam Husain, who was unable to go out in the battle-field,
but now had to assume the role of leadership, bound in shackles and hand-tied;
Zainab binte Ali, the sister of the Imam; the widowed ladies and a bunch of
children. The courageous captives could neither be silenced by the
force of the army nor by the pain of the massacre of their loved ones they had just
witnessed. They continued to introduce themselves at every stop made by the caravan,
and
in the court of Yazid the tyrant in Damascus. Whereas some members
of this little 'army' of the righteous had fought in the battlefield with sermons
and sword, the captives continued their mission by eloquent sermons to the
masses who gathered along the route. This not only told people on what had
happened to the family of the Prophet, but also served to rekindle life of faith in
the dead conscience of the Muslims of the time.
Whereas the kingdom of the tyrant is long gone, the candles of Faith left burning by the Imam and his companions enlighten the conscience of
Islam
each time this story is told and retold. The annual commemoration of this
event with energy and commitment by the devout believers that has survived through
centuries despite the forces of oppression, is nothing less than a
miracle. The believers continue to take out processions to demonstrate against tyranny,
injustice and oppression against the bearer of the Truth. They
congregate in gathering places and retell the painful story of the struggle between vice
and virtue. They deny themselves comfort, food and water to relive the
pain and suffering of their beloved Imam, his innocent family and his companions.
For online reading of the late author's book, " and the Message
Continues", you can visit the Book section of this website.
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