Ashura

The research and analysis on the Uprising of Imam Husayn (as) from Hijaz to Iraq.

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Publisher’s Foreword

In the Name of Allah, the All-beneficent, the All-merciful

The invaluable legacy of the Household [Ahl al-Bayt] of the Prophet (may peace be upon them all), as preserved by their followers, is a comprehensive school of thought that embraces all branches of Islamic knowledge. This school has produced many brilliant scholars who have drawn inspiration from this rich and pure resource. It has given many scholars to the Muslim ummah who, following in the footsteps of Imams of the Prophet’s Household (‘a), have done their best to clear up the doubts raised by various creeds and currents within and without Muslim society and to answer their questions. Throughout the past centuries, they have given well-reasoned answers and clarifications concerning these questions and doubts.

To meet the responsibilities assigned to it, the Ahl al-Bayt World Assembly (ABWA) has embarked on a defence of the sanctity of the Islamic message and its verities, often obscured by the partisans of various sects and creeds as well as by currents hostile to Islam. The Assembly follows in the footsteps of the Ahl al-Bayt (‘a) and the disciples of their school of thought in its readiness to confront these challenges and tries to be on the frontline in consonance with the demands of every age.

The arguments contained in the works of the scholars belonging to the School of the Ahl al-Bayt (‘a) are of unique significance. That is because they are based on genuine scholarship and appeal to reason, and avoid prejudice and bias. These arguments address scholars and thinkers in a manner that appeals to healthy minds and wholesome human nature.

To assist the seekers of truth, the Ahl al-Bayt World Assembly has endeavored to present a new phase of these arguments contained in the studies and translations of the works of contemporary Shi‘ah writers and those who have embraced this sublime school of thought through divine blessing.

The Assembly is also engaged in edition and publication of the valuable works of leading Shi‘ah scholars of earlier ages to assist the seekers of the truth in discovering the truths which the School of the Prophet’s Household (‘a) has offered to the entire world.

The Ahl al-Bayt World Assembly looks forward to benefit from the opinions of the readers and their suggestions and constructive criticism in this area.

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We beseech God, the Most High, to accept our humble efforts and to enable us to enhance them under the auspices of Imam al-Mahdi, His vicegerent on the earth (may Allah expedite his advent).

We express our gratitude to Ayatullah Muhammad-Mahdi Asifi, the authors of the present book, and Umar Kumu, its translator. We also thank our colleagues who have participated in producing this work, especially the staff of the Translation Office.

Cultural Affairs Department
Ahl al-Bayt ( ‘a ) World Assembly

Introduction

The sermons that are delivered concerning Imam Husayn (‘a) attract the largest audience from all classes of people. The respect they have for these speeches is very significant, a feature rarely found in other gatherings. Speakers for such occasions are required to reciprocate this respect and earnest attendance by doing justice to the feelings of the people and the gatherings for Husayn (‘a).

The people who come from far and wide to listen to the lectures that are delivered about Imam Husayn (‘a), expect the speakers to enrich their talks with a greater knowledge of Islam and Qur'anic concepts; new horizons of thought, understanding and analysis of Husayn (‘a) 's words, speeches and stances, as he moved from Hijaz to Iraq; the speeches of his kinsmen and companions; the positions they took and the sacrifices they offered, that are unique in history.

The uprising of Husayn (‘a) is replete with ideas, concepts, values and beautiful scenes, the like of which are rarely witnessed in the words and deeds of others, which speakers are expected to analyse as they trace his route from Hijaz to Iraq. They should be able to present these lessons to their listeners during the month of Muharram and also on other occasions.

The present book is an effort in that direction but I cannot be sure that it has achieved its goal. All the same, I have tried, knowing success is from God alone.

Muhammad Mahdi al-Asifi
Holy Najaf
The 20th day of Shawwal, 1425

Critical Juncture In The Life Of Mankind

Days Of Separation

The days of separation are distinct occasions in history that classify people into two or more groups. The place of these occasions in history is similar to that of crossroads which people come across during their journeys. Roads and highways bring together the travelers till they reach the crossroads where they split into two, three or more groups. In the same way, days of difficulty separate people who were together during days of ease and comfort.

The holy Qur'an named the day of Badr the Day of Separation1 because the people who were hitherto living together in Mecca during peace time were divided into two belligerent parties on that day.

It is not always possible for a person to live a life of civility and pleasant social intercourse with all the people, for God Most High has assigned, in the course of history and the life of mankind, days on which they have to make a resolution concerning what they say or do. They have to take a decision on war or peace; whether to continue their relationships or sever them; whether they will turn towards God or away from Him. These days are the days of separation.

Ashura Is Among The Days Of Separation

The day of Ashura was a day of separation in Islamic history. It divided the people who were living together during peace time into two different groups: one group stood with Husayn (‘a) and fought the Umayyads, while the other supported the Umayyads and fought Husayn (‘a). On that day, the people had no choice but to select and decide on which side they would fight, and, there was no other option. This is the feature which distinguishes the days of separation: it forces the people to choose the party to which they will give their loyalty and repudiate the other.

People are unequal in terms of strength and weakness, courage and timidity, faith and hypocrisy, generosity and niggardliness, and loyalty and repudiation, but these differences do not appear clearly in time of peace and comfort. They meet in the markets, the mosques and other gatherings with nothing to distinguish one from the other and without knowing one another. Sometimes one does not know even oneself! When the days of separation come the people can be distinguished as they differ from one another, for a man’s true worth is known only in a moment of crisis: thus, one's nature which was unknown before, is now revealed to others and, sometimes, even to himself.

The day of Ashura was one such day. It divided the people into three groups. One was seduced by the world so they succumbed to their vain desires and were destroyed. Another group freed themselves from the grip of their desires and managed to weather the test, albeit with great effort and suffering. All the same, they were able to land safely and meet God at the end. A third group hastened to meet their Lord unencumbered by other considerations and without any difficulty, suffering or indecision. They separated themselves from the object of trial as a hair comes out of sour milk.

These three conditions with regard to turning towards or away from God are found at all times and places, although people are not usually differentiated from one another. It is the days of separation that differentiate people.

Now let us ponder upon these three classes of people that the day of Ashura unveiled.

First Class

This is the group that failed the test. On analysis we find that:

(i) This class of people did not like to be consumed by tribulation in the initial stage, nor reject the truth, nor disregard God. In fact, they loved God and pursued the truth, as this is something that is implanted by God Most High in the very nature of every human being.

(ii) They desired that God should bestow upon them the good of this world and the next, so that they may enjoy both. This desire is part of the innate nature of mankind and forms part of our psychological reality.

(iii) The drive towards this world was stronger in the minds of these people than the drive towards God, but they were not cognizant of this fact before they reached the crossroads (the point of separation). Others were also not aware of this trait that was found in this group till they also reached the point of separation. The point of separation disgraced them before others and acquainted them with their own reality.

Second Class

This group reached the point of safety although with much difficulty. Analysis shows that:

(i) This group desired to enjoy the world and its pleasures and did not hold any aversion to worldly pleasures as relished by all people.

(ii) They hoped that God would give them this world and the next, and save them from any predicament in which they would have to choose one of the two. They hoped that they would always live in peace and keep both their religion and their worldly benefits, so that they might carry out their duties toward God Most High the way He wanted and also enjoy worldly pleasures to their fill.

(iii) They wished that their worldly inclination should not control or rob them of their ability to choose and take decisions. Therefore they wanted to possess a sound conscience that was free to make resolutions despite the fact that they were taking part in worldly matters like the rest of the people and enjoying the world like them.

(iv) They retained the freedom to decide by the time they reached the point of separation, where it became mandatory to select one of the two ways: God or the world. So they disassociated themselves from this world and turned towards the next world, from falsehood towards the truth, from selfish interest and the opponents of God (taghut) towards God, although with difficulty and much effort, for they were disentangling themselves from the grip of the world.

This is the nature of taking a difficult decision in life. There are two forms of decision making: a difficult one and a simple one. The resolution taken by the people in this class at the point of separation was among the most difficult things. Nevertheless, they finally succeed in extricating themselves from the grip of the world and move towards God, whatever the cost.

The book of God gives us a picture of this class of people. It is about the companions of the Messenger of God (S) who fought at Badr. These people are still cited as examples of faith, perseverance, loyalty and sacrifice. However, what the holy Qur'an portrays of their excruciating traumatic experience when they attacked their enemies from the polytheists of Quraysh calls for pondering. The Most High Says:

"they were being driven towards death as they looked on."(8:6).

Just as a person extricates himself from the world when he is marched to his death, seeing it before his eyes, those righteous ones from among the companions of the Messenger of God disentangled themselves from the world at Badr.

Despite this, they did not hesitate to answer the call of the Messenger of God (S). They came forward, fought and were killed, thus attaining martyrdom. May God be pleased with them and raise them to a high station in paradise with the prophets, the messengers and the righteous. Excellent indeed are those companions!

(v) These people were supported by God as a result of the effort they made in saving themselves from the control of worldly desires. God bestowed on them two important things: He gave them discernment, light and guidance so that they did not deviate from the path and go astray, and, He gave them strength and support so that they did not flag while trying to accomplish the uphill task that is associated with the difficult road.

One does not need more than these two things in his or her actions in order to make the journey towards God. God Most High has assured both to any of His servants who strive in his way. He says:

"As for those who strive towards us, we shall surely guide them in our ways, and God is indeed with the virtuous". (29:69).

First comes guidance, which is light and insight, then comes God's support for his servants. When God sees sincerity of purpose in His servant, He bestows His support on him and makes this difficult journey easy for him.

Third Class

This group rushes to meet God with great ease. Its members leave the world and its attendant tribulations without difficulty as though they had never entered it, so that the need to exit from it is does not exist. Such people mingle with the people and do not live differently from them. They go along with the people in the markets and other public places but their hearts never get attached to the world.

We shall mention two examples of this group from the young men of the Hashimite clan who were present at Karbala. They are Ali al-Akbar and al-Qasim ibn Hasan (‘a). These two lads did not hesitate to respond to the call of God, His messenger and his friends - the Imams (‘a) ; the love for this world had never entered their hearts; they did not combine worldly gain and religion as the people did; and therefore, they did not face any difficulty at the point of separation.

These people answered the call of Husayn (‘a) easily and hurried towards God, the way we hurry towards a thing we long for; without hesitation, without having to think, without any difficulty.

Perhaps the period of youth is the best time to prepare for such situations as the mind is not weighed down by anything. Young minds are fresh and not attached to the world. Therefore it is easy for young people to discard worldly things. The more one deals with the world the stronger grows one’s attachment to it.

This is the stage of life in which the Qur'an quickly blends with the hearts and minds of the youth who dedicate themselves to it. It is reported on the authority of Imam Sadiq (‘a) that: "If a person studies the Qur'an during his youth, it blends with his flesh and blood."2

The Messenger of God (S) is reported to have said: "Seven classes of people will be admitted into the shade by God on the day when there will be no shade apart from His. [They are:] a just ruler, a young person who grows up in the worship of God..."3 He is also reported to have said: "Nothing is more loved by God than a repentant youth."4

From the above we have seen three types of people who were present on the day of Ashura. Below we shall analyse these groups and compare them. First we shall compare the first class with the second. These two people are Umar ibn Sa'ad and al-Hurr ibn Yazid al-Riyahi, may God have mercy on him. Then we will compare the second and third classes. They are al-Hurr ibn Yazid al-Riyahi and Zuhayr ibn al-Qayn, may God have mercy on them.

Comparison Between The First And Second Class

Here we shall consider Umar ibn Sa'ad, who was from the first group and al-Hur ibn Yazid may God have mercy on him, who was from the second group. Both of them were heroes of their camps. The first was from the camp of Husayn (‘a), while the second was from that of the Umayyads. An amazing similarity existed between the two, and it calls for study, reflection and analysis.

(i) They were both renowned and distinguished generals of the Umayyad army and chiefs of their clans so they had strong worldly tendencies; they wanted comfort, respect and position.

(ii) Each of them wanted worldly gains as well as religion. But this was before they came face to face with the point of separation, which separates religious aspirations from worldly ones, where one has to pick one option and take a decision.

(iii) Both of them were trying to escape the point of separation so that they would not have to select either the world or their religion.

Below are two episodes about how the two men tried to escape the point of separation.

The Story Of How Umar Ibn Sa'ad Tried To Escape Fighting Husayn (‘A)

Al-Tabari has reported the story of Umar ibn Sa'ad when ibn Ziyad ordered him to march towards Husayn (‘a).On that day Umar ibn Sa'ad was camping at Hammam A'yan at the head of four thousand men, in preparation to move to Dustabi5 and Daylam. Ibn Ziyad ordered him to postpone the journey to Dastabi and Daylam and move on to fight Husayn (‘a).

Ibn Sa'ad requested exemption from this duty. This was the first attempt on his part to avoid the point of separation. When ibn Ziyad threatened that he would take back the document in which he had appointed Ibn Sa'ad as governor of Rayy, the latter applied for a night's respite to think over the issue.6

It should be noted that in his first attempt to avoid the point of separation, Ibn Sa'ad shied away from giving a decisive answer when Ibn Ziyad threatened to revoke his governorship. He could have returned Ibn Ziyad's commission and freed himself from this deadly sin which Ibn Ziyad wanted him to commit. He should have confronted Ibn Ziyad's threat with equal decisiveness. However, Ibn Sa'ad did nothing of that sort; what he did was request a night's respite in order to think and decide!!!

This is the first sign of irresoluteness which Ibn Ziyad promptly took note of. He saw the point of weakness in the personality of the man he intended to send against Husayn (‘a). In the night, Umar ibn Sa'ad consulted his friends and counselors who strongly warned him against fighting Husayn (‘a). His nephew Hamzah ibn al-Mughira ibn Shu'bah said to Umar ibn Sa'ad: I adjure you by God, do not set out to fight Husayn (‘a) lest you sever your kinship ties, and sin against your Lord. I swear by God that it is better for you to relinquish your worldly possessions, your wealth and the power over the whole earth – if it were your own – than to meet God with the guilt of Husayn (‘a) 's blood on you." "I will do (as you say), by the will of God", replied Ibn Sa'ad.7

The next day, Umar ibn Sa'ad went to Ibn Ziyad and said "You have commissioned me for this work (i.e the governorship of Dastabi and Daylam) and the people have already heard about it. Please implement it and dispatch to Husayn (‘a) someone who is abler than I am at war.' And he proposed some Kufan nobles. This was Umar ibn Sa'ad's second attempt to escape from the point of separation.

However, since Ibn Ziyad had discovered this man's point of weakness, he despised him. When Ibn Sa'ad mentioned the names of some Kufan nobles that could be sent to fight Husayn (‘a), Ibn Ziyad reprimanded him saying: "I am not seeking your counsel on whom to send. Either you set out with our army or relinquish our commission."8

Thus, in both attempts, Umar ibn Sa'ad failed to avoid the point of separation. Had he succeeded he would have secured both his religion and his worldly interests. Despite this futile effort, Ibn Sa'ad found himself at the crossroads. Now let us leave Umar and look at al-Hurr (may God have mercy on him) at the point of separation.

The Story Of How Al-Hurr Tried To Escape Fighting Husayn (‘A)

Let us glance at al-Hurr ibn Yazid al-Riyahi (may God have mercy on him) in a similar situation, and see how this noble general of the Umayyad army attempted to avoid the point of separation and tried to free himself from the ordeal of having to fight the leader of the youths of paradise without his losing anything of the world, and failed.

The historians record that al-Hurr met Husayn (‘a) at the station of Dhu Husam9 and requested the latter to accompany him to Ibn Ziyad in Kufa!!

Husayn (‘a) answered him: "Rather you will die before achieving that". Al-Hurr said: (Then) take a median road between us which will neither lead you to Kufa nor back to Medina, till I am able to write to Ibn Ziyad. Perhaps God may bring about my exemption and save me from your affair." Then he added: "I adjure you by God for your own sake [do not fight] for I am sure that if you do you will surely be killed."10

Al-Hurr was doing all he could so that God would save him from fighting Husayn (‘a) and committing the most abominable of all sins. To get an outlet, Hur suggested to Husayn (‘a) to act in a way that would spare him any encounter with the Imam.

If al-Hurr was sincere in this effort then so far he found it difficult to forfeit his worldly position.

(iv) Despite their efforts, both Hurr and Ibn Sa'ad would have to meet the point of separation from which they were running away. It would face them when they would have no option but to choose either this world or the next, with no possibility of having both. This is the point at which one of the men would differ from the other: Umar ibn Sa'ad was irresolute and could not take the brave decision. He answered Ibn Ziyad's request and marched with the army to fight Husayn (‘a) thereby incurring blame in this world and a mortal sin [to be punished] in the hereafter.

On the other hand, Hurr was able to take the difficult decision at the eleventh hour, save his hereafter and attain honour in both worlds. However, Hurr lost the governorship which Umar ibn Sa'ad coveted.

Let us see how each of these two men behaved at the point of separation.

A Return To Umar Ibn Saad At The Point Of Separation

History reports that at the point of separation Umar ibn Sa'ad spent a whole night in great anxiety and that was after Ibn Ziyad had threatened to revoke his appointment as governor of Rayy. It is reported that Ibn Sa'ad repeated the following two verses all night:

‘Should I forgo the rule over Rayy, the object of my desire or return to God with the blood of Husayn on my hands?

His killing will lead me to hell for sure, but to rule over Ray is my desire.’

These two verses portray the extent of this man's anguish and how his conscience was tormented. But at the end of the day he could not take the bold decision, rather, he succumbed to the temptation of exercising authority over Rayy. So his resolve flagged and in this way he welcomed the torment of inevitable hellfire in order to get that position. His resistance crumbled and he complied with Ibn Ziyad's request.

However, Hurr's situation at the point of separation was different. He found himself in a condition in which he had to choose between paradise and Hell. He knew that if he chose paradise his worldly position would be completely lost. But he must choose! So he chose paradise, thereby choosing God's pleasure in preference to this world; and he paid the price with his life for it and prospered.

Al-Muhajir ibn Aws said: “On the day of Ashura I saw al-Hurr affected by a sort of tremble. I said to him: Your condition is really amazing. By God, I have never seen such a thing in you before, and if I were asked who the bravest of the Kufans was, I would have said it was you. What then am I seeing in you?”

Al-Hurr replied; "I swear by God, I am selecting one of two things: paradise and hell. By God I will never prefer anything over paradise even if I am to be chopped up and burnt!"11

However, one thing remains clear; this decision of al-Hurr was indeed a very difficult one, hence the shiver, which was a sign of the great effort needed for it.

Comparison Between The Second And Third Class

Now let us compare the second class with the third. This comparison will be more difficult than the previous one. Nevertheless, it is indispensable if our study is to be complete.

(i) Both the two groups succeeded in weathering the trial at the point of separation; they moved towards God; they preferred to meet God rather than covet what the people possessed; they took this decision at the most difficult moment of the point of separation. In fact, a decision is needed when one finds himself at crossroads at difficult moments. Thus these two classes of people possessed the ingredients for taking this decision, so they eventually passed the test safely and arrived in the presence of God. Thus far, the two groups are similar to one another, and this is the most important point here.

(ii) However, the second group passes through this tough part of the process with much difficulty while the third group does so quite easily. Although the two take the same decision, they differ from one another in their way of taking it. Ali Akbar (‘a) heard his father say: ‘We are from God and to Him we are returning’ as he rode on his horse. Ali Akbar said to him: "May God never make you see any evil, father! Why did you pronounce the return formula?”

"My son" replied Husayn, "I dozed off and saw a rider who said: ‘The people are moving and their death is moving with them.’ So I realized that we were being informed of our imminent death."

Then Ali Akbar added: "Father! Are we not with the truth?"

"Surely, I swear by the One to whom the bondsmen return", replied Husayn (‘a).

Then Ali ibn Husayn (‘a) said calmly: "Then we should welcome death as those on the right path."12 Ali ibn Husayn did not encounter any difficulty in accepting this tough reality.

On the night before the tenth of Muharram, al-Qasim ibn al-Hasan (‘a) who was only an adolescent, asked his uncle, Husayn (‘a) about his martyrdom on the following day. The latter had informed his companions about getting martyred on the day of Ashura. Husayn said to him: "How do you consider death?" 'Sweeter than honey, Uncle!", al-Qasim replied.

On hearing that, Husayn gave him the good tidings of martyrdom on the day of Ashura.

How different the resolutions of Ali al-Akbar and al-Qasim (‘a) are from that of al-Hurr ibn Yazid al-Riyahi (may God have mercy on him)! Worldly matters had not entered the hearts of al-Qasim and Ali ibn Husayn at all, nor were their hearts attached to the world for them to find it difficult to extricate themselves from it. On the other hand Hurr's case was different, for he was taken by a shiver when he resolved to join Husayn in meeting God.

The two groups share the quality of moving to meet God although each in its own different way. Now which one of the two ways is better in the sight of God? I do not know. And I don't want to enter into a discussion on it. Each of them will meet God with a set of deeds different from that of the other. Hurr's deeds comprised of great effort and difficulty which he suffered and these are presentations which are loved by God Almighty.... The more the effort and difficulty a particular work involves, the more the person who carries out the work earns the love and pleasure of God Most High. It has been reported that, "The best work is that which involves the most trouble."

The two Hashimite youths, Ali ibn Husayn and al-Qasim ibn al-Hasan (‘a) would meet God with hearts that did not get attached to the world at all. This is another deed which is loved by God Most High. He says

"The day when neither wealth nor children will avail, except him who comes to God with a sound heart." (26:88-89).

Likewise, God loves that person who takes the trouble to walk along the difficult path. So, both groups meet God with deeds that are liked by Him: effort, striving with difficulty, and a pure heart that is unattached to the world.

(iii) Why does their meeting with God take different forms? Surely a believer has the right to enjoy the good things of this world and he should not forbid himself what God has made lawful to him.

These two principles are fundamental in the law of God. The first one is indicated by the following verse, ‘O you who have faith! Eat of the good things we have provided you, and thank God...’(2:172).

And the second one the following verse:

‘O you who have faith! Do not prohibit the good things that God has made lawful to you...’ (4:78).

However a third principle obtains which is no less important than the first two. One should not take from the world, even the good part which is made lawful by God, if it distracts him from His remembrance and lures him towards worldly things, because when one is pleased with the world and takes much of it he easily gets attached to it.

It is because of this that the Messenger of God (S) and the pious servants of God used to strive not to get involved in the good things of this life. It is related that someone gave the Messenger of God (S) sweet candy as a gift but he refused to partake of it. The man said: ‘Do you consider it unlawful?' 'No, however, I would dislike craving for it’, he replied. Then he recited:

"You have exhausted your good things in the life of the world"(46:20). 13

This is a fact. When one indulges oneself in the good things of life he craves for them and it takes hold of his heart. Thus the control exercised by the world on the hearts of the righteous is commensurate with their share of worldly things.

It is related that the Commander of the Faithful (‘a) said: "Whatever you miss of the world is booty (for you)."

God Most High did not prohibit His servants from enjoying good provisions if they came from a lawful source. However, indulging in them leads to a gradual attachment to the world.

As far as the religion of God is concerned, one is not barred from enjoying the good things of life if he can save himself from falling at the zero hour. But how can one assure oneself of escaping the fall when the hour comes, for indeed, the world has brought down many people like him before? It is a risky game in which the player doesn't perform well sometimes and there is no guarantee that he will succeed.

Secondly, attachment to the world leaves irresistible effects on the heart that distract one from the remembrance of God. They deprive the mind of clarity and transparency and turn mental dimensions into a murky lot, even when a person is able to overcome his desires and succeed in taking the correct decision at zero hour. This is the difference between the second and third classes.

To cite an application of the comparison of the second and third classes we shall cite the stand of al-Hurr ibn Yazid al-Riyahi (may God have mercy on him) and that of al-Qasim ibn al-Hasan (‘a) to depict the difficulty or ease of resolution. Both of them had decided to fight alongside Husayn (‘a), although al-Hurr took this decision after much trouble and effort, while al-Qasim ibn al-Hasan did so quite easily without any hesitation or delay.

On being asked by his uncle on the night before the tenth of Muharram how he considered death, al-Qasim answered: 'Sweeter than honey, Uncle'. He gave this answer in a relaxed mood without having to contemplate. This reply was similar to that of his grandfather, the Commander of the Faithful (‘a) when he was asked by the Messenger of God, may God bless him and his family,: 'How patient will you be in the face of martyrdom?' 'O Messenger of God!', he replied, 'Martyrdom is not a situation [that requires] patience, but one worthy of rejoicing and gratitude'.14

This mood of Ali (‘a) draws the line between the two ways of encountering martyrdom! Extricating oneself from the world with difficulty and dragging of the feet, and instantly freeing oneself from the world. The first one needs patience while the second comes with gratitude, and both, no doubt, are meritorious. Perseverance for martyrdom is meritorious and more so if crowned with gratitude. However, a person who welcomes martyrdom with gratitude, treating it like any other blessing of God, will not find any difficulty in taking a decision. For how can one experience difficulty in deciding to receive a blessing from God? But he who considers martyrdom a trial from God needs much patience and effort in order to pass the test... Both are meritorious.

It is hard to prefer one over the other and distinguish which one is more esteemed before God, but one fact stands clear: The person who takes the second stand is more secure from the danger of falling than the one who takes the first. And, no doubt, this is a big distinction.

Another Comparison Between Al-Hurr And Zuhayr

There was great similarity between the two men. Both were chiefs of their people. Al-Hurr was a general of the Umayyad army while Zuhayr was a partisan of the Umayyads (an Uthmani), as related in historical reports.

Both of them were avoiding Husayn (‘a). The reason for Zuhayr's attitude towards Husayn was an opinion based on a misunderstanding and not due to worldly desires. As soon as the truth dawned on him and his mistake became clear to him he did not hesitate at all to change the course of his life. This change was surely a complete transformation.

Let us analyse Zuhayr’s transformation as related by al-Tabari from Abu Mikhnaf.

Al-Tabari relates on the authority of Abu Mikhnaf, who said: "Al-Suddi told me, on the authority of a man from the tribe of Fazarah, who said: When it was the time of al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf, we were hiding in the house of al-Harith ibn Abi Rabi'ah ... I said to the Fazari man: Tell me about your situation when you returned (from Mecca) together with Husayn ibn Ali (‘a). He said: When we left Mecca we were with Zuhayr ibn al-Qayn al-Bajali moving alongside Husayn (‘a) Nothing was more hateful to us than moving near him so when Husayn moved on Zuhayr ibn al-Qayn lagged behind, and when Husayn (‘a) camped Zuhayr continued his journey until we halted one day at a station where there was no other way for us but to camp near him. Husayn (‘a) camped on one side [of the road] and we camped on the other. As we were having our meal Husayn's messenger approached, greeted us and entered.

Then he said: 'O, Zuhayr ibn al-Qayn! Abu Abdillah Husayn ibn Ali (‘a) has sent me to summon you to him.' He said: Every one of us threw away what was in his hands and lost his voice as though there where birds sitting on our heads. Then Dulham bint 'Amr, the wife of Zuhayr ibn al-Qayn informed me, saying: 'I said to him: 'Did the son of the daughter of the Messenger of God send for you and you refuse to meet him? Glory be to God! Why don't you meet him and listen to what he has to say, and then come back?' So Zuhayr ibn al-Qayn went and after a short while came back his face shining with joy. Then he ordered that his tent, luggage and provisions be taken to Husayn (‘a), and it was done. Then he said to his wife: 'You are divorced. Rejoin your family for I don't want anything to befall you on my account except good.’ Then he said to his companions: ‘He who wants to follow me [can do so] otherwise I bid you farewell!’ ”15

In this report we find four successive situations pertaining to Zuhayr.

Aversion And Inaction

First, a strong aversion and inaction with regard to meeting Husayn (‘a) to the extent that he did everything not to halt at the same watering place with Husayn (‘a).This aversion was caused by a great misunderstanding and wrong evaluation of things, and not by deviation tendencies.

Shock And Hesitation

Then followed a strong mental shock.When Husayn's (‘a) messenger brought Zuhayr the message that the Imam wished to see him, Zuhayr and his companions were at a loss till his brave and pious wife Dulham (may God have mercy on her) took the initiative and diffused his terrible hesitation by asking him to respond to the summons of the son of the Messenger of God (S).

Willingness To Meet Husayn (‘A)

Thirdly, indecisiveness left Zuhayr and he went with the messenger to meet Husayn (‘a) and speak to him.

Response And Acceptance

And lastly, a quick receptiveness followed and Zuhayr firmly resolved to respond to Husayn(‘a) 's call fully, without further hesitation or difficulty.

We do not know what Husayn (‘a) told Zuhayr, we do not know what Zuhayr heard from Husayn (‘a). We do not know what Husayn (‘a) could have told Zuhayr in such a short time, for Zuhayr did not stay long with Husayn (‘a). The report says 'soon he came back rejoicing...' and this shows that the meeting of Zuhayr with Husayn (‘a) did not take long before the former transferred his Umayyad partisanship to the Alids. It was a swift response to Husayn(‘a) 's invitation. He did not hesitate at all nor drag his feet before responding to Husayn (‘a).

This response of Zuhayr has two elements:

(i) A strong resolve which Zuhayr would never give up at any cost. He even said to his wife to whom he was indebted for this transformation: 'You are divorced' and to his companions: ‘Pull down my tent and carry my luggage to Husayn’s (‘a) campside.’

(ii) The speed and ease in taking his decision, with no effort or reluctance ‘After a while he came back rejoicing’.

Analysis Of Al-Hurr's Unusual Stand

(i) Al-Hurr knew the Imam's position very well and prayed behind him. When the Imam gave him the option of praying behind him or leading his companions in prayer while the Imam prayed with his own, al-Hurr said: ‘You pray and we pray behind you'. When the Imam said to him, 'May your mother grieve over your death!' it was hard for him to bear, but he only answered: ‘I swear by God that if any other man from the Arabs mentioned my mother in this way I would have mentioned his mother the same way, whoever he might have been. But there is no way I can mention your mother except in the best possible terms.’

(ii) Ibn Ziyad ordered him to bring the Imam (‘a) to Kufa under escort but the latter strongly refused. So Hurr tried to free himself of the responsibility he was charged with and not be involved in Husayn (‘a) 's affair. Hurr hoped that God would save him from getting involved in anything to do with that. He said to the Imam 'Take the road between me and you, one that will neither take you to Kufa nor back to Medina.'

(iii) However, throughout these events Hurr was trying to keep his position in the Ummayad army. He did not want to give up the command of the army that was assigned to him by Ibn Ziyad. His clinging to the world and its positions did not rob him of treating the Imam with courtesy, nor did his courtesy stamp out his love for the world.

(iv) Despite all efforts to avoid the point of separation where he would have to pick one of the two things: this world or the next, where he could not have both, it was the will of God to take Hurr to the destined point. That was on the tenth day of Muharram when he went to Umar ibn Sa'ad in Karbala and said to him: Are you [really] fighting this man?' Yes, I swear by God. [I will engage him in] a fight, the least part of which will send heads and hands flying’, he replied.

(v) At that point Hurr realized that he had no choice but to choose either this world or the next, and he could never have both. He would either prefer this world over the next or vice versa.

(vi) It became hard for him to decide and it was then that he began trembling. This is a condition above that of anxiety and confusion. Hurr found himself in a position in which he had to resolve relinquishing all his worldly acquisitions, a fact he had tried hard to avoid. Hitherto he had held on to those acquisitions as much as possible. We do not know of a fiercer contest inside the human mind. Hurr had experienced, at the zero hour of his life, a struggle between the world and the hereafter right inside himself which he had been running away throughout that period. He had been trying to reconcile the two but the will of God was above that of Hurr. He came face to face with the point of separation!

(vii) So Hurr took the inevitable decision and galloped his horse towards Husayn (‘a) to the utter surprise of his companions and the whole army. The commander of the army Umar ibn Sa'ad could not believe it when he saw al-Hurr going over to Husayn's side at this critical moment.

He now came to Husayn (‘a) with his head bowed in shame on account of how he had treated the Imam some days before on the way to Karbala. He approached saying: ‘Is there a chance to repent?’ 'If you return to God He will accept you', the Imam replied.

Hurr galloped his horse towards Husayn (‘a) as if he was running away from something that pursued him, something he feared. But Hurr was a brave man undaunted by anything. Why did he speed his horse towards Husayn? Who was pursuing him?

Hurr was afraid of himself, lest his base self-prevented him from going over to Husayn’s side by enticing him with the world. He wanted to put himself into a new reality from which he could not go back again. So he galloped quickly to join Husayn and put himself in a new reality, i.e. before Husayn (‘a), ashamed and apologizing, seeking his pardon so that God might accept his repentance.

May God have mercy on you O Hurr! You were a free man (hurr) as your mother named you; you would not incline towards the allurements of the world.

May God have mercy on you, O Hurr! Your companions testified to your bravery on the battlefield and we testify that you were more valiant and strong in the battle with your Self. We bear witness that the tough decision you took on that day which perplexed the army and its general was a feat that could hardly be accomplished by a joint effort of courageous men.

Surely God loved and preferred you in the company of Husayn (‘a), to fight and attain martyrdom by his side, while defending him. Congratulations on this great divine gift!

Conclusion

Before we close this discussion, I would like to take a final glance at the comparison between the second and third classes.

At the end, al-Hurr and Zuhayr (may God have mercy on them) met ‘in the abode of truthfulness with an omnipotent King;’16 they supported Husayn; they fought, were killed and attained martyrdom together; and they gained nearness to the Messenger of God (S) in paradise. The bitter troubles suffered by al-Hurr might not be less in value than the swift acceptance by Zuhayr. So what is the need of comparison and analysis?

It is true that in the final analysis both men attained their goal and there is no doubt about that, but many a man has fallen while taking the leap from the world to the hereafter and from ‘I’ to God, as the world overpowered him while he was trying to extricate himself from its clutches. A great number of people have lost the battle with the self. God Almighty declared the truth when He said:

" Indeed man is at a loss, except those who have faith and do righteous deeds, and enjoin one another to [follow] the truth, and enjoin one another to patience.”(103:2-3).

Surely, most people are at a loss and those who prosper are only a small group. Those are the people who enjoin one another to follow the truth and enjoin one another to patience, barring exceptional cases.

To be saved from the hazards of this road, which are many and dangerous, one should not give himself up to the world. This is the first necessary condition. The second is that one should not appropriate much from the world but only take from it as much as one needs. He who takes from the world will surely be taken by it unless he limits himself to his needs with modesty, in which case worldly enticements will not overpower him.

In his sermon describing the God-fearing, the Commander of the Faithful said “You will see him (the God-fearing person) modest in hopes, contented in mind; his food inelaborate, his affairs simple, his greed dead...”17

This doesn’t mean that one should prohibit himself the good things of life, rather one should be contented with the amount he needs so that the world will not overwhelm him and strip him of his will-power.

The Commander of the Faithful is teaching us how to treat our ‘selves’ if they prove obstinate with regard to obligations we dislike, and piety. We should punish them through the pleasures of this world, which they love. This is an excellent remedy for it trains the soul to accept cumbersome and arduous tasks of obligations and piety.

“If his soul is recalcitrant in matters it dislikes he will not give it what it wants.”18

- 1. In Surah Al 'Imran, God most High says, concerning the day of Badr: "What befell you on the day when the two hosts met…"(3:166).

- 2. Wasa'il al-Shi'ah 2/141.

- 3. Majma' al-Bayan 2/385.

- 4. Mishkat al-Anwar, 155.

- 5. In those days, this place was said to lie between Hamedan and Rayy, but we could not locate it on present-day maps.

- 6. Tarikh al-Tabari 6/232.

- 7. Al-Muqarram's Maqtal al-Al-Husayn (‘a), pg. 214.

- 8. Ibid, pg. 214 – 215.

- 9. A hill where al-Nu'man ibn al-Mundhir used to go hunting.

- 10. Sayyid Abd al-Razzaq-al-Muqarram's Maqtal al-Al-Husayn (‘a), 196.

- 11. Sheikh Mufid's Al-Irshad pg. 235.

- 12. Abu Mikhnaf said: "Uqbah ibn Sam'an said: When we left the castle of Banu Muqatil and moved on for some time al-Al-Husayn dozed off for a moment and then woke up saying 'We are from God and to him we are returning. Praise be to God, Lord of the worlds." He repeated this twice or thrice. Then Ali ibn al-Al-Husayn approached him riding his horse and said: 'We are from God and to him we are returning. Praise be to God, Lord of the worlds! Father! May I be your ransom. Why did you praise God and recited the return formula?
Al-Husayn (‘a) said: My son! I dozed off for a moment and saw a rider who was saying: "The people are moving along and death is moving towards them." So I realized that we are being given the news of our death.
He said to him: Father! May God never let you see evil – are we not in the right?
Al-Husayn (‘a) replied: "Surely, I swear by the One to whom the bondsmen return.
He said: Father! in that case we wouldn't mind to die as those in the right.
Then al-Al-Husayn said to him: May God reward you with the best of what he rewards a son for his obedience to his father!"
Tarikh al-Tabari 7/307, the events of the year 61 (A.H.) (European edition).

- 13. Nur al-Thaqalan, 5/15.

- 14. This is found in Nahj al-Balaghah vo.2, pg.48 speech no 156. "I said: O Messenger of God! When some of the Muslims are martyred on the day of Uhud and I was deprived of martyrdom and I felt it seriously, didn't you tell me: Rejoice, for martyrdom is waiting for you?
He said to me: This is so. Then how is your perseverance? I said: O Messenger of God! This is not a situation [that requires] perseverance but one of rejoicing and gratitude."

- 15. Tarikh al-Tabari, 7, 290-291 Events of 61 A.H (European edition).

- 16. See Qur’an, 54:55.

- 17. Nahj al-Balaghah 2/163, sermon 193 (Muhammad Abduh’s edition).

- 18. Al-Fatal al-Nisaburi’s Rawdah al-Wa’izin, pg. 439; Al-Tabarasi’s Makarim al-Akhlaq, pg 447.

Meditations On Husayn’s Speech On The Day Of Ashura

Husayn (‘a) addressed the people on the Day of Ashura, saying:

“You have drawn the sword with which we armed you, against us, and ignited the fire we kindled against our enemy and yours, against us. So you have joined hands with the forces of your enemies against your allies, in spite of being aware that they (your enemies) have not established any justice among you, nor do you expect any good from them.”1

This is Husayn’s address to the people on the day of Ashura. It is a strange speech which he gave at that critical hour before they drew their swords on him. This address carries boundless grief on account of those people who drew their swords against the son of the daughter of the Messenger of God, (S). I will talk on a number of points regarding this speech.

1. “You Have Drawn The Sword With Which We Armed You, Against Us.”

With respect to any struggle people fall into three groups: The first and the second are the opposing parties, while the third are mere observers who stay behind without supporting the truth. This group makes up a wide cross section of society.

The first and second groups bear the price of the struggle, that is, hands and heads will have to fall. This equally involves both the contesting parties and is not specific to the party of truth or falsehood. This is the norm of God Most High with regard to contests. God Almighty says:

“If you are suffering they are also suffering like you, but you expect from God what they do not expect.”(4:104).

He also said:

"If a wound afflicts you, a like wound has already afflicted those people; and We make such vicissitudes rotate among mankind...” (3:140).

The party of truth is distinguished in the contest by God’s help and support and the victory He grants them. Indeed God has promised them that. God Most High says:

" If you help God, He will help you and make your feet steady” (47:7).

and

" God has ordained: ‘I shall surely prevail, I and my apostles.” (58:21).

This is what the believers expect from God when they are engaged in a contest. This expectation assures the hearts of the believers of divine support on the battlefield, a support which will ensure the outcome of the conflict in their favour. The foregoing analysis pertains to the two warring parties. The third group is a very complex one that can easily slip towards the side of falsehood as it is susceptible to enemy influence.

These are the people whom Husayn (‘a) addressed on the day of Ashura. They had sheathed their swords during the times of Ali (‘a) and al-Hasan (‘a). They had abandoned Ali (‘a) in Siffin and after that al-Hasan (‘a) till he had to compromise with Mu’awiya in order to save what remained of his father’s partisans. When these people put down their arms and forsook Ali (‘a) and al-Hasan (‘a), Mu’awiya drew them and after him, on the day of Ashura, Yazid did the same.

They did not lay down arms for long because the field of struggle abhors those sitting on the fence. He who does not side with truth on the field of contest and prefers safety over trouble of battle will undoubtedly side with falsehood very soon. The stand of the defenders of truth is firm and secure, and beyond the reach of the enemy, but those who stand on the fence easily drift towards the enemy side. They are defenseless and within easy reach of the enemy who can allure them to join the bandwagon, or terrorize and force them to side with falsehood.

Because of this, the positions people take on the field of conflict boil down to two: either they stand with truth in terms of loyalty and denouncement or they stand with falsehood in a like manner. These were the people Husayn (‘a) was addressing at Karbala. They had sheathed their swords and betrayed his father and brother before and were drawing them on him in Karbala. So he said to them: ‘You have drawn the sword with which we armed you against us.’

The sword denotes power. Before the advent of Islam, the Arabs were an isolated, weak nation living in the desert with neither power nor wealth. Islam bestowed on them power and wealth, made them bearers of the message of monotheism and conquered the world for them, thus making them lords and rulers over the world. Syria was then the seat of this power, which Islam had brought to the Arabs, and it used it to exercise political and military influence over large parts of Asia and Africa.

To these people, Husayn (‘a) spoke on the day of Ashura at Karbala, saying:

“God has guided you through my grandfather the Messenger of God (S) and, through him, provided you with this vast control that stretches over the earth. He has made you leaders and lords in the world. Therefore, this power and sword is ours although it is now in your hands. However, you have forsaken my father and brother before; you sheathed your swords and abandoned them then. And here you are today drawing the sword, which the Messenger of God (S) placed in your hands, to fight the son of his daughter.

It would have been more becoming of you to have fought Muawiya ibn Abi Sufyan with this sword before, in support of my father and brother, and today, Yazid ibn Mu’awiya in my support ... for they have left the tradition (sunnah) of God’s Messenger and we tried to bring them back to the straight path but they did not return to it.”

2. ‘And You Ignited The Fire Which We Kindled Against Our Enemy And Your Enemy, Against Us.’

What was this fire that Husayn spoke about on the day of Ashura?

Who ignited it?

Where did he ignite it?

This fire was the great explosion of light that took place in the Arabian Peninsula. It sent to mankind a radiance that enlightened the hearts and minds of men from the east to the west. With this light, which entered every house, God removed the darkness of ignorance from mankind. This light turned into faith, sincerity, service, certainty, values, sacrifice, prayer and supplication, schools for the dissemination of knowledge and mosques for worship that soon spread all over the world. It also emerged as uprisings and movements of the oppressed against the oppressors. On the other hand, this fire eliminated the thrones of the tyrants in Persia, Byzantine and Egypt. It also broke away the fetters and shackles from the hands and feet of men, and set them free from the grip of the oppressors.

The Messenger of God (S) ignited this fire in the Arabian peninsula and it was barely fifty years after its kindling that it illuminated the globe from east to west. The Messenger of God, (S) did not select a specific class for this call. In fact he released the dormant forces of innate nature and reason from the souls of those Arabs who answered his call. He made them a great force that vanquished the armies of Persia and Byzantium, and swept away the thrones of Chosroe and Caesar.

This action of the Messenger of God (S) was exactly like the work of an engineer when he produces light and heat from a cold dark rock; or the way a cold dark piece of wood gives us light and heat when it comes into contact with fire. He produced, out of them, paragons of righteousness and piety, strength and resistance, faith and submission to God, who were able to propagate this mission all over the world. They became lords and leaders of humanity after having lived in isolation from civilization in a plantless desert region.

In no more than fifty years from the death of the Messenger of God (S), the people burnt the house of his daughter. They set fire to Fatima’s (‘a) door in Medina, and later to the tents of his household in Karbala.

How cruelly they disregarded the rights of the Prophet’s family!

How ungratefully they repaid the Messenger of God (S) for his favours!

How regrettable the conduct of the servants!!

And God Most High clearly expressed His Wish to them:

"Say, ‘I do not ask of you any reward for it except affection and respect for [my] kith and kin.’ (42:23).

3. “You Have Joined Hands With The Forces Of Your Enemies Against Your Allies.”

This is the second act of apostasy, which is worse than the first. The Imam (‘a) pointed out to the first when he said: ‘you have drawn the sword which we armed you with, against us.’ When the people reneged the first time, the swords shifted from the side of the Household of the Messenger of God (S) to the side of their opponents and enemies. This fact has been precisely described by al-Farazdaq when he met Husayn (‘a) on the way to Iraq. He said to the Imam (‘a): “Their hearts are with you but their swords are against you.”2 This is a perfect description of the psychological and political condition of the people at that time. Indeed their hearts were with Husayn (‘a) until then although their political inclinations were in favour of the Umayyads. This was the beginning, and it constituted the first act of perfidy.

The normal situation is that the hearts and swords should converge on the side of the truth, but if the heart and the swords disagree, this is the first step towards apostasy. The second step is when the two are agreed on being hostile to, and fighting the Prophet’s Household (as.). This is the situation about which the Imam (‘a) is informing us in this statement:

“You have joined hands with the forces of your enemies against your allies.”

The term al-ilb, which the Imam used, denotes rallying or joining hands with a common enemy and needs some explanation. A nation (ummah) is a group of people who are united by a common loyalty and a common thing which they repudiate. This is the soundest and most precise definition of ummah (nation).

The Muslim nation is united by loyalty to God, His Messenger (S) and the Imams (‘a) of the believers.

" Your guardian is only God, his Apostle and the faithful who maintain prayer and give the zakat while bowing down [in rukuh].”(5:55).

He who accepts this guardianship is part of this nation and he who rejects it or part of it does not belong to this nation. Similarly, this nation has a common position of repudiating the rebellious forces of taghut which God Almighty has ordered us to disbelieve in, and the idolaters. So he who repudiates these two is a member of this nation and he who does not is not its member.

" Worship God and keep away from the Rebel” (16:36).

Thus, on the day of Ashura, The Imam (‘a) said to them: A repudiation of God’s enemies and a common hostility towards them used to unite us. We also shared a common loyalty towards God’s friends. But today “you have joined the forces of your enemies against your allies”, exactly the opposite of what should have been the case. You should have united with your allies against your enemies. This is the second act of apostasy.

In fact, this was the condition of the people whom Husayn (‘a) addressed on Ashura. This showed the change-over between the two poles of love and hate, loyalty and repudiation, and it is the highest form of volte-face in the human personality.

4. “They Have Not Established Any Justice Among You, Nor Do You Expect Any Good From Them.”

The Imam (‘a) is saying that their hearts have turned from guidance to misguidance, from God’s friends to His enemies. They have become loyal to those that deserved repudiation, while the Umayyads have not changed their former position: “they have not established any justice among you.” The Umayyads are still committing injustice as they did before, still steeped in oppression and deviation.

No change had taken place in the stand of the Umayyads; the only thing that happened was a volte-face of hearts from the axis of loyalty to that of repudiation and from repudiation to that of (a new) alliance, for the people had shifted their alliance from the Ahl al-Bayt (the Prophet’s household) to the Umayyads without there being any change in the Ahl al-Bayt (‘a) from the position of guidance and righteousness, or in the Umayyads from their deviation and oppression.

“Nor do you expect any good from them”

That change of hearts was not prompted by any transformation in the Umayyads from unjust rulers to justice-loving ones, nor was it because the people expected the Umayyads to treat them with justice. Therefore, the people were not deceived by the Umayyads when they gave them their loyalty and fought their antagonists. What then prompted the people to change over from the family of God’s Messenger (S) to the family of Umayyah? The reason was that the Umayyads had subdued them with terror or enticement. There is a difference between deception and degradation. One who is deceived by his enemy loves his enemy, is loyal to him and fights his enemy’s enemy out of mistake. This is a weakness in terms of awareness and knowledge but not a debasement. But he who allies himself with his enemy and supports him with his arms and wealth, and then gives him his heart knowing that he is his enemy abases himself and becomes contemptible.

Nations have always been subdued and degraded either by force and terror or by money. The Umayyads used both methods: debasement with force and terror and debasement with money and power. Although they used enticements, propaganda and deception, their excessive oppression, luxury and sinful style of life was too prominent to be lost on anyone.

5. “Woe To You! Are You Heading Towards These People And Forsaking Us?

This is the most pathetic volte-face in man’s life: he turns against himself by loving his enemy and hating his friend. A human being loves and hates; loves his friends and hates his enemies. When one forgets oneself, he forgets who he should love and who he should hate and above all, love and hate change places for him so that he now loves his enemy and hates his friends! This is the condition with which God punishes those who forget Him; He makes them forget themselves

" ...who forgot God so he makes them forget their own souls”. (59:19).

The people Husayn (‘a) addressed on the day of Ashura were among those who forgot God so He made them forget themselves, forgot who they loved and hated. They loved the Umayyads who they were supposed to be hostile to because they perpetrated tyranny, sin and ungodliness; and they fought their friends and allies whom God had commanded the Muslims to love and obey, as recorded in the definitive (muhkamat) verses of His book.3 I cannot imagine the extent of pain that afflicted the Imam’s heart as depicted by this speech. A pain that stems from his compassion for them with regard to the level of misery they had reached. This pain was not because the Imam had lost their support in his tribulation.

6. “O Slaves Of (This) Nation And Strangers!”

This is the trait of slaves. Slaves must be loyal to whoever buys them. There is no permanent principle for their loyalty. He who buys them from the slave market deserves their loyalty, whether they like or hate him. Therefore their loyalty changes hands instantly from one master to the new master who pays their price to the old one and the latter hands over the whip to the former.

In an instant, the slaves forget their old love and loyalty and become faithful to their new master and new loyalty. People’s loyalty is to their parties, in ease or difficulty and in defeat or victory, unlike those who are strangers to the parties, for their loyalty is always for the victorious whether they are in the right or not. This is the situation with floating political alliances; they carry dangerous psychological implications that depict a lack of principles and values. Also this attitude shows complete subordination to the one with the upper hand and a complete abandoning of the self and values.

7. “Away With You, O Slaves Of The Nation And Strangers To The Parties!”

Here the Imam (‘a) is praying for their being distanced from the mercy of God. This is because God’s mercy descends on man at different stations in man’s life. When one distances himself from these points he removes himself from God’s mercy. This is God’s norm of treating His servants so let us ponder on it. There is a reciprocal relationship between the descending mercy of God and the points at which it descends.

This descending mercy activates the places it descends upon. When rain falls on a land it becomes green, blossoms, ripens and bears fruit. This is what the descending mercy does to its place of descent. The place of mercy also seeks its place of descent and does not come down on a place unless it deserves the descent of mercy.

This deserving is to seek God’s mercy in the existential sense by having the potential to receive it, and this is necessary for mercy to descend. On the other hand, rejecting God’s mercy pushes it aside and makes it remote. God’s mercy is continuously descending although there are factors that facilitate its reception, just as there are factors that bring about its rejection.

Ponder over the prayer of the righteous servant of God, Noah (‘a) against his people:

“And Noah said: ‘My Lord! Do not leave on the earth any inhabitant from amongst the faithless. If you leave them, they will lead your servants astray and will beget only vicious ingrates.” (71:27).

It is a strange prayer in which Noah (‘a) speaks of God’s norms of sending mercy and cutting it off. All their potential for receiving goodness had dried up and all readiness to seek mercy: “... and they will not beget any but vicious ingrates”. So, on what would God’s mercy descend?

Husayn (‘a) prays to God Most High against those people on the day of Ashura because their hearts have lost all the values, which are the points in their souls at which mercy descends. So there remained no place in their souls and lives on which divine mercy would alight. Thus he said: Away with you! O slaves of the nation.

8. “An Old Treachery That Was Part And Parcel Of Your Forefathers”

Just as good can be deep-rooted, evil can also be so. The roots of goodness reach out to innate nature, reason, conscience and the heart while those of evil are linked to selfish desires. When evil and selfish desires take root in the mind one loses all the sources of goodness that are in his soul. The foundations of goodness that are associated with his heart, conscience, reason and innate nature dwindle as well.

Heredity plays a part in establishing goodness or evil. I do not mean to say that the effect of heredity is inevitable but that it plays an important part. Heredity enhances good and intensifies evil although not with coercion. This means that mankind falls into two groups: the good tree and the bad tree (lit. tree) and each one is a tree. A tree has roots and fruits and there are similarities in some aspects between the roots and fruits of a tree. The roots of a tree form its foundation, the fruits its derivatives while the trunk serves as the means of conveying the features from the roots to the fruits.

In like manner good and bad lines of mankind carry good and bad traits from ancestors to their offspring so that goodness or evil are deep-rooted in each of them. Consequently, these two sets of ancestors constitute two lines in human history: a rising line that moves upwards continuously and a falling line, continuous in descent. Nimrod’s family is on the descent and Abraham’s family on the ascent; the family of Moses is ascending and the family of Pharaoh descending.

The law of heredity enhances this ascent and descent. It does not only convey the features of good and evil from forefathers to offspring but also refines them and sorts out evil from good and vice versa. As time goes on, the divergence between these two families (of good and evil) widens until a time is reached when the members of the evil family become devoid of goodness and its spring dries up from their souls. At that point divine punishment descends on them since they no longer deserve mercy.

This is what happened at the time of Noah (‘a) and it could happen at any other time. Then the bad family comes to an end and falls, and a new circle of history will begin. Surely, the law of heredity carries good and bad traits from generation to generation and promotes both the good and the bad together. It is this law that Imam Husayn (‘a) was hinting at when he said:

“Certainly, I swear by God that yours is an old treachery which has become part and parcel of your forefathers and which the offspring among you have strengthened. So you are the worst fruits: an eye sore to the viewer and an easy morsel for the usurper.”

The Imam (‘a) meant to say that treachery and wickedness was deep-rooted in them. It first reared its head on the day of Siffin, after which sons inherited it from their fathers. It took root first with their forefathers and gained strength and blossomed at the hands of the offspring among those present.

Therefore, they are the worst fruit of the bad tree. We must add that the inheritance we are discussing here is that of values and behaviour and it does not apply to biological inheritance. The law of biological inheritance in plants, animals and humans does not necessarily apply to that of values, thoughts and behaviour. The two laws can be completely different as in the case of Noah's son.

The Qur'an gives a precise description of him saying:

"Indeed he is a [personification of] unrighteous conduct"(11:46).

Although he was among the offspring of Noah (‘a) who was a leader of the righteous. This difference came from the determining factor in biological inheritance that does not apply to the inheritance of actions and values, which follow will and choice.

- 1. Sayyid Ibn Tawus’s Al-Luhuf fi Qatla al-Tufuf pg. 58.

- 2. Sheikh al-Sharifi’s Kalimat Imam al-Al-Husayn (‘a) pg. 370.

- 3. “Say, ‘I do not ask you any reward for it except the affection for [my] relatives’ (42:23).
“Your guardian is only God, His Apostle, and the faithful who maintain the prayer and give the zakat while bowing down” (5:55).

Political Goals Of Imam Husayn (‘a) 'S Uprising

The two Imams, Hasan and Husayn (‘a) had resolved to proclaim their revolt against Umayyad rule when conditions become favourable. They had disclosed this to their partisans (Shi'ah) more than once. The plan of the two Imams Hasan and Husayn (‘a) on this issue, i.e. their position vis-à-vis the Umayyads, was the same. After the treaty of Imam Hasan (‘a) some groups of the Shi'ah of Iraq wrote to Imam Husayn (‘a) requesting him to proclaim an uprising and revolt against Mu'awiya. They rejected Imam Hasan's (‘a) stand of accepting a settlement. In reply, Husayn (‘a) wrote: "Abu Muhammad [Hasan] has said the truth. Let every man among you keep to his house as long as this man (Mu'awiya) is alive."1

God Most High willed that Mu'awiya's treachery against the Imam be executed. So he was martyred before the death of Mu'awiya and Husayn (‘a) took the office of leadership (imamah) and assumed the responsibility of leading the opposition and the movement for change. The stand of Husayn (‘a) was a continuation of that of his brother concerning Mu'awiya after the death of al-Mujtaba, Imam al-Hasan (‘a). The people of Iraq wrote to him again, reiterating their demand that he should lead them to revolt against Mu'awiya but Imam Husayn (‘a) again did not respond to their request. He wrote:

"As for my brother, I hope that God made him succeed and guided him to the right with respect to what was coming. I, myself don't have this view [of revolting against Mu'awaya] today. So do not stir. May God have mercy on you! Keep to your houses and guard against suspicion as long as Mu'awiya is alive."2

However, an underground political movement was in progress in Hijaz. Imam Husayn (‘a) was directing it to awaken the Muslims against Umayyad rule, in preparation for an all-out revolt after Mu'awiya’s death. The Imam (‘a) was in touch with some Muslim dignitaries in Iraq and Hijaz who used to visit him and take his advice. Despite the fact that these meetings were largely held in secret, they were not hidden from the Umayyad spies. Therefore Marwan, Mu'awiya's governor of Medina, wrote to him, saying:

"Umar ibn Uthman reports that an Iraqi man and some notables of the people of Hijaz are visiting Husayn ibn Ali and that we cannot be sure that he will not revolt. I investigated the matter and found out that he wants a conflict even today. Please write and send me your view."3

Mu'awiya wrote to Marwan and ordered him to avoid confronting Husayn (‘a) as much as possible. In any case, Husayn (‘a) had decided to revolt against Umayyad rule after Mu'awiya died, and he had prepared his Shi'ah for that.

We do not doubt the fact that the Imam did not intend, by his uprising against Yazid ibn Mu'awiya, to overthrow the Umayyad regime militarily and come to power. He did not have supporters in Hijaz who could be counted upon in his movement, except in Iraq. Egypt and the Hijaz were too far away for its people to be well acquainted with the circumstances of the revolution (to be of any help), and Syria was the strong support base of Yazid ibn Mu'awiya’s rule and power.

The Iraqis, apart from his Shi'ah, were not inclined towards the Imam and he knew very well that it was impossible to depend on the Iraqi masses because they would side with the victorious party. So it was best for him and his uprising if they did not join him then, for they would break away from his army as they broke away from that of his brother Hasan (‘a) before. They would only unnerve his companions and partisans and no one would be steadfast except those who were steadfast before in his brother's army, and they were only a few and could not face the Syrian army.

What al-Farazdaq prophesied when he met the Imam in Al-Shaquq,4 had indeed come true. He came up to the Imam and kissed his hand. The Imam asked him "How did you leave the people of Kufa?" He said: 'I left the people [in such a condition that]: their hearts are with you and their swords with the Umayyads." Then Husayn (‘a) said to him: "You have told the truth and done your duty. The affair is God's, He does what He wills."5

The experience of Imam Hasan (‘a) was not forgotten by Husayn (‘a) nor was he abler than his brother in mobilizing a military force to strike at Umayyad power and overthrow the regime. The circumstances of Imam Husayn (‘a) were even more difficult than those of Imam Hasan (‘a). The power of the Umayyads had been consolidated and its influence had become extensive. By his well-known cunning Mu'awiya had strengthened the Umayyad power base and extended its influence by buying off the conscience of the people and unleashing fear and terror among the forces of opposition. He controlled the majority through terror and enticements, and they were now ever inclined towards the victorious party, the one that proved its strength on the field.

So no new event had happened on the political and military scene since the time of Imam Hasan (‘a) except two things:

1: Consolidation of Umayyad power base and extension of their influence in the land.

2: Spread of corruption in the Umayyad system that reached outright licentiousness and debasement during the lifetime of Yazid and his rule.

The first issue was not considered for any military mobilization by the Imam to overthrow the system, what with the experience of Imam Hasan (‘a) which was still fresh in the minds of his Shi'ah. The Iraqi forces of the day were unable to resist the power of the Umayyads after the demise of the Commander of the Faithful, Ali (‘a). What could be expected now that Umayyad rule had been consolidated and they were the unchallenged power with a formidable army?

As for the second issue, even if it was beneficial to arouse a small conscious opposition group among the Shi'ah, there was certainly no use in instigating the majority who had got used to, submitted to and even supported corruption. Therefore, the only devoted people who could be at the disposal of the Imam, by way of a military force, were those who were devoted to his brother, Hasan (‘a), i.e. the steadfast ones among his partisans. So it was certainly unthinkable for the Imam to be foolhardy and lead this small force to bring down the mighty Umayyad rule, after the efforts of his brother had failed, under more favourable conditions and with a stronger military force than the army he expected the Iraqis to prepare for him after the death of Mu'awiya.

This is not our personal interpretation of the circumstances which accompanied Husayn's (‘a) setting out to Iraq and his uprising; we find the same reading of issues from all the people who advised the Imam to abandon the journey to Iraq; those who could not bear to see him facing the same experience there as his brother Imam Hasan (‘a) did. These men included Abdullah ibn Abbas, Abdullah ibn Ja'far ibn Abi Talib and others. We also find this reading of events strongly and repeatedly in the words of Imam Husayn (‘a) before he set out for Iraq and after.

The Imam Tells About His Death In Iraq

Here we shall mention only two examples from the Imam's speech, which strongly allude to the fact that he was venturing into martyrdom and sacrifice rather than thinking of military action to bring down the regime by force.

The first was in Hijaz before leaving Mecca for Iraq and the second in Karbala.

The first speech is reported by Ibn Tawus in Al-Luhuf, where he (may God sanctify his soul) says: It has been reported that when he [the Imam] (‘a) resolved on setting out to Iraq he stood up and addressed the people saying:

"Praise be to God. Whatever God wills [is going to happen], there is no power except God. May God's blessings be on His Apostle. Death has been destined for the children of Adam the way a necklace is destined [to hang from] a girl's neck. My yearning for my forefathers is like Jacob’s yearning for Joseph. A [form of] death has been chosen for me and I will meet it. It is as if I am watching my joints being cut up by desert foxes between Al-Nawawis and Karbala. Then, surely, empty stomachs and starved bellies will be filled with my remains.6

There is no escape from a day that has been inscribed with the pen [of destiny]. God's pleasure is our pleasure, we who are the Ahl al-Bayt. We shall persevere in His trial and He will give us in full the rewards of the patient ones. The piece of flesh of God's Messenger (S) will never be separated from him; it will be gathered for him in paradise, and by this he will be delighted, and with them [those who are his flesh], what he has been promised will be fulfilled. Therefore, he who is prepared to lay down his life for our sake and has made up his mind to meet God should set out with us for I am setting out in the morning, by the will of God."7

We need not comment on this speech because it is quite clear that the Imam (‘a) was preparing his companions for a fierce battle that would essentially expect sacrifice, blood and martyrdom. He was not hoping for any quick victory out of it. In this speech of the Imam there is no hint of military objective as is known in military actions; he is only preparing his companions for a bloody and tragic sacrifice. He asks those who want to accompany him to prepare themselves for meeting God and for laying down their lives for His sake.

The second one was the speech Husayn (‘a) gave at Dhu Husam, one of the stations toward Iraq. He said:

"Do you not see that truth is not applied and falsehood is not prohibited? [So] let the believers desire to meet God while one is in the right, for I do not consider death but a bliss and living together with oppressors a disgusting thing."8

This reading is not only indicated by these words and speeches that have been successively transmitted by writers of biographies such as al-Tabari, Ibn al-A'th'am, Sayyid Ibn Tawus and al-Mufid, every event in Husayn's journey to Iraq shows that the Imam was not preparing for a military activity for overthrowing Umayyad rule. Therefore, the Imam was not thinking, and he could not have thought of military action, rather he was with full awareness, venturing into an unparalleled act of tragic sacrifice in which he would surrender himself, his family and his companions. The purpose of this was to jolt the sleeping conscience of the nation, and imbue it with action and the spirit of courage and sacrifice.

Perhaps the discussion the Imam had with his brother Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah, (may God be pleased with him) when he intended to leave Mecca for Iraq, also hints at that objective. Sayid Ibn Tawus relates in Al-Luhuf that:

"When Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah learnt about Husayn's (‘a) plan to leave Mecca he came to him and held the halter of his dromedary Husayn and said: 'Brother, did you not promise me to consider what I suggested to you?' He had suggested to the Imam to move to Yemen and abandon going to Iraq.

He replied: 'Yes'. Then Ibn al-Hanafyyah said: 'So what prompts you to leave in haste?' 'After I left you', replied the Imam, 'the Messenger of God (S) came to me (in a dream) and said: 'O, Husayn! Go out, for God wills to see you killed.'

Ibn al-Hanafiyyah then said to him: “We are from God and to Him we are returning! Then what is the meaning of carrying these women with you?' 'God wills to see them captives', he replied. Then Ibn al-Hanafiyyah bade him farewell and went away.9

Where Military Campaigns Fail, Armed Struggle Succeeds

The result we can derive from our quick analysis above is this: Imam Husayn (‘a) had decided to undertake an armed struggle against the status quo, an action which would be followed by a bloody sacrifice, and he was not thinking of confronting Umayyad power with any military action at all.

These are two forms of uprising, each of which fulfils a specific objective, and mixing the two leads to a great historical mistake that causes confusion in our understanding of the uprising of Husayn, its objectives and results.

Let us see what aims and objectives the Imam intended to achieve by this armed struggle and tragic sacrifice that he ventured into with full knowledge and awareness.

1. Freeing The People's Will

Usually tyrants employ two effective weapons against the people when they revolt against injustice: The weapons of terror and corruption. The characteristic feature of these two methods is that they strip the nation of awareness and the will and ability to act.

The first requirements of any action are awareness and will. When one loses awareness and the power of will, he loses all capacity to act and submits to the status quo. Then the despot and his courtiers dominate the will, consciousness and fate of the people, not even leaving their taste, morals and customs free. The very personality of the people is completely distorted as the despot now controls every aspect of their lives, while they get nothing from the tyrant except orders to be obedient and submissive.

It is this fact that the Qur'an alludes to with regard to the way Pharaoh treated his people and the way they regarded him:

"So he despised his people and they obeyed him. Indeed they were a transgressing lot." (43:54).

Pharaoh was able to treat his people with contempt, and to dispossess them of their consciousness, will and values by unleashing terror and spreading corruption. In this way he was able to transform their personality completely, uprooting from their souls the power of thinking and awareness, not to talk of will, struggle and refusal. This is how Pharaoh gained their obedience and total submission. This method is preferred by the leaders of deviation for gaining the obedience and loyalty of the people, a loyalty that is usually established over their shattered personality.

Henceforth the rulers from among the leaders of deviation live undisturbed by the people with nothing to decamp them from their side, while the people turn into a herd of cowed sycophants whose consciousness and will changes into subordination to the rulers. So they will love what the rulers love and will what they will.

Thus, the process of transformation and distortion of the nation's personality becomes complete, with the result that two classes are formed in the community:

(i) Class of the arrogant: This includes the despotic rulers, their cohorts and the ‘nobility’ who benefit from them; the haughty, who lord it over the people. They place themselves in place of God, in the position of authority over man's life, consider themselves master over the people and corrupt the earth. They are the Rebels (taghut) 10 who cross the limits of servitude and obedience to God Most High, to assume the position of arrogance and absolute authority in place of God, and spread corruption in the lives of the people.

(ii) The oppressed class: This class is despised by the tyrant and denied its right in the scale of humanity, weakened and dispossessed of their God-given capabilities and faculties. This large group becomes the subjugated class which accepts the status quo, loses all its peculiarities and human values and turns into a compliant tool that does the bidding of the tyrant. The first thing this class loses is its consciousness and will and then every other thing God has given it, such as values and capabilities.

"God has set a seal on their hearts and their hearing, and there is a blindfold on their sight" (2:7).

The tyrant (taghut) dispossesses them of awareness and will by way of terror and corruption. To save them from the grip of the tyrant they have to be given their awareness and will back. This will enable them see things and people with their God-given consciousness and not through what the tyrant loves or hates. This will also enable them decide for themselves rather than allow the oppressor to decide on their behalf.

Husayn (‘a) was facing a bad socio-political reality in which the Umayyads had completely distorted the personality of the nation and stripped it of its values, capabilities, awareness and will. The worst thing with regard to this volte-face was that the capabilities, which Islam had released from the inner selves of those people in order to extirpate oppression and idolatry and support monotheism and justice, had turned into a tool to prop up tyranny and polytheism.

The sword with which the Messenger of God (S) had armed them to fight the enemies of Islam had transformed, in their hands, into an instrument of fighting the Prophet's descendants (‘a) and their allies instead of fighting their enemies. This was the essence of the transmutation in civilization that took place in the life of this nation at the hands of the Umayyads. It was to this reality that Imam Husayn was alluding to in his second speech, which he addressed to the army of Ibn Sa’ad on the day of Ashura.

“You have drawn the sword with which we armed you, against us, and ignited the fire we kindled against our enemy and yours, against us. So you have joined hands with the forces of your enemies against your allies, in spite of being aware that they (your enemies) have not established any justice among you, nor do you expect any good from them.”11

I wonder how this dangerous regression took place in the minds of these people to the extent that their swords with which Islam had armed them in order to fight injustice and idolatry, were now to fight the pure and trustworthy son of the Messenger of God (‘a), in support of the rule of Mu'awiya's sinful inebriate son, about whose licentiousness, sinful habits, wine-drinking and indecency no Muslim had any doubts. I wonder how this serious regression took hold of the lives of these people so much so that their hearts and swords were in disagreement, as al-Farazdaq said to Husayn (‘a). However, the two united in fighting the son of God's Messenger (S) and his family and companions who established prayer, commanded what was good and prohibited what was evil? How did the power of Islam change into a force that supported the enemies of Islam and attacked its propogators. All this happened because the belligerent stand towards Islam and the Islamic community of those who were fighting Islam only recently persisted.

They still harboured the spirit of the days of Ignorance, upheld its customs and moral outlook and terrorized and corrupted the people. Before the advent of Islam, this isolated place was little known to other nations and it was stagnant with hardly any enterprise, resolve or power of resistance. Then the Messenger of God (S), awakened the strength, resolve and the power of initiative and action that was dormant in the minds of these people. Islam was able to bring forth their latent potential of action and revolution. This once ignorant people produced the greatest movement of human civilization known in history. It burnt off the thrones of tyrants and despots. However, this nation soon reversed its steps, and this power, enthusiasm and initiative made a volte-face and started to annihilate the propagators and allies of this religion. This negative action was taken by the opulent and arrogant class, which, not long ago, was waging war against the religion and actually carrying within it, its ideas, customs and behavior, residues of the Days of Ignorance!

We do not know of any tragedy befalling nations that is more painful and abominable than turning against oneself; to the extent that one prefers what harms him to that which benefits him; prefers corruption over honesty, fights his allies and defends his enemies. The Muslims fell into such a tragedy at that time, and we hear the Imam expressing his deep pain in these words: "Woe to you! Do you help these people and forsake us?"

Undoubtedly, the nation had been subjected to a civilizational apostasy of the type the Most High points out here:

"If he [the Apostle] dies or is slain, will you turn back on your heels?"(3:144).

It is our duty to ponder over what happened. Whenever loyalty and repudiation exchange places in the life of people the nation faces civilizational apostasy in its history. When the nation slips into this apostasy it suffers self-alienation and the principles it subscribes to are altered into something different. This is because the nation's identity depends on its loyalty and repudiation and when loyalty exchanges position with repudiation, a nation faces regression. This situation was what the Imam hinted at when he addressed the army of the family of Abu Sufyan on the day of Ashura: "And you joined hands with your enemies against your allies"

It is a situation whereby one is estranged and hostile to oneself, for when one loves his enemies and supports them against his own allies, he is really supporting them against himself, and it is impossible for one to do that unless he becomes estranged to himself and forgets himself. The way the Qur'an expresses this situation is very precise:

"And do not be like those who forget God, so He makes them forget their own souls."(59:19).

If one forgets God, He will make him forget himself and he who estranges himself from God will have his own soul estranged from him. In this condition of decline and fall man surely loses his soul and the worst form of loss is for one to lose his own soul.

When that happens one is dispossessed of his capital entirely so nothing remains thereafter for which any good might be hoped. God Most High says:

"As for those whose deeds weigh light in the scales, it is they who have ruined their soul, because they used to wrong Our signs.”(7:9).

The Most High also says:

"Say, 'Indeed the losers are those who ruin themselves and their families on the Day of Resurrection.” (39:15).

Losing one's soul differs from any other loss because profit and loss is the increase or decrease in what one possesses of the original ‘capital’. Any material or spiritual gain that is earned is counted as ‘profit’, and when any material or spiritual gifts that are bestowed by God are lost a ‘loss’ entry is made. In both cases a person keeps his soul, which is the axis around which profits and loss revolve. When one loses this axis he will have lost his soul and not only his material or spiritual acquisitions. The fall of this pivot constitutes the greatest loss, which is unlike any other. The Qur'anic expression "they have lost [or ruined] themselves”12 which appears in several verses points to this kind of loss. Another expression employed in the Qur'an to describe those people who lose their souls in the life of this world is 'injustice to oneself'. The Most High says:

"And they did not wrong Us, but they used to wrong [only] themselves.”(2:57).

The people whom God punishes because of their injustice, are not wronged by Him but they used to wrong themselves:

"... and We did not wrong them, but they used to wrong themselves.”(16:118).

And finally, good and evil ends with one’s soul: he who accepts guidance does so for himself, and he who is misguided, does so against himself.

" Whoever is guided, is guided only for [the good of] his own soul, and whoever goes astray, goes astray only to its detriment” (10:108).

That is, this deviation and transgression only affects them; these people are going astray at their own peril, their efforts and actions come to naught, and they earn for themselves nothing but deviation and ruin. It is indeed a great ruin that one should lose himself and waste all his efforts like

"Those whose endeavours go awry in the life of the world.”(47:8).

When man gets estranged from himself, and wrongs his own soul and becomes hostile to it, he inevitably loses it. And when this happens his endeavours go awry and come to naught.

Imam Husayn (‘a) was alluding to this loss when he addressed al-Hurr's companions at the station of Al-Baydah. He said: "I am Husayn ibn Ali and my mother is Fatima the daughter of the Messenger of God. My life is with your lives, and my family is with your families. You have a model in me .... If you do not act [in the way expected of you] and you go back on your word and revoke your allegiance to me; then you have missed your good fortune and wasted your share. ‘So whoever breaks his oath breaks it only to his own detriment13 and God will make me needless of you.’14

Through this transformation whose stages the Qur'an describes, man does injustice to himself, estranges and loses himself and turns into something entirely different from his former self. He moves with the people neither with his own volition nor with awareness; he only does the bidding of someone else. He acts according to the will of the tyrant who subjugates him and causes him to move not in the direction of what is beneficial to him but in the direction of what serves his enemy. Such are the people whose hearts become inverted and are sealed by God. God Most High presented the truth when He said:

"We transform their hearts” (6:115).

And

" God has set a seal on their hearts” (2:7).

No will power, nor any awareness, understanding or light by which they may move among the people will ever return to them, unless God wills so. Undoubtedly, a terrible change had occurred in the minds of these people resulting in a dangerous inversion with few parallels in history. It reached an extent whereby thirty thousand or more men left Kufa, the headquarters of the Commander of the Faithful (‘a) to fight the lord of the youth of paradise, the [grand]son of God's Messenger (‘a) and son of the Commander of the Faithful (‘a), but only seventy-odd men came out with Husayn (‘a) to confront Yazid ibn Mu’awiyah.

The only explanation for this inversion and volte-face that is observed in the collective personality of the nation – or at least a large cross section of it – lies in the extensive efforts put by the Umayyads in terrorizing and corrupting the people, in order to impose their control over the Muslims. Their Islamic identity was distorted to such an extent that even their consciences, perceptions and will power were controlled by the Umayyads. They pleased them and served their purposes.

Therefore, there was the need to jolt the conscience of the nation back into its consciousness, will and values. It needed to feel the depth of the catastrophe which befell it and feel repentant. If this jolt would not help anything with regard to the affected generation, it was considered a necessary step for saving the next generation, lest it become affected by this civilizational regress.

The armed struggle which the Imam (‘a) led and his tragic sacrifice created the necessary effect on the nation's conscience. It served as the clarion call that the political and social climate was waiting for. The martyrdom of Husayn (‘a) along with his family and companions, in its pathetic way jolted the Muslims' conscience, made them feel repentant and enabled them retrieve their consciousness and will, so that they could repent and atone for forsaking the son of the daughter of God's Messenger (S).

On that day they felt that terrible nightmare weighing on their hearts and minds. Imam Husayn's sacrifice had violently shaken the Muslims' conscience and led them to feel the enormity of the crime that had been perpetrated and the depth of apostasy and inversion that had plagued their minds and lives. This calamitous event became the launching pad of many revolts and a great source of inspiration for political movements in Islamic history. This was the revolutionary purpose of the uprising of Imam al-Husayn (‘a).

2. Stripping The Ruling System Of Legitimacy

Despite the enormity of what the Muslims lost and the deviation and regression that was their lot during the period of Umayyad rule, there was still a greater danger which would affect Islam directly, and not only the Muslims. It was possible for that perversion to be applied to Islam itself so that it would be exposed to the corruption that the Muslims became exposed to.

This was probable because the perversion was issuing from the position of the Islamic Caliphate, an office that enjoyed considerable legitimacy and sanctity in Muslim minds. The Umayyads used to rely very much, for their political and social position, on the issue of legitimacy. One way or the other, they were giving the impression that the office of caliphate was more powerful than that of the Messenger (S).

One of them said: “The caliph is superior to the Apostle.” 15 They considered this position as the shortest and easiest way by which to fulfill their aspirations and this is why Mu'awiyah often tried to consolidate this legitimacy for himself, and his son Yazid and those who would come after him. This position of legitimacy which the Umayyads coveted was the greatest danger their dynasty caused Islam, because deviationary tendencies started from the palaces of the caliphs and reached the general public in the garb of legality. In those palaces there were religious scholars of the court who justified this deviation and gave it a touch of legality and, as a result, it apparently reflected and became applicable to Islam. In this way, Islam lost its originality and purity on the widest plane, i.e., among the general public.

In his movement, the Imam (‘a) was intent on tearing away that garb under which the Umayyad rulers took cover. He tried to strip their rule of the legitimacy and sanctity which they strove to keep at all costs. In this way the Imam sought to prevent the Umayyad rulers from corrupting Islam. He used to state this position clearly.

He announced his view about Yazid and his ineligibility for the office of the caliphate, and discredited him whenever he got the chance. The Imam openly declared this view of his concerning Yazid when al-Walid ibn Utbah summoned him to give his pledge of allegiance in the presence of Marwan. After a long speech and with the intention of making known to Marwan his view on Yazid and his stand concerning the allegiance, the Imam said:

“O Governor! We are the people of the House of Prophethood, the source of the message, the place which angels frequented and the descending place of mercy. Through us, God started [His religion] and through us will He seal [it]. Yazid is a sinner, who drinks wine, kills people unlawfully and commits sin openly, so my type cannot pledge allegiance to his type.”16

Indeed the Imam’s uprising against Yazid, his war with the army of Ibn Ziyad after refusing to pledge allegiance to Yazid and his calamitous martyrdom along with his family and companions at the hands of the army of the caliphate struck a final blow to the legitimacy of that rule. Imam Husayn’s martyrdom in this tragic way in Karbala aroused the feelings of all Muslims; the generation of the killers and the generations that followed. They felt the enormity and repugnance of the crime right inside their consciences and they became resentful of Yazid and the other Umayyad caliphs who succeeded him. The standing of the caliphate with respect to the law fell in the eyes of the people and it no longer had that position of legitimacy and sanctity in the minds of the Muslims.

It cannot be doubted that this crime which was perpetrated in Iraq by the apparatus of Umayyad rule left a deep mark on the collective Muslim conscience, if not in that generation but surely in the one that immediately followed. This heinous deed brought down the position of Umayyad rule, which was henceforth viewed as any other secular regime whose reigns are held by the mightiest, not the righteous. People’s relationship with the new leadership was no longer a purely religious relationship that stemmed from the people’s belief in the legitimacy of the leadership. As a result, the perversions that took place through Umayyad state apparatus did not exert a pronounced corrupting effect on Islam any longer. To a large extent, the religion became immune to the distortions the rulers introduced, and from that date, the Muslims took, as religious authority, another class, different from the ruling class, which the people referred to for their worldly affairs, as necessity dictated.

From that date a line of thought, apart from that of the rulers, began to emerge in Muslim society. This was the line of the scholars and jurists in whom the people put their trust. And the more the scholars and jurists distanced themselves from the kings and rulers, the stronger was the people’s confidence in them.

A perusal of Islamic history will reveal a stark disparity between the respect the caliphate commanded before the Battle of the Bank [the battle that Imam Husayn fought took near the Euphrates] and after it. The essential feature of this disparity is that the caliphate after the battle of Karbala lost its legitimacy and the garb of religion it once wore.

To sum up, Imam Husayn’s uprising was a revolt against Yazid in the form of an armed struggle that was followed by a tragic and pathetic sacrifice unparalleled in Islam’s history, and not a military campaign that was aimed at overthrowing the system. To understand the uprising of Imam Husayn (‘a) it is essential to be aware of this fact. He never thought that Iraq could confront Syria, nor did he expect loyalty from the Iraqis, or expect them to struggle against Umayyad terror and enticement.

At the best of times, none among the Iraqis would have been faithful to the Imam except a small band of his Shi’ah with whom he confronted Yazid. As such, the Imam (‘a) knew this fact and understood it very well. Therefore, the Imam was not seeking a military conquest when he rose up but an effective jolt to the conscience of the misled Muslims to vigourously stir their minds and sentiments through the tragedy he would meet at the hands of the Umayyad army in Karbala.

The purpose of the Imam’s bloody and pathetic sacrifice was to arouse the Muslims against the power of the Umayyads and to discredit and strip them of the well-guarded legitimacy of the Umayyad machinery of government as a whole. It was also to cause their political and social isolation within the Islamic world especially in the provinces of Hijaz and Iraq which were considered the heart of the Muslim world at that time. The Imam’s success in achieving all these goals was undoubtedly resounding.

This is the victory which Imam Zayn al-Abidin (‘a) hinted at in his answer to a questioner in Syria who was overwhelmed by the horror of Husayn’s death in Karbala. The man said: ‘Who is victorious, O, Ali ibn al-Husayn?’ ‘When it is time for prayer and the mu’ezzin (caller to prayer) makes the call you will know who is victorious?’ he replied. This is the political outcome of Imam Husayn’s uprising. From these two results of Imam Husayn’s revolt we can comprehend the great historical role played by the Imam’s uprising in Islamic history.

- 1. Al-Daynuri's Al-Akbar al-Tiwal pg. 221.

- 2. Ibid pg. 222.

- 3. Ibid, pg. 224.

- 4. A station on the way to Mecca after Waqisah as one comes from Kufa. See Mu'jam al-Buldan, 5/283.

- 5. Ibn al-Atham's Al-Futuh 5/124; Al-Khwarizmi's Maqtal 1/222.

- 6. In this metaphor, the Imam might have had in mind his enemies at Kabala –Translator.

- 7. Al-Luhuf pg. 53 (Isfahan edition: 1366. A.H. Iranian Calender); Muhaddith al-Qummi's Nafas al-Mahmum pg. 163 (Qum, Basirati pub. 1405 A.H.) and pg. 70 (Sidon: Al-Irfan publications 1331 A.H.)

- 8. Tarikh al-Tabari 7/301 (European edition).

- 9. Sayyid Ibn Tawus, Al-Luhuf pg. 55 (Isfahan edition); Nafas al-Mahmum pg. 164 – 165 (Qum, 1405 A.H.). The last part which talks about the women is reported by al-Mas'udi in Ithbat al-Wasiyyah pg. 141 (Najaf, Al-Haydariyyah press).

- 10. In Al-Mufradat, al-Raghib says that taghut denotes the rebels and those who are worshipped instead of God. Pg. 304 – 305.

- 11. Sayyid Ibn Tawus’s Al-Luhuf fi Qatla al-Tufuf pg. 58.

- 12. Refer to Qur'an, 6:12; 7:9; 11:21; 23:103; 39:15 etc.

- 13. The Imam hints at the God Most High's norm of effacement.

- 14. This passage alludes to the divine norm of Substitution that comes after Effacement. Tarikh al-Tabari 6/ 229.

- 15. It was the tyrant al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf al-Thaqafi who said it while comparing the caliphate of Abdulmalik and the apostleship of the Messenger of God, may God bless him and his family. See Ibn Abi al-Hadid's Sharh Nahj al-Balaghah 9/238.

- 16. Al-Luhuf fi Qatla al-Tufuf pg. 17-18; Al-Khwarizmi’s Maqtal al-Husayn (‘a) 1/184; Bihar al-Anwar 44/325.

Husayn (‘a) ’S Letter From Karbala To His Brother, Muhammad

Mayassar ibn Abd al-Aziz reported that Abu Ja‘far (‘a) has said: Husayn ibn Ali (‘a) sent a letter from Karbala to Muhammad ibn Ali. [It read]: “In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate. From Husayn ibn Ali to Muhammad ibn Ali and the Hashimites who are with him. [Know that] the world is as if it has never been and the hereafter is as if it has always been. Peace.”1

The Reason The Letter Was Written

Husayn (‘a) wrote this letter from Karbala to his brother Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah at a critical juncture in the history of this nation. The Umayyads had gone to great lengths in tyranny and had corrupted Islamic society. They had succeeded in spreading terror, temptation and deception to different regions of the Islamic world, and the people had responded to this three-pronged agent of control and acquiesced to the oppression and corruption that was being perpetrated by the Umayyads. They altered the outlines of this religion to such an extent that nothing would have remained of Islam but its name, as Husayn (‘a) said: “Then bid farewell to Islam for the nation has been afflicted with a shepherd like Yazid.”

On the one side, the people had been possessed by fear and terror and their preference for safety and well-being, and on the other by enticements. Imam Husayn (‘a) had witnessed this severe trial in all its ramifications as he traveled from Medina to Karbala... And now here he was confronting the army of the Umayyads. He was the son of the daughter of the Messenger of God (S), and one about who no one was in any doubt as to his honour in the sight of God and his eligibility for the leadership of the Muslims. With all this, no one stood by him from this nation, large as it was, except seventy-two souls from his family and companions.

There were two faces to this tribulation: an external one in the form of the political and social life of the nation that came under the oppression and corruption of the Umayyads, and an internal one which was the minds of the people with their love for the world, personal well-being and anxiety about death. Between these two faces a clear reciprocal relationship existed, for terror and corruption results in weakness and mental impotence, and love for the world enables the rulers to oppress and corrupt the people.

Yes, Husayn (‘a) was facing a big problem, as big as the Islamic world itself. It was two-sided, one inside the minds and the other in the political life of the nation. He was working to change both. On the first front he was working in order to condemn the rule of the Umayyad family, nullify the legitimacy of their power and expose their crimes and corruption to the Muslims. On the second front, the Imam was trying to break away the barrier of fear from the minds of the Muslims and imbue them with enthusiasm, bring back the will-power which they had been robbed of and restore their trust, strength, courage, and reliance on God.

The Imam was striving to remove the widespread defeatist tendency that was affecting the Muslims. He knew that the reason behind all this defeatism was internal: love for the world and neglect of the hereafter. He thought that the way to treat this terrible psychological problem was to make the hereafter the object of desire not the world, and make them overcome the fear of death. It was against this background that the Imam wrote to his brother Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah and addressed the community of his grandfather. He presented the diagnosis of the problem and gave the precise prescription for its treatment.

“[Know that] the world is as if it has never been and the hereafter is as if it has always been. Peace.”

Devotion To God And Withdrawing From The World

The statement of the Imam, precise as it was, contained the whole solution: exclusive devotion to God by reducing the charm and glamour of the world. The Commander of the Faithful (‘a) once said concerning Uthman ibn Maz‘un (may God have mercy on him) “I used to have a brother in [faith and the love of] God whose contempt for the world exalted him in my eyes.” In addition to cutting down the fascinating effect of the world, one has to attach great importance to the hereafter in his mind and arouse interest in it. This is what the Imam alluded to in his address: “[Know that] the world is as if it had never been and the hereafter is as if it has always been.”

Now let us ponder over this statement of the Imam and discuss both parts of it. But before that we shall ask: what is ‘the world’ and what is ‘the hereafter’?

What Are The World And The Hereafter?

What is meant by the world is attachment to it and what is meant by the hereafter is having a relationship with God and wanting to meet Him. With this, one can live in the world while being among the people of the next world, and we can describe them as living in the world and not living in it.

They are living in it in the sense that they move amidst the worldly people in their normal activities such as business transactions and family life. However, they do not live in this world since their hearts never get attached to it, nor does the world penetrate into their hearts. Their hearts are only attached to God: they sense, in this world, the blessings of paradise and the torment of hell.

How Can A Person Be Among The People Of The Hereafter While Living In This World?

If we want to know how one can be among the people of the hereafter while still living in this world, and how one can treat the malaise of attachment to the world and free his soul from it and subsequently attach himself to the hereafter, we have to ponder over these words with which the Imam (‘a) addressed Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah: ... “[Know that] the world is as if it has never been and the hereafter is as if it has always been.”

Worldly life will surely come to an end and one’s relationship with the world will not last; all that one acquires in this world and one’s attachments will finish. It is the hereafter that is permanent:

“What is with you will be exhausted but what is with God is permanent.” (16:96).

What is with us is our possessions and what we are attached to in the life of this world, and what is with God is the peace and pleasure of the next world.

God Most High says:

"The parable of the life of this world is that of water which we send down from the sky. It mingles with the earth’s vegetation from which humans and cattle eat. When the earth puts on its luster and is adorned, and its inhabitants think they have power over it, Our edict comes to it, by night or day, whereat we turn it into a mown field, as if it did not flourish the day before. Thus, do we elaborate the signs for a people who reflect” (10:24).

It is the permanent and enduring pleasures that deserve man’s attachment instead of the fleeting enjoyments that quickly disappear and cannot last for man. Every enjoyment is fitted for man’s affection to the extent for which it lasts for him, and the relationship between the duration of worldly pleasures and those of the next world is the same as the relationship that exists between the limited and the unlimited or the absolute. So the proportion of one’s attachment to the world and the hereafter should be the same as the proportion of the duration of limited worldly pleasures to that of the limitless pleasures of the hereafter.

Man’s attachment to this world and its pleasures and his disregard for the hereafter often stem from an illusion of the permanence of, as well as, his false hopes in, the former and forgetfulness with regard to the hereafter. This is the consequence of illusion and forgetfulness.

The cure for this condition is for one to assume that the world has never been. This assumption will soon come true willy-nilly, for when all that pertains to the world is taken away from him it will be as though the world has never been. Secondly, one should assume that the hereafter is already here, and it will also soon come, because for each individual, the hereafter starts when he breathes his last. These two suppositions, which are very near to reality, are indeed the remedy for that baseless illusion and forgetfulness.

From The Hereafter To The Hereafter

Based on this conception of the world and the hereafter, when the sons of the hereafter leave this world they, in fact, leave the hereafter for the hereafter and not the world for the hereafter. This is because they have never really lived in this world nor has it ever become wedded to their hearts, to have necessitated their removal from it to the next world: they were already living in the hereafter before moving to the hereafter. Based on this understanding of the world and the hereafter mankind fall into four classes:

The first class, which moves from the world to the world.

The second class which moves from the hereafter to the world

The third class which moves from the world to the hereafter.

The fourth class which moves from the hereafter to the hereafter.

The first class: The people who move from the world to the world are those who do everything in this world for its sake only; they never seek God’s pleasure and other-worldly reward at all. All their activities are from the world and back to it because if, for instance, they leave the house for the shop they are moving from the world to the world: their stay in the house is for worldly concerns, likewise is the time they spend in the shop.

The second class: The people who move from the hereafter to the world are those who are transformed from attachment to the hereafter to attachment to the world, and after having worked for God’s sake they become egoistic. Such people change from a position of work and activity for God’s sake to gain his pleasure and the reward of the hereafter, to that of seeking worldly benefits; thus they turn away from God towards the world.

The third class: the people who move from the world towards the hereafter are in direct opposition to the second class. This group forsakes the fleeting possessions of this world and refuses to be attached to it, and instead seeks the pleasure of God and the rewards of the hereafter and courts it.

The fourth class: Those who move from the hereafter to the hereafter. We have already talked about them. They live in the world among the people, move in business centres and streets as people do, and establish social relationships like marriage as people do, but their hearts never get attached to the world. These people move from the hereafter to the hereafter in all the activities they engage in this world.

Incentives And Barriers

Like every other activity, movement towards God has incentives and barriers. When the incentives are there and the barriers are removed man can set out on his way toward God whereas, in the opposite case, his movement towards the Almighty is hampered. Among the principal things that induce one into this activity is the yearning to meet God (in the hereafter) and among the most important barriers is love of this world and attachment to it.

For man to be able to move towards God Almighty he has to make his heart oblivious of the world so that he will not be attracted towards its lures, lest it distract him from God. This is what Imam Husayn (‘a) meant by his precise but significant and forceful words: ‘As if the world has never been’. On the other hand, one must think about the hereafter till he becomes attracted towards it. This is what the Imam intended by saying ‘As if the hereafter has always been’, that is, it has been ever since the beginning; never was it hidden nor will it ever be.

When man succeeds in concealing the world from his heart and conscience, and makes the hereafter always present, he starts off on his upward journey to Almighty God at a quick and firm pace because of the presence of a strong spur and the absence of barriers. When on the other hand, worldly matters are strong and influence the mind and feelings and the hereafter disappears from one’s heart and conscience, all activity comes to a standstill. Between the poles, there exist a number of stages by which man progresses or falls.

The Imam had witnessed widespread acquiescence to falsehood and divergence from the truth, acceptance of tyranny and submission to tyrants. The source of this situation was preference of this world over the next, safety over tribulation, and the fear of death, apprehension and pursuit, and their attendant difficulties. And the root cause of all this is love for this world and disregard for the hereafter.

The Imam (‘a) wanted to address that phenomenon which was widespread among the people at that time so he wrote that letter to Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah and through him, to the Hashimites who were with him and to the rest of the people.

Now we shall study these two points from Imam Husayn (‘a)’s letter:

‘As If The World Has Never Been’

The assumption ‘As if the world has never been’ is not an empty one; it is a reality which the Imam portrays in this way. The basis of this supposition is to consider despicable the value, duration and enjoyments of this world. This scorn for the world means divesting it of all value and consequence except, of course, where the world constitutes a means of building the hereafter and discharging the duties of servitude to God and carrying out one’s responsibilities as His viceroy on earth. In this case the world per se loses all value to man ‘as if the world has never been.’ It is related in Islamic texts that the example of man in this world is like that of a traveler who takes rest in the shade of a tree for an hour or so on a hot day, and then leaves it and goes on. Such is man’s stay in the world.

The Messenger of God (S) is reported to have said: “What do I have to do with the world? My relationship with the world is only like the case of a rider on a summer day that takes rest for an hour or so in the day in the shade of a tree, and then goes away.”2

It is reported from the Commander of the Faithful (‘a) who said: “The world is not a permanent home and you are in it, like riders who erected a canopy and took some rest and then carried their belongings and went away. They were light when they entered it but burdened when they left it. They did not desire to leave it nor have they found a way of returning to what they left in it.”3

The Messenger of God (S) was asked: ‘How does a man live in the world?’ ‘The way the caravan passes’, he replied. ‘How long does one stay in it?’ the questioner asked. ‘As long as the one who is left behind by the caravan stays’, he replied. Then the questioner asked: ‘How much is [the lapse] between the world and the hereafter?’ ‘The twinkle of an eye’, he replied, ‘God, the Mighty and Sublime, has said: “The day when they see what they are promised [it will be] as though they had remained only an hour of a day.” (47:35).4

It is also reported from the Commander of the Faithful (‘a) that “the world is [like] the shade of a cloud or a dream in sleep.”5

In another narration he also said: “Indeed, the world is the home from which no one will be safe [while one is still] in it and one cannot retrieve anything that is part of it (the world). People have been tempted in it as a trial. Whatever they acquire of its possessions they will be made to leave behind and called to account for them. And what they take that does not belong to it (the world) they will arrive [in the hereafter] to meet it and abide by it. To the prudent, the world is comparable to the shadow, which after full length diminishes and after once increasing decreases.”6

Ali (‘a) also said concerning the world: It is never limpid for the drinker or faithful to the companion”7 These real pictures that Islamic sources depict of the world make it completely contemptible in the eyes of the people ‘as if it has never been’. This is what Husayn (‘a) wanted to tell the people on that day: that the world will not stay nor be untainted for anyone. Therefore it is inappropriate or even impermissible for a free man to submit to its dictates and abandon the responsibility to bid what is right and forbid what is wrong and to strive against the unjust, or prefer personal well-being over tribulation.

As If The Hereafter Has Always Been

The hereafter is the place for requital while the world is the place for work. In the hadith, it is stated that: today (i.e. the world) [is time for] work and not for accounting and tomorrow (i.e. the next world) [is time for] accounting and not for work. This is the most precise description of this and the next world. So what is the requital of the hereafter?

The requital of the hereafter consists of rewards and punishments, both outward and inward. The outward sensory aspect comprises paradise and hell, respectively. The inward aspect of requital is non-sensory. Starting from this world man receives the recompense of his deed, as he performs them, in the form of either elevation or regression. However, this internal aspect of one’s work is not perceived by the senses during the work. When one dies and the veil is removed from his eyes he will see it:

" We have removed your veil from your eyes and so your sight is acute today.”(50:22).

Concerning those who misappropriate the property of orphans, the holy Qur’an says:

" Indeed those who consume the property of orphans wrongfully only ingest fire into their bellies.”(4:10).

This fire which they put in their bellies when they wrongfully consume the orphan’s property is the same fire which will burn them internally in hell although they will only feel it in that world and not here. Thus they receive their reward during the act except that they do not sense it until after their death.

The blessings and torment of the next world will commensurate with man’s level of perfection or decline. Just as there are levels of perfection, there are levels of decline. The blessings or torment will reflect the level of perfection or decline he reaches. It has been related in a hadith about reciting the Qur’an, on the authority of the Messenger of God (S) that “It will be said to him (i.e. the reciter of the Qur’an): Recite and ascend. For every verse he recites he ascends one level”8

On the authority of Ali ibn Husayn Zayn al-Abidin (‘a) who said: “It will be said to the person who has read the Qur’an: ‘Read and ascend’. He who enters paradise from among them will not be surpassed in position except by the prophets and the truthful ones.”9

These texts show that Qur’an reciters have varying positions in paradise and the blessings they are provided by God will be according to their position in the hereafter, which in turn will be in proportion to their positions in this world, which commensurate with what they have read of the Qur’an.

On the authority of the Commander of the Faithful (‘a): “It will be said to the reciter of the Qur’an: Read and ascend, and recite the way you were reciting in the world, for your position in the world is [proportional] to the last verse you read”10This depicts a series of proportionate things: what a believer receives of the blessings of paradise is proportionate to his position in the next world. His position in the next world is proportionate to his position in this world. His position in this world is proportionate to what he reads, comprehends and acts upon from the Qur’an. This is the meaning of ‘Read and ascend’.

A deeper and more intense portrayal of this fact is given in verse forty-six of Surah Hud where an eternal picture of Noah’s son is given as:

"Indeed he is [a personification] of unrighteous conduct.” (11:46).

This picture is among the treasures of knowledge in the Qur’an. Man is nothing but his own deeds and Noah’s son was an example of unrighteous deed. Man’s action is his position in this world and this in turn is his position in the next. Just as Noah’s son was of unrighteous conduct, there are many examples of righteous conduct in this world. If we follow the series of proportion we previously mentioned we will arrive at the amazing outcome to which Imam Husayn (‘a) draws our attention, that is, the hereafter is in fact standing before us in this world although we do not feel it.

Sensing the hereafter right here in this world balances man’s behaviour by refining his manners and freeing him from subservience to selfish desire, in setting the soul free and helping it to soar toward God and in removing the barriers that hinder his progress on the way to the Almighty.

After this presentation of Islamic texts from the Book [the Qur’an] and the Sunnah [the Prophet’s tradition] we wish to say that the position of the believer in the hereafter, whether ascending or descending, will be proportionate to his works — righteous or otherwise. Every good work that man does in this world raises him and every bad one lowers him. And the degrees by which he ascends or descends into paradise or hell respectively, depend on his position in this world.

This issue is of paramount importance in Islamic culture. In a nutshell, man encounters the recompense for his actions in this world even before the next although he does not sense it. What he receives in the hereafter in the form of blessings or torment constitutes the external aspect, whereas his internal ascendance or fall becomes his lot in this world. Man ascends and descends in this world and this ascent and descent are connected to the ascent and descent in the hereafter, except that one can remedy one’s fall in this world but cannot do so in the hereafter.

This means that one achieves nearness to God through his good works and gets distanced from Him because of his bad deeds. ‘As if one is living in the hereafter and as if it has always been.’ Therefore the hereafter is standing here in this world and this is the meaning of ‘And as if the hereafter has always been’ in Imam Husayn’s letter to Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah and the Hashimites who were with him.

The Results That Follow The Two Viewpoints

First viewpoint: Presence of this world and absence of the hereafter.

Second viewpoint: Absence of this world and presence of the hereafter. ‘As if the world has never been and as if the hereafter has always been.’

The first view urges love, attachment and devotion to the world, and disregards the hereafter, arouses inordinate hopes and expectation with regard to the world as if it will never end and forgets the hereafter as if it will never come. He who loves the world seeks to preserve himself physically and becomes a coward, shrinks from struggling and prefers safety, and loses his self-esteem and honour. The Commander of the Faithful (‘a) used to say: "The world debases.”11

This explains Islam’s disapproval of the world which seduces man, and makes him lose his innate wisdom by attaching him to worldly possessions, inducing indifference towards the hereafter, making him turn away from God and finally causing his ruin. Among the outstanding consequences of this viewpoint are weakness, cowardice and humiliation; lack of a firm stand in the face of oppressors and dependence on them; and sluggishness towards fighting the oppressors, and choosing personal welfare in the life of this world.

This is what the Almighty says to such people:

" Oh you who have faith! What is the matter with you that when you are told: ‘Go forth in the way of God’, you sink heavily to the ground? Are you pleased with the life of this world instead of the hereafter? But the wares of the life of this world compared with the hereafter are but insignificant.”(9:38).

Finding pleasure in and relying on the life of this world and paying much attention to worldly property results in inertia that prevents one from struggling in the way of God. It also makes one sluggish, which is the bane of man’s activity towards God.

The Outcome Of The Second View

The greatest outcome of it is renunciation of the world and concern for the hereafter. Asceticism is a praiseworthy trait that imbues man with strength of character, courage, insight and attention to God. It makes a person take courageous stands and frees him from indecision, impotence and humiliation.

Contempt for the world and death, and concern for the hereafter are the source of all courage and resolute stands in man’s life. On the other hand, attachment and dependence on the world and giving much attention to it strips man of the power to take decisions and remain steadfast in it, leads to justifications and pretexts in giving up one’s stance, and finally, an outright denial of one’s former position.

Expelling The World From The Mind And Replacing It With The Hereafter

This is the essence of Husayn’s letter to his brother Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah and the Hashimites who were with him: erasing the world from their minds and ushering in the hereafter ‘As if the world has never been, as if the hereafter has always been’. It was a precise prescription to cure the lethargy that prevented the Muslims from taking a courageous and responsible stand against the Umayyad conspiracy which caused great damage to the Muslims and Islam. It corrupted them in mind and spirit and played havoc with their culture. It stole from them their will and conscience.

These were the stages planned by the Umayyads to destroy the cultural, intellectual and social dimensions of the then Islamic society. A vast movement was necessary to foil this conspiracy, but it had already paralyzed the people’s will and conscience to such an extent that they were no longer able to respond to the son of the daughter of God’s Messenger (S), who urged them to struggle against this plot and nullify it.

Imam Husayn (‘a) wished to cure the people’s apathy towards jihad, their weakness with regard to bidding what is good and forbidding what is bad, their inability to confront injustice and oppression, and their preference for personal safety. It was a precise prescription to remedy that situation.

First Point

The first point in this prescription is to prepare the minds to relinquish the world in order to meet God by feeling contempt for the world and its temporary enjoyments, possessions and vicissitudes. Preparing the mind in this way has a number of benefits:

1- One will not get attached to the world, nor rejoice at it, nor depend on it.

2-One will not grieve for what is lost or be filled with despair by misfortunes.

3- One will not become anxious about losing God-given bounties in the future.

The Most High says:

"So that you may not grieve for what escapes you nor exult for what comes your way.” (57:23).

Three things drive man into tribulations: joy, grief and fear. Rejoicing over worldly possessions, grief over what he loses and fear and anxiety about what he may lose in future. When he rids himself of these three hurdles the world will become inconsequential before him and he can prepare to meet God. He will be freed from the grip of fear, weakness, inertia and indecision.

The path to all this, as we have already said, is for one to undervalue the world and assume that God has provided him with things as trial in the form of wealth, spouse and children. Then he can free himself from fear, grief and rejoicing at worldly acquisitions. Attachment to the world is similar to the force of gravity with respect to the earth; if you are able to leave the earth’s gravitational field, the force of gravity that controls your movements will cease to act on you.

Similarly, if one can make his mind leave the world while still living in it he will no longer be affected by the affliction called “attachment to the world.” When people die and leave this world they become amazed at how those living are wedded to the world, its embellishments and possessions.

Islam does not ask people to live a life of seclusion or withdraw themselves from political and social circles and family life, nor abandon worldly enjoyments. This issue is too obvious to warrant any comment. It is also very clear that Islam invites people to activity in order to seek for provisions and develop the world, with the condition that the gravitational pull of the world does not overpower them or strip them of their freedom of will. This middle path is to extricate the soul from attachment to the world but not from the world per se. There is a clear difference between these two things. God Almighty has mentioned the perfect yardstick in His book:

“So that you may not grieve for what escapes you nor exult for what comes your way.” (57:23).

When we become sure of ourselves with regard to ‘grief’, ‘joy’ and ‘fear’, then one can enjoy what God has made permissible, without objection. This cannot be achieved unless one removes himself from the world’s field of attraction and this is the meaning of the well-known hadith: “Die before you die.” The first death which the hadith urges is voluntary death while the second death the hadith refers to is involuntary death.

What is required of man is to die voluntarily before the inevitable involuntary death. Voluntary death means that one should extricate oneself from attachment to the life of this world before the involuntary death removes him from the world. This is what is meant by distancing the world from the soul, and it is a hard psychological process.

This is the first point in Imam Husayn’s prescription for his brother, Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah, the Hashimites who were with him and the rest of the people. Man has two viewpoints before him; one of them intensifies his torment and anxiety while the other removes anxiety, torment and fear from him.

The first is the assumption that man will live very long, which is a false assumption.

The second one is that life is short. The basis of this assumption is the absence of the world in the mind of that individual who always keeps death in sight so that the world no longer seems to be under his control; or, as if he has never lived in it to encounter difficulty in separation from it.

This assumption frees man from the seduction and captivity of the world but it does not seek to isolate him from the world; it only frees the soul from getting attached to it and nothing else. The person with this view participates with people in business, in the school, on the farm, in public and at home, out of a sense of duty and responsibility and not because of attachment and dependence. The two motives differ in the sense that should any misfortune befall one’s business or affect his children he will not be overwhelmed by grief, which, one who is attached to the world will experience.

Second Point

The second point in Imam Husayn’s prescription is making the hereafter always present in the mind. This is also a difficult mental activity. The Imam’s expression of this point is an exact one: ‘As if the hereafter has always been’. That is, it has always been around since man first entered this world and will remain when he returns to God. It would have been different if he had said ‘as if the hereafter is around.’

Does the world really mean attachment to it and the hereafter meeting God? A man can live a long life in this world associating with people both at home and in public and participate in social life without getting attached to the world at all and without separating from God ever since he came to know Him through his innate nature and his intellect. Such people have entered the world, remained outside it, known God and never parted with Him. Their bodies are in the world together with the people while their hearts are averse to the worldly possessions to which the people are attached and on which they depend.

The Commander of the Faithful, Ali (‘a) gave an apt description of the condition of these people in the world, as recorded by al-Sharif al-Radi in a sermon in Nahj al-Balaghah which came to be known as the sermon of the God-fearing. He said: “If there had not been fixed periods (of life) ordained for each, their spirits would not have remained in their bodies even for the twinkling of an eye because of (their) eagerness for the reward and fear of chastisement.The greatness of the Creator is seated in their hearts, and, so, everything else appears small in their eyes.To them, Paradise is as though they see it and are enjoying its favours.To them, Hell is also as if they see it and are suffering punishment in it.”

In this sermon the Imam (‘a) mentions the mental procedure followed by these people in order to make the hereafter present before their eyes while they live and interact with the people: “And when they come across a verse which contains what creates eagerness for (Paradise) they pursue it avidly, and their spirits turn towards it eagerly, and they feel as if it is in front of them.”

This is the process of making the hereafter present which is the second point in the Imam’s letter to Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah. These two issues provide the cure for all the misfortunes one may encounter in this world, the means of freedom from one’s captivity that is caused by attachment to it and the launching pad for the journey to God Almighty. Thus man changes from a mere object that is flung around by the flow of events to an active element of change that is responsible before God for determining the fate of human beings and building society. Likewise, from being a servant of despotic rulers and their desires he turns into a caller who arouses the nation and warns oppressive rulers to mend their ways or face their doom.

- 1. Bihar al-Anwar 45/87.

- 2. Bihar al-Anwar, 73/123.

- 3. Bihar al-Anwar, 78/18.

- 4. Bihar al-Anwar, 73/122.

- 5. Ghurar al-Hikam 1/102.

- 6. Nahj al-Balaghah, Sermon 63.

- 7. Ghurar al-Hikam 1/85.

- 8. Usul al-Kafi 2/441.

- 9. Mustadrak al-Wasa’il 1/299, first lithographic edition.

- 10. Majma’ al-Bayan 1/16.

- 11. Ghurar al-Hikam 1/11.

Defying Death On The Day Of Ashura

How Do We Deal With Death?

The issue of death and the way to deal with it is among the prominent elements of the bloody fight by the Bank of the Euphrates on the day of Ashura. From this angle, the event of Ashura is distinct among great historical events.

When Husayn (‘a) was leaving Hijaz and heading towards Iraq he announced that he would meet his death on that trip. He also informed the people of his own death and urged them to lay down their lives for the same cause and prepare themselves for their meeting with God. Throughout the journey to Karbala, Husayn (‘a) had been frankly telling his companions and the people he met that their destination was inevitable death. His companions entertained no doubts about it: they were absolutely sure.

The only excuse offered by those who wished to forsake Husayn (‘a) was their fear of death, and there are many instances of this in Husayn’s journey to Karbala. This is a remarkable feature of the battle of Ashura which distinguishes it from other similar incidents. For a revolutionary leader to invite people to their death is very rare, if not completely unheard of. Such leaders invite the people to activism and revolution and request them to get ready to sacrifice their lives for it, if need be. Husayn’s case was different

. He did not seek a military conquest as imagined by the people; he only wanted to embark boldly upon a tragic sacrifice unparalleled in history, in order to jolt the nation’s conscience. Husayn (‘a) had found that the Umayyads had succeeded in controlling the people’s will and rendering them subservient through terror and exile.

In this atmosphere the Umayyads tried to reinstitute pre-Islamic values and views in the new Islamic society with no significant opposition from the community. Therefore a strong jolting of the people’s conscience was necessary to restore the will they had been robbed of, and this could only be achieved by a tragic sacrifice unparalleled in history! Thus Husayn (‘a) prepared his family and his companions for this tragedy!

This feature of the event of Ashura makes it unique when compared to most other similar events in history. It is a deceitful mistake of history to have stripped Ashura of this feature. If the feat of defying death and seeking martyrdom be divorced from the event of Ashura it will be nothing more than an insurrection against Umayyad rule by an extremely unequal military force. It would not have achieved its goals as expected by those who were advising Husayn (‘a) against his journey to Iraq, without realising his intention. The Imam (‘a) was seeing what they were not seeing and knew what they knew not.

How Do People Face Death?

Death is an important matter with regard to how people organize their lives. With respect to this natural phenomenon which is a part of God’s inexorable norms, people fall into two groups: the overwhelming majority who are apprehensive of death and try to escape it, and the minority who challenge death and long for it.

The fear of death and challenging death, play a significant role in organizing people’s lives and in determining their destiny. If a nation is afraid of death oppressive rulers will not need much effort to subjugate and cow them down. Their lives become subservient to the despot and they gradually lose their innate nature and conscience, which form the basis of a decent life. However, a nation which has the power to face death without fear and proves it, cannot be made to bow down to the will of tyrants. It is impossible to rob such people of their will and goals.

We shall now dwell, to some extent, on these two situations (i.e. fear of death and challenging death):

Fear Of Death

Fear of death deeply affects people’s lives and has wide-ranging effects in society with respect to activism and struggle, so this phenomenon deserves a closer study. By God’s will, we will discuss, in what follows, the causes of this phenomenon, its negative effects on society, and the useful educative ways to cure minds of this condition.

Causes

Attachment to the world is among the most important causes of fear of death. If one lives in this world like all people and enjoys its good things but his heart does not get attached to it, death will not frighten him. We shall discuss this point presently, God willing.

Another cause of fear of death is poor preparation for the hereafter, because of which one is afraid of embarking on a new phase of life that will be everlasting. It is to this fact that the following Qur’anic verse alludes, while addressing the Jews, who believed that God preferred them over all other nations and that they were His friends to the exclusion of other people:

"Say, ‘O Jews! If you claim that you are God’s favorites to the exclusion of other people, then long for death, should you be truthful. Yet they will never long for it because of what their hands have sent ahead, and God knows best the wrongdoers.”(62:6-7).

This is a litmus test to gauge the truthfulness of their claim. Lack of preparation for the hereafter results from getting wedded to the world, therefore, this is the principal factor that causes fear of death. Something to this effect has been related from Imam al-Sadiq (‘a): “He who loves the world is humiliated”.1 This narration could be analyzed and interpreted in this way: love for the world and attachment to it is among the causes of uneasiness towards death, and the two are in fact two sides of a single issue; he who loves the world becomes afraid of death.

Whoever fears death is humiliated because he does not have the ability to take a stand on a bold resolution, and when a man is unable to do so he becomes a compliant tool whose actions are dependent on those of the arrogant powers: This is the humiliation which Imam al-Sadiq (‘a) speaks about in this narration.

This is a precise yardstick by which a person’s readiness for the hereafter, in this world, may be known. The more one’s attachment to the life of this world is, the less his preparation for the next; and the less one’s preparation for the hereafter is, the more his apprehension about death. Someone said to Abu Dharr (may God be pleased with him): “Why do we dislike death?” He replied: “Because you have built this world and demolished your hereafter; so you dislike moving from a refurbished place to ruins.”

Then he asked: “How do you consider our meeting God?” “The good doer will [meet Him] like someone who has been away and now returns to his family, the wrongdoer will [meet God] like the slave who had run away and now returns to his master.” The questioner added: “How do you see our condition with God?” He replied: “Put your works before the Book of God, the Blessed, the Sublime [for He says]: "Indeed the pious shall be amid bliss, and indeed the vicious shall be in hell” (8:13-14), then the man said: “So where is God’s mercy?” Abu Dharr answered: "Indeed God’s mercy is close to the virtuous.” (7:56).2

The Stand

Strength, courage and audacity certainly constitute one of the two elements that make a stand, the other being political awareness. Since fear of death weakens man, it inevitably deprives him of the power to take a practical stand on difficult questions. Man’s worth in the field of encounter does not lie in his intention alone; it rests on his stand as well.

A large number of Muslims during the time of Imam Husayn (‘a) were not pleased with Yazid and his actions; they hated him very much, but Husayn translated that hatred and rejection to action. The value of Imam Husayn’s work lies here, for a stand is the embodiment of opinion and affiliation; bringing out views, affiliations, loyalty or repudiation from the mind to the arena of confrontation.

All people do not approve of injustice but some openly declare their disapproval either by civil disobedience, demonstrations and strikes or by revolution. Of course, the disapproval which remains in the mind unexpressed will not cost the disapprover anything. It is practical stand taken on the field of confrontation that costs one dear and proves a burden.

It is this action that requires struggle and sacrifice, and imposes the consequences on the one who takes it. It is essential to note that passive resistance and armchair opposition cannot change the course of history; what does is the action of those who take the bold decision. Rejection and dislike which one leaves in his mind does not make any difference in political and social realities nor does it stir people; it is positive action that moves people and brings about political and social changes. In the end, confrontation and encounter is the real stand.

Changing From A Position Of No Stand To That Of A Contrary Stand

Civilizational conflicts do not tolerate non-stands so if a man cannot cope with the difficult stand and is too weak to take the right stand, he cannot remain neutral to the last; non-stands get transformed into contrary stands. The reason why non-stands turn into contrary stands is exactly why stands change into non-stands, i.e. fear of death.

What disables man from taking the right position will surely disable him from slipping into falsehood, and in this way he will be classified within the front of falsehood. As we said, the field of confrontation will not leave one alone without classifying him. If he does not align himself with the party of truth in which he believes, the battlefield will sooner or later enlist him into the ruling order, at which time he will be among the army of the rebellious [to God] (taghut), even if his heart and mind are with the truth.

Here one is split into two opposing halves: his view (his mind) and his sentiment (his heart) taking the direction of truth and his outward stand and declared position (his will) taking the side of falsehood. This is a clear case of schizophrenia in which a person is split into two contradictory parts with the result that his personality loses its harmony and his outward actions are in conflict with his internal situation.

This is the issue to which Imam Husayn (‘a) called the attention of Ibn Ziyad’s army in Karbala on the day of Ashura, saying: “You have drawn on us the sword we placed in your right hands”3 Indeed this sword that is mentioned by the Imam denotes power and authority and it was Islam that gave them this power [as a whole].

The Arabs were a weak nation isolated in the desert. The Messenger of God (S) brought them Islam from God. With these people, he set up a formidable force to conquer east and west, overthrew the thrones of despots and oppressors, liberated oppressed peoples, set free God’s servants from the yoke of oppression and servitude and directed them away from servitude to man towards servitude to the One, the Irresistible. Surely, the Messenger of God (S) entrusted them with this power.

One of the achievements of the Messenger of God (S) made possible through the support of Almighty God was to make this nation a great and miraculous force. This is what is intended by this precise statement which expresses the depth of the tragedy: ‘the sword we gave you, which is in your right hands’.

What was appropriate for them was to draw that sword on the enemies of God and His messenger, but they used it against the Prophet’s Household and his successors. They were supposed to use the sword to fight the leaders of oppression and polytheism but they used it on the leaders of monotheism and justice, in support of the leaders of polytheism and injustice.

This is the depth of the tragedy which befell this nation during the time of the Umayyad rulers. This is also the correct description of the Kufans which was given by al-Farazdaq when Imam Husayn (‘a) asked him about the situation he left behind in Kufa, for the majority of the Kufans were Alids and the hearts of the Alids were with Husayn although their swords had turned against him.

Many of those who came out with Ibn Ziyad’s army to fight Imam Husayn (‘a) loved him before; they were among those who wrote to him requesting him to join them. What identifies man is his opinion, love, hate and stand: Whenever these three elements are complete and harmonious man is strong, but when they are opposed and contradictory he becomes weak and, as a result, turns into a pliant tool in the hands of the oppressors.

The Last Stage Of Apostacy

Al-Farazdaq did not say-although he should have said-that the first and second stages of man’s renegation are from a stand to a non-stand and then from a non-stand to a contrary stand. The third stage is reached when the stand which is contrary to the truth overpowers man’s thought and opinion and directs him towards the opinion of the opponent by adorning it till he completely contradicts the first opinion [the truth].

Then his view turns into its antithesis: love turns into hate and hate into love. This is the final stage of renegation which al-Farazdaq did not mention. This final stage could well have been hidden to him but the Qur’an has recorded it most clearly:

“Then the fate of those who committed misdeeds was that they denied the signs of God and they used to deride them” (Qur’an, 30:10).

It is a blatant commission of misdeed for a believing man to wield a sword against God, His messenger (S) and His friends and fight them in defense of taghut. Should one do this, God Almighty will remove faith, awareness and the ability to have a stand from him so that he will deny the signs of God, and when he denies God’s signs, His messengers and His friends, he ends up treating them as enemies and hating them. This completes the apostasy.

Realignment On The Opposing Side And A Turnabout

Thus the three centres of human personality-the mind, the heart and the will (or opinion, sympathy and stand) once again realign after getting split up, and are filled with confusion and anxiety. The human personality regains harmony but in the opposite direction altogether; a negative one which is inclined to disobedience of God, His messenger (S) and His friends.

Three States In Man’s Life

State one: Harmony between hearts and swords in the direction of truth.

State two: Conflict between hearts and swords and between truth and false hood.

State three: Harmony between hearts and swords in the direction of falsehood.

The First State

The condition whereby hearts and swords are in harmony represents the sound natural state in which the three centres, the mind, the heart and the will meet, so that opinion joins love and hate and they are connected with a stand. This state is that of harmony, perseverance and strength because the coming together of these three centres imbues man with strength. This condition is a natural and innate one where mutual influence exists between these three factors. The effects of this condition on man are that he lives a tranquil life that does not know anxiety, because psychological comfort does not stem from external peace and comfort but from internal mental harmony. With this condition man develops in a balanced way.

The Second State

This is a situation in which hearts and swords contradict each other and that is when man’s will succumbs to the agents of enticement and terror which are applied by taghut. Taghut aims at occupying the three centres of human personality altogether; however, the first to be terrorized is the will. This is where the fall starts and it is the first stage of apostasy, although the mind and the heart still remain unchanged. The situations we mentioned above are now reversed: one loses comfort, tranquility and mental equilibrium, and instead, suffers from anxiety and disorder and his personality becomes deprived of ‘the baptism of God.’ (2:138).

This is the stage at which the degradation of man’s personality begins and the conscience struggles to restore harmony and balance inside itself. If it succeeds, then the personality will surely regain its balance and harmony. At this stage, people fall into two groups: one with the type of al-Hurr’s personality, who had a strong and sound conscience, which brought him back to God again, and another group with a personality like that of Umar ibn Sa’ad, who lacked such strong conscience and descended to the last stage of degradation.

The Third Stage

At this stage harmony among the three seats of human personality returns once again but in the direction of disrepute. Internally, man seeks order, so if he is unable to get it in the right direction due to his weak conscience which cannot harmonize the personality on the side of truth, order returns him to the side of falsehood. Man’s heart and mind will now realign with his [now untoward] will and action.

This is level zero of man’s degradation, in which taghut and worldly desire drain the conscience and take over both mind and heart. When this happens taghut occupies all the three forts of human personality and empties the conscience of whatever power of struggle God Almighty has endowed it with. There upon, God’s mercy on man comes to a halt because mercy descends on the conscience, the heart, the mind and the will, and when they are all drained away there remains no place for mercy to descend on. This is a state of unbelief.

There exists a more abased state: the state of hypocrisy in which the swords return to the side of truth but not in compliance with it but to conspire against it. Because of this, God Almighty says:

"Indeed the hypocrites will be in the lowest reach of the fire...” (4:145).

After this passage about the stages of man’s degradation we shall now return to our discussion about defying death and fearing death.

The Effects Of Fear Of Death On Society

Fear of death leaves wide ranging negative effects on human life; it robs people of the power to resist and makes them easy prey for tyrants, who deplete the resistance Almighty God has bestowed their consciences, the strength He has endowed their will and the awareness He has given their minds. As a result, all the values, morals, will and resistance which God has given them is drained off.

This state of total draining-away and depletion is the despicable condition which God Almighty mentioned as part of the way the despots treat their people: “So he despised his people and they obeyed him.”

Pharaoh would not have been able to subjugate the people to his will and power without draining their values, morals, power of resistance, will and conscience which God had bestowed on them. [The verse refers to Pharaoh and his people.] Man becomes inconsequential as a result of total submission to tyrants. The instrument which is preferred most by the arrogant is terrorising, because the fear of death makes it easy for anyone to sow the seeds of terror in any society.

Educative Methods For Fighting This Situation

1. Curtailing expectations from life in this world.

2. Remembering God and yearning to meet Him.

First Method

Curtailing one’s expectation from worldly life and weakening one’s relationship with it.

A firm attachment to the world and too much hope in it are among the greatest fetters that hamper man’s progress towards God. When one frees oneself from them, he becomes less encumbered for the journey towards God Almighty and is never frightened by death. In fact he becomes indifferent to it, never worrying whether it falls on him or he falls on it, as Ali Akbar (‘a) said to his father as they approached Karbala: ‘Dear Father! In that case we do not fear to die, being on the right.’ Imam Husayn (‘a) replied: ‘May God reward you with the best of what He rewards a son for serving his father!”4

Second Method

Remembering God and making firm one’s longing to meet Him through death.

Death is, to the believer, a way of meeting God, and, meeting Him is the greatest joy. The life of this world screens one from experiencing the presence of God, and when death overtakes him the covering leaves his eyes

" We have removed your veil from you, and so your sight is acute today” (50:2).

At that time, the believer will behold the beautiful names and attributes of God, and His sublimity, beauty, omnipotence and greatness. To the believer, this represents the highest pleasure which is incomparable to paradise and its houris and all the blessings God has created in it.

It is recorded in Makarim al-Akhlaq that the Messenger of God (S) has said: “O Ibn Mas’ud! Curtail your hopes; when morning comes, say: ‘I may not see evening’ and when evening comes, say: ‘I may not see morning’. Resolve on leaving the world and love to meet God and do not dislike to meet him, for indeed God loves to meet those who love to meet Him and he dislikes meeting those who dislike meeting Him.”5

The Messenger of God (S) also said: “When light enters the chest it expands.” He was asked: ‘Does that have a sign by which it may be known?” “Yes”, he replied. “Withdrawing from the house of deception, returning to the everlasting house and making preparation for death before it descends”6

Ali (‘a) is reported to have said: “Arouse the desire for the delights of paradise in yourselves and you will love death and loathe living”7

Some Scenes Of Confronting Death In Al-Taff

In what follows I will recount one out of many scenes of al-Taff [the bank of the Euphrates where the battle of Ashura’ took place] where death was held in contempt and even positively sought for, and the longing to meet God exhibited. This was one of the most beautiful scenes that history has recorded in that regard.

The Imam gathered his companions and family on the night before the tenth of Muharram and asked them to go wherever they wanted and leave him alone. He wanted them to be fully aware of their situation. He said to them:

“I commend God with the best commendation and praise Him for both ease and difficulty. O Lord! I praise you for the honour you granted us through prophethood; You gave us hearing, sight and hearts; and taught us the Qur’an and made us comprehend religion. So include us among the grateful.

“I do not know of any companions more loyal and better than mine; nor a family kinder and more devoted. May God bless you all for my sake. Listen! I think our appointment with these enemies is tomorrow and I permit you all to go away and leave me; you are free and you [no longer] have any duty towards me. The night has provided you with cover so avail yourselves of it. Let each one of you hold the hand of [i.e. go with] one of my family (may God reward you all!) and disperse in the rural and urban areas of the land [and take refuge there] till God brings relief. These people are only after me; should they get me, they will forget the rest.”8

His family’s reply:

The Imam had hardly finished his speech when that select group of his noble family declared that they would choose the way he took. They would follow him and never take a different course. So they all stood up with tearful eyes and said: “Why should we do that? The worst thing that can happen to us is to remain alive after your death? May God we do not live to see that day!”

His brother Abu al-Fadl al-Abbas was the first to reply, then the noble ones of the Prophet’s family followed suit. Then the Imam turned to the sons of his uncle Aqil and said:

“The killing of Muslim [ibn Aqil] suffices you a share, so you can go, for I allow you.”

The noble men of Aqil’s family started up and spoke passionately:

“What do we say to the people? Do we say: ‘we have left alone our leader and our cousins, who are the best of cousins, without having shot any arrows together with them, nor getting pierced by a spear, nor struck by a sword, and without knowing what they had done to be killed?! Never! By God we will not do that. Instead, we will sacrifice our lives, wealth and families for your sake; we will fight on your side till we reach the same destination as you. Abominable indeed, is life after you!”9

His Companions’ Reply

With tears running down his cheeks, Muslim ibn Awsajah sprung up and addressed the Imam in these words:

“Should we abandon you? What will be our plea with God for our inability to discharge our duty to you? I swear by God that I will never forsake you; rather I will pierce their chests with my spear and strike them with my sword as long as its hilt remains in my hand. If I will have no arms with which to fight them I will pelt them with stones till I die on your side.”

Then Sa’ad ibn Abdullah al-Hanafi said:

“By God we will not abandon you. [We will remain with you] till God ascertains that we have kept our duty toward His Messenger in your regard. By God if I know that I will be killed and then revived, then burnt, then [my ashes] blown away, then the whole process repeated seventy times, I will not abandon you, till I meet my death in your defense! How can I not do that [i.e. persevere] when it is but a single death after which I will meet everlasting honour?”10

Zuhayr said: “By God, I would like to be killed, then revived, then killed again till I am killed a thousand times in this way, if only God the Almighty and Sublime will ward off death from you and these noble souls of your family as a result.”

The rest of the Imam’s companions also declared their readiness to die sacrificing themselves for his sake. So he expressed his gratitude to them all and stressed that they would all meet their death the next day. Oh hearing this, they answered in chorus:

“Praise be to God who honoured us by making us your helpers to be martyred along with you. Will you not be pleased that we should be together with you in your station, O son of the daughter of the Messenger of God (S)?11

The Imam had tested these people and found them to be the most loyal of men whose souls had been enlightened with the light of faith, who had freed themselves of all worldly concerns and who, as the historians inform us, were martyrdom-thirsty and poised to earn the blessings of the hereafter.

When Muhammad ibn Bashir al-Hadrami was informed that his son had been captured at the frontiers of al-Rayy he complained: I do not want my son to remain in captivity while I live after him. The Imam got the impression that the man wanted to get his son released from captivity so he allowed him to leave, saying: “You are free to go and work for the release of your son.” Al-Hadrami replied: “May wild beasts devour me if I leave you ...”12

Al-Qasim ibn al-Hasan, an adolescent who had not reached puberty, said to Husayn (‘a) “Am I among those who will be killed?” Touched by this, he said: “How do you consider death, my son?” “Sweeter than honey, Uncle!” he replied. On hearing this, the Imam said: “Surely, by God, may your uncle be your ransom! Certainly you will be killed along with the men with me after you meet a tough ordeal. My son Abdullah [the suckling child]13 will also meet the same fate.

- 1. Bihar al-Anwar, 6/128 (hadith 14).

- 2. Bihar al-Anwar, 6/137 (hadith 72).

- 3. Al-Muqarram’s Maqtal al-Al-Husayn (‘a), 286.

- 4. Sheikh al-Samawi’s Ibsar al-Ayn fi Ansar al-Husayn (‘a), pg 21-22.

- 5. Makarim al-Akhlaq, 452.

- 6. Kanz al-Ummal 1, 76 (hadith 302).

- 7. Ghurar al-Hikam, 413 (Ch: 42 No. 25)

- 8. Ibn al-Athir’s Al-Kamil fi al-Tarikh 4/ 57, Beirut ed. 1965. In Al-Muntazam, Ibn al-Jawzi has recorded another version of the Imam’s speech: ‘It is recorded in Sayyid al-Muqarram’s Maqtal al-Husayn (‘a) that he said: “You are free from your oath of allegiance to me so join your clans and clients” And he said to His family: “You are permitted to leave me for you cannot stand them by virtue of their great numbers and strength, and no one is wanted except me. The Sublime and Mighty God will support me and never deprive me of His good watch as was His wont with our good forebears.”
A group of people left his camp and then his family said to him: “We will not part from you. Whatever grieves you should grieve us and whatever befalls you should befall us, we shall be nearest to God when we are with you.’ He said to them: If you have prepared yourselves for what I have prepared myself then know that God bestows honourable stations for His servants only because they bear adversities, and that God has conferred on me and on my family, of whom I am the last to stay in the world, such honours that will make it easy for me to bear adversities. Indeed you have a portion of God’s honours. Know that the sweet and the bitter of this world are but a dream and the hereafter is the place for waking up, and the successful is the one who succeeds in it and the damned is the one who is damned in it”.

- 9. Ibn Athir’s Al-Tarikh, 4/58.

- 10. Al-Muntazam 5/179; Tarikh al-Tabari 6/239.

- 11. Bihar al-Anwar 44, 298; Al-Bahrani’s Al-Awalim, 350.

- 12. Tarikh Ibn Asakir 13/54; Tahdhib al-Tahdhib 1/150, al-Maqarram’s Maqtal al-Husayn (‘a) 165-170.

- 13. Al-Muhaddith al-Qummi’s Nafas al-Mahmum, 230.

Some Instances Of Loyalty In The Supplication: Ziyarat Warith

Three aspects of loyalty are portrayed in this supplication

1- Salutation: that is “Peace be on you, O heir to Adam, God’s chosen one.”

2- Testimony: that is “I bear witness that you are the pious and devout Imam”

3- Stand: that is “My heart is in submission to your heart and my actions follow yours.

In the following passages we will discuss these three aspects of loyalty which appear in this supplication.

First Aspect: Salutation

This is the first manifestation of loyalty which has three parts:

First: Peace be on you, O heir to Adam, God’s chosen one!

Second: Peace be on you, O son of Muhammad, the chosen one!

Third: Peace be on you, O God’s avenger, the son of God’s avenger!

Among the elements of loyalty are salutation and submission i.e, not disputing and differing with the leadership, both in the mind and in behaviour. By submission we mean practical obedience and compliance. However, this obedience stems from internal harmony and love for the leader and not from coercion. The relationship of the community with its leaders is that of firmly rooted submission that is visible in behaviour.

This relationship is exhibited at the end of the formal prayer in the form of salutation: “Peace and God’s mercy and blessings be on you, O Prophet.” The fruit reaped by the servant when he soars toward God in prayer is obedience and love for the [God-appointed] leaders. Islam has prescribed the word ‘peace’ as the faithfuls’ salutation for one another. This general greeting: ‘Peace be on us and on God’s righteous servants’ is the closing part on which the worshippers finish their prayers.

The importance given to spreading peace arises from the emphasis that is laid on the type of relationship that should exist between Muslims. This relationship is established on the basis of eschewing discord and disagreement among Muslims; removing hatred, malice and ill-will from minds; establishing love and fellow feeling in hearts and cooperation and concord in action.

Second Aspect: Testimony

Testimony is a declaration of trust, faith and loyalty, and such a testimony must be coupled with submission so that they complement one another.

In this supplication, testimony appears in three parts:

1. Testifying to the message and movement of Husayn (‘a): “I bear witness that you established the prayer, paid the zakat, enjoined what is good and forbade the bad and obeyed God and His messenger (S) till you died”

To establish the prayer is not just to perform it, because the latter is only a personal duty stemming from individual obligation, whereas the former carries a message in the life of the believers. Establishing the prayer means to firmly establish worship and the relationship with God in people’s lives. It also involves urging the people to keep up prayer for God’s sake by openly declaring this obligation that has been enjoined on them.

“You enjoined the good and forbade the bad”: When Husayn (‘a) revolted against Yazid he was not after kingship, power or position, rather, he sought to establish good deeds and uproot evil i.e. establish loyalty to God and destroy taghut.

On the day of Ashura, Husayn (‘a) addressed the people saying: “Do you not see that truth is not acted upon and falsehood is not being forbidden? Let the believer desire to meet God. [As for me] I consider death to be nothing but a source of bliss and living with oppressors only a vexation.”1

At the station of Al-Baydah, Husayn addressed al-Hurr’s companions in these words: “O you people! The Messenger of God (S) has said: Whoever watches an unjust ruler who violates what God declares sacrosanct, breaks His covenant, contradicts the tradition of the Messenger of God (S) and rules the people in a way characterized by sin and transgression, and, does not oppose him by word or deed, God has the right to make him share his doom. Certainly, these people [Yazid and co.] have sworn obedience to Satan, leaving aside obedience to the Merciful; they have engaged in corruption openly and suspended the legal punishments; they have monopolized the treasury and they have permitted what God prohibited and disallowed what He permitted.”2

Thus Husayn (‘a) was not after power and wealth, but he saw that a despot was spreading corruption in the land, wreaking havoc, making permissible what God forbade and transgressing His limits. So he rose up against Yazid in Karbala, with his faithful group which welcomed his call for bidding the good, forbidding the bad, reinstituting what is right, and extirpating what is wrong.

2. Testifying to the fact that the Imam was immaculate both internally and in his behaviour. God has exclusively endowed the Ahl al-Bayt (‘a) with this purity. The Most High says:

" Indeed God desires to repel all impurity from you, O people of the Household, and purify you with a thorough purification. " (33:33).

In addition, testifying that this virtuousness was passed on from father to son and God Most High destined this purity to be preserved within this noble line throughout the eras of ignorance that came to pass in human history Over the different ages God Most High has chosen this blessed line for the office of Imamate in the life of man.

" Indeed God chose Adam and Noah, and the progeny of Abraham and the progeny of Imran above all nations. Some of them are descendants of others, and God is All-hearing, All-knowing. "(3:33-34).

Let us look at this section of the supplication of Ziyarat Warith: “I bear witness that you were a light in noble loins and pure wombs. The era of ignorance did not soil you by its impurities nor did it clothe you in its garments of darkness.”

I do not want to pass on without pointing to this beautiful expression of purity of this house; the result of the fecundation brought about by noble loins and purified wombs: loins of men who were above worldly things that people scramble for; and wombs of women who were chaste and free from the scum of civilizations of the ages of ignorance seen by man.

3- Testifying to the position which was taken by Husayn (‘a) with regard to what the nation was experiencing; the leadership role assigned to him by God in the form of Imamate and guardianship over the Muslims; and the fact that God had commissioned him to guide the community. Coupled with this, was the position of his offspring in leading and guiding the Muslims towards God Almighty.

We also read in it: “I bear witness that you are among the pillars of religion and the pivots of believers. I bear witness that you are the pious, the obedient, the chaste, the guided and the guide. I bear witness that the Imams from your offspring are the epitome of piety, the milestones of guidance, the stronghold and proof over the people of the world.”

Third Aspect: Stand

This is the stage for asserting loyalty, which comes after submission and testimony. Here stand pertains to both faith and action. Faith is eloquently described through these words: “I believe in you and in your return, I have firm faith in the rules of my religion, and my heart is submissive to your hearts”, in the supplication of Ziyarat Warith. The practical part of this stand consists in deference and obedience to them: “And my actions follow yours.”

A compelling indication of the sincerity of one’s stand is one’s submission to the Imams with respect to the rules of religion and the final deeds of one’s life. Nothing is as dear as the religious rules by which one worships God Almighty and the last acts in life, for acts done in the beginning or middle parts of one’s lifetime can be compensated for by repentance, soul searching and correction, unlike those done at the closing part. One’s last deeds determine one’s fate.

The best proof of having trust in the Imams (‘a) and being sincerely loyal to them is for one to receive from them the rules of religion and take inspiration from them for what one does at the end of one’s life. That unrestricted submission as described above is of the highest type because it is untainted by the least resistance or misgiving in the heart, that is the submission of the heart to the heart: “and my heart is in submission to your hearts.” This is when the hearts get into contact and mutual understanding.

Similarly, one’s stand as regards to action is described thus: “And my actions follow your actions.” This represents complete obedience and submission to the commands of God.

Therefore, the stand means complete faith, unrestricted submission and absolute trust, followed by total commitment and obedience with regard to action. In a special ziyarah of Imam Husayn (‘a) on the day of Arafat, the following section occurs: “I am at peace with the one who is at peace with you, at war with the one who is at war with you, hostile to the one who is hostile to you and friend to the one who is friend to you. [In this way shall I remain] till the day of Resurrection.”

In the special Ziyarat al-Arba’in prayer we read:

“I bear witness that I believe in you and your return, I have firm faith in the rules of my religion and will have till the final call of death, my heart is submissive to your hearts, my actions follow your actions and my support for you is ready till the time God grants permission [for action]. So I am fully on your side and not on the side of your enemy. God’s blessings be on you, both your souls and bodies, on the present and the absent ones among you”.

This is a declaration of total readiness for support, after which comes this beautiful rendition of loyalty: “With you! With you! With your enemy, never!” By repeating togetherness: ‘With you, with you’, the covenant of loyalty is emphasized just as it is through affirming and negating i.e. expressing loyalty to the Imams and repudiating their enemies: ‘With your enemy, never!’

Similarly, the supplication on the first of Rajab conveys this expression of loyalty to the one who stood up in Karbala on the day of Ashura’ inviting mankind to God, to strive against the forces that were rebellious towards Him and break their arrogance and direct them to serve God alone. It reads: “At your service, O inviter towards God! If my body did not respond to you when you sought help [on the day of Ashura] or my tongue when you called for support, surely my heart responds to you”.

The best response indeed is that of the heart. We have missed the chance to respond to the call of the caller to God in Karbala physically, but our hearts, which God has filled with loyalty to Him and His friends (the Imams) (‘a), will ever comply with the Imam (‘a). We shall always respond to his call to fight the oppressors and break their power and strength; to bring the people over to the service of God, establish His law and uphold the divine limits in human life; and free mankind from the axis of the rebellious (taghut) and direct them towards loyalty to Almighty God.

Repudiation: The Other Face Of Loyalty

After this, comes repudiation, which is the other face of loyalty, for there can be no loyalty without repudiation: they are two faces of the same issue, two parts of a single reality, and any stand is made up of these two.

One’s promise of loyalty is fulfilled through his repudiation because a declaration of loyalty alone does not cost one much. Most of the troubles that one may suffer come as a result of repudiation. It is only too easy for one to live with all in a friendly and peaceful environment by respecting the feelings and sensibilities of everybody. One can play a double game and guard against collusion with all. One can smile at everybody in order to gain their acceptance. Such a person can live in peace and comfort, earn the love and sympathy of all and live free from problems and inconveniences.

However, he cannot be part of the circle of those loyal to God, His messengers, His friends and the believers; he cannot join this obedient family which pledges its loyalty to God, His messenger (S) and His friends; he cannot have a stand; he cannot love, hate or resent sincerely; and in his political and social relationships, he cannot go beyond mere formality. Without loyalty there can be no sincerity in relations or stand, and no sincerity is possible without repudiation. But repudiation entails many demands on one’s social relations with family and society, and on one’s comfort, well-being and stability.

The price of being loyal is to be able to repudiate, and the price for repudiation is to accept difficulties, inconveniences and troubles. These are equations God has established by virtue of His inexorable norms that govern human life. Abu Ja’far al-Baqir (‘a) is reported to have said: “There are ten things which help enter paradise when one meets God:

1- To bear witness that there is no deity except God

2- To bear witness that Muhammad (S) is the Messenger of God

3- To affirm whatever comes from God

4- To establish the prayer

5- To pay the alms (zakat)

6- To fast in the month of Ramadan

7- To perform the pilgrimage to the House

8- To be loyal to God’s friends

9- To repudiate God’s enemies

10- To avoid all intoxicants.”3

The Prophet (S) wrote to the bishop of Najran, “I summon you to worship God and to shun the worship of His servants; I invite you to loyalty to God instead of His servants. If you reject this then you must pay the tribute and if you reject this, then know that I am declaring war on you”4 Therefore, the boundary between Islam and unbelief is the declaration of loyalty and repudiation.

The Messenger of God (S) said: “Surely the strongest bond of faith is to love or hate for the sake of God, to be loyal to God’s friends and to be hostile to His enemies.”5

Imam al-Rida (‘a) said: “It has been reported that God communicated to a devout among the Children of Israel whose heart was entertaining a thought, saying: As for your devotion to Me you are taking pride in Me and as for your asceticism, it is a deferment of comfort. Now have you befriended my friend and shown enmity to my enemy?”6It is related that someone came to the Commander of the Faithful and said: ‘O Commander of the Faithful! I love you and also love so-and-so’, and he mentioned one of his enemies. He answered: “Now you are one-eyed: either become blind or have complete sight.”7

A one-eyed man’s sight is weak for he can only see with one eye. One’s loyalty is similar to this when he does not repudiate the enemy or cannot dare to do it because he wants to be accepted by everybody. Such people do not remain one-eyed with half-sight for ever; either God guides them so that they have full sight or they lose that half sight and become blind, thereby completely losing their loyalty. It was said to Imam al-Sadiq (‘a) that “so-and-so person is loyal to you but finds it difficult to repudiate your enemy” to which he replied “Never! He lies who claims to love us but does not repudiate our enemy!”8

The questioner in this narration set his question precisely: there was no doubt that the person about whom the question was put was loyal but he was unable to repudiate, and this inability rendered his loyalty weak and shaky. He did not have enough courage to declare his stand and establish or sever relationships in an open and decisive manner. Therefore, the Imam (‘a) replied that true loyalty can in no way be separated from repudiation as its consequence, and whoever is weak in repudiation must be weak in loyalty as well.

In al-A’mash’s narration, Imam Sadiq (‘a) is reported to have said: “To love God’s friends (the Imams) is obligatory, loyalty to them is obligatory and to repudiate their enemies is also obligatory. To repudiate the perfidious, (al-Nakithun), the unjust (al-qasitun) and the renegades (al-mariqun) is obligatory. To repudiate the idols (al-ansab) and the divination arrows (al-azlam), who are leaders in deviation and injustice is obligatory. [It is obligatory to repudiate] all these people, the first of them and the last.”9

From Abu Muhammad al-Hasan al-Askari (‘a), from his forefathers (‘a): one day the Messenger of God (S) said to a companion of his: “O servant of God! Love for God’s sake and hate for His sake, give your loyalty for His sake and be hostile for His sake, for you will not earn His friendship except that way. No one will taste faith, even though he might have performed abundant prayers and fasts, except that way. Nowadays, most of the people’s fraternity is based on the world: they love or hate one another for its sake. This will not avail them anything in the sight of God.”

The man said to him: “How do I know that my loyalty and hostility are for the sake of God, the Mighty and Sublime? And who is God’s friend to whom I must be loyal, and who is His enemy against whom I must be hostile?”

Then the Messenger of God (S) pointed to Ali (‘a) and said: ‘Do you see him?’ ‘Yes’, the man replied. Then he said: “The friend of this man is a friend to God so befriend him, and his enemy is God’s enemy, so be hostile to him. Be a partisan to this man even if he killed your father and your son, and show enmity to his enemy even if he was your father and your son.”10

A more emphatic version of this issue has been related in the famous hadith of al-Ghadir where the Messenger of God (S) said: ‘For whomsoever I am master and authority (mawla) Ali is master and authority. O God! Befriend his friends and be enemy to his enemies and help his helpers and forsake those who forsake him.”

The hadith of al-Ghadir is one of the most explicit narrations which describe the deep connotations of loyalty (wilayah) and bring out its positive dimensions i.e. being loyal and its negative dimension i.e. repudiating its antithesis. Al-Allamah al-Amini opens his impressive work Al-Ghadir with a hadith from the Messenger of God (S) which pertains to this topic and we will like to close our discussion on loyalty and repudiation with it.

The Messenger of God (S) said: “Whoever is pleased to live the way I live, die the way I die and dwell in the garden of Eden which is made known by my Lord, let him be loyal to Ali after me and also be loyal to his friends and let him believe in the Imams after me, for they are my family. They have been created out of my stuff and endowed with understanding and knowledge. Woe unto those of my nation who belie their merit, who violate my kinship with respect to them. May God not extend my intercession to such violators.”

After this long discussion on repudiation we shall return to our talk on Ziyarat Warith to study the repudiations and curses that appear in it.

The Groups That Are Cursed In Ziyarat Warith

In this supplication three groups of people have been cursed and repudiated:

“May God curse the people who killed you. May God curse the people who oppressed you. May God curse the people who hear about this and are pleased with it.”

The first group consists of those who were directly responsible for killing Husayn (‘a): “May God curse a people who saddled and bridled [their animals],and prepared and traveled in order to kill you, O my master, O Abu Abdullah!”11

The second group comprises all those who oppressed Husayn (‘a) and acted unjustly toward him, who facilitated the tragedy, supported and paid allegiance to his enemy and openly opposed him. This group includes all those who made preparations to fight Husayn (‘a) or facilitated it, abandoned him, supported his adversaries, contributed in their equipment, assisted the tyrant in fighting him, and all the followers of these people.

Different wordings of repudiation and curse on this group are found in both general and special prayers on visiting (ziyarat) Imam Husayn’s tomb in Karbala (‘a). In the specific Ziyarat Ashura we read: “May God curse the people who killed you. May God curse those who prepared the ground for them by facilitating the means for fighting you; I turn to God and to you and repudiate them and their adherents and followers.”

In the general Ziyarat Ashura also we have: “I turn to God and His messenger (S) in repudiation of those who laid down the foundations for injustice and oppression against you and the people of the Household, built their unjust system on it and continued on the path of their injustice and oppression against you and your adherents. I denounce them, taking recourse to God and to you.”

In the second special Ziyarat Ashura which is narrated in Al-Mazar al-Qadim, we read: “May God curse the people who laid down the foundations of injustice against you, prepared the ground for oppressing, molesting and harming you, and perpetrated the same in your houses and among your adherents. I turn to God the Mighty and Sublime and to you, and repudiate them and their adherents and followers.”

This group was large, for it included all those who contributed in fighting Husayn (‘a) or facilitated the war against him, prepared for it, pledged allegiance to the tyrant for fighting him, mobilized and assisted in any other way in the campaign along with their adherents and followers.

The third group consisted of those that heard about the tragedy and approved of it. The issue of this group demands pondering. Who are those people who heard about this incident and approved of it? For sure, they were not those who participated in the battle or in oppressing the victims directly, otherwise they would have been classified among the first two groups, then there would have been no need for mentioning a third.

Therefore, this group definitely included those who heard Husayn’s (‘a) call for help but did not help him, choosing their well-being instead of supporting the Lord of the Martyrs (‘a) in the battle of Al-Taff. They are those who abandoned him on the day of Ashura. Certainly, this group approved of what happened on the day of Ashura, because had they not been pleased with it, this betrayal of the grandson of the Messenger of God (‘a) would not have been possible.

Their failure to join Husayn (‘a) and support him, and their preference for this world over the next concealed their approval of Yazid’s actions, otherwise, such glaring negligence and opting for personal peace invariably leads to an approval of injustice. In other texts this group is described as having betrayed Abu Abdillah Husayn (‘a) and preferred their well-being to supporting him. In the second general ziyarah we read:

“May God’s curse be on the people who killed you, the people who opposed you, the people who denied your leadership, the people who supported your enemies, and the people who witnessed this but did not martyr themselves [in your defence].” The relevant part of this ziyarah is ‘and the people who witnessed this but did not martyr themselves.”

In the seventh general ziyarah, this passage appears: “I bear witness that your killers are in the fire. It is part of my duty to God to profess the repudiation of those who killed you, those who fought you, those who rallied support against you, those who mobilized people against you and those who heard your voice but did not help you.” The relevant part is ‘and those who heard your voice but did not help you.’

The following passage appears in the ziyarah of the Night of Qadr (destiny) and the nights before the two festivals [of the 1st of Shawwal and the l0th of Dhu al-Hijjah]: “I bear witness that those who opposed and fought you, those who abandoned you and those who killed you are cursed on the tongue of the Unlettered Prophet (S).”

It is obvious from this text that the three accursed groups are: the group which fought Husayn (‘a), the group which helped and supported the first, the group which forsook Husayn (‘a) and neither answered his call nor helped him. Indeed the battle of Al-Taff was a real one that had ideological, political and cultural dimensions and as such, it required real stances in terms of loyalty and repudiation, both before and now. It does not accept a position of reluctance and indifference today just as it rejected that in the past; it deems such an attitude to be no better than the hostile stand.

What Conflicts Of Civilization Do To Man

Ideological conflicts group people into two, one affirming a given direction and the other negating it. This dichotomy and divergence later continues for ages, and the more deep-seated in people’s conscience such a question is, the wider and more pronounced the resultant ideological effects become.

The battle of Al-Taff is among the foremost of such conflicts by virtue of a number of factors;

1- The political and ideological confrontation of civilization that took place on that battlefield.

2- The unmistakable cultural and ethical dissimilarity between the two camps. The status of Husayn, the son of the Messenger of God’s daughter (‘a) and Lord of the youths of paradise is known to all Muslims, just as Yazid ibn Muawiya, the son of the liver-eating woman [Yazid’s grandmother chewed the liver of Hamza, her arch-enemy, when he fell in the battle of Uhud] and a descendant of the tree which is cursed in the Qur’an is known to all. No one from that date till today has ever doubted the true nature of the two contending parties and no one doubts who among them was calling towards God and who was inviting towards hell.

3- The painful tragedy which befell the grandson of God’s Messenger (S) and his family and companions in Karbala on the day of Ashura.

These and other factors make the question of Al-Taff a distinct historical event which has inevitable significance. It classifies the people into two distinct groups; a conformist group which is a member, supporter and loyal to Imam Husayn, and another one which is hostile and in opposition. No one is allowed to stand on the fence watching the battle without its dust affecting him. So there has to be a clear stand and an act of loyalty and an act of repudiation. No one conversant with the circumstances of this battle will confuse truth with falsehood.

The First Day Of Separation

We said before that this conflict classified men, with respect to loyalty and repudiation, into two distinct groups, right from the year 61 A.H till today, and this distinction will continue for a long time to come.

The Holy Qur’an calls this conflict separation, and that is what separates the people into distinct groups with respect to loyalty and repudiation. The first day of separation in Islamic history is the day of Badr. The Most High says:

" On the Day of separation, the day when the two armies met... " (8:41).

It is thus designated because it was the first day in which the Muslims met the polytheists in a decisive military encounter which grouped the people into two distinct parties based on the question of loyalty and repudiation. It was the first armed confrontation between monotheism and polytheism in the history of Islam, on the result of which depended the destiny of mankind and the direction to be taken by human civilization. It is true that the people who fought on the side of the Messenger of God at Badr were three hundred or a little more and the Quraysh army which fought him were a thousand or a little more but that confrontation had more profound and far reaching consequences than what appears from the history of the valley of Badr in the second year after Hegira. Behind the Quraysh polytheists who fought in Badr stood an extensive front of the polytheists of the Arabian Peninsula and even beyond.

The intensity of events in the wake of that encounter is proof of this fact. With his small group, the Messenger of God (S) faced that large front of polytheism and God Almighty gave him victory over it. Had God not made that group victorious on the day of Badr, He would not have been worshipped and no one on earth would have mentioned His name.Therefore, the day of Badr has separated mankind into two distinct groups based on their loyalties: one group of three hundred and thirteen fighters and another consisting of the wide front of polytheism with all its vast powers. Surely, it was the first day of separation in Islam’s history.

A simplistic look at the battle field of Badr in the second Hegira year will only see these two fighting forces, but on scrutiny will find two entities, two civilizations, two ideologies locked in a fierce struggle for existence. The contest was not over a few articles of trade carried by Quraysh merchants as the historical reports apparently suggest. These two camps represent vast frontlines of people throughout history; they are not limited, they extend to endless periods. The day of Badr is not only the day of separation which grouped the people in the year 2 A.H. on the basis of loyalty and repudiation, but it will remain as the day of separation for all periods of Islamic history.

The Second Day Of Separation

The Second Day of Separation 12

Just as the day of Badr is the first day of separation in the history of Islam, the day of Ashura is the second. In this unequal but decisive battle Husayn (‘a) and a small band consisting of his family and companions stood on one side of the line. On the other was Ibn Ziyad at the head of a large army and behind him was Yazid with his vast power, great wealth, army and capabilities. A

lso in their support were all those loyal to Yazid, all those who were benefiting from him, all those who deviated because of him, all those who fought on his side, including those who stood on the fence in the political field and preferred their well-being and watched from a distance while the conflict went on, and, all the followers of those people.

Therefore, for the day of Ashura the quality of separation was quite obvious: it had grouped the people into two distinguishable groups based on loyalty, repudiation, ethics, thought, inclination and ideology. That day still remains a means of separation in the history of Islam. It divides the people on the basis of loyalty and repudiation to the present day and forever.

The Third Day Of Separation

After mentioning two days of separation in Islamic history, that is Badr and Ashura, we must not close this discussion without mentioning the third day of separation, an extension of Badr and Ashura. This is the day of the victory of the contemporary Islamic Revolution which happened in 1399 A.H. It was one of God’s days in history, in which the Pahlavi regime fell and the great Islamic Revolution became victorious under the leadership of Imam Khomeini (may God sanctify his soul).

This day does not only mean the fall of the Pahlavi dynasty in Iranian history but the end of one stage in Islamic history and the beginning of a new epoch. The historical value of the fall of the Pahlavi dynasty and the establishment of the Islamic Republic lies in two things;

1: The end of a period of apathy, weakness and despair; ready acceptance of western or eastern tutelage; backwardness in intellectual, scientific, political, military and economic matters; subservience to arrogant powers of the world and defeatism in the face of surging western civilization.

2: The beginning of a new movement in the direction of Islam and the establishment of God’s religion on earth; removing the shackles and fetters off hands and feet; and breaking the yoke that had been imposed by western and eastern imperialism in the political, economic, military and scientific arenas. This new beginning paved the way for a return to God and to Islam; induced mankind to the service of God; empowered God’s law in human life; and restored Islamic norms, values, morals and limits in the practical life of people. In a nutshell, it began a new epoch in history.

This day is a true extension of the day of Ashura, just as the latter was a real continuation of the day of Badr. The main elements that constituted the civilizational values of the great and comprehensive Islamic government which was actualized on that day are also the values of the glorious Islamic Revolution that succeeded against world imperialism:

1- This revolution is a revolution based on principles in the true meaning of the term. It is a new type of activism and revolutionary work in contemporary history and in the contemporary political milieu that is unfamiliar with this kind of movement. It is the revolution of monotheism against polytheism in the sense we explained in the present chapter: monotheism and polytheism with regard to loyalty.

This uprising aims at severing the Muslim’s relationship with taghut dressed in the garb of eastern and western imperialism and their stooges in this region, and also severing the relationship with other focal points of loyalty (nationalism, patriotism, tribalism, factionalism, etc) that are paraded as substitutes to monotheism. This revolution aims at binding Muslim loyalty to God Almighty, His Messenger (S) and His friends, and also unifying all loyalty for God alone, and boycotting and confronting all other centres of attraction that are working to extract allegiance from the people.

It is not a revolt against backwardness in science and technology, nor a revolt against poverty and economic backwardness, nor a revolt against colonialism and exploitation, nor an uprising to free oil wells from the grip of oil barons, nor a class struggle, nor yet a revolt of the oppressed against the oppressors like the Negro revolt in Islamic history, although the Islamic revolution mirrored all these issues and succeeded in achieving all the results that such revolts aim at.

The Islamic revolution is essentially a different thing. It is a revolution of loyalty to God against all spurious alternative centers of loyalty, a revolt of monotheism in the face of polytheism, a revolt of Islam against ungodliness (jahiliyyah).

When this revolution achieves its aims on this earth it will wipe out scientific, technological and cultural backwardness; remove poverty and economic backwardness; uproot exploitation and colonialism; stop colonial oil companies from exploiting oil wells and the abuse of Muslim wealth and resources; end oppression and arrogance and the domination and oppression by one class of another.

This revolution will achieve these aims and in fact other goals that are more extensive and loftier, under condition that it maintains its real essence and remains a revolt of monotheism against polytheism, without getting derailed towards its secondary objectives.

The first and distinguishing feature of this revolution is its divine nature. It is this quality that links it to Badr, Siffin and Ashura, to the movement of the prophets (‘a) and to the path of the righteous friends of God. Should this revolution be divested of this feature and become satisfied with secondary aims and mottos it will lose the support God Most High bestows on it.

This revolution is fundamentally different from all modern revolutions such as the French revolution, the October revolution and the revolutions that took place in Africa and Asia since the Second World War. All of these revolutions were at best rebellions of one class against another or an uprising for freedom from foreign domination or from despots. No revolution of contemporary times can be regarded as an exception with regard to these principles.

On the other hand, the Islamic revolution is that of monotheism which sprung up from a starting point that is essentially different from those of all other revolutions. It starts in the direction of freeing mankind from human pivots of loyalty of whatever type, except those linked to loyalty to God, inducing man to the service of God, empowering His law in human life and strengthening loyalty to Him in all aspects of man’s life.

2- This revolution is the outcome of the cumulative effect of the great efforts of all those who work for God, past and present, and the vanguard of Islamic activity, those who understood the backwardness of the Muslim nation, accepted responsibility, and faced the difficulties they met along the difficult path. They work for the pleasure of God in different regions of the Islamic world and at various levels of knowledge and culture.

All these people together, whether they are our contemporaries or of earlier periods, share the role of putting up the foundations of this revolution, making this divine movement a reality and stirring this strong human wave that shook the very pillars of tyranny. The theological student who invited his fellow students towards God, His Messenger (S) and the establishment of God’s law; the speaker who addressed the people in the mosques and other gatherings to propagate Islamic guidance and awareness; the scholar; the writer, the poet, and man of letters; teachers, workers, doctors,... both men and women; all those who conveyed the Islamic vision; all those who laid a stone to make the foundation of this revolution, wherever they may be; ... all these people played a role in this blessed revolution and have a claim on it and God’s reward for it.

This prodigious revolution which shook the ground from under the feet of the tyrants and threatened their existence and interests is not the outcome of a short span of time or the efforts of a limited number of Islamic workers and activists; it is the fruit of generations of Islamic activity. If this revolution suffers serious damage from whatever cause, the loss the Muslim nation will suffer will be very great indeed; the effect of such damage will not be limited to the Iranian pole or their Islamic leaders.

On a different plane, the revolution carries with it all the pain, deprivation, tyranny, suffering and difficulties endured by the Muslims during the period of weakness, apathy and defeatism in their history. All those who endured oppression for God’s sake, who were beaten in dungeons; all the tears, the blood, the cries of pain; all orphanhood, bereavement and widowhood; and all those who migrated for the sake of God also contributed to this revolution.

This revolution symbolises all that pain and suffering in concrete form. However, if the second factor i.e., pain and suffering had been all that the revolution stood for, it would have seen mob action, destruction and emotion become the overriding feature of the uprising. But the presence of the first factor i.e., the ideology and its power and effectiveness in actualizing this blessed revolution was the main factor that directed the revolution and made sure it maintained its course free from deviations.

The purposeful efforts rendered during that period by God-oriented activists fell within the pure Islamic line, that is, the line of the jurisconsult which was personified by Imam Khomeini, and which later came to be known as the Imam’s line. Certainly there were groups that deviated to the right or to the left but they did not represent the main current of the Islamic movement. This current was moving in the direction of the pure Islamic line. The jurists, the scholars and the well-guided Islamic authorities played an important role in steering this current, organizing and maintaining the course it took.

Unlike what the enemies of Islam try to show or what some simple-minded Muslims get deceived into believing, the Islamic revolution is not a regional affair or just an Iranian Islamic revolution; it is an Islamic revolution for which God Most High decreed that Iran should be its launching pad. Any effort to give it a national colour and remove it from the feelings of all Muslims is surely an act of treason against Islam and the Muslims if it comes from the enemies of this nation who stay in wait for evil to befall it.

When such actions come from Muslims then they must be due to naivety and ignorance led astray by some act of treason. The purpose of this treason is to isolate the revolution from Muslim feelings and Muslim public opinion in order to cordon it off and subsequently destroy it. It is our duty as Muslims to confront these conspiracies with awareness in an atmosphere of Islamic responsibility.

All subsequent revolutions that will take place in Islamic lands taking direction from this will be regarded as different stages of a single all- encompassing revolution. They are not other revolutions in place of this one, and not even extensions of it; they are but different stages of one comprehensive revolution, the first of which has been destined by God to happen in Iran at the hands of this brave and sacrificing Muslim people.

It is like an earthquake which starts from a point and then extends along the fault line to wide areas, as a result of some hidden geological reactions deep down in the earth. This revolution is similar to this. In the depths of the Muslim nation, strong and wide ranging interactions have taken place under the influence of action (the first factor) and reaction (the second factor), away from the eyes of world imperialism.

When the imperialists were taking pride in their great victories over the Muslim world and were power drunk on that account, those interactions were set in motion in the depths of the Muslim nation till they reached their peak. Then came the earthquake that shook the ground beneath the feet of the rulers in the White House, the Kremlin and Elysée palace, and those tyrants did not regain their sobriety until after the tremor. The starting point was Iran but the fault line is a long unbreakable chain starting from Tehran to Baghdad, to Quds to Kabul and Central Asia.

Indeed what happened in Iran was a phenomenon much greater than our limited political imagination; it was an actualization of what God, the Glorious and Sublime promised his oppressed righteous servants in this verse:

" And we desired to show favour to those who were oppressed in the land and make them leaders and to make them the heirs, and to establish them in the land... "(28:5-6).

Before anything else we have to understand the true dimensions of this revolution and then spread this awareness among the Muslims in order to foil the plots that are being hatched by the enemies of Islam who aim at making the contemporary Islamic revolution a regional affair. They intend to limit it to Iran and Persian nationalism and subsequently isolate it from Muslim public opinion and sympathy.

When one follows the speeches of Imam Khomeini, the leader of the revolution, (may God sanctify his soul), one will notice a deep understanding of these conspiracies and wise efforts to thwart them. Because of the comprehensive nature of this revolution the idea of exporting it started with its birth and from the words of the leader himself. He who is acquainted with the nature and roots of this revolution knows very well that it does not admit of national or geographical boundaries nor does it stop at the boundaries to seek permission from the gatekeepers so that they may grant it passage.

This revolution is a current that does not seek permission, nor pause, nor recognize boundaries, nor wait, nor hesitate!

Awareness of these realities is necessary to protect and support the revolution instead of limiting its horizon to a national affair. We are presenting these facts to Islamic thinkers and workers so that they may assume their responsibilities before God Most High with respect to this revolution.

3- This revolution is one of the days of separation in Islamic history and it has grouped the people, with regard to their opinion, into two groups: supporters and adversaries.

Since the first days of the emergence of this revolution faithful hearts and conscientious souls began to flock around it and they spent the hours that preceded its birth in great anxiety. History held its breath, as it were, to follow up this great birth which meant the revival of the divine civilization, the return of Islamic leadership on earth and the rule of God in man’s life after going through a barren period in which apathy, weakness and psychological defeat were ripe, when the Muslim world experienced degrading assimilation into the ungodly systems of eastern and western arrogant powers, with the result that global unbelief controlled our nation, land and resources.

As opposed to this, the unjust and arrogant people who had sold their souls to the devil sensed danger. They had detected in it a rebirth as large as history itself. What was going on in Tehran was not like other incidents that happen here and there, it was, in fact, the end of one stage of history and the beginning of another. They felt a hazardous development taking them unawares so they immediately declared their hostility to the revolution and did not hide their fear of it from the very beginning.

This revolution has been received differently by the two groups. One greeted it with sympathy and love, and prayed for God’s support and waited for its victory with self-abandon. The other group received it with malice and apprehension. They could not hide their fear even at the inception of this blessed government after the victory of the revolution. This division on the question of loyalty or support, repudiation or opposition is a feature of the days of separation in history which the revolution will face through its different phases.

4- It is quite natural for the birth of this power to be a declaration of long-lasting contest between Islam and anti-Islam (jahiliyah) because this revolution will seek to overthrow the forts of jahiliyah and arrogance throughout the world to free the hands of the oppressed from their shackles and throw off their yokes; and break the awe of the great powers from the minds of Muslims. Therefore it is impossible for world arrogance to keep silent in the face of this divine wave without stirring trouble and difficulty for this revolutionary call, without seeking to isolate it and obstruct its way.

He who comprehends God’s norms in history will be able to understand clearly the inevitability of conflict between these two forces: the growing Islamic force and the force of global unbelief. This conflict will prove to be the hardest, the longest and the most permanent because, as we have said, it is a struggle for existence and such a struggle is always long drawn, severe and permanent. It is not a contest for a piece of land or for mineral resources such as oil, iron or copper that can admit mutual understanding.

This revolution started in a region which was completely under the influence of the great powers and it is now working to break the blockade from the whole Muslim world. It is only natural for the forces of imperialism to confront this revolution in its infant state through all forms of pressure and conspiracy, both internally and externally, in order to muzzle and isolate it till it wears out.

The Iran-Iraq war was part of this awful imperialist plot and a part of the conflict we talked about. The Iraqi regime was not the antagonist in this war; it was only a channel for the will of the great powers. The real antagonists in the conflict were the imperialists who divide the oppressed peoples of the world among themselves and control them.

The Islamic revolution must face this long and severe confrontation as this is part of God’s norms that cannot be altered. The revolution cannot carry out great achievements or prepare its people to perform great feats and face difficult challenges if they do not exercise enduring confrontation.

5- The outcome of this struggle will be in favour of the God-fearing and this is the last thing we may doubt. A believing nation does not defend itself rather it defends God’s religion, His law and the limits He has set. It does not face its own enemies but God’s, and it does not fight with its own power and strength but with the power and strength of God.

When a nation fulfils these conditions, puts its trust in God, presents itself to Him, lessens its attachment to the world, fortifies itself against inordinate desires and then rises up for the sake of God individually or in groups; surely God Most High will grant it victory, sooner or later. This is God’s promise and He does not break his word. Let us listen to some verses from the book of God:

" Certainly Our decree has gone before in favour of Our servants, the apostles, that they will indeed receive [God’s] help, and indeed Our hosts will be the victors ". (34:71-73).

" ... and it was a must for us to help the faithful ". (30:47).

" Indeed we shall help Our apostles and those who have faith in the life of the world... " (40:51).

“The confederates of God are indeed the victorious” (5:56).

“... and God suffices as guardian, and God suffices as helper.”(4:45).

“... and your Lord suffices as helper and guide.”(25:31).

“O, you who have faith! If you help God, He will help you and make your feet firm” (45:7).

When war becomes protracted and severe God will not leave us at the mercy of our enemies, He does not go back on His word and abandon His faithful servants. Blessed is He and greatly exalted above that!

“This is what God and his apostle had promised us.” (33:22).

If the struggle is prolonged it is so that God may put his servants’ hearts to test in order to separate the steadfast among them from the weak-hearted; so that he may give the believers a firm footing on the battlefield; so that the believers may find it easy to detach themselves from the love of this world in order to face the struggle; so that they may gain more certainty with God in the middle of the struggle, for one is bestowed with certainty at the time of tribulation more than at times of peace and comfort; so that believers might learn through experience how to confront mighty challenges and difficulties on God’s path and thereby increase their fortitude, strength and bravery; so that loyalty and repudiation may be firmer in the hearts of believers, for loyalty is through sacrifice and service, and repudiation [of the adversary] is more vigorous during confrontation and war.

This struggle and its attending difficulties are not exclusive to this revolution or this religion, they are a divine norm which God applies in the lives of His righteous servants whom he selects for His mercy, those whom God Most High will allow to live in paradise together with His truthful servants.

“Do you suppose that you will be let off while God has not yet ascertained those of you who wage jihad and those who do not take, besides God and His Apostle and the faithful, anyone as [their] confidant? God is well aware of what you do.” (9:16).

“Do you suppose that you shall enter paradise though there has not yet come to you the like of [what befell] those who went before you? Stress and distress befell them...” (2:214).

We like to pick the fruits of victory by the shortest route with the least means, without our religion expecting anything from us. We want to simply extend our hands and attain victory, leadership and vicegerency [imamah and khilafah] over the world.

However, the wise God knows that victory that comes without difficulties cannot qualify man to be the leader and vicegerent of God on earth. Therefore, God wants us to face confrontation by treading the difficult path and gain strength and actualize the dominion of God’s religion in our lives.

“... and you were eager that it should be the one that was unarmed [lit. ‘one that was free of thorns’]. But God desires to confirm the truth with His words and to root out the faithless, so that he may confirm the truth and bring falsehood to naught, though the guilty should be averse.”(8:7-8).

Let us pay attention to the following clear verses of God’s Book in Surah Al Imran, which explain, in eloquent style, the norms of God with regard to struggle, distress, trial, help and conquest.

“Do not weaken or grieve: you shall have the upper hand, should you be faithful.” (3:139).

If a wound afflicts you, a like wound has already afflicted those people; and We make such vicissitudes rotate among mankind to ascertain those who have faith that We may take witnesses from among you, and God does not like the wrongdoers. (3:140).

Also, He wishes to purge those who have faith and wipe out the faithless. (3:141).

Do you suppose that you can enter paradise while God has not yet ascertained those of you who have waged jihad and not ascertained the steadfast?” (3 142).

In these blessed verses from the chapter Al Imran there are clear answers to all the questions that may arise in the believers’ minds about this terrible confrontation between Islam and unbelief. The Muslims thought that after God had granted them victory at Badr success would always be on the side of the faithful group; as long as they believed in God and His apostle and struggled along His path they would never fail to achieve victory, whatever the circumstances.

When God made them test the bitterness of defeat at Uhud, where they suffered a reverse when the archers disobeyed the command of God’s Messenger (S) and left their positions to gather the spoils, the believers’ hearts quivered and their confidence in victory was shaken. They began to have misgivings as to whether the outcome of the affair would be in their favour.

Weakness overwhelmed them and they were seized by grief for the leading personalities who were martyred in the battle, and for the select group of believers who fulfilled their promise to God and were sincere to Him in deeds and jihad.

Then God Most High returned to their hearts the confidence for victory and reassured them that the outcome would be in favour of the believers however much the injuries, pains, drawbacks and difficulties along the tough road might be. God removed from their minds all feebleness and grief, and convinced their hearts of victory. "Do not weaken or grieve: you shall have the upper hand, should you be faithful.”

Then God Most High reminded the people that the wounds they sustained during the war were also sustained by their enemies; they were not exclusive to them. The wounds, the hardships, the troubles and the losses are demands of war to be extracted from both parties, and no battle takes place without pain and wounds.

The divine norm is such that vicissitudes rotate among mankind, one day in favour of the believers and bitter for the infidels, and another in favour of the infidels and bitter for the faithful. Thus will victory be rotated among them but the ultimate outcome will always be in favour of the faithful. This alternation does not change God's decree that the outcome is to be in favour of the God-wary. Vicissitudes are rotated in this way and the faithful are made to test hardship and ease; victory at one time and the bitterness of defeat at another, in order to sort out the believers from the hypocrites.

Had the mission always been associated with victory and spoils, and coupled with ease and comfort, hypocritical elements would have flocked around it, people who are only good at sitting on the fence and being absent during battle, only to return when the spoils are distributed and press for choice portions of it.

"So when there is panic, you see them observing you, their eyes rolling, like someone fainting at death.” (33:19).

If the course of this mission were to be free of adversities and drawbacks hypocrites and the weak-hearted would flock around and taken up sensitive positions. If this were to happen, the mission's leadership role in men's life would be suspended and it would lose its power of bringing about change.

The mission would leave the tough path that confronts taghut and take the comfortable course awash with pleasures and worldly wares. It would then lose its capacity for change and action similar to what happened at the time of the Umayyads and Abbasids.

Therefore this journey needs, from time to time, a strong uprising that can push aside the hypocrites and the weak-hearted and sort out the people with strong faith who keep their word with God and are sincere to Him in their works. The course taken by this mission is unlike what the people are accustomed to with respect to other systems and governments which seek a life of comfort and ease that is free from all shortcomings.

Nothing harms this mission like a calm, comfortable and pompous life. In such a situation, this call will have lost its most important feature, since God Most High has made the period of distress and adversity a means of making the mission's environment clear of such feeble minded people who usually opt for a calm, comfortable life. When the journey suffers adversities, hardships and reverses the field is left solely for the believers. The journey then belongs to the sincere group only and the faithful are distinguished from others "so that God may ascertain those who have faith.”

This is not the only benefit of vicissitudes and the rotation of victory and defeat, hardship and ease on the believers. Another benefit is that God may take witnesses, exemplars and leaders on earth. It is through these hardships, drawbacks, war-inflicted wounds and the pains of confrontation that witnesses are produced in this nation, "Thus we have made you a middle nation that you may be witnesses to the people...”(2:143), as well as leaders and models of perseverance, patience and faith.

Unique models in faith that adorn human history are not made in a calm and cozy life; they are made in the thick of difficulties, in the midst of action, amidst blood and tears. This journey also needs these singular models of faith and perseverance selected by God during trying and difficult circumstances, "...that He may take witnesses from among you"(3:140).

Thirdly, these vicissitudes help in the making of this nation and the appraisal of its personalities. These wounds, pain and difficulties purge the believers, cleanse them and purify their hearts from doubt and selfish desires, and free them of their weaknesses. Many a believer’s internal points of weakness remain hidden from him, but during tribulation they appear so that he can correct them, for many a weakness of the mind cannot be corrected during peace time; only hardship and difficulties can put them right.

Just as hardships and difficulties sort out believers from hypocrites, they also clear the believer’s soul from weaknesses and doubts; they purge the faithful. As for the infidels, tribulations and hardship efface and ruin them completely; therefore, they cannot struggle against difficulties and adversities. "So that God may purge those who have faith and that He may wipe out the faithless.”

As such it is not correct to think that whoever proclaims the two testimonies [i.e. to the oneness of God and the prophethood of Muhammad (S) ], becomes a Muslim and will enter paradise, for among the people are hypocrites whose testimonies do not descend from their lips into their hearts. Believers are at different levels of faith; they do not occupy the same position in terms of belief and good works. There are believers who prefer wellbeing to striving and fighting in the way of God.

Then there are striving (mujahidun) believers. Then there are striving believers who are patient. It will be a mistake to think that everyone will have the same rank in paradise, for each will have his own rank and position as seen by God. These ranks and position are determined only during trying circumstances, when the believer is distinguished from the hypocrite, the striving believer from the ordinary one and the patient, striving believer from the impatient one.

6- This blessed revolution marks the beginning of a major turning point in man's history and civilization; it is a matter of great consequence with regard to the life and future of mankind. Whoever examines the narrations that are related from the Messenger of God, (S) and his family, will not doubt the fact that this revolution, given its salient features and its leadership, will prepare the ground for the greatest revolution in human history and the appearance of Imam al-Mahdi of the family of Muhammad (S), may God hasten his appearance.

Surely the promised day which God and His Apostle have promised us; the establishment of the great Islamic power, the empowering of the oppressed over the land and Imam al-Mahdi's great revolution is close at hand, God willing. The present revolution paves the way for the coming one and prepares the Muslim community for the reappearance and rising of one who undertakes the office of the Imamate (al-Qa‘im) from the family of Muhammad (‘a). The following is an assortment from those narrations:

From Abdullah ibn Mas'ud who said: "We came to see God's Messenger and found him delighted, his face showing his happiness. Whatever we asked of him he told us and whenever we were silent he initiated a topic. Then some Hashimite youths among whom were Hasan and Husayn (‘a) passed by. When he saw them he looked at them persistently and his eyes welled up, so we said to him: O Messenger of God! We see in your face signs of pain. Then he said:

"We are a household for whom God chose the hereafter instead of the world. After me my family will be expelled and dispersed in the land till the time black standards rise from the east. [The standard bearers] will ask for their right but they will be denied it, then they will ask for it again but they will be denied it again, then they will ask for it again, fight [for it] and be victorious. He who meets this situation from among you or among your descendants, let him come to the Imam (leader) from my family even if he has to crawl on ice, for those [standards] are standards of guidance which they will hand over to a man from my family whose name will be the same as mine and his title [Abul Qasim] the same as mine. He will fill the earth with equity and justice, as it will be filled with inequity and oppression.”13

In Bihar al-Anwar Allamah al-Majlisi narrates that Imam al-Baqir (‘a) said: "It is as if I am together with some people who have come from the east. They will request for their right but they will be denied it, then they will request for it again. When they realize that, they will brandish their swords and [consequently] they will be granted their request but they will not accept it till they rise up. They will not hand over their [standards] except to your companion (i.e. al-Mahdi (‘a). Those who are killed among them will be martyrs. Indeed if I were to witness that time I would keep myself at the disposal of the leader of this affair."14

It is reported in Al-Bihar that Abu al-Hasan al-Rida (‘a) has said: "A man from the people of Qum will invite the people to the truth and a group of people [who are tough] like pieces of iron will rally around him. Storms will not cause them to slip, they will be undaunted by war and never get tired of it, they will depend on God and the outcome will be in favour of the God-wary.”15

It is also related in Al-Bihar, from Ali ibn Maymun al-Sa’igh, from Imam al-Sadiq (‘a) who said: "A time will come when the city of Qum and its people shall be a proof against mankind. That will be at the time of occultation of the one from us who will rise (al-Qa'im) till the time of [his] appearance. Had it not been for that, the earth would swallow up its inhabitants.”16

Through other chains of transmission, it is reported that Imam al-Sadiq (‘a) said about Kufa: "Kufa shall become empty of the faithful and knowledge shall diminish in it and recoil as a snake recoils. Knowledge shall [then] appear in a town known as Qum which will become a source of learning and culture [and it will spread] until there remains no one abased concerning the religion [i.e. on account of their ignorance of it], not even women who are secluded in their quarters. This will happen when the appearance of our Qa'im draws near and God will make Qum and its people serve as the proof.

Otherwise, the earth will swallow up its people and no proof will have remained on earth. So knowledge will flow from it [Qum] to other lands in the east and west and God's proof against mankind will then be complete, till there remains no one on earth to whom religion and knowledge has not reached. After that the Qa'im will appear and become the cause of God's punishment and anger on the servants, for God does not punish the servants till after they deny his proof."

Commenting on the saying of God the Exalted: "...And if you turn away He will replace you with another people and they will not be like you” (47:38), Al-Zamakhshari the author of Tafsir al-Kashshaf said: The Messenger of God was asked about those people while Salman was sitting by his side. He patted him on the thigh and said: 'This one and his people. I swear by the One in whose hand is my soul, if faith were to be suspended at the Pleiades some men from the Persians will attain it.”17

These assorted narrations indicate that this blessed revolution will God willing last till the appearance of Imam al-Mahdi of the family of Muhammad (‘a), and prepare the world for him, may God hasten his appearance.18

- 1. Abu Nu’aym’s Hilyat al-Awliya 2/39.

- 2. Tarikh al-Tabari, 6/229.

- 3. Al-Saduq’s Al-Khisal, 2/52; Bihar al-Anwar 27/53.

- 4. Al-Ahmadi al-Mayaniji’s Makatib al-Rasul, 120.

- 5. Al-Barqi’s Al-Mahasin, 165; Bihar al-Anwar 27/52.

- 6. Fiqh al-Rida, 51; Bihar al-Anwar 27/52.

- 7. Bihar al-Anwar 27/58.

- 8. Bihar al-Anwar 27/58.

- 9. Al-Khisal 2/153-154; Bihar al-Anwar 27/52.

- 10. Tafsir al-Imam al-Askari, 18; Ma’ani al-Akhbar 113; Uyun al-Akhbar 161;Ilal al-Sharaya’ 58; all quoted in Bihar al-Anwar 27/54.

- 11. It is taken from the general Ziyarat Warith and the special Ziyarat Ashura with slight differences.

- 12. From another direction, Siffin could be considered the Second day of Separation in Islam and Ashura could be the third.

- 13. Al-Mustadrak ala al-Sahihayn 4/ 464.

- 14. Bihar al-Anwar, 51/83; 52/43.

- 15. Bihar al-Anwar, 60/216, 446.

- 16. Bihar al-Anwar, 60/213.

- 17. Tafsir al-Kashshaf, 4/331.

- 18. . We refer the reader to Sheikh Ali al-Kurani's Al-Mumahhidun li al-Mahdi for explanation and analysis of these narrations and also how they fit the present context of the blessed Islamic Revolution.

Loyalty And Repudiation In The Supplication Of Ziyarat Ashura

Ziyarat Ashura is among the soundly transmitted supplications that come down to us from the Ahl al-Bayt (‘a) and are recited at visitations to the holy burial places of the Chosen Ones (‘a) and other occasions. It has been related by Ibn Qulawayh (may God have mercy on him) in Kamil al-Ziyarat through an acceptable chain of transmission, a standard which he maintained throughout the narrations of his book. It has also been reported by Sheikh al-Tusi (may God have mercy on him) and other veritable narrators of hadith.

It is the persistent practice of the faithful to recite this supplication throughout the year, and with it declare their association with the school of the Ahl al-Bayt (‘a) and their disassociation with their enemies. Through this supplication the faithful openly show their loyalty to Husayn (‘a) and his family, and repudiate their adversaries in the decisive battle that took place in Karbala in 61 A.H. between Husayn (‘a), his family and companions on one side and the Umayyads on the other. This supplication is replete with the concepts of loyalty and repudiation, association and separation, greetings of peace and cursing.

Loyalty And Repudiation: The Most Prominent Features Of The Day Of Ashura

The day of Ashura was a day full of faith, sincerity, service and values, but the most prominent feature of this day was loyalty to God, His Messenger (S) and those vested with authority, and also a repudiation of their enemies. This loyalty and repudiation was demonstrated by Husayn's companions through their rare act of sacrifice in Karbala. This place witnessed the most marvelous scenes of sacrifice, freedom, resistance and struggle in history which were the fruits of loyalty and repudiation.

In this rare and wonderful scene of loyalty and repudiation we also witness rare instances which depict values and morals that are responsible for drawing the attention of the people to the event for the last thirteen centuries. The morals and values depicted include faith, monotheism, freedom, love for God and struggle for His sake, hate for God's sake, remembrance [of God], renouncing of the world, sincerity, gratitude, piety, altruism, allegiance, self-esteem, strength, courage, patience, far-sightedness, acute discernment and much more that we are not aware of, which history recorded for us concerning the blessed party that accompanied Husayn (‘a) on his journey to God on the day of Ashura and prior to that.

Beauty attracts man wherever it may be: in nature, in society, in forms and figures or in values, morals and meaning. It is amazing that we find loyalty and repudiation in the camp that was opposed to Husayn (‘a) as well, although in a completely opposite direction: loyalty to taghut and repudiation of God's friends, and loyalty to the party of Satan and repudiation of the party of God.

As loyalty and repudiation are reversed, values and morals follow suit; both follow God's norms. Thus we witness these opposites within the camp that fought Husayn (‘a): heedlessness to God as opposed to remembering him, polytheism as opposed to monotheism, selfishness as opposed to altruism, cowardice as opposed to courage, weakness as opposed to strength, ingratitude as opposed to gratefulness, sin as opposed to piety, love for God's enemies and hate for His friends as opposed to love for God and for His sake and hate for His sake, egocentrism as opposed to concern for others, meanness as opposed to generosity, humiliation as opposed to self-esteem and honour, anxiety as opposed to patience, treachery as opposed to loyalty.

We witness these and other negative values of that camp as opposed to the positive ones that abound in Husayn's camp. In this camp, after his right hand had been cut off by the enemy, al-Abbas raises this battle cry.

‘By God if they cut off my right hand, I will forever defend my religion,

And [defend] the Imam who is certain in faith.’

From the other camp we read that when Shimr, the killer of Husayn (‘a) met Ibn Ziyad and, requested a prize, said:

‘Make my mount heavy with silver or with gold, [for] I have killed the cultured lord.

I have killed the man with the best father and mother, and the best of men when genealogies are mentioned.’1

These two opposing loyalties and repudiations that we see on the day of Ashura in Karbala, issuing from the two contending camps will continue throughout history among the supporters of Husayn and the supporters of the Umayyads.

We read in history that some people endure all kinds of suffering and tyranny, and the distress of travel in order to visit the grave of Husayn (‘a). Others demolished the structures in its precincts and also inundated it, so that the signs which mark the resting place of Husayn (‘a) might be effaced. In addition, they killed the pilgrims and cut off their hands to prevent people from visiting the tomb of Husayn (‘a) in the past, [and blow them up today with bombs].

The Three Peculiarities Of The Al-Taff Battle Theatre

The most prominent peculiarities of this arena with regard to loyalty and repudiation are three:

It was a field which inherited loyalty and repudiation. These two were not new to this theatre; it inherited them from earlier theatres in the long struggle between the prophets and their followers on one side and the despots on the other. Secondly, it was a separating theatre that classified the people since 61 A.H., into two distinct groups that are opposed on the question of loyalty and repudiation.

Thirdly, it was a legator from which we inherit loyalty and repudiation. Had it not been for this legacy which we received from Karbala these twin concepts would not have been preserved for us. The Umayyads corrupted loyalty and repudiation just as they corrupted many of the fundamentals and laws of religion. They robbed the people of their loyalty and repudiation by deflecting their courses. Through his death and the death of that band of his family members and companions, Husayn (‘a) restored the two to their rightful places. Below is an exposition of these three peculiarities:

An Inherited Theatre

The battle theatre of Al-Taff was that of confrontation between truth and falsehood, monotheism and polytheism; a call towards servitude and submission to God, and an invitation to taghut, and empowering it over the people by enslaving them. This was the fiercest and the most desperate type of confrontation in history because it was a struggle on the question of loyalty and repudiation between loyalty to God and repudiation of taghut on one side and loyalty to taghut on the other.

This encounter was not new that started in Karbala in 61 A.H, rather it was an extension of the contest of civilizations that run along the lines of accepting and denouncing, with the prophets and their followers on one side and despots, dictators and their courtiers on the other.

Husayn (‘a) was in the line of the prophets and their followers while the Umayyads, their helpers and governors took the path of the oppressors and despotic rulers. Historians inform us that when Imam Husayn (‘a) was leaving Medina he was repeatedly mentioning John, the son of Zachariah, and his murder.

The values which distinguished Husayn's camp at Karbala were the same values and norms which characterized the prophets’ camp in history. These values were belief in monotheism, remembrance of God, piety, sincerity, denouncing the world and its glory; perseverance and sacrifice in the path of God, establishing the prayer, paying zakat, bidding the good and forbidding the bad, waging jihad on the oppressors, justice and kindness.

By contrast, the traits that characterized the Umayyad camp in Karbala were the same traits of the camp of oppressors, despots and dictators throughout history. Husayn's (‘a) companions spent the night before the 10th of Muharram droning like bees [on account of their worship]. Some were standing, some sitting, some bowing and some prostrating themselves.2

‘On them were signs of devouts who were humble before God as dawn came over them.

And when morning came the glitter of sharp swords testified to their being freemen.’

Fatima daughter of Husayn (‘a) said: "My aunt Zaynab spent all that night standing in her prayer niche pleading for succour from her Lord. By God our eyes did not find sleep nor did the sounds [of our prayers] abate."3

Such was the case in Husayn's (‘a) camp. They were yearning to meet God, denouncing the world and its vanities, and they were glad because they were going to meet martyrdom in God's way. Their eagerness reached the extent that one of them was cracking jokes with his friends on that night. Burayr cracked a joke with Abdurrahman al-Ansari and the latter said to him: This is no time to jest. Burayr replied: “My people know that I never liked to jest, neither as a middle-aged man nor as a young man, but [it is because] I am delighted by what we shall meet. By God, there is nothing between us and the houris except their swords. I wish that they would attack us now.”4

The only concern of the other party was to get gold, silver, governorships and presents in exchange for fighting the son of the daughter of God's Messenger (S). Umar ibn Sa'ad undertook the fight with an eye on the governorship of Al-Rayy. Al-Yafi’i says: And he promised the said governor (Umar ibn Sa'ad) to make him ruler of the city of al-Rayy and the sinner sold guidance in exchange for error.

These are two attitudes, two cultures, two methods in life. They are two ways of acting and two norms, and they are distinct from one another throughout the history of confrontation between the party of God and the party of taghut. Despite the fact that as time passes the features and forms of methods and practices do change but the essence of these two norms, cultures and methods remain the same. These two norms are the norm of God's friends and their methodology and that of taghut and its methodology.

We find this great disparity between these two methods, cultures and norms clearly portrayed in the theatre of Karbala in a confrontation between two camps only a few metres apart. We read in the supplication of the Commander of the Faithful (‘a) which is known as Ziyarat Amin Allah:

“[O God] Make my soul assured with Your decree, pleased with what You predestined, [make it] follow the ways of Your friends, and separate me from the character of your enemies.”

They are two norms and two methods. We pray to God the Exalted to make us follow the practice of His friends and separate us from the norms of His enemies. Surely the battle theatre of Al-Taff was an extension of the arena of confrontation in the history of the prophets, and Husayn (‘a) took the positions taken by the prophets, testamentary legatees (awsiya’) and God's friends, while the Umayyads took the positions of the imperious despots of history. So the loyalty was the same and the repudiation was also the same.

This arena truly inherited the theatre in the strictest sense of the term. All values and their contraries, all loyalty and repudiation had been transported from the depth of history to the time of Husayn (‘a). The more deep-rooted loyalty and repudiation are, the deeper, firmer, stronger and more intense a product of awareness they become. Indeed loyalty and repudiation in Husayn's (‘a) camp in Karbala carried all the strength and awareness of the loyalty and repudiation that accumulated during the history of the prophets.

It is for a specific reason that the greetings of peace to Husayn (‘a) in Ziyarat Warith took this wonderful wording that depicts his position in Karbala. It came with the expression ‘heir of the prophets’:

Peace be on you O heir of Adam, God's chosen one!

Peace be on you O heir of Noah, God's prophet.

Peace be on you O heir of Abraham, God's friend.

Peace be on you O heir of Moses, the interlocutor of God.

Peace be on you O heir of Jesus, spirit of God.

Peace be on you O heir of Muhammad, the beloved of God.

A Separating Theatre

The day of Ashura was a day of separation in history. The greatest days of separation for this nation are Badr, Siffin and Al-Taff. The days of separation divide the people into two spheres of confrontation and spare no one. On the day of Al-Taff the people were well-informed about truth and falsehood, guidance and deviation with respect to the conflict; the matter was not ambiguous to anyone on the battle field. The matter was too clear for the Umayyads to have been able to obfuscate it by their propaganda. Whoever took to deviation on that day must have followed misguidance with full knowledge and no one got misguided because of having confused truth with falsehood.

On the day of Ashura, Husayn (‘a) stood between the battle lines and addressed the Umayyad army saying:

"O people! Tell me: who am I? Then search your souls and rebuke yourselves, and see whether it is permissible for you to kill me and violate my sanctity. Am I not the son of the daughter of your Prophet (S) and the son of his legatee who was his cousin, the first believer in God who accepted what His Messenger brought from his Lord? Was not Hamza, Lord of the martyrs, my [father's] uncle? Was Ja'far al-Tayyar not my uncle? Has not the saying of God's Messenger about me and my brother saying ‘These two are lords of the youths of paradise’, reached you? If you believe what I say [well and good]– and it is the truth, for by God I have never told a lie since I knew that God detests the one who lies and that it harms its fabricator –.

"If you disbelieve me, there are among you those who will tell you if you ask. Ask Jabir ibn Abdillah al-Ansari, Abu Sa'id al-Khidri, Sahl ibn Sa'ad al-Sa'idi, Zayd ibn Arqam and Anas ibn Malik. They will tell you that they have heard this saying of God's Messenger (S) concerning me and my brother. Is this not deterrent enough for you against spilling my blood?"

Then Shimr said: ‘I must be worshipping God on a fringe if I know what he is saying.’

Habib ibn Muzahir said to him: ‘By God, I think you: are: worshipping God on seventy fringes. I bear witness that you are saying the truth that you do not know what he is saying, for God has put a seal on your heart.’5

The plainness of truth and falsehood, and also guidance and deviation in this arena had divided it on that day into two groups, on the basis of loyalty and repudiation. Whoever stood by Husayn (‘a), his family and companions was showing loyalty to God, His Messenger (S) and the Imams (‘a) of the Muslims after him, and repudiating Yazid and his governors, soldiers and courtiers.

Whoever did not stand by Husayn (‘a) on that day, his loyalty must have been for Yazid and his repudiation against God's party. The pretext of confusion or ignorance could be accepted from no one. The pretext of one who sat on the fence, who was indifferent to what was happening on the battlefield, could also not be accepted.

Therefore whoever knew that Husayn (‘a) had sought for help in order to support God's religion and heard his call but neither supported him nor got enraged and aggrieved on account of him, nor attempted to defend him, must have in fact been pleased with those people's action and automatically fell within the sphere of those to be cursed and repudiated. In Ziarat Warith we read:

May God curse the people who killed you...

May God curse the people who oppressed you ...

May God curse the people who heard of that and accepted it.

These are part of the peculiarities of the days of separation in history which separate the people completely. The dividing line here is loyalty and repudiation which divides the people into two camps and does not accept the position of spectators who stand on the periphery of the battlefield, preferring their well-being. Those who remain observers when conflicts break out might think that they can escape their religion if they avoid both camps, but they do not know that they are entering headlong into predicament! God the Exalted said:

"Look! They have already fallen into predicament..." (9:49).

May God have mercy on Zuhayr ibn al-Qayn for he had full awareness and insight on the day he went out towards them [the enemy] riding his long-tailed horse and well-armed. He said: "O people of Kufa! Beware of God's punishment! Beware! Indeed it is the duty on a Muslim to advice his brother Muslim and we are still brothers following one religion, so long as the sword has not come down between us. You deserve our admonition, but when the sword descends [all] bonds will be severed and we will become one nation and you another.

God has tested us and you with the descendants of His prophet Muhammad (S) to see our action and yours. We are inviting you to help them and abandon these despots Yazid and Ubaydullah ibn Ziyad for you will not get anything from them except harm, as long as their power lasts. They will gorge out your eyes, cut off your hands and feet, mutilate you and hang you on the trunks of palm trees. They will kill your exemplars and those versed in the Qur'an among you, like Hujr ibn 'Adi, and Hani ibn Urwa and their types."

The people reviled him and praised Ubaydullah ibn Ziyad and added: "We shall not depart until we kill your man and those who are with him or unless we send him along with his companions to Ubaydullah ibn Ziyad in submission."

Then Zuhayr said: "Servants of God! The son of Fatima is more entitled to love and support than the son of Sumayyah. But if you do not help them, I commend you to God's care that you should not kill them. Open the way between the man and Yazid, for by my life, Yazid will be contented with your obedience without you killing al-Husayn (‘a).

Then Shimr shot an arrow at him and said: "Keep quiet! May God silence your noise! We are fed up with your prattle."

Zuhayr said: "O son of the one who urinates on his heels! I am not talking to you because you are only an animal. I do not think that you have learnt even two verses of the Book of God. Know that the humiliation of the Day of Resurrection and a painful chastisement awaits you. Then he [Zuhayr] turned to the people and said loudly:

"Servants of God! Do not be seduced into leaving your religion for that uncouth man and his ilk. By God, the intercession of Muhammad (S) will not include a people who spill the blood of his descendants and his family and kill those who help them and defend their women folk."

Then a man from his camp called Zuhayr saying: "Abu Abdillah [i.e. Imam Husayn] is saying: Come back. By my life, you have advised these people, as if a believer of Pharaoh’s people had admonished his people and intensified his plea, if only advice and conveyance [of information] is of any avail."6

A Legator Theatre

We inherited loyalty and repudiation from the battle theatre of Al-Taff on the day of Ashura. Had it not been for Ashura we ourselves would not have been acquainted with loyalty and repudiation except loyalty for the rulers and the kings however they might be; and repudiation of their enemies whoever they were, since loyalty would then have been the prerogative of the man who handled the whip even if he was unjust, and repudiation would have been against the one who opposed him even if he invited people to God and His Messenger (S).

Certainly, the Umayyads had corrupted the concepts of loyalty and repudiation which caused the corruption and destruction of everything in this nation. A nation is, according to the soundest definition, nothing but loyalty and repudiation. The Umayyads knew this fact very well and they also knew the effect an attack on these two pillars would have on the nation's existence.

May God have mercy on al-Farazdaq! When the Imam met him on the way and asked him about the people he left behind, he replied: "You have asked the one who is conversant with the issue. Their hearts are with you but their swords are against you."

This is the first step towards destroying loyalty and repudiation and the next one is when the corrupting and destroying shifts from the swords and external stances to the hearts; to love and hate, and this means everything with regard to loyalty and repudiation.

The Umayyads had aimed at the most important things for a nation's existence and corrupted them and robbed the people of them. To ruin the loyalty and repudiation of the people they had to rob them of their conscience, their will and also their resistance, and when people lose these three things nothing will remain of them except dross.

The story of this assault is long and we will not go into detail here. We have done that in our book Warith al-Anbiya’.

Husayn (‘a) had envisaged this painful and unfortunate situation when he said in a speech that was all grief and pain, as he described the tragedy of the Muslims of that period: "The world has changed beyond recognition: its good has turned away and nothing remains of it except the drops [that remain in a container when it is emptied of its water] and a despicable life like unwholesome pasture. Don’t you see that truth is not acted upon and falsehood is not refrained from?"

Husayn (‘a) had no option but to fight the despots himself, with his family and companions even if they were few in number. Through his tragic death he was able to achieve two important things for Islam and the Muslims. These achievements were:

- Restoration of awareness, will and resistance in Muslim minds.

- Stripping Umayyad rule of legitimacy.

Indeed the death of al-Husayn (‘a) together with that blessed party comprising his family and companions had caused a deep jolt on the languid Muslim souls of that day. Those people had left Husayn (‘a) with only a small band of his family and companions, and looked on as the awful war broke out between him and the despots, without taking the slightest action.

The tragic way in which Husayn died, jolted the Muslim conscience which had been suspended by Umayyad misrule. It restored their will, awareness and resistance, and this was the greater of the two achievements. The second one is that it stripped Umayyad government of legitimacy. They were ruling the Muslims from the position of Successor (khalifah) to the Messenger of God (S) and it was from that position that they derived their legitimacy. They also distorted the laws, values and principles of this religion by invoking this very position.

When Husayn (‘a) went out to fight that tyrant and was martyred by the forces of the Umayyads the people came to know that God's Messenger (S), His religion and his nation all denounced the Umayyads. Although Umayyad rule continued even after Husayn's death it became like any other ruling family or temporal rulers and kings: they no longer represented vicegerency to the Messenger of God (S) in the minds of the Muslims.

Since that date the Muslims recognized two different lines: the line of the jurists and the line of the rulers. In the opinion of the Muslims, the line of the jurists was the legitimate one, except when they obeyed the rulers. This is as far as the Sunni sphere is concerned. With the followers of the Ahl al-Bayt (‘a) the issue was much clearer.

Were it not for Husayn's death, the people would not have known the religion except through the palaces of the Umayyads which were filled with luxury, sports, music, oppression and murder. If the martyrdom of Husayn and his family and companions had not taken place nothing would have remained of Islam but its name. It is just like what Husayn (‘a) said to Marwan on the day he invited him to pay allegiance to Yazid:

"Farewell to Islam if the nation is put to test with [the rule of] a herdsman like Yazid"

Emotional Co-Existence With The Al-Taff Tragedy As Expressed In Ziyarat Ashura

The text that is known as Ziyarat Ashura forcefully and clearly embodies loyalty and repudiation as it should be and crystallizes all the loyalty and repudiation that abounded in the battlefield of Al-Taff and has drawn people towards it since that wonderful historic day in the year 61 A.H. When one reads the text of Ziyarat Ashura one strongly senses a feeling of coexistence with it since that very day, and it is a feeling that is known and felt by those who are accustomed to and constantly read this text. The tragic words that appear in this ziyarah truly, precisely and subtly convey our emotional and transparent coexistence with the tragedy of Al-Taff:

“The calamity is surely grievous; very heavy and distressing indeed is your tribulation on us and on all the people of Islam; heavy and distressing indeed is your tribulation on the heavens and on all its inhabitants...– How great a tribulation it is and how great a calamity it is for Islam, for all the heavens and the earth!”

It is on purpose that the Ahl al-Bayt (‘a) and the scholars of their school emphasize the constant recitation of this ziyarah. Reading this text transports us to the Ashura environment and conveys to us the meanings of loyalty and repudiation that abound in Ashura. It also conveys to us the values that overflow from them and consolidate those concepts in our souls. Loyalty and repudiation draws the distantly related near and pushes close relations away.

The ideas I am putting down in this discussion are some meditations about loyalty and repudiation as they appear in Ziyarat Ashura, in the hope that God may bestow on us their flavour and the lofty concepts which this ziyarah is full of. The following ideas derived from it have been meditated upon:

Scenes Of Loyalty And Repudiation In Ziyarat Ashura

Loyalty and repudiation cover the whole scope of man's life, time, place and geography. I do not know of a situation that covers man's life the way this one does. They divide history into two parts, a part for God's friends and another part for God's enemies.

We are now living with Abraham (‘a), Noah (‘a), Moses (‘a), Jesus (‘a), God's Messenger (S) and the Imams (‘a) from his family who came after him, the guided, the guides. We pay allegiance to them and follow their guidance the same way as if we were living with them in their own times, and we hope to remain together with them both here and in the hereafter. On the other hand we turn to God in repudiation of Pharaoh, Haman, Nimrod, the Sabbath-breakers, Men of the Ditch and the murderers of the Israeli prophets, and we also repudiate Abu Sufyan, Abu Jahl, Muawiyya and Yazid, as though we were present during their times.

The interposing centuries and epochs of history do not obscure our loyalty to the first group nor our repudiation of the second. It is a peculiarity of loyalty and repudiation that they transcend epochs and centuries to join the ends of a single journey over the ages. We feel today the grief for Husayn (‘a)'s ordeals and death in Karbala as if the tragic incident happened in our own lives.

Similarly, these two issues transcend geography. Today we are partners to the Muslims of Palestine, Kashmir, Bosnia, Chechnya, Pakistan and Iraq in the tyranny, suffering, murder and deprivation which they are enduring at the hands of God's enemies, as if these things are happening to us and our families. In the same vein, we are hostile to Israel and America as if they are carrying out aggression against our own families and homes.

Indeed loyalty and repudiation draws near the distant ones and separates those who are near one another. Many a brother is hostile towards his full brother but loyal and sympathetic to his brothers in religion, although not in blood, in faraway parts of the earth without seeing them, knowing their names or even seeing their pictures. Loyalty and repudiation joins Salman al-Farisi with the Prophetic Household and separates Abu Lahab from it, expelling and condemning him. "Perish the hands of Abu Lahab and Perish he!"(111:1).

Thus loyalty and repudiation transcend time and place and cover the domains of history and geography. They also cover the scope of man's life: his soul, his heart, his intellect, his education, his social relations, his political life, his war and his peace. No aspect of his life, his behaviour, personality and thought, his love, hate and desire and all that surrounds him, remains outside the scope of loyalty and repudiation.

In Ziyarat Ashura we meet wonderful scenes of loyalty and repudiation that spread over all dimensions of man's life. Some examples of them are cited below:

Loyalty, Repudiation And Hostility

This is an extensive topic that affects maintaining or severing of relationships, love and hate. It is mentioned repeatedly in Ziyarat Ashura:

"I am seeking proximity to God through paying allegiance to you and repudiating those who fought you and declared war on you. I am friendly to the one who is loyal to you and hostile to the one who is hostile to you."

The contrast between loyalty and repudiation, and loyalty and hostility accurately explains a believer's stand in the theatre of confrontation that extends over the ages till today. Loyalty to the family of God's Messenger (S) and hostility to their enemies - the matter could not have been more explicit!

Greetings Of Peace And Cursing

This loyalty turns into peace in social relations and also into pleas of expulsion from the sphere of God's mercy and severing of social relations. In Ziyarat Ashura we read: "Peace be on you, O son of the Messenger of God (S)! Peace be on you, O son of the Commander of the Faithful (‘a)! Peace be on you, O son of Fatima al-Zahra (‘a)! May God curse the people who laid the foundation of inequity and oppression against you, the Ahl al-Bayt (‘a). May God curse the people who pushed you away from your positions and removed you from the ranks which God has assigned you."

Greetings are a declaration of love, affection, cooperation and acting peaceably toward a person. A curse is a declaration of separation and severing of ties and expulsion.

Peace And War

Loyalty and repudiation are an amazing affair. They start from intentions, hearts, culture, publicity, literature, poetry and literary contests and extend to confrontation and battlefields. It is said in Ziyarat Ashura:

"I am at peace with whoever is at peace with you and at war with whoever fights you, to the day of Resurrection."

The duration of this peace or war will not end till the Day of Resurrection when God will separate the people.

Another section reads:

"I am at peace with whoever is at peace with you, at war with whoever is at war with you, loyal to whoever is loyal to you and hostile to whoever is enemy to you."

This repetition, emphasis and careful wording are surely done for some significant reason. The question of loyalty and repudiation constitute the essence and spirit of this religion. Therefore, a believer must consider these two issues carefully with respect to all areas of his life. Without this his faith will not be complete.

Association And Disassociation

Among the instances of loyalty and repudiation in this ziyarah there is the question of association, a complete association in both this and the next world, and also that of separation. We read from this ziyarah:

"So I pray to God to let me be with you in this world and the next, and to confirm for me a good standing with you..."

There are two forms of association: a true one and a false one. The second type of companionship is that of the believer who is seen conversing with the man with two gardens7 and this is not the required type of association. The required one is the one which proves true both in ease and in difficulty.

In the same ziyarah there is this prayer: "And make firm for me a good standing with You together with Husayn (‘a) and those companions who laid down their lives in his defense."

Firmness and good standing with God is to be coupled with being together with Husayn (‘a) as the section quoted above shows: 'with God' and 'together with Husayn." It cannot be otherwise, for every good standing with God must necessarily be together with God's righteous servants and friends, and conversely, every good standing with God's friends will necessarily be with God.

This companionship (ma‘iyyah) is for the righteous servants of God who are true to their word in ease as well as in difficulty, and God has commanded us to cultivate it:

"O, you who have faith! Be wary of God and be with the truthful." (9:119).

But this companionship requires patience and forbearance.

"Content yourself with the company of those who pray to their Lord morning and evening, desiring His Face, and do not lose sight of Him by desiring the glitter of the life of this world. And do not obey him whose heart we have made oblivious to Our remembrance, who follows his own desires and whose conduct is [mere] profligacy."(18:28).

This companionship is the one that is maintained on the long and arduous road of obedience to God and His Messenger (S), so he who obeys them is together with God's righteous servants.

"Whoever obeys God and the Apostle (S), are with those whom God has blessed: the prophets, the truthful, the witnesses and the righteous, and what excellent companions they are!"(4:69).

What wonderful company this is, and what wonderful companions they really are! "... and excellent companions they are!" This companionship is an all-inclusive one in this world and the next, in life and in death. We pray to God in Ziyarat Ashura:

"O God! Make my life like the life of Muhammad and the Family of Muhammad (‘a) and my death like the death of Muhammad and the Family of Muhammad (‘a)."

This is among the best short supplications, for no life is better than the life of Muhammad (S) and the Family of Muhammad (‘a) and no death is better than their death, and no companionship is better than being with Muhammad (S) and the Family of Muhammad (‘a).

In the qunut (supplication which is recited while standing in prayer) of the prayer of Id al-Fitr (the festival ending the month of Ramadan) we read:

"I beseech you, for the sake of this day... bless Muhammad (S) and the Family of Muhammad (‘a) and admit me into all the good into which you admitted Muhammad (S) and the Family of Muhammad (‘a) and bring me out from all evil from which you brought out Muhammad and the Family of Muhammad, May Your blessings be on him and on them all."

This is the best thing a servant can seek from God the Exalted when he prays.

In contrast to this companionship is the total separation from the enemies of God, His Messenger (S) and His friends, in their moments of sadness and joy, their customs, their social gatherings and their culture, norms and ethics.

In Ziyarat Ashura we denounce the enemy's feelings of happiness, joy and delight on account of their success against the Household of God's Messenger (S) and the death of al-Husayn (‘a) and his family. We part ways with them in terms of feelings, sentiments and emotions. Ponder over this section:

"O God! This is a day (Ashura day) in which the Umayyads and the son of the liver-eating woman found delight. This is a day with which the family of Ziyad and the family of Marwan were pleased because they killed Husayn (‘a) ... O God! Compound Your curse on them and subject them to a painful chastisement.”

"O God! I am seeking proximity to you on this day; at this my place and all my life, by repudiating and cursing them, and through pledging allegiance to Your prophet and the Family of Your prophet (on whom and them be peace)." This total separation and complete association are the outcome of repudiation and loyalty in man's life.

Distress And Vengeance

Another instance of loyalty and repudiation that is exhibited in this ziyarah is the distress that is felt because of what befell Husayn (‘a) and his family, and the plea for success in taking revenge on his enemies and killers, may God curse them. But who are the killers of Husayn against whom we may seek to take vengeance? The answer is: Every oppressor who is pleased with Husayn's death is a partner to his killers, wherever he is placed by history, whether in our time or before it. The horror we experience on account of Husayn's death is among the effects of loyalty in our lives, and there can be no true loyalty without joining the Ahl al-Bayt (‘a) in their tribulations and what they tasted at the hands of the oppressors, by way of these emotions and sentiments.

Let us ponder over this section of Ziyarat Ashura:

"Indeed the loss is very agonizing; your disaster is momentous and agonizing to us and to all the adherents of Islam. Your disaster is indeed momentous and agonizing in the heavens and to all the inhabitants of the heavens. It is a disaster that is so great, and the loss in its wake is so great, for Islam and for all the heavens and the earth."

It has been reported in a sound hadith that if any believer grieves on what has befallen Husayn and his companions God will give him a reward similar to theirs and gather them together. In contrast to this grief and sadness for the death of Husayn (‘a), there is supplication for success in punishing the killers of Husayn. Though we were not beside Husayn (‘a) on the day of Ashura in 61 A.H. in Karbala, we shall not miss the chance to avenge the blood of Husayn (‘a) and his companions on the killers and those who are inclined to them, by God's will.

Let us consider this part of Ziyarat Ashura:

"I pray to God who has honoured you and honoured me through you, to bestow on me the ability to avenge you[r blood] together with the Expected Imam from the Household of Muhammad (S)."

One may ask: where do you find those who killed or oppressed Husayn (‘a) to exact vengeance on them? Let us allow the Qur'an to supply the answer, for in it there is light and insight: Concerning the Jews who were contemporary with the Messenger of God (S) when they requested him to bring them an offering that would be consumed by fire, as a condition for their belief in him, the Most High says:

“[To] those who say 'God has pledged us not to believe in any apostle unless he brings us an offering consumed by[heavenly] fire, say, 'Apostles before me certainly brought you manifest signs and what you speak of. Then why did you kill them, if you were truthful?”(3:183).

However, the Jews at the time of the Prophet (may God bless him and his family) did not kill any prophet, so why did God the Exalted ascribe the killing of the prophets to them?:"Then why did you kill them, if you were truthful?"

The explanation of this in the Book of God is that these people accepted the action of their forefathers, and because of that God held them accountable for the crimes of those people and condemned them accordingly. We shall throw more light on this point when we discuss generalizations on loyalty and repudiation, God willing.

Based on this Qur'anic way of viewing things, every oppressor, murderer or criminal, every tyrant who is delighted at the death of Husayn (‘a) is partner to his killing. Every despot who causes havoc in the land by killing, tyrannizing and oppressing God's servants must necessarily be pleased with the murder of Husayn (‘a) and have a part in it.

Loyalty And Repudiation Are Two Faces Of The Same Question

Loyalty and repudiation are two faces of a single issue and it is through repudiation that loyalty is found. A pledge of loyalty that is not coupled with repudiation does not cost anything. It is not a burden at all to treat all contending parties with courtesy and pretense of love with the aim of earning their friendship and respect and also to save oneself from the inconveniencies of opposition.

However, this action remains no more than mere courtesy and a show of affection; that has no value in terms of loyalty. Loyalty is to belong and not a ceremony or pretense of love, and one cannot belong to a cause without separating from its antithesis. Association in the arena of conflict cannot take place without a separation.

The Messenger of God (S) said to Ali (‘a): "Loyalty to you will not be accepted unless [it is coupled] with repudiating your enemies. This is what Gabriel communicated to me. So let anyone who wishes, believe it, and let anyone who wishes, disbelieve it.”8

Imam al-Sadiq (‘a) said to al-Safwan: "Know that loyalty is incomplete, affection impure and friendship not reliable unless it is coupled with repudiating their [the Ahl al-Bayt] adversary whether he is close or distant.”9

There is a strong emphasis on the motto ‘loyalty and repudiation’ in a number of places in Ziarat Ashura, “I am seeking proximity to God, His Messenger, the Commander of Faithful, Fatima, al-Hasan and you (‘a) through being loyal to you and repudiating anyone who fought you and declared war on you, and through repudiating anyone who laid the foundation of oppression and injustice against you."

"I seek proximity to God, then to you by pledging allegiance to you and repudiating your enemies and those who declared war on you, and by repudiating their followers."

The purpose of this emphasis is so that the people may not incline towards their comfort and well-being and only voice their allegiance and leave out the repudiation, since on the battlefield loyalty has no meaning without repudiation.

Loyalty And Repudiation: Blessing And Honour That God Bestowed On Man

Life has been a theatre for conflict ever since man inhabited the earth... and this is history. History is the story of the contention between the axis of monotheism and polytheism and all mankind fall into two sections: One section considers allegiance to God to be their focal point and they are the callers towards monotheism. The others pay allegiance to taghut as their centre and they are the polytheists. God the Exalted brings the first group out of darkness into light, and the second group is driven out of the light and led into darkness by taghut.

"God is the patron of the faithful: He brings them out of darkness into the light. As for the faithless, their patrons are the taghut (rebels) who drive them out of the light into darkness. They shall be the inmates of the Fire and they shall remain in it forever,” (2:257).

Both centres spread in different directions through different extensions in life. The first centre extends through the Messenger of God (S), those vested with authority (ulu al-amr), and the believers.

"Obey God and obey the Apostle and those vested with authority among you.”(4:59).

"Your patron is only God, His Apostle and the faithful who maintain the prayer and give the zakat while bowing down.” (5:55).

The centre of rebellion also possesses a domain of love. It comprises the community of taghut and its extensions. Every nation is a close-knit group that is united by a set of organic relationships which the Holy Qur'an describes in these precise terms: "They are alike” “They are comrades of one another”. Believers are a single nation. God the Exalted says:

"The faithful men and women, are comrades of one another” (9:71).

And:

“... those who give them shelter and help, it is they who are truly the faithful.” (8:74).

The faithless and the hypocrites are also one nation:

“ The faithless are associates of one another ” (8:73).

Thus human society consists of two sections, two nations, two axes, and for each there is a loyalty and repudiation, a connection and a separation, an association and an estrangement.

Loyalty and repudiation divides the scene of life into two distinct and opposing groups. Now where is one's position in this chart? To which axis does one belong? With which group will one be classified? These are among the most important and most momentous questions that face mankind, and their value lies here. The value of man resides in the position one occupies and the stand one takes on this chart: is it with God, His prophets and His friends, or with taghut and base desires?

It is indeed miserable for a person to live this life without knowing where he stands, with whom he stands, to which axis he belongs, whom to fight, with whom to live peacefully and support? The least to be said about such people is that they live a life of confusion, and the most grievous ruin and confusion takes place in the theatre of confrontation when one is forced to determine one’s stand in it.

Man certainly lives this life in a theatre of conflict from which there is no escape. Therefore one cannot but determine his stand vis-à-vis this conflict. The most dangerous thing is for one not to know where he stands in this contest: that is, to live in confusion in the midst of this conflict.

Such people will, most certainly, slip into the camp that opposes monotheism for they cannot stay long in their confusion. They will soon take the position that is unfriendly and hostile to God's friends. Surely to have loyalty to God, His Messenger (S) and His friends, and repudiate His enemies is a form of awareness and knowledge; it is the most sublime type of knowledge and awareness. God has honoured us with this knowledge and saved us from loss, confusion and darkness.

God's blessings are many and great and the greatest blessing which He has honoured us with is that of knowledge, loyalty and repudiation. Ziyarat Ashura points to this blessing of God to us:

“So I pray to God who gave me the honour of knowing you and knowing your friends, and endowed me with repudiating your enemies, to put me in your company both in this and the next world.”

Indeed God the Exalted has bestowed us with immense gifts and blessings among the greatest of which is loyalty. From Abu Ja’far al-Baqir (‘a) who said: “Islam is built on five things: prayer, fasting, zakat, pilgrimage and loyalty (wilayah).” Zurarah said: I asked: Which is the best among these things? He said: “Loyalty is the best because it is the key to the rest and the one to whom loyalty is to be pledged (al-wali) is their guide.” Then he added: “The peak of the affair, the door of [all] things and the [source] of earning the pleasure of the Merciful is to obey the Imam after knowing him.”10

From Ja’far ibn Muhammad, from his father, from Ali (‘a) or al-Hasan ibn Ali (‘a) who said: God has made five duties obligatory and he did not make anything obligatory but the good and beautiful. [They are]: prayer, fasting, zakat, pilgrimage, and loyalty to us, we the Ahl al-Bayt. The people discharged four of them and treated the fifth one lightly. By God they will not have the four completely until they complete them with the fifth.”11

Without loyalty and repudiation, man will remain confused with no focus or line of action which may put his life in order. When he pays allegiance to God, His Messenger (S) and His friends whom He commands us to be loyal to, and repudiates their adversaries, he finds a position in this life and remains in it.

Generalising (ta‘mim) loyalty and repudiation is among the known aspects of this religion. By virtue of this generalization the bases of loyalty and repudiation are extended greatly. Loyalty covers those whom God made it obligatory for the believers to pay allegiance to, be loyal to, love and be pleased with them in all ages. Repudiation covers God’s enemies whom He commanded us to denounce, and all those who befriend them and accept their actions for all time.

The extension also includes reward and punishment, condemnation and protest. Some people who were not present in the jihad and did not suffer hunger and oppression, nor were they touched by the sword will also be rewarded because they loved the fighters and were pleased with their actions. Similarly, punishment will include some people who did not commit any murder but loved the killers and were pleased with their deeds. Therefore, God will punish them for the crimes of the killers.

The cause of these extensions is the issue of approval and anger. Approval arises from love while anger stems from hate. When a person is pleased with a people’s action he is deemed a partner to them and rewarded if the action is good or punished if it is bad. When a person is angry with a people he repudiates them.

Love and approval join one to those whom he loves or approves of. Similarly, hate and anger separates one from those whom he hates or is angry with. It is a factor that causes association or separation. Since those Jews who were contemporaries to the Messenger of God (S) accepted the action of their forefathers of killing the prophets, God Almighty considered them responsible for their forefather’s crimes, condemned them for it, forced the proof for it against them, although they did not live in their times, much less have a role in their killing.

From Muhammad ibn al-Arqat, from Abu Abdillah al-Sadiq (‘a) who said: “Do you stop over at Kufa?” “Yes”, I replied. “Then you do see the killers of Husayn among you?”, he asked. I said to him: “May I be your ransom! I have not seen a single person from them.” He said: “Then you do not consider as killer anyone but the person who killed or the one who ordered it? Have you not heard the saying of God: “Apostles before me have certainly brought you manifest signs. Then why did you kill them, if you were truthful?”? What apostle did those living with Muhammad (S) kill, since there was no apostle between him and Jesus (‘a)? However, they did approve their killing and because of that they are called killers.12

To approve of a thing makes the one who approves a partner in the action of the one who is given the approval, whether the action is good or bad, whether the approver also does the action or not. This partnership extends to all the outcomes of the action: reward, punishment, responsibility and condemnation.

The Commander of the Faithful (‘a) (according to the version of Sharif al-Radi in Nahj al-Balaghah) said: “O people! What brings people together is consent (al-rida) and resentment (al-sakhat). Thamud’s she-camel was killed by one man but God included them [all] in punishment since they all consented to it.” The Glorious God said: ‘But they hamstrung her whereupon they became regretful’ It was not long before their land sank with a sound like that of a hot plough sinking into quicksand”13

The Commander of the Faithful (‘a) said: “He who accepts the action of a people is like one who takes part in it along with them. Anyone who takes part in falsehood commits two sins: The sin of the action and the sin of approving.”14

Some general supplications on visitations (ziyarat) of the Imams (‘a) read:

“We bear witness with our intentions and hearts that we are partners of your friends and supporters of the past in shedding the blood of the Perfidious (al-Nakithun), the Unjust (al-Qasitun), the Apostates (al-Mariqun) and the killers of Abu Abdillah (‘a), the Lord of the youths of paradise, and we regret having missed those battles.”

This is a wonderful text which can be comprehended only by the learned one who has insight into God’s norms in history and society. This is an extensive topic of religious knowledge in Islam; it is the knowledge of consent (al-rida) and resentment (al-sakhat).

Based on this way of knowing, we have been partners of Abraham (‘a), the vanguard of monotheism, in inviting people towards it, breaking the idols and struggling against Nimrod, the despot of his time. Likewise, we have been associates of Moses (‘a) and Jesus (‘a) in their call to monotheism and rejection of tyrants. We have also been partners of the Messenger of God (S) in the wars he fought.

We join all the righteous, the saints, the Imams of Monotheism and guided callers [to religion] and those who glorify the name of God the Exalted, throughout history. We join them in inviting the people to God, treating God’s servants with sincerity, in remembering God and glorifying Him, in pain and anxiety, in the shedding of the oppressors’ blood, in their blood being shed by the oppressors, in demolishing the bastions of injustice and polytheism and in erecting the pillars of monotheism, justice...”15

Generalizations Of Loyalty In Ziyarat Ashura

There are three stages and generalizations on loyalty in this ziyarah:

In the first stage we declare our allegiance to Husayn (‘a) with regard to the war he fought with the Umayyads; the second stage extends the loyalty to include, in addition to the Imam, the souls who rallied around him in Karbala and sacrificed themselves in support and defense of the son of the daughter of God’s messenger (S) ; the third stage extends to the people who are loyal to his supporters. This level of loyalty includes all those who are loyal to them in all ages, and anyone who pays allegiance to them is covered by this loyalty.

“I am seeking proximity to God, then to you through allegiance to you and allegiance to your allies.”

This last generalization of loyalty is all-inclusive and it extends over time and place. From what Imam al-Rida (‘a) wrote to al-Ma’mun about pure Islam, the section on loyalty (wilayah) we read:

“Wilayah is for the believers who followed the way of their Prophet (S) and did not change or alter [anything], people like Salman al-Farisi, Abu Dharr al-Ghifari and al-Miqdad. Wilayah is also for their followers and partisans who follow their guidance and walk along their path.”16

Generalizations Of Repudiation In Ziyarat Ashura

Similar to loyalty, repudiation also has a number of extensions.

The first extension of repudiation takes the form of denouncing the killers, those who declared war on Husayn (‘a) and those who paved the way and enabled them to fight him.

“May God curse the family of Ziyad and the family of Marwan. May God curse the Umayyads dynasty. May God curse the son of Marjanah. May God curse Umar ibn Sa’ad. May God curse Shimr. May God curse the people who saddled and bridled [their mounts] and traversed the land in order to fight you. O God! Curse that band which fought Husayn, which rallied together, paid allegiance to one another and concurred on killing him.”

In the second extension of repudiation we denounce their partisans, their followers and their allies, and those who pledge allegiance to them and those who are pleased with them.This is an extensive generalization that spreads along with time and space.

“I turn to God and to you in repudiating them, their supporters, their followers and their allies. I seek proximity to God through allegiance to you and repudiating your enemies and those who declared war on you by repudiating their supporters and followers.”

The third extension of repudiation includes those who laid the foundation of injustice on the Ahl al-Bayt (‘a), those who laid the foundations of this monstrous injustice against the Family of the Prophet (‘a).

“I turn to God and to His Messenger (S) in repudiating everyone who laid the foundations of inequity and oppression on you.”

The fourth extension includes not only those who oppressed the Ahl al-Bayt (‘a) but also the people who acted unjustly toward their supporters and followers down the centuries up to the present day, for oppressing these people stems from oppression and inequity against the Ahl al-Bayt (‘a) themselves.

“And I turn to God and His Messenger in repudiation of anyone who laid down the foundation of that, built its structures upon it, and went on with his oppression and inequity against you and your supporters. I turn to God and to you in repudiating them.”

The fifth extension is the most inclusive and most extensive of all.

“O God! Curse the first man to cheat Muhammad (S) and the Family of Muhammad (S) of their right, and the last man to follow him in that act...”

This generalization comprises all those who oppressed them and those who condone the injustice, from the first day to the last, from the first person to the last. This is among the most all-inclusive generalizations of repudiation.

Monotheism And Purity Of Faith Depicted In Loyalty

Loyalty Comes Under The Concept Of Monotheism

This is one of the important principles of Islam and the Qur’an is replete with the expressions of this fact. God the Exalted says:

“Judgment belongs only to God; He expounds the truth and He is the best of judges.” (12:40).

“Sovereignty belongs to God. He has commanded you to worship none except Him.” (12:67).

There are many verses expressing the same truth.

No loyalty can be correct except that which comes within the extension of loyalty to God and by His permission and command. God says:

“Your authority (wali) is only God, His Apostle and the faithful who maintain the prayer and give alms –zakat- while bowing down (in prayer).” (5:55).

Any loyalty that is outside the range of loyalty to God is baseless and unacceptable in Islam. God the Exalted says:

“Have they taken guardians (awliya’) besides Him? It is God who is the Guardian (al-wali)” (42:9). 17

“Say, ‘Shall I take for guardian [anyone] other than God, the originator of the heavens and the earth...?” (6:14).

“.. Nor do you have besides God any guardian or any helper.” (29:22).

The Holy Qur’an explicitly affirms this reality. Here are some blessed verses from the Wise Book of God which explain this fact.

“Do you not know that to God belongs the kingdom of the heavens and the earth? And besides God you do not have any guardian or any helper.”(2:107).

The holy verse affirms that the kingdom of the heavens and the earth belongs to God and anyone other than Him does not possess anything of them. From this fact, it is clear that absolute guardianship over mankind must necessarily belong to Him and man has no right to take anyone other than God as guardian.

To the Glorious God belongs absolute guardianship and control over all that pertains to man, both his actions and his beliefs; no one other God has the right to man’s guardianship except by His permission and command, and within the extension of His guardianship. The holy verse conveys the restriction of guardianship to God alone from two angles:

(a) The fact that the heavens and the earth belong to God alone and therefore, the guardianship over mankind should be only His, to the exclusion of all His creatures.

(b) The literal meaning since the pair of articles ma...illa is one of the articles which denote restriction [of a subject to a predicate or vice versa] in Arabic language.18

Ghayr can replace illa so that it becomes permissible to ‘restrict’ with the pair ma-- ghayr.19 One can say Ma ja’ani ahadun ghayr Muhammad (No one came to me except Muhammad). The word duna (besides) in the holy verse: “And besides God you do not have any guardian or any helper”, means ghayr. Based on this, the verse employs a restrictive phrasing which, whether viewed from form of expression or from import, restricts guardianship to God alone.Restriction (hasr) often involves negating and affirming, so it serves to negate the guardianship of anyone other than God and affirm His guardianship. Numerous verses of the Book of God can be quoted. God the Exalted says:

" And warn by its means those who fear being mustered toward their Lord, besides whom (dunahu) they shall have neither any guardian nor any intercessor, so that they may be God-wary" (6:51).

He says:

" Leave alone those who take their religion for play and diversion and whom the life of this world has deceived, and admonish with it lest any soul should perish because of what it has earned: for it shall not have any guardian besides God nor any intercessor...”.(6:70).

He also says:

" Indeed to God belongs the kingdom of the heavens and the earth. He gives life and brings death. And besides God you do not have any guardian or helper”. (9:116).

In Surat al-Sajdah, the Qur’an says:

"It is God who created the heavens and the earth and whatever is between them in six days, and then He settled on the Throne. You do not have besides him any guardian or intercessor. Will you not then take admonition?” (32:7).

This holy verse clearly indicates the relationship between God's power over the heavens and the earth and His guardianship over creation and His legislative guardianship on man. It indicates also the restriction of guardianship to God, to the exclusion of others whom the people regard as guardians apart from Him..20

Just as loyalty to the friends of God derives from the concept of monotheism, it also comes under purity of faith (ikhlas) by virtue of the same reason. Thus, loyalty to God's friends and taking them as guardians is correct only where it is done for God's sake, where a person seeks nearness to God through it. Otherwise, such loyalty will have no value. Therefore, loyalty comes under the concepts of monotheism and purity of faith.

From Abu Khalid al-Kabuli who said: A group of people came to Ali ibn Husayn ibn Ali (‘a) and said: "Our cousins [lit, sons of our uncle] called on Mu'awiya ibn Abi Sufyan seeking his support and grants while we call on you to pay our respects to [the kinsmen of] the Messenger of God, may God bless him and his family,"

Ali ibn Husayn (‘a) said: "Anyone who loves us, not for anything worldly that he may get from us, and is hostile to our enemy, not because of an old grudge between them, will come to God on the Day of Resurrection together with Muhammad, Abraham and Ali (‘a).”

True loyalty is that by which a person seeks proximity to God, and one cannot approach God except by doing the things He commands. Therefore, loyalty cannot be truely correct unless it is commanded by God the Exalted. Loyalty to the Messenger of God (S) and his Ahl al-Bayt is a thing that is commanded by God and His Messenger (S). Imam al-Sadiq (‘a) is reported to have said: “God has bound together obedience to the one He vested with authority with obedience to His Messenger, and obedience to His Messenger with obedience to Him..."

Therefore, we seek closeness to God through this loyalty; we do not consider loyalty to the Ahl al-Bayt (‘a) as a way of seeking worldly gains and the pleasure of the rulers, but that of earning God's pleasure and nearness to Him, Sublime is He."

Monotheism And Purity Of Faith Depicted In Repudiation

Purity of Faith as depicted in Repudiation:

This idea has been hinted at in Ziyarat Ashura:

"And I seek proximity to God and His Messenger... by repudiating those who fought you and declared war against you."

It has been shown that real faith means to love and hate for God's sake.

It has been reported from Abu Muhammad al-Askari (‘a), from his forefathers, that the Messenger of God (S) one day said to one of his companions:

"Servant of God! Love for God's sake, hate for God's sake, befriend for God's sake and be hostile for God's sake, for you will not gain loyalty to God except this way. A man cannot have the taste of faith, even if he prays and fasts much, till he acts that way. Today most of the friendships between the people have turned into worldly concerns, they love one another because of it and hate one another because of it, and this [attitude] will not gain them anything before God."21

In another hadith, the Messenger of God (S) one day said to one of his companions: "Servant of God! Love for God's sake, hate for God's sake, befriend for God's sake and be hostile for God's sake, for loyalty to God cannot be attained except in this way. A man will not get the taste of faith, even if he prays and fasts much, till he acts that way.”22

From Abu Abdillah as-Sadiq (‘a) who said: "The firmest bond of faith is that you love for God's sake, hate for God's sake, give for God's sake and withhold for the sake of God, the Mighty and Sublime.”23 Therefore, no one can attain loyalty to God unless he makes his heart sincere to Him so that his loving and hating, his nearness and remoteness [in social relations] and his loyalty and repudiation are all for God's sake. Among the many ties of faith there is none as firm as loving and hating for the sake of God.

From Abu Abdillah as-Sadiq (‘a): “He who loves an infidel has hated God and he who hates an infidel has loved God.” Then he added: “A friend to God’s enemy is an enemy of God.”24

From Abu Ja’far al-Jawad (‘a): “God has communicated to a prophet [saying]: Your asceticism [only] serves to expedite your rest and your complete turning to Me [is a form of] taking shelter with Me. So have you treated with hostility an enemy of mine or with friendship a friend of mine?”25

From Abu Abdillah as-Sadiq (‘a): “Anyone who loves for God’s sake, hates for God’s sake, gives for God’s sake, and withholds for God’s sake, has attained complete faith.”26

From Abu Ja’far al-Baqir (‘a), from the Messenger of God (S): “A believer’s affection for a fellow believer for God’s sake is one of the greatest branches of faith. Surely anyone who loves for God’s sake, hates for God’s sake, gives for God’s sake and withholds for God’s sake, is among the chosen ones of God.”27

From Abu Abdillah as-Sadiq (‘a): “The Messenger of God (S) asked his companions: “Which among the bonds of faith is the firmest?”

They said: ‘God and his Messenger know best’. Some said: ‘It is prayer’, others said: ‘It is fasting’, a third group said: ‘It is pilgrimage’ and a fourth said: ‘It is jihad.’

Then the Messenger of God (S) said: “All what you said is meritorious but it is not that. The firmest bond of faith is to love for God’s sake, to hate for God’s sake, to be loyal to God’s friends and to repudiate God’s enemies.”28

From Abu Ja’far al-Baqir (‘a): “If you want to know whether there is any good in you, you should check your heart. If it loves the people who are obedient to God, the Mighty and Sublime, and hate those who sin against Him then there is good in you and God loves you. But if it hates the people who are obedient to God and loves those who sin against him, then there is no good in you and God hates you. A man is an associate of the one he loves.”29

For the purpose of emphasis, this notion has appeared a number of times in Ziyarat Ashura:

“O God! I am seeking proximity to you on this day, in this place and [all] the days of my life, by repudiating the enemies of Muhammad and his Family (S) and cursing them.”

Therefore, to repudiate the enemies of God and His friends, like loyalty, is a form of expressing monotheism and purity of faith.

Two Loyalties Cannot Meet In The Heart Of A Faithful Person.

The heart of the faithful cannot contain two loyalties because, as we said before, loyalty comes under the concept of monotheism. True loyalty is for God and for those God has commanded us to pay allegiance to, and any form of loyalty that falls within this range is true loyalty. On the other hand, any loyalty that is not to God, not to what he commands and not within the extension of his loyalty is invalid loyalty.

True loyalties are associated with one another and they all occur within the range of loyalty to God, which is in fact a single loyalty. Two different loyalties cannot meet in a sound heart because a single heart cannot bear more than one loyalty and one attachment, and man has but one heart. This can only be possible where the heart or the loyalty is corrupted. God the Exalted says: “God has not put two hearts within any man...” (33:4).

In Ziyarat al-Jami’ah we read: “With you, with you, never with other than you”.30

The repetition of ‘with you’ i.e. in their company (‘a) in this section of the ziyarah coupled with rejecting the company of anyone else serves to emphasize the notion of the unity of loyalty which we indicated above. Every form of loyalty apart from loyalty to them is invalid and this is because the only true loyalty is loyalty to God and what lies within its spectrum, among which, of course, is loyalty to God’s prophets, His messengers, their successors and the believers. Whatever is not allegiance to God, His messengers, His friends and the believers is a different loyalty entirely and two loyalties do not converge in one heart.

Concerning God’s saying: “God has not put two hearts within any man”, Abu Ja’far al-Baqir (‘a) said: “So that he [man] may love with one and hate with the other. Having love for us makes [a person’s] love purely for us, the way fire purifies gold from impurities. He who wants to know our love let him test his heart; if the love for our enemy shares the heart with our love then he has disowned us and we have disowned him.”31

Thus one cannot have two loyalties in his heart for then either the loyalty is defective or the heart is diseased just as the man who came to the Commander of the Faithful (‘a) and said: ‘O Commander of the Faithful! I love you as well as so-and-so’, and mentioned one of his enemies. He replied: “As for now you are one-eyed; you will either become blind or gain complete sight.”32 It has been related that after the demise of the Messenger of God (S) the people found a slip in the scabbard of his sword in which was written: “May God ... curse him who allies himself with other than his [rightful] patrons.”33

Ascension Points Of Loyalty And Repudiation In Ziyarat Ashura

Nothing purifies monotheism and purity of faith like loyalty and repudiation and this is because to repudiate is to face the most severe test on one’s monotheism and sincerity. One’s level in these two matters cannot be tested by a better method than through loyalty and repudiation.

This twin method exposes to what level one is truly a monotheist and truly sincere. It is not all those who claim a pure monotheistic faith that turn out to be true to their belief in monotheism and sincere in it. They will have to undergo a divine test in loyalty and repudiation at the theatre of confrontation so that God may ascertain the sincerity of their love, hate, support and sacrifice for the sake of the people God has obliged them to pay allegiance; in struggle, perseverance and enduring suffering and tyranny for His sake; in loving those He loves and detesting those He detests; and in dissociating themselves from those who fight and hate His allies even if they are harmed by doing this. There is no better and stricter test of one’s monotheism and sincerity in this world than through loyalty and repudiation.

Belief in monotheism and having purity of faith cannot be known for certain in peace time or by theorizing, and remain mere claims till the believer enters the field of confrontation where he will be required to exhibit loyalty, repudiation, support, sacrifice and service; and also to bear sufferings, persecution, loss of children and wealth and to face other hazards. It is then that God will ascertain and sort out the truthful.

For this reason God the Exalted has made loyalty and repudiation one of the greatest points of descent for His mercy in man’s life. These points always commensurate with the level of purity of monotheism and faith since loyalty and repudiation in the theatre of confrontation constitute the crystallization of the highest level of monotheism and sincerity.

In all places and at all times God’s mercy descends but there are points of descent for mercy that are distinguished from others by place, time or situation. By time I mean particular days, nights and hours that induce God’s mercy to descend. The night of Destiny and the month of Ramadan are examples. By place I mean places that attract God’s mercy more than others. Such places include the Grand Mosque at Mecca, the Prophet’s mosque, the valley of Arafat and the precincts of Imam Husayn’s mausoleum. By situations, those conditions intended attract God’s mercy, such as conditions of supplicating, experiencing the dire need of God, ecstasy, weeping for fear of God, and meekly entreating Him. These conditions invite God’s mercy more than others.

True loyalty and repudiation are among the best conditions that attract God’s mercy and therefore, one of the best points at which God’s mercy descends. In it prayers are answered, mercy and blessings come down on mankind and hearts are softened. The points at which mercy descends are also man’s stairways to God; his supplication, his glorification of God’s name, his love, his yearning, his sincerity, his monotheism and his entreaty to God all ascend from these points.

Loyalty to the Ahl al-Bayt (‘a) and repudiating their adversaries is among the best points of descent for mercy and the points of man’s ascent towards God Almighty. By way of loyalty and repudiation God the Exalted has taught us the signs of our religion, brought us out of ignorance and delivered us from ruin.

In Ziyarat al-Jami’ah, there is an allusion to some of these points of descent and points of assent:

“Through loyalty to you, God has taught us the signs of our religion and set right what had been corrupted of it. Through loyalty to you the word became complete, the blessing became great and disunity turned into harmony. Through loyalty to you the obedience that is enjoined is accepted. It is through you that God brought us out of humiliation, expelled our worries and hardships and saved us from the precipice of destruction and from the Fire. Whoever befriends you is felicitous, who is hostile to you is ruined, who rejects you is lost, who separates from you is deviated, who is devoted to you succeeds, who takes refuge with you is secure, who affirms you is saved, who resorts to you is guided...”

Now let us ponder over mercy’s points of descent and man’s points of ascent to God in the issue of loyalty and repudiation in Ziyarat Ashura.

Honour And Distinction

The first point of descent is where God honoured us with knowing the Ahl al-Bayt and being loyal to them and repudiating their enemies. Through them He bestows on us this honour and distinction both here and in the hereafter, and what an honour and distinction it is in the sight of God! “I pray to God who honoured your position and honoured me through you.” Surely God has honoured us through Husayn (‘a) and as he honoured Husayn (‘a), he has also honoured us by showing loyalty to him and by denouncing his enemies.

Among those points of descent and ascent is to have distinction with God both here and in the hereafter. This is a rank that every truthful believer and every martyr hopes for.

“O God make me through Husayn (‘a) a noble person before You both here and in the hereafter.”

Avenging The Death Of Husayn (‘A)

This is another honour. We beseech God the Exalted to enable us avenge the death of Husayn (‘a), for his death in Karbala was a continuous transgression perpetrated against monotheism and justice and against the Messenger of God (S). The avenger of this blood is God Himself. He is the first avenger of it and also of the blood spilled by the accursed Abdurrahman ibn Muljam in the prayer niche of the mosque in Kufa. Thus God, the Glorious and Exalted is the first avenger of the blood of Husayn and his father (‘a): “Peace be on you, O avenged one of God, son of His avenged one, [the victim of] the injustice which is not yet avenged.” Then the bearers of the message of monotheism and justice in turn, assume the responsibility to avenge the pure blood that was unjustly shed in Karbala.

To avenge is in fact an extension of the spirit of martyrdom. Martyrdom is sacrifice, mission and avenging. Husayn (‘a), his family and his companions accomplished the first part, leaving for us the second and third, that is, upholding the mission of this blood and avenging it. This duty constitutes the best and most important point in man’s life where mercy descends and from which loyalty and repudiation ascend.

The movement to avenge the death of the Imam (‘a) started almost immediately after his martyrdom and it will continue till the Mahdi of the Family of Muhammad (may God hasten his appearance) takes over. He will surely avenge this sacred blood and, all the unjustly spilt blood of the defenders of monotheism and justice. He shall be the seal of the avengers of this pure blood.

In this ziyarah we pray to God to bestow upon us the ability to avenge the blood of Husayn (‘a) in the company of his descendant, the Supported Guide, the Guided one from the Family of Muhammad (may God expedite his appearance).

“I pray to God who honoured your rank and honoured me through you, to bestow on me [the ability] to avenge your death, in the company of the Supported Imam of the Family of Muhammad (‘a). I also beseech Him to make me attain your laudable station that is with God, and to give me the ability to avenge you, in the company of the Imam of guidance, the victor among you who will declare the truth.”

To Be In The Company Of The Ahl Al-Bayt (‘A) And Attain A Good Standing With Them

The Company Of The Truthful

God the Exalted has commanded us in His Book:

“... and be with the truthful.” (9:119).

And the company of those having loyalty is as God the Exalted says:

“Whoever obeys God and the Apostle-they are with those whom God has blessed including the prophets and the truthful, the witnesses and the righteous, and what excellent companions they are!”(4:69).

This association is in fact an onerous and difficult one. The supporters of the prophets were being threatened by the people, of dispossession of their lands and of being driven away from their families, if they did not disassociate themselves from the prophets.

“They say: ‘Should we follow the guidance with you we will be dispossessed of our territory.”(28:57).

It is for this reason that God Almighty ordered His Prophet and the believers who were with him to be steadfast and patient:

“So be steadfast, just as you have been commanded – [you] and whoever has turned [to God] with you.” (11:112).

“Content yourself with the company of those who pray to God morning and evening, desiring His face, and do not lose sight of them, desiring the glitter of the life of this world.”(18:28).

The association that is based on loyalty and repudiation is one of the most difficult types of association to maintain and, therefore, it requires patience, steadfastness and firmness. So long as one is not sincere in loyalty, so long as one has no firm footing, one cannot continue this hard march along the difficult path. Concerning the companions of the Messenger of God (S), who were true to their word and stood firm in loyalty and repudiation, God Most High says:

“... and those who are with him are hard against the faithless and merciful amongst themselves.”(49:29).

This companionship has two dimensions: loyalty and repudiation: merciful amongst themselves and hard against the faithless. And with regard to the people who were firm in their promise to the prophets, God says:

“How many a prophet there has been with whom a multitude of godly men fought. They did not falter for what befell them in the way of God, neither did they weaken, nor did they abase themselves; and God loves the steadfast.” (3:146).

A companionship based on loyalty entails patience, steadfastness and sincerity in one’s stand. This is honourable but difficult, and loyalty and repudiation prepare one who possesses them for this firm association, by receiving courage, steadfastness and sincerity from God.

Ziyarat Ashura contains these words: “I pray to God to put me in your company both here and in the hereafter, and to establish for me a strong footing with you in this and the next world.” Companionship in this world at times of distress and misery will necessarily be followed by another companionship in the hereafter, ‘in the abode of truthfulness with an Omnipotent King’34, the second being the outcome of the first.

“Our lord, we believe in what you have sent down and we follow the apostle, so write us among the witnesses.”(3:53).

The Laudable Station

In Ziyarat Ashura we read: “And I pray to Him to make me attain the laudable station that you have with God.”

The laudable station is the highest rank which is unparalleled by any other. In it one will deserve praise by everyone without exception and all blame on him will have been dropped completely. This is among the high positions in the hereafter. In Surah Al-Isra’ it has been mentioned among the things God will bestow on those who keep the night vigil:

“And keep vigil for a part of the night as a supererogatory devotion. It may be that your Lord will raise you to a praiseworthy station.” (17:79).

Some exegetes hold that laudable station refers to what we said above35 while others take it to mean the position of intercession as well.36 The laudable station is one of the ranks of the Ahl al-Bayt (‘a) with God. Through loyalty and repudiation man soars up to reach this lofty laudable position which God has awarded them. The believer’s stairway by which he ascends to this position is loyalty, repudiation and the night vigil.

Sincerity To God In Life And Death

The way the Family of Muhammad (‘a) live and die is the best way for anyone to live and die; their way in both issues represents the clearest embodiment of God’s saying:

“Say, ‘Indeed my prayer and my worship, my life and my death are for the sake of God, the Lord of all the worlds.” (6:162).

The Family of Muhammad (‘a) devoted not only their prayer and worship but also their entire life and death to God. In Ziyarat Ashura we supplicate to God, in the environment of loyalty and repudiation, to make our life and our death like the life and death of Muhammad (S) and Family of Muhammad (‘a) as it is the best way to live and die.

The position from which man can ascend to this high rank and devote all his life and death to God is loyalty and repudiation because when man gives all his loyalty to God and all his repudiation for His sake then he has devoted his life and death for God. He who knows the significance of loyalty and repudiation will not be surprised, for if his entire life and death constitute loyalty and repudiation, his life and death will be completely for God. Such a life and a death are like the life and death of Muhammad (S) and the Family of Muhammad (‘a).

Unlimited Reward From God

Loyalty and repudiation are among the points of descent of trial and patience. When a person is sincere and resolute in them without being ceremonial about them, trials and tribulations converge on him and God subjects him to all sorts of afflictions; hardly will he come out of one ordeal before he enters another. God the Glorious whose speech is the most truthful, says in His Perfect Book:

“Do the people suppose that they will be let off because they say, ‘We have faith’, and they will not be tested? (29:2).

Certainly We have tested those who were before them. So God shall surely ascertain those who are truthful and He shall surely ascertain the liars.” (29:3).

“Do you suppose that you shall enter paradise though there has not yet come to you the like of what befell those who went before you? Stress and distress befell them and they were convulsed until the apostle and the faithful who were with him said, ‘When will God’s help come?’ Look! God’s help is indeed near!”(29:214).

“... So that God may ascertain those who have faith, and that he may take witnesses from among you and God does not like the wrongdoers”. (3:140).

“And so that God may purge those who have faith and that he may wipe out the faithless.” (3:141).

“Do you suppose that you will be let off while God has not yet ascertained those of you who wage jihad and those who do not take besides God and His Apostle and the faithful anyone as confidant? God is well aware of what you do”. (9:16).

Trials and tribulations are points where reward and mercy descend in life. The hardest trials on the believers are those misfortunes which affect them, their families and their wealth in the way of God. Tribulations constitute a major point of descent for mercy and of ascent to the position of honour with God. When one is sincere and steadfast with no compromise or engaging in courtesy, no relenting, no weakening and no despair, one will never be free from tribulations.

Trials and tribulation along with their attendant miseries are among the greatest points of descent for mercy, if one remains steadfast and patient. God the Exalted has said:

“We will surely test you with a measure of fear and hunger and loss of wealth, lives and fruits; and give good news to the patient.” (2:155).

“Those, who, when an affliction visits them, say, ‘Indeed, we belong to God, and to Him do we return.” (2:156).

“It is they who receive the blessings of their Lord and [His] mercy, and it is they who are the [rightly] guided.” (2:157).

God has indeed tested us with this test twice: misfortunes have visited us because of the Ahl al-Bayt (‘a) and we have also endured the distress of what has befallen them. Indeed we have borne, both concerning them and because of them, untold trials and sufferings: we have seen adversities because of them and tasted calamities on account of them. We praise God for both. We hope that God will reward us for our adversities, both with regard to the tribulations of the Ahl al-Bayt (‘a) and for their sake, with the best of what He rewards the distressed. In Ziyarat Ashura we read:

“I supplicate God, for the sake of your honour and for the sake of your position with Him, to give me, in view of the calamity I endure on account of your tribulations, the best reward He gives to a distressed person on account of his distress... What a great calamity it is and what a great loss for Islam!”

It may be that God will reward us for of these calamities without reckoning.

“Indeed the patient will be paid in full their reward without any reckoning” (39:10).

There is no limit to the reward and recompense that come from God for patience.

Calamities are among the greatest points of descent for mercy and ascent towards honour and proximity to God. During adversities man’s prayers are granted and mercy descends on him from God more than at any other times. Because of this we find that in Ziyarat Ashura the supplication is repeated every time the tragedy of Husayn (‘a) and our distress on that account is made: “A calamity... What a great calamity it is and what a great loss for Islam and for all the heavens and the earth! O God, place me among those on whom your blessings and mercy descend.”

God the Exalted says:

“Those, who, when an affliction visits them, say, ‘Indeed, we belong to God, and to Him do we return.” (2:156).

“It is they who receive the blessings of their Lord and [His] mercy, and it is they who are the [rightly] guided.” (2:157).

Blessing (as-salat) from God refers to the mercy that descends from Him, while invoking blessings (as-salat) by the servants means requesting for God’s mercy. The kind of mercy that God showers on such occasions is a special one; it pertains only to His patient and righteous servants.

God’s mercy is of two kinds: general and special. The former is the one which covers all creation: man, animal, plant and lifeless objects.

“My mercy embraces all things.” (7:156).

“Our Lord! You encompass all things in mercy and knowledge.” (40:7).

This is the general mercy, which is the kind that is intended by the word al-Rahman. Special mercy is that which applies to believers exclusively, where God says: “-it is they who expect God’s mercy and God is All-forgiving, All-merciful” and “...God has graced those, who wage jihad over those who sit back, with a great reward: ranks, forgiveness and mercy, and God is All-forgiving, All-merciful.” This kind of mercy is the one which is intended by the word al-Rahim and it extends only to the faithful servants of God. The blessing alluded to in this verse refers to the special kind of mercy. In the words of the Ahl al-Bayt (‘a) a distinction is made between these two kinds of mercy: as al-Rahman and al-Rahim.

Imam al-Sadiq (‘a) is reported to have said: “Al-Rahman is a specific name given to a general quality and al-Rahim is general name given to a specific quality.” Our present discussion will not allow for further exposition of this point.

Stairways For Getting Proximity To God

For gaining nearness to God, various stairways, paths and means are open to the people, but the best of them is loyalty and repudiation. Among all these paths and stairways which raise man towards God, none requires as much effort, the endurance of sufferings and oppression, sincerity and spending in the way of God as do loyalty and repudiation. They are, therefore, the best means of man’s ascension to God; with them man soars towards him and attains His pleasure.

Attaining proximity to God should be the end for every move, every word and every stand in man’s life. We consider being loyal to the Ahl al-Bayt (‘a) and repudiating their enemies an effective means for gaining nearness to God, therefore, we seek nearness to the Sublime One by doing these two things.

- 1. Al-Yafi'i's Mir'at al-Jinan 1/132.

- 2. Sayyid Abdulrazzaq al-Muqarram's Maqtal al-Husayn (‘a), 238.

- 3. Muthir al-Ahzan, 56.

- 4. Tarikh al-Tabari, 6/341.

- 5. Tarikh al-Tabari, 6/223.

- 6. Tarikh al-Tabari, 6/243.

- 7. See Qur'an 18:32-44.

- 8. Bihar al-Anwar, 27/63.

- 9. Bihar al-Anwar, 27/58.

- 10. Bihar al-Anwar, 68/ 332.

- 11. Bihar al-Anwar, 23/105.

- 12. Tafsir al-Burhan, 1/328.

- 13. Nahj al-Balaghah, 2/ 207.

- 14. Nahj al-Balaghah 3/191

- 15. Al-Hijrat wa al-Wila’ (by the author), 164 – 167.

- 16. Bihar al-Anwar, 10/358.

- 17. There is no need to shift the intended meaning of al-wali since the verbal noun al-wilayah is univocal. Even if we consider it a homonym in its al-wali form [which, therefore, carries various meanings],the subsequent verses we cite adequately establish the concept of unity of loyalty.

- 18. Al-Jurjani’s Dala’il al-I’jaz, 260.

- 19. Ibid, 268.

- 20. The Author's Al-Wailayah wa al-Bara'ah, 93-95.

- 21. Bihar al-Anwar, 24/54.

- 22. Al-Saduq's Al-Amali, 8.

- 23. Al-Saduq's Al-Amali, 345.

- 24. Al-Saduq’s Al-Amali, 360.

- 25. Tuhaf al-Uqul, 479.

- 26. Al-Mahasin, 263.

- 27. Usul al-Kafi 2/125.

- 28. Usul al-Kafi 2/125.

- 29. Usul al-Kafi, 2/126.

- 30. As appears in some copies of Ziyarat al-Jami’ah.

- 31. Bihar al-Anwar, 278/51, Hadith no 1.

- 32. Bihar al-Anwar, 27/58.

- 33. Bihar al-Anwar 27/64.

- 34. See Qur’an,54:55.

- 35. Tafsir al-Mizan 13/176.

- 36. Ibid.

Imam Husayn (‘a) ’S Portrayal of Islamic Society During Umayyad Rule

Imam Husayn (‘a) delivered this speech in Karbala:

“The world has changed beyond recognition: its goodness has receded and nothing remains of it except for drops, like the drops of water that remain in a jar [when it is emptied of its contents] and a despicable sustenance like unwholesome pasture. Don’t you see that truth is not acted upon and falsehood is not refrained from? Let the believer earnestly desire meeting God, for I do not consider death to be anything but bliss and living with the oppressors anything but humiliation.”

Sayyid Ibn Tawus has recorded this speech of Husayn in Al-Luhuf, adding that he delivered it in Karbala. It is also reported by Ibn Abd Rabbih in Al-Iqd al-Farid (2/312), Abu Nu’aym al-Isfahani in Hilyat al-Awliya (3/39), and Ibn Asakir (4/333), all indicating that Husayn (‘a) gave it in Karbala, as did Sayyid ibn Tawus in Al-Luhuf. Al-Tabari has also related it in Al-Tarikh (6/229) and said that the Imam (‘a) spoke those words along the way to Karbala at Dhu Husum. In whichever place Husayn (‘a) might have said those words, they portray for us an exact picture of the period Imam Husayn lived and the misfortunes and catastrophes that befell the Muslims in it. This speech comprises three points that deserve reflection:

1- The condition of the world at that time (the social, political and spiritual situation).

2- The people’s disregard of truth and inclination towards falsehood.

3- Need for aversion towards the world and desire to meet God.

1. The Condition Of The World At That Time

Change takes place in two ways: a thing may change without losing its fundamental features or it may change beyond recognition. The change which the people and society underwent during the Umayyad affliction was of the second type, change beyond recognition from what it was during the time of the Messenger of God (S). The Muslims reverted to pre-Islamic (jahiliyah) customs and values although they did not renege on Islam. However pre-Islamic customs, values and ideas returned, and the Umayyads regained, in the new dispensation, the positions of influence which they occupied during the pre-Islamic period, based on the same values and concepts.

This awful deviation took place within only half a century after the demise of the Messenger of God (S). The palaces of the Umayyads and their governors bore no resemblance to what was prescribed in God’s Book or the Sunnah of the Messenger of God (S), as demonstrated in his public and private life style. What is prescribed in the Book of God and communicated to us by His Messenger (S) and what also appeared in his way of conduct differs greatly from what we know of the luxury, dissipation and aggression of Umayyad palaces.

Anyone who considers the Book and the Sunnah to be the standards for decent life will no doubt condemn the attitude of the Umayyads and find it impossible to reconcile the two. This is what the Martyr Grandson [of the Prophet (S)] was telling us about when he said: “The world has changed beyond recognition.”

Then he added: “... and its goodness has receded”, which is the situation when a civilization experiences decline. When nations are on the ascent they uphold goodness which springs from them as water springs from the earth. This is the sign of a sound innate nature, intellect and conscience of the nation; it is the situation that is characterized by cultural, intellectual and human progress. The drying-up of this goodness in innate nature is an indication of the decline of civilization. There exists a constant relation between upholding goodness and cultural advancement and also between disregard for goodness and cultural decline. Cultural progress in human life invariably stems from the overflowing of goodness from man’s innate nature and all cultural decline results from its drying up.

To explain this point further, when human nature is unimpaired, qualities flow from it such as mercy, faith, sincerity, righteousness, affection, piety, decency, loyalty, gratitude, chastity, self-esteem, truthfulness, trustworthiness, knowledge and justice. The Qur’anic view is that these qualities constitute the normal situation in man’s life and the Qur’an calls it al-ma’ruf (the known thing) because man’s innate nature is acquainted with it.

On the other hand sound human nature disowns and avoids heresy, obstinacy, ingratitude, greed, perfidy, lying, oppression, dissipation, cowardice, despair, indecision and betrayal. The Qur’an calls them abominable deeds because human nature finds them reprehensible.

When man’s nature becomes impaired he no longer finds goodness attractive nor is disgusted by what is abominable, whereas a person with sound senses and taste is attracted towards wholesome things and disgusted by repulsive ones. When one is bereft of his sound innate nature and conscience, he not only loses the power to distinguish between the good and the bad, but abominable things really attract him and good ones repel him.

The soul and the innate nature seem to have undergone mutation. If one loses his untainted nature he must have already lost his conscience, for conscience is the sentinel that watches over nature. Conscience continues to act as the faithful guard of nature until all its power of resistance is exhausted.

Before we round off this discussion we must add this point from the Imam’s speech: Corruption of the nature and conscience of people does not occur involuntarily, although once it occurs the consequences are beyond man’s will power. However, God the Exalted has given man control over his conscience and innate nature and the two will only be corrupted through the abuse of his choice and volition. Whatever the case may be with regard to Imam Husayn’s (‘a) brief statement that described the condition of the nation, the question we should ask is what truly befell the Muslims?

There is a relationship between the descending of God’s mercy on man and the flow or decline of goodness from his soul. God’s mercy flows unceasingly and is never cut off from man and creation even for a moment. However, this descending mercy has particular places of landing such as unimpaired souls and hearts, for they are receptacles of God’s mercy.

When souls and hearts become diseased and their goodness dwindles, their share of divine mercy and blessing decreases or is even stopped completely. God’s mercy is not niggardly, however, it is the souls and hearts that turn their backs on it when goodness in them recedes. God Most High says:

“Indeed God does not change a people’s lot unless they change what is in their souls” (13:11).

‘And nothing remains of it except for drops like the drops of water (subaba) that remain in a jar.’

Subabat al-ina’ means the drops of water which usually remain after the water in a container is poured out. These drops cannot quench the thirst of man or animal. Similarly, when goodness in man’s innate nature dries up except for drops like the drops remaining in a jar-nothing good can be expected from such a person.

Man’s innate nature is in fact the spring from which all goodness flows, so when this goodness dries its decay leads to the depravity of man and society. I have said before that when fairness and goodness emanate from innate nature God’s mercy and blessings descend on it and when it lacks them this descending mercy of God does not land there.

‘And a despicable sustenance like unwholesome pasture.’

Sustenance is not only for the body; there is sustenance for the heart, the mind and the soul as well. Just as bodies die when they lack what will sustain them, hearts, minds and souls also die when they lack their sustenance. The death of hearts, minds and consciences is more dangerous than bodily death. In his speech, the Imam is saying: What was left for the people during that time of trial by way of sustenance for their hearts, souls and minds was too meagre to save man from corruption, like unwholesome pasture, which, as a result of plant epidemic, becomes scorched and yellow with a few patches of green here and there.

Such was the condition of society when it was gripped by this tribulation [i.e. the Umayyad scourge], because all goodness that was in the people’s souls had been swept away and nothing was left of it except the drops that remain in a water container after its contents have been poured out, drops that cannot quench one’s thirst.

2. The Peoples Disregard For Truth And Their Inclination Towards Falsehood

The Imam (‘a) says: “Do you not see that the truth is not acted upon and falsehood is not refrained from?”

This is the second part of the Imam’s address which alludes to the sign of the dwindling of innate nature and weakening of the conscience. Don’t you see that the right thing is not being done? Had innate nature been flowing in their souls, the people would not have ceased to act on the truth, but when man’s nature becomes corrupted he loses the motive to act upon the truth. Conversely, a sound nature and conscience reject falsehood and consider it repulsive, just as normal feelings and tastes loath offensive food and drink. When one’s feelings become dysfunctional he no longer considers loathsome what normal people do.

Likewise, when one’s conscience and innate nature are sound and unimpaired he deems the truth to be truth and falsehood to be falsehood, acts on the former and refrains, and also prevents others, from the latter. But when his innate nature and conscience are corrupted he will not have the motive for working with the truth nor a deterrent from accepting falsehood.

The foregoing is a precise picture of the misfortune that struck the people in the wake of this Umayyad-caused tribulation. The Imam (‘a) painted this picture on the day of Ashura or in Dhu Husum.

3. Need For Aversion To The World And Desire To Meet God

The Imam (‘a) said “Let the believer desire to meet God, for I do not consider death to be anything but bliss, and living with oppressors anything but humiliation.”

This statement in the Imam’s speech contains two feelings:

(i) The world no longer had anything that the believer could desire; wares and pleasures could not attract or make him incline towards them. This feeling urges asceticism and aversion towards worldly pleasures.

(ii) A yearning to meet God is most pleasing thing to the believer. This is clearly stated by Husayn (‘a) in the above address. Death is a way to meet God and through it the veils over the believers’ hearts are removed, so that they may witness the grandeur and beauty of God which they could not witness in worldly life, and in this resides the believer’s bliss and joy in the hereafter. How can the joys and blessings of paradise be compared with the joy of meeting God in the hereafter?

Thus, to the believer, death constitutes nothing but bliss. There is nothing in the life of this world that may bind him to it except the company of the righteous and the best of people, or righteous deeds such as maintaining good, praying, glorifying God, upholding justice, trustworthiness, truth, and being prepared for sacrifice, martyrdom,. The believer may be tied to the world but when it is bereft of these values, the righteous become scarce and the faithful encounter nothing in this world except deception, rivalry, oppression, lies and perfidy which they become weary of and detest. They feel that the world is a prison.

The Four Unchangeable Aspects of Imam Husayn (‘a) ’S Uprising

From Zurarah, from Abu Ja’far al-Baqir (‘a) who said: “Husayn ibn Ali wrote from Mecca to Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah: In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate. From Husayn ibn Ali to Muhammad ibn Ali and the Hashimites who are with him. [Know that] anyone who joins me will be martyred and anyone who does not join me will not attain victory. Peace.”1

This brief letter comprises four fundamental issues that could be regarded as constants in the uprising of Imam Husayn (‘a). The four issues are:

1- Inevitability of getting martyred for anyone who accompanied Husayn (‘a) “Anyone who joins me will be martyred”

2- Certainty of victory for anyone who would be present in Karbala together with Husayn (‘a). This certainty is derived from the converse of these words: “Anyone who does not join [me] will not be victorious, which clearly implies that whoever joins Husayn (‘a) in this battle, would be victorious, keeping aside the question of the validity of the converse of the statement.

3- Relationship between victory and martyrdom. It was through martyrdom that those who went with Husayn (‘a) would attain victory.

4- This victory would never be repeated again “... and anyone who does not join me will not attain [this] victory.”

We shall talk about these four issues, God willing.

1. Inevitability Of Martyrdom

Among the salient features of Imam Husayn’s (‘a) uprising was the invitation to martyrdom and defying death, all for the sake of God. Since the time he left Mecca for Iraq until the day of Ashura, the Imam did not stop repeating to anyone who met or joined him that his path and theirs was that of martyrdom. Even if one entertains some doubts with regard to some aspects of this singular uprising one can never doubt that Husayn was in fact informing the people that he would die on his journey to Iraq. He also declared that the inevitable destination of those who were together with him was martyrdom. Martyrdom would not miss anyone who went with him.

A group of people, whom Husayn (‘a) did not doubt concerning their sincerity or understanding of the political condition of Iraq, warned him not to go there for death would be his end and that of his companions and family if he went. Husayn prayed for them for their sincere advice but he did not give up his resolve. We do not doubt the sincerity of those people, nor that Husayn (‘a) was suspecting sincerity in their advice, nor that the situation in Iraq was indeed what they expected. We also believe that the fickleness and perfidiousness of the Iraqis which they foresaw was not hidden from Husayn (‘a), but he was seeing what they saw not and knew what they knew not.

Husayn (‘a) was aware that the Umayyad-engendered state of tribulation which challenged the religion and the nation could not be rooted out except by being killed together with his family and companions. He knew this fact clearly and never doubted it. This is what was hidden to those people who were warning Husayn (‘a) not to be deceived by the letters the Iraqis wrote to invite him. However, there was no way he could have informed them what he knew.

The last time Husayn (‘a) disclosed to his family and companions that their end would be martyrdom was on the night before the 10th of Muharram. He gathered his companions and gave a speech in which he relieved them of their duty of allegiance to him. He said: “Leave me with these people, they are only after me. Should they get hold of me and be able to kill me, they will not pursue you.”2

When he became confident that they had resolved to face martyrdom together with him he said to them: “You will be killed tomorrow and not a single man among you will escape.” Then they replied: “Praise be to God who blessed us with the honour of being killed along with you”3 Anyone who, without prejudice, studies Husayn’s conduct as he traveled from Medina to Karbala will have no doubt that he did not make that journey with an eye on power and authority, and that he was not expecting anything for himself and for his supporters but death and nothing but captivity for his womenfolk and children.

Besides his brother, Muhammad ibn Hanafiyya, the four men, Abdullah ibn Ja’far, Abdullah ibn Abbas, Abdullah ibn Umar and Abdullah ibn al-Zubayr who advised Husayn to avoid Iraq were not better informed than him about the situation of Iraq and its people during that period.

As I said before, this is the most prominent feature of Ashura, and to suppress this feature is tantamount to strip it of its great historical value. This is the first inevitable issue and Imam Husayn (‘a) had stated it in his letter to his brother Muhammad in these words: “Anyone who joins me will be martyred.”

2. Certainty Of Victory

This is the second unchangeable aspect of the uprising led by Husayn (‘a) which he declared with the same decisiveness with which he declared the first. It is the converse of the second statement “and anyone who does not join me will not attain victory.” The direct meaning of this statement is obvious and the converse is: anyone who joins him attains victory, which is no less obvious than the direct meaning.

The Imam (‘a) declared this fact before he left al-Hijaz for Iraq, and it is very rare for a leader to firmly assert, even before the battle starts, that he would be victorious, except for a rash statement or where it is intended to boost the morale of the fighters. But certainly, Husayn (‘a) was not the type to make rash promises, and he was not intending to boost the people’s morale, in view of the known outcome of the battle.

In his movement, the Imam (‘a) was openly inviting the people to their death which was obviously incompatible with vain propaganda or a psychological boost for the fighters both in the theatre of battle and during preparations for it. So what was the sure guarantee which the Imam had for this matter? What did victory mean in the Imam’s political dictionary?

By victory, the Imam did not mean a military victory on the battlefield and it was impossible that he intended what military leaders seek in wars. We do not doubt this fact, nor do we consider his statement to have been simply arbitrary; the Imam was too well informed of the political and psychological state of the people in Iraq to have expected a military victory or to have been deceived by the people.

The Imam had seen that the Umayyads had tried to revive, as part of Islam, the jahiliyyah (pre-Islamic) system along with its ideas and concepts. Even the political and social positions which Islam had liberated from jahiliyyah influence had been re-incorporated into their sphere of influence. The Umayyad clan had now occupied the positions of power and influence, and the wealth and the propaganda machinery of the new Islamic society was in their hands exactly as their ancestors had occupied these positions in the small pre-Islamic Meccan society.

All this happened without any fundamental change having taken place in their jahiliyyah stands and concepts. The only difference was that their former positions were limited and weak and their society was isolated in the heart of the desert. But now, thanks to Islam, their new positions made them control a wide part of the world with large regions that were once ruled by the Persian and Byzantine empires.

These positions, with all the influence they commanded had fallen into the hands of the Umayyads without any real change having taken place in their thoughts and positions. These were the bitter facts that were expressed in Imam Husayn’s outpourings on the day of Ashura before the battle: “You have drawn on us the swords which we placed in your right hands and poked against us the fire which we kindled [in the first place] against our enemy and yours. Then you became your enemies’ support against [those who are supposed to be] your friends, without their upholding neither any justice nor you having any hope in them.”4

Syria was then the prime political centre of the inhabited world, exercising its influence over large portions and feared worldwide. This was the power and influence which Islam created for the Arabs who, hitherto, had no experience of extensive power.

Islam produced this great power in order to establish monotheism and justice, and to bring an end to the arrogant enemies of humanity. Unfortunately, this power fell into the hands of the leaders of Arab jahiliyyah after Islam had liberated it from them and from other leaders of world unbelief. Thus, the Umayyads took back those important positions without any fundamental change in their thought, their stand, their luxurious living and love for power, their hostility, and arrogance towards the people.

Husayn (‘a) described this power which was created by Islam and wielded by the Arabs as ‘the sword’, and with much grief lamented: ‘The Messenger of God (S) placed this power in your hands so that you may fight our and your enemies (i.e. the leaders of polytheism) but the Umayyads took hold of the reins of power through counter revolution (apostasy) and the people paid allegiance to them on their terms and inclined in favour of the reactionary forces.

They had drawn their swords on the Family of Muhammad (‘a) the leaders of monotheism, inspite of the fact that the Umayyad had not altered their jahiliyyah positions on behaviour, morality and civilization as a whole. The most dangerous of all was that they occupied that important position in Islamic society based on a supposed Islamic legal point of view, i.e. as successors to the Messenger of God (S).

Husayn (‘a) confronted the real catastrophe that befell this religion and this nation. His intention at that critical juncture was to nullify the legality of Umayyad government, and this was his greatest achievement in this uprising. This was a complete success because, although the Umayyad dynasty continued for a long time after Husayn, they could not regain, after the battle of Al-Taff, their religious legitimacy as successors of the Messenger of God and Commander of the faithful (‘a) even though they addressed themselves by these titles.

The general Muslim public henceforth considered them mere temporal rulers who came to the helm by force, and no longer respected them as they respected the caliphs who preceded them. They were no longer regarded as religious authorities nor did the position of caliph retain its former sanctity.

The second message of Husayn’s uprising was the revival of the spirit of jihad, responsibility and resistance in the people. The Umayyads had stripped the people, among other things, of the power of will so that they simply toed the line of the family of Umayyah.

What did the Umayyads do during that sterile period when Mu’awiya ibn Abi Sufyan and his son Yazid ruled, that the head of Husayn, son of the daughter of the Messenger of God was brought in a public gathering before Ubaydullah ibn Ziyad in his palace and he poked his lips with a staff, and no one opposed him except Zayd ibn Arqam (may God have mercy on him) ?

Then Ubaydullah ibn Ziyad assembled the people in the mosque of Kufa and abused and repudiated Ali and his son Husayn (‘a), and none among those present disapproved of it except Abdullah ibn ‘Afif (may God have mercy and be pleased with him) who, enraged by that, reviled Ibn Ziyad on his face, thereby annoying and humiliating him.5 History has not mentioned anyone who opposed Ibn Ziyad except those two people.

The terror that was unleashed during the reign of Mu’awiya and his son Yazid had dispossessed the people of the power to take a stand and to confront the oppressors, and no hope for good remains in a nation that slips into this level of impotence.

The second message of Imam Husayn (‘a) ’s uprising was to give Muslim conscience a violent jolt so that it may revert to its prior power and position of leadership and control over the world which God Most High wanted for it. What Husayn (‘a) sought by this uprising would not have been achieved except by shedding much blood that was very dear, in an unparalleled tragic event in which he would sacrifice himself, his family members and his companions.

This is what Husayn (‘a) requested and it is what he meant by victory. Husayn (‘a) never intended victory in the military sense, a victory military leaders seek. This would be the last thing he would seek because he knew his times and the prevailing circumstances more than the people who were advising him against going out for the war and warning him that the people would desert him if he went. Any observer of Husayn (‘a)’s conduct on his journey between Medina and Karbala will not doubt that he was not after that kind of victory.

The victory which the Imam implied in his letter to Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah and the Hashimites who were with him was the other type which we discussed above. The Imam was sure of victory in this journey and he believed that anyone who accompanied him would surely attain that victory and, he who stayed back was certain to miss it. What was the guarantee which made him so sure of victory?

The guarantee was God’s promise of support and victory to anyone who helped Him and God the Exalted does not go back on His word. He says:

“If you help God he will help you and make your feet steady.” (47:7).

“Do not weaken or grieve: you shall have the upper hand, should you be faithful.” (3:139).

“Indeed we shall help Our apostles and those who have faith in the life of the world...” (40:51).

“God will surely help those who help Him. Indeed God is All-strong, All-mighty.” (22:40).

The movement which Husayn (‘a) was about to embark on met all the conditions which God required of His servants before He granted them success. These conditions were: faith, sincerity, piety and striving (jihad) in God’s way.

Husayn (‘a) did not entertain a moment’s doubt that God Almighty would support him in his movement and that victory would be his. This is the second certainty of his movement. We have inferred this inevitability from the converse of his words which appeared in the letter: ‘and anyone who does not join us will not attain victory!’

3. Relationship Between Victory And Martyrdom

This is the third issue that Husayn’s letter dealt with, which can be inferred from the first and the second issues.

In the first, the Imam informed us that whoever accompanied him to Iraq would be martyred and in the second he declared that only those who would go with him would attain victory. From these two statements it can be inferred that martyrdom was the only way to attain victory. This is not easy to comprehend unless we explain victory the way we did while discussing the second issue. Then the relationship between victory and martyrdom will become clear.

This victory could not take place except by liberating people’s minds and souls from subjugation to the Umayyads and freeing Islam from the process of distortion which was being carried out in their palaces in the name of Islam, and exploiting the position of Successor to the Messenger of God (S). Such a victory could not be achieved unless this band of people who accompanied Husayn (‘a) liberated the peoples’ conscience, mind and heart from the grip of the Umayyads, annulled the legitimacy of their palace in Syria, and freed Islam from Umayyad control.

This project would not come to light except by offering valuable blood in order to give the people’s conscience a strong jolt which would bring them back to their senses and the position God wanted them to take. This is what the Imam declared in the letter which he wrote to Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah.

4. This Victory Will Not Be Repeated In History

This is the fourth thing that would surely happen as declared by Husayn (‘a): “And anyone who does not join me will not attain victory.” This statement explicitly supports our contention that the victory which God caused to happen at the hands of Husayn (‘a) and his helpers would not be repeated again in history.

There are two types of historical events: Those that repeat themselves such as war, peace, famine, weakness, strength, defeat and victory, and those that occur once. Islam has witnessed many bitter reverses, difficult times and adversity in its history but the crises of the battles of Badr and the Confederates will not be repeated. In those two cases the whole of Islam was gathered in a single spot and if unbelief had defeated Islam on those two occasions nothing would have remained of this religion. It is for this reason that the Messenger of God (S) accorded great value to Ali’s (‘a) stroke on the day of the confederates. Had it not been for Ali’s stroke on that day, had it not been for the defeat of the Confederates, nothing would have remained for Islam on the face of the earth. On the day of Badr, the Messenger of God (S) stood up in front of the Quraish multitudes beseeching God for succour: “O God, if you want not to be worshipped then You shall not be worshipped.”6

This statement precisely describes that critical condition which the whole of Islam was going through in the valley of Badr, not far from Medina. Thereafter, Islam went through many misfortunes and difficult situations such as when the Mongols invaded and destroyed Baghdad, the Abbasid capital, and wreaked havoc in the land. However, all these tribulations came to pass after Islam had come out of the straits of the battles of Badr, the Confederates and Al-Taff.

Events that do not repeat themselves through history are of two kinds: victories after which there is no defeat and defeats after which there is no victory. The victory of Ashura was a victory with no defeat after it... and this is what Husayn (‘a) stated in his letter which we are discussing. So what is that victory after which there will never be a fall? How can this be said when several drawback, defeats and tribulations visited the Muslims, and after them great conquests and successes came their way?

The answer is that these defeats and reverses affected Islam and the Muslims after Islam had emerged safely from straits and historical crises and spread all over the world. As such, those later events did not constitute a danger to the existence of Islam even though they brought widespread losses and great catastrophes like what happened during the Mongol invasion of Muslim lands. Badr and the Confederates were a different case altogether; they were unlike any other crises that the Muslims suffered.

The Umayyad-engendered tribulation was similar to those two. The Umayyads had extended their control over everything including the positions of power and influence in Islamic society. They achieved this through political legitimacy in the name of Successor to the Messenger of God (S). It was from this office that the people received the religious edicts regarding what is permissible and what is not, therefore, by relying on this very position, the Umayyads embarked on destroying the religion. If things had gone their way nothing would have remained of Islam except its name, as Husayn (‘a) said to the governor of Medina when he invited him to pay allegiance to Yazid ibn Mu’awiya: “Then farewell to Islam if the Muslims are put to test through a ruler like Yazid.”7

On the day of Ashura, Husayn (‘a) was able to annul the legitimacy of the caliphates of the Umayyads and the Abbasids. Thereafter, their palaces, dissipation, luxury, oppression and aggression no longer constituted any danger to Islam, however destructive its effect was on Islamic society. The Muslims no longer considered the position of caliphate as hallowed and legitimate; henceforth, they deemed them no better than other kings and rulers who indulge in oppression and excess and injustice.

The Ummayds continued to rule and political leadership passed from them to the Abbasids, but the people did not consider them the authority on religious law as they considered the earlier caliphs who ruled after the Messenger of God (S).

Therefore, the battle at Karbala on the day of Ashura was a special victory which God exclusively granted to Husayn (‘a), his Hashimite kinsmen and companions who accompanied him. They attained this victory by being killed—all of them.

- 1. Bihar al-Anwar, 45/87, Basa’ir al-Darajat, 481, Al-Luhuf, 28, Ibn Shahr Ashub’s Al-Manaqib 4/76, Mathir al-Ahzan, 39.

- 2. Ibn al-A’tham’s Al-Futuh, 5/105; Al-Tabari, 3/315; Al-Kamil, 2/559.

- 3. . Al-Kharaij wa al-Jara’ih, 2/847, Bihar al-Anwar, 44/298.

- 4. Al-Tabaraisi’s Al-Ihtijaj, 2/24; Ibn Shahr Ashub’s Manaqib Al Abi Talib, 3/257; Bihar al-Anwar, 45/83; Ibn Abi al-Fath al-Arbili’s Kashf al-Ghummah, 2/228.

- 5. Ibn Nama’ al-Hilli’s Muthir al-Ahzan, 72; Bihar al-Anwar, 45/119, Sheikh Abdulah al-Bahrani’s Al-Awalim, 386; Sayyid Muhsin al-Amin’s Lawa’ij al-Ashjan, 211.

- 6. Tafsir al-Mizan 12/238.

- 7. Muthir al-Ahzan 15; Bihar al-Anwar, 44/326; Al-Awalim, 175, Lawa’ij al-Ashjan, 27.

Loyalty and Repudiation on the Day of Ashura

Conflict Of Loyalty

The fight for people’s loyalty is not a new thing in human life, and there are two contending poles in this conflict: the divine pole and its extensions in man’s life, and the pole of taghut which employs blind force, propaganda and allurement in the cultural domain. Every taghut has a specific centre towards which people’s loyalty is attracted but all such centres oppose the divine focus. Ziyarat Warith, one of the ziyarahs of Imam Husayn (‘a), aims at making one’s loyalty with the divine pole more profound and separating one from all the artificial poles created by taghut.

Monotheism And Polytheism In Loyalty

Loyalty is a part of the concept of monotheism, a concept that rejects polytheism: “There is no god besides Allah”. Unity of loyalty is the most important aspect of monotheism.

Man cannot keep another loyalty together with loyalty to God Almighty, whatever loyalty that might be. Any loyalty other than that of God is sure to be in opposition to it unless it is under the extension of His loyalty. Most instances of polytheism which the prophets used to fight, as related in the Qur’an, pertain to polytheism of loyalty and not polytheism with regard to the Creator. A majority of polytheists divide their loyalty between God and other-than-God, thus sharing their loyalty and obedience with taghut.

Hence, when taghut tries to establish its guardianship and authority over man's life, it is in fact declaring war on God, the Glorious and the Exalted, because it trespasses God's authority, bounds and guardianship over mankind. Most of the conflicts between monotheism and polytheism during the time of the prophets (‘a) were on this very issue.

The prophets (‘a) were working to unite the centre of loyalty in the life of mankind by inviting them to be loyal to God and obey Him and by urging them to reject any loyalty other than that of Almighty God.

Ferociousness Of The Conflict Of Loyalties

The conflict of loyalties is among the most ferocious types of conflict in man's history. It is unlike political conflict where the bone of contention centers on issues such as land. Even if we call the conflict on loyalties a political one it must be of a special kind unlike the political battles that the people are accustomed to. Here the battle is fought on one thing and that is the right to leadership and authority over man.

The right to authority is neither divisible nor plural. It is either for God alone without any associate or rival, which is monotheism, or for other-than-God, wholly or partially, which is unbelief or polytheism. Based on this issue mankind is divided into two groups: one believes in the unity of God with regard to loyalty and obedience and does not accept any associate for God in matters of loyalty and authority. The other subscribes to and obeys other centres of loyalty, which could be taghut, country or personal desires. The conflict between these two groups of people is the greatest of all conflicts and constitutes the most important events in man's history on earth.

The Theatre Of Conflict Entails A Stand And Rejects Onlookers

Although one can be indifferent towards many issues, one cannot be a mere onlooker with regard to the question of loyalty because it is a fundamental issue of human existence which requires of man a clear and specific stand, whatever this may entail by way of sacrifice. The question of loyalty is not akin to bargaining or sweet talk, and a person whose loyalty is not for God would be simply tossed about by personal desires, political and social changes.

It is loyalty to God that defines a man’s personality and course of action and gives him his real worth, which is the position of vicegerency to God on earth. It also determines his stand, movement, course and goal. One is not allowed to treat a question as important as this with indifference and negligence; one must be firm and serious about it!

Elements And Instance Of Loyalty

Loyalty to God is crystallized by having a relationship with Him through the following ways:

1. Obedience And Submission

God Most High says:

"All the response of the faithful when they are summoned to God and His Apostle that He may judge between them is to say, 'We hear and obey.' It is they who are felicitous." (24:51).

Just as loyalty to God requires obedience and submission to Him and His Apostle (S), it requires disobedience to other-than-God as well. God says:

"So be wary of God and obey me, and do not obey the dictates of the profligate."(26:150-151).

2. Love And Sincerity To God The Glorious

God says:

" Say, 'If your fathers, your sons, your brethren, your spouses and your kinsfolk, the possessions that you have acquired, the business you fear may suffer and dwellings you are fond of are dearer to you than God and His Apostle, and, to waging jihad in His way, then wait until God issues His edict, and God does not guide the transgressing lot." (9:24).

"Among the people are those who set up peers besides God, loving them as if loving God- but the faithful have a more ardent love for God..." (2:165).

3. Helping God, His Messenger (S) And The Believers

"O, you who have faith! If you help God He will help you and make your feet steady." (47:7).

"God will surely help those who help Him. Indeed God is All-strong, All-mighty." (22:40).

"... and those who gave them shelter and help- they are guardians of one another..." (8:72).

"... and those who gave them shelter and help, it is they who are truly faithful." (8:74).

"... Those who believe in him, honour him and help him, and follow the light that has been sent down with him, they are the felicitous." (7:157).

Direction In Loyalty

With this comprehensive meaning, loyalty attracts all the abilities, capacities, talents and inclinations of man toward a single pole and also directs all his attention, his actions and his desires to it. Consequently, it confers on this centre complete control over human existence, thereby saving man from a divided personality and sense of loss that affects many people.

The first thing unity of loyalty does to man is to draw all aspects of his inner and outer being towards one point.

Secondly, it directs this harmonious sum of capabilities, inclinations, desires and actions toward a single direction, which is the straight path that God the Exalted enjoins us to follow. When this happens, man changes from a weak being beset by anxiety, confused thoughts and capabilities, into a strong entity that moves along the straight path. He becomes free from weakness and indecision, uncertainty and doubt with regard to the direction of his movement, and is not torn between different motives and desires.

Thirdly, it liberates man from all other centres of focus and motives, such as the ego, wealth, worldly possessions, desires and taghut that threaten to contain his efforts, actions and all aspects of his life. Fourthly, it bestows on him total harmony between the limbs and the heart, the manifest and the hidden, the outward and the inward. Loyalty exercises total control over man's limbs, his actions and his movement, and gives him mental harmony coupled with obedience, attention, love and desire to serve God.

Among the most important features of this condition of attention, absorption and concentration on the focus is that it does not happen through coercion but stems from man's total psychological harmony and irresistible attraction towards this focus. One's limbs can be subjected to compulsion and pressure but sympathies, wishes, affection and hate cannot be made to yield to the coercion of external motives.

Because of this fact, love of God, love for His sake and hate for His sake are among the most important elements and essential qualities of loyalty and repudiation, and this is what makes one's obedience and submission to God, His Messenger (S) and His friends- the Imams (‘a), and his worship of Him spring from desire, love and longing. God the Exalted says:

"God draws an example: a man jointly owned by several contending masters and a man belonging entirely to one man: are the two equal in comparison?" (39:29).

God draws an example for monotheism and polytheism from two men. One is torn between contending masters, each of whom commands guardianship and control over him.

These associates are opposed to one another and the man's mind is scattered between them. The other man has submitted all his affairs to only one man (and a man belonging entirely to one man), obeys him in everything and accepts his guardianship and authority in all affairs.

It is the same in the case of monotheism and polytheism. Monotheists are like the man who submits to one man and is at ease while polytheists are like the one that is the subject of the contest of contending masters. From this example it becomes clear that polytheism and monotheism here pertain to loyalty. The Qur'an quotes Joseph the truthful (‘a) as saying:

"O my two prison mates! Are different masters better, or God, the One, the Irresistible?" (12:39).

The two prison inmates of Joseph (‘a) were not denying the one and irresistible God, they were associating other masters with God concerning guardianship and authority over their lives. Joseph disapproved of their failure to submit all their affairs to the One and Irresistible God.

Concerning the reasons why prophets are sent, the Commander of the Faithful (‘a) said: "God has commissioned Muhammad (S) [as prophet] to release His servants from servitude to servants to servitude to Him, from the covenants of His servants to [enter] His own covenant, from obedience to His servants to obedience to Him and from loyalty to His servants to loyalty to Him."1

Repudiation

The other face of this issue is repudiation, for we cannot understand the meaning of loyalty separately from repudiation. This religion is dynamic by nature: pulling down and rebuilding, the rebuilding taking place on the demolished site. Clearly and precisely, this means that the mission of this religion is to remove every polytheistic and oppressive entity and to establish monotheism and justice in its place.

For anyone who understands this statement, it is clear that monotheism and justice of the new dispensation do not stand in a vacuum; they occupy the former position of polytheism and oppression, and it is only natural that it should provoke the ire of the leaders of unbelief. It will induce them to confront Islam in a most severe and fierce manner, and this confrontation will not cease until polytheism and oppression are completely eliminated.

An Analysis Of The State Of Challenge And Confrontation Between Monotheism And Polytheism

As long as polytheism and oppression possess a state and have dominion over a section of the earth, this challenge and hostility against Islam and its defenders will continue. The mission of this religion on earth is to liberate man from the captivity of taghut and selfish desires, and to remove the hurdles on man's way to God. These two aspects of the mission would pre-empt taghut’s entity in the political, economic, cultural and propaganda domains.

However, this wholesale challenge on taghut's political existence will not come about without counter measures in the form of a fierce and desperate response from it. In the face of this reaction, the camp of monotheism must inevitably take a similar stand because it is unthinkable for it to answer taghut's declaration of war with an offer of peace and reconciliation or tolerance.

To prove equal to these challenges and confrontations that originate from the camp of taghut the Muslims must respond to the war and challenge with a declaration of war and a counter challenge. In the absence of this the camp of monotheism will have no foothold anywhere in the world.

In addition to confrontation and repaying in kind, there should be total boycott and severing of ties with the polytheist camp in all dimensions of relations. This action is the repudiation which represents the other side of loyalty in Islam.

The dynamic nature of Islam requires two things from the nation when confronting difficult challenges. These issues, which are in fact two faces of a single question, are internal cohesion and severing ties with the external enemy.

"[They] are hard against the faithless and merciful amongst themselves."(48:29).

Firstly, there should be cohesion, harmony, cooperation, mutual support and the attitude of yielding to one another within the community. This is the first side of this requirement and it is the loyalty aspect. God Most His says:

"... and those who gave [them] shelter and help, they are allies of one another.” (8:72).

“The faithful, men and women, are comrades of one another...” (9:71).

Certainly they belong one with the other. This is indeed the most beautiful description of the state of unity in the political existence of the community. To quote the ahadith:

"With regard to their mutual affection, mercy and sympathy, the believers are like a body which, when one limb is ill, all other parts of it respond with vigil and fever"2

"Believers are like a building: its parts support one another."3

"Maintain close relations, be kind and merciful to one another and be brethren who are devoted to one another as you are enjoined by God"4

This is aimed at making the Islamic nation a single body whose parts are in harmony like a compact structure. Secondly, there should be total severance of ties with the enemies of God and His Messengers, who are waiting for some evil to befall this religion. God Most High says:

"The faithful should not take the faithless for allies instead of the faithful" (3:28).

"O, you who have faith! Do not take the faithless for friends instead of the faithful." (4:144).

"O, you who have faith! Do not take the Jews and the Christians for friends: they are friends of each other. Any one of you who takes them as friends is indeed one of them" (5:51).

"O, you who have faith! Do not take your father and brothers for intimates if they prefer faithlessness to faith ..." (9:23).

This is repudiation of God's enemies and the Messenger's (S) ; it is forbidden to be their ally, show them affection or endear oneself to them. The twin conditions of strong internal cohesion and complete severance of ties with the external enemy require a central leadership that will guide the nation through various challenges and hurdles, liberate mankind and remove the shackles on them and the obstacles on their way to God. Without this central leadership, the important goals of the Islamic call cannot materialize in the life of mankind.

Loyalty Is Within The Domain Of Monotheism

Loyalty would have no value if it did not come under the umbrella of monotheism. True loyalty in man's life is only the one which lies within this domain: any other form of loyalty, unless it enjoys God's permission and command, would be a false one, the type Islam has abolished. True loyalty may and may not exist.

If it exists then it must have the positive and negative sides together (loyalty to God alone, rejecting and repudiating other than God), and the negative aspect of it is no less important than the positive one. Allegiance to God cannot take place except by rejecting any other form of allegiance along with it or in opposition to it. To accept any guardianship parallel to that of God – or in opposition to it- means to associate partners with God.

From the foregoing, we can see that unity of loyalty is one of the most important features of loyalty, and we have already said that most instances of polytheism discussed in the Qur'an are those of polytheism in loyalty and not with respect to the Creator. Therefore, there will never be true guardianship in opposition to that of God and there can never be true guardianship without His permission and command.

True Guardianship Is Only By God's Permission, Within The Domain Of His Guardianship And By His Appointment

We find this fact clearly stated where God Most High talks about His appointment of some of His servants as guardians, Imams and deputies over the people. Their Imamate and guardianship would not have been possible had God not conferred it upon them and commissioned them for it beforehand. In the story of Abraham (‘a) the Most High says:

"He said, 'I am making you the Imam of mankind,' He said, ' And from among my descendants?' He said,' My pledge does not extend to the unjust." (2:124).

Here imamate refers to guardianship over the people, thus, God made Abraham (‘a) a guardian after he had been a prophet. In the story of David (‘a), the Most High said:

"O' David! Indeed we have made you a vicegerent on the earth, so judge between people with the truth." (38:26).

The words ‘so judge between people with the truth’ indicate that vicegerency here means guardianship and authority. Concerning Abraham's descendants who He gave him after delivering him from the unjust people, He said:

“And we gave him Isaac, and Jacob as well for a grandson, and each of them We made righteous.” (21:72).

“We made them Imams, guiding by Our command and we revealed to them the performance of good deeds, the maintenance of prayers and the giving of zakat, and they used to worship us.” (21:73).

Without intending to elaborate, we would like to point out that the source of authority and power in human life is God Most High and not the people, as is held in modern democratic tendencies and even by some Muslims because of their poor understanding of their religion. No one is entitled to manage the affairs of the Muslims without God's permission.

The basic principle in this issue is that God is the source of power and leadership and there is nothing in the religious texts to suggest that God has entrusted the people with the issue of sovereignty. We are saying this after an exhaustive study of the texts from which this supposed mandate is inferred.

The Role And Importance Of Guardianship In The Life Of The Community

Abu Ja'far (‘a) said: "Islam is built on five [things]: prayer, zakat, fasting, pilgrimage and guardianship (wilayah). Nothing has been proclaimed as much as wilayah”.5

‘Ajlan ibn Salih said: I said to Abu Abdullah (‘a) ' Tell me about the tenets of the faith’ and he said: "Bearing witness that there is no deity except God and that Muhammad is the Messenger of God, affirming that which comes from God, the five prayers, paying zakat, fasting during the month of Ramadan, performing pilgrimage to the House, loyalty to our friends, enmity to our enemies and joining the truthful ones.”6

Abu Ja'far (‘a) said: "Islam is built on five things: prayer, zakat, fasting, pilgrimage and wilayah" Zurarah (the narrator of the hadith) said, 'I said: which is the best among them? He said "Wilayah (loyalty to the divinely-appointed guardians) is the best because it is their key and the guardian [to whom loyalty has been prescribed] is the guide to them ...'

Then he [Abu Ja'far] said: "The peak of the affair and its key, the door to all things and the [source of the] pleasure of the Merciful is obedience to the Imam after knowing him. God the Mighty and Sublime says:

"Whoever obeys the Apostle certainly obeys God; and as for those who turn their backs [on you], We have not sent you to keep watch over them” (4:80).

Then he [Abu Ja'far] said: As for those people, God will admit the virtuous among them into paradise by virtue of His mercy." 7

This hadith calls for much reflection. Should one spend the night in prayer and the day fasting but without knowing loyalty to God and loyalty to His friends one would not have completed the elements of faith. Loyalty to God does not become complete simply by observing the practical aspects of divine law unless obedience to the Messenger (S) and holders of authority after him is added. This is also part of obedience to God. This is so because the essence of religion is not just a set of instructions about worship, transactions, contracts, unilateral pronouncements (al-iqa‘at), although they are also part and parcel of religion.

The core of religion is commitment to God, His Messenger (S) and friends and obedience to His commands and those of His Messenger (S) and his successors (‘a). Through this commitment, a believer comes to know the characteristics of his religion. The Messenger of God (S) has commanded his community to attach themselves to his Household (‘a) in addition to the Book of God, so that they may define for them the broad outlines of their religion.

The Messenger of God (S) said: "O, you people! I am but human. My Lord's messenger will soon come [to call me back] and I will answer. I am leaving two weighty things: the first is the Book of God in which there is guidance and light so keep to the Book of God and hold fast to it", Then he urged the people to arouse their desire in God's Book and then continued: "and my household. I remind you of God concerning my household. I remind you of God concerning my household. I remind you of God concerning my household.”8

The question of loyalty is therefore, a fundamental issue in Islam and without it Islam cannot discharge its central role of establishing man's relationship with God, leading man towards achieving the goals of religion in life, urging mankind to serve God and removing the obstacles that taghut has thrown on the way of this mission. This fact is continuously affirmed by the inexorable clash between the pole of loyalty and that of taghut.

Throughout history, man finds himself between these two poles. These two centers work in opposite directions in man's life and each one tries to attract his loyalty to it and separate him from the other. The following holy verse hints at the conflict between the poles of wilayah and taghut:

"God is the Master of the faithful: He brings them out of darkness into light. As for the faithless, their patrons are the Rebels ( taghut ), who drive them out of light into darkness. They shall be the inmates of the fire and they shall remain in it [forever].” (2:257).

Arrogance And Abasement

Taghut cannot make the people subservient and rob them of their freedom, will and essential qualities, except by abasing them. This is an intricate process which the arrogant elements who spread corruption in the earth consider to be good while God, His Messenger (S) and the faithful detest it.

In essence, this cultural and psychological process robs man's soul of the values and the qualities God has endowed it with, such as courage, chastity, intelligence, honour, resistance, service, faith and morality and makes him inconsequential in the social, cultural and political arena like a floating piece of wood that is helplessly thrust about by the waves. The Qur'an calls this process despising.

About Pharaoh, the tyrant of Egypt, a contemporary of Moses (‘a), God said: “So he despised his people”, that is, he robbed them of the values and qualities which would save them from deviating and getting 'swept away by the waves' and becoming servile opportunists who never disobey the tyrant, but, instead, conform to all his positions and opinions, his understanding and taste, and his way of life.

There are two forms of obedience: conscious obedience which is the one meant in God's words:

"Obey God, and obey His Apostle and the Holders of authority among you” (4:59).

And unconscious obedience which results from abasement, loss of insight and human values. This is depicted by God's words:

"So he despised his people and they obeyed him. Indeed they were a transgressing lot” (43:54).

Features Of The Conflict Between Truth And Falsehood

1- In essence, there is an ideological conflict between the two poles of monotheism and polytheism. A close study of the Qur'anic verses that talk about monotheism and polytheism will reveal that most of them refer to the monotheism and polytheism of loyalty and not as pertains to the Creator. In fact the polytheism which is the subject of rejection and criticism in Qur'anic discourse and to which the people fall prey is the polytheism that pertains to loyalty.

2- This ideological contest invariably transforms into a conflict of civilization between two cultures with deep roots in history and a wide geographical spread. These are the cultures of monotheism and polytheism. Yes it is a clash of cultures where the contending camps have certain peculiarities in terms of their ways of thinking and practical methodology.

3- The third feature of this conflict is that it is a political struggle over centers of power in society, the most important of which are political power, wealth, publicity, military prowess and cultural control. These centers of power constantly support the activities of each camp and whichever controls them becomes the stronger party in the conflict. Each side endeavours to control these institutions and employ them in enhancing its presence and activity in society.

4- This conflict is one of the inexorable historical realities and among the divine norms that neither change nor get altered and, therefore, none of the two camps can escape confrontation and its consequences except by relinquishing their role and terminating their activities. The faithful party tries to exercise its influence over all important positions in society, for it cannot carry out its mission unless it gains influence in the political, military, socio-economic and communication arenas on the global level.

This will not take place in a vacuum but in the same sphere of activity and ambition of taghut and the leaders of deviation. Taghut will never withdraw from the field nor stop its reactionary and corrupting activities against mankind until after long efforts and bitter contests. The Qur'an affirms this unchangeable historical reality in clear terms:

"And they will not cease fighting you until they turn you away from your religion if they can” (2:217).

It is an amazing verse from the Book of God... These people will not stop fighting and pursuing us until they make us renege on our religion if they can! And there is no need for much analysis on why they insist on fighting the Muslims because Islam naturally seeks to extend over taghut's sphere of influence and interest. Any amount of spread and taking over of the positions of power by Islam means a corresponding amount of withdrawal by taghut.

Therefore, the leaders of unbelief will most certainly confront this religion and its adherents with all the ideas, conspiracies and molestations at their disposal, until they extirpate them or make them leave their religion if they can. It is not correct to disregard this persistent conspiracy and attack, but confronting it is not possible except through an equally resolute action as the Most High says:

"Fight in the way of God those who fight you but do not transgress.” (2:190).

"Fight all the polytheists just as they fight you all.” (9:36).

Whether this war is called defensive or offensive in Islamic jurisprudence, it is in reality a war in defense of mankind and Islam.

5- This conflict will last long and it will take place in continuous rounds and this contention cannot be resolved through reconciliation and understanding because the subject of conflict is a civilizational or ideological one of a magnitude that cannot be resolved unless the power bases of unbelief fall apart. As long as the bases of strength, wealth, political and military powers remain in the possession of unbelief and under the control of its leaders they will continuously be a source of sedition. The Most High says:

"Fight them until polytheism is no more and religion becomes exclusively for God." (8:39).

The limit of this war is that the bases of power of faithless global arrogance should fall. This contest will continue till all the power centers of faithless arrogant powers are uprooted, all persecution is brought to a stop and insubordination to God and His Messenger is terminated. Because of this, this conflict is unparalleled in ferocity and desperation in the course of history.

The idea of engaging in negotiations with unbelief and taghut in order to reach some mediocre solution is nothing short of naivety, impotence and defeatism. This defeatist attitude is the beginning of defeat on the battle field and psychological defeat starts by entertaining the possibility of holding a round-table meeting with taghut with the view of reaching some understanding and ending the conflict.

Thus the fight with taghut is on existence and not on borders. Our attitude to this war is defensive rather than offensive albeit with a minor difference in the meaning of the terms defense and offense. By defense we mean to defend mankind along with their freedom and honour against taghut. Just as taghut's hostility against mankind, their honour, freedom and values is a crime, to acquiesce on this hostility is criminal.

It is the right of God's religion, the right of the call to God and the right of the one who we invite to God that we should defend him and never allow taghut to obstruct man's way to God or to cast a veil between mankind and Islam. This is the core of the defence we are talking about i.e. defence of mankind.

6- This conflict requires the believing community to take a clear and decisive stand on the issue of declaring loyalty and repudiation, declaring loyalty to God, His Messenger and those invested with authority over the Muslims and declaring repudiation of the enemies of God, His Messenger and His friends. Therefore it should be borne in mind that:

- There has to be a stand,

- The stand must be clear, distinct and declared,

- The war against the leaders of unbelief is serious and there is no joke about it,

- It has already started so there is no waiting or looking for it,

- It is inevitable, ferocious and knows no abatement,

- It is desperate: it knows no gentleness or mercy,

-It does not suffice for one to silently maintain his love for God, His Messenger (S) and His friends, without taking a practical stand and without the people knowing it,

- It does not suffice that one's heart be with God, His Messenger (S) and His friends but his ‘sword and spear’ against them.9

-It will not suffice that one should give part of himself and his wealth to God, His Messenger (S) and His friends and give the rest to taghut.

-It will not suffice for one to give himself entirely to God but remain amiable to taghut or maintain some links by which one may revert to the fold of taghut.

This is because loyalty is indivisible: it should either be entirely for God the Exalted or He would accept nothing of it, for God is independent of creation. Therefore loyalty requires a firm clear-cut position which must be publicized by way of one's association [to a group] and separation [from another]; through love and affection, hate and enmity; through allegiance and denouncing; through peace and war.

7- Loyalty and repudiation are two sides of the same reality with respect to this historical conflict and the stand it entails. Without repudiation, loyalty has no use and it cannot play its active role in the life of the community unless it is coupled with denouncing the enemies of God, His Messenger (S) and His friends.

Therefore a stand is not made of loyalty alone; it consists of two faces: a positive one and a negative one, peace and war, mercy and harshness, association and separation, love and hate. So long as these two sides are not found together in one's stand it will not be a real one but a strain of hypocrisy, and a kind of political civility and double game playing. God the Most High has said:

“... [They] are hard against the faithless and merciful amongst themselves.” (48:29).

8- Just as the pole of loyalty consists of one centre, one line and a single extension throughout history, that of taghut also comprise one line, one civilization and one extension. In loyalty to God's Prophet (S) and friends we recognize no difference between those nearer to our own age and those who lived earlier. All of them bear God's religion and convey His message. God has bestowed on all of them prophethood, imamate and guardianship over His servants. We therefore give allegiance to them all and believe in what God has revealed to them and we make no distinction between them. God the Most High says:

"Say, 'We have faith in God, and that which has been sent down to us, and that which was sent to Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob and the Tribes, and that which Moses and Jesus were given, and that which the Prophets (‘a) were given from their Lord; and we make no distinction between any of them, and to Him do we submit." (2:136).

The Most Glorious also said:

"The apostle has faith in what has been send down to him from his Lord, and all the faithful. Each [of them] has faith in God, His angels, His scriptures and His apostles. [They declare,] ‘We make no distinction between any of His apostles.' And they say, ' We hear and we obey. Our Lord! Forgive us, and toward You is the return.” (2:285).

As we pay allegiance to all God's friends, it is also obligatory that we should repudiate all their enemies. Just as loyalty is a single issue, repudiation is also one. Therefore, we are required to denounced Pharaoh and Nimrod, just as we denounce Abu Jahl and Yazid, and also the tyrants of our age and their cohorts. This is because the same reason why we repudiate and curse the despots of our time also calls for repudiation and cursing Cain, Pharaoh, Nimrod, Abu Jahl, Yazid and Hajjaj.

The conflict between the poles of truth and falsehood, guidance and deviation, and wilayah and taghut is not a personal war; rather it is a civilizational one. Each of the two fronts has a historical dimension and deep cultural roots in either guidance or misguidance. In essence, the conflict is a single one through all its historical stages; the allegiance is one and so is the repudiation, throughout the different stages and epochs of this conflict.

The Incident Of Al-Taff: A Touchstone For Loyalty And Repudiation

The event of Al-Taff in Karbala which happened in 61 A.H. remains the foremost scene where loyalty and repudiation are exhibited. Amongst many great historical events and theatres of conflict between truth and falsehood, this one was distinctive with respect to attracting the loyalty of the faithful and inducing them to repudiate the opposite camp. Because of this the believers' loyalty and repudiation manifested themselves in the issue of Karbala more than in any other conflicts between truth and falsehood.

Loyalty and repudiation towards that event assume concrete form today through several manifestations such as: conducting mourning sessions, weeping, reciting the supplications of visitations (ziyarat), pilgrimage to Karbala, literary works and speeches. All these aspects and many more give expression to the believers' devotion to Husayn (‘a), his family and his companions, and also their denouncement of their enemies.

The incident of Al-Taff was among instances of conflict that leave their impact in history and impress themselves on all generations: one cannot just give them a casual or unconcerned look nor read their story without being moved. Although more than one thousand three hundred years have passed this tragic event still has great impact on the souls, hearts and minds, and it still influences those God has endowed with awareness and insight concerning his religion.

The people still receive the issue of Karbala enthusiastically and react to it positively or negatively with regard to loyalty and repudiation. What is the secret behind this? What made it a mirror for loyalty and repudiation in the course of this long history? The battle of Al-Taff was so distinct that no one was left in doubt as to the nature of the contending parties.

There was no any ambiguity around the battle which took place in the land of Al-Taff: no one doubted that Husayn (‘a) was inviting people to God and His Messenger, and to be steadfast on the straight path of God; and no one doubted that Yazid ibn Mu'awiya had violated the limits set by God and even openly declared so, and he also openly engaged in sin and crime although he was occupying the position of successor of God's Messenger (S).

No one among the Muslims who were on the battlefield on that day when Abu Abdillah Husayn (‘a) was facing Yazid ibn Mu'awiya would hesitate for a moment to take the position that Husayn (‘a) was rightly guided and Yazid deviated. As such there was nothing hidden or confusing concerning this battle, so anyone who supported Husayn (‘a) must have done so out of conviction and guidance and anyone who took Yazid's side must have done so knowing fully that they were misguided.

Thus for both camps, the issue was not hidden at all. All the people who lived at the time of the battle or witnessed it or were acquainted with it either directly or indirectly knew the truth from falsehood, and they could distinguish between God's call and taghut's call. No one abandoned Husayn (‘a) because the matter was confusing or he was unable to distinguish between what was true from what was false; the Imam was forsaken because the people preferred peace and comfort to being killed in the way of God, the Glorious.

No one drew a sword on Husayn (‘a) out of confusion, ignorance or ambiguity but they did so knowing very clearly that, by fighting him they were in fact, at war with God the Great, His Messenger (S) and His friend- the Imam (‘a). This clarity that surrounded the battlefield makes the incident of al-Taff stand out among other historical events, it reflects a vivid picture of the struggle between truth and falsehood and the confrontation of the centre of loyalty to God and that of loyalty to taghut. As such it has been a perpetual symbol of contest between right and wrong and also a theatre in the life of the believers where loyalty and repudiation were exhibited.

The incident of al-Taff leaves no room for hesitation or indecision because it was a manifest confrontation between right and wrong, between God's party and Satan’s party and between guidance and deviation. Therefore a clear and definite stand is necessary on this issue and where such a stand is not in alliance with God's army and does not denounce their adversaries, it will inevitably be one that approves the actions of Yazid and his army, and the one who takes this stand deserves to be cursed and expelled from God's grace.

"May God curse a people who have killed you, may God curse a people who have wronged you, may God curse a people who have heard about that and approved of it.”10

Because the issue of Karbala is a distinct one among major historical events, and it entails a clear stand and opinion, we find that it strongly and continuously induces loyalty in the souls of believers. The weeping, the mourning sessions, the mourning processions and the pilgrimage to the shrine of the holy Imam in Karbala, and other instances of loyalty and association cannot all be done out of emotion since emotion alone does not have that strong impact on peoples' lives.

Since the battle of al-Taff is a symbol of confrontation between right and wrong and a rallying point of loyalty and repudiation then the strong attachment to this question means a declaration of allegiance and denouncement, as well as a strong attachment to the centre of loyalty.

The feeling of unity of loyalty and unity of repudiation consolidate the unity of the community's focal point. And the perception that the community has one focal point intensifies its feeling of being a single family from Adam (‘a) to the present day. It rallies around one point; fights on one front for the sake of one issue. It shares love and hate, peace and war, carries out the same mission, subscribes to the same culture and believes in the same faith.

When the believer's perception of the unity in loyalty, repudiation, love, hate, obedience, enmity, faith and rejection intensifies he will then have a profound feeling that the believers comprise a single believing family in history. It is then that the believer feels that loyalty to God, His Messenger (S) and His friends had covered all time and place and made this community into a single bloc which is united in sensitivities, feelings, faith, war, peace and mission. He will perceive that a strong cohesive force binds him with other members of this gigantic family, despite the great difference in time and the long distances that exist between its members.

With this, his consciousness of sharing the same destiny with others will intensify and imbue him with a sense of strength and pride in God. In this fierce battle, the believer is not alone; he is in fact part of faithful community rooted in history and spread all over the earth. It seeks the help of God the One and Irresistible in consolidating the mission, inviting people to God the Most High, establishing the religion in peoples' lives and removing all the hurdles that are on the way of the Islamic call.

This feeling of being with God and with the faithful will take away from the minds of callers to God, the feeling of being forlorn amidst the scuffle with taghut and its arrogance, tyranny and power. Abraham (‘a) was alone a nation obedient to God in confrontation with Nimrod.

"Indeed Abraham was a nation obedient to God, a man of pure faith, and he was not one of the polytheists.” (16:120).

- 1. Al-Wafi, 3/22.

- 2. Sahih Al-Bukhari, 6011; Sahih Muslim, 2586.

- 3. Sahih Muslim, 8/20, Dar al-Fikr ed.

- 4. Bihar Al-Anwar, 74/399.

- 5. Usul al-Kafi 2/18; Bihar al-Anwar, 68/329.

- 6. Usul al-Kafi 2/18; Bihar al-Anwar 68/330.

- 7. Usul al-Kafi 2/18; Bihar al-Anwar 68/332- 333.

- 8. This hadith has been recorded by the master traditionists through numerous chains of transmission and Allamah Mir Hamid Husayn al-Luknawi has compiled those chains in several volumes of his Al-Abaqat. Among the sources of his hadith is Sahih Muslim 7/122 (Dar al-Fikr Beirut)

- 9. Along his way to Iraq, at Al-Safah, Imam al- Husayn (‘a) met al-Farazdaq ibn Ghalib (the poet) and asked him about the people. Al-Farazdaq said: Their hearts are with you but their swords are with the Umayyads, and the decree descends from the heavens. Al-Husayn (‘a) said: You have said the truth. The affair is God's, He does what He wishes and every day He is engaged in some work. If the decree descends with what we want, we praise God for His blessings and He is the resort [who enables us] discharge gratitude. However, if the decree stands in the way of [our] hope then he does not stand accused he whose intention is the truth and his mind is pious. Tarikh al-Tabari, 6/218; Tarikh Ibn al-Athir, 40/16.

- 10. See Ziyarat Warith.

The First Speech of Imam Husayn's (‘a) Uprising

In Mecca, on the night before he left, Imam Husayn (‘a) addressed a gathering of Muslims where he informed them that he was about to die. He also appealed for their support and invited them to join him in his revolt against the Umayyad government. We are relating here what Sayyid ibn Tawus recorded in his Al-Luhuf. In this speech Imam Husayn (‘a) informed the Muslims that his death was near at hand. He said:

"Death has been destined for the children of Adam the way a necklace is destined [to hang from]on a girl's neck ... A [kind of] death which I am [surely] going to meet has been chosen for me. It is as if I am seeing my joints being cut up, between al-Nawawis and Karbala by desert foxes which will fill their empty stomachs and starved bellies with my remains. There is no escape from a day that has been decreed. God's pleasure is our pleasure, we the Ahl al-Bayt. We shall patiently bear His trial and He will give us in full the reward meant for the patient. None of the flesh of the Messenger of God (S) will ever be separated [from him]; it will all be gathered for him in paradise. By them [i.e. the Ahl al-Bayt] he will be delighted and what he has been promised will be fulfilled for him"

Then he said: "Listen! Anyone who will sacrifice his life for our sake, having made up his mind to meet God, should come with us, for I am setting out tomorrow morning, God willing.”1

We shall only explain the last statement of the Imam (‘a) from which nine points can be derived: “Listen! Anyone who will lay down his life for our sake, having made up his mind to meet God should come with us, for I am setting out tomorrow morning, God willing.”

1. Listen! Anyone Who Will Sacrifice His Life For Our Sake

Husayn (‘a) does not request wealth, leadership, power or any worldly interests from the people; nor does he invite them to join him in order to attain victory or power, or to overthrow another power. He calls on them to sacrifice their lives and blood. This is a unique example of leadership and an exceptional sort of political discourse.

Leaders usually do not require blood from the people but invite them to actualize some political and military goals, paying with the number of lives necessary for achieving those goals, and expending them strictly as the cost of the achievements they pursue.

But Husayn (‘a) was inviting the people, from the first day, to sacrifice their lives and blood without attaching any hopes of immediate political and military gains from it. This is a singular factor that distinguishes his uprising from other movements, and his type of speech from other political speeches. To be aware of this peculiarity it is important to understand the uprising of Husayn (‘a).

Ubaydullah ibn al-Hur al-Ju'fi was not aware of this fact although he was not among those who were fighting Husayn (‘a). When the latter sought his support Ubaydullah declined and gave excuses saying: 'Of what use is my support for you since I did not leave in Kufa anyone ready to help you? I adjure you by God, do not impose this affair on me, for I am not ready to die. However, you can take this horse of mine al-Mulhiqah, [the one which overtakes] for I never pursued anybody while I rode it but outstripped them. Take it, it is yours.'

Husayn (‘a) replied: "If you prefer your soul to us we are in no need of your horse.”2

If al-Ju'fi had grasped what Husayn (‘a) was requesting from him he would not have presented his horse instead of his life and blood. Ubaydullah ibn al-Hurr al-Ju'fi was not part of the official and declared opposition to Husayn (‘a), rather he desired not to meet him lest he embarrassed him by seeking his support.

When the Imam actually sought Ubaydullah's support he betrayed him giving some excuses. He is counted among those who failed to support the Imam and not among those who fought him. Later he regretted his lack of participation but it was of no avail.

2. 'Who Will Sacrifice?

This question asks the people to offer their lives and blood consciously and by choice.He did not want it to be a sort of extortion nor was he the type who would deceive the people into laying down their lives and blood. Husayn (‘a) insisted on this issue in an amazing way, since the time he left Hijaz until the time he met his death in Karbala together with his family and companions. On more than one occasion he permitted his comrades and his family to leave, and relieved them of their duty of allegiance to him.

The last time the Imam offered them the chance to leave and freed them of their allegiance to him was the night before the tenth of Muharram when he gathered them at his place and, with characteristic clarity and candour, he said:

"I am giving you permission to go, all of you, you are under no covenant of mine. The night has covered you so take it as a mount [i.e. disperse under its cover]. Let each man among you take a man of my family, and you should disperse in the country and the towns till God brings relief. These people are only after me. Once they get me they will not pursue the others."3

Though Husayn (‘a) announced that they were freed of their allegiance to him and could disperse he was not needless of their support; he was indeed in dire need of supporters. He tried whenever he could to rally the general public or specific individuals for his support. Why then that repeated emphasis that his companions and the people who had joined him should return to their towns and families? Why was he also insisting on announcing his request for help? How could seeking support and giving permission to leave be reconciled?

With Husayn (‘a) the matter was clear: he wanted the people to sacrifice their lives for his sake, consciously and voluntarily, not because they were forced or embarrassed into doing so. Why? Because the path along which Husayn (‘a) wanted to travel could not be taken by the people unless they joined him consciously, voluntarily and resolutely.

If they were to be compelled to do so or if they had no awareness of what they were doing they would not attain what he intended for them. He intended to sort out, from that nation, the elements which had the purest nature and intention and take them as companions to Karbala to meet God. If their minds were sullied, even to a small degree by discomfiture or greed for the world they would lose that sincerity and purity which he required from his comrades as they set out for the meeting with God.

The journey to meet God differs from all other journeys. Such a journey entails purity and sincerity of intention more than is required by others. It is because of this that his companions' participation was to be with insight and choice. This is the divine aspect of the movement which Husayn (‘a) was intent on actualizing.

On the political front Husayn (‘a) wanted to give the consciences and hearts of the Muslims a jolt and return them to their selves after they had been alienated by the Umayyads. This he wanted to achieve by his death and that of the faithful who were with him. This profound revolution in people’s souls, this return to the self would not be achieved unless the elements that participated in making that battle eternal possessed insight and resolve.

Conversely, if these elements were weak and vacillating the outcome of their participation would have been a negative one. In the light of this, Husayn (‘a) insisted that the people should sacrifice themselves voluntarily and consciously.

3. 'For Our Sake'

This is the third issue in Husayn's mission. Firstly, he wanted the people to sacrifice their lives. Secondly, he requested that this sacrifice should be voluntary, it should be consciously made and as an offering. Thirdly, he requested that effort and sacrifice should be ‘for our sake’. This last one pertains to association and allegiance: it should not be done for any other purpose for which the people usually give their allegiance.

This issue is of paramount importance because the value of an action does not lie in its size, type or form only, but also in the agent’s affiliation which influences the way they act. Many groups revolted against the Umayyads; they hated them, publicized their crimes and fought them; they also bore sufferings, persecution and aggression; and they sacrificed themselves for that cause. However, all this took place in political contexts other than that of allegiance, that politico-ideological line of loyalty which God has made a duty in His word:

"Your guardian is only God, His apostle and the faithful who maintain the prayer and give the zakat while bowing down." (5:55).

Abdullah ibn al-Zubayr, Abu Muslim al-Khurasani, the Kharijites, and other groups of people revolted against the Umayyads. We cannot belittle their efforts and sacrifice but they lacked the allegiance which the Imam (‘a) described as being 'for our sake'. An action loses its value when its source lacks the appropriate affiliation, relation and allegiance along the lines defined by God and His Messenger (S). The prerequisites of a righteous deed are:-

(i) - Righteousness of act

(ii) - Sincerity to God in the act

(iii) - Affiliation i.e. allegiance of the agent

The issue of affiliation is a fundamental principle, just as the righteousness of the action and sincerity to God the Most High. The meaning of affiliation is that the action should fall within the nexus of allegiance to God, His Messenger (S), the Holders of authority among the Muslims and the nation, which, in fact, is united by its loyalty to God, His Messenger (S) and those charged with authority.

The series of allegiance and association make up the political and ideological system of the believing nation, and a good deed is one which is done within this system, along the line of affiliation which must be an extension of that affiliation which is done for the sake of God and His Messenger (S) and also by their permission and command, and in the absence of this, no authentic loyalty or affiliation is possible.

This teaching is peculiar to this religion. Other political and ideological systems do not consider action to be so much associated with affiliation; it is judged according to its kind and amount only. In Islam, work attains real worth if it is a righteous deed done with sincerity, in the right ideological connection for the sake of God alone (i.e. loyalty).

Without these two features work will be of no value. Husayn (‘a) represents a link in that series and a part of that nexus of loyalty, and because of this he lays down the condition that service and sacrifice should take place as part of that system: ‘for our sake.’

4. Sincerity

The phrase ‘...having made up his mind to meet God’ denotes sincerity. Here the Imam (‘a) points to two other issues in his call, sincerity and mental preparation, which constitute the fourth and fifth points. Both issues are necessary for the great revolutionary project which Imam Husayn (‘a) was carrying out. The Imam was hinting at the issue of sincerity when he said: "... having made up his mind to meet God”4 and requesting anyone who wanted to accompany him on this trip to prepare their minds only to meet God and for no other purpose: any other aim was worthless on this journey.

The following text is the first narration recorded by al-Bukhari in his Al-Sahih that the Messenger of God (S) said: "Actions are judged according to intentions and for every man is what he intends. He whose migration was for the sake of worldly gain or a woman he might marry, then [the reward] of his migration is that for which he migrated."5

The relationship with the Imam is an affiliation that mediates his companions’ relationship with God, and not an end in itself. The real end of work is to earn the pleasure of God and He is the beginning of the chain of allegiance. If any link in that chain should break away from God the Exalted, it would fall and lose its worth.

The centres of focus for allegiance are bridges and pathways that lead to God. This fact is alluded to in the supplication of Ziyarat al-Jaamiah al-Kabirah, some of which reads:

‘Peace be on the places by which God is known .....Peace be on those who summon towards God, are guided towards His pleasure, and are firm in God's affair.’

And, lest we imagine that the expression: ‘for our sake’ which is contained in Imam Husayn's (‘a) speech was an end in itself, he quickly added: ‘...having made up his mind to meet God’. This is what is meant by sincerity and unity of loyalty.

5. Reconciling Oneself

The fifth point the Imam hinted at in his call is to reconcile oneself to difficulties (al-tawtin) which is also indispensable in this arduous journey. To offer lives and blood for God's sake, as Husayn (‘a) calls for, is no easy task. In the Surah of Anfal, the Qur'an calls it the ‘thorny path’.

One may rush onto this path without due mental preparation, and then along the road waiver and be gripped by fear until he finally backs down. Instances of this abound in missionary movements. In order to be saved from retreating and being taken unawares by the horrors of this road, one should prepare to meet God and also be mentally prepared for this onerous journey along the thorny path.

To reconcile oneself for an encounter with tribulation is the highest form of mental preparation, as though one is ready to become the abode for trials, sufferings and death. Such a person will not be surprised by trials when they come. Psychological preparation for trials is of different types, the highest, the best, and at the same time the hardest being what the Imam calls ‘reconciling oneself’. To a large extent, this is similar to the well-known hadith: "Die before you die”6 The first death is severing relationships that link man with the world as a preparation for facing real death, so that when it overtakes him he will not be thrown off guard. This will absorb most of the shock caused by trials and real death.

The second aspect pertains to reconciling it to God's decree which is destined for His servant as he walks along the thorny path. This fine educative sense is hinted at by Islamic texts. In the supplication of Kumayl we read: "And make me pleased and contented with your appointment."7

Similarly, we have in Ziyarat Amin Allah: "O God make my mind reassured about what you have destined, pleased with your decree and patient with the coming down of your test."8

The expression 'reconcile oneself' in that speech prepares man to face the trials that come from God with total submission and acceptance of God's decree. This second aspect of suggestion also has the effective role of absorbing from the mind the shock caused by sudden death and the trials of the theatre of confrontation.

6. Meeting God

The sixth point in Imam Husayn (‘a)'s speech is: to reconcile oneself with the reality of meeting God. The Imam chose this delicate expression to describe death. Death has two faces: a negative and a positive one. The former is separation while the latter is union. Death cuts, at a go, all the relationships one establishes with much effort and difficulty over a lifetime, such as relationships that pertain to wealth, children, spouses, and accumulated piles of gold and silver and horses of mark' 9 that prove to be very intimate, but then death will come and sever them at once, rather than gradually.

This is the negative and awful side of death that descends on every man without exception. The other side of death is that of union, the brilliant and positive side. Death is the outlet God opens for His servants through which they meet Him. Since the world acts as a veil that prevents man from meeting God, His righteous servants are only able to meet Him by way of dying, because death removes the veil, "We have removed your veil from you and so your sight is acute today,"10 and they are now able to soar up to meet God. God the Most High says:

‘They are certainly losers who deny the encounter with God’ (6:31).

‘They are certainly losers who deny the encounter with God and they are not guided.’(3:14).

‘He elaborates the signs that you may be certain of encountering your Lord’ (13:2).

“So whoever expects to encounter his Lord- let him act righteously”(18:110).

“Whoever expects to encounter God [should know that] God’s [appointed] time will indeed come”. (29:5).

“Indeed those who do not expect to encounter Us and who are pleased with the life of this world and satisfied with it ...” (10:7).

This is the brilliant side of death.

One’s psychological condition with regard to death varies according to one's way of viewing it. Those who look at death from the negative side are frightened by it and shocked when it surprises them, whereas those who view it from the positive side find it a window through which they encounter God.

So the second group love death and yearn for it and, in death, they find an outlet to encounter God, as the Commander of the Faithful (‘a) said when the accursed Ibn Muljam struck him and he fell in his prayer niche: “I have succeeded, by the Lord of the Ka'aba". When the Glorious Qur'an challenges the Jews concerning their claim that they were God's favorites to the exclusion of all people, saying: " '... then long for death should you be truthful'. Yet they will never long for it because of what their hands have sent ahead ..." (62:6-7), it was referring to this fact.

Before we close our discussion on this section of the Imam's speech, we shall put this question: How can one reconcile himself with death and tribulation so that one is not shocked and jolted out of his convictions by unexpected miseries and adversities with which God the Exalted has associated man's life?

In response we say that there are two educational factors in life that help man to prepare his mind for trials and death. They are constant remembrance of death, concentrating on the desire to encounter God the Exalted, and looking at the positive side of death.

The first factor ensures that man gets accustomed to the question of death and forms the habits of thinking about it so that when tribulations and death visit him he will not be startled. The second factor makes man realize that death is in fact an outlet that leads one to meet God, as though worldly life was a hindrance, and death comes to liberate him so that he may encounter God in the next world and he is gladdened by the glory, beauty and good names of God. Those who attain this meeting, find in it pleasure incomparable to anything else.

7. Let Them Set Out

This journey is different from many other journeys: it has external and internal aspects. Outwardly, it was a journey from Hijaz to Iraq for the purpose of helping Husayn (‘a), whereas inwardly it was a journey from 'I' to God, from this world to the next, from monopolistic tendencies to altruism, from docility and preference for peace to sacrifice and jihad. The first journey took place on the face of the earth on the theatre of political struggle, whereas the second happened inside the soul. So long as this journey does not have both these two dimensions, it will not be of benefit nor will it reach its goal.

The internal dimension of this journey precedes and gives shape to the external one. The people who did not respond to Husayn (‘a) 's call at the outward level and those who answered him initially but retreated when the going got tough, were in fact among those who did not make the second journey inside their souls. Among the best examples of those who made the internal journey among the companions of Husayn (‘a) was Zuhayr ibn al-Qayn (may God have mercy on him).

He had been a follower of the Umayyad cause but he became an Alid; he chose to live a peaceful life before but later accepted tribulation instead of ease and well-being; he was a worldly man but he turned into a man of the hereafter. Zuhayr ordered that his tent and luggages should be taken to Imam Husayn (‘a) and divorced his pious and courageous wife who taught him how to take difficult decisions in times of crisis. All this took place within the span of a few minutes.

What Husayn (‘a) told Zuhayr when they withdrew together remains a mystery. At least we know that that meeting was the line of demarcation between the two stages of Zuhayr's life, and that he underwent a profound change which he carried along with him to encounter God. Zuhayr's affiliation was with the Umayyad clan and he turned to the Alid and accordingly, the nature of his loyalty, repudiation, relationships and impediments changed from being Umayyad to being Alid.

This constitutes the internal dimension and essence of this journey. Those who declined to participate with Husayn (‘a) had in fact stayed behind in another journey which was supposed to take place in their souls. As long as that arduous internal journey is not achieved, one will not succeed in making a similar one on the battlefield.

The internal journey is the major migration, whereas the one which takes place on the battlefield is the minor migration in the life of mankind. Major migration is the foundation of minor migration, just as the major jihad [i.e. jihad of the soul] is the root of success of the minor jihad [i.e. jihad with arms].

Husayn's (‘a) words: let him set out with us', is still ringing, through the course of history, in the ears of worldly people who want to live in comfort and peace as well as in the ears of the terrorized, the terrified and the oppressed. He is inviting them to set out from their world to his own, from the world of servility and worldly vanities to the world of honour which renounces, worldly things.

The caravan of Husayn (‘a) is still moving along the 'thorny path' and gaining ground. It is joined by a people who have preferred the hereafter to this world and God's pleasure to the ephemeral things of this world; whereas those encumbered by inordinate desires fail to join it.

8. 'With Us'

Let Husayn's (‘a) companions congratulate themselves on being in his company on this journey. It has been said about difficult travels of the olden days when long journeys were arduous and dangerous: 'Select the co-traveler before setting out.'11 The road to Karbala was indeed difficult and long; it was an uphill road in difficult terrain with many pitfalls.

It started from ‘I’ and ended with God the Exalted; from the world to the hereafter; from attachment to the world to independence from it. There are many pitfalls and dangers on this road and those who shun it are numerous while those who follow it are few; however, to be in the company of Husayn (‘a) guarantees safe movement and guarantees reaching the destination.

On every difficult road one needs a guide and leader; the work of the guide is to give direction and guidance, just as signboards at crossroads serve to show travelers' destinations. For small and easy roads one does not need more than one guide but for difficult roads one requires, in addition to the guide, a leader who should precede him and take the lead, and also imbue him with strength of heart and confidence, so that he may not get exhausted, terrified, hopeless or forlorn.

For the travelers along the 'thorny path', Husayn (‘a) was a guide, a teacher and a model. He used to say to the people when he sought their help: "My life is together with your lives and my family with yours."12

Who can tell the extent of resolve and the will to change the course of history which is exhibited by this sentence: "For I am setting out tomorrow morning, if God wills."13 Great feats usually require resoluteness. Resolve signifies strength while hesitation is a mark of weakness. Imam al-Sadiq (‘a) says: "The body does not fail where the will is strong."14

One cannot know the kind of support, guidance, success and victory God bestowed on this small band on that journey, for despite its simplicity, that journey changed the course of the history of Islamic civilization. Had it not been for it, the Umayyads would have been able to alter the outstanding characteristics of this religion and derail it, and they would have portrayed a different picture of Islam akin to the arrogance and profligacy of kings rather than God's religion.

Had this religion changed, the course of human civilization would have been altered.

9. 'If God Wills'

This is the ninth point in Husayn's (‘a) speech. In this sentence we can perceive two wills being assimilated, one into the other. No work can achieve its real value unless both wills are present in it together; the one assimilated by the other. The first will is that of man, while the second is that of God the Exalted. The first dissolves into the second.

Man is God's vicegerent who is supposed to execute His will and purpose on earth by developing the world and reforming mankind, i.e. man is not divested of the freedom to choose and decide his destiny. Here lies the difference between a mere tool and a vicegerent; each effects the purpose of a second party but the first does this possessing no choice whereas the second carries out that purpose through his own choice and will. Inorganic matter, plants and animals are subservient tools that are employed to actualize the will and purpose of God the Exalted in accordance with fixed divine laws that govern nature.

However, these actors are devoid of will and choice. As for man, he is the vicegerent of God whom He created and honoured with viceroyalty over the earth. The Exalted says: "Indeed I am going to set a viceroy on the earth" (2:30). He has been invested with this position in order to execute God's purpose on earth but through his own will and volition and not otherwise.

In this section of the speech of Husayn (‘a) we vividly perceive this reality. First, he says: 'For I am setting out tomorrow morning'. In this phrase one way or the other ‘I’ and the human will come to the fore: ‘I’ and ‘am setting out’. However, the second phrase: 'if God wills' immediately follows the first in order to moderate the effect of ‘I’’s appearance in the first phrase and also to direct both ‘I’ and the human will towards assimilation into God's will, and so that ‘I’ may be employed in executing His will and purpose.

Here Husayn (‘a) used the first phrase: 'I am setting out' to express his limitless resolve and will to sacrifice. His will compels ‘I’ to emerge and then directs it on the journey towards God the Exalted. No doubt 'I' appears here within the sphere of obedience to God and not that of desires, nor is the emergence of 'I' and its focus in the arena of obedience to God the same as its emergence in the arena of worldly desires.

However Husayn (‘a) was proceeding on his journey towards God and he wanted to be free from ‘I’ even in the sphere of obedience to God; he did not want to carry ‘I’ with him to God the Exalted. So when he resolved to make the journey to God he said: ‘if God wills’, tying his purpose to God's purpose and fusing his will and choice into God's will, thereby, employing it for the execution of God's will.

As we hear this phrase, 'if God wills', from Husayn (‘a)'s speech we feel the departure, we perceive God's decree, but we do not find the decision maker, 'I'. Husayn (‘a) ’s stand in this journey was so similar to that taken by his forefather Ishmael (‘a) the first sacrificed one, when his father Abraham (‘a), the friend of God told him that he would slaughter him, just as God showed Abraham (‘a) in a dream!

"When he was old enough to assist in his endeavour, he said, ‘My son! I see in a dream that I am sacrificing you, what do you think?’ [Ishmael] replied without hesitation: ‘Father! Do whatever you have been commanded. If God wishes, you will find me patient.’" (37:102).

Indeed Ishmael’s words: 'Father! do whatever you have been commanded', which he uttered as an adolescent, carry with them unlimited sacrifice, service, offering, certainty, courage, resolve, strength, patient, struggle against desires, self-abnegation, disdain for the world, turning towards God, sincerity to God, aversion to other-than-God and many other values beyond my imagination.

Human will surely manifests itself in this sacrifice and offering, and through it ‘I’ also appears. But God's Sacrificed One, Ishmael (‘a) did not like to carry this ‘I’ in his journey to God. It is true that ‘I’ is only manifesting itself here in the arena of obedience to God, and not in the sphere of rebellion, selfish desire, greed, niggardliness, weakness, cowardice and love of this world. But this theatre and those who are in it should all be for God, so Ishmael possessed nothing of it. Ishmael did not want to enter this divine sphere encumbered with ‘I’.

He wanted to be relieved of it, his actions and sacrifice assimilated into God's will and purpose, as if (and there is no place for ‘as if’ here but certainty) he had no role, no impact, no action and no any credit in this unique sacrifice; all was the result of His decree, will and grace. And surely it was Ishmael (‘a) who said: "If God wishes, you will find me patient."

You will perceive the sacrifice, God's decree and His favour and grace which He bestowed on Ishmael (‘a) on account of this sacrifice, but Ishmael (‘a) totally disappears under the expression 'if God wills', so much so that you can hardly perceive his presence despite the immensity of the sacrifice.

May God bless you, O son of Abraham, friend of the Merciful! Your greatness has been obscured behind God's greatness so He exalted you in His firm book. You got assimilated in God's will so He made you manifest in the Great Qur'an which mankind recite day and night for all time:

“And mention in the Book, Ishmael. Indeed he was true to his promise, an apostle and a prophet”. (19:54).

“He used to bid his family to [maintain] the prayer and to [pay] the zakat , and was pleasing to his Lord”. (19:55).

The scene of this sacrifice, which is unique in history, looked small on earth but great in the heavens. On that day the angels gathered to witness this spectacle and saw that the Father of the Prophets, Abraham (‘a) laid down his own child Ishmael (‘a) on his forehead while the latter was in complete submission to God's command, unperturbed and still, but no man on earth was witnessing that great scene. So the angels raised their voices, beseeching the Merciful and Compassionate to ransom Ishmael with a great sacrifice.

The world was then steeped in the darkness of unbelief and ignorance and amidst this darkness a beam of light began to shine from the valley of Mina to the heavens, and the angels gathered in throngs around it to watch this immense sacrifice, the sacrifice of the son and the sacrifice of the father. You never can tell which one of the sacrifices was considered by the angels, on that day, as the greater: the father's sacrifice of his son or the son's, presenting himself to be sacrificed by his father? And which was more sublime in their view, this unique and amazing sacrifice by the adolescent youth Ishmael (‘a) or tying it all to God's decree: ‘if God wishes you will find me patient’?

Exercise patience, dear angels! Do not register what these father and son did, as the ideal. Wait till God brings a descendant of the two men, the Father of the Martyrs to Karbala carrying his suckling child in his hand. He will request water for it, for it would be burning with thirst, but the wicked Hurmalah ibn Kahil al-Asadi will shoot an arrow at it, while it is still in its father's hands, and slaughter it, cutting its jugular veins completely. Then Husayn (‘a) will place his hand below the child's throat to collect the blood and then throw it towards heaven lest God's wrath descends on earth.

With all this, Husayn (‘a) did not consider anything of his actions as great; he did not deem his sacrifice and offering as a thing of consequence. He did not suffer from conceit as a result of this immense offering for God's sake. He deemed all this work as issuing from God and by His will, favour and grace. He had no role or credit of his own; all credit went to God alone. Husayn (‘a) was not more than a mere executor of God's will. Therefore, in the theatre of sacrifice, while immersed in supplication and communion with God, quite oblivious of what was around him, Husayn (‘a) said: “O God! Take whatever is acceptable to You, for I submit to Your Pleasure”.

- 1. Bihar al-Anwar, 44/366.

- 2. Sheikh al-Sharifi's Kalimat al-Imam al-Husayn (‘a), 368.

- 3. Tarikh al-Tabari 4/321- 322; Sayyid Muhsin al-Amin's Lawaji' al-Ashjan, pg. 118.

- 4. Sheikh Abdullah al-Bahrani's Al-Awalim, pg. 127.

- 5. Sahih al-Bukhari, vol. 1, chapter on how the revelation to the Messenger of God started.

- 6. Sheikh Ali al-Namazi's Mustadrak Safinat al-Bihar 8/63.

- 7. Ibn Tawus’ Iqbal al-A'mal 3/332.

- 8. Bihar al-Anwar, 99/185.

- 9. See Qur'an, 3:14.

- 10. See Qur'an, 50:22.

- 11. Al-Kafi 8/24.

- 12. Bihar al-Anwar, 44/382.

- 13. Bihar al-Anwar, 44/366.

- 14. Wasa'il al-Shi'ah, 1/38.

Topic Tags:

- Ashura [7]

Author(s):

- Muhammad Mahdi Al-Asifi [1]

Translator(s):

- Umar Kumo [6]

Publisher(s):

- ABWA Publishing and Printing Center [2]

Person Tags:

- Imam Husayn [8]

Source URL: https://www.al-islam.org/ashura-muhammad-mahdi-al-asifi

Links
[1] https://www.al-islam.org/person/shaykh-muhammad-mahdi-al-asifi
[2] https://www.al-islam.org/organization/abwa-publishing-and-printing-center
[3] https://www.al-islam.org/printpdf/book/export/html/116521
[4] https://www.al-islam.org/printepub/book/export/html/116521
[5] https://www.al-islam.org/printmobi/book/export/html/116521
[6] https://www.al-islam.org/person/umar-kumo
[7] https://www.al-islam.org/tags/ashura
[8] https://www.al-islam.org/person/imam-husayn