The Opening – A Commentary on Chapter 1: Surat Al-Fatiha

By Shaykh Fadhalla Haeri

Introduction

This sûrah (chapter) is placed at the beginning of the Qur`an because it signifies the opening of knowledge and so the victory over ignorance. If, in the direction we are taking, there is no door, then we have reached our target – we have won.Fatiha, means to open, reveal, imbue, conquer. This sûrah is so named because if you follow it in your heart, you will be victorious. You will conquer and an opening will come to you.

A COMMENTARY ON THE QUR`AN

Chapter 1: Surat Al-FatihaThe Opening

In the name of Allah,the Beneficent, the Merciful
Al hamdu lillahi rabb il alamin.
Hamd, is praise. Praise comes if there is knowledge. You can only praise something if you have knowledge of it. Knowledge of something is an aspect of experience. You praise the rabb, the lord-sustainer. Rabba, means to be master of, to have command over. It also means to raise and bring up. Rabb is the attribute of that entity which brings what is under its domain up to its full potential, towards the ultimate end which is huwa, He, because it has come from Him, from Allah.

We said that when you praise the Ultimate, you must have some knowledge of it. That knowledge could be that of avoiding the non-Ultimate, which is what we are trying to do now. The way to that knowledge is by avoiding that which is unreal, unconducive, unfulfilling; that which does not permanently rehabilitate our hearts.

Up to a certain point, it is alright to praise an aspect of it since we do not have complete cognizance of rabb. If we are true to ourselves, we aim for the ultimate in everything. We only want to praise the Ultimate.

Real praise belongs only to the Lord-sustainer, and that which sustains the foundation of Tawheed (Unity). When you say, Al hamdu lilla, you are only stating the fact that praise is indeed for Allah. Furthermore, you are only able to praise in the first place because you mirror Allah and His Attributes, since you are the created being, having been created by the Creator, Allah. When you abuse the use of hamd, instead of shukr, you reveal your own shatteredness, for if you have truly witnessed that, La ilaha il Allah, you will understand that Allah's mercy comes not only in bast, expansion, but also in qabd, constriction, and you will recognize that above all else Allah is truly ar Rahman ar Rahim, so that every state reflects the mercy of Allah. This explains why it says: Al hamdu lillahi rabb il alamin, Alamin, encompasses all states, all worlds, in the seen and the unseen, in sleep and in wakefulness, here and in the hereafter.

The man of greater perception sees the rabb, Sustainer, even in times of constriction. To use hamd as an expression of a mood or feeling is shirk. Praise is for Allah at all times and under all circumstances. Hamd does not allow for the separation between you as a praise giver and the object of praise: you merely echo hamd.

Ar-Rahman ar-Rahim
The characteristics of the Lord whom we love and adore are ar-Rahman ar-Rahim, the all-beneficent, the all-compassionate. There is only mercy, but we do not see it because of our ignorance, expectations, and desires which only arise from the use of our intellect. Was the mercy not there when you were in your mother's womb? You stayed there for nine months and yet you were unequivocally content. It is the mercy of Creation that we are able to die, so that there may be breathing and standing space for others to come. It is only we who interfere. It is the ego, the nafs, the vanity of expectation which frustrates and sabotages our recognition of Allah's mercy. It is the evil I which we hear whispering in our ear. Shaytan is only a name. He too is from the Creator. If you know how to tackle Shaytan, then you would see nothing other than ar-Rahman. There is a cult in the Middle East of some two to three million people that worship Shaytan. They say that we know the Lord through Shaytan, and that at the Yowm al Qiyama, Shaytan will be forgiven because he has been testing all the good ones and the bad ones. They say he will be the first to be forgiven. If you see anything other than mercy, it is your own doing. It is your own expectations, desires and illusions. You yourself are the author.

Maliki yowm ad Deen
Malik means owner, master. We come from the Owner. We own nothing, but are all owned. Yowm ad Deen: the day of the Deen. Yowm is not only a day, but also a span of time. Deen, life-transaction, finds its root in dana, to owe, be indebted to. It is the debt of man to want to recognize reality. It is incumbent upon everyone of us to know how to pay the debt upon us.
The deen with Allah is Islam. It is a life-transaction. Our way of behaving towards ourselves and towards others is deen. It is the way of correct transaction. But if you cannot discipline yourself, you cannot be of any use to anybody else. If interaction is not at least two-dimensional, nothing will work. You will only accumulate more wealth and cultivate more attachment. Eventually, you will be toppled over. Therefore, you have to exercise yourself in order to discipline yourself. The inner discipline begins with the outer discipline. This is the meaning of deen. The outer is easier because if you yourself do not stop from overshooting the limits, someone else will. It is the inner that is more difficult, so we start with the outer in order to gain the inner meaning. We go from the gross to the subtle.

Iyyaka na'budu wa iyyaka nasta'in
Once you recognize that you are in love and you are worshipping the rabb, you admit it openly, we worship You and we depend upon You. If you are worshipping and you are in love, then you are in adoration. Abada, is to worship, adore, serve, and in its second form, it means to make accessible. You depend upon the Merciful. This is only meaningful if there is knowledge, for otherwise it can be considered a tyranny.

Ihdina as Sirat al-Mustaqim
Show us the direct way. A straight line is the shortest distance between two points. A straight line is also one point traveling in only one direction. Therefore, you ask to be shown the most direct route towards this knowledge.

Sirat al ladhina an'amta 'aleyhimGhayr il maghdhubi 'aleyhim wa`l ad dalin
Sirat al ladhina an'amta 'aleyhim, is the way of those upon whom delight has been bestowed, not those upon whom anger burns, Na'ma is delight, happiness. There is no anger in this life. If you do not see mercy, then you have brought darkness upon yourself. Your ignorance is not the fault of someone else. If you do something inane and as a consequence harm comes to you, then Reality is angry with you, angry in the sense that you are not in unification with it. Anger implies a high degree of discontent on the part of one entity with another, which leads to severing of the relationship between the two.

There is only Allah. There is only Reality. Consequently, there is no place for superstition. It is you who decide whether Allah is angry with you. Rahma must encompass everything. Your loss is, in fact, within that rahma. The condition you are in is appropriate because you have brought it about by your heart. This is cosmos, not chaos. It is total ecology. As human beings, we are all occasionally at a loss and often unsure. It is for this reason that we have to keep healthy and correct companionship. Existentially, we need guidance.

Surat al Fatiha can be divided into three sections. The first section includes the opening line up to Maliki yowm ad Deen. It is an exposition of reality. You find yourself awakened suddenly and you say: I am in gratitude, praise to Allah, Who has these attributes. You are inspired after having been in wilderness and bewilderment, so you say, Al hamdu lillahi rabb al 'alamin, out of contentment and sanity. In the next section, (from Iyyaka na'budu wa iyyaka nastain to Ihdina as-Sirat al-Mustaqim), you are the adorer, the abd. This now is transaction and demand. It is a request, it is action. In this section the heart cries out. The third part is like the echo of reality in order to confirm what you are saying and to answer your question.

Surat al Fatiha is the most important Sura in the Qur`an. If it is completely absorbed, and if every word comes from a pure heart, you will cease to talk about opening and you will recognize that the vastness of Allah's mercy is never-ending, so you can only strive to increase, for after the constriction of ignorance, there can only come the expansion of knowledge.

End of the Surah

Knowledge Of Self

From The Alchemy Of Happines - Imam Ghazali

Knowledge of self is the key to the knowledge of God, according to the saying: "He who knows himself knows God," and, as it is written in the Koran, "We will show them Our signs in the world and in themselves, that the truth may be manifest to them." Now nothing is nearer to thee than thyself, and if thou knowest not thyself how canst thou know anything else? If thou sayest "I know myself," meaning thy outward shape, body, face, limbs, and so forth, such knowledge can never be a key to the knowledge of God. Nor, if thy knowledge as to that which is within only extends so far, that when thou art hungry thou eatest, and when thou art angry thou attackest someone, wilt thou progress any further in this path, for the beasts are thy partners in this? But real self-knowledge consists in knowing the following things: What art thou in thyself, and from whence hast thou come? Whither art thou going, and for what purpose hast thou come to tarry here awhile, and in what does thy real happiness and misery consist? Some of thy attributes are those of animals, some of devils, and some of angels, and thou hast to find out to which of these attributes are accidental and which essential. Till thou knowest this, thou canst not find out where thy real happiness lies. The occupation of animals is eating, sleeping, and fighting; therefore, if thou art an animal, busy thyself in these things. Devils are busy in stirring up mischief, and in guile and deceit; if thou belongest to them, do their work. Angels contemplate the beauty of God, and are entirely free from animal qualities, if thou art of angelic nature, then strive towards thine origin, that thou mayest know and contemplate the Most High, and be delivered from the thraldom of lust and anger. Thou shouldest also discover why thou hast been created with these two animal instincts: whether that they should subdue and lead thee captive, or whether that thou shouldest subdue them, and, in thy upward progress, make of one thy steed and of the other thy weapon.

The first step to self-knowledge is to know that thou art composed of an outward shape, called the body, and an inward entity called the heart, or soul. By "heart" I do not mean the piece of flesh situated in the left of our bodies, but that which uses all the other faculties as its instruments and servants. In truth it does not belong to the visible world, but to the invisible, and has come into this world as a traveller visits a foreign country for the sake of merchandise, and will presently return to its native land. It is the knowledge of this entity and its attributes which is the key to the knowledge of God.

Some idea of the reality of the heart. or spirit, may be obtained by a man closing his eyes and forgetting everything around except his individuality. He will thus also obtain a glimpse of the unending nature of that individuality. Too close inquiry, however, into the essence of spirit is forbidden by the Law. In the Koran it is written: "They will question thee concerning the spirit. Say: 'The Spirit comes by the command of my Lord'." Thus much is known of it that it is an indivisible essence belonging to the world of decrees, and that it is not from everlasting, but created. An exact philosophical knowledge of the spirit is not a necessary preliminary to walking in the path of religion, but comes rather as the result of self-discipline and perseverance in that path, as it is said in the Koran: "Those who strive in Our way, verily We will guide them to the right paths."

For the carrying on of this spiritual warfare by which the knowledge of oneself and of God is to be obtained, the body may be figured as a kingdom, the soul as its king, and the different senses and faculties as constituting an army. Reason may be called the vizier, or prime minister, passion the revenue collector, and anger the police officer. Under the guise of collecting revenue, passion is continually prone to plunder on its own account, while resentment is always inclined to harshness and extreme severity. Both of these the revenue collector and the police officer, have to be kept in due subordination to the king, but not killed or excelled, as they have their own proper functions to fulfil. But if passion and resentment master reason, the ruin of the soul infallibly ensues. A soul which allows its lower faculties to dominate the higher is as one who should hand over an angel to the power of a dog or a Mussalman to the tyranny of an unbeliever. The cultivation of demonic, animal or angelic qualities results in the production of corresponding characters, which in the Day of Judgement will be manifested in visible shapes, the sensual appearing as swine, the ferocious as dogs and wolves, and the pure as angels. The aim of moral discipline is to purify the heart from the rust of passion and resentment, till, like a clear mirror, it reflects the light of God.

Someone may here object, "But if man has been created with animal and demonic qualities as well as angelic, how are we to know that the latter constitute his real essence, while the former are merely accidental and transitory?" To this I answer that the essence of each creature is to be sought in that which is highest in it and peculiar to it. Thus the horse and the ass are both burden-bearing animals, but the superiority of the horse to the ass consists in its being adapted for use in battle. If it fails in this, it becomes degraded to the rank of burden-bearing animals. Similarly with man: the highest faculty in him is reason, which fits him for the contemplation of God. If this predominates in him, when he dies, he leaves behind him all tendencies to passion and resentment, and becomes capable of association with angels. As regards his mere animal qualities, man is inferior to many animals, but reason makes him superior to them, as it is written in the Koran: "To man We have subjected all things in the earth." But if his lower tendencies have triumphed, after death be will ever be looking towards the earth and longing for earthly delights.

Now the rational soul in man abounds in marvels, both of knowledge and power. By means of it he masters arts and sciences, can pass in a flash from earth to heaven and back again, can map out the skies and measure the distances between the stars. By it also he can draw the fish from the sea and the birds from the air, and can subdue to his service animals like the elephant, the camel, and the horse. His five senses are like five doors opening on the external world; but, more wonderful than this, his heart has a window which opens on the unseen world of spirits. In the state of sleep, when the avenues of the senses are closed, this window is opened and man receives impressions from the unseen world and sometimes fore-shadowings of the future. His heart is then like a mirror which reflects what is pictured in the Tablet of Fate. But, even in sleep, thoughts of worldly things dull this mirror, so that the impression it receives are not clear. After death, however, such thoughts vanish and things are seen in their naked reality, and the saying in the Koran is fulfilled: "We have stripped the veil from off thee and thy sight today is keen."

This opening of a window in the heart towards the unseen also takes place in conditions approaching those of prophetic inspiration, when intuitions spring up in the mind unconveyed through any sense-channel. The more a man purifies himself from fleshly lusts and concentrates his mind on God, the more conscious will he be of such intuitions. Those who are not conscious of them have no right to deny their reality.

Nor are such intuitions confined only to those of prophetic rank. Just as iron, by sufficient polishing can be made into a mirror, so any mind by due discipline can be rendered receptive of such impressions. It was at this truth the Prophet hinted when he said, "Every child is born with a predisposition towards Islam; then his parents make a Jew, or a Christian, or a star worshipper of him." Every human being has in the depths of his consciousness heard the question "Am I not your Lord?" and answered "Yes" to it. But some hearts are like mirrors so befouled with rust and dirt that they give no clear reflections, while those of the prophets and saints, though they are men "of like passions with us" are extremely sensitive to all divine impressions.

Nor is it only by reason of knowledge acquired and intuitive that the soul of man holds the first rank among created things, but also by reason of power. Just as angels preside over the elements, so does the soul rule the members of the body. Those souls which attain a special degree of power not only rule their own body but those of others also. If they wish a sick man to recover he recovers, or a person in health to fall ill he becomes ill, or if they will the presence of a person he comes to them. According as the effects produced by these powerful souls are good or bad they are termed miracles or sorceries. These souls differ from common folk in three ways: (1) What others only see in dreams they see in their waking moments. (2) While others' wills only affect their own bodies, these, by will-power, can move bodies extraneous to themselves. (3) The knowledge which others acquire by laborious learning comes to them by intuition.

These three, of course, are not the only marks which differentiate them from common people, but the only ones that come within our cognizance. Just as no one knows the real nature of God but God Himself, so no one knows the real nature of a prophet but a prophet. Nor is this to be wondered at, as in everyday matters we see that it is impossible to explain the charm of poetry to one whose ear is insusceptible of cadence and rhythm, or the glories of colour to one who is stone-blind. Besides mere incapacity, there are other hindrances to the attainment of spiritual truth. One of these is externally acquired knowledge. To use a figure, the heart may be represented as a well, and the five senses as five streams which are continually conveying water to it. In order to find out the real contents of the heart these streams must be stopped for a time, at any rate, and the refuse they have brought with them must be cleared out of the well. In other words, if we are to arrive at pure spiritual truth, we must put away, for the time knowledge which has been acquired by external processes and which too often hardens into dogmatic prejudice.

A mistake of an opposite kind is made by shallow people who, echoing some phrases which they have caught from Sufi teachers, go about decrying all knowledge. This is as if a person who was not an adept in alchemy were to go about saying, "Alchemy is better than gold," and were to refuse gold when it was offered to him. Alchemy is better than gold, but real alchemists are very rare, and so are real Sufis. He who has a mere smattering of Sufism is not superior to a learned man, any more than he who has tried a few experiments in alchemy has ground for despising a rich man.
Anyone who will look into the matter will see that happiness is necessarily linked with the knowledge of God. Each faculty of ours delights in that for which it was created: lust delights in accomplishing desire, anger in taking vengeance, the eye in seeing beautiful objects, and the ear in hearing harmonious sounds. The highest function of the soul of man is the perception of truth; in this accordingly it finds its special delight. Even in trifling matters, such as learning chess, this holds good, and the higher the subject matter of the knowledge obtained the greater the delight. A man would be pleased at being admitted into the confidence of a prime minister, but how much more if the king makes an intimate of him and discloses state secrets to him!

An astronomer who, by his knowledge, can map the stars and describe their courses, derives more pleasure from his knowledge than the chess player from his. Seeing, then, that nothing is higher than God, how great must be the delight which springs from the true knowledge of Him! A person in whom the desire for this knowledge has disappeared is like one who has lost his appetite for healthy food, or who prefers feeding on clay to eating bread. All bodily appetites perish at death with the organs they use, but the soul dies not, and retains whatever knowledge of God it possesses; nay increases it.

An important part of our knowledge of God arises from the study and contemplation of our own bodies, which reveal to us the power, wisdom, and love of the Creator. His power, in that from a mere drop He has built up the wonderful frame of man; His wisdom is revealed in its intricacies and the mutual adaptability of its parts; and His love is shown by His not only supplying such organs as are absolutely necessary for existence, as the liver, the heart, and the brain, but those which are not absolutely necessary, as the hand, the foot, the tongue, and the eye. To these He has added, as ornaments, the blackness of the hair, the redness of lips, and the curve of the eyebrows.

Man has been truly termed a "microcosm," or little world in himself and the structure of his body should be studied not only by those who wish to become doctors, but by those who wish to attain to a more intimate knowledge of God, just as close study of the niceties and shades of language in a great poem reveals to us more and more of the genius of its author.

But, when all is said, the knowledge of the soul plays a more important part in leading to the knowledge of God than the knowledge of our body and the functions. The body may be compared to a steed and the soul to its rider; the body was created for the soul, the soul for the body. If a man knows not his own soul, which is the nearest thing to him, what is the use of his claiming to know others? It is as if a beggar who has not the wherewithal for a meal should claim to be able to feed a town.

In this chapter we have attempted, in some degree, to expound the greatness of man's soul. He who neglects it and suffers its capacities to rust or to degenerate must necessarily be the loser in this world and the next. The true greatness of man lies in his capacity for eternal progress, otherwise in this temporal sphere he is the weakest of all things, being subject to hunger, thirst, heat, cold, and sorrow. Those things he takes most delight in are often the most injurious to him, and those things which benefit him are not to be obtained without toil and trouble. As to his intellect, a slight disarrangement of matter in his brain is sufficient to destroy or madden him; as to his power, the sting of a wasp is sufficient to rob him of ease and sleep; as to his temper, he is upset by the loss of a sixpence; as to his beauty, he is little more than nauseous matter covered with a fair skin. Without frequent washing he becomes utterly repulsive and disgraceful.

In truth, man in this world is extremely weak and contemptible; it is only in the next that he will be of value, if by means of the "alchemy of happiness" he rises from the rank of beasts to that of angels. Otherwise his condition will be worse than the brutes, which perish and turn to dust. It is necessary for him, at the same time that he is conscious of his superiority as the climax of created things, to learn to know also his helplessness, as that too is one of the keys to the knowledge of God.

The Martyrdom of Hazrat El-Imam Sayyidina Husain

by Syed Mumtaz Ali

In Islam, it is binding on every Muslim to acknowledge Allah as the Sovereign, the Master, the King and the Absolute overlord in his moral, social, cultural, economic and political spheres of life.

The Holy Qur'an reiterates this fundamental doctrine repeatedly. I will quote only a few short verses:

"Say: I seek refuge in the Rabb (Lord) of mankind, the King of mankind." (114:1-2)

"Say: O Allah! Master of all the Kingship" (3:26)

"Is not Allah the best of all judges" (95:8)

"No one has the authority to pass judgment except Allah" (6:57)
"To Him belongs whatever is in the Heavens and in the Earth, and all that lies between them, and all that is beneath the soil" (20:6)

According to this principle, then, it follows that anyone who holds power and rules in accordance with the laws of Allah could undoubtedly be viceregent of the Supreme Ruler. In such a capacity, i.e., by virtue of his delegated authority, he will not be authorized to exercise any powers other than those delegated to him.

"It is He Who had made you viceregent on the earth" (35:39)

The Khaliphate granted by Allah to the faithful is the popular viceregency and it is not limited to any family, clan or race etc. And even in this context, the guiding principle that determines superiority of one individual over the other depends solely on his piousness and good moral character (taqwa) which serves as the sole criterion.

"Surely the noblest of you in the sight of Allah is he who is the most righteous" (49:13)

In view of this limitation on his authority and powers, the head of the state shall not function in an autocratic but in a consultative (shura) manner. He is required to discharge his duties in consultation with persons holding responsible positions in the government and with the elected representatives of the people. This fundamental principle that in an Islamic State, the government should be constituted and run in mutual consultation with people is clearly set out in the Qur'an. The Chapter which contains this verse is itself given the designated title/name of 'Al-shura'. Allah says in Ayat 38:

"Conduct their affairs with mutual consultation" (42:38)

This injunction has come to be known popularly in our times as the basic democratic principle of Islam. In his book, Introduction to Islam, Dr. M. Hamidullah elaborates this point in the following words:

"Islam attaches no importance to the external forms of government. It is satisfied if two conditions are fulfilled:

1. the well-being of man in both worlds is aimed at, and
2. the Shari'ah (Divine Law) is applied."

To further clarify, he states that "the constitutional question takes a secondary place and a republic, a monarchy, or a joint-rule, among other forms of government, are all valid in the Islamic Community."

When discussing the background and the turmoil that lead to the declaration by Amir Muawiya to appoint his son Yazid as his successor, we must bear this in mind that it was not the external form of government per se which alone caused Hazrat El-Imam Husain (Radhi Allahu Ta'ala Anhu) to take exception and vehemently oppose Yazid's succession after his father's death which occurred four years after his appointment as an heir-apparent or crown-prince was initially made.

It was the abuse of power by Yazid which made it impossible for Hazrat Imam Husain (Radhi Allahu Ta'ala Anhu)to put up with the prevailing state of affairs. Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely! It was indeed the absolutely corrupt power of hereditary monarchy which became the bone of contention because the indications and signs of such corruption had already become quite apparent. The beginning of the gradual decline of the moral fibre of the Islamic society was gaining a rapid momentum. As a matter of fact later developments proved it to be so. The tragic consequence was that Islam never recovered from that political epidemic and the creeping moral cancer.

Sovereignty of Allah was marginalised and the Rule of law was openly jeopardised. These two fundamental concepts received lip-service, and remained a mere theory. Everyone was aware of the fact that these human characteristics have been commonplace among monarchies throughout human history. Imam Husain (Radhi Allahu Ta'ala Anhu) had the wisdom, and the deep insight deep inside to recognize that the trends of corruption and gage the speed of the potential destruction. He felt he had to try to stop it at any cost. He knew it was his religious duty to follow Allah's Commands to try his best and leave the rest to Allah as the He clearly directs us all:

"These are the people who, if We establish them in the land, will establish Salah, (ritual service of worship) and pay Zakah, (religious dues) enjoin justice and forbid evils; the final decision of all affairs is in the hands of Allah" (22:41)

Hazrat Imam Husain (Radhi Allahu Ta'ala Anhu) had no difficulty in recognizing the fact that the breach of a Divine Trust (of governing people) placed in the hands of a ruler of an Islamic state was a very grave matter that could cause much irreparable harm to the Community and future generations.

Allah commands:

"Allah commands you to give back the trusts to their rightful owners, and when you judge between people, judge with fairness" (4:58-59)

Let me explain: Just as a servant is entrusted with certain property for which he is responsible to the master, the king or the ruler is entrusted with the care of the people and guarding their rights. Accordingly, in order to discharge his duties, he is responsible in the first place to Allah Who is the Real Master, and then to people in relation to whom he occupies a position of a servant.

The signs of grossly abusing the power and instances of nonchalant disregard of the terms of the sacred trust were becoming apparent for anyone to see.

For instance it was not difficult to observe that:

• politics was getting more and more devoid of morality and ethics.
• the king, the members of his family, the nobility and the governing class were being given preferential treatment and were often exempt from many routine religious or legal obligations.
• the king was becoming the master of the life, property and honour of his subjects - sovereignty of man was replacing sovereignty of Allah.
• justice, law and order were being replaced by oppression, disorder and injustice.
• a life of luxury, pomp and splendour was becoming the norm and the cherished goal.
• instead of encouraging people to fear Allah and obey the laws, strengthen their faith and conscience, they were being bought and sold through enticing offers of power, position and gold.
• distinctions between the haram and halal and the desirable and the doubtful were getting blurred; undesirable social activities were spreading like wildfire.

Granted that in the time under discussion these evils were not yet as fully developed as they did in later years. Nevertheless the trends were obvious to all those who cared about such things. The potential for total destruction of the true spirit of Islamic life was so very apparent.

However it was clear that the rulers were not really functioning as servants of humanity as they were supposed to. How then to deal with the flagrant breach of the divine trust?

The answer to this question is to be found in the Holy Qur'an which lays down the ground rules of a clear-cut policy:

"O you with Iman! Stand firmly for justice, giving witness for Allah, maybe therein your own loss, or of your parents or of your relations." (4:135)

And the basic philosophy of life, or philosophy of Shuhud (Martyrdom), if you will, has never been a hidden secret:

"Say you, 'Undoubtedly, my prayer, and my sacrifices, and my living and my dying are all for Allah, who is the Lord of all the worlds'" (6:162)

Allah Ta'ala clearly declares that:

"their mischief is more grievous than killing" (2:191),

and also:

"And obey not him whose hearts We have made neglectful of Our remembrance and who followed his own desires and whose affair exceeded the trust." (18:28)

Such are the clear instructions and guidelines for those who care to stand up to the bullies and try to reform the society. Evidently, to each according to his capacity and merit and piety.

People are free to interpret history in the light of their own conceptions of truth and fairness or in the darkness of their own narrow and biased mental blind spots. Some people may and some have actually interpreted Imam Husain's reactions and actions as mere acts of political nature. People with such a non-ideological, materialistic mind-set may also consider Hazrat El-Imam Husain's (Radhi Allahu Ta'ala Anhu) actions to be imprudent and unwise bravado in view of the heavy odds stacked against him.

In order to bring a reasonably fairness to this discussion, it is important to try to take into account some other relevant aspects of the total scenario. In this context, as the story unfolds according to various reports, two developments deserve to be briefly mentioned with their necessary background:

1. According to Tabari in Volume 6, page 226 (d. 923, a polyhistor whose works on the Holy Qur'an, the law and history are a marvel of erudition), El-Imam Husain received the news on his way towards Kufa that his emissary Muslim bin Aqeel was imprisoned and then slain by the authorities. This changed the whole picture. Imam Husain felt it necessary to inform all his companions about the devastating repercussions of this unexpected turn of events, particularly to those Beduins who, with a view to support him, had joined him on his way to Kufa. He then gave them all permission to leave him and return back if they so chose. Taking advantage of this offer, almost all the Beduins left and only those who had come with him all the way from Mecca stayed with him.
2. Tabari (Vol. 6, pg. 220) gives us an account of how Hazrat Imam Husain took the initiative at the appropriate time to offer the olive branch. Tabari's account is based on the report by El-Imam Sayyid Muhammad al-Baqar, the grandson of Hazrat El-Imam Husain (Radhi Allahu Ta'ala Anhu). According to this report (assuming this to be an accurate and a more reliable version, as there are other reports too), Imam Husain's offer contained three alternatives. He made it clear that any of the three options would be acceptable to him. The offer was:

1. Let me return back to where I came from, i.e., Mecca or Medina.
2. Let me go to Yazid.
3. Let me move out of here, out of your way, and proceed to the frontiers (where Jihad activities were in progress). Imam Husain made this offer to Umar bin Sa'd bin abi Waqqas, who accepted it and conveyed his acceptance to his superior, Ibn Ziad. The response from Ibn Ziad was in the negative. He insisted that Imam Husain must first take the oath of religions at his hand and only then Imam Husain's proposal would be considered. Whereupon, Imam Husain retorted: "No, by Allah No! This will never happen."

Now, the point to be born in mind is that Imam Husain did not hesitate to a) take appropriate steps to face the music and let people go freely, and b) explore reasonable, peaceful means of settling the dispute -- amicably and at the appropriate time!

After taking this into consideration, let us now resume the discussion of numerical superiority and the situation of tremendous odds which Imam Husain (Radhi Allahu Ta'ala Anhu) faced. Suffice to say that those who have high aims and lofty ideals know it very well that numerical superiority has never been a deterring factor for those who stand for the Truth. Here lies the greatness of Hazreat El-Imam Husain (Radhi Allahu Ta'ala Anhu) who stands a head and shoulders above his contemporaries: he chose to follow the most beautiful example of his own beloved grandfather, Sayyidina wa Mawlana Muhammad (Sallallahu 'alayhi wa Sallam) as well as the examples of so many other great reformers who started off with an even smaller minority -- a minority of no more than one!! As far as Hazrat Imam Husain (Radhi Allahu Ta'ala Anhu) was concerned, it was nothing but a religious act, a religious duty that had to be fulfilled even at the coast of his own life and the lives of his dear ones. He felt strongly that the mischief (fitnah) had to be nipped in the bud. This effort of his was quite in accord with the very aim of human society which is none other than a) controlling temptations towards mischief in an environment where it would be wiser to diminish the occasions in which such evil could occur, and b) remedying the damage already done.

Is it not an inherent human right of every child of Adam and Eve to enjoy the liberty of conscience to choose their own ideology and also defend their convictions? How then can Imam Husain (Radhi Allahu Ta'ala Anhu) be denied his right to defend his convictions and also to establish the fundamental Islamic doctrine of religious tolerance at the same time -- all in obedience to Allah's commands? Is it also not the case that every Muslim is duty bound to not only establish the Sovereignty of Allah on earth, but also to make it possible for everyone to exercise their liberty of conscience?

Let's all reiterate once again that there is no objective more meaningful than the cherished dedication to establish on earth Allah's Kingdom and His Sovereignty. Can anyone declare this philosophy of life and death in words which are more comprehensive than the beautiful Qur'anic exhortation:

"Say, my Salah (prayer) and my sacrifice and my living and my dying are all for Allah Who is the Lord of all the worlds" (6:162)

The Noble Life and Martyrdom of al-Imam Husayn (r.a.a.)

by Sheikh Muzaffer Ozak al-Jerrahi

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It was in the fourth year of the Hijra that our Master the venerable Husayn (r.a.a) came to adorn this world in Madinah the Pure, on the fifth day of Sha'ban. It was fifty nights after the birth of his brother, the venerable Imam Hasan (r.a.a.), that he was conceived in the womb of the noble Fatima (r.a.a.). It was none other than our Master, the glorious Messenger, who performed the ritual of inserting his blessed saliva into the newborn baby's mouth. It was his blessed lips that recited the Call to Prayer in the infant's ear, prayed for him and gave him the exalted name Husayn when he was seven days old. It was he who made the sacrifice for his gandson at the time of the naming ceremony.

The venerable Imam Husayn (r.a.a.) , so dearly loved by the glorious Messenger, was courageous and bold, learned, pious, eloquent, fluent, and concise, and fine and moving speaker, in every respect pleasing to let Lord, in Whom he placed all his trust. According to Hazrat Abu Hurayra, the Messenger to Men and Jinn would use words like: " Where is the tiny fellow?" when looking for the venerable Husayn as he sat in his noble Masjid. The venerable Husayn would come running immediately, sit on our Master's lap, hug him affectionately, then run his fingers through the blessed beard of the noble Messenger. The King of Ambiya would then kiss the venerable Husayn, saying: "O my Lord, I love this child. May You also love my Husayn and those who love him."

Once, after the blessed time of the Nabi, the venerable 'Abdullah bin 'Umar was sitting in the shade of the honored Ka'ba when he saw our Master, the venerable Husayn, approaching. Turning to those at his side, he said: "Here comes the person most dear to those in heaven of all the people on earth." As he said these words he pointed to the venerable Husayn.

Pressing himself against the honored Ka'ba, Imam Husayn communed with Allah, the Lord of Glory, saying: "My God, You have blessed me with Your bounties in abundance yet You have found me ungrateful. O Lord, You have put me to the test, yet You have found me impatient. In spite of my ingratitude, You have not deprived me; in spite of my impatience, You have not prolonged my hardship. My God, nothing but grace and generosity flows from the All-Generous."

He always accompanied and served his noble father, Imam 'Ali, while he was in Madinah the Illuminated. He also went with him to Kufa. He fought alongside his revered father in all his battles and stood by him constantly until his martyrdom. After that he was with his brother, the venerable Hasan. After the latter resigned from the Khalifate, he returned to Madinah the Illuminated where he stayed until the year 60 of the Hijra, near the fragrant resting place of his noble grandfather, the Final Prophet.

According to Imam Suyuti: "In the year 60, the people of Syria paid homage to Yazid. Yazid sent men to Madinah the Illuminated to call on the people there to pay homage to him also. Imam Hasan, Ibn 'Umar, and Abdullah bin al-Zubayr, may Allah be pleased with them all, refused to pay allegiance to Yazid. Abdullah bin 'Umar said: "I shall not pay homage to Yazid as long as there is no general consensus to give him allegiance." That same night he left Madinah the Illuminated and moved to Makkah the Ennobled.

Abdullah bin al-Zubayr would neither pay homage to Yazid himself nor call on other people to do so.

As for the venerable Imam Husayn, since he had been appointed heir to the throne of Yazid's father, he was invited by the people of Kufa. The Kufans kept writing letters urging him to come to their city. In spite of this the noble Imam neither accepted their invitation nor agreed with the Kufans' line of action. Since homage had been paid to Yazid, he was faced with making a decision either to stay as he was or to respond to the Kufans' invitation. He was finding it impossible to decide where his duty lay. He eventually consulted Ibn Zubayr, who advised him to accept the invitation of the Kufans.

The venerable Ibn 'Abbas, however saw things differently: "Beware of accepting Kufans' invitation, O Imam," said he. "The Kufans betrayed both your father Imam 'Ali and your elder brother, Imam Hasan. The people of Kufa are not to be taken at their word."

Abdullah bin 'Umar also advised him to beware of leaving Madinah the Illuminated. However, what had been divinely decreed would come to pass. Imam Husayn had decided to go to Iraq. The venerable Ibn 'Abbas implored him not to go but he could not persuade the venerable Imam to change his mind. "O Husayn," he pleaded, "I swear by Allah that you are likely to be slain like venerable 'Uthman in the midst of your own family." When this was of no avail, Ibn 'Abbas said: "O Husayn, by going to Iraq, you are leaving the Hijaz to Ibn al-Zubayr." Still he could not sway the venerable Imam, whose resolve was unshakable. He could not abandon the Community of Muhammad to a depraved ruler.

Meanwhile, the people of Iraq were sending a stream of couriers with letters of invitation. Finally, on the tenth of Dhul-Hijja, the venerable Husayn set out from Makkah the Enobled with his family and retinue and started on the road to Iraq. Several members of the Prophet's household traveled with him.

In reality the people who invited the venerable Husayn to Iraq were the mischiefmakers working for the cause of Yazid. When Yazid the Damned heard of his departure for Iraq, he sent written orders to Ubaydullah ibn Zayyad, commanding him to take military action against the venerable Husayn. On receiving these orders from Yazid, the accursed Ibn Zayyad dispatched four thousand troops, under the command of 'Umar bin Sa'd, against the venerable Imam.

As for the people of Kufa, they gave the venerable Imam no more help than they had given his father before him. Indeed, they did not even attempt to join him. Some of the Kufans who had invited him to Iraq were actually enrolled among the four thousand troops sent to oppose the venerable Husayn.

Seeing himself surrounded by four thousand armed soldiers, the venerable Imam Husayn made it known that he was willing to return to Hijaz in order to save his people from being cursed because of his murder, but he said that the proper course was either to pay homage to Yazid or else risk battle. Rejecting the idea of returning to the Hijaz, he entered the fray. The die was cast and there was no going back. They slew and martyred that beloved grandson of the Prince of the Universe, that dear child of Fatima, the best of women; they cut off his blessed head and brought it in a basin before the accursed Ibn Zayyad.

Surely the curse of Allah falls upon evildoers. [Holy Qur'an, 11:18]

Surely we belong to Allah and to Him we are returning. [Holy Qur'an 2:156]

It is said that when Hazrat Imam Husayn (r.a.a) knew for sure that the approaching army would do battle with him, he gathered his companions and the members of the Prophet's household and delivered this brief sermon:

"Praise and thanks to the Lord Allah and blessings and peace upon the noble Messenger...

"O my companions, relatives, friends and fellow members of the Prophet's household (a.k.a. Ahlul Bayt)! You see the state of affairs we have reached. This world has changed and turned its face from us. Its goodness has retreated and very evil days lie before us. You must surely see that the truth is no longer put into practice. Falsehood is by no means at an end. Let those who are believers desire to meet Allah. For me there is no doubt that death is a blessing. I count it a crime to live in the company of tyrants."

May Allah be pleased with him and make him pleased.

His martyrdom occurred on the day of 'Ashura, the tenth of Muharram of the year 60, at a place in Iraq called Karbala, which lies between Hilla and Kufa. Martyred with him on that day were twenty-three members of the his household. These twenty three victims came of the pure line of our Master, the noble Messenger, and were close relatives of the revered Prophet. Among those martyred were cousins of our blessed Master, children of the venerable Hasan and the infant children of our Master the venerable Husayn, except for his son, Zayn al-'Abidin. The tears of the ladies of the Prophet's household flowed like the Nile and Euphrates and their sighs reached the Throne-on-High and made the soul of Fatima the Radiant weep. They distressed the blessed soul of the Prophet and threw the angels and jinn into mourning.

When her noble brother Husayn was martyred, Zaynab screamed through her tears at the cruel murderer: "You tyrants! You do not know what you have done, whom you have martyred and whom you have caused to weep. How will you answer the glorious Prophet if he asks you on the coming Day of Resurrection: "What did you do to the people of my household and to my children after I was gone? Some of you made captive, some you enslaved and some you steeped in crimson blood. How will you look him in the face and how can you expect his intercession if he says: 'Is this how you display your gratitude to your Prophet? Is this how you show your affection?' Will you not be ashamed of yourselves if he says: Would you dare to drink from the fount of the Messenger, when you condemned the people of my household to go thirsty and refused a single drop of water to my beloved Husayn and his Innocents?' "

On those roads, in those deserts throughout those lonely wastes, Houries and jinn bewail poor Zaynab's fate.

On the night when Imam Husayn was martyred, our Mother Umm Salama, may Allah be pleased with her, dreamt that she saw the most Noble Messenger looking sorrowful and sad. She asked the reason for his grief and received this reply: "O Umm Salama, they have martyred my Husayn, that is why I am full of sorrow and despair."

Such cruelty the turning spheres had ever known The glorious Messenger was in despair there by the most high Throne

The venerable Ibn 'Abbas had a vision in the middle of the day, in which he say our blessed Master holding a bottle full of blood. "What blood is that, O Messenger of Allah?" he asked. The answer came: "This is the blood and tears of my Husayn and the people of my household. I am gathering from the ground the blood and tears they shed this day." The venerable Ibn 'Abbas checked the date and found that his vision had occurred on the day when the venerable Husayn was martyred.

Our Mother, the venerable Umm Salama, said: "I heard the jinn weeping and mourning the venerable Husayn."

We should not be surprised to hear that the very jinn wept at the martyrdom of Imam Husayn. All the angels in heaven and earth were weeping. Sun, moon, stars, and all the heavenly bodies trembled and made moan for the fear of Allah.

How beautiful are these words of Sayyid Jalil Shihab al-Din Ahmad ibn Rufa'i in his elegy for the venerable Husayn: "Heaven and earth wept for the martyr cruelly wronged, as he lay with his radiant countanance all stained with blood. The blessed hands of Imam Husayn, so thirsty when he fell a martyr by the sword, were powerful enough to make the oceans flow."

While people at the Resurrection drink Kawthar's water from Haydar's hand You lie a thirsty martyr, O Husayn, in Karbala's desert sand.

Even as the treacherous Shimr was pinning him down and preparing to make him a martyr, Imam Husayn addressed these words to the man who refused him water: "You made me and my children wander thirsty in these desert wastes. You gave me no water and I know better than to expect any from you. But at least give my children a drop to drink, so that I may forgive you for the great wrong you have done to us."

The brigand's only reply was to say: "If the earth and sky were full of water, I would not give one drop to you and your children."

The venerable Imam Husayn then said to the accursed Shimr: "You have denied me water and refused my children even one drop. But at the Place of Resurrection we shall not sink to your level by letting you go thirsty. For the owner of Kawthar is my grandfather and the waterbearer of the fountain in Paradise if my father."

He then quickly kicked the ground, from which a crystal spring burst forth. Pointing to this water, he said to the accursed Shimr, whose eyes had opened wide in amazement: "Now you see the quality of our patience. We have only suffered like this in order to teach the Community and make them understand that they must be prepared to sacrifice everything they have, when they engage in a necessary struggle agains the tyrannical and the corrupt. Otherwise, water was at our command. If we had wished, we could have drawn it up and drunk it before now. We refrained from doing so, however, in order to set the Community of Muhammad and example of self-sacrifice." As soon as he had uttered these words, the wine of martyrdom quenched his thirst.

O Lord, do not deprive us of the Intercession of Husayn...

The accursed Ibn Zayyad sent the blessed head of our Master Husayn to Yazid the Damned, who was safe and sound in Damascus, waiting impatiently for the fruits of his crime. Also sent to him were Imam Husayn's beloved son, Imam Zayn al-'Abidin, and the sister, the venerable Zaynab. The child and his aunt had been at Karbala that day, but they had been to sick to take part in the fighting and had somehow survived.

The ill-famed Yazid stuck that blessed head on a rod in his hand and dared to mock it, carry disrespect for the Messenger's family to an extreme degreee. He appeared enormously pleased with his criminal act, never thinking that he would be damned and cursed till the Day of Resurrection, not only by all the Muslims but by all men od conscience and common sense.

Even this did not satisfy Yazid. He gave orders for the blessed head to be exhibited throughout the lands of Islam. Only when he heard of the discontent expressed by all the Muslims when they heard of the martyrdom of Imam Husayn, did he feel compelled to send the Imam's noble relatives back to Madinah in safety. The blessed head of the venerable Husayn was sent to 'Asqalan, where the local governer had it buried.

When Ascalon was captured much later by the Crusaders, a Fatimid vizier called Salih Tala'i paid a lot of money to buy the blessed head from them. He received it with a great military parade. He bored the blessed head of the venerable Husayn upon his own head, set it upon an ebony throne and wrapped it in green silk. He had a casket made out of solid gold and lined with musk. The blessed head was placed in this casket and laid to rest in a special mausoleum in the Mosque of Husayn, which that vizier had built in Cairo. Despite the inevitable differences of opinion about what did actually become of that blessed head, the great saints and most Sufis maintain that it does indeed repose in Masjid al-Husayn in Cairo, where it is visited every day by the Qutb (Cardinal Saint) of our age.

The Spirit of Imam Husain's Martyrdom

Nature of Umayyad Rule

To illustrate a few points, it may be stated that the Umayyad’s rule was unIslamic. Any rule which is based on force and violence can never be Islamic. The Umayyads crushed the spirit of democratic freedom. They laid the foundation of their authority on unscrupulous tactics and coercive methods instead of on mutual consultation and Ijma’ (Consensus). The Umayyad state craft did not follow the Shari’ah in total, but it was motivated merely by lust of power and political ends. Such a serious menace to the basic values of Islam demanded a heroic struggled against arbitration and a crusade for the vindication of truth and freedom.

Imam Husain’s character as a Mu’min

These were the changes that appeared in the wake of converting the Islamic Khulafat into dynastic imperialism. No one can deny that Yazid’s nomination as successor to his father was the starting point of all these transformation. It cannot be gainsaid that after a short span of time from the point of origin all the corrupt practices mentioned above came into existence. At the time when this revolutionary step was adopted, there was no indication of these evils, but a man of vision could have predicted these inevitable consequences of such a beginning and that the reforms introduced by Islam in the administration and political phases of the state would be rendered null and void by these charges. This is the reason why Imam Husain (Alaihis salam) could not remain indifferent to this undesirable development. He, therefore, decided to stem the tide of the evil forces taking the risk of confronting the worst consequences by rising the revolt against an established government. The consequences of his bold stand are known to every one. The fact which Imam Husain (Alaihis salam) wanted to emphasize by plunging himself into grave danger and enduring its consequences heroically was that the fundamental features of the Islamic State are valuable assets. It would not be a bad bargain, if a believer sacrificed his life and get his family members slain for preserving this valuable object. A believer should not hesitate to sacrifice all that he possesses for preventing the changes which constitute a serious danger to the religion of al-Islam and the Muslim Community which is a custodian of the constitutional values. One is at liberty to contemptuously disregard it as merely a maneuver for securing power, but in the eyes of Imam Husain bin Ali (Alaihis salam), it was primarily a religious obligation. He, therefore, laid down his life in this cause gaining the crown of martyrdom.

Imam Husain’s Role

Imam Husain (Alaihis salam), Sayyid-ush-Shuhadaa, initiated the holy war against the oppressive regime of the Umayyads and refused to take the oath of allegiance to that authority. It is a sacred legacy bequeathed to posterity by Imam Husain (Alaihis salam) that Muslims should never submit to any authority which defies the Divine Law, maintains itself by force and foists it arbitrary decisions on the people at the cost of inherent freedom. The struggle in this cause does not necessitate mobilization of men, money and material on the scaled possessed by the hostile temporal authority. Husain bin Ali (Alaihis salam) did not possess the sinews of war. He had the support of only a small band of helpless and un-armed individuals. A person entrenched in righteousness and truth does not care for consequences. The outcome of the struggle lies in the hands of the power that is always on the side of Justice and Truth. Cruelty eventually suffers a set back, gains despair and despondency despite its overwhelming superiority in number and resources. On such occasions, one surrenders to considerations of expediency through the agony of the accursed Shaitan who creates doubt in the mind of defenders of Truth whether the result is worth achieving at cost of much bloodshed. This can very easily be contradicted. Apart from numerous instances of Jihad, there is the event of Karbala that is a glaring example of a fight heroically fought by 62-72 scantily armed persons against the massive forces of a formidable state. It is true that Imam Husain (Alaihis salam) saw his kith and kin in utter distress suffering the agonies of hunger and thirst; witnessed each and every one of them writhing in dust and blood one after the other; it is also a fact that he did not even possess the force to wrest a morsel of bread from the enemy sufficient for their survival, but he eventually surrendered himself to the Supreme Being, sustaining grave injuries all over his body. However he came out successfully in the test. His wounded head was adorned with the crown of victory.

Imam Husain’s Martyrdom and Humanity

Now the question arises whether Imam Husain’s martyrdom was only the result of his attempt to seize the throne and the sympathy it evokes in the readers is the natural reaction to a splendid failure? Or, is this merely the recalcitrant attitude or unscrupulous policy of a short tempered leader who, by chance, happened to be the grandson of their beloved Nabi (Sallallahu ‘alayhi wa Aalihi wa Sallam) and solely on this account, do they come out for his defense. Whether this is a heart-rending story of the ruthless and brutal destruction of a weak party, the narration of which induces you to burst into tears? The history of the world provides a number of instances appealing to our sympathy. It is so much replete with individual and collective incidents of failure and frustration, on one hand, and those of cruelty and barbarism, on the other, that the world will not be particularly impressed with the tragic episode of Imam Husain (Alaihis salam). No! Imam Husain’s story does not purport to be anything of this kind. It is in the main, a story of human dignity; a tale of revealing the essential nobility of man; an account of a man’s ascent to the peak of grandeur. It presents a lofty deal of individual and collective human life; it is a mile-stone in the long journey from beastly slavery to human freedom; it is a proclamation of Allah’s Kingdom in this ephemeral world; it is an irrefutable proof of the possibility of its establishment among human being; it is a beacon light which guides humanity to perfection. Whenever evil forces make a bid to put out this light with their breath, the monumental performance of Imam Husain (Alaihis salam) intensifies its refulgence. When humanity falters in adhering to the path of truth and freedom, the example set up by Imam Husain (Alaihis salam) gives it a support and comes to its rescue. When the tyrants proud of their wealth, power, and authority harass the unassuming and helpless followers of Truth and when the incessant failure of the champions of truth cast doubt upon the validity of its claim, Imam Husain’s heroic stand in its cause teaches them the lesson of perseverance and save them from falling a prey to despair and despondency. When the rising power of tyrants overawes the individual, Imam Husain’s example reminds him that the duty of stimulating resistance against brutal power ultimately devolves on him. It matters not if for making such an attempt, the enemy offers him a cup of poison, sends him to the gallows, stones him to death, or stains the earth with his blood. Imam Husain (Alaihis salam) brings this fact home to the worldly persons that “life” does not mean just living, no matter how. He asserts that life sometimes means to live and sometimes to surrender it.

Real Object of Imam Husain’s Sacrifice

Every year, in the month of Muharram, millions of Muslims mourn Imam Husain’s martyrdom. It is regretable that among those mourners, there are very few persons who focus their attention on the real cause for which Imam Husain (Alaihis salam) not only sacrificed his own life, but also the lives of his kith and kin. It is but natural for the adherents and devoted followers of a man to feel grieved at his martyrdom. This sort of sentiment does not carry much of moral value; it is nothing but a spontaneous reaction of the mind of his relations and sympathizers. But the point at issue is what is the special feather of Imam Husain’s martyrdom that keeps the grief for him afresh although about 1,400 years have elapsed since this tragic event took place. If the martyrdom is not associated with any high ideal, it is meaningless to say that the mourning continues for centuries on personal grounds. If viewed in correct perspective, one may well ask what value Imam Husain (Alaihis salam) himself would attach to such devotion. If his own person were dearer to him than any ideology or subject, why did he sacrifice it at all? His sacrifice is a conclusive proof that this object was dearer to him than his own life. If we do not have a clear idea of Imam Husain’s purpose, but continue lamentation at each anniversary of his martyrdom, we can neither expect any appreciation from Imam Husain (Alaihis salam) on the Day of Resurrection, nor will it have any value with his Allah.

Let us ask what was that ideal or object! Did Imam Husain (Alaihis salam) affirm his claim to succession to the Caliphate and did he stake his life to vindicate this claim? Any one who knows the high moral standard of Imam Husain’s household cannot harbor this vile notion that the members of such a sacred family could have caused bloodshed among the Muslims for gaining political power for themselves. If, for argument’s sake this viewpoint is taken for granted that members of Bani Hashim had a claim for power, even then the 50-year’s history, from Hazrat Abu Bakr’s (radiyallahu ‘anh) Caliphate down to the period of Hazrat Amir Mu’awiyah, bears evidence that waging war and causing bloodshed merely to seize power had never been their motive. As a logical corollary, one has to admit that Imam Husain’s keep eye discerned symptoms of decay and corruption in the system of the Islamic State, and the felt impelled to resist these evil forces. He even deemed it his duty to wage war in this connection, as the situation so warranted.

Fight Against Falsehood

Turn over the pages of history! The early period of Islam which is considered to be the best of all that has elapsed. Even the period of the true successors to the Holy Nabi (Sallallahu ‘alayhi wa Aalihi wa Sallam) has terminated. The age of the secular authority, viz., the period of autocratic government has been ushered in. In flagrant contravention to the Divine Authority, the Muslim kings look upon the state exchequer as their person property. In each Muslim State, the monarch fills his treasury with gold and unbelieverelry and with his political power reinforced by the power of money he forces this people to obey his arbitrary commands. Some people submit to him out of fear and others do so to gain their selfish ends with his help. There is always a hard core of steadfast Muslims who refuse to yield. The Nabi’s grandson, Imam Husain (Alaihis salam), falls in the last category. Persuasion, threats, and crafty measures were employed, but Imam Husain (Alaihis salam) remain adamant. How could Imam Husain (Alaihis salam), in whose veins the blood of Hazrat Ali, Sayyidah Fatimah (radiyallahu ‘anhuma), and Nabi Muhammad (Sallallahu ‘alayhi wa Aalihi wa Sallam) was pulsating, who was Allah-fearing, who had devotion for Truth, treat falsehood at par with Truth? Imam Husain (Alaihis salam) flatly refused to take bay’ah to Yazid. In effect, Husain (Alaihis salam) declared that Yazid’s authority, being in conflict with the Divine Authority, should not be obeyed by true Muslims. This was the first step in the direction of martyrdom.

He was driven out of his native place. He could not live in peace even in Makkah. He, therefore, resolved to migrate to Iraq. This amounted to a proclamation, on his part, that Yazid’s claim to authority in the Muslim State was untenable. The idea of submitting to Yazid was so repugnant to him that he decided to renounced the security and comforts of his homeland. This was the second step leading to martyrdom.

On his way to Kufa, at Karbala, Imam Husain (Alaihis salam) was intercepted by Yazid’s forces. The small band of his followers was surrounded by Yazid’s army. This was the last sacrifice and the final ordeal. He successfully passed the test. Each and everyone from amongst his relatives and companions were killed one after another. Children were slain. Finally, Imam Husain (Alaihis salam), with a mass of wounds and bruises fell down from his horse. His heart harbored and his lips uttered the belief that “There is no worthy of worship, except Allah and Absolute authority is vested in Him alone.” This was martyrdom, the sacrifice of one’s life for the vindication of Truth. Thirteen centuries have since elapsed, the example set up by Imam Husain ((Alaihis salam) gives and will continue to give evidence, till eternity that Command rests with Allah Ta’ala.

Whenever Divine Authority is respected, men will remember how the grandson of the greatest Benefactor of humanity sacrificed his life in defense of Truth. In future, when, with the increase of human knowledge, the obstacles to progress would be removed and men will be marching confidently to the goal of self-realization, they would surely recall the glorious sacrifice offered by Imam Husain (Alaihis salam) at the altar of Truth. When the human mind will be rid of ever fear except the fear of Allah, Imam Husain (Alaihis salam) will be accorded the respect which he deserves and men will often think how Sayyidah Fatimah’s (Alaihis salam) beloved son displayed the sublimity of obedience to Allah by the voluntary sacrifice of his own life. Then alone this helpless man will come into prominence as the ruler of rulers. This frustrated man would be regarded as the custodian of religion and faith. Once covered with blood and dust, his head will become the symbol of absolute submission to Divine Authority and fearless defiance of any other type of temporal power.

Morals of Imam Husain’s Performance

This exemplary conduct displayed by Imam Husain (Alaihis salam) teaches us not to care for consequences. If the temporal authority is aggressive, sacrifice on the part of followers of Truth becomes all the more essential. Numerical minority and majority, or the lack of resources should not deter them to continue their struggle. Grandeur of coercive government does not carry the seal of Divine approval that it should necessarily be obeyed. A truth-loving person has to face an oppressor whether weak or strong.

Adherence to Truth and Justice is, no doubt, and ordeal. At every step, there is diversion of attention due to attachment to one’s own life, honor and family. But Imam Husain’s lofty ideal teaches the believers and sincere followers of al-Islam that at the ver outset they should take stock of the strength of their resoluteness, so that these temptations may not prove a stumbling block immediately after embarking on that mission. Everyone knows that in the presence of various attachments, the great martyr of Karbala sacrificed his all at the altar of Truth. All the stages of ordeals are categorically described in the Holy Qur’an: Allah intends to test the believers by bringing them under the throes of various ordeals:

“And surely We shall try you with something of fear and hunger, and loss of wealth and lives and crops; but give glad tidings to the steadfast. Who say when a misfortune strikes them: Surely! We are from Allah and surely unto Him we are returning.” (Surah al-Baqarah, ayats 155, 156)

Fear and apprehension, hunger and thirst, love of wealth, property, life and progeny form an acid test for human beings, and as such, the sacrifice of these interests have been declared an ordeal in the cause of Allah.

The helpless hero of Karbala had all these stages, at a stretch. He could have got rid of them within a short span of time and secured relief, position, grandeur, had he only made a compromise with aggression government ignoring the dictates of Truth and Justice. Imam Husain (Alaihis salam) preferred Allah’s Will to his won personal choice. Devotion for Truth overcomes love for life and its luxuries. He laid down his life, being the only asset with the lover of Truth, but he never stretched his hand for taking bay’ah which could be extended only in the cause of Truth.

The most valuable lesson that can be deduced from this grave event is Sabr (perseverance) and determination in the cause of Jihad and Truth.

In spite of being helplessly besieged by enemy with members of family, relatives, and friends witnessing his own kith and kin wailing and shrieking with the intensity of thirst and hunger and later lifting with his own hands their bodies stained with blood. Imam Husain (Alaihis salam) never swerved from the path of truth, even for a moment. In short, he underwent these calamities, being tacitly grateful to Allah Ta’ala. Those who are surcharged with the intoxication of devotion and love willingly accept a cup of poison from the hands of their friends in preference to the cup of honey and elixir. Even today, every particle of the dust of Karbala gives the lesson of patience and endurance of those who keep their ears open to listen to its message.

Imam Husain (Alaihis salam) was the torchbearer of absolute values. He lived, fought, and sacrificed his life in defense of these ideals. He lit an ever-lasting beacon light for humanity by his heroic struggle for Truth and righteousness that could not be extinguished even after his death. The glorious example of his life enables mankind to purify the social life and checking the evil that brings corruption into the body politic. This light is a source of guidance in every walk of human life.