Imam Hussein (AS), light of Islam

Imam Hussein (AS) was Imam for a period of ten years, all but the last six months coinciding with the caliphate of Muawiyah.

Imam Hussein (AS) lived under the most difficult outward conditions of suppression and persecution. This was due to the fact that first of all, religious laws and regulations had lost much of their weight and credit, and the edicts of the Umayyad government had gained complete authority and power. Secondly, Muawiyah and his aides made use of every possible means to put aside and move out of the way the Household of the Prophet and the Shia, and thus obliterate the name of Ali (AS) and his family. And above all, Muawiyah wanted to strengthen the basis of the caliphate of his son, Yazid, who because of his lack of principles and scruples was opposed by a large group of Muslims. Therefore, in order to quell all opposition, Muawiyah had undertaken newer and more severe measures. By force and necessity Imam Hussein (AS) had to endure these days and to tolerate every kind of mental and spiritual agony and affliction from Muawiyah and his aides -- until in the middle of the year 60 AH Muawiyah died and his son Yazid took his place.

Paying allegiance (bay'ah) was an old Arab practice which was carried out in important matters such as that of kingship and governorship. Those who were ruled, and especially the well-known among them, would give their hand in allegiance, agreement and obedience to their king or prince and in this way would show their support for his actions.

Disagreement after allegiance was considered as disgrace and dishonor for a people and, like breaking an agreement after having signed it officially, it was considered as a definite crime. Following the example of the Holy Prophet (S), people believed that allegiance, when given by free will and not through force, carried authority and weight.

Muawiyah had asked the well-known among the people to give their allegiance to Yazid, but had not imposed this request upon Imam Hussein (AS). He had especially told Yazid in his last will that if Imam Hussein (AS) refused to pay allegiance he should pass over it in silence and overlook the matter, for he had understood correctly the disastrous consequences which would follow if the issue were to be pressed. But because of his egoism and recklessness, Yazid neglected his father's advice and immediately after the death of his father ordered the governor of Medina either to force a pledge of allegiance from Imam Hussein (AS) or send his head to Damascus.

After the governor of Medina informed Imam Hussein (AS) of this demand, the Imam, in order to think over the question, asked for a delay and overnight started with his family toward Mecca. He sought refuge in the sanctuary of God which in Islam is the official place of refuge and security. This event occurred toward the end of the month of Rajab and the beginning of Sha'ban of 60 AH.

For nearly four months Imam Hussein (AS) stayed in Mecca in refuge. This news spread throughout the Islamic world. On the one hand many people who were tired of the iniquities of Muawiyah's rule and were even more dissatisfied when Yazid became caliph, corresponded with Imam Hussein (AS) and expressed their sympathy for him. On the other hand a flood of letters began to flow, especially from Iraq and particularly the city of Kufa, inviting the Imam to go to Iraq and accept the leadership of the populace there with the aim of beginning an uprising to overcome injustice and iniquity.

Naturally such a situation was dangerous for Yazid.

The stay of Imam Hussein (AS) in Mecca continued until the season for pilgrimage when Muslims from all over the world poured in groups into Mecca in order to perform the rites of the hajj. The Imam discovered that some of the followers of Yazid had entered Mecca as pilgrims (hajjis) with the mission to kill the Imam during the rites of hajj with the arms they carried under their special pilgrimage dress (ihram).

The Imam shortened the pilgrimage rites and decided to leave.

Amidst the vast crowd of people he stood up and in a short speech announced that he was setting out for Iraq.

In this short speech he also declared that he would be martyred and asked Muslims to help him in attaining the goal he had in view and to offer their lives in the path of God. On the next day he set out with his family and a group of his companions for Iraq.

Imam Hussein (AS) was determined not to give his allegiance to Yazid and knew full well that he would be killed. He was aware that his death was inevitable in the face of the awesome military power of the Umayyad, supported as it was by corruption in certain sectors, spiritual decline, and lack of will power among the people, especially in Iraq. Some of the outstanding people of Mecca stood in the way of Imam Hussein (AS) and warned him of the danger of the move he was making. But he answered that he refused to pay allegiance and give his approval to a government of injustice and tyranny. He added that he knew that wherever he turned or went he would be killed. He would leave Mecca in order to preserve the respect for the house of God and not allow this respect to be destroyed by having his blood spilled there.

While on the way to Kufa and still a few days' journey away from the city, he received news that the agent of Yazid in Kufa had put to death the representative of the Imam in that city and also one of the Imam's determined supporters who was a well-known man in Kufa.

Their feet had been tied and they had been dragged through the streets.

The city and its surroundings were placed under strict observation and countless soldiers of the enemy were awaiting him. There was no way open to him but to march ahead and to face death. It was here that the Imam expressed his definitive determination to go ahead and be martyred; and so he continued on his journey.

Approximately seventy kilometers from Kufa, in a desert named Karbala, the Imam and his entourage were surrounded by the army of Yazid. For eight days they stayed in this spot during which the circle narrowed and the number of the enemy's army increased.

Finally the Imam, with his household and a small number of companions were encircled by an army of thirty thousand soldiers.

During these days the Imam fortified his position and made a final selection of his companions. At night he called his companions and during a short speech stated that there was nothing ahead but death and martyrdom. He added that since the enemy was concerned only with his person he would free them from all obligations so that anyone who wished could escape in the darkness of the night and save his life. Then he ordered the lights to be turned out and most of his companions, who had joined him for their own advantage, dispersed. Only a handful of those who loved the truth, about forty of his close aides and some of the Banu Hashim, remained.

Once again the Imam assembled those who were left and put them to a test. He addressed his companions and Hashemite relatives, saying again that the enemy was concerned only with his person. Each could benefit from the darkness of the night and escape the danger. But this time the faithful companions of the Imam answered each in his own way that they would not deviate for a moment from the path of truth of which the Imam was the leader and would never leave him alone. They said they would defend his household to the last drop of their blood and as long as they could carry a sword.

On the ninth day of the month the last challenge to choose between "allegiance or war" was made by the enemy to the Imam.

The Imam asked for a delay in order to worship overnight and became determined to enter battle on the next day.

On the tenth day of Muharram of the year 61 AH (680 CE), the Imam lined up before the enemy with his small band of followers, less than ninety persons consisting of forty of his companions thirty some members of the army of the enemy that joined him during the night and day of war, and his Hashemite family of children, brothers, nephews, nieces and cousins. That day they fought from morning until their final breath, and the Imam, the young Hashemites and the companions were all martyred. Among those killed were two children of Imam Hassan (AS), who were only thirteen and eleven years old; and a five-year-old child and a suckling baby of Imam Hussein (AS).

The army of the enemy, after ending the war, plundered the harem of the Imam and burned his tents. They decapitated the bodies of the martyrs, denuded them and threw them to the ground without burial. Then they moved the members of the harem, all of whom were helpless women and girls, along with the heads of the martyrs, to Kufa.

Among the prisoners there were three male members: a twenty-two-year-old son of Imam Hussein (AS) who was very ill and unable to move, namely Ali ibn Hussein (AS), the fourth Imam; his four-year-old son, Muhammad ibn Ali (AS), who became the fifth Imam; and finally Hassan Muthanna, the son of the second Imam who was also the son-in-law of Imam Hussein (AS) and who, having been wounded during the war, lay among the dead. They found him near death and through the intercession of one of the generals did not cut off his head. Rather, they took him with the prisoners to Kufa and from there to Damascus before Yazid.

The event of Karbala, the capture of the women and children of the Household of the Prophet (S), their being taken as prisoners from town to town and the speeches made by the daughter of Ali (AS), Zaynab (SA), and the fourth Imam who were among the prisoners, disgraced the Umayyads. Such abuse of the Household of the Prophet (S) annulled the propaganda which Muawiyah had carried out for years. The matter reached such proportions that Yazid in public disowned and condemned the actions of his agents. The event of Karbala was a major factor in the overthrow of Umayyad rule, although its effect was delayed. It also strengthened the roots of Shiaism. Among its immediate results were the revolts and rebellions combined with bloody wars which continued for twelve years. Among those who were instrumental in the death of the Imam not one was able to escape revenge and punishment.

Anyone who studies closely the history of the life of Imam Hussein (AS) and Yazid and the conditions that prevailed at that time, and analyzes this chapter of Islamic history, will have no doubt that in those circumstances there was no choice before Imam Hussein (AS) but to be killed. Swearing allegiance to Yazid would have meant publicly showing contempt for Islam, something which was not possible for the Imam, for Yazid not only showed no respect for Islam and its injunctions but also made a public demonstration of impudently treading under foot its basis and its laws. Those before him, even if they opposed religious injunctions, always did so in the guise of religion, and at least formally respected religion.

They took pride in being companions of the Holy Prophet (S) and the other religious figures in whom people believed. From this it can be concluded that the claim of some interpreters of these events is false when they say that the two brothers, Imam Hassan (AS) and Imam Hussein (AS), had two different tastes and that one chose the way of peace and the other the way of war, so that one brother made peace with Muawiyah although he had an army of forty thousand while the other went to war against Yazid with an army of forty. For we see that this same Imam Hussein (AS), who refused to pay allegiance to Yazid for one day lived for ten years under the rule of Muawiyah, in the same manner as his brother who also had endured for ten years under Muawiyah, without opposing him.

It must be said in truth that if Imam Hassan (AS) or Imam Hussein (AS) had fought Muawiyah they would have been killed without there being the least benefit for Islam.

Their deaths would have had no effect before the righteous-appearing policy of Muawiyah, a competent politician who emphasized his being a companion of the Holy Prophet (S), the "scribe of the revelation" and "uncle of the faithful" and who used every stratagem possible to preserve a religious guise for his rule. Moreover, with his ability to set the stage to accomplish his desires, he could have had them killed by their own people and then assumed a state of mourning and sought to revenge their blood, just as he sought to give the impression that he was avenging the killing of the third caliph.