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Imam \u1e24usayn
\nThe third Sh\u012b\u02bfa Imam, \u1e24usayn, was the second son of \u02bfAl\u012b and F\u0101\u1e6dima. He was born in 626 AD. He was named in a ceremony similar to the one held for his elder brother \u1e24asan in the presence of the Prophet.
\n\u2018My two children \u2013 \u1e24asan and \u1e24usayn \u2013 are leaders of Umma (the Muslim comunity) whether they rise or they sit,\u2019 the Prophet had said. The most important event pertaining to Imam \u1e24usayn\u2019s life was his sacrifice and martyrdom in Karbala. The Ashura uprising remains engraved on people\u2019s memories.
\nEven significant events in the world are sometimes forgotten and may be marked only in history books. However, there are exceptional events that are not forgotten easily. Examples of such events are the sacrifice of God\u2019s messengers and revolutions led by divine leaders. Because these events touch something deep in the human psyche.
\nImam \u1e24usayn\u2019s movement and the tragedy of Ashura are lasting events and they have not been overshadowed by the passage of time. The Ashura uprising has three outstanding features that must be discussed: 1) the reason for Imam \u1e24usayn\u2019s uprising; 2) the features of Imam \u1e24usayn\u2019s movement and 3) the ramifications of the movement.
\nWhy did Imam \u1e24usayn rise up up against Yaz\u012bd?
\nThe central reason for Imam \u1e24usayn\u2019s uprising was the deviation of the government from Islamic rule. These deviations were visible in the way the Umayyad men were ruling; the Umayyad party \u2013 led by Ab\u016b Sufy\u0101n \u2013 had pretended to accept Islam as their religion when Mecca was conquered, while nurturing disbelief and hypocrisy in his heart. When \u02bfUthm\u0101n was in power, Mu\u02bf\u0101wiya told a private meeting of Umayyad seniors: \u2018Now that we are in power, we must seize the caliphate and pass it to one another, and try to avoid any extinction of the Umayyad dynasty\u2026I swear that there is no Heaven or Hell.\u2019 (Ist\u012b\u02bf\u0101b)
\nThe Umayyad party openly campaigned against Islam. After the capture of Mecca, this party continued its activities clandestinely. Under cover of Islam, it was trying to eradicate the religion itself. Imam \u02bfAl\u012b\u2019s five-year rule undermined Umayyad power but failed to fully root it out and, after Imam \u02bfAl\u012b\u2019s martyrdom, Ab\u016b Sufy\u0101n\u2019s son Mu\u02bf\u0101wiya took power in the Muslim world and appointed his cruel agents like Ziy\u0101d, Amru As and Marw\u0101n to handle Muslims\u2019 affairs. A large number of resisters like Hujr b. \u02bfAd\u012b, Rushayd al-Hajrar\u012b and Maytham al-Tamm\u0101r were brutally killed for their protest against this tyranny.
\nDuring his 20-year rule, Mu\u02bf\u0101wiya strengthened the basis of his son Yaz\u012bd\u2019s rule. Yaz\u012bd, a symbol of corruption, came to power after his father\u2019s death. He was fiercely opposed to Islam.
\nA government which was supposed to represent Muslims was taken over by a corrupt man who openly denied the prophecy of Mu\u1e25ammad and shared his grandfather Ab\u016b Sufy\u0101n\u2019s view that Islam was just an illusion. (al-Bid\u0101ya wa al-Nih\u0101ya) In fact, Yaz\u012bd was inclined to Christianity. He was also a decadent hedonist who lacked foresight. (Mur\u016bj al-Dhahab)
\nThe difference between Yaz\u012bd and Mu\u02bf\u0101wiya was that the father paid lip-service to Islam, but the son did not even feign piety. He openly ignored Islamic teachings and did not steer clear of any revelry. He used to organize parties and get drunk. The self-declared poet recited the following sentences: \u2018My friends in drinking! Stand up! Listen to singers and get drunk. These beautiful songs make me forget the call for prayers. I am ready to exchange heavenly angels with my drink.\u2019 (Ibn Jawz\u012b, Tadhkirat al-Khaw\u0101\u1e63\u1e63) He openly insulted Islamic sanctities and never covered his inclination for Christianity; \u2018Drinking may be forbidden in the religion of A\u1e25mad, but you can drink under the religion of Jesus.\u2019 (Tatimmat al-Muntah\u0101) Yaz\u012bd\u2019s court was the centre of corruption and sin. He did not even keep Mecca and Medina safe from his mischievous acts. (Mur\u016bj al-Dhahab)
\nAt that time, \u1e24usayn saw the conditions conducive to a revolution because the Umayyad rulers could no longer paint a misleading image of \u1e24usayn\u2019s objectives in the public sphere and describe it as a struggle for power. Ordinary people could see clearly that the ruling government was flouting Islamic teachings. That prompted \u1e24usayn to call on his follower across the world to rise up. This uprising was designed to revive Islam and Islamic traditions and not seizing power and caliphate.
\nAfter the martyrdom of Imam \u1e24asan in 670 AD, the Iraqi Sh\u012b\u02bfa started writing letters to \u1e24usayn asking him to unseat Mu\u02bf\u0101wiya. Imam \u1e24usayn noted in response that he could not renege on the treaty with Mu\u02bf\u0101wiya. However, after the death of Mu\u02bf\u0101wiya in 680 AD, Imam \u1e24usayn found the conditions ripe for an uprising. He described the attributes the governor of Muslims is required to have: \u2018the Imam and ruler of people is he who makes judgments based on Qur\u2019an, who promotes justice, follows divine religion and exercises patients on the divine path.\u2019 (Muf\u012bd, Irsh\u0101d) In one of his speeches near Karbala, the Imam explained his revolutionary motives as follows:
\nO people! The prophet of God said: \u2018Anyone who sees a tyrannical governor who breaks his pledges to God, opposes the traditions of His messenger, and rules with force on people, is obliged to oppose him with words and deeds. If not, God will send him along with the governor to Hell.\u2019 O people! Yaz\u012bd and his followers have chosen to obey to Satan. They do no longer obey God and they promote corruption and flout Islamic rules. They have seized public wealth\u2026I am the most qualified to oppose this government. (T\u0101r\u012bkh \u1e6cabar\u012b)
\nImam \u1e24usayn\u2019s conscious uprising
\nThe important issue in the \u1e24usayn revolution is to know if it was an uprising or an explosion. Those who always want to underestimate all sacred events describe the \u1e24usayn uprising as an explosion. They apply the law of the transformation of quantity into quality and vice versa. Probably the most commonly cited example of this is the change of water from a liquid to a gas, by increasing its temperature. There has also been an effort to apply this mechanism to social phenomena, whereby population increases result in changes in social structure. The society can tolerate oppression up to a certain extent. After the martyrdom of Imam \u02bfAl\u012b, the Umayyad rulers stepped up their tyranny against Muslims until the society reach the point of explosion. This group of exegetes says \u1e24usayn\u2019s uprising was the symbol of this forceful explosion.
\nSuch a judgment about the movement of \u1e24usayn is inaccurate and originates from the views of materialists. Had these exegetes studied the history of Imam \u1e24usayn\u2019s uprising and had they been a bit more realistic, they could not have make such baseless judgment about the movement of Imam \u1e24usayn. These exegetes have accepted the principle of \u2018transition from quantity to quality\u2019 for all natural phenomena and they have had to explain the uprising of \u1e24usayn within this worldview. Had they not applied this principle to all world phenomena they would not have named \u1e24usayn-led revolution an involuntary explosion in order to disparage the event. The problem with this group is that they interpret every movement on the basis of materialist concerns. Every time they see an uprising that does not meet their standards they prefer their own thesis.
\nIn materialist logic, the explosion of a society is like the explosion of a boiler whose safety valves are fully blocked. In that case the explosion will definitely happen. An example of explosive uprising is a man filled with inferiority complexes. He will vent his frustration involuntarily and he will regret it later. In that event, an uprising lacks any moral value and the hero of such a revolution does not merit any praise because all participants in the uprising are really at the mercy of blind material forces and not active participants in their own right.
\nMaterialist exegetes believe that conflicts in the society need to be increased so that the boiler of the society will explode much sooner and overthrow the government in power.
\nBut there are two questions to be raised here:
\nAre explosive battles of any moral value?
\nWas Imam \u1e24usayn\u2019s uprising a conscious one or an explosive one?
\nIn response to the first question, it would be enough to know that anything outside our control as human beings will lack any moral value, no matter how useful it may be. Consider a wild animal preparing to attack a man to maul him. At the same time, someone else who is not aware of the presence of that man kills the animal. The shooter could not be praised in this context because he was not aware of the result of his act. As far as social unrest is concerned, revolutionaries who lack any control or freedom are driven to rise up against the ruling government by blind material forces. Such a revolution lacks any moral value.
\nWhen the Muslims conquered Spain, the commander-in-chief of the corps ordered all ships to be burnt and their foodstuff to be thrown away. Then the commander told the troops that they had no option but to fight because they were surrounded by sea and enemy forces. Staying in that point had no result but death. Everyone decided to combat and they triumphed over enemy. This action of the commander drew praise worldwide as he went to the heart of the enemy, but it lacks moral value because mankind should always have two options \u2013 good and bad \u2013 and choose the virtuous one freely.
\n\u1e24usayn b. \u02bfAl\u012b and his conscious uprising
\nAfter the departure of Imam \u1e24asan, the grounds were gradually prepared for his brother \u1e24usayn and his followers to rise up. Imam \u1e24asan used to object to Mu\u02bf\u0101wiya for his crimes against the Muslim nation. From time to time, Mu\u02bf\u0101wiya wrote letters to the Imam, trying to dissuade him from rising up or making any move against him with threats. When Mu\u02bf\u0101wiya died and his corrupt son succeeded him, the core of \u1e24usayn\u2019s movement began to take shape. The Imam invited Muslims to revolution in different ways.
\nImam \u1e24usayn had worked out all necessary mechanisms before inviting his followers to rise up. How can one describe this uprising as an involuntary explosion and compare it with valueless revolutions? There is also historical evidence that Imam \u1e24usayn\u2019s uprising was voluntary.
\nImam \u1e24usayn\u2019s speech delivered when Mu\u02bf\u0101wiya was trying to seek people\u2019s allegiance for Yaz\u012bd
\nAfter having killed Imam \u1e24asan, Mu\u02bf\u0101wiya convinced a group of influential people to endorse his son Yaz\u012bd as his successor. But Imam \u1e24usayn told him: \u2018I\u2019ve heard a description of perfection and skillfulness of your son Yaz\u012bd. Are you going to mislead people? Apparently you do not know your son. Or maybe you have information which we don\u2019t about him. Yaz\u012bd has already proven his incompetence for this post. He plays with dogs and pigeons. He is passing his time with women and playing music. You had better reconsider your decision so that your sins will not become heavier\u2026\u2019 (al-Im\u0101ma wa al-Siy\u0101sa)
\nImam \u1e24usayn\u2019s letter to Mu\u02bf\u0101wiya
\nImam \u1e24usayn wrote a letter to Mu\u02bf\u0101wiya detailing his crimes, above all the murder of senior Companions and pious people. \u2018I regret I have not risen up against you due to some shortcomings. It is possible that my excuses would not be acceptable to God,\u2019 he wrote. The Imam noted in his letter that Mu\u02bf\u0101wiya\u2019s biggest mistake was that he won endorsement for his son who gets drunk and plays with dogs. (Al-Im\u0101ma wa al-Siy\u0101sa)
\nImam \u1e24usayn\u2019s address in Mena
\nIn the last days of Mu\u02bf\u0101wiya\u2019s reign, Imam \u1e24usayn gathered nearly a thousand people, including senior Hashemite figures, in Mina and delivered a speech about the formation of an Islamic government. He highlighted the crimes committed by Mu\u02bf\u0101wiya against the Islamic community, particularly the Sh\u012b\u02bfa.
\nIn his speech, Imam \u1e24usayn recited Qur\u2019anic verses about the Prophet\u2019s household and asked the influential figures in Mecca, Medina and other cities to endorse him. (Kit\u0101b Sulaym b. Qays) The Imam preformed his \u1e24ajj pilgrimage individually and left for Iraq. \u2018My death approaches and I look forward to meeting my ancestors\u2026 From here, I can see the place in which I will be martyred and where the wolves will maul my body,\u2019 he said. \u2018Those who are ready to give their blood in this way and join their Creator can accompany me. I am leaving early in the morning.\u2019 (Lu\u1e25\u016bf) Is it still correct to interpret Imam \u1e24usayn\u2019s movement as an involuntary explosion while he let his followers decide to come with him or stay behind?
\nThe Ramifications of Imam \u1e24usayn\u2019s uprising
\nThe effects of Imam \u1e24usayn\u2019s uprising and its consequences are innumerable. Here, we will briefly mention the most significant of them.
\nExposing the corruption of the Umayyad regime
\nWe mentioned earlier that Imam \u1e24usayn decided to rise up against the ruling government because he openly flouted Islamic teachings, got drunk in public and played with animals. Religion had become a plaything in the hands of Yaz\u012bd and his followers. The martyrdom of Imam \u1e24usayn at that time gave an important lesson to people that Islam is preferred to life and family. Muslims are obliged to sacrifice everything in the face of corrupt governments. \u1e24usayn sacrificed his life for Islam and Qur\u2019an. Moreover, the martyrdom of Imam \u1e24usayn shed light on the corrupt nature of the Umayyad dynasty. The famous Indian poet, Mu\u02bf\u012bn al-D\u012bn Kashm\u012br\u012b has described \u1e24usayn as the second promoter of monotheism after the Prophet.
\nRevolutions and Riots
\nAfter the martyrdom of Imam \u1e24usayn, the spirit of revolution was revived in the Islamic community and revolutions happened in rapid succession. It was indicative of a deep hatred of Umayyad rule.
\nThe first uprising following the martyrdom of \u1e24usayn was launched by the Taww\u0101b\u016bn (\u2018Penitents\u2019) led by Sulaym\u0101n b. \u1e62urad, a Companion of the Prophet. A group of senior Sh\u012b\u02bfa figures participated in this uprising under the slogan of \u2018Revenge for \u1e24usayn!\u2019 They first went to the tomb of Imam \u1e24usayn and stayed there one full day, lamenting that they had not assisted \u1e24usayn and repenting to God.
\nThe uprising of Mukhtar came later. More uprisings and revolutions happened until the Umayyad dynasty was fully unseated.
\nThe School of Martyrdom
\nThe school of martyrdom was founded by the teachings of the Qur\u2019an and the Prophet. But after his death and the ensuing development of Islamic countries, some incompetent governments took power. Even \u02bfAbd All\u0101h b. \u02bfUmar justified his cooperation with \u1e24ajj\u0101j on the grounds that opposition to the ruling government will cause division and trigger sedition and bloodletting. Such an attitude will push the society to be obedient to any tyrannical regime.
\nWith his martyrdom, Imam \u1e24usayn changed the rules of this game and revived the school of martyrdom in the Islamic community; he taught Muslims the lesson of resistance, courage and uprising. To that effect, Mus\u02bfab b. Zubayr told his wife Sak\u012bna, who was the daughter of \u1e24usayn: \u2018Your father stripped all free people of any pretext and taught the Muslim world that a violent death is much better than a shameful life.\u2019<\/p>\n