Understanding Karbala

REFERENCES IN NEW TESTAMENT REGARDING THE MARTYRDOM OF HUSAIN (A.S)

In the parlance of Christians, "New Testament" means "Injeel." However, it is not "Injeel" that was revealed to Prophet Jesus (a.s). It is a collection of books and letters compiled by Christian scholars and companions of Prophet Jesus. The last book of this collection is "The Revelation to John" which is attributed to John the companion of Jesus. It begins with the following words:

"The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants what must soon take place; and he made it known by sending his angel to his servant John."¹

This book contains only allegories and similes. Christian scholars have tried to write commentaries on this and offered explanations but some points yet remain unexplained in their writings. Our scholars have also interpreted it and it shows that the twelfth and thirteenth chapter deals with the history of Islam from the birth of the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w) to the end of the reign of Bani Umayyahs. Hujjatul Islam, Maulana Sayyid Rahat Husain (t.s.) has explained it in the 15' preface of his prefaces in his Tafsir Anwarul Quran. He has mentioned the text of 'revelations' in the book and written its interpretation in the margins. I have depended upon the author's writings a great deal but mentioned the interpretations of the revelations in brackets. Because it would have been very inconvenient for the readers to read the text and the interpretations separately. Thus, John says in the beginning of the twelfth chapter of Revelations:

"And a great portent appeared in heaven, a woman (prophethood) clothed with the sun (divine help was covering it), with the moon under her feet (Lady Fatima),
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1 The Revelation to John: 1

and on her head a crown of twelve stars (meaning the twelve Imams would have authority in religion); she was with a child (waiting for advent) and she cried out in her pangs of birth (the time of advent was near), in anguish for delivery. And another portent appeared in heaven; behold, a great red dragon (infidels of Quraish), with seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems upon his heads.¹ His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven, and cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to bear a child, that he might devour her child when she brought it forth; she brought forth a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was caught up to God and to his throne, and the woman fled into wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, in which to be nourished for one thousand two hundred and sixty days.

Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, but they were defeated and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world — he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, "Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death (they got martyred in the propagation of faith)."²
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1 Signifying the very first three enemies of Allle Bayt (a.s.) and Muawiyah, Yazid, Abdullah bin Zubair and Marwan bin al-Hakam.
2 Revelation 12:1-11

After more prophecies, the twelfth chapter comes to an end and the thirteenth chapter begins with an account of Bani Umayyahs. In this portion, Abdul Malik Ibn Marwan who consolidated the Umayyad rule for the second time is compared to a beast having ten horns and seven heads. Explaining this in the seventeenth chapter, it is said that the seven heads signify seven kings and the ten horns are also ten kings. Thus altogether it adds upto seventeen rulers. And that beast is the eighth ruler, who is born from the seventh one. Now please note that seven rulers passed before Abdul Malik and the kingdom of Abdul Malik was a result of their past kingdoms, otherwise he would not have been able to achieve anything. Apart from this, he was born from the seventh ruler, that is Marwan bin Hakam and thus he himself was the eighth ruler. And after Marwan there were ten kings including Abdul Malik Ibn Marwan as follows: (1) Abdul Malik Ibn Marwan (2) Walid bin Abdul Malik (3) Sulaiman bin Abdul Malik (4) Umar Ibn Abdul Aziz (5) Yazid Ibn Abdul Malik (6) Hisham Ibn Abdul Malik (7) Walid Ibn Yazid Ibn Abdul Malik (8) Yazid Ibn Walid Ibn Abdul Malik (9) Ibrahim Ibn Walid Ibn Abdul Malik (10) Marwan al-­Himar. Thus this allegory and comparison perfectly fits this clan. In addition to this at the end of this same thirteenth chapter is the following sentence, "This calls for wisdom: Let him who has understanding reckon the number of the beast, for it is a human number, its number is six hundred and sixty‑ six (666)."

The following would show that the number 666 stands for the name of Abdul Malik:

Abdul (76) Malik (121) Bin (52) Marwan (297) Bin (52) Hakam (68) = 666.

Anyway, I am quoting the relevant portions of the thirteenth chapter of Revelation to John 13:

"And I saw a beast (Abdul Malik) rising out of the sea (of disbelief), with ten horns (ten successors) and seven heads (predecessors), with ten diadems upon its horns (all were kings) and a blasphemous name upon its heads. And the beast that I saw was like a leopard, its feet were like a bear's and its mouth was like a lion's mouth. And to it the dragon (Quraish) gave his power and his throne and great authority. One of its heads seemed to have a mortal wound (that is the third caliph was killed), but its mortal wound was healed (the kingdom again returned to them and Muawiyah became the king), and the whole earth followed the beast with wonder. Men worshipped the dragon (they returned to the customs of the period of Ignorance), for he had given his authority to the beast, and they worshipped the beast, saying, "Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it?"

And the beast was given a mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous words (abusing Ali was well known activity of the Umayyahs), and it was allowed to exercise authority for forty-two months; it opened its mouth to utter blasphemies against God, blaspheming his name and his dwelling, that is, those who dwell in heaven (Ahl al-Bayt). Also it was allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer them. And authority was given it over every tribe and people and tongue and nation, and all who dwell on earth will worship it, every one whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life (faith) of the Lamb (Imam Husain) that was slain. (All those who do not have faith in Imam Husain would follow Abdul Malik) If any one has an ear, let him hear:

After this, there is detailed explanation of Hajjaj Bin Yusuf and his atrocities. But this much is sufficient for our purpose. In all these four books the martyrdom of Imam Husain (a.s) is mentioned in a way that acknowledges its greatness and expresses love towards him while the enemies and killers of the Holy Imam (a.s) are mentioned with disdain and malice. A noteworthy point is that wherever there is mention of prophethood and advent of the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w) it is invariably accompanied by the mention of the martyrdom of Imam Husain (a.s). And according to the statements of both Mahadewji and St. John, it was this martyrdom, which has secured and strengthened the religion of Muhammad. And this was not a poetic composition but the actual expression of the truth and facts that these great religious leaders have perfectly done in a way that was deserving for it. If only their followers had followed their teachings and adopted the Straight Path. And if only the Muslims had recognized the significance of the martyrdom of Imam Husain (a.s) in the true sense.

WHY THE MARTYRDOM OF IMAM HUSAIN (A.S) BECAME IMMORTAL?

[This speech was broadcast from the Nairobi (Kenya) Radio on the eve of Ashura, 1383 A.H.]

Since the beginning of creation until date, innumerable tragic incidents have occurred in the world. But in these tales of sorrows and tragedies the events of Karbala are seen to be as prominent as the moon among the cluster of stars. Human nature demands that happy remembrances should always be retold and tragic reminders be obliterated from the memory as soon as possible. However, this law of nature had no control on the tragedy of Karbala. Today, even after a passage of thirteen centuries every year this tragedy is remembered with such fervor as if it has just happened yesterday.

Indeed this is an astonishing fact. But if we ponder upon it we would be able to realize how the control of human nature became ineffective in this case. The significance and endurance of a sacrifice depends upon the significance and firmness of its aims. Some sacrifices are presented for worldly aims and such sacrifices take man towards decadence. The Almighty Allah says:

"Who created for you all that is in the earth ...¹
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1 Surah Baqarah 2:29

Now if instead of considering these worldly things as our servants, we destroy our life in their service, such a sacrifice, instead of carrying any greatness would be eligible for denouncement because we have considered our life inferior to those things that were created for our service. The greatness of man demands that he should consider worldly things as means of life and not that he should make it the aim of his life. In the Islamic parlance it is the stage of, "There is no god except Allah." And reaching this point man thinks that the whole universe collectively cannot become equal to the value of a single human being. The aim of the life of man should be higher than the universe and such a being is only the Creator of the Universe. After, "There is no god" it is the stage of "except Allah." To put it in a different way,

"Say: Surely my prayer and my sacrifice and my life and my death are (all) for Allah, the Lord of the worlds ...¹

The purpose is to imply that you must make the principle of your life such that all your worship acts, rituals, life and death etc. should be for Allah, Who is the Lord of the worlds. In other words, the entire universe is for man and man is for the Lord of the worlds.

The world is transient. Everything here is going to be destroyed. If a sacrifice is made for these things that also shall be transient and not eternal. Its remembrance would be finished in a few days. Contrary to this, the Creator of the world is eternal. He is from eternity and He shall be there forever. Therefore whatever sacrifice is presented on His path, that too shall don the raiments of eternality and its remembrance would also endure forever. Its remembrance shall also remain fresh in the minds of all. That is why the Almighty Allah says:
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¹ Surah Anam 6:162

And do not speak of those who are slain in Allah's way as dead; nay, (they are) alive, but you do not perceive.¹

That is why the sacrifice of Imam Husain (a.s) is always fresh. Husain (a.s) made Allah as the aim of his life and presented incomparable sacrifices in the path of Allah. In recompense, the Almighty Allah also crowned the remembrance of Husain with the crown of eternality'.

Why had Husain (a.s) presented this sacrifice? Let us see what Husain (a.s) himself says about it. At the time when he was departing from Medina, he wrote a bequest to his brother, Muhammad Hanafiyyah. Some of the sentences of this testament were as follows:

"...I am not taking up arms in order to make merry, or be ecstatic over what I possess. I am not making mischief, nor exercising oppression. But I am ready to fight for the sole goal of seeking reform of the Ummah of my grandfather, the Apostle of Allah (s.a.w). I want to enjoin good and forbid evil and guide the affairs of the people as my grandfather and father were doing."

This event began in the year 60 A.H. when Yazid ascended to the throne. The enthroning of Yazid was a terrible calamity for humanity and Islam. Historians are unanimous that no aspect of Yazid's character conformed to humanity or Islam. He neither believed in Allah nor had faith in the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w). He also denied faith in the Day of Judgment and Hereafter. He used to ridicule Prayer and those who recited Prayer. Wine was served openly in his court. Chess and gambling were obligatory acts in his view. Stepmothers and sisters were sexually legitimate for him. He remained on the throne for three or three and a half years. During this
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1 Surah Bayarah 2:154

brief rule, in the first year he wreaked havoc on the family of the Holy Prophet (s.a.w) and slaughtered them with utter mercilessness. He wrought a carnage for which we are mourning these days. It was such a terrible carnage that human history had never witnessed. In the second year, he had Medina attacked and allowed his soldiers to plunder and ransack, kill the inhabitants and rape their ladies. Hundreds of companions of the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w) and memorizers of Quran were put under the sword. Prayer was not conducted in the Prophet's mosque for three days at a stretch as Yazid's soldiers had converted it into a stable for their horses. Thousands of women lost their honor and the Medinites were compelled to pay oath of allegiance to Yazid in the words, "We are slaves of Yazid. If he likes he can sell us and if he wants he can release us." In the third year of his rule, Yazid's forces attacked Mecca and laid siege to it. Catapults were employed to throw fireballs on the Holy Ka'ba, which was consequently damaged. The siege was in process when Yazid died in Damascus.

This was a brief sketch of Yazid's biography. How the times had changed and how the circumstances became inverted that such a person should demand allegiance from Husain (a.s)!

Who was Husain? The beloved one of Ali and Fatima (a.s) and in the words of Quran, the son of the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w). He was absolutely sinless and had scaled the heights of purity of self and the best of deeds. Love and regard towards him is made obligatory for the Muslims. According to the sayings of the Holy Prophet (s.a.w) Husain was from the Prophet and the Prophet was from Husain (a.s). In other words, every saying of Husain was the saying of the Prophet and every action of Husain was the action of the Prophet. That is why Yazid was so keen to obtain the allegiance of Husain. Because he felt that if Husain gave him allegiance,

each of his acts, beliefs and policies would get the seal of approval of the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w). Husain was also aware of this fact and thus he refused to give allegiance, and as a result bore with absolute resignation and tranquility, the mountains of calamities that befell him.

He had to leave Medina. He had to bid farewell to the shrine of his maternal grandfather, the grave of his mother and the tomb of his brother. Then he took refuge in the Holy city of Mecca. Here also no security was found, because Yazid sent 30 militants in the garb of pilgrims to assassinate Imam Husain (a.s) in Mecca. They were ordered to kill Husain (a.s) even if he was found circumambulating the Ka'ba. Husain (a.s) was compelled to leave Mecca along with his family members one day before the Hajj and he headed for Iraq. On the way his path was blocked by the forces of Yazid. This army consisted of a thousand men. When they reached the caravan of Husain (a.s) they were dying of thirst as their water supply had been exhausted. The riders' condition was serious due to the thirst. The horses were hanging out their tongues. It was the army of foes but the son of the great Prophet of Mercy could never allow them to perish of thirst. He ordered that not only the men buts their beasts also be provided ample water. Husain (a.s) himself organized the distribution of water.

Followed by these enemy forces, Imam Husain (a.s) reached the plains of Karbala on the 2" of Muharram. Forces dispatched by Yazid's governor, Ibn Ziyad began to assemble in this area one after the other. In a few days, their numbers rose to 32000, who had gathered to slay a few oppressed people, among whom were aged men, children and women, totaling not more than 100-150 persons. The tents of Husain's group were initially removed to a point far away from the riverbanks. From the 7^th Muharram onwards water

supply was completely cut off for them. From the 8' of Muharram the cries of "Thirst! Thirst!" from the children of Husain's camp began to echo in the deserts of Karbala. The same Husain (a.s) who had provided drinking water to even the enemy forces was not unable to procure any water for his children and companions.

The next day was the 9" of Muharram. During the afternoon, Umar Ibn Saad, the commander of Yazidite forces prepared his army to attack the entourage of Husain (a.s). Imam Husain (a.s) asked for a night's respite to enable them to engage in the worship of Almighty. The eve of Ashura arrived. The camp of Husain (a.s) buzzed with the recital of the Holy Quran, the chanting of invocations, ritual prayers and worship acts. People who have recorded those incidents say that such murmur arose from the tents of Husain (a.s) as if bees were humming around the beehives.

In between these adorations and worships, Imam Husain (a.s) assembled all his companions and relatives and recited a sermon, which, in brief said that Yazid did not have anything to do with them except the Holy Imam (a.s). Thus they must not endanger their lives. Husain (a.s) released them from his allegiance and told them that all of them could leave him and go away wherever they liked so that their lives could be saved. The Imam explained to them in various ways so that they may leave him and obtain their survival. In the end he even extinguished the lamp so that they could leave in the cover of darkness if they are embarrassed otherwise. In reply to this, a wail arose from the gathering and different people stood up and reiterated their faith and loyalty to the Imam. Their wordings were different, their voices were various. But the aim of all of them was one and the same, that, "0 Master! This is dying only once and achieving eternal success. Even if we are killed seventy times and our corpses are burnt and

ashes scattered in the wind and after that again we are enlivened, we would not leave you ever."

By according freedom of action to his companions and relatives, Imam Husain (a.s) performed the same duty that Prophet Ibrahim (a.s) had performed by seeking the opinion of Ismail (a.s). Ibrahim (a.s) could have sacrificed his son without informing him about it. But in that case it would have been only the achievement of Ibrahim (a.s) and it would not have been shared by Ismail (a.s). Ibrahim (a.s), by taking the opinion of his son and the son by expressing his willingness for slaughter, made it a model of partnership between the Friend (of God) and the slaughtered one (Ismail). Exactly in the same manner, Imam Husain (a.s) also, by according permission to them all to leave Karbala, and the companions by expressing their determination to voluntarily lay down their lives, made this event a model of a shared sacrifice. That is why Iqbal the bard of the orient says:

"The end of it is Husain and the beginning, Ismail."

The morning of Ashura was the day of terrible turmoil. By shooting the first arrow, Umar Ibn Saad initiated the battle. Initially the companions of Imam Husain (a.s) laid down their lives one after the other. In the afternoon, it was the turn of Banu Hashim (or more precisely the progeny of Abu Talib). The progeny of Aqil became extinct from the world. The beloved sons of Zainab were smeared in their blood. The last remains of Qasim were trampled under horses. The sons of Ali (a.s) praised the bravery. Abbas lost both his arms in his struggle to get drinking water for children and the lion of Ali (a.s) after capturing the Euphrates went to sleep on the riverbanks. The image of the Prophet, Ali Akbar, arrived in the battlefield. The people witnessed the same valor of Ali (a.s). At last a dagger pierced the chest and the shattered facsimile of the Holy Prophet, after being smeared with

blood, mixed into the sands of Karbala.

Now Ali Asghar heard the call of his father for help and made himself fall off the cradle. Husain (a.s) could not bear to see the thirst of the six-month old infant. He brought the child to the fields shading him with the tails of his cloak and asked for water for the child. Instead of giving water, Hurmula quenched the baby's thirst with an arrow. This arrow not only pierced the neck of Ali Asghar and the shoulder of Husain (a.s), it also pierced the heart of Fatima (s.a.).

Now Husain (a.s) pounced upon the forces of Yazid like a heavy flood. He launched three such deadly attacks that the enemy forces began to feel helpless. The time of Asr (late afternoon) approached. Husain (a.s) was covered with wounds from the head to the toe. Incessant bleeding made him feel physically weak. He restrained his sword for a moment and the enemies began to shower him with arrows and stones from all sides. At last the moment arrived that a poet says,

The rider of the Prophet's shoulders has come down from the saddle.

If I am not wrong, it is as if the sky has fallen to the earth.

Shimr exhibited such heartlessness that the heavens and the earth were in turmoil. A call echoed in the atmosphere:

Know that Husain is slain in Karbala!

Know that Husain is slaughtered in Karbala! The world became empty of Husain (a.s).

After the martyrdom of Imam Husain (a.s), the enemies began to plunder his camp and his women and children. The tents were burnt down. Head coverings were snatched from the heads of the Prophet's daughters. The ailing son of

Husain (a.s) was arrested and tied up in chains and iron-collars.

Now the terrible night fell, which is called "Shaam-e­Ghariba" (the night of the homeless). Yesterday, Husain (a.s) had been present to protect the folks of Harem.¹ There was Abbas and Ali Akbar. The companions and helpers were also present. Today none remained. After Husain (a.s), the responsibility of this plundered group and the defense of Islam fell upon Zainab. Zainab fulfilled her role in such a beautiful way that the world gave her the title of "Partner of Husain."

This apparent defeat of Husain (a.s) was actually a magnificent victory. See, Yazid was demanding allegiance from Husain (a.s) and his companions. Though Imam Husain (a.s) was martyred, when his successor, the ailing Imam Ali Ibn Husain (a.s) was brought chained before Yazid, Yazid could not summon the courage to demand allegiance from him. Yazid and his cohorts had to give up their demands. Husain and his supporters remained firm on their stance. What can be a better proof than this of the victory of Husain (a.s) and the defeat of Yazid? That is probably why Mir Anees said about the holy Imam:

'He suppressed Byzantine and Syria with such ferocity That Jihad was not required from the remaining nine Imams."
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1 Ladies and children