UNDERSTANDING KARBALA
SAYYID SAEED AKHTAR RIZVITRANSLATOR'S FOREWORD
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the MercifulPraise is due to Allah Whose worth cannot be described by speakers, whose bounties cannot be counted by calculators and whose claim (to obedience) cannot be satisfied by those who attempt to do so.1
By the Grace of the Almighty, the English translation of Karbala Shinasi is in your hands.
The late author, Allamah Sayyid Saeed Akhtar Rizvi (q.s.) in yet another of his masterpieces has skillfully analyzed and explained the different aspects of the Karbala Tragedy.
It is basically a collection of articles published in different periodicals over the years and a radio speech. But they were arranged by the author himself in this present book form and published in Urdu. It was much appreciated by the community in India and Pakistan and had been reprinted a number of times.
We are all aware of the malicious propaganda of the enemies
of Islam and humanity to target the Muharram ceremonies and the
conspiracy to belittle the Great Sacrifice of Imam Husain (a.s).
This book is a refutation of all objections raised in this connection.
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1 Nahjul Balagha, Sermon 1
The author, in his typical style has refuted all the allegations in a scholarly manner but at the same time made the text readable and interesting even for laymen.
Translation of Urdu and Persian terms is given in brackets and frequently used terms are also defined in the "Glossary of Islamic Terms" at the end of the book for readers not familiar with Islamic terminology.
Wassalaam
Sayyid Athar Husain S.H.Rizvi
Al-Qalam Translators & Writers Bureau
Email: s ayedathar@ hotmail. com
PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION
The first edition of this book was published in 1982. Since long all the copies are exhausted but there is still public demand for this book. Hence the second edition is being published in 1989 with further corrections and additions.An article titled, "Who were the killers of Imam Husain (a.s)" is added in this edition. It was first published in the Muharram issue of Sarfaraz Journal (Urdu) of 1954/1974.
The typographical mistakes remaining in the first edition have been corrected. May Allah not allow more mistakes to remain in it.
Although to remain free of errors is only for the infallibles.
My first writing on "Karbala Shinasi" (Understanding Karbala) was a short article that I had written on the aim of Martyrdom and it was most probably published in the Muharram issue of Sarfaraz Journal of 1946. If before going to the press we are able to locate that article, it would also be included in this book. Otherwise, Insha Allah1 it would be reserved for the next edition. And there is no Tawfeeq2 except from Allah.
Humble Servant: Sayyid Saeed Akhtar Rizvi
3 Rabi-at-Thani 1409 AH/14' November 1988
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1 If Allah wills
2 Divine opportunity
PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION
Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds. And blessings and salutations upon His best creature, Muhammad and his Purified Progeny.
The present book is based on my articles on the various aspects of the Karbala Tragedy. Most of these articles were written by me before relocating to Africa, and were published in the periodicals of India and Pakistan. When the Bilal Muslim Mission was established in Africa, it became necessary to translate religious literature into English. An important link of this chain is the Bi-monthly "The Light." I had also to write articles for the "As Serat" Journal of Muhammadi Trust, London, on occasions related to Imam Husain (a.s). Afterwards many of these articles were translated into Urdu and published in Urdu Magazines. These articles are also included in this collection.
The most respected Hujjatul Islam Maulana Sayyid Ahmad Ali Abidi is among those contemporary scholars who, keeping in mind the needs of the present age, are performing unequalled services in the field of religious propagation. The respected friend is one of the founders of Noor-e-Islam Organization and the main driving force behind it. This organization publishes books on important religious subjects. It has also started correspondence course in Urdu in cooperation with Dar Rah Haqq, Qom and Usool-e-Deen Organization, Qom.
This honorable friend had requested me to give a book of mine that can be published from Noor-e-Islam. This collection is being published as per this request.
The articles are arranged in such a manner that continuity of topics is maintained. It is hoped that their study would illuminate the various historical, religious and philosophical aspects of the tragedy of Karbala, and the readers would be able to understand, to a great extent, this supreme sacrifice.
I had no idea that collecting old articles is such a tedious job. I am thankful to the editors of Al-Jawwad (Benaras), AlWaez (Lucknow), Sarfaraz (Lucknow) and Razakar (Lahore) for providing me copies of the articles from their archives; otherwise this collection would have been incomplete. May Allah reward them with a good reward.
If this collection is liked by the literate people, the future editions will also include articles on other topics, Insha Allah.
Was SalaamSayyid Saeed Akhtar Rizvi
13 Rajab al-Murajjab 1401 AH
HOW IMAM HASAN AND IMAM HUSAIN (A.S) SAVED ISLAM FROM DESTRUCTION
Since the last 10 years, Maulana Sayyid Saeed Akhtar Rizvi is involved in religious propagation in East Africa. In that region writing in Urdu is of no avail. Due to this the respected Maulana has devoted all his attention to writing in English and Swahili languages. The English bi-monthly, "Light" and Swahili bi-monthly "Sauti ya Bilal" have been published without a break since the last 10 years and the Maulana has written hardly anything in Urdu. The present article was also published in September 1966 issue of the Light Magazine.
The relationship between religion and rulership is very delicate. Until the time rulers are content to follow the religion, it is all right. But when their aspirations exceed the limits and they aspire to also control religion and keep it under their subjugation, it is the beginning of strife and destruction. This is the time when the Genghis Khan gets the sword of religion in his hand. In such an event, it is only religion that has to bear the loss. For example the acceptance of Christian religion by Emperor Constantine was more harmful to Christianity than open opposition of the previous irreligious kings.
IDEAL ISLAMIC STATE
Islam did not remain heedless of this peril and it had provided the cure right from the beginning. No Muslim had the right to make any kind of changes or distortions in the Islamic law. In an Islamic government there is nothing as "Law-making committee." The Almighty Allah, alone is the supreme authority and the sole lawmaker, Whose laws have been conveyed to us through Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w). These laws are final and complete. They have solution of every imaginable problem and every possible condition. And if some problem requires elucidation or interpretation only those appointed for this by the Almighty are eligible to discharge this duty. These are the holy Imams, specified by Allah Almighty. They are infallible and they have been appointed by Allah through His Prophet.
Because Islam continued to give a disciplined way of life and progressed during the lifetime of the Prophet and because all the departments of this Islamic state functioned under the divine guidance of the Holy Prophet, it was suitable, rather utmost necessary that after the passing away of the Holy Prophet (s.a.w) the reins of the kingdom should remain in the hands of those impeccable Imams who were the divine representatives after the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w), and who were appointed by Almighty Allah. This method would have saved Islam from distortion and would have established it on a firm foundation forever.
In this way Islam would have remained free from the claws of materialist proud rulers and it would have remained pure of the emotional ups and downs of the kings and Emirs and their unwarranted zeal and nuances.
This was the reason that the Holy Messenger declared, on the basis of the specific directions of the Almighty, that after him
there would be twelve Imams, and he also informed that, "Of whosoever I am the master, this Ali is also his master." This step was taken so that Islamic Shariah may not be sacrificed at the altar of political intrigues.
However, some people, whose aspirations did not discriminate lawfulness and illegality, did not like this, and they deemed it such that rulership should not remain in the hands of Ali and his successors. In this way Islam was forever deprived of the security that was bestowed upon it by Allah.
As a result Islam became a target of all those ills that had befallen the previous religions.
WHY ISLAM BECAME A TARGET OF DESTRUCTION
It is very painful to write on this subject. However, if we are able to survey the past without any bias and bigotry it would be a very firm step for benefit of our future guidance. I have heard people expressing astonishment that how could a person like Yazid acquire the rulership of Islamic dominions? What created a favorable atmosphere for such an eventuality? Nothing in this world happens without a cause.
Those who were flowing in the current of the events may not have realized the importance of each and every incident, but when we consider those events today we can place each and every incident in a proper perspective. And our judgment would be more correct than the judgment of those who had practically acted in that drama.
The root cause of every calamity of the early history of Islam as we have stated above, was that Islam was deprived of the guidance of Ali and the Imams after him. This in itself was a great calamity. In addition to this those caliphs who occupied the seat of rulership derived full benefit of their temporal authority and they imposed the view on the public that
religious leadership is subservient to temporal authority. And whosoever succeeds in acquiring temporal authority (in whichever way) he would be considered a lawful caliph and religious guide. He also (as history witnessed) had the power to make changes and abrogations in the Islamic Shariah. Due to this wrong notion people considered every act of the rulers as the criterion of religion. As a result of which there began decadence in following the Islamic law and Shariat.
DECADENCE OF ISLAM
This decadence began soon after the passing away of the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w) Those who got the political power did not waste a moment in making it absolute and permanent. Therefore naturally the laws of economy and justice were modified in such a way that they should serve the purpose.
The method of equal distribution of Sadaqah,1 Zakat2 and war booty was given up and a fixed amount as pension was awarded to the companions of the Prophet. This pension varied from two Dinars to a thousand Dinars. In this way, tongues were sealed of those who could have supported the opposition group.3
On the other hand, steps were taken to weaken the economic condition of
those from whom there was chance of danger. That is why clear
disobedience was committed of the Islamic laws of inheritance and gifts in
the case of Fatima Zahra, who was the
daughter of the Holy Prophet and wife of Ali. The land of Fadak
gifted by the Holy Prophet to his daughter was
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1 Alms
2 Poor Tax
3 Sharh Nahjul Balagha (Ibne Abil Hadid Mutazali), Vol. 1 , Pg. 133,
Rauzatul Abbab, Vol. 1, Pg. 410 and Vol. 2, Pg. 25
confiscated illegally. The first caliph claimed thus while Fadak was in the possession of Fatima. Thus the first caliph was a plaintiff. According to universal law the burden of proof was on the caliph and not on Fatima. Instead Fatima was asked to provide witnesses to prove her right. She presented witnesses but they rejected them on the pretext that they had personal interest in the property. The caliph presented a solitary tradition, which was against the clear commandments of Quran and whose veracity could not be established by any companion at that time. In spite of this the verdict was based on this tradition. Also since in this case the caliph was himself the plaintiff, legally and ethically he was not eligible to hear the case. But he did preside over the case. He delivered a verdict and declared that his claim was valid. In this way, through this extraordinary case, a new form was given to the Islamic Shariah and the rule of justice.1
Khums2 money, which was the right of Fatima, was also denied. Though it was the right given to her family by the Holy Quran.3
Here it would not be out of place to mention that during that same
period a companion of the Prophet, Jabir Ibn Abdullah claimed that the
Messenger of God had promised him some things. This claim of his was
accepted without calling for proof and witnesses. Due to this policy,
Fatima and her
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1 Futhuhul Bayan, al-Balazari, Pg. 42-43, Tarikh Khamis,Vol. 2,
Tarikh Kamil of Ibne Athir, Vol. 2, Pg. 85, Tarikh Tabari, Vol. 3, Pg.
95-98, Sirah Ibne Hisham, Vol. 3, Pg. 408, Kitabul Imamah wal
Siyasah, Ibn Qutaybah, Wafa al-Wafa, Vol. 2, Chapter 6, Marijun
Nubuwwah, Rauzatul Auf Saheli, Vol. 2, Pg. 247, Tafsir Durre
Manthur, Vol. 4, Pg. 177, Habibus Sayr,
Part 1, Pg. 58, Insanul Uyoon, Vol. 3, Pg. 400,
Balaghatun Nisa, (Sermons of Fatima Zahra).
2 20 percent tax
3 Kanzul Ummal,
Vol. 3, Pg. 129-135, Musnad Abmad Hanbal,
Vol. 1, Pg. 4, Al-Farooq, Allamah Shibli Nomani, Vol. 2, Pg. 117.
family members were even deprived of her personal heritage while those supported by the government managed to pile up huge wealth and properties.1
A few examples of such machinations will suffice here:
When Abdur Rahman bin Auf (who was favored by all the first three caliphs) died, he left besides other things, four widows. Every widow was entitled to receive 1/32 of the inheritance according to the Shariah. One of them was also in the waiting period (Iddah) of a revocable divorce. That is why she was compelled to accept less than what was her legal right. (This is another example of subverting the Islamic law). Thus she received less than 1/32 part. In spite of this she was given a hundred thousand in cash.
Talha bin Ubaidullah (another favored one of the government) had a fixed income of 2000 Dinars besides other incomes. When he died he left behind 2200000 Dirhams and 2000000 Dinars in cash. Apart from this he had unspecified property worth millions.
At the time of his death, Zubair bin Awwam left 50000 Dinars, 1000 horses and hundreds of bonded servants.2
The Islamic emphasis against hoarding of wealth was
disregarded. A new society was brought into shape in the
Islamic world, which was exactly opposed to Islam in nature
and character. However, the people considered it to be in consonance
with Islam only because it was established by those who were considered
to be the interpreters of Islam.
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1 Sabih Bukhari, Book of Khums, Sahib Muslim, Tabagat Ibne Sa'ad.
2 Al-Istiab, Ibne Abde Barr, Vol. 2, Pg. 560, Vol. 1, Pg. 208 and 215,
Politics in Islam, Khuda Bakhsh Khan, Pg. 151, Muruj az-Zahab,
Masudi, Vol. 2, Pg. 222
