Ethics

What was the course of Imam Hussain’s (A.S) revolution? What reasons prompted him to initiate such a great and unmatched uprising? Did he intend to overthrow the Yazid regime? Did he wish to end the Umayyid dynasty? These and alike questions keep cropping in the mind and everyone wants to know the satisfactory replies.

When Imam Hussain (A.S) was preparing to leave on his longest journey, he wrote a latter to his brother Mohammad Hanafiyyah in which he explained three objectives of his stand:

1. To reform his grandfather's nation

2. Enjoining Good and Forbidding Evil

3. Revival of the traditions of the Holy Prophet (S.A.W.) and Imam Ali (A.S).

When he reached Mecca he wrote a letter to the people of Basra; "I invite you towards the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of the Holy Prophet (S.A.W.) because indeed Sunnah has been mutilated and hereby is revived. Whoever will accept my words, I will guide him towards the straight path". (Tarikh-i-Tibri vol.7, pg.240)

In another letter to the people of Kufa he wrote: "By God, Imam is the one who acts on the commands of the Book, deals with Justice, follows the truth and reserves himself for the pleasure of Allah."

These words of Imam, implies that only he can be an Imam who possesses these characteristics and the one who does not possess them cannot be an Imam. Hence Yazid Bin Muawiyah had no right to the caliphate. When he reached near Karbala and was intercepted by a detachment of Yazid’s army led by Hur, he addressed his men and the army of Hur in these words: "The one who sees a tyrant King who is mixing Halal with Haram, violating the Pledge (of God), opposing the Sunnah of the Holy Prophet (S.A.W.) ruling on the servants of Allah with sins and oppression. And by his words and actions does not oppose the King and does not strive to reform the circumstances, then it behooves Allah to hurl him into Hell along with the King."

Then he continued about the Yazidi regime: "They have shunned the obedience of Allah and acted following Shaitan. They are instigating commotion and dismissing the divine laws. They are expending from the public revenue for their selfish end and are changing the prohibited things to permissible things."

In the first sermon at Karbala he said: "Can't you see that the truth is not followed and the falsehood is not shunned? In such circumstances a believer should desire to meet Allah. Surely I regard death as nothing but an honour and life with oppressors as anything but disgrace." (Tarikh-i-Tabari, vol.-7pg.300)

Nevertheless the unique and unparalleled revolution of Imam Hussain (A.S), which began in Rajab 60 AH and apparently ended with the glorious martyrdom of Imam Hussain (A.S), his kith, kin and companions was not in vain. The purpose of this revolution was to revive Islam (which was distorted and Yazidi regime wanted to annihilate it), and also to reform the nation of the Holy Prophet (S.A.W.).

Have we forgotten the message of Karbala!

We do remember the tragedy of Karbala but certainly forget the message thereof. Never does a new Islamic year begin without Kabul and Karachi, Dacca and Dakar, Tehran and Tripoli, every village, town and city mourning with bleeding heart the great martyr’s sacrifice of life at Karbala.

This much is no doubt our genuine love for one of the sincerest and the greatest of the nation’s heroes, the Holy Prophet Muhammad Mustafa’s (S.A.W.) sweet grandson. But when it comes to the great martyr Husain’s message, we have altogether forgotten. How… let me very humbly explain it. Did Husain (A.S.) try to establish a separate state to divide the Muslim Ummah, where he could rule? He did not… but we have established some sixty political divisions of the Muslim nation in the name of the so-called nation-states and we boastfully claim of being Sunnis and Shias dividing in effect the Ummah. Did the great hero of Islam accept monarchy or autocratic form of government? No he didn’t… but we, after dividing the Muslim Ummah into nation states, have established monarchies, sultanates, emirates, military rules, and one-party dictatorships.

Now when the two third of the world’s nation-states are democratic, the Muslim World is predominantly democracy-free zone of our planet. And finally while raising the banner of what was right did he use violence? You would agree he did not… but within ourselves we promote strife and in return reap fraternal killings, subversive activities, civil wars and wars between Muslim states. Shed as many tears of true love as you have and heave as many sighs of bitter grief as you can to pay homage to the noble and heroic grandson of the Holy Prophet (S.A.W.) but the true homage would not be paid to him unless you rise up to create the world that Imam Husain (A.S.) wanted, a united state of the Muslim Ummah of the Holy Prophet (S.A.W.) with no such thing as a dictator or a dynasty ruling it.