In the former articles of Al-Muntazar, this topic has been discussed with minor changes in the composition. Last year too, this article was published with the views of the respected Maraaje’ on the aforementioned subject. However, it is worth mentioning that all the previous articles are unique in their content. If views of scholars, intellectuals, historians, exegetes, scholars and jurists are collated then many books can be penned down. Hence, a series of articles have been published on the same topic in Al-Muntazar. This article also may look similar to earlier articles subject wise, however is different in substance. This article is extracted from the book ‘Le Maaza Nahaza al-Imam al-Husain (a.s.)’ by Abdus Saaheb zu-Al Riyasatain al-Husaini.
Caliphate of Ameerul Momineen (a.s.)
As an introduction, we are mentioning that the appointment of Yazid, the accursed who was an adulterer, an illegitimate child, a: drunkard and an unfortunate creation against Imam Husain (a.s.) was plotted not in the era of Muaviyah but this conspiracy had begun with the demise of Holy Prophet (s.a.w.a.). There was a big group of hypocrites, polytheists and enemies of the household of the Messenger (s.a.w.a.) in the countenance of Muslims who wanted to destroy Islam. They knew that Imam Ali (a.s.) is the successor of the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.a.) and after him, the legacy would continue till the Day of Judgment from the progeny of Ali (a.s.) and Hazrat Fatima (s.a.w.a.).
A motley group of people sidelined Imam Ali (a.s.) in Saqifah and selected their own caliph of the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.a.). When this so-called caliph was departing from this world, the concept of consensus was abrogated and someone else was appointed as the caliph through nomination. When this nominated soul was about to die, he nullified the system of consensus and nomination and formed a “committee” with special conditions. When the malpractices of the third caliph increased and people killed him, he did not get an opportunity to appoint a caliph after him and people elected Imam Ali (a.s.) as the next caliph. The point here is:
The matter which requires attention is that accepting Imam Ali (a.s.) as the fourth caliph is actually negating the caliphate and leadership of Imam Ali (a.s.) and this enumeration i.e. the belief of first caliph, the second caliph, third caliph and the fourth caliph deviates from the true belief of caliphate. The caliphate of these caliphs and leadership of Imams (a.s.) is an endless discussion. There are numerous reasons available in detail in the books of our scholars which can be referred to abolish one and validate the other, especially the book “Al –Ghadeer” written by Allamah Shaikh Abdul Husain al-Amini (a.r) which has beentranslated to Urdu as well and other books on the subject of Imamat.
Ameerul Momineen Ali Ibn Abi Talib (a.s.) was the immediate successor of the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.a.) and he made it very clear to the people that he has never considered the two elders as caliphs of the Messenger although he did not quarrel with them on the usurpation of caliphate but protested against it. History has witnessed that when Abdur Rahman ibn Awf proposed him allegiance on the condition that he acts as per the command of Allah and the messenger and the etiquette and tradition of the two elders, he said ‘I will act as per the command of Allah and Messenger (s.a.w.a.) only.
(Sharh Nahj al-Balaagha, vol. 1, Margin 188, Ibn Abil Hadid)
This statement of Ameerul Momineen Ali Ibn Abi Talib (a.s.) establishes a clear difference between the school of caliphate of the caliphs and the school of Imamat of Ahle Bait (a.s.). The difference is that the successor of the Holy Prophet (a.s.) is adherent to the command of Allah and His Messenger (s.a.w.a.) while the caliph of the school of caliphate follows his desires.
If we look at the era of Ameerul Momineen (a.s.), then in comparison the caliphs and competitors disobeyed the Messenger (s.a.w.a.) openly and their audacity saw new heights after the martyrdom of Ameerul Momineen (a.s.) to the extent that the martyrdom of Imam Hasan (a.s.) made them more resolute.
Then it was the era of Imam Husain (a.s.). 50 years had not yet passed from the demise of Holy Prophet (s.a.w.a.) that Islam had changed to the school of caliphate and Muaviyah was bent upon annihilating the religion of Allah hence he nominated his son Yazid as a caliph after him.
Noteworthy
One amongst the many reasons for the uprising of Imam Husain (a.s.) was the plotting of Bani Ummayah against the religion and the backing of the three caliphs in their favour. Thus, when Imam Husain (a.s.) saw the religion of his grandfather and the continuous abasement of his father at its peak, he left the neighborhood and mausoleum of Mohammad (s.a.w.a.) and migrated towards the house of Allah and caught hold of the cloth of Kaaba. However, when he sensed his assassination and killing, he moved out to honor the sanctity and sacredness of the house of Allah towards his resting place i.e. Iraq.
(Lawaaij al-Ashjaan, p. 169 by Syed Mohsin al-Amin)
After this introduction we shall mention a few reasons and rationale of the uprising of Imam Husain (a.s.) from the view point of a few scholars.
Marhoom Shaheed Murtaza Mutahhari has mentioned the reasons of the uprising of Imam Husain (a.s.) in his book ‘Al-Mulhamaat al-Husainiyyah. He says that that, there are three major reasons for the occurrence of incident of Karbala.
First: the demand of allegiance of Yazid bin Muaviyah from Imam Husain (a.s.) after the death of Muaviyah and the rejection of Imam Husain (a.s.) for the same and Yazid exhibiting his military power after this.
Second: the second reason that became a determinant for the uprising and is of due importance was: the invitation of people of Kufa to Imam Husain (a.s.)
Third: this reason has been mentioned by Imam Husain (a.s.) himself: Enjoining Good and Forbidding Evil
Marhoom Shaheed Mutahhari has proved these reasons through Holy Quran and history. E.g. the demand of allegiance by Yazid through the governor of Medina and the assembling of Bani Hashim is found in history.
Similarly, Imam Husain (a.s.) receiving the letters from the people of Kufa in great numbers has been penned down in history. And the third is Imam Husain (a.s.)’s famous statement “I have set out for the reformation of the nation of my grandfather” along with which Imam (a.s.) said “I intend to enjoin good and forbid evil”. These statements are very clear especially “spreading goodness” is noticeable.
Why Enjoining Goodness
Why did Imam Husain (a.s.) feel the need of improvement of the nation? A very simple answer to this is that the three caliphs had begun altering the religion of the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.a.). The series of innovation went on increasing and Muaviyah and Yazid played with the religion openly and wanted to destroy the religion, while apparently they were Muslims and the leaders of the Muslims. They were plotting against the religion under the camouflage of Islam itself. Their tyranny and oppression were apparent but Muslims were afraid of their coercion. They were never able to speak against these innovations. Anyone who raised his voice of truth was either killed or banished from the state or had to face various kinds of difficulties.
It can be said that tolerance had reached its limit. Imam Husain (a.s.) did not want things to go worse. His grandfather, father and brother were disgraced. Ali (a.s.) was slandered openly from the pulpits of the Friday prayers hence Imam Husain (a.s.) replied.
The Atheist and Apostate Caliph
Ibn Abil Hadeed writes that Muaviyah was an atheist and apostate in the eyes of our elders (scholars). In the same context Ibn Abil Hadeed has written that Muaviyah had not repented from his sin.
(Sharh Nahj al-Balaagha, vol. 1, p. 340 and vol. 10, p.1014)
Abu Sufyan had brought faith at the time of the conquest of Makkah. However, let’s examine his faith, “Abu Sufyan Ibn Harb was standing next to the grave of Hazrat Hamza (a.s.) and hit his feet on the ground and said: O Hamza! The issue for which you fought us has made us as rulers and certainly we are more deserving than Taim and Adi”,
(Iltezaah al-Nahaasim, p. 83 – 87 by Al Maqreezi)
The Holy Prophet (s.a.w.a.) has termed Muaviyah as the accursed tree by the permission of Allah (Surah Bani Israel: 60). Many commentators of the Holy Quran have written in the exegesis of this verse that the accursed tree refers to Bani Ummayah. Please refer to Tafaaseer) and the people who originally had no relation to Islam. How the supremacy and caliphate of the Muslims passed on to people like Muaviyah ibn Abu Sufyan and Yazid?! All these arrangements were made at the time of Abu Sufyan. Abu Sufyan started to take revenge of his long enmity with Islam immediately after the death of the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.a.). He made the path clear for Abu Bakr, Umar and Bani Ummayah. To prove this, please refer to one of his conversations with Sad bin Aas through which he exposes one of the secrets of Umar:
(O Saad bin Aas) I have hidden from you that soon after (my death), an affair will take place which will maintain good relations for you and will fulfill your desires. He is from us. I am making you aware of a secret information: Surely very soon the caliphate will pass on to your relatives of Bani Ummayah after me and he is Usman and he will bestow and grant you a lot from the wealth of the Muslims. (Sharh Nahj al-Balaagha, vol. 1, p. 186, Ibn Abil Hadeed).
The author of Al-Tabaqaat has quoted the statement of Sad bin Aas in his book in the following way: The caliphate of Umar ibn Khattab ended and he made Usman the next caliph through a committee and was pleased with him. Thereafter, he (Usman) strengthened the relations with us and behaved well with us. He fulfilled our desires and shared his wealth with us. People said that Sad bin Aas would always be in the company of Umar.
(Al-Tabaqaat al-Kubraa, vol. 5, p. 31-32 written by Muhammad Ibn Sad)
Abu Bakr facilitated the path for the Bani Ummayah and Umar handed them the reign of Islam. We are listing down the governors of Umar bin Khattab:
His governor in Makkah was Naafé Ibn Abd al-Haařis al-Khuzaai, in Taef, it was Usman bin Abi Aas Ibn Umayyah followed by Sufyan Ibn Abi Abdillah Saqafi, Ya’la bin Masba in Yemen, Huzaifa bin Mahaz in Amaan and Yamaama, A’laa bin Hazrami in Bahrain followed by Usman bin Al Aas, Saad bin Abi Waqqas in Kufa followed by Mughairah Ibn Shu’bah followed by Ammar Ibn Yaasir, Abu Musa Ash’ari and Mugairah Ibn Shu’bah in Basra followed by Abu Musa Ashari, Abu baydah al-Jarrah in Syria followed by Yazid Ibn Abu Sufyan, Muaviya Ibn Abi Sufyan and Amr Ibn Aas in Egypt.
If we scrutinize the above list, we notice that people who never assisted the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.a.) were accommodated as representatives of Abu Bakr and Umar. It is noteworthy to know that this list does not include a single member from Bani Hashim. It is obvious that Umar bin Khattab gave preference to Abu Sufyan over other families. Hence, all his three sons were given governorates and never differentiated between an early and a late Muslim or between a believer and a transgressor. Thus, they wanted to keep Bani Hashim away from all the key positions.
(Le Maaza Nahaza al-Imam al-Husain (a.s.), vol. 2, p. 38-39, Author Abdus Saaheb zul Riyasatein Husaini)
If we analyze the reason for the uprising – of Imam Husain (a.s.) from the previous articles based on the historical facts mentioned above and we look at the conspiracies of the three caliphs and Bani Umayyah, we conclude that these people were not only distant from the ethos of the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.a.) but wanted to destroy it. Ameerul Momineen Ali Ibn Abi Talib (a.s.) who was the true successor of the Holy . Prophet (s.a.w.a.) and was busy in keeping the practice of the Messenger (s.a.w.a.) alive was sidelined. Their wrath and power had made the Muslims useless to the extent that at the time of Yazid, the face of Islam had changed completely. The values of Holy Prophet (s.a.w.a.) were being extinguished. Thus, Imam Husain (a.s.) said:
And I will act upon the morals of my grandfather (holy prophet) and my father Ali ibn Abi Talib (a.s.).
(Sharh Nahj al-Balaagha, vol. 9, p. 165-166, Ibn Abil Hadid)
Thus, it becomes clear that the uprising and martyrdom of Imam Husain (a.s.) was for Allah (s.w.t.) and for obedience in belief. His fight was to save and make the morals resolute, values and practices of his grandfather and father, which were Sharia’h in themselves.
The practice of his father and the practice of his grandfather were actual Sharia’h and Imam Husain (a.s.) rose for its propagation.
This Aashuraa, this Moharram, this Majlis, this Arbaeen, these elegies and beating of chests, this water distribution, this Niyaz and Nazr which are practiced in the name of Imam Husain (a.s.) do not disturb the adversaries but in reality when they see all these rituals they remember the conspiracy of Bani Umayyah.
And Husainiyyat is clear and illuminating
It guarantees the safety of religion.