THE ORDER CREATED BY RULERS AFTER MOHAMMAD
Arabia mostly a desert is a vast country along the western marches of Asia, its shores washed by the breakers of the Red Sea. From this land originated a great revolutionary wave, called Islam, in the seventh century of the Christian era. It was generated by Mohammad, son of Abdullah, who declared himself a Prophet, and imparted to the World a message of the absolute unity of God and took his stand against the worship of idols and of pelf and power, in fine, against the worship of everything other than God. This earned him the opposition of those to whose power this teaching posed a threat. They endeavoured to stem the tide of this revolution, and the Prophet had to suffer greatly at their hands.
The Umayyads took a leading part in the resistance to the Prophet’s teaching which, without directly upholding the superiority or affirming the humbleness of any family, made the excellence of performance and thoroughness in carrying out one’s duties as a human being, the sole criteria for the achievement of superiority, honour and merit. Most of the Umayyads did not measure up to these standards and, in consequence, Abu Sufiyan, son of Harb son of Umayya, unfurled the flag of revolt against Islam. The perverse and benighted iconolaters of Arabia rallied round his flag, and began harassing the Prophet and placing all manner of obstruction in his spreading the message of Islam.
Abu Sufiyan’s son Muawiya followed his father in opposing the teachings of Islam. Husain was martyred at Karbala at the hands of Yazid’s forces. Yazid was the son of Muawiya and had acquired the rule of entire Muslim world, in inheritance from his father.
During Muawiya and Yazid’s rule, the city of Damascus fattened on luxury and Byzantine magnificence. Its tinsel glory sapped the foundations of loyalty and the soldierly virtues. Its poison spread through the Muslim world. Governors wanted to be kings. Pomp and selfishness, ease and idleness and dissipation grew as a canker; wines and spirituous liquors, scepticism, cynicism and social vices became so rampant that the protests of the men of God were drowned in mockery. Makkah, which was to have been a symbolical spiritual centre, was neglected or dishonoured. Damascus and Syria became centres of a worldliness and arrogance which cut at the basic roots of Islam.
When Yazid assumed the power at Damascus, he cared nothing for the most sacred ideals of the people. In fact, what all sins his father committed in solitude, he started committing them in open. He was not even interested in the ordinary business affairs of administration. His passion was hunting, and he sought power for self-gratification.
The discipline and self-abnegation, the strong faith and earnest endeavour, the freedom and sense of social equality which had been the motive forces of Islam, were divorced from power. The throne at Damascus had become a worldly throne based on the most selfish ideas of personal and family aggrandisement, instead of a spiritual office, with a sense of God-given responsibility. The decay of morals spread among the people.
Yazid was a great drunkard and was so exceedingly depraved that he was ‘guilty’ of moral transgressions of which the barest mention is taboo in decent society. Even so the dread inspired by the long-established Umayyad authority prevented even one voice from being raised against the goings on of the ruling clique. This was particularly because of the oppressive rule of Muawiya during which several of Prophet’s companions were butchered to death, and even Ali – Husain’s father, and Hasan – his elder brother, were not spared. A propaganda drive was commenced at the instigation of Muawiya all over the Islamic world against Ali and his character. And those loyal to him were tortured, imprisoned or killed.
Injustice, cruelty prevailed during Yazid’s rule. He was a usurper of wealth and treasures while people died of hunger on the roads of Damascus. Whereas Mohammad had given freedom to women form the age-old traditions of suppression, and brought restrictions on the number of permissible marriages, Yazid went back to the pre-Islamic era where women were treated as peace of objects.
Despite his being engrossed in materialistic pursuits, Yazid knew to a certainty that in that quarter of Medina where resided the Hashimides in the Hijaz, there lived a man who was unafraid of him, wedded only to the fear of God. He was the real defender of the principles of Islam, a grandson of the Prophet. He might be silent for the time being, but there was no knowing when the scales may fall off the eyes of the people, and they may be attracted to the truth. Yazid’s anxiety, therefore, mounted, and he longed to obtain the oath of allegiance to himself from Husain without loss of any time, somehow or other. Accordingly, he directed Walid s/o Utba s/o Abu Sufiyan, Governor of Medina, to obtain the oath from Husain, and not to show any lenience in the matter. Husain instantly divined the import of Yazid’s message. On principle it was impossible for Husain to pledge his fealty to Yazid. Indeed, it was much easier for him to offer his head than his hand to Yazid but before doing so, he had to abide by the basic duty enjoined by Islam to make every legitimate effort for self-defence.
There was one man who could stem the tide. That was Imam Husain. He, the grandson of the Prophet, could speak without fear, for fear was foreign to his nature. But his blameless and irreproachable life was in itself a reproach to those who had other standards. They sought to silence him, but he could not be silenced.
They sought to bribe him, but he could not be bribed. They sought to waylay him and get him into their Power. What is more, they wanted him to recognise the tyranny and expressly to support it. For they knew that the conscience of the people might awaken at any time, and sweep them away unless the holy man supported their cause. The holy man was prepared to die rather than surrender the principles for which he stood. The conscience of people that had been put to sleep by Mind Control and other activities was aroused by the sprinkle of blood – human blood of Husain, his friends and the rest of male members in his member, inclusive of a six-year old male child, the only exception being Husain’s son Ali who was too ill to fight.
As forces surrounded him, Husain was asked to surrender. Husain offered to take one of three alternatives. He wanted no political power and no revenge. He said “I came to defend my own people. If I am too late, give me the choice of three alternatives: either to return to Makkah; or to face Yazid himself at Damascus; or if my very presence is distasteful to him and you, I do not wish to cause more divisions among the Muslims. Let me at least go to a distant frontier, where, if fighting must be done, I will fight against the enemies of Islam.” Every one of these alternatives was refused. What they wanted was to destroy his life, or better still, to get him to surrender, to surrender to the very forces against which he was protesting, to declare his adherence to those who were defying the law of God and man, and to tolerate all the abuses which were bringing the name of Islam into disgrace.
THE EVENT OF KARBALA?
For ten years after passing of Hasan and becoming the Imam of the people, Husain was a silent witness to the tortures and misdeeds of Muawiya. In fact, he was witness to open flaunting of the peace agreement between his elder brother Hasan and Muawiya for the past twenty years. When Muawiya appointed Yazid as his successor, he also violated the last of the points of the treaty as well, who demanded allegiance from Husain, without giving a way out. Giving allegiance meant that Husain had given his consent to the (mis) rule of Yazid, whose very position as the Caliph was as violation to the terms of the treaty. Therefore, not only his nomenclature was unjustified from the point of view of the treaty, Husain also knew that Caliphate was a Divine honour, and anybody who became a Caliph by his own might was a usurper. How could have Husain given his consent to the allegiance when he had seen that his father too never did so.
As long as the Ahlulbayt were not forced to pay allegiance, they led a simple, secluded life. During this period, nobody could have ever pointed a finger at them that they were working against the interests of the state. But when allegiance was demanded, and it was made clear that there was no way out, Husain had no choice but to migrate or fight.
Muawiyah was astute enough not to pressurize allegiance from this household. However, Yazid was not even that foresighted. When the question of allegiance was put forward to Husain, and he was left with no other alternative, he decided to leave Medina in the wee hours of night and went to Makkah. According to international usage as, indeed, according to Islam as well, Makkah was such an abode of peace that nobody need have entertained any manner of fright there. To this day, it is prohibited to kill even insects in Makkah. This was an irrefutable proof of his entertaining no wish to fight with anybody and imperil his own life and the lives of those who had kept him company, if he was not compelled to pledge his loyalty to Yazid.
But the grandson of the Prophet noticed here also that preparations were on foot to put him to death. Mercenaries were sent there as well in the garb of Hajis. Towards the last days of the approach of the time for the hajj pilgrimage, when people from all quarters of the Islamic world were converging upon Makkah, Husain had to bid goodbye to that city.
In the meantime, the Kufans had deluded Husain with invitations to come to Kufa. Hundreds of them had signed inviting him to come and guide them in religious duties. Therefore, Husain left Makkah and started moving to Kufa. Moreover, he had already dispatched his cousin, Muslim s/o Aqeel, to observe how things stood there. In the interval, however, conditions at Kufa had completely altered for the worse, upon appointment of a very cruel governor by Yazid. Husain’s representative to Kufa, Muslim s/o Aqeel was killed while the Kufans watched. After this melancholy development it was, to all appearances, highly inexpedient for Husain to persevere in his resolve to go to Kufa, but return to Makkah or Medina was also not feasible, since from Kufa had been dispatched a heavy contingent to take him captive. This barred Husain’s onward progress no less than it prevented his retreat.
Husain, accompanied by only 17 of his male relatives and about a hundred to hundred and fifty close friends, besides women and children, changed his route towards wilderness. When he had reached a place called Naineva or Karbala, he was forced to disembark and prevented from moving further. Husain’s companions could have easily killed the small band of about 1000 horsemen, if they had wanted and proceeded further, as the first contingent that stopped them was exhausted and drained because of riding the horses for a long time in scorching heat. But Husain kept abiding to his stand that he was not going to start the fight at any cost. Consequently, more forces arrived which is said to be anywhere between 30,000 and 1,00,000 or even more. Husain’s camps from close to the river were forcefully uprooted, yet he didn’t start the war. From 2nd of Moharram, Yazid’s forces prohibited Husain’s companions from gaining access to water. The little provisions that Husain and his companions had lasted till the 7th of Moharram. Then there was no water or food to eat. The situation remained so till the morning of10th of Moharram. In the meantime, Husain tried level best to find a peaceful exit and is said to have talked of coming to India, but the governor of Kufa – Obaidullah s/o Ziyad - rejected all these and left him with no choice but to pay allegiance or die. Husain’s approach was so reasonable and pacific that Son of Saad (Ibne Saad) had to concede that Husain’s approach was one of peace, and he wrote to the Obaidullah as much. Obaidullah was, however, drunk with power and could fathom no idea of the lengths to which Husain could go in braving hardships. He thought that Husain had been reduced to seek a peaceful settlement of the outstanding issues between the parties on account of weakness and lack of resources, and wrote back to Oman bin Saad that Husain could purchase safety only by making an unconditional offer to swear allegiance to Yazid. Husain, who was as self-respecting as he was aware of his religious responsibilities, found it impossible to abandon his stand. Husain refused to pay allegiance to a sinner, Yazid, and consequently chose death over life.
On the evening of the 9th of Moharram, Yazid’s army, overwhelmingly superior in numbers, launched the offensive against Husain’s small band. Husain applied for a night’s truce, and it was only with much reluctance and difficulty that it was granted. Husain’s object in seeking this brief truce was simply to spend the last night of his existence in offering prayers to God. And since it had been finally decided to entrust the event of the quarrel to the arbitrament of war, Husain might well have considered it eminently desirable to afford an opportunity to friend and foe alike, to quietly think over the whole matter once again, and deliberate upon the course to be finally adopted by every one of them, individually, so that should any of his companions elect to withdraw his support, and leave him to his fate, he may be free to do so. As to his enemies, no further argument had been left to be urged upon them to dissuade them from indulgence in the unholy war. He collected his companions and told them plainly that the following day would see the end of his existence, and he gave them complete exemption from adhering to the oath of loyalty to him. Indeed, he encouraged them to leave for any destination they chose, and make good use of the cover of darkness afforded by the night. His brave, and selfless companions, with one voice, told him that they would never forsake him, which was, indeed, exactly what they did.
A restless sea of a multitudinous army spread before him, sheer desolation and utter ruin surrounded him but Husain had in his immediate proximity the dear handsome faces of his brothers, nephews, sons and other relatives and friends. He had with him ladies as well, who lived in seclusion as they observed purdah. There were small children also with him. The enemy completely and closely guarded all approaches to the Euphrates. Husain and his companions were denied even a drop of water. Innocent children were greatly agitated and in deep distress on account of thirst. All manifestations of might and exhibitions of authority and all modes of persecution, however, failed to coerce Husain or his companions into the recognition of a sinful and depraved man as a ruler of Islam.
The battle started on the morning of 10th Moharram, which was one-sided right from its start. Even if we are to take the minimum number of people mentioned in various narrations to be true, i.e. 30,000, they were faced with a group of about 150 men, including young boys and very old men, some of whom were the Companions of the Prophet. Despite this, this brave group inflicted casualties many times more than their numbers. Even against this small band, all norms of the battle were forsaken by Yazid’s forces. (Putting prohibition on water is a glaring example). This shows to what extent evil was afraid of good. On Husain’s side, the small group of men was afraid of nothing. Their stand is exactly the one described in Gita. To them, it didn’t matter that death was staring at them. They knew that they have to bear the standard of humanity, truthfulness, justice and piety at all cost and in the most adverse of circumstances. If death came while on that path, it was only too good for them.
Initially, it were Husain’s brave companions, outside his family, who sacrificed their lives for him and his doctrines. When all of them had attained martyrdom, the turn arrived for the relatives of Husain to sacrifice themselves. It would have been far easier for Husain to have sacrificed himself first of all, but he had to undergo the most thoroughgoing and harrowing test of his powers of endurance. His relatives, therefore, started leaving for the field of battle, one by one, to offer the sacrifice of their lives. Ali Akbar, Husain’s grown-up son, who resembled the Prophet himself in appearance, was the first, among his relatives, to be sent to fight and to sacrifice himself. His mother was in her tent at whose door stood his father. She saw their handsome and valiant son getting lost in the innumerable shifting of crowd of hostile forces. His father saw, and his mother heard that Ali Akbar had been cut to pieces in the field of battle. They, however, did not lose control over themselves, and remained patient and composed. Then Husain’s other relatives sacrificed their lives one after the other. Abbas, brother and the standard-bearer of his army, was then sent to die fighting. When left with none else to be offered in sacrifice, Husain offered for sacrifice one who, under no law whatever, could have been held to have committed any wrong. The shocking plight of his infant son, Ali Asghar, restlessly gasping in his mother’s lap, was noticed by Husain, who raised him on his hands before the hostile army. He said to them, ‘if you feel I have done some wrong, then what wrong has this six-month old child committed. He is dying of thirst. I lay him down on the ground and get back so that you can give him water with your own hands, lest you fear that I am asking for water under his pretext.’ Husain did the same, but none came forward. Thereafter, Husain lifted the child back in his hand. At that moment, a soldier fixed an arrow to his bow, aimed it at the infant’s neck and released it. The arrow pierced the infant’s neck. This outraged the conscience of humanity and symbolized the utter collapse of all feelings of mercy and kindliness. Husain had now to offer his own sacrifice after offering resistance in self-defence, as enjoined upon him by the Islamic code. Heart-broken and helpless, Husain unsheathed his sword and defended himself according to the injunctions of Islam as best he could. The manner in which he confronted the enemy is normally far beyond human strength, but how can a man single-handedly withstand an inundation of steel swords? Numberless wounds and injuries were inflicted on Husain’s body, and he fell off from his horse. He was brave to the last. This stage had indeed been imminent since the very beginning but now it had actually arrived. He was cruelly mutilated. His sacred head was cut off while in the act of prayer. A mad orgy of triumph was celebrated over his body. The severed head of the grandson of Prophet Mohammad was held aloft on a spearhead by those who called themselves Muslims.
At death, Husain is said to have 45 wounds from the enemies' swords and javelins, and 35 arrows pierced his body. His left arm was cut off, and a javelin pierced through his breast. After all that agony, when his head was lifted up on a spear, his face was the placid face of a man of God. The dead bodies of the martyrs were trampled by horses, the effects and belongings of Husain and his companions were given over to plunder and the veils that covered the heads of the respectable ladies of the Prophet’s family were snatched away. Their tents were committed to flames. From among the men of Husain’s party, a weak patient, namely, his son, Ali or Imam Zainul Abidin, was the only one to survive the holocaust; he was put under irons. The modest ladies of the noblest family in Arabia were publicly paraded from city to city.
This terrible calamity is often known as the “happenings of Karbala”. Ordinarily every incident, on account of its place of occurrence is related to some particular locality, country and section of society. Accordingly, the events of Karbala are also connected with the region of Iraq, the country of Arabia, the stock of Hashim and the community of the Muslims. Incidents however, acquire universal and general application from their peculiar features and far-reaching consequences, which have relevance for the entire community of man, without any distinction of caste and creed. Thus on the events of Karbala converge the interest and attention of the whole of mankind for a variety of reasons.
KARBALA AND THE SUPERPOWER YAZID
By nature men are drawn towards happiness and shun grief. Distress occasioned by the chances and changes of life is sought to be driven into oblivion. Accordingly, among the nations of the world most celebrations are commemorative of occasions of good cheer. Events fraught with pain and grief have been sparingly commemorated. It is only Husain’s martyrdom that has been solemnized over the centuries to the accompaniment of marks of mourning and symbols of woe. Since human nature cannot support any burden of gloom and depression for any great length of time, it follows from the doleful manner in which, for ages, the tragedy of Karbala has been solemnized, that it is productive of beneficial results and advantages to mankind.
It is in human nature to detest the oppressor and sympathize with the oppressed, irrespective of whether or not we personally know those involved in such an unhappy relationship or their creed or religious persuasion. The cruelties and savagery employed against Husain in Karbala are unparalleled in the annals of the world. Many prophets and saintly personages have, on occasions, been the victims of a variety of ruthless brutalities; many innocent persons have been put to the sword; many more have been deprived of their all, and many more have been thrown into prisons without any fault, but all manner of inhuman atrocities and barbarities meted out to others severally and on separate occasions were perpetrated against Husain alone, and simultaneously with one another. This makes the persecution of Husain unique for all time. Accordingly, as unequalled as the oppression exercised against Husain was and as unexampled was his persecution, as intense might well be the degree of sympathy evoked by and shown to Husain, and as unmatched might appropriately be the measure of aversion evoked by his oppressors. And since the persecution to which Husain was subjected excelled that to which anybody else was exposed, so unrivalled might aptly be the abhorrence in which his oppressors might be held.
Another reason is that the sufferings of Husain were not due to his helplessness as would be those of a man, who say, might be waylaid and plundered by highway robbers or killed by them. Such a person would indeed be held to be an oppressed one, entitled to sympathy. His helplessness, however, is uninvited and unwilled. It does not follow any act on his part which would be based on high principles. Consequently it would bear no comparison to Husain’s helplessness, as Husain undertook to suffer all the hardships, and all the cruelties in support of a rightful cause and in defence of an exalted principle, which constitutes self-sacrifice. A variety of objects might be sacrificed but the supreme sacrifice consists in laying down one’s life. And if a man falter not in offering himself up to his supreme ordeal he would be entitled to the esteem and respect of all mankind. Such a sacrifice would command honour and be entitled to homage in proportion to the merit and the excellence of ht object for which it has been made. The self-immolation of Husain in Karbala stands unrivalled in the chronicles of mankind. Truth and justice were being shaken to their foundations; brute force and tyranny were riding roughshod over men’s right to liberty of conscience. At this critical juncture, Husain tore the mask off the face of unredeemed tyranny and sheer perversity by taking to the battlefield along with him his relatives and even children of tender age. He thus presented to the world the highest example of steadiness, resolution, self-control, patience, self-abnegation, and sacrifice, devotion to the truth and firmness and purity of character. On account of these virtues which Husain so splendidly vindicated, he may, in justice, not be identified exclusively with any one particular nation or religion, but must be reckoned as correlated and belonging to the whole of mankind. His performance re-established humane conduct which was at its last gasp and gave to mankind a message which is, and would remain, deathless. He acquainted the world with the real value and merit of truth and truthfulness, and presented for its edification a mode of death in which immortality itself is unmistakably latent. Accordingly, all the nations of the world who prize sacrifice in a noble cause like truth, liberty of conscience, or freedom of worship cannot but value exceedingly highly the sacrifice which Husain offered.
There is yet another reason. Husain’s object, in submitting himself to the sacrifice, was not such as might be the subject of the slightest controversy between different faiths. At a certain level concerning human excellence and high morality, all religions tend to be at one with each other, for the underlying object of them all, supporting their various super-structures, is to develop human conduct and morals to perfection. It is entirely another matter, indeed, that on account of the contrariness of the times, certain principles and directions of the various religions might have been modified or altered on account of the misunderstandings of succeeding generations. As already stated, however the nub of all religions is to refine human conduct and perfect human qualities. Husain’s aim coincided with this common objective of all religions. If Husain had striven against the non-Muslims then, howsoever impeccable might have been the object of his sacrifice, and, howsoever heartlessly he might have been led to martyrdom, his adversaries might well have pleaded animus with his name, faith and objective, to get away with their crimes. The tragedy of Karbala may well have fallen short of commanding universal sympathy. Husain’s self-immolation was not formally meant to obliterate or support any particular faith. On the contrary, his sacrifice had been made to uproot the defects of, and re-establish virtue amongst, followers of one and the same faith. Consequently since in principle, there are no fundamental differences between different religions about the concepts of virtue and vice, and all religions equally believe in fostering virtue and eradicating vice, the adherents of all faiths would applaud Husain’s object, and do honour and pay homage to Husain’s sacrifice.
Again, the perfect examples of a variety of excellent qualities of behaviour and of the manifestations of cardinal virtues that Husain and his followers furnished in such profusion during the tragic developments at Karbala provide for all men, without any distinction whatever, a perennial source of practical instruction which may be turned to advantage by them all. It was for these reasons that despite all their internal tensions and mutual differences, people the world over have looked upon the tragedy of Karbala as one in which they all were intimately concerned, and the nations of the world have alike conceded its importance.
Numberless revolutions have taken place in the world after the events at Karbala. Civilization has seen many upheavals and standards of behaviour and modes of thought and feeling have undergone many radical alterations, but the memory of the sacrifice to which Husain gave himself up has been kept alive continuously for nearly 1400 years without losing any of its cordial sincerity. It would have, in consequence, to be conceded that Husain had offered the sacrifice in defence of such unexceptionable and exalted principles of human conduct, as are shared in the largest measure by people, all over the world. As a corollary, so long as mankind and the nobler traits of humanity survive, those principles will continue to be cherished and the memory of Husain’s sacrifice would remain fresh.
KARBALA AND ITS RELEVANCE IN IN CONTEMPORARY SOCIETY?
That briefly is the story. What is the lesson? There is of course the physical suffering in martyrdom, and all sorrow and suffering claim our sympathy, ---- the dearest, purest, most outflowing sympathy that we can give. But there is a greater suffering than physical suffering. That is when a valiant soul seems to stand against the world; when the noblest motives are reviled and mocked; when truth seems to suffer an eclipse.
It may even seem that the martyr has but to say a word of compliance, do a little deed of non-resistance; and much sorrow and suffering would be saved; and the insidious whisper comes: “Truth after all can never die.” That is perfectly true. Abstract truth can never die. It is independent of man's cognition. But the whole battle is for man's keeping hold of truth and righteousness.
Husain’s role in Divine Creation Plan has come to surface lately, courtesy the study of Vedas and Upanishads. It is being proved that Husain is none other than Agnidev of the Vedas. Several of the incidents of Karbala described above were already foretold in the Vedas. When we consider this role of Husain as noor or deva (representing the Forces of Light), we will get to realize why the Forces of Darkness used all their resources and power to strangulate the voice of Husain in the desert of Karbala itself.
History records that much later than the time of Vedas, and after Puranas were compiled by Vyasa, there was a time when the Vedas had fallen in disuse and forgotten, and the Brahmans were again instructed in them by Saraswata, son of Saraswati. It was perhaps this reason why a river was named Saraswati, and a distinguished tribe of the Brahmans were known as Saraswata, based on the name of Saraswata who revived the Vedas once they had fallen in disuse. It seems that these Brahmans continued to hold on to the real teachings of Vedas till the time of the advent of Prophet Mohammad. We can say this because it was these Saraswata Brahmans who went to the aid of Husain, when enemies at Karbala surrounded him. By the time they reached Karbala, Husain had already been killed. The fact that these Saraswata Brahmanas realized the true position of Husain through their scriptures can be understood from the fact that they stayed back in Iraq even when they got to know that Husain and his friends had been killed. The Saraswata Brahmans, who proudly call themselves Husaini Brahmans to this date, played a key part in avenging the killing of Husain. In the process, several of them got killed but they returned to their native country only when they had seen with their eyes that the killers of Husain got killed.
The divine role of Husain and the stance of those who had collected to fight him can also be understood by a glaring difference between the stand of the two at Karbala. When Umar Ibn Saad, the commander of the Yazidian army, fired the first arrow on Husain’s forces, he said: O people, be witness that it is I who fired the first arrow at Husain. On other hand when Husain’s friends and several relatives had been killed and his son Ali Akbar started moving towards the battlefield, Husain said: O God, be witness that the one who is now going to the battlefield resembles the most to your Prophet, Mohammad. This shows that while all those who had assembled against Husain wanted to have the best of this materialistic world, the handful of people who collected under the banner of Husain – not to kill but to get killed – wanted to have the best of the next world.
Being a representative of Noor, Husain showed that lust for materialism and wish for spiritual elevation cannot come together in a soul. Forces bent on pursuing all material powers can be fought only through developing a spiritual mind set through purification of self. God alone is to be worshipped. When God alone is considered the ruler of our self, people would stop supplicating to imperialistic powers. “He who knows this imperishableness” stands for the imperishableness of life for the righteous through death. Husain was ready to live a life of a recluse, but when the greatest imperialist power of that period, in the form of Yazid’s mighty army, wanted him to forsake his freedom and will in front of Yazid, he knowing fully well the imperishable nature of life, decided to sacrifice his entire family, including his own life, but didn’t bow down to the wishes of Yazid. Who emerged victorious, Yazid or Husain? Those who wear glasses of materialism would still say that it was Yazid’s mighty army that was victorious. Because the end result of the day-long battle was that all able-bodied men on Husain’s side were either killed or captured, their belongings looted and women-folk and children imprisoned. But we will understand the reality when we see the meaning of victory and loss in the dictionary. No dictionary says that the victor is the person who has killed and loser is the person who got killed. Instead, victory is for the person who is able to attain his objectives, while loss is to the person who is unable to fulfil his objectives. The history proves who attained his objectives, and who failed? Yazid wanted Husain and supporters to bow down meekly to his immense power as the rest of the world had done. Husain didn’t. Husain wanted to ensure that the people begin to distinguish between the real teachings of the religion propagated by his grandfather, Prophet Mohammad, while Yazid was openly ridiculing the teachings of Islam while proclaiming to be the Caliph who ruled the Muslim world. And the people had begun to see Muawiya and his son Yazid’s politics as true politics, their life as the ideal life and their way as the true Islam. In one stroke, all this changed. In less than one year, there was such unrest within the boundaries of the Umayyad Empire that Yazid had to openly admit that killing of Husain was wrong. Women-folk and children of Husain’s family were released and allowed to return. There were widespread rebellions. Even the Brahmins were fighting to avenge Husain’s death. Yazid died an unceremonious death. His son refused to accept Caliphate whose hands were coloured with the blood of Prophet’s grandson. The great empire that Muawiya had created began to collapse. Cities and cities continued to move out of Umayyad domination. Finally the super-power itself collapsed. Who lost and who won?
What is so significant about Karbala that even after 1400 years of its happening? Is it just that it has the power to make people weep over the past incidents? Why was Husain’s martyrdom so different from all the other people who keep dying for one cause or other, each day? And why was it that Husain, who reached Karbala on 2nd of Moharram, did not budge from his stand despite the then ruler of the Islamic world, Yazid, putting all his forces against him? Husain and his 100 odd companions stood firm against a huge army of 30,000 or even more, and despite having no water or food for three days, from the morning of 7th Moharram onward, that too in the scorching summer heat of Karbala, preferring death over life on the 10th of Moharram.
And why it is that the tragedy of Karbala is the highest example of the fight between truth and untruth, between godliness and evil, and between attempts to restore order against those flaunting the teachings of God. In effect, Karbala can also be described as a war against those who commit crime, spread hatred among humans, amass wealth, forgetting the plight of the poor, or indulge in any type of corruption, and indulge in acts of terrorism, oppression or those which hinder peace, even so these are performed by the State. Karbala is the voice of the downtrodden, weak and insecure against oppressors and unjust people.
In Karbala death was easy and living was more difficult. Last Chapter of Yajur Veda has clearly told the conditions of the martyrs of Karbala, whose limbs were not moving, whose marrow from bones had melted, fat in the body was all gone and there was just skin, shrivelled and burnt by the blazing sun, that protected the weakened bones inside. All because of heat and no water and food. All that had happened within a matter of 9 days, from 2nd of Moharram when water and food supplies were blocked and till 10th of Moharram, when they were killed.
Husain knew well that a large number of people looked at him as the true inheritor of Prophet’s legacy and teachings and if he would put his stamp of approval, all evil acts would henceforth be seen as given sanctity by Islam.
The battle of Karbala can never be defined as a clash of arms between two princes, but as a war between two contradictory principles and ideologies, one upholding piety, love, truth, righteousness and spiritualism and the other clinging to debauchery, power and materialism that resulted in tyrannical imperialism and spiritual bankruptcy. He stood for his stand for not giving allegiance of the untruth, even at the cost life.
It is human nature that fresh events in life blot out the memory of earlier happenings. The tragedy of Karbala has so forcibly defied this tendency, has maintained its sway over the hearts and minds of people so long, as evidenced by the undiminished fervour with which it has been observed for centuries, and has stood its ground against all later events with such conspicuous firmness, that one is constrained to believe that the world has yet to produce an event of greater weight and moment, whose impact on the imagination of humanity might rival Husain’s sacrifice.
It was the impact of this great sacrifice alone that the downfall of this mighty Ummayyad empire began. People whose voice had been silenced by various Mind Control activities suddenly realized that truth and righteousness was all that mattered. Rebellions started everywhere signifying that Karbala became the deathblow to the politics of Damascus and that it stood for.
In short, Karbala is an attempt to lead mankind back towards God not just through giving sermons put showing how those can be put to practice even in the most adverse of circumstances. Karbala is not just the epitome of Islamic teachings put to practice but depicts a more vivid adherence to all that is contained in Gita, the great difference being that while Krishna fought a victorious war where the sacrifices that were given were minimum, where Husain fought a war where sacrifices were of such nature that history trembles even upon describing them.
Not just that, Moharram and Husain’s sacrifice has still the power to unite humanity against the politics of injustice, hatred and deceit. That is why all attempts are on by the vested forces to stop, alter or cripple the message of Karbala.
As somebody rightly said:
Insaniyat ko bedar to ho lene do,
Har qaum pukaregi hamare hain Husain.
Arabia mostly a desert is a vast country along the western marches of Asia, its shores washed by the breakers of the Red Sea. From this land originated a great revolutionary wave, called Islam, in the seventh century of the Christian era. It was generated by Mohammad, son of Abdullah, who declared himself a Prophet, and imparted to the World a message of the absolute unity of God and took his stand against the worship of idols and of pelf and power, in fine, against the worship of everything other than God. This earned him the opposition of those to whose power this teaching posed a threat. They endeavoured to stem the tide of this revolution, and the Prophet had to suffer greatly at their hands.
The Umayyads took a leading part in the resistance to the Prophet’s teaching which, without directly upholding the superiority or affirming the humbleness of any family, made the excellence of performance and thoroughness in carrying out one’s duties as a human being, the sole criteria for the achievement of superiority, honour and merit. Most of the Umayyads did not measure up to these standards and, in consequence, Abu Sufiyan, son of Harb son of Umayya, unfurled the flag of revolt against Islam. The perverse and benighted iconolaters of Arabia rallied round his flag, and began harassing the Prophet and placing all manner of obstruction in his spreading the message of Islam.
Abu Sufiyan’s son Muawiya followed his father in opposing the teachings of Islam. Husain was martyred at Karbala at the hands of Yazid’s forces. Yazid was the son of Muawiya and had acquired the rule of entire Muslim world, in inheritance from his father.
During Muawiya and Yazid’s rule, the city of Damascus fattened on luxury and Byzantine magnificence. Its tinsel glory sapped the foundations of loyalty and the soldierly virtues. Its poison spread through the Muslim world. Governors wanted to be kings. Pomp and selfishness, ease and idleness and dissipation grew as a canker; wines and spirituous liquors, scepticism, cynicism and social vices became so rampant that the protests of the men of God were drowned in mockery. Makkah, which was to have been a symbolical spiritual centre, was neglected or dishonoured. Damascus and Syria became centres of a worldliness and arrogance which cut at the basic roots of Islam.
When Yazid assumed the power at Damascus, he cared nothing for the most sacred ideals of the people. In fact, what all sins his father committed in solitude, he started committing them in open. He was not even interested in the ordinary business affairs of administration. His passion was hunting, and he sought power for self-gratification.
The discipline and self-abnegation, the strong faith and earnest endeavour, the freedom and sense of social equality which had been the motive forces of Islam, were divorced from power. The throne at Damascus had become a worldly throne based on the most selfish ideas of personal and family aggrandisement, instead of a spiritual office, with a sense of God-given responsibility. The decay of morals spread among the people.
Yazid was a great drunkard and was so exceedingly depraved that he was ‘guilty’ of moral transgressions of which the barest mention is taboo in decent society. Even so the dread inspired by the long-established Umayyad authority prevented even one voice from being raised against the goings on of the ruling clique. This was particularly because of the oppressive rule of Muawiya during which several of Prophet’s companions were butchered to death, and even Ali – Husain’s father, and Hasan – his elder brother, were not spared. A propaganda drive was commenced at the instigation of Muawiya all over the Islamic world against Ali and his character. And those loyal to him were tortured, imprisoned or killed.
Injustice, cruelty prevailed during Yazid’s rule. He was a usurper of wealth and treasures while people died of hunger on the roads of Damascus. Whereas Mohammad had given freedom to women form the age-old traditions of suppression, and brought restrictions on the number of permissible marriages, Yazid went back to the pre-Islamic era where women were treated as peace of objects.
Despite his being engrossed in materialistic pursuits, Yazid knew to a certainty that in that quarter of Medina where resided the Hashimides in the Hijaz, there lived a man who was unafraid of him, wedded only to the fear of God. He was the real defender of the principles of Islam, a grandson of the Prophet. He might be silent for the time being, but there was no knowing when the scales may fall off the eyes of the people, and they may be attracted to the truth. Yazid’s anxiety, therefore, mounted, and he longed to obtain the oath of allegiance to himself from Husain without loss of any time, somehow or other. Accordingly, he directed Walid s/o Utba s/o Abu Sufiyan, Governor of Medina, to obtain the oath from Husain, and not to show any lenience in the matter. Husain instantly divined the import of Yazid’s message. On principle it was impossible for Husain to pledge his fealty to Yazid. Indeed, it was much easier for him to offer his head than his hand to Yazid but before doing so, he had to abide by the basic duty enjoined by Islam to make every legitimate effort for self-defence.
There was one man who could stem the tide. That was Imam Husain. He, the grandson of the Prophet, could speak without fear, for fear was foreign to his nature. But his blameless and irreproachable life was in itself a reproach to those who had other standards. They sought to silence him, but he could not be silenced.
They sought to bribe him, but he could not be bribed. They sought to waylay him and get him into their Power. What is more, they wanted him to recognise the tyranny and expressly to support it. For they knew that the conscience of the people might awaken at any time, and sweep them away unless the holy man supported their cause. The holy man was prepared to die rather than surrender the principles for which he stood. The conscience of people that had been put to sleep by Mind Control and other activities was aroused by the sprinkle of blood – human blood of Husain, his friends and the rest of male members in his member, inclusive of a six-year old male child, the only exception being Husain’s son Ali who was too ill to fight.
As forces surrounded him, Husain was asked to surrender. Husain offered to take one of three alternatives. He wanted no political power and no revenge. He said “I came to defend my own people. If I am too late, give me the choice of three alternatives: either to return to Makkah; or to face Yazid himself at Damascus; or if my very presence is distasteful to him and you, I do not wish to cause more divisions among the Muslims. Let me at least go to a distant frontier, where, if fighting must be done, I will fight against the enemies of Islam.” Every one of these alternatives was refused. What they wanted was to destroy his life, or better still, to get him to surrender, to surrender to the very forces against which he was protesting, to declare his adherence to those who were defying the law of God and man, and to tolerate all the abuses which were bringing the name of Islam into disgrace.
THE EVENT OF KARBALA?
For ten years after passing of Hasan and becoming the Imam of the people, Husain was a silent witness to the tortures and misdeeds of Muawiya. In fact, he was witness to open flaunting of the peace agreement between his elder brother Hasan and Muawiya for the past twenty years. When Muawiya appointed Yazid as his successor, he also violated the last of the points of the treaty as well, who demanded allegiance from Husain, without giving a way out. Giving allegiance meant that Husain had given his consent to the (mis) rule of Yazid, whose very position as the Caliph was as violation to the terms of the treaty. Therefore, not only his nomenclature was unjustified from the point of view of the treaty, Husain also knew that Caliphate was a Divine honour, and anybody who became a Caliph by his own might was a usurper. How could have Husain given his consent to the allegiance when he had seen that his father too never did so.
As long as the Ahlulbayt were not forced to pay allegiance, they led a simple, secluded life. During this period, nobody could have ever pointed a finger at them that they were working against the interests of the state. But when allegiance was demanded, and it was made clear that there was no way out, Husain had no choice but to migrate or fight.
Muawiyah was astute enough not to pressurize allegiance from this household. However, Yazid was not even that foresighted. When the question of allegiance was put forward to Husain, and he was left with no other alternative, he decided to leave Medina in the wee hours of night and went to Makkah. According to international usage as, indeed, according to Islam as well, Makkah was such an abode of peace that nobody need have entertained any manner of fright there. To this day, it is prohibited to kill even insects in Makkah. This was an irrefutable proof of his entertaining no wish to fight with anybody and imperil his own life and the lives of those who had kept him company, if he was not compelled to pledge his loyalty to Yazid.
But the grandson of the Prophet noticed here also that preparations were on foot to put him to death. Mercenaries were sent there as well in the garb of Hajis. Towards the last days of the approach of the time for the hajj pilgrimage, when people from all quarters of the Islamic world were converging upon Makkah, Husain had to bid goodbye to that city.
In the meantime, the Kufans had deluded Husain with invitations to come to Kufa. Hundreds of them had signed inviting him to come and guide them in religious duties. Therefore, Husain left Makkah and started moving to Kufa. Moreover, he had already dispatched his cousin, Muslim s/o Aqeel, to observe how things stood there. In the interval, however, conditions at Kufa had completely altered for the worse, upon appointment of a very cruel governor by Yazid. Husain’s representative to Kufa, Muslim s/o Aqeel was killed while the Kufans watched. After this melancholy development it was, to all appearances, highly inexpedient for Husain to persevere in his resolve to go to Kufa, but return to Makkah or Medina was also not feasible, since from Kufa had been dispatched a heavy contingent to take him captive. This barred Husain’s onward progress no less than it prevented his retreat.
Husain, accompanied by only 17 of his male relatives and about a hundred to hundred and fifty close friends, besides women and children, changed his route towards wilderness. When he had reached a place called Naineva or Karbala, he was forced to disembark and prevented from moving further. Husain’s companions could have easily killed the small band of about 1000 horsemen, if they had wanted and proceeded further, as the first contingent that stopped them was exhausted and drained because of riding the horses for a long time in scorching heat. But Husain kept abiding to his stand that he was not going to start the fight at any cost. Consequently, more forces arrived which is said to be anywhere between 30,000 and 1,00,000 or even more. Husain’s camps from close to the river were forcefully uprooted, yet he didn’t start the war. From 2nd of Moharram, Yazid’s forces prohibited Husain’s companions from gaining access to water. The little provisions that Husain and his companions had lasted till the 7th of Moharram. Then there was no water or food to eat. The situation remained so till the morning of10th of Moharram. In the meantime, Husain tried level best to find a peaceful exit and is said to have talked of coming to India, but the governor of Kufa – Obaidullah s/o Ziyad - rejected all these and left him with no choice but to pay allegiance or die. Husain’s approach was so reasonable and pacific that Son of Saad (Ibne Saad) had to concede that Husain’s approach was one of peace, and he wrote to the Obaidullah as much. Obaidullah was, however, drunk with power and could fathom no idea of the lengths to which Husain could go in braving hardships. He thought that Husain had been reduced to seek a peaceful settlement of the outstanding issues between the parties on account of weakness and lack of resources, and wrote back to Oman bin Saad that Husain could purchase safety only by making an unconditional offer to swear allegiance to Yazid. Husain, who was as self-respecting as he was aware of his religious responsibilities, found it impossible to abandon his stand. Husain refused to pay allegiance to a sinner, Yazid, and consequently chose death over life.
On the evening of the 9th of Moharram, Yazid’s army, overwhelmingly superior in numbers, launched the offensive against Husain’s small band. Husain applied for a night’s truce, and it was only with much reluctance and difficulty that it was granted. Husain’s object in seeking this brief truce was simply to spend the last night of his existence in offering prayers to God. And since it had been finally decided to entrust the event of the quarrel to the arbitrament of war, Husain might well have considered it eminently desirable to afford an opportunity to friend and foe alike, to quietly think over the whole matter once again, and deliberate upon the course to be finally adopted by every one of them, individually, so that should any of his companions elect to withdraw his support, and leave him to his fate, he may be free to do so. As to his enemies, no further argument had been left to be urged upon them to dissuade them from indulgence in the unholy war. He collected his companions and told them plainly that the following day would see the end of his existence, and he gave them complete exemption from adhering to the oath of loyalty to him. Indeed, he encouraged them to leave for any destination they chose, and make good use of the cover of darkness afforded by the night. His brave, and selfless companions, with one voice, told him that they would never forsake him, which was, indeed, exactly what they did.
A restless sea of a multitudinous army spread before him, sheer desolation and utter ruin surrounded him but Husain had in his immediate proximity the dear handsome faces of his brothers, nephews, sons and other relatives and friends. He had with him ladies as well, who lived in seclusion as they observed purdah. There were small children also with him. The enemy completely and closely guarded all approaches to the Euphrates. Husain and his companions were denied even a drop of water. Innocent children were greatly agitated and in deep distress on account of thirst. All manifestations of might and exhibitions of authority and all modes of persecution, however, failed to coerce Husain or his companions into the recognition of a sinful and depraved man as a ruler of Islam.
The battle started on the morning of 10th Moharram, which was one-sided right from its start. Even if we are to take the minimum number of people mentioned in various narrations to be true, i.e. 30,000, they were faced with a group of about 150 men, including young boys and very old men, some of whom were the Companions of the Prophet. Despite this, this brave group inflicted casualties many times more than their numbers. Even against this small band, all norms of the battle were forsaken by Yazid’s forces. (Putting prohibition on water is a glaring example). This shows to what extent evil was afraid of good. On Husain’s side, the small group of men was afraid of nothing. Their stand is exactly the one described in Gita. To them, it didn’t matter that death was staring at them. They knew that they have to bear the standard of humanity, truthfulness, justice and piety at all cost and in the most adverse of circumstances. If death came while on that path, it was only too good for them.
Initially, it were Husain’s brave companions, outside his family, who sacrificed their lives for him and his doctrines. When all of them had attained martyrdom, the turn arrived for the relatives of Husain to sacrifice themselves. It would have been far easier for Husain to have sacrificed himself first of all, but he had to undergo the most thoroughgoing and harrowing test of his powers of endurance. His relatives, therefore, started leaving for the field of battle, one by one, to offer the sacrifice of their lives. Ali Akbar, Husain’s grown-up son, who resembled the Prophet himself in appearance, was the first, among his relatives, to be sent to fight and to sacrifice himself. His mother was in her tent at whose door stood his father. She saw their handsome and valiant son getting lost in the innumerable shifting of crowd of hostile forces. His father saw, and his mother heard that Ali Akbar had been cut to pieces in the field of battle. They, however, did not lose control over themselves, and remained patient and composed. Then Husain’s other relatives sacrificed their lives one after the other. Abbas, brother and the standard-bearer of his army, was then sent to die fighting. When left with none else to be offered in sacrifice, Husain offered for sacrifice one who, under no law whatever, could have been held to have committed any wrong. The shocking plight of his infant son, Ali Asghar, restlessly gasping in his mother’s lap, was noticed by Husain, who raised him on his hands before the hostile army. He said to them, ‘if you feel I have done some wrong, then what wrong has this six-month old child committed. He is dying of thirst. I lay him down on the ground and get back so that you can give him water with your own hands, lest you fear that I am asking for water under his pretext.’ Husain did the same, but none came forward. Thereafter, Husain lifted the child back in his hand. At that moment, a soldier fixed an arrow to his bow, aimed it at the infant’s neck and released it. The arrow pierced the infant’s neck. This outraged the conscience of humanity and symbolized the utter collapse of all feelings of mercy and kindliness. Husain had now to offer his own sacrifice after offering resistance in self-defence, as enjoined upon him by the Islamic code. Heart-broken and helpless, Husain unsheathed his sword and defended himself according to the injunctions of Islam as best he could. The manner in which he confronted the enemy is normally far beyond human strength, but how can a man single-handedly withstand an inundation of steel swords? Numberless wounds and injuries were inflicted on Husain’s body, and he fell off from his horse. He was brave to the last. This stage had indeed been imminent since the very beginning but now it had actually arrived. He was cruelly mutilated. His sacred head was cut off while in the act of prayer. A mad orgy of triumph was celebrated over his body. The severed head of the grandson of Prophet Mohammad was held aloft on a spearhead by those who called themselves Muslims.
At death, Husain is said to have 45 wounds from the enemies' swords and javelins, and 35 arrows pierced his body. His left arm was cut off, and a javelin pierced through his breast. After all that agony, when his head was lifted up on a spear, his face was the placid face of a man of God. The dead bodies of the martyrs were trampled by horses, the effects and belongings of Husain and his companions were given over to plunder and the veils that covered the heads of the respectable ladies of the Prophet’s family were snatched away. Their tents were committed to flames. From among the men of Husain’s party, a weak patient, namely, his son, Ali or Imam Zainul Abidin, was the only one to survive the holocaust; he was put under irons. The modest ladies of the noblest family in Arabia were publicly paraded from city to city.
This terrible calamity is often known as the “happenings of Karbala”. Ordinarily every incident, on account of its place of occurrence is related to some particular locality, country and section of society. Accordingly, the events of Karbala are also connected with the region of Iraq, the country of Arabia, the stock of Hashim and the community of the Muslims. Incidents however, acquire universal and general application from their peculiar features and far-reaching consequences, which have relevance for the entire community of man, without any distinction of caste and creed. Thus on the events of Karbala converge the interest and attention of the whole of mankind for a variety of reasons.
KARBALA AND THE SUPERPOWER YAZID
By nature men are drawn towards happiness and shun grief. Distress occasioned by the chances and changes of life is sought to be driven into oblivion. Accordingly, among the nations of the world most celebrations are commemorative of occasions of good cheer. Events fraught with pain and grief have been sparingly commemorated. It is only Husain’s martyrdom that has been solemnized over the centuries to the accompaniment of marks of mourning and symbols of woe. Since human nature cannot support any burden of gloom and depression for any great length of time, it follows from the doleful manner in which, for ages, the tragedy of Karbala has been solemnized, that it is productive of beneficial results and advantages to mankind.
It is in human nature to detest the oppressor and sympathize with the oppressed, irrespective of whether or not we personally know those involved in such an unhappy relationship or their creed or religious persuasion. The cruelties and savagery employed against Husain in Karbala are unparalleled in the annals of the world. Many prophets and saintly personages have, on occasions, been the victims of a variety of ruthless brutalities; many innocent persons have been put to the sword; many more have been deprived of their all, and many more have been thrown into prisons without any fault, but all manner of inhuman atrocities and barbarities meted out to others severally and on separate occasions were perpetrated against Husain alone, and simultaneously with one another. This makes the persecution of Husain unique for all time. Accordingly, as unequalled as the oppression exercised against Husain was and as unexampled was his persecution, as intense might well be the degree of sympathy evoked by and shown to Husain, and as unmatched might appropriately be the measure of aversion evoked by his oppressors. And since the persecution to which Husain was subjected excelled that to which anybody else was exposed, so unrivalled might aptly be the abhorrence in which his oppressors might be held.
Another reason is that the sufferings of Husain were not due to his helplessness as would be those of a man, who say, might be waylaid and plundered by highway robbers or killed by them. Such a person would indeed be held to be an oppressed one, entitled to sympathy. His helplessness, however, is uninvited and unwilled. It does not follow any act on his part which would be based on high principles. Consequently it would bear no comparison to Husain’s helplessness, as Husain undertook to suffer all the hardships, and all the cruelties in support of a rightful cause and in defence of an exalted principle, which constitutes self-sacrifice. A variety of objects might be sacrificed but the supreme sacrifice consists in laying down one’s life. And if a man falter not in offering himself up to his supreme ordeal he would be entitled to the esteem and respect of all mankind. Such a sacrifice would command honour and be entitled to homage in proportion to the merit and the excellence of ht object for which it has been made. The self-immolation of Husain in Karbala stands unrivalled in the chronicles of mankind. Truth and justice were being shaken to their foundations; brute force and tyranny were riding roughshod over men’s right to liberty of conscience. At this critical juncture, Husain tore the mask off the face of unredeemed tyranny and sheer perversity by taking to the battlefield along with him his relatives and even children of tender age. He thus presented to the world the highest example of steadiness, resolution, self-control, patience, self-abnegation, and sacrifice, devotion to the truth and firmness and purity of character. On account of these virtues which Husain so splendidly vindicated, he may, in justice, not be identified exclusively with any one particular nation or religion, but must be reckoned as correlated and belonging to the whole of mankind. His performance re-established humane conduct which was at its last gasp and gave to mankind a message which is, and would remain, deathless. He acquainted the world with the real value and merit of truth and truthfulness, and presented for its edification a mode of death in which immortality itself is unmistakably latent. Accordingly, all the nations of the world who prize sacrifice in a noble cause like truth, liberty of conscience, or freedom of worship cannot but value exceedingly highly the sacrifice which Husain offered.
There is yet another reason. Husain’s object, in submitting himself to the sacrifice, was not such as might be the subject of the slightest controversy between different faiths. At a certain level concerning human excellence and high morality, all religions tend to be at one with each other, for the underlying object of them all, supporting their various super-structures, is to develop human conduct and morals to perfection. It is entirely another matter, indeed, that on account of the contrariness of the times, certain principles and directions of the various religions might have been modified or altered on account of the misunderstandings of succeeding generations. As already stated, however the nub of all religions is to refine human conduct and perfect human qualities. Husain’s aim coincided with this common objective of all religions. If Husain had striven against the non-Muslims then, howsoever impeccable might have been the object of his sacrifice, and, howsoever heartlessly he might have been led to martyrdom, his adversaries might well have pleaded animus with his name, faith and objective, to get away with their crimes. The tragedy of Karbala may well have fallen short of commanding universal sympathy. Husain’s self-immolation was not formally meant to obliterate or support any particular faith. On the contrary, his sacrifice had been made to uproot the defects of, and re-establish virtue amongst, followers of one and the same faith. Consequently since in principle, there are no fundamental differences between different religions about the concepts of virtue and vice, and all religions equally believe in fostering virtue and eradicating vice, the adherents of all faiths would applaud Husain’s object, and do honour and pay homage to Husain’s sacrifice.
Again, the perfect examples of a variety of excellent qualities of behaviour and of the manifestations of cardinal virtues that Husain and his followers furnished in such profusion during the tragic developments at Karbala provide for all men, without any distinction whatever, a perennial source of practical instruction which may be turned to advantage by them all. It was for these reasons that despite all their internal tensions and mutual differences, people the world over have looked upon the tragedy of Karbala as one in which they all were intimately concerned, and the nations of the world have alike conceded its importance.
Numberless revolutions have taken place in the world after the events at Karbala. Civilization has seen many upheavals and standards of behaviour and modes of thought and feeling have undergone many radical alterations, but the memory of the sacrifice to which Husain gave himself up has been kept alive continuously for nearly 1400 years without losing any of its cordial sincerity. It would have, in consequence, to be conceded that Husain had offered the sacrifice in defence of such unexceptionable and exalted principles of human conduct, as are shared in the largest measure by people, all over the world. As a corollary, so long as mankind and the nobler traits of humanity survive, those principles will continue to be cherished and the memory of Husain’s sacrifice would remain fresh.
KARBALA AND ITS RELEVANCE IN IN CONTEMPORARY SOCIETY?
That briefly is the story. What is the lesson? There is of course the physical suffering in martyrdom, and all sorrow and suffering claim our sympathy, ---- the dearest, purest, most outflowing sympathy that we can give. But there is a greater suffering than physical suffering. That is when a valiant soul seems to stand against the world; when the noblest motives are reviled and mocked; when truth seems to suffer an eclipse.
It may even seem that the martyr has but to say a word of compliance, do a little deed of non-resistance; and much sorrow and suffering would be saved; and the insidious whisper comes: “Truth after all can never die.” That is perfectly true. Abstract truth can never die. It is independent of man's cognition. But the whole battle is for man's keeping hold of truth and righteousness.
Husain’s role in Divine Creation Plan has come to surface lately, courtesy the study of Vedas and Upanishads. It is being proved that Husain is none other than Agnidev of the Vedas. Several of the incidents of Karbala described above were already foretold in the Vedas. When we consider this role of Husain as noor or deva (representing the Forces of Light), we will get to realize why the Forces of Darkness used all their resources and power to strangulate the voice of Husain in the desert of Karbala itself.
History records that much later than the time of Vedas, and after Puranas were compiled by Vyasa, there was a time when the Vedas had fallen in disuse and forgotten, and the Brahmans were again instructed in them by Saraswata, son of Saraswati. It was perhaps this reason why a river was named Saraswati, and a distinguished tribe of the Brahmans were known as Saraswata, based on the name of Saraswata who revived the Vedas once they had fallen in disuse. It seems that these Brahmans continued to hold on to the real teachings of Vedas till the time of the advent of Prophet Mohammad. We can say this because it was these Saraswata Brahmans who went to the aid of Husain, when enemies at Karbala surrounded him. By the time they reached Karbala, Husain had already been killed. The fact that these Saraswata Brahmanas realized the true position of Husain through their scriptures can be understood from the fact that they stayed back in Iraq even when they got to know that Husain and his friends had been killed. The Saraswata Brahmans, who proudly call themselves Husaini Brahmans to this date, played a key part in avenging the killing of Husain. In the process, several of them got killed but they returned to their native country only when they had seen with their eyes that the killers of Husain got killed.
The divine role of Husain and the stance of those who had collected to fight him can also be understood by a glaring difference between the stand of the two at Karbala. When Umar Ibn Saad, the commander of the Yazidian army, fired the first arrow on Husain’s forces, he said: O people, be witness that it is I who fired the first arrow at Husain. On other hand when Husain’s friends and several relatives had been killed and his son Ali Akbar started moving towards the battlefield, Husain said: O God, be witness that the one who is now going to the battlefield resembles the most to your Prophet, Mohammad. This shows that while all those who had assembled against Husain wanted to have the best of this materialistic world, the handful of people who collected under the banner of Husain – not to kill but to get killed – wanted to have the best of the next world.
Being a representative of Noor, Husain showed that lust for materialism and wish for spiritual elevation cannot come together in a soul. Forces bent on pursuing all material powers can be fought only through developing a spiritual mind set through purification of self. God alone is to be worshipped. When God alone is considered the ruler of our self, people would stop supplicating to imperialistic powers. “He who knows this imperishableness” stands for the imperishableness of life for the righteous through death. Husain was ready to live a life of a recluse, but when the greatest imperialist power of that period, in the form of Yazid’s mighty army, wanted him to forsake his freedom and will in front of Yazid, he knowing fully well the imperishable nature of life, decided to sacrifice his entire family, including his own life, but didn’t bow down to the wishes of Yazid. Who emerged victorious, Yazid or Husain? Those who wear glasses of materialism would still say that it was Yazid’s mighty army that was victorious. Because the end result of the day-long battle was that all able-bodied men on Husain’s side were either killed or captured, their belongings looted and women-folk and children imprisoned. But we will understand the reality when we see the meaning of victory and loss in the dictionary. No dictionary says that the victor is the person who has killed and loser is the person who got killed. Instead, victory is for the person who is able to attain his objectives, while loss is to the person who is unable to fulfil his objectives. The history proves who attained his objectives, and who failed? Yazid wanted Husain and supporters to bow down meekly to his immense power as the rest of the world had done. Husain didn’t. Husain wanted to ensure that the people begin to distinguish between the real teachings of the religion propagated by his grandfather, Prophet Mohammad, while Yazid was openly ridiculing the teachings of Islam while proclaiming to be the Caliph who ruled the Muslim world. And the people had begun to see Muawiya and his son Yazid’s politics as true politics, their life as the ideal life and their way as the true Islam. In one stroke, all this changed. In less than one year, there was such unrest within the boundaries of the Umayyad Empire that Yazid had to openly admit that killing of Husain was wrong. Women-folk and children of Husain’s family were released and allowed to return. There were widespread rebellions. Even the Brahmins were fighting to avenge Husain’s death. Yazid died an unceremonious death. His son refused to accept Caliphate whose hands were coloured with the blood of Prophet’s grandson. The great empire that Muawiya had created began to collapse. Cities and cities continued to move out of Umayyad domination. Finally the super-power itself collapsed. Who lost and who won?
What is so significant about Karbala that even after 1400 years of its happening? Is it just that it has the power to make people weep over the past incidents? Why was Husain’s martyrdom so different from all the other people who keep dying for one cause or other, each day? And why was it that Husain, who reached Karbala on 2nd of Moharram, did not budge from his stand despite the then ruler of the Islamic world, Yazid, putting all his forces against him? Husain and his 100 odd companions stood firm against a huge army of 30,000 or even more, and despite having no water or food for three days, from the morning of 7th Moharram onward, that too in the scorching summer heat of Karbala, preferring death over life on the 10th of Moharram.
And why it is that the tragedy of Karbala is the highest example of the fight between truth and untruth, between godliness and evil, and between attempts to restore order against those flaunting the teachings of God. In effect, Karbala can also be described as a war against those who commit crime, spread hatred among humans, amass wealth, forgetting the plight of the poor, or indulge in any type of corruption, and indulge in acts of terrorism, oppression or those which hinder peace, even so these are performed by the State. Karbala is the voice of the downtrodden, weak and insecure against oppressors and unjust people.
In Karbala death was easy and living was more difficult. Last Chapter of Yajur Veda has clearly told the conditions of the martyrs of Karbala, whose limbs were not moving, whose marrow from bones had melted, fat in the body was all gone and there was just skin, shrivelled and burnt by the blazing sun, that protected the weakened bones inside. All because of heat and no water and food. All that had happened within a matter of 9 days, from 2nd of Moharram when water and food supplies were blocked and till 10th of Moharram, when they were killed.
Husain knew well that a large number of people looked at him as the true inheritor of Prophet’s legacy and teachings and if he would put his stamp of approval, all evil acts would henceforth be seen as given sanctity by Islam.
The battle of Karbala can never be defined as a clash of arms between two princes, but as a war between two contradictory principles and ideologies, one upholding piety, love, truth, righteousness and spiritualism and the other clinging to debauchery, power and materialism that resulted in tyrannical imperialism and spiritual bankruptcy. He stood for his stand for not giving allegiance of the untruth, even at the cost life.
It is human nature that fresh events in life blot out the memory of earlier happenings. The tragedy of Karbala has so forcibly defied this tendency, has maintained its sway over the hearts and minds of people so long, as evidenced by the undiminished fervour with which it has been observed for centuries, and has stood its ground against all later events with such conspicuous firmness, that one is constrained to believe that the world has yet to produce an event of greater weight and moment, whose impact on the imagination of humanity might rival Husain’s sacrifice.
It was the impact of this great sacrifice alone that the downfall of this mighty Ummayyad empire began. People whose voice had been silenced by various Mind Control activities suddenly realized that truth and righteousness was all that mattered. Rebellions started everywhere signifying that Karbala became the deathblow to the politics of Damascus and that it stood for.
In short, Karbala is an attempt to lead mankind back towards God not just through giving sermons put showing how those can be put to practice even in the most adverse of circumstances. Karbala is not just the epitome of Islamic teachings put to practice but depicts a more vivid adherence to all that is contained in Gita, the great difference being that while Krishna fought a victorious war where the sacrifices that were given were minimum, where Husain fought a war where sacrifices were of such nature that history trembles even upon describing them.
Not just that, Moharram and Husain’s sacrifice has still the power to unite humanity against the politics of injustice, hatred and deceit. That is why all attempts are on by the vested forces to stop, alter or cripple the message of Karbala.
As somebody rightly said:
Insaniyat ko bedar to ho lene do,
Har qaum pukaregi hamare hain Husain.
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