HUSAIN - THE MARTYR OF HUMANITY
[In narrating the history of the events that led to Karbala, we have taken Allama Ali Naqi Naqvi’s (Naqqan Saheb’s) book Shaheed-e-Insaniyat translated in English as Martyr of Humanity by S. Ali Athar Rizvi as the base for building our narration. However, it is not possible to replicate the 400-page book and we have only used selected text. We also admit here that there are also views inferred from other books and therefore, we are doing away with the usual custom of quoting and unquoting, just as we have refrained from doing so in the preceding text. The narration is as Muslims, not in knowledge of Husain’s divine relationship with Noor, and seeing him an ordinary man, would describe Husain’s sacrifice.]
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 when he confronted Ali in the battle of Siffin. 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.
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.
Despite this, 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.
Accordingly, Husain resolved upon leaving his hearth and home at Medina. He took with himself all his dependents, including ladies and children, and sought refuge at 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.
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, but the grandson of the Prophet noticed here also that preparations were on foot to put him to death. Towards the last days of the approach of the time for the Haj pilgrimage, when people from all quarters of the Islamic world were converging upon Makkah, Husain had to bid goodbye to that city. He took the road to Kufa of which the residents had persistently invited him to guide them in religious duties. We have given the reason for Husain’s action. 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, after the heartless Obaidullah s/o Ziyad had established his authority there. Muslim s/o Aqeel met the fate of a martyr. 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. He was there, constrained to alight at Karbala where, from the very next day, came pouring in Yazid’s multitudinous armies. All roads were sealed and Husain was surrounded. Pressure was inexorably exerted to coerce Husain into swearing allegiance to Yazid.
Husain was accompanied by only 17 of his relatives, a few slaves and about a hundred or a hundred and fifty close friends who had managed to join him despite the strict watch that had been kept on all the headways.
From the 7th of Moharram water was totally banned for Husain and his companions, not excepting even children. Husain was peace-loving by nature, and placed before the Commander of Yazid’s army terms calculated to reduce tension and obviate the chances of a resort to violence. It is said that he even said that he be allowed to go to India. His 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 governor of Kufa, Obaidullah bin Ziyad as much. Ziyad’s son was, however, drunk with power and could form 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.
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.
From morning till about midday on the 10th of Moharram, Husain’s brave companions, outside his family, 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. This stage had indeed been imminent since the very beginning but now it had actually arrived. Husain’s head was severed from his body, and held aloft on a spearhead. 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 sheets 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.
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, though evidence is available of little water left till the 7th and till 10th of Moharram, when they were killed.
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.
One reason is that 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.
The second 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 the 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.
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 a fact that fresh events 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.
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.
It is obvious that in proportion to the importance of an objective, and its historical uniqueness and meaningfulness, men of letters and those of a reflective turn of mind, exercise the powers of their pens and the energies of their minds about it. No single incident in the history of the world has collected round itself such a huge mass of writing, in prose and verse, as the tragedy of Karbala, showing its unmatched significance.
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Significance of Moharram and Karbala
Moharram is the first month of the Islamic lunar calendar. Yet the name Moharram brings to mind the tragedy of Karbala, the martyrdom of Husain (grandson of Prophet Mohammad), and of piety, righteousness and justice standing against cruelty, bigotry and injustice. As soon as the moon is sighted, signifying the beginning of the month of Moharram, countless gatherings called majlis are convened to mourn the tragedy of Karbala. Tazias and processions are carried out and people are even seen crying upon listening to the events associated with Karbala.
What is so significant about Karbala that even after 1400 years of its happening, 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 150 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 is it that the tragedy of Karbala is the highest example of the fight between truth and untruth, between godliness and evil, and between an attempt to restore order against those flaunting and misusing 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 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, Husain fought a war where sacrifices were of such nature that history trembles even upon describing them.
Let us go in detail and see the causes that contributed to the great catastrophe of Karbala, and also the events associated with that holocaust.
Husain’s grandfather, Prophet Mohammad had arduously worked to reform a diseased social order where petty fights resulted into bloody warfare lasting generations, people slaughtered their daughters, considering it an act of maintaining their self-respect, rich and high-born were considered superior to the rest of the people, so much so that the murder of an important person was avenged by putting to death hundreds of people belonging to the tribe of the murderer, whereas important people were allowed to kill ‘insignificant’ or ‘unimportant’ men.
Prophet’s job was to cleanse all those beliefs, superstitions and traditions that had become integral parts of their lives. He had to teach tolerance, forbearance, humility and forgiveness to those who deemed forgiveness as evidence of weakness and forbearance to those who saw it as symbol of cowardice.
He had to give lessons in equality and fraternity to those who divided themselves upon their high births. The Arabs could not even dream that piety and righteousness were the highest merits in the eyes of God, or that the lowest of men could claim equality with any member of the noblest families in Arabia. The priestly order was all-powerful which claimed to be an intermediary between the worshippers and the worshipped. On the contrary, the Prophet brought a message of freedom to world groaning under the power and authority of priests; he gave freedom from the tyranny of the affluent, who unmindful of any divine law or human regulation, brazenly enjoyed the fruits of the toil and labour of others, he gave freedom to the slaves and the suppressed classes from the oppression of their masters and social superiors, he gave freedom to women from what was, to all intents and purposes, slavery which divested them of even their elementary human rights, and he gave freedom to the ordinary man from the constraints imposed upon him by narrow inhibitions of castes, colour and race.
From his childhood, Husain saw his grandfather toiling hard to eradicate all kind of evils from the society. He grew up to eradicate all kind of evils from the society. He grew up in an environment where righteousness, piety, justice, generosity and uplifting of all social virtues were the order of the day. After his grandfather’s death, Husain saw how the entire direction that his grandfather had given to the teachings was hijacked by the self-seekers and satanic forces, so much so that lot many customs of the pre-Islamic period that were banned by Islam, were reintroduced. It started with those who showed themselves to be the most pious, but in their hearts valued their own interests more to the Islamic injunctions. And then, within 50 years, it came to a stage where vices were not only being openly committed, but there were deliberate attempts to portray Islam as a constituent of those vices. Degradation had reached a stage that Islam’s face was distorted and people had begun to view the Islam of Muawiya as the real Islam. Yazid even went further and distorted the teachings of Prophet Mohammad to such a degree of ugliness that it became a mockery, not only of the teachings, but also of the basic rational inclinations of the human mind.
The conscience of the rightful was either purchased or their souls tormented into obedience and to such humble submission that their sensibilities were deadened to dumbness. Yazid was committing every crime and evil under the sun, that too under the banner of Islam – the very religion that had taught the Arabs the essence of being humans. He considered himself as an almighty dictator who paid no heed to the laws of civilized society.
Husain’s grandfather Prophet Mohammad had taught the virtues of peace and piety, Yazid was preaching war and hatred. Blood of innumerable innocent people was made to spill under his orders. Mohammad had never allowed forceful subversion of other territories, whereas Yazid and even his father Muawiya had sent Muslim armies as far as Africa and India, so much so that even today, it is said that Islam spread through sword.
Mohammad had preached simple living and Ali, even when he had become the Caliph of the Islamic world, lived in a small cottage, while Yazid’s palace vied with the palaces of Byzantine and Persian kings, in grandeur.
Ali is known for giving the first charter of ruling a nation, when he was made Caliph of the Muslim world for a brief period of four years. He is famous for giving strict guidelines for his governors, about the manner in which even the poorest of poor ought to be treated. Ali showed to the world for the first time what a ruler’s role ought to be when he lived like a poor man and took only that amount from the government treasury that went to the poorest of the poor. On the contrary, 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. And he was considered the caliph of Islam.
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, and Yazid, immediately upon becoming the caliph demanded allegiance from Husain, without leaving 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 leave Medina in the wee hours of night. He moved to Makkah, where killing of even an insect had not only been shunned by the Prophet’s decree but also in accordance of the tribal custom it was a land of peace. But for Yazid, neither religious nor social and tribal customs mattered. Husain saw with his own eyes Yazid’s soldiers, in plain clothes, in the vicinity of Makkah. Husain didn’t want to be killed in a manner in which his elder brother Hasan was killed, where everybody knew that he was killed at the behest of Muawiya but there was no proof. He never wanted to be killed by an unknown swordsman or an arrow from nowhere, as had been the case of Saad, about whom the official explanation was that he had been killed by a Jinn. It was time to expose Yazid. So much so that people realize, once and for all, this caliphate was farce; that the caliphs are not appointed by other Muslims and the fact that this custom had come in vogue, people of the character of Yazid too had become worthy of becoming caliphs of Islam. Husain for once and all wanted to divide a permanent line between true teachings of Islam and the pseudo-religion of man-made caliphs, a line which none would be able to obliterate in future. He wanted to make it clear for all that Islam is a path of worship and supplication to God and of peace, truthfulness and justice for all, and all outward attempts of show of religiosity matter the least if the very principles of Islam were being forgotten. Thus, Husain not only exposed the Yazid but also Osama and Baghdadi of all periods, who show a deviated version of Islam, minus the path of salvation and supplication shown by the Ahlulbayt.
While in Makkah, people of Basra and Kufa were inviting Husain to come to Iraq to lead them and guide them, writing letters in bulk, even writing that if Husain would not come, they would present the case in front of the Prophet that they kept on inviting the Imam but he didn’t come to lead and guide them. This was reason enough for Husain to proceed to Kufa. But conditions changed in Kufa abruptly and Kufans deserted the emissary sent by Husain. Husain had no choice but to move ahead towards wilderness of Karbala.
At no moment was the offer of paying allegiance to Yazid, to save his life, considered. Death was preferable but not putting stamp of approval on Yazid’s position and activities. 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.
None can put the blame on Husain that he wanted a war. With 150 people and women and children, no war is fought. In reality, he as Divine Representative of God could not have given assent of approval to the sins of one of the greatest sinners of his time, that too in the name of Islam. People’s conscience had been purchased or they were silenced to act in fear. But not Husain!
He left Medina, where he had lived most of his life and moved to Makkah to avoid bloodshed. But when Husain saw that Yazid had sent shooters to kill him in Makkah, he left Makkah and proceeded towards Iraq. At a point called Karbala, he was made to stop by Yazid’s army on 2nd of Islamic month of Moharram. On 10th of Moharram, he along with his companions was put to death during a battle, which lasted an entire day. Husain and his companions fought bravely, despite the fact that they had been weakened by the hunger and thirst that lasted more than three days.
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.
Remember the more severe the illness, a greater intensity dose is required. Likewise, despite the severity of the illness, if it is detected correctly and in time for it to go out of hands, the greater is the effect of the medicines. There are times, when the patient is given shocks to bring him back to normal. The same was the case of Husain’s sacrifice. Within 50 years of the Prophet’s death, the sabotage from within by those nurturing materialistic hopes, helped further by those who had always been enemies of the Message but had no choice but to publicly become adherents, had hollowed the very foundations of the Message. The entire philosophy behind the slogan, ‘no god but Allah, and Mohammad his Prophet’, had aspired to lead man to the one God, through the path that the Mohammad showed in the light of the teachings of the earlier Apostles; an act similar to a road broadened and rebuilt on a previously built road that had become uneven and patchy through rough use over the period of time.
Thankfully, the intensity with which the slogan had negated all other Gods but Allah, did not allow idols to come up in mosques and homes. However, Allah was least visible in actions and several virtual idols had made inroads in the minds of the people, who looked at awe and aspired for all worldly luxuries like power, wealth, fame and women and were ready to go to any extreme to achieve their goals. The difference now was that now they had started doing so while also calling them Muslims!
It is true that the world had never been devoid of such people but the most unfortunate thing was that these people were committing their acts under the veil of that Message itself that the Prophet had so laboriously propagated after giving immense sacrifices of all type. Threat that was not hidden from sincere guardians and propagators of the Message in its original form was that this Message was also on the verge of getting lost or altered. They had seen what had happened of the teachings of the previous Apostles prior to Mohammad. People remembered the Apostles, had made huge temples to house their idols, but followed none of their teachings, which too had lost their shine due to wrong interpretations, altered implications or forged lies and fabrications. This had already started with great intensity, further aggravated by the huge propaganda campaign unleashed to malign the original teachings of the Message and denigrate the personality of those who were its chief champions. The things were compounded by the fact that people were lured away by showering riches on those who sided with them and forced to distance themselves from the teachings out of intimidation or fear of being tortured or killed.
The Message had united everybody as equal before the eyes of the Creator but aristocracy and slavery had re-entered on the two extremes and was commonly visible. Nobody cared for the plight of the poor and there was no one to hear call for justice. The Message had given equal status to poor as citizen and had championed for a minimum guaranteed sustenance quota out of the State exchequer but the rulers were living a life of grandeur and pomp, ate in silver and gold utensils, whereas the poor died of hunger under the shadows of their fortresses. The Message had encouraged pursuit of knowledge, but the knowledgeable were being harassed and killed out of fear that may reveal the truth to the masses. The Message had believed in the conquest of hearts and minds, unless forced into an armed combat, but the self-appointed Caliphs and rulers were sending armed expeditions on all frontiers to capture new territories each day. On the whole, the Message had taught and trained to remember the one and only God, not only through the five time prayers that each Muslim is supposed to offer, but through all acts that one perform from morning till evening. And the self-appointed guardians of faith usurped wealth of the masses, killed and murdered innocent at will, indulged themselves in drinking, maintained harems where women were brought from all corners of the empire, publicly insulted the might of the Almighty and those He created; all their acts revealing that they were men of the world.
Husain was a silent spectator to all this! The Message had taught him to raise voice of dissent against injustice, corruption and evil, yet he knew that most of the people who would have stood up to fight with him were either killed or imprisoned. He knew there was no support to come. He saw with unease the degradation of the moral values of the people and public insult of the values cherished by God, through the hands of despotic and arrogant Yazid and his men. Yet he did not want to be labelled a rebel against a ruler, so he kept quiet.
Yazid himself left him with limited options when he asked for Husain’s bayt – a custom in the Arab world where a person put a hand on the hand of the ruler, signifying that he attested the ruler’s claim and policies. Through the eyes of a person used to the worldly ways of society, it was a ‘God-sent opportunity’ as Husain even had a chance to live with splendour, if only he had negotiated for a hefty sum in lieu of his bayt. Yazid would have loved to have a person of the stature of grandson of Prophet coming in his support. He could have given anything for that. But Yazid knew this small house in Medina could not be lured by money or any such charms. Hence, his message to his lieutenants in Medina was simple, either take allegiance or send Husain’s severed head to Damascus. Husain knew it was time to give his ahead but now bow it down in front of the greatest superpower of the world at that time - the so-called Islamic caliphate.
Anyone who has understood the gist of the teachings of either Gita or Quran would agree that it was the most impossible thing for a representative of God to bow down and give his allegiance to a worldly ruler, howsoever powerful he might have been. Husain offered Yazid to let go of the question of bayt and let him live quietly in Medina. When Yazid didn’t agree, he gave him another offer that he would quietly go to India, a place outside the dominions of Yazid. When Yazid’s commander didn’t agree to this as well, Husain, surrounded as he was with a huge army numbering into thousands of soldiers, just asked for one thing: deferment of fight for a night so that Husain and his friends could pray and worship their Lord, one last time. This after all was the purpose of all that Husain stood for. The outcome was certain, 100-odd men faced against an entire army. Yet the night was spent in prayers, so much so that historians have commented that for the entire night only the buzz of prayers could be heard from Husain’s camps. Remember: “Remember Me and fight” in Gita.
No one attempted to escape in the darkness of the night. No one panicked as this was a stand taken willingly by each one of them. None grieved over the expected fate of their near and dear ones – husbands, sons, brothers, fathers, relatives and friends. No one lamented or blamed Husain, as they were a selected bunch of men who shared the same ideals and belief. All immersed themselves in prayers, as this was the last night when they could pray.
The fighting started even before the time for the morning prayers, yet the prayers were offered for God, who was centre to all the fight. Noon prayers were offered under the shower of arrows, at a time when this ‘army’ of 100-odd people was reduced to less than half. Meanwhile, God was never forgotten, even in the treatment of corpses of the enemy, or letting go those who fled, only to come back later.
As the day progressed, Husain kept losing his companions one by one, who fought valiantly but being outnumbered, hungry and thirsty for three days, they could not stand out for long. Scholars and teachers, traders and slaves, whites and blacks, young and the old, all who shared the same cause as that of Husain – that of upholding righteousness and fighting against evil – fought till their last breath. Husain’s friends, relatives, brothers, nephews, and sons too were put to death before Husain himself was martyred. But before Husain’s martyrdom, an event occurred which exposed the true character of Yazid and his army and put a seal till the end of the world that Yazid’s forces were a symbol of evil and Husain a symbol of virtue who came face to face at Karbala. It also silenced the mouth of all those who would have labelled this as a war to crush an uprising, as Yazid tried to put forward though unsuccessfully. The ‘uprising’ from Husain’s side was even done by an infant barely six-month old.
River Euphrates flowed a few hundred meters ahead but Yazid’s army had put forces on water and prevented Husain and his companions from gaining access to it. On Husain’s side were also women and children. Summer was at its peak and the barren rocky land of Karbala only heightened the heat as it reflected from the rocky ground underneath. There was no other source of water. Water that was present in Husain’s camp got exhausted on the 7th morning. Food had exhausted even before. For three days, Husain and his companions including infants and children remained without food or water. This was being done to the same Husain who had offered water to the mortally tired soldiers of the first band of 1000 soldiers of Yazid’s army, under the command of Hur, who had stopped Husain from moving further. It was very easy for Husain to order his companions to kill this band, dying of water. but Husain had said he would never be the one to start the war. The effect of this act was such that about a week later, and after doing much introspection, Hur came to Husain’s side, along with his son.
By the 10th of Moharram, the condition in the Husain’s camp had become such that children were crying ‘thirst, thirst’ and there was no water. At the time when nearly all the companions on Husain’s side had been killed, and Husain was preparing to go the battlefield, he was told that the 6-month old son Ali Asghar was dying of thirst. Husain took the infant in his arms to the battlefield and asked Yazid’s forces to give the child some water as he was dying of thirst. He even said that even if they considered Husain to be a culprit, the child had done no harm and was innocent as per all religions and beliefs. Not only this, Husain laid the child on the hot sand and moved back, so that they could give water to the child through their own hands, if they feared that Husain would drink it under the pretext of offering water to the child. The river flowed nearby as a proof of God’s gift to humanity and there was no water for that young sibling, yet to know of the rules of humanity. No water was given. Husain lifted the child in hands, as Shimr from Yazid’s force asked Hurmula to shoot an arrow at the child. Hurmula was the most famous marksman of the army. The arrow hit the child on his throat and the tender neck of child was slit open, while he was in his father’s arms.
Children do not commit a sin. This is the belief of all religions. They are pure in the eyes of all. The presence of a six-month old child in the list of those martyred in Karbala on Husain’s side proved the innocence of all who were there on Husain’s side. When the elders came in the battlefield, they came with a sword or spear. People could have said that since they had come to fight, they had no alternative but to kill. When the arrow from the side of Yazid’s army killed this child in the arms of Husain, it became evident that all were innocent.
Husain’s turn to go to fight came a shade prior to the time for the afternoon prayers. He was now the lone survivor of all who formed this ‘army’. Wounded and without water for three days, he fought bravely. When he fell from the horseback, the time for the prayers had just come. Husain decided to remember his God, one last time, and began to pray. As he kneeled down to say, ‘subhaanallah . . .’ (what accolades can be showered on my God who is supreme and worthy of all praises), one from amongst the army of the then ‘Caliph of the Muslims’ severed his head from the body; the severed head was placed on top of the spear and taken from city to city till it reached Yazid’s palace in Damascus along with all the ‘prisoners of war’. Husain had died but the name of God and his Message survived, written as it was by the self-sacrificing blood of Husain and his followers.
Nothing but the bare corpses of Husain and his followers under the heat of the sun, the flow of innocent blood in plenty and the severed heads of the most pious of men on the edges of spears, raised in the sky to celebrate the victory, could have aroused the underlying sensibilities of the society. Husain knew that the unconscious cannot be awakened but from the sprinkling of his own blood, and that of his relatives, friends and co-thinkers. No doubt, Husain and his companions were brutally killed, even children small enough to feed on their mother’s milk not spared by the arrows targeting them, remaining children and womenfolk arrested and tortured, but all this sorrow and suffering was too small a sacrifice, against Husain’s complete devotion to God. So much so that whenever he was faced with a severe calamity, when 6-month old child was killed by an arrow, he just had a Quranic verse ‘Inna-ilaihe wainna ilaihe rajeoon’ on his lips, to which he added another line ‘Rizan be qazaehee wa tasleeman le amrehe’ meaning “We are from God and we are to return to God, we are in agreement with all that happens to us and all our actions are meant for Him’. Those who have understood Gita, please reflect: Is not Husain’s life and stand in Karbala, the highest living example of the way of life that Gita taught and desire from us?
Husain’s head was severed from the body while he was still alive and put on top of a spear as a mark of victory. The camps of the womenfolk were set on fire, their belongings looted and all – women and children and a sole male member in the form of Husain’s sick son, Ali bin Husain Zainul Abidin – were taken prisoners. All were tied with one rope and made to sit on camel-backs and taken in the form of a victory procession from Karbala to Kufa (in present Iraq) and to Damascus (in present Syria) in such a manner that women and children, tied together, were on the camel-backs with the severed heads of their husbands, brothers, sons and children on top of the spears, in front of them.
The result was arousal with a vengeance. Husain’s sacrifice helped change innumerable minds. A clear line was drawn with red forever between the original Message and those who wanted to corrupt it. Those mightily armed rulers, who had made subjugation of territories as their goal in life, were vanquished by a handful of men with Husain, who died fighting but still rules our hearts and mind. Husain gave a voice to all the downtrodden of the world and became synonymous with all fights against all isms, including imperialism, materialism, communalism, etc. besides injustice, corruption and cruelty. And he gave a parallel approach for love of all humanity and of course God, who is the creator and sustainer of the entire world. Result of Husain’s sacrifice was that from then on people will still continue to do all possible sins while calling themselves as believers of God, but their acts will not be viewed as being justified by God’s teachings; true teachings will always be visible parallel to all untruth, for those who wish to imbibe them in their lives.
