Hussein the Saiviour of Islam

The Captives in Damascus

EVEN DURING THE most miserable journey, the severed head of the Holy Imam manifested several miracles which guided several good hearted Christians and Jews to embrace Islam, most of whom after embracing the Truth attacked the brutes and were ultimately martyred by the Devil's forces.

When the looted Caravan entered Damascus, at the ordcrs of the Devil Yazid, the whole town was ordered to he fulL dcccratcd and the people to be engaged in rejoicing and making mcrry at the success of their Ruler.To please the Brute the people dressed in festive robes were extremely jubilant amusing themselves in fanciful plays and merrymaking. When the looted Caravan of the Holy House of the Prophet passed through the public streets and the busy bazaars, people in huge numbers thronged to have a view of the captives whereas the godly ladies of the family of the Holy Imam who were captives, felt mortally ashamed and insulted and covered their holy faces under the hair of their heads. While the sorrow-stricken ladies were seated on the bare hacks of the camels with the hair of their heads covering their faces, the heads of the martyrs raised on the point of the lances were marching before them. The poor ladies sometimes looked at the heads of their martyred husbands, brothers and children with tears flowing from their eyes. The children seeing the severed heads of their loved ones cried aloud innocently callina them to return to them and to relieve them of their miseries.

After paradina through the crowded streets and the busy bazaars thronged with the rejoicing public the Iadics and the children tied in ropes and the sick Ali in chains with the severed heads of the martyrs were presented openly in the fully attended court of Yazid surrounded by hundreds of his courtiers. Yazid sat on the throne and kept the severed head of the Holy Imam down in front of him, drank wine, and ridiculed the Holy Iniam and his family standing before him utterly helpless tied in ropes as captives. What all befell the Holy Family in the Devil s court is also a long history of unbearable sorrow and the worst degradation of the godly ones, which will surely move the coldest heart to tears.

The captives were imprisoned in a very narrow, dark and roof- less cell. The members of the Holy Family suffered the hardships and the tortures of imprisonment in the cell for a long time until in the prison expired Sakina the three year old dearly loved daughter of Husain. She died of wounds caused by the whips and slaps of the tyrants,particularly of the wounds she received from the stone-hearted Shimar. After a long imprisonment, the sick Imam Ali, with the other captives, was released. They returned to Karbala, and after burying the bodies of Husain and the other martyrs which were lying unburied till then, they returned to Madina. Thus the Holy Imam Husain offered the Greatest Sacrifice to re establish the Truth firmly never again to be shaken by any one until the Day of Judgment.

The Old Testament Prophesies The Martyrdom

THIS IS THE Sacrifice which has been prophesied also in the Old Testament in which God promises to avenge the blood of the Holy Imam Husain:-

"for this is the day of the Lord God of Hosts, a day of Vengeance, that he may avenge him of his adversaries and the sword shall devour, and it shall be satiated and made drunk with their blood for the Lord God of Hosts hath a Sacrifice in the morth country by the river Euphrates." Jer. 46:10

This is the 'Zibhe-Azeem' or the Greatest Sacrifice, the Lord has foretold to take place instead of Abrham's sacrifice:- " Most surely this is a manifrst trial, And We ransomed with a Great Sacrjfice And We have shifted it among the later generation." This happened on 61 A.H. on the Bank of the Euphrates at Karbala in (Iraq).

Who was Victorious-Yazid or Husain?

ALTHouGH THE HosTs of the Devils numbered in thousands and the supporters of the cause of Truth for which the Holy Imam stood, could be counted on fingers, and the Holy Imam, with his numbered devotees, was mercilessly massacred and the ladies, the queens of virtue and chastity along with the innocent children were taken captives and put to every disrespect, indignity and the bitterest tortures, but soon after the massacre, the world understood who was the Arch-Devil and who was the Divinely Chosen Guide for Humanity. Many people embraced Islam at the guidance they received from the severed head of Husain wilen they saw it glorifying the Lord even from the point of the lance during the torturous journey to Kufa and from Kufa to Damascus. The realization of the Truth, the World exhibited after the martyr dom ofthe Holy Imam, made even the Devil acknowledge the virtual, spiritual Victory of the Holy Imam. Identifying oneself as the admirer of Yazid is far beyond any possibility when there is none today who would even like the idea of taking the Devil's name in connection with any goodness save those who would like to associate themselves with the Brute in the lincentious performances enacted.

Whereas ever since the martyrdom of Husain, the act of admiring and appreciating the Holy Imam and his devotees is enjoined as a duty of every true believer in God and the sincere lover of Truth, deeming it with a conviction that admiration of the Great Sacrifice and feeling for the sorrowful plight of the Holy Imam and his godly devotees carries special blessings in this world, and with high spiritual honours and great rewards in the life hereafter.

What is 'Shahadat' or Martyrdom

WHOEVER IS TAKEN unawares or shot dead or suddenly killed be that even for any matter of goodness on the part of the murdered one, other than God's cause, cannot be ailed a martyr. It can no doubt be said that the assassin had been cruel and the good man had been unjustly killed, but he cannot be a martyr in the proper or the right sense of the term, for, perhaps, if the murdered one had an oppor- tunity or the chance to escape death, he might have successfully avoided it, or if he had been warned of the fate, he would have changed his views or conduct to avoid the cause for the murder.

A martyr in the true and the proper sense of the term ts the one who stands for Truth and Righteousness even at the cost of his life and property not excluding his near and dear ones.

Jesus and Husain

THE HOLY QUR'AN asserts in unequivocal terms that Jesus was neither killed nor crucified by the people:- 4:157 and 158. Even taking for granted the statement of our Christian brethren the crucifixion of Jesus under the evidence of the Holy Bible of the Christian Church itself, can never be a martyrdom at all as the Bible says that Jesus avoided the end by hiding himself, which suggests his unwillingness to meet death in the cause of Truth. Besides, when caught by the enemies, he began imploring God to see that the cup was passed over and he be saved, and while he was put on the cross as alleged by the Christian belief, he began crying aloud to God in agony saying that he had been forsaken by Him. Could this he becoming even of any ordinary believer in God with the conviction of his faith in Him? How could such a weak-hearted one totally void of faith in the All-Merciful Lord, be a religious leader, even that the son of God? How could the one forsaken by Cod be the saviour of Humanity? The Bible itself declares:-

" And he went it little farther, and fell on his face, and prayed sayinrg O' my Father if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt." Math. 26:39 "

And about the ninth hour, Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, "ELi, ELi Lama Sabachthani," to say, My Cod, my God, why hast thou forsakenme." Math. 27:46

The above statement of the Bible of the Christian Church establishes the following points against Jesus:-

  1. Jesus was frightened of death.
  2. Jesus was unwilling to drink the cup of death in the way of the Lord.
  3. Jesus wanted God to avoid his drinking the cup of death.
  4. Jesus wanted God to avoid His Will to take place.
  5. In the agony against the fear of death Jesus lost all faith in God and believed to have been forsaken by Him. Thus according to his own words, the for- saken son can do nothing for others for he himself has been forsaken.

Let us take the ease of Husain.

  1. Husain travelled all the distance from Madina to Karbala to drink the cup of death accompanied by untold miseries and tortures.
  2. Husain offered not only himself but the dearest ones of his nearest kith and kin, and the sincerest of friends with matchless faith in God and devotion to Him.
  3. At every step, Husain suffered the worst tortures and the greatest loss with perfect patience, fortitude, submission and surrender to the Divine Will, every time praying for his offerings to be accepted by the Lord.
  4. While under the swords of the heartless assassins, he only prayed to God for the salvation of the Faithful, far from being a complainant, he prayed for his sacrifices to be accepted.
  5. He proved his being the Greatest Martyr, the King of Martyrs, who offered not only himself but his dearest ones counted to about seventy-two, by glorifying God in God's own Words when his head was severed and raised on the point of the lance. In short, Husaan's martyrdom has no parallel in the history of Mankind.

The following statement is taken from the research work by the great scholar Imaduddin Husain Ispahani known as Imad Zadeh, Tehran. His inquiry is based upon the following sources:

  1. Tabari.
  2. Ibne Athir.
  3. Kitabul jamal ofShaik Mufeed.
  4. Rtjal Mumqant.
  5. Abu Maqnaf.
  6. Zakhiratud Darain.
  7. Hadaiq.
  8. Irshad.
  9. Oyaonal Akhbiar.
  10. Manaqib-e-ibne-Shahr-Ashoob.
  11. Absarul Ain fi Ansaral Husain.
  12. Kifayatur Taleb.
  13. Tabaqaat ibne Sa'd.
  14. Badayah-wan-Nehayah.
  15. Al- Husain- (Egyptian-Edition).
  16. Majalis e Ismail (Constantinople Edition).
  17. Minhaj-as-Sanah of Ibne Taimiah.
  18. Amaali ibne Shaikh (Iranian Edition).
  19. Masailal jahiliah (of Md' bin Abdul Wahab).
  20. Aasarul Baqiah.
  21. Beharul Anwaar-e-Majlisis.
  22. Al Ardhu wat Turbatual Husain (Ayatullah Kashiful- Ghita).

The Martyrs of Karbala:-

The Hashimites-ftom the seed of Abu Taleb:-

  1. Those mentioned in the Ziarate Nahiyah .. 18
  2. Those not mentioned in the Ziarat .. 13
  3. Young children 3

No. distributed according to the Immediate parentage of the Martyrs:-

  1. The Holy Imam Husain .. 1

  2. The sons of the Holy Imam (Two in Karbala and one in Abdullah was martyred later and buried in Asqalan) .. 3

  3. The sons of Amirul-Momineen Ali .. 9

  4. The sans of Imam Hasan .. 4

  5. The Sons of Aqeel .. 12

  6. The sons of jafar .. 4

The comrades of the Holy Imam:-

  1. Those whose names are mentioned in the 'Ziarat-e-Nahiah. 70

  2. Those whose names are not mentioned in theZiarat. 27

------ 3. Total number of Martyrs in Kufa .. 8

------- Total comrades martyred. .. 105

Total martyrs including the Bani Hashim and the Holy Imam .. 138 -------

The Martyrs of Karbala-the Kind of Men they were

As ALREADY SAID in the foregoing pages, those who surrendered their souls in the way of the Lord at Karbala were the divinely selected ones of the human family. They were ideal personalities with unique qualities which humanity could justly be proud to own in their kind as the matchless gems which the world had ever seen. Each one of the great martyrs was a model of the integration of the unique personality traits some of which each one of them possessed as peculiar to himself. They were the noblest models divinely set up for the members of the human family to follow. The faith in God, the sincere devotion, the dauntless courage, the unconquerable fidelity, the unfailing patience, the charitable dis- position, the ideal consideration for the life after death and the ever mindfulness of the Day of Judgment which the great martyrs mani- fested the hour of their trial at Karbala were obviously the qualities they were divinely conditioned with for the fulfilment of the Divine Plan of the enactment of the glorious 'Zibhe-Azeem.' Every one of the martyrs was a glorious human metal with the polish necessary to get reflected through it the divine attributes of the Creator Lord of the Universe. In short, Karbala was a historic, a unique and the greatest exhibition of the best specimens of the vari- ous noble qualities endowed in the children of Adam, particularly those of the seed of Abraham through Muhammad, Ali and Fatema Any one desirous of having a view of the glorious manifestation of divinity in man, and the ideal integration of the Divine attri- butes in a human personality may look into the wonderful sacrifice which Husain, the King of Martyrs, offered in Karbala, in the way of the Lord.

It is a historic fact that a large crowd followed Husain from Mecca but before the great offering he had to make, Husain started shifting the human stuff there with him through his repeated sermons prophesying the torturous sufferings and the gruesome massacre in store for those who remain with him. Thus the Holy Imam made the questionable stuff leave his camp after which remained only the sincere ones who were wholly devoted to the Lord and who were really anxious of surrendering themselves in His way. While he wanted those who were then with him to leave him and go away, Husain wrote letters and sent messages to the chosen few worthy of inclusion into his fold informing them of the arrival of the awaited hour. Thus were collected the gems worthy of present- ing to the Lord, shunting out all the unworthy stuff.

The Companions of Husain and thosc of the Holy Prophet

IT IS THE historic truth that the kind of faithful companions the Holy Imam Husain had gathered around him was not given to any of the Apostles of God including Jesus and even the Holy Prophet Muhammad to claim such a band of men of spotless character and godly conduct in such a large number among their companions. While one of the disciples of Jesus betrayed him and connived to get him in the hands of his enemies, none of the other disciples offer- ed to get killed with their Master.

In the case of the companions of the Holy Prophet, most of those who claim prominence in their devotion to him, deserted him leaving him in the Jaws of death, not once or twice but on every occasion when they felt any danger to their life. But in the case of Husain, the faithfulness and the devotion of his comrades in the worst and the most torturous miseries which culminated in the gruesome massacre of one and all of them, is nothing but a matchless marvel which has thrown the human world into wonder and has moved every human heart to sorrow and grief for them, with tears irresistibly rushing into the eyes of men, women and even children in sympathy for the great sufferers in the way of the Lord.