THE HEART OF ISLAM: Enduring Values for Humanity

THE HEART OF ISLAM: Enduring Values for Humanity20%

THE HEART OF ISLAM: Enduring Values for Humanity Author:
Publisher: HarperCollinsPublishers
Category: Miscellaneous Books
ISBN: 0-06-051665-8

THE HEART OF ISLAM: Enduring Values for Humanity
  • Start
  • Previous
  • 78 /
  • Next
  • End
  •  
  • Download HTML
  • Download Word
  • Download PDF
  • visits: 32377 / Download: 6416
Size Size Size
THE HEART OF ISLAM: Enduring Values for Humanity

THE HEART OF ISLAM: Enduring Values for Humanity

Author:
Publisher: HarperCollinsPublishers
ISBN: 0-06-051665-8
English

This book is corrected and edited by Al-Hassanain (p) Institue for Islamic Heritage and Thought


Note:

This book has been set from its ebook. We apologize in advance if there is any error in transferring it from PDF to Word. Meanwhile, we tried to do as well as possible.

THE HEART OF ISLAM

Enduring Values for Humanity

SEYYED HOSSEIN NASR

Table of Contents

Preface 6

CHAPTER ONE: ONE GOD, MANY PROPHETS. 9

GOD THE ONE. 10

CREATION OF THE WORLD AND OF HUMAN BEINGS. 13

MANY REVELATIONS, MANY PROPHETS. 16

THE QURAN. 20

THE PROPHET OF ISLAM.. 23

ISLAM’S ATTITUDE TOWARD OTHER RELIGIONS IN HISTORY. 29

WHO IS A BELIEVER AND WHO IS AN INFIDEL? 31

ISLAM AND RELIGIOUS PLURALISM TODAY. 33

CHAPTER TWO: THE SPECTRUM OF ISLAM.. 40

ISLAMIC PATTERNS. 41

FACTORS THAT CREATE UNITY. 41

SOURCES OF DIVERSITY: THE HIERARCHICAL LEVELS OF MEANING AND INTERPRETATION OF THE TRADITION. 42

SUNNISM AND SHI ‘ISM AND THEIR BRANCHES. 46

RELIGIOUS SECTS WITHIN THE ISLAMIC WORLD. 53

INTELLECTUAL AND THEOLOGICAL DIVERSITY. 56

THE QUESTION OF ORhTHODOXY AND HETERODOXY. 59

CULTURAL ZONES IN ISLAMIC CIVILIZATION. 61

TRADITIONAL, MODERNIST, AND “FUNDAMENTALIST” INTERPRETATIONS OF ISLAM TODAY  70

CHAPTER THREE: DIVINE AND HUMAN LAWS. 78

THE PHILOSOPHY OF LAW IN ISLAM.. 79

THE SOURCES OF THE SHARI‘AH AND THE METHODOLOGY OF ISLAMIC JURISPRUDENCE  82

TO WHOM DOES THE SHARI‘AH APPLY? 84

CATEGORIES OF ACTIONS AND VALUES. 86

THE CONTENT OF THE SHARI‘AH: ACTS OF WORSHIP AND TRANSACTIONS  88

Acts of Worship. 88

PUNISHMENTS AND RESTRICTIVE ORDINANCES. 101

DIVINE AND HUMAN LAWS: CRISIS AND CONFRONTATION TODAY  103

THE DIVINE LAW, ETHICS, AND THE RELIGIOUS ETHOS. 104

CHAPTER FOUR: THE VISION OF COMMUNITY AND SOCIETY. 106

THE CONCEPT OF COMMUNITY. 107

DAR AL-ISLAM AND DAR AL-HARB. 110

MUSLIM MINORITIES. 111

MINORITIES WITHIN THE “ABODE OF ISLAM” 112

ISLAMIC SOCIETY: THE IDEAL AND THE PRACTICE OF THE GOOD LIFE  114

THE STRUCTURE OF ISLAMIC SOCIETY. 117

ISLAM AND SLAVERY. 123

THE FAMILY WITHIN ISLAMIC SOCIETY. 124

THE MALE AND FEMALE IN THE ISLAMIC PERSPECTIVE. 127

WOMEN IN THE FAMILY AND IN SOCIETY. 127

ISLAM AND THE INTEGRATION OF SOCIETY. 133

CHAPTER FIVE: COMPASSION AND LOVE, PEACE AND BEAUTY  136

COMPASSION, LOVE, PEACE, AND BEAUTY AS DIVINE QUALITIES  137

COMPASSION AND MERCY. 138

LOVE. 141

PEACE. 144

BEAUTY. 147

THE SPIRITUAL SIGNIFICANCE OF ISLAMIC ART. 151

IHSAN: VIRTUOUS BEAUTY, BEAUTIFUL VIRTUE. 156

CHAPTER SIX: DIVINE AND HUMAN JUSTICE. 158

THE INNATE HUMAN SENSE OF JUSTICE AND THE SEARCH FOR JUSTICE  159

DIVINE JUSTICE. 160

THE BALANCE. 162

ISLAMIC ESCHATOLOGICAL DOCTRINES. 163

JUSTICE IN THIS WORLD: THE VIEWS OF ‘ALI 166

HUMAN JUSTICE AND ITS MODES. 169

JIHAD. 171

CONDITIONS UNDER WHICH WAR CAN BE FOUGHT. 177

MARTYRDOM.. 179

TO ESTABLISH JUSTICE AND PEACE. 181

CHAPTER SEVEN: HUMAN RESPONSIBILITIES AND HUMAN RIGHTS  183

TO BE HUMAN. 184

HUMAN RESPONSIBILITIES. 186

HUMAN RIGHTS. 188

FREEDOM FROM RELIGION VERSUS FREEDOM OF RELIGION. 194

CONTEMPORARY MUSLIM RESPONSES TO THE ISSUE OF FREEDOM AND HUMAN RIGHTS  198

THE 303 HUMAN CONDITION AND THE ROLE OF ISLAM.. 200

EPILOGUE: THE ETHICAL AND SPIRITUAL NATURE OF HUMAN LIFE, EAST AND WEST  204

E - book Afterword. 210

CIVILIZATIONAL DIALOGUE AND THE ISLAMIC WORLD. 210

Notes of Epilogue 217

Notes of The Book. 219

CHAPTER ONE. 219

CHAPTER TWO. 219

CHAPTER THREE. 219

CHAPTER FOUR. 219

CHAPTER FIVE. 219

CHAPTER SIX. 219

Bibliography. 220

Dedicated to the Sacred and Enduring Presence of Shaykh Ahmad ibn Mustafa al-Shadhili al-‘Alawi

Preface

The past few decades have witnessed a growing interest in Islam in the West, increasing with each global event involving the name of Islam: from the Lebanese civil war to the Iranian Revolution of 1979 to the rise of Islamic movements among Palestinians. This rising interest now stands at unprecedented levels since the tragic events of September 11, 2001. The world is thirsty for information about Islam, especially in America, yet this thirst has generally not been quenched with healthy water. In fact, a torrent of “knowledge” has flooded the media from books to journals, radio, and television, much of which is based on ignorance, misinformation, and even disinformation. Not only has this torrent failed the cause of understanding, it has too frequently rendered the greatest disservice to the Western public in order to further particular ideological and political goals.

Of course, distortion of matters Islamic in the West is not new; it has a thousand-year-old history going back to monstrous biographies of the Prophet of Islam written mostly in Latin in France and Germany in the tenth and eleventh centuries. This earlier portrayal of Islam as a Christian heresy, however, still showed an intellectual respect for Islamic civilization and thought. During the Renaissance such figures as Petrarch abandoned even this respect in favor of outright disdain. During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, certain figures such as Voltaire tried to use aspects of Islam to attack Christianity, while a number of exceptional figures like Goethe and Emerson held Islamic teachings in great love and esteem. Meanwhile, the new methods of rationalist, historicist, and skeptical scholarship about religion growing out of the so-called Age of Enlightenment (which was in reality an age of the darkening of the soul and eclipse of the intellect) began to apply their methods to the study of Islam in the name of orientalism. Even when they were not serving colonial powers, most of these orientalists studied Islam in the arrogant belief that they possessed a flawless scientific method that applied universally to all religions. The last thing such scholars cared about was what Muslims, or for that matter Hindus or Buddhists, thought about their own religion and how they experienced their own religious universe. Of course, there were exceptions, but these only proved the rule. Orientalist studies of Islam began and ended with the unspoken presumption that Islam was not a revelation, but a phenomenon contrived merely by human agency in a particular historical situation. In this chorus the voices of Louis Massignon, H. A. R. Gibb, and Henry Corbin, followed by a later generation of sympathetic Western scholars such as Annemarie Schimmel, remain truly exceptional.

It was not until the second half of the twentieth century that born Muslims well versed in Western languages and methods of research and expression began to write in-depth works on Islam in European languages to explain the tradition in a serious way to the Western audience. They were joined in this task by a number of Western intellectual and spiritual figures and scholars who had been able to penetrate the Islamic universe of meaning and to speak and write from within the Islamic tradition. As a result of the efforts of these two groups, a number of authentic and profound books on various aspects of Islam appeared in English and other European languages.

In contrast to earlier periods, such works were at least available, but their voices continued to be drowned out by the cacophonies of those who rejected Islam from positions of either Christian or Jewish polemicism or secular agnosticism. In fact, there is no religion about which so much has been written in the West by those opposed to it as Islam. No such parallel can be found for Taoism, Confucianism, Hinduism, or Buddhism.

Since the September 11 tragedy, with the rise of interest in Islamic matters, the cacophony has become louder, necessitating an explanation of the authentic teachings of Islam anew in light of the challenges of the present-day situation. This book is a humble effort toward achieving this end. It was commissioned by Harper San Francisco and has been written with the express purpose of explaining certain basic aspects of Islam and widely discussed issues in a manner acceptable to mainstream Islamic thought and comprehensible to the general Western public. It seeks to render a service to all those Westerners genuinely interested in understanding authentic Islam and its relation to the West rather than relying on the distorted images of Islam often presented to them. Needless to say, in a single book of this size it is not possible to deal with all the relevant issues, but I have sought to deal at least with the most significant ones Preface ix in an effort to open a spiritual and intellectual space for mutual understanding. I also point to principles enabling Muslims and Westerners alike to live in peace and harmony with each other and to join hands against all those from both sides who seek to fan the fire of hatred and to precipitate clashes of civilizations and nations.

I wish to thank Stephen Hanselman of Harper San Francisco for his many suggestions for the book, Katherine O’Brien for helping to prepare the manuscript for publication, and Joseph Lumbard for proofreading the manuscript. May this humble effort serve as a small step toward bringing about better understanding between people of good will in the West and in the Islamic world.

Bethesda, Maryland

March 2002

Dhu’l-hijjah a.h. 1423

CHAPTER ONE: ONE GOD, MANY PROPHETS

The Unity of Truth and the Multiplicity of Revelations

Say: He, God, is One, God the Self-Sufficient Besought of all.

He begetteth not, nor is begotten, and none is like Him.

Quran 112: v.1-41

Prophecies Regarding the Tragedy of Karbala’ from Ancient Books

As much great an event is, as much it is worthy of mention. A great proof of the importance of the tragedy of Karbala’ is also that not only the humans, jinns and angels have kept its remembrance alive, the Lord Creator of the Universe has continuously mentioned it in every time period. And not only the remembrance remained established after the event, it existed even before the event actually occurred and even before the birth of the Chief of the Martyrs (a.s). And not only that, it was present even before the creation of Adam. The Almighty mentioned about it to His chosen servants and informed them of those terrible events. The result derived from it is that the martyrdom of Husayn (a.s) is so magnificent and significant in the view of the Lord that He likes to mention it time and again. Under such circumstances, those who keep this calamity fresh are actually acting in consonance with the desire and will of the Almighty and walking the straight path. And one who opposes its remembrance is acting against the divine practice.

In this article, I am going to quote in brief, prophecies present in the books of Hindus, Zoroastrians, Jews and Christians regarding the events of Karbala’. And since the future events have proved the veracity of those prophecies there is no scope of doubt in their authenticity. This is also an example of Divine Power that even though the people who came later have made as much distortion in these books as they could, such that their form has completely changed and at last originality remains only in name, therefore abrogating these books, it became necessary for God to send the last book whose protection He Himself guaranteed. In spite of all those distortions, the prophecies regarding the last Prophet and his progeny still survived in those books so that if anyone contemplates upon these books with an unbiased mind he could reach the Last Guide of Humanity.

Mention of the martyrdom of Imam Husayn (a.s) in Hindu Scriptures

Bhaunik Puran is a very ancient book of the Hindu religion. Its translation was accomplished into Urdu by Maulavi Abdur Rahman Chishti under the title of Miratul Makhlooqaat. This scholar was a prominent Sunni intellectual, well versed with the Sanskrit language. He writes in the preface to this book:

“I have read many of the Hindu books containing future events that were written during the times of Jinns and terrestrial angels. I conducted deep research into those books and found a book containing things in the tongue of “Bashast.” In its “Uttarkhand” it clearly mentions about the greatness and birth of His Eminence, Adam (a.s), our Prophet (s.a.w) and his Purified Progeny. Mahadev had related those things to his wife Parbati on Mount Kailash. And the saint “Bashast” Muni was engrossed in prayers below that same mountain. Since he was greatly devoted to Mahadev, he used to write down some of the things he heard from him.

This book contains all the events from the creation of Adam and the incident of Cain and Abel upto the events surrounding the life of the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w). He has described the nobility of His Eminence, Abdullah and even presented a detailed physical description of the Holy Prophet (s.a.w). After that Mahadevi says:

“After six thousand years, the Almighty (God) will create a wonderful person among the children of Adam in Mundarne, which is between the seas.1 …O Parbati, he will be from the loin of ‘Kant Bunjh’;2 and he (Abdullah) will have the piety and knowledge of God like a river; so (from that river) will emerge a pearl. And the name of his wife will be ‘Sank Rakhiya’3 And he (i.e. Abdullah) will have read three books; and he will leave the fourth book after reading only: ‘Alif Lam Mim’…O Parbati, he (i.e. Abdullah) will be a chief in his tribe; people from all villages will come to his door and will follow him. (Abdullah’s son) will have no fear of the creatures; he will be very brave and having the knowledge of Allah, and his name will be ‘MAHAMAT’. People will be astonished to see his style…And he will not worship as the people of his tribe will be worshipping and he will tell the people that, “I have been told by that Almighty and Only One (God) not to indulge in such senseless worship; and I am not turning but to Allah; therefore, you should follow me.”4 O Parbati, Mahamat will teach his own Shariat to all the creatures, by abrogating all ways of worship and all previous Shariats; and he will try to make all people follow him. Gradually, countless people will come into his religion, and many of them will reach God. And as people use our Sakh era, likewise, upto the end of Kaljug (the last era) people will use the era of Mahamat.5 …O Parbati, after him (after the death of Muhammad’s son) the Almighty who has none like Him, will give a daughter6 to Mahamat who will be better than 1000 sons, and she will be very beautiful and matchless, and very perfect in the worship of God. Never shall she utter any wrong, and she will be protected from every sin—big or small; and through her father she will reach nearer to God. That Almighty (God) will give two sons7 to the daughter of Mahamat, both will be handsome and beloved of God, strong, having the knowledge of God, courageous, brave and matchless in the deeds of virtue. And the Almighty will not create, after them, any human being having such perfection in hidden and known virtues.

The same two sons of Mahamat will be his successors; and they will have numerous children; and they will bring people into the religion of Mahamat day by day by their true arguments; and they will illuminate the religion of Mahamat. And Mahamat will love them more than all his people, even more than his own daughter. And these two sons will be perfect in the religion of Mahamat; they will not do anything for their own pleasure, and all their utterances and deeds would be for the pleasure of the Almighty.

O Parbati, a few years after the death of Mahamat, some evil man will unjustly murder these grandsons of Mahamat without any cause; just for the sake of worldly greed; the whole world will become ‘headless’ by their death. Their killers will be ‘Maliksh’ atheists, cursed in both worlds; they will have no love for Mahamat and will never get deliverance from ‘Nark’ (i.e. Hell). But in appearance, they will remain in the religion of Mahamat, and gradually others also will follow them, and stubbornly will do many deeds against the way of Mahamat and his sons. Only a few people will remain on the path of Mahamat. Majority will follow the path of those who killed the sons of Mahamat; yet in appearance they will be called the followers of Mahamat; and in the last days of ‘kaljug’ (last era) there will be many of those hypocrites and they will create disturbance in the whole world.”

After that Mahadewji explains the appearance of Imam Mahdi; coming of Qiyamat and arrival into Paradise of Lady Fatima together with her followers.

The complete text of this portion is quoted by Maulana Rahat Husayn Gopalpuri in his Tafsir Anwarul Qur’an.

The Karbala’ Tragedy in Zoroastrian Books

Zoroaster or Zarathusht had been a Prophet of the Magians or Fire Worshippers. His successor was Hakim Jamasp. He was a contemporary of King Gustasp. This king had requested him to write in brief about the happenings of the future. Thus the book that he compiled is famous as Jamasp Nama. It was translated into Urdu by Mulla Wahidi, editor of Nizamul Mashayakh, Delhi. Jamasp says, “Then some stars would gather among whom from the children of Hashim, a young man shall be born. He shall be of medium stature. He shall neither be fair complexioned nor dark. He would be handsome, of pleasing speech and magical voice. He would claim prophethood, the proof shall be established with the sword’s edge. He shall put the chain of his religion around the necks of many people. His religion shall spread to all the seven continents. He shall be very fond of the fairer sex. None of his male children shall survive. However, his progeny shall continue through his daughter.”

After that he describes the dominance of the Islamic faith. Then he says:

“Some days after his demise, the Almighty God shall reach into the fifth constellation. Due to the effect of this, there shall be disturbance in his religion. His children shall be slain. His followers shall be made to suffer terrible losses.”

After the above discourse he goes on to describe the signs of the birth of the Last Prophet. The extinguishing of the fire in the fire temples, the drying up of the river, etc. Then he further says,

“After the passing away of this Prophet, the stars shall assemble in the terrestrial house of the constellation of Taurus. And the Lord shall arise in Venus and the conjunction of Jupiter and Venus and the man shall be in the eighth house. Venus along with the Sun shall be in the eleventh house. At that time there shall be discord in this community. Religion shall become a step-stone to rulership. People shall wage war against his son-in-law and there shall be great bloodshed. This son-in-law shall have two sons. One of whom shall be martyred by poison. The second one would be martyred along with his best companions in a desert. The opponent of the Prophet’s Progeny and the leader of those transgressors shall be a man of low morals, weak body and aged. This time is the period of the rule of the Saturn. Its effect is that whoever supports the truth or tries to restore the rights of the deprived people, would himself be destroyed and killed.”

Command of Old Testament to Commemorate Ashura Day

After the time of His Eminence, Musa (a.s) for many years the Jewish calendar began from the month of Rajab, and Moharram was their seventh month. Keeping in mind this point let us read the following verses of Leviticus 23:

“And the Lord said to Moses, “Say to the people of Israel, In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall observe a day of solemn rest, a memorial proclaimed with blast of trumpets, a holy convocation. You shall do no laborious work; and you shall present an offering by fire to the Lord.”

“And the Lord said to Moses, “On the tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement; it shall be for you a holy convocation and you shall afflict yourselves and present an offering by fire to the Lord. And you shall do no work on this same day; for it is a day of atonement, to make atonement for you before the Lord your God. For whoever is not afflicted on this same day shall be cut off from his people. And whoever does any work on this same day, that person I will destroy from among his people. You shall do no work: it is a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings. It shall be to you a Sabbath of solemn rest, and you shall afflict yourselves; on the ninth day of the month beginning at evening, from evening to evening shall you keep your Sabbath.”8

Now we should contemplate upon this and decide that when before the occurrence of the event the Almighty God had even commanded the Jews to observe mourning from the evening of 9th of Muharram to the evening of the 10th, and also warned them that one who did not follow this advice shall be as if he has left their religion. Now that the event has actually occurred is it not incumbent on the Muslim community more than the Jewish community to observe the mourning? And if one fails to act upon this, would he not be as if he has left this religion? Except for those who in the words of Mahadewji: “Even though they pretend to be friends of Mahamat.”

References in New Testament regarding the Martyrdom of Husayn (a.s)

In the parlance of Christians, “New Testament” means “Injeel.” However, it is not “Injeel” that was revealed to Prophet Jesus (a.s). It is a collection of books and letters compiled by Christian scholars and companions of Prophet Jesus. The last book of this collection is “The Revelation to John” which is attributed to John the companion of Jesus. It begins with the following words:

“The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants what must soon take place; and he made it known by sending his angel to his servant John.”9

This book contains only allegories and similes. Christian scholars have tried to write commentaries on this and offered explanations but some points yet remain unexplained in their writings. Our scholars have also interpreted it and it shows that the twelfth and thirteenth chapter deals with the history of Islam from the birth of the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w) to the end of the reign of Bani Umayyads. Hujjatul Islam, Maulana Sayyid Rahat Husayn (t.s.) has explained it in the 15th preface of his prefaces in his Tafsir Anwarul Qur’an. He has mentioned the text of ‘revelations’ in the book and written its interpretation in the margins. I have depended upon the author’s writings a great deal but mentioned the interpretations of the revelations in brackets. Because it would have been very inconvenient for the readers to read the text and the interpretations separately. Thus, John says in the beginning of the twelfth chapter of Revelations:

“And a great portent appeared in heaven, a woman (prophethood) clothed with the sun (divine help was covering it), with the moon under her feet (Lady Fatima), and on her head a crown of twelve stars (meaning the twelve Imams would have authority in religion); she was with a child (waiting for advent) and she cried out in her pangs of birth (the time of advent was near), in anguish for delivery. And another portent appeared in heaven; behold, a great red dragon (infidels of Quraish), with seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems upon his heads.10 His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven, and cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to bear a child, that he might devour her child when she brought it forth; she brought forth a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was caught up to God and to his throne, and the woman fled into wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, in which to be nourished for one thousand two hundred and sixty days.

Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, but they were defeated and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world – he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death (they got martyred in the propagation of faith).”11

After more prophecies, the twelfth chapter comes to an end and the thirteenth chapter begins with an account of Bani Umayyads. In this portion, Abdul Malik Ibn Marwan who consolidated the Umayyad rule for the second time is compared to a beast having ten horns and seven heads. Explaining this in the seventeenth chapter, it is said that the seven heads signify seven kings and the ten horns are also ten kings. Thus altogether it adds upto seventeen rulers. And that beast is the eighth ruler, who is born from the seventh one. Now please note that seven rulers passed before Abdul Malik and the kingdom of Abdul Malik was a result of their past kingdoms, otherwise he would not have been able to achieve anything. Apart from this, he was born from the seventh ruler, that is Marwan bin Hakam and thus he himself was the eighth ruler. And after Marwan there were ten kings including Abdul Malik Ibn Marwan as follows: (1) Abdul Malik Ibn Marwan (2) Walid bin Abdul Malik (3) Sulaiman bin Abdul Malik (4) Umar Ibn Abdul Aziz (5) Yazid Ibn Abdul Malik (6) Hisham Ibn Abdul Malik (7) Walid Ibn Yazid Ibn Abdul Malik (8) Yazid Ibn Walid Ibn Abdul Malik (9) Ibrahim Ibn Walid Ibn Abdul Malik (10) Marwan al-Himar. Thus this allegory and comparison perfectly fits this clan. In addition to this at the end of this same thirteenth chapter is the following sentence, “This calls for wisdom: Let him who has understanding reckon the number of the beast, for it is a human number, its number is six hundred and sixty-six (666).”

The following would show that the number 666 stands for the name of Abdul Malik:

Abdul (76) Malik (121) Bin (52) Marwan (297) Bin (52) Hakam (68) = 666.

Anyway, I am quoting the relevant portions of the thirteenth chapter of Revelation to John 13:

“And I saw a beast (Abdul Malik) rising out of the sea (of disbelief), with ten horns (ten successors) and seven heads (predecessors), with ten diadems upon its horns (all were kings) and a blasphemous name upon its heads. And the beast that I saw was like a leopard, its feet were like a bear’s and its mouth was like a lion’s mouth. And to it the dragon (Quraish) gave his power and his throne and great authority. One of its heads seemed to have a mortal wound (that is the third caliph was killed), but its mortal wound was healed (the kingdom again returned to them and Muawiyah became the king), and the whole earth followed the beast with wonder. Men worshipped the dragon (they returned to the customs of the period of Ignorance), for he had given his authority to the beast, and they worshipped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it?”

And the beast was given a mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous words (abusing ‘Ali was well known activity of the Umayyads), and it was allowed to exercise authority for forty-two months; it opened its mouth to utter blasphemies against God, blaspheming his name and his dwelling, that is, those who dwell in heaven (Ahl al-Bayt). Also it was allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer them. And authority was given it over every tribe and people and tongue and nation, and all who dwell on earth will worship it, every one whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life (faith) of the Lamb (Imam Husayn) that was slain. (All those who do not have faith in Imam Husayn would follow Abdul Malik) If any one has an ear, let him hear:

If any one is to be taken captive,

to captivity he goes;

If any one slays with the sword,

with the sword must he be slain.

Here is a call for the endurance and faith of the saints.

After this, there is detailed explanation of Hajjaj Bin Yusuf and his atrocities. But this much is sufficient for our purpose. In all these four books the martyrdom of Imam Husayn (a.s) is mentioned in a way that acknowledges its greatness and expresses love towards him while the enemies and killers of the Holy Imam (a.s) are mentioned with disdain and malice. A noteworthy point is that wherever there is mention of prophethood and advent of the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w) it is invariably accompanied by the mention of the martyrdom of Imam Husayn (a.s). And according to the statements of both Mahadewji and St. John, it was this martyrdom, which has secured and strengthened the religion of Muhammad. And this was not a poetic composition but the actual expression of the truth and facts that these great religious leaders have perfectly done in a way that was deserving for it. If only their followers had followed their teachings and adopted the Straight Path. And if only the Muslims had recognized the significance of the martyrdom of Imam Husayn (a.s) in the true sense.

Notes

1. Arab is surrounded on three sides by the sea.

2. ‘Kant Bunjh’ means ‘Servant of God’, which, in Arabic becomes “Abdullah” Abdullah was the name of the father of the Holy Prophet.

3. ‘Sank Rakhiya’ means ‘Peaceful’ which in Arabic is ‘Amina.’ Name of the mother of the Holy Prophet was ‘Amina.’

4. Compare it with the ayat of the Qur’an:

“Say: I am commanded to worship God, and not to join partners with Him. Unto Him do I call, and unto Him is my return.” (13:36)

5. i.e. era of Hijra

6. Fatima, the lady of Paradise, the Chief of all the women.

7. Imam Hasan and Imam Husayn (a.s.)

8. Leviticus 23:23-32

9. The Revelation to John: 1

10. Signifying the very first three enemies of Ahle Bayt (a.s.) and Muawiyah, Yazid, Abdullah bin Zubair and Marwan bin al-Hakam.

11. Revelation 12:1-11

Why the Martyrdom of Imam Husayn (a.s) became Immortal?

[This speech was broadcast from the Nairobi (Kenya) Radio on the eve of Ashura, 1383 A.H.]

Since the beginning of creation until date, innumerable tragic incidents have occurred in the world. But in these tales of sorrows and tragedies the events of Karbala’ are seen to be as prominent as the moon among the cluster of stars. Human nature demands that happy remembrances should always be retold and tragic reminders be obliterated from the memory as soon as possible. However, this law of nature had no control on the tragedy of Karbala’. Today, even after a passage of thirteen centuries every year this tragedy is remembered with such fervor as if it has just happened yesterday.

Indeed this is an astonishing fact. But if we ponder upon it we would be able to realize how the control of human nature became ineffective in this case. The significance and endurance of a sacrifice depends upon the significance and firmness of its aims. Some sacrifices are presented for worldly aims and such sacrifices take man towards decadence. The Almighty Allah says:

“Who created for you all that is in the earth…1

Now if instead of considering these worldly things as our servants, we destroy our life in their service, such a sacrifice, instead of carrying any greatness would be eligible for denouncement because we have considered our life inferior to those things that were created for our service. The greatness of man demands that he should consider worldly things as means of life and not that he should make it the aim of his life. In the Islamic parlance it is the stage of, “There is no god except Allah.” And reaching this point man thinks that the whole universe collectively cannot become equal to the value of a single human being. The aim of the life of man should be higher than the universe and such a being is only the Creator of the Universe. After, “There is no god” it is the stage of “except Allah.” To put it in a different way,

“Say: Surely my prayer and my sacrifice and my life and my death are (all) for Allah, the Lord of the worlds…”2

The purpose is to imply that you must make the principle of your life such that all your worship acts, rituals, life and death etc. should be for Allah, Who is the Lord of the worlds. In other words, the entire universe is for man and man is for the Lord of the worlds.

The world is transient. Everything here is going to be destroyed. If a sacrifice is made for these things that also shall be transient and not eternal. Its remembrance would be finished in a few days. Contrary to this, the Creator of the world is eternal. He is from eternity and He shall be there forever. Therefore whatever sacrifice is presented on His path, that too shall don the raiments of eternality and its remembrance would also endure forever. Its remembrance shall also remain fresh in the minds of all. That is why the Almighty Allah says:

And do not speak of those who are slain in Allah’s way as dead; nay, (they are) alive, but you do not perceive.3

That is why the sacrifice of Imam Husayn (a.s) is always fresh. Husayn (a.s) made Allah as the aim of his life and presented incomparable sacrifices in the path of Allah. In recompense, the Almighty Allah also crowned the remembrance of Husayn with the crown of eternality.

Why had Husayn (a.s) presented this sacrifice? Let us see what Husayn (a.s) himself says about it. At the time when he was departing from Medina, he wrote a bequest to his brother, Muhammad Hanafiyyah. Some of the sentences of this testament were as follows:

“…I am not taking up arms in order to make merry, or be ecstatic over what I possess. I am not making mischief, nor exercising oppression. But I am ready to fight for the sole goal of seeking reform of the Ummah of my grandfather, the Apostle of Allah (s.a.w). I want to enjoin good and forbid evil and guide the affairs of the people as my grandfather and father were doing.”

This event began in the year 60 A.H. when Yazid ascended to the throne. The enthroning of Yazid was a terrible calamity for humanity and Islam. Historians are unanimous that no aspect of Yazid’s character conformed to humanity or Islam. He neither believed in Allah nor had faith in the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w). He also denied faith in the Day of Judgment and Hereafter. He used to ridicule Prayer and those who recited Prayer. Wine was served openly in his court. Chess and gambling were obligatory acts in his view. Stepmothers and sisters were sexually legitimate for him. He remained on the throne for three or three and a half years. During this brief rule, in the first year he wreaked havoc on the family of the Holy Prophet (s.a.w) and slaughtered them with utter mercilessness. He wrought a carnage for which we are mourning these days. It was such a terrible carnage that human history had never witnessed. In the second year, he had Medina attacked and allowed his soldiers to plunder and ransack, kill the inhabitants and rape their ladies. Hundreds of companions of the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w) and memorizers of Qur’an were put under the sword. Prayer was not conducted in the Prophet’s mosque for three days at a stretch as Yazid’s soldiers had converted it into a stable for their horses. Thousands of women lost their honor and the Medinites were compelled to pay oath of allegiance to Yazid in the words, “We are slaves of Yazid. If he likes he can sell us and if he wants he can release us.” In the third year of his rule, Yazid’s forces attacked Mecca and laid siege to it. Catapults were employed to throw fireballs on the Holy Ka’ba, which was consequently damaged. The siege was in process when Yazid died in Damascus.

This was a brief sketch of Yazid’s biography. How the times had changed and how the circumstances became inverted that such a person should demand allegiance from Husayn (a.s)!

Who was Husayn? The beloved one of ‘Ali and Fatima (a.s) and in the words of Qur’an, the son of the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w). He was absolutely sinless and had scaled the heights of purity of self and the best of deeds. Love and regard towards him is made obligatory for the Muslims. According to the sayings of the Holy Prophet (s.a.w) Husayn was from the Prophet and the Prophet was from Husayn (a.s). In other words, every saying of Husayn was the saying of the Prophet and every action of Husayn was the action of the Prophet. That is why Yazid was so keen to obtain the allegiance of Husayn. Because he felt that if Husayn gave him allegiance, each of his acts, beliefs and policies would get the seal of approval of the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w). Husayn was also aware of this fact and thus he refused to give allegiance, and as a result bore with absolute resignation and tranquility, the mountains of calamities that befell him.

He had to leave Medina. He had to bid farewell to the shrine of his maternal grandfather, the grave of his mother and the tomb of his brother. Then he took refuge in the Holy city of Mecca. Here also no security was found, because Yazid sent 30 militants in the garb of pilgrims to assassinate Imam Husayn (a.s) in Mecca. They were ordered to kill Husayn (a.s) even if he was found circumambulating the Ka’ba. Husayn (a.s) was compelled to leave Mecca along with his family members one day before the Hajj and he headed for Iraq. On the way his path was blocked by the forces of Yazid. This army consisted of a thousand men. When they reached the caravan of Husayn (a.s) they were dying of thirst as their water supply had been exhausted. The riders’ condition was serious due to the thirst. The horses were hanging out their tongues. It was the army of foes but the son of the great Prophet of Mercy could never allow them to perish of thirst. He ordered that not only the men buts their beasts also be provided ample water. Husayn (a.s) himself organized the distribution of water.

Followed by these enemy forces, Imam Husayn (a.s) reached the plains of Karbala’ on the 2nd of Muharram. Forces dispatched by Yazid’s governor, Ibn Ziyad began to assemble in this area one after the other. In a few days, their numbers rose to 32000, who had gathered to slay a few oppressed people, among whom were aged men, children and women, totaling not more than 100-150 persons. The tents of Husayn’s group were initially removed to a point far away from the riverbanks. From the 7th Muharram onwards water supply was completely cut off for them. From the 8th of Muharram the cries of “Thirst! Thirst!” from the children of Husayn’s camp began to echo in the deserts of Karbala’. The same Husayn (a.s) who had provided drinking water to even the enemy forces was not unable to procure any water for his children and companions.

The next day was the 9th of Muharram. During the afternoon, Umar Ibn Saad, the commander of Yazidite forces prepared his army to attack the entourage of Husayn (a.s). Imam Husayn (a.s) asked for a night’s respite to enable them to engage in the worship of Almighty. The eve of Ashura arrived. The camp of Husayn (a.s) buzzed with the recital of the Holy Qur’an, the chanting of invocations, ritual prayers and worship acts. People who have recorded those incidents say that such murmur arose from the tents of Husayn (a.s) as if bees were humming around the beehives.

In between these adorations and worships, Imam Husayn (a.s) assembled all his companions and relatives and recited a sermon, which, in brief said that Yazid did not have anything to do with them except the Holy Imam (a.s). Thus they must not endanger their lives. Husayn (a.s) released them from his allegiance and told them that all of them could leave him and go away wherever they liked so that their lives could be saved. The Imam explained to them in various ways so that they may leave him and obtain their survival. In the end he even extinguished the lamp so that they could leave in the cover of darkness if they are embarrassed otherwise. In reply to this, a wail arose from the gathering and different people stood up and reiterated their faith and loyalty to the Imam. Their wordings were different, their voices were various. But the aim of all of them was one and the same, that, “O Master! This is dying only once and achieving eternal success. Even if we are killed seventy times and our corpses are burnt and ashes scattered in the wind and after that again we are enlivened, we would not leave you ever.”

By according freedom of action to his companions and relatives, Imam Husayn (a.s) performed the same duty that Prophet Ibrahim (a.s) had performed by seeking the opinion of Ismail (a.s). Ibrahim (a.s) could have sacrificed his son without informing him about it. But in that case it would have been only the achievement of Ibrahim (a.s) and it would not have been shared by Ismail (a.s). Ibrahim (a.s), by taking the opinion of his son and the son by expressing his willingness for slaughter, made it a model of partnership between the Friend (of God) and the slaughtered one (Ismail). Exactly in the same manner, Imam Husayn (a.s) also, by according permission to them all to leave Karbala’, and the companions by expressing their determination to voluntarily lay down their lives, made this event a model of a shared sacrifice. That is why Iqbal the bard of the orient says:

“The end of it is Husayn and the beginning, Ismail.”

The morning of Ashura was the day of terrible turmoil. By shooting the first arrow, Umar Ibn Saad initiated the battle. Initially the companions of Imam Husayn (a.s) laid down their lives one after the other. In the afternoon, it was the turn of Banu Hashim (or more precisely the progeny of Abu Talib). The progeny of Aqil became extinct from the world. The beloved sons of Zainab were smeared in their blood. The last remains of Qasim were trampled under horses. The sons of ‘Ali (a.s) praised the bravery. Abbas lost both his arms in his struggle to get drinking water for children and the lion of ‘Ali (a.s) after capturing the Euphrates went to sleep on the riverbanks. The image of the Prophet, ‘Ali Akbar, arrived in the battlefield. The people witnessed the same valor of ‘Ali (a.s). At last a dagger pierced the chest and the shattered facsimile of the Holy Prophet, after being smeared with blood, mixed into the sands of Karbala’.

Now ‘Ali Asghar heard the call of his father for help and made himself fall off the cradle. Husayn (a.s) could not bear to see the thirst of the six-month old infant. He brought the child to the fields shading him with the tails of his cloak and asked for water for the child. Instead of giving water, Hurmula quenched the baby’s thirst with an arrow. This arrow not only pierced the neck of ‘Ali Asghar and the shoulder of Husayn (a.s), it also pierced the heart of Fatima (s.a.).

Now Husayn (a.s) pounced upon the forces of Yazid like a heavy flood. He launched three such deadly attacks that the enemy forces began to feel helpless. The time of Asr (late afternoon) approached. Husayn (a.s) was covered with wounds from the head to the toe. Incessant bleeding made him feel physically weak. He restrained his sword for a moment and the enemies began to shower him with arrows and stones from all sides. At last the moment arrived that a poet says,

The rider of the Prophet’s shoulders has come down from the saddle.

If I am not wrong, it is as if the sky has fallen to the earth.

Shimr exhibited such heartlessness that the heavens and the earth were in turmoil. A call echoed in the atmosphere:

Know that Husayn is slain in Karbala’!

Know that Husayn is slaughtered in Karbala’!

The world became empty of Husayn (a.s).

After the martyrdom of Imam Husayn (a.s), the enemies began to plunder his camp and his women and children. The tents were burnt down. Head coverings were snatched from the heads of the Prophet’s daughters. The ailing son of Husayn (a.s) was arrested and tied up in chains and iron-collars.

Now the terrible night fell, which is called “Shaam-e-Ghariba” (the night of the homeless). Yesterday, Husayn (a.s) had been present to protect the folks of Harem.4 There was Abbas and ‘Ali Akbar. The companions and helpers were also present. Today none remained. After Husayn (a.s), the responsibility of this plundered group and the defense of Islam fell upon Zainab. Zainab fulfilled her role in such a beautiful way that the world gave her the title of “Partner of Husayn.”

This apparent defeat of Husayn (a.s) was actually a magnificent victory. See, Yazid was demanding allegiance from Husayn (a.s) and his companions. Though Imam Husayn (a.s) was martyred, when his successor, the ailing Imam ‘Ali Ibn Husayn (a.s) was brought chained before Yazid, Yazid could not summon the courage to demand allegiance from him. Yazid and his cohorts had to give up their demands. Husayn and his supporters remained firm on their stance. What can be a better proof than this of the victory of Husayn (a.s) and the defeat of Yazid? That is probably why Mir Anees said about the holy Imam:

“He suppressed Byzantine and Syria with such ferocity

That Jihad was not required from the remaining nine Imams.”

Notes

1. Surah Baqarah 2:29

2. Surah Anam 6:162

3. Surah Baqarah 2:154

4. Ladies and children

Prophecies Regarding the Tragedy of Karbala’ from Ancient Books

As much great an event is, as much it is worthy of mention. A great proof of the importance of the tragedy of Karbala’ is also that not only the humans, jinns and angels have kept its remembrance alive, the Lord Creator of the Universe has continuously mentioned it in every time period. And not only the remembrance remained established after the event, it existed even before the event actually occurred and even before the birth of the Chief of the Martyrs (a.s). And not only that, it was present even before the creation of Adam. The Almighty mentioned about it to His chosen servants and informed them of those terrible events. The result derived from it is that the martyrdom of Husayn (a.s) is so magnificent and significant in the view of the Lord that He likes to mention it time and again. Under such circumstances, those who keep this calamity fresh are actually acting in consonance with the desire and will of the Almighty and walking the straight path. And one who opposes its remembrance is acting against the divine practice.

In this article, I am going to quote in brief, prophecies present in the books of Hindus, Zoroastrians, Jews and Christians regarding the events of Karbala’. And since the future events have proved the veracity of those prophecies there is no scope of doubt in their authenticity. This is also an example of Divine Power that even though the people who came later have made as much distortion in these books as they could, such that their form has completely changed and at last originality remains only in name, therefore abrogating these books, it became necessary for God to send the last book whose protection He Himself guaranteed. In spite of all those distortions, the prophecies regarding the last Prophet and his progeny still survived in those books so that if anyone contemplates upon these books with an unbiased mind he could reach the Last Guide of Humanity.

Mention of the martyrdom of Imam Husayn (a.s) in Hindu Scriptures

Bhaunik Puran is a very ancient book of the Hindu religion. Its translation was accomplished into Urdu by Maulavi Abdur Rahman Chishti under the title of Miratul Makhlooqaat. This scholar was a prominent Sunni intellectual, well versed with the Sanskrit language. He writes in the preface to this book:

“I have read many of the Hindu books containing future events that were written during the times of Jinns and terrestrial angels. I conducted deep research into those books and found a book containing things in the tongue of “Bashast.” In its “Uttarkhand” it clearly mentions about the greatness and birth of His Eminence, Adam (a.s), our Prophet (s.a.w) and his Purified Progeny. Mahadev had related those things to his wife Parbati on Mount Kailash. And the saint “Bashast” Muni was engrossed in prayers below that same mountain. Since he was greatly devoted to Mahadev, he used to write down some of the things he heard from him.

This book contains all the events from the creation of Adam and the incident of Cain and Abel upto the events surrounding the life of the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w). He has described the nobility of His Eminence, Abdullah and even presented a detailed physical description of the Holy Prophet (s.a.w). After that Mahadevi says:

“After six thousand years, the Almighty (God) will create a wonderful person among the children of Adam in Mundarne, which is between the seas.1 …O Parbati, he will be from the loin of ‘Kant Bunjh’;2 and he (Abdullah) will have the piety and knowledge of God like a river; so (from that river) will emerge a pearl. And the name of his wife will be ‘Sank Rakhiya’3 And he (i.e. Abdullah) will have read three books; and he will leave the fourth book after reading only: ‘Alif Lam Mim’…O Parbati, he (i.e. Abdullah) will be a chief in his tribe; people from all villages will come to his door and will follow him. (Abdullah’s son) will have no fear of the creatures; he will be very brave and having the knowledge of Allah, and his name will be ‘MAHAMAT’. People will be astonished to see his style…And he will not worship as the people of his tribe will be worshipping and he will tell the people that, “I have been told by that Almighty and Only One (God) not to indulge in such senseless worship; and I am not turning but to Allah; therefore, you should follow me.”4 O Parbati, Mahamat will teach his own Shariat to all the creatures, by abrogating all ways of worship and all previous Shariats; and he will try to make all people follow him. Gradually, countless people will come into his religion, and many of them will reach God. And as people use our Sakh era, likewise, upto the end of Kaljug (the last era) people will use the era of Mahamat.5 …O Parbati, after him (after the death of Muhammad’s son) the Almighty who has none like Him, will give a daughter6 to Mahamat who will be better than 1000 sons, and she will be very beautiful and matchless, and very perfect in the worship of God. Never shall she utter any wrong, and she will be protected from every sin—big or small; and through her father she will reach nearer to God. That Almighty (God) will give two sons7 to the daughter of Mahamat, both will be handsome and beloved of God, strong, having the knowledge of God, courageous, brave and matchless in the deeds of virtue. And the Almighty will not create, after them, any human being having such perfection in hidden and known virtues.

The same two sons of Mahamat will be his successors; and they will have numerous children; and they will bring people into the religion of Mahamat day by day by their true arguments; and they will illuminate the religion of Mahamat. And Mahamat will love them more than all his people, even more than his own daughter. And these two sons will be perfect in the religion of Mahamat; they will not do anything for their own pleasure, and all their utterances and deeds would be for the pleasure of the Almighty.

O Parbati, a few years after the death of Mahamat, some evil man will unjustly murder these grandsons of Mahamat without any cause; just for the sake of worldly greed; the whole world will become ‘headless’ by their death. Their killers will be ‘Maliksh’ atheists, cursed in both worlds; they will have no love for Mahamat and will never get deliverance from ‘Nark’ (i.e. Hell). But in appearance, they will remain in the religion of Mahamat, and gradually others also will follow them, and stubbornly will do many deeds against the way of Mahamat and his sons. Only a few people will remain on the path of Mahamat. Majority will follow the path of those who killed the sons of Mahamat; yet in appearance they will be called the followers of Mahamat; and in the last days of ‘kaljug’ (last era) there will be many of those hypocrites and they will create disturbance in the whole world.”

After that Mahadewji explains the appearance of Imam Mahdi; coming of Qiyamat and arrival into Paradise of Lady Fatima together with her followers.

The complete text of this portion is quoted by Maulana Rahat Husayn Gopalpuri in his Tafsir Anwarul Qur’an.

The Karbala’ Tragedy in Zoroastrian Books

Zoroaster or Zarathusht had been a Prophet of the Magians or Fire Worshippers. His successor was Hakim Jamasp. He was a contemporary of King Gustasp. This king had requested him to write in brief about the happenings of the future. Thus the book that he compiled is famous as Jamasp Nama. It was translated into Urdu by Mulla Wahidi, editor of Nizamul Mashayakh, Delhi. Jamasp says, “Then some stars would gather among whom from the children of Hashim, a young man shall be born. He shall be of medium stature. He shall neither be fair complexioned nor dark. He would be handsome, of pleasing speech and magical voice. He would claim prophethood, the proof shall be established with the sword’s edge. He shall put the chain of his religion around the necks of many people. His religion shall spread to all the seven continents. He shall be very fond of the fairer sex. None of his male children shall survive. However, his progeny shall continue through his daughter.”

After that he describes the dominance of the Islamic faith. Then he says:

“Some days after his demise, the Almighty God shall reach into the fifth constellation. Due to the effect of this, there shall be disturbance in his religion. His children shall be slain. His followers shall be made to suffer terrible losses.”

After the above discourse he goes on to describe the signs of the birth of the Last Prophet. The extinguishing of the fire in the fire temples, the drying up of the river, etc. Then he further says,

“After the passing away of this Prophet, the stars shall assemble in the terrestrial house of the constellation of Taurus. And the Lord shall arise in Venus and the conjunction of Jupiter and Venus and the man shall be in the eighth house. Venus along with the Sun shall be in the eleventh house. At that time there shall be discord in this community. Religion shall become a step-stone to rulership. People shall wage war against his son-in-law and there shall be great bloodshed. This son-in-law shall have two sons. One of whom shall be martyred by poison. The second one would be martyred along with his best companions in a desert. The opponent of the Prophet’s Progeny and the leader of those transgressors shall be a man of low morals, weak body and aged. This time is the period of the rule of the Saturn. Its effect is that whoever supports the truth or tries to restore the rights of the deprived people, would himself be destroyed and killed.”

Command of Old Testament to Commemorate Ashura Day

After the time of His Eminence, Musa (a.s) for many years the Jewish calendar began from the month of Rajab, and Moharram was their seventh month. Keeping in mind this point let us read the following verses of Leviticus 23:

“And the Lord said to Moses, “Say to the people of Israel, In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall observe a day of solemn rest, a memorial proclaimed with blast of trumpets, a holy convocation. You shall do no laborious work; and you shall present an offering by fire to the Lord.”

“And the Lord said to Moses, “On the tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement; it shall be for you a holy convocation and you shall afflict yourselves and present an offering by fire to the Lord. And you shall do no work on this same day; for it is a day of atonement, to make atonement for you before the Lord your God. For whoever is not afflicted on this same day shall be cut off from his people. And whoever does any work on this same day, that person I will destroy from among his people. You shall do no work: it is a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings. It shall be to you a Sabbath of solemn rest, and you shall afflict yourselves; on the ninth day of the month beginning at evening, from evening to evening shall you keep your Sabbath.”8

Now we should contemplate upon this and decide that when before the occurrence of the event the Almighty God had even commanded the Jews to observe mourning from the evening of 9th of Muharram to the evening of the 10th, and also warned them that one who did not follow this advice shall be as if he has left their religion. Now that the event has actually occurred is it not incumbent on the Muslim community more than the Jewish community to observe the mourning? And if one fails to act upon this, would he not be as if he has left this religion? Except for those who in the words of Mahadewji: “Even though they pretend to be friends of Mahamat.”

References in New Testament regarding the Martyrdom of Husayn (a.s)

In the parlance of Christians, “New Testament” means “Injeel.” However, it is not “Injeel” that was revealed to Prophet Jesus (a.s). It is a collection of books and letters compiled by Christian scholars and companions of Prophet Jesus. The last book of this collection is “The Revelation to John” which is attributed to John the companion of Jesus. It begins with the following words:

“The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants what must soon take place; and he made it known by sending his angel to his servant John.”9

This book contains only allegories and similes. Christian scholars have tried to write commentaries on this and offered explanations but some points yet remain unexplained in their writings. Our scholars have also interpreted it and it shows that the twelfth and thirteenth chapter deals with the history of Islam from the birth of the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w) to the end of the reign of Bani Umayyads. Hujjatul Islam, Maulana Sayyid Rahat Husayn (t.s.) has explained it in the 15th preface of his prefaces in his Tafsir Anwarul Qur’an. He has mentioned the text of ‘revelations’ in the book and written its interpretation in the margins. I have depended upon the author’s writings a great deal but mentioned the interpretations of the revelations in brackets. Because it would have been very inconvenient for the readers to read the text and the interpretations separately. Thus, John says in the beginning of the twelfth chapter of Revelations:

“And a great portent appeared in heaven, a woman (prophethood) clothed with the sun (divine help was covering it), with the moon under her feet (Lady Fatima), and on her head a crown of twelve stars (meaning the twelve Imams would have authority in religion); she was with a child (waiting for advent) and she cried out in her pangs of birth (the time of advent was near), in anguish for delivery. And another portent appeared in heaven; behold, a great red dragon (infidels of Quraish), with seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems upon his heads.10 His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven, and cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to bear a child, that he might devour her child when she brought it forth; she brought forth a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was caught up to God and to his throne, and the woman fled into wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, in which to be nourished for one thousand two hundred and sixty days.

Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, but they were defeated and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world – he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death (they got martyred in the propagation of faith).”11

After more prophecies, the twelfth chapter comes to an end and the thirteenth chapter begins with an account of Bani Umayyads. In this portion, Abdul Malik Ibn Marwan who consolidated the Umayyad rule for the second time is compared to a beast having ten horns and seven heads. Explaining this in the seventeenth chapter, it is said that the seven heads signify seven kings and the ten horns are also ten kings. Thus altogether it adds upto seventeen rulers. And that beast is the eighth ruler, who is born from the seventh one. Now please note that seven rulers passed before Abdul Malik and the kingdom of Abdul Malik was a result of their past kingdoms, otherwise he would not have been able to achieve anything. Apart from this, he was born from the seventh ruler, that is Marwan bin Hakam and thus he himself was the eighth ruler. And after Marwan there were ten kings including Abdul Malik Ibn Marwan as follows: (1) Abdul Malik Ibn Marwan (2) Walid bin Abdul Malik (3) Sulaiman bin Abdul Malik (4) Umar Ibn Abdul Aziz (5) Yazid Ibn Abdul Malik (6) Hisham Ibn Abdul Malik (7) Walid Ibn Yazid Ibn Abdul Malik (8) Yazid Ibn Walid Ibn Abdul Malik (9) Ibrahim Ibn Walid Ibn Abdul Malik (10) Marwan al-Himar. Thus this allegory and comparison perfectly fits this clan. In addition to this at the end of this same thirteenth chapter is the following sentence, “This calls for wisdom: Let him who has understanding reckon the number of the beast, for it is a human number, its number is six hundred and sixty-six (666).”

The following would show that the number 666 stands for the name of Abdul Malik:

Abdul (76) Malik (121) Bin (52) Marwan (297) Bin (52) Hakam (68) = 666.

Anyway, I am quoting the relevant portions of the thirteenth chapter of Revelation to John 13:

“And I saw a beast (Abdul Malik) rising out of the sea (of disbelief), with ten horns (ten successors) and seven heads (predecessors), with ten diadems upon its horns (all were kings) and a blasphemous name upon its heads. And the beast that I saw was like a leopard, its feet were like a bear’s and its mouth was like a lion’s mouth. And to it the dragon (Quraish) gave his power and his throne and great authority. One of its heads seemed to have a mortal wound (that is the third caliph was killed), but its mortal wound was healed (the kingdom again returned to them and Muawiyah became the king), and the whole earth followed the beast with wonder. Men worshipped the dragon (they returned to the customs of the period of Ignorance), for he had given his authority to the beast, and they worshipped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it?”

And the beast was given a mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous words (abusing ‘Ali was well known activity of the Umayyads), and it was allowed to exercise authority for forty-two months; it opened its mouth to utter blasphemies against God, blaspheming his name and his dwelling, that is, those who dwell in heaven (Ahl al-Bayt). Also it was allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer them. And authority was given it over every tribe and people and tongue and nation, and all who dwell on earth will worship it, every one whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life (faith) of the Lamb (Imam Husayn) that was slain. (All those who do not have faith in Imam Husayn would follow Abdul Malik) If any one has an ear, let him hear:

If any one is to be taken captive,

to captivity he goes;

If any one slays with the sword,

with the sword must he be slain.

Here is a call for the endurance and faith of the saints.

After this, there is detailed explanation of Hajjaj Bin Yusuf and his atrocities. But this much is sufficient for our purpose. In all these four books the martyrdom of Imam Husayn (a.s) is mentioned in a way that acknowledges its greatness and expresses love towards him while the enemies and killers of the Holy Imam (a.s) are mentioned with disdain and malice. A noteworthy point is that wherever there is mention of prophethood and advent of the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w) it is invariably accompanied by the mention of the martyrdom of Imam Husayn (a.s). And according to the statements of both Mahadewji and St. John, it was this martyrdom, which has secured and strengthened the religion of Muhammad. And this was not a poetic composition but the actual expression of the truth and facts that these great religious leaders have perfectly done in a way that was deserving for it. If only their followers had followed their teachings and adopted the Straight Path. And if only the Muslims had recognized the significance of the martyrdom of Imam Husayn (a.s) in the true sense.

Notes

1. Arab is surrounded on three sides by the sea.

2. ‘Kant Bunjh’ means ‘Servant of God’, which, in Arabic becomes “Abdullah” Abdullah was the name of the father of the Holy Prophet.

3. ‘Sank Rakhiya’ means ‘Peaceful’ which in Arabic is ‘Amina.’ Name of the mother of the Holy Prophet was ‘Amina.’

4. Compare it with the ayat of the Qur’an:

“Say: I am commanded to worship God, and not to join partners with Him. Unto Him do I call, and unto Him is my return.” (13:36)

5. i.e. era of Hijra

6. Fatima, the lady of Paradise, the Chief of all the women.

7. Imam Hasan and Imam Husayn (a.s.)

8. Leviticus 23:23-32

9. The Revelation to John: 1

10. Signifying the very first three enemies of Ahle Bayt (a.s.) and Muawiyah, Yazid, Abdullah bin Zubair and Marwan bin al-Hakam.

11. Revelation 12:1-11

Why the Martyrdom of Imam Husayn (a.s) became Immortal?

[This speech was broadcast from the Nairobi (Kenya) Radio on the eve of Ashura, 1383 A.H.]

Since the beginning of creation until date, innumerable tragic incidents have occurred in the world. But in these tales of sorrows and tragedies the events of Karbala’ are seen to be as prominent as the moon among the cluster of stars. Human nature demands that happy remembrances should always be retold and tragic reminders be obliterated from the memory as soon as possible. However, this law of nature had no control on the tragedy of Karbala’. Today, even after a passage of thirteen centuries every year this tragedy is remembered with such fervor as if it has just happened yesterday.

Indeed this is an astonishing fact. But if we ponder upon it we would be able to realize how the control of human nature became ineffective in this case. The significance and endurance of a sacrifice depends upon the significance and firmness of its aims. Some sacrifices are presented for worldly aims and such sacrifices take man towards decadence. The Almighty Allah says:

“Who created for you all that is in the earth…1

Now if instead of considering these worldly things as our servants, we destroy our life in their service, such a sacrifice, instead of carrying any greatness would be eligible for denouncement because we have considered our life inferior to those things that were created for our service. The greatness of man demands that he should consider worldly things as means of life and not that he should make it the aim of his life. In the Islamic parlance it is the stage of, “There is no god except Allah.” And reaching this point man thinks that the whole universe collectively cannot become equal to the value of a single human being. The aim of the life of man should be higher than the universe and such a being is only the Creator of the Universe. After, “There is no god” it is the stage of “except Allah.” To put it in a different way,

“Say: Surely my prayer and my sacrifice and my life and my death are (all) for Allah, the Lord of the worlds…”2

The purpose is to imply that you must make the principle of your life such that all your worship acts, rituals, life and death etc. should be for Allah, Who is the Lord of the worlds. In other words, the entire universe is for man and man is for the Lord of the worlds.

The world is transient. Everything here is going to be destroyed. If a sacrifice is made for these things that also shall be transient and not eternal. Its remembrance would be finished in a few days. Contrary to this, the Creator of the world is eternal. He is from eternity and He shall be there forever. Therefore whatever sacrifice is presented on His path, that too shall don the raiments of eternality and its remembrance would also endure forever. Its remembrance shall also remain fresh in the minds of all. That is why the Almighty Allah says:

And do not speak of those who are slain in Allah’s way as dead; nay, (they are) alive, but you do not perceive.3

That is why the sacrifice of Imam Husayn (a.s) is always fresh. Husayn (a.s) made Allah as the aim of his life and presented incomparable sacrifices in the path of Allah. In recompense, the Almighty Allah also crowned the remembrance of Husayn with the crown of eternality.

Why had Husayn (a.s) presented this sacrifice? Let us see what Husayn (a.s) himself says about it. At the time when he was departing from Medina, he wrote a bequest to his brother, Muhammad Hanafiyyah. Some of the sentences of this testament were as follows:

“…I am not taking up arms in order to make merry, or be ecstatic over what I possess. I am not making mischief, nor exercising oppression. But I am ready to fight for the sole goal of seeking reform of the Ummah of my grandfather, the Apostle of Allah (s.a.w). I want to enjoin good and forbid evil and guide the affairs of the people as my grandfather and father were doing.”

This event began in the year 60 A.H. when Yazid ascended to the throne. The enthroning of Yazid was a terrible calamity for humanity and Islam. Historians are unanimous that no aspect of Yazid’s character conformed to humanity or Islam. He neither believed in Allah nor had faith in the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w). He also denied faith in the Day of Judgment and Hereafter. He used to ridicule Prayer and those who recited Prayer. Wine was served openly in his court. Chess and gambling were obligatory acts in his view. Stepmothers and sisters were sexually legitimate for him. He remained on the throne for three or three and a half years. During this brief rule, in the first year he wreaked havoc on the family of the Holy Prophet (s.a.w) and slaughtered them with utter mercilessness. He wrought a carnage for which we are mourning these days. It was such a terrible carnage that human history had never witnessed. In the second year, he had Medina attacked and allowed his soldiers to plunder and ransack, kill the inhabitants and rape their ladies. Hundreds of companions of the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w) and memorizers of Qur’an were put under the sword. Prayer was not conducted in the Prophet’s mosque for three days at a stretch as Yazid’s soldiers had converted it into a stable for their horses. Thousands of women lost their honor and the Medinites were compelled to pay oath of allegiance to Yazid in the words, “We are slaves of Yazid. If he likes he can sell us and if he wants he can release us.” In the third year of his rule, Yazid’s forces attacked Mecca and laid siege to it. Catapults were employed to throw fireballs on the Holy Ka’ba, which was consequently damaged. The siege was in process when Yazid died in Damascus.

This was a brief sketch of Yazid’s biography. How the times had changed and how the circumstances became inverted that such a person should demand allegiance from Husayn (a.s)!

Who was Husayn? The beloved one of ‘Ali and Fatima (a.s) and in the words of Qur’an, the son of the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w). He was absolutely sinless and had scaled the heights of purity of self and the best of deeds. Love and regard towards him is made obligatory for the Muslims. According to the sayings of the Holy Prophet (s.a.w) Husayn was from the Prophet and the Prophet was from Husayn (a.s). In other words, every saying of Husayn was the saying of the Prophet and every action of Husayn was the action of the Prophet. That is why Yazid was so keen to obtain the allegiance of Husayn. Because he felt that if Husayn gave him allegiance, each of his acts, beliefs and policies would get the seal of approval of the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w). Husayn was also aware of this fact and thus he refused to give allegiance, and as a result bore with absolute resignation and tranquility, the mountains of calamities that befell him.

He had to leave Medina. He had to bid farewell to the shrine of his maternal grandfather, the grave of his mother and the tomb of his brother. Then he took refuge in the Holy city of Mecca. Here also no security was found, because Yazid sent 30 militants in the garb of pilgrims to assassinate Imam Husayn (a.s) in Mecca. They were ordered to kill Husayn (a.s) even if he was found circumambulating the Ka’ba. Husayn (a.s) was compelled to leave Mecca along with his family members one day before the Hajj and he headed for Iraq. On the way his path was blocked by the forces of Yazid. This army consisted of a thousand men. When they reached the caravan of Husayn (a.s) they were dying of thirst as their water supply had been exhausted. The riders’ condition was serious due to the thirst. The horses were hanging out their tongues. It was the army of foes but the son of the great Prophet of Mercy could never allow them to perish of thirst. He ordered that not only the men buts their beasts also be provided ample water. Husayn (a.s) himself organized the distribution of water.

Followed by these enemy forces, Imam Husayn (a.s) reached the plains of Karbala’ on the 2nd of Muharram. Forces dispatched by Yazid’s governor, Ibn Ziyad began to assemble in this area one after the other. In a few days, their numbers rose to 32000, who had gathered to slay a few oppressed people, among whom were aged men, children and women, totaling not more than 100-150 persons. The tents of Husayn’s group were initially removed to a point far away from the riverbanks. From the 7th Muharram onwards water supply was completely cut off for them. From the 8th of Muharram the cries of “Thirst! Thirst!” from the children of Husayn’s camp began to echo in the deserts of Karbala’. The same Husayn (a.s) who had provided drinking water to even the enemy forces was not unable to procure any water for his children and companions.

The next day was the 9th of Muharram. During the afternoon, Umar Ibn Saad, the commander of Yazidite forces prepared his army to attack the entourage of Husayn (a.s). Imam Husayn (a.s) asked for a night’s respite to enable them to engage in the worship of Almighty. The eve of Ashura arrived. The camp of Husayn (a.s) buzzed with the recital of the Holy Qur’an, the chanting of invocations, ritual prayers and worship acts. People who have recorded those incidents say that such murmur arose from the tents of Husayn (a.s) as if bees were humming around the beehives.

In between these adorations and worships, Imam Husayn (a.s) assembled all his companions and relatives and recited a sermon, which, in brief said that Yazid did not have anything to do with them except the Holy Imam (a.s). Thus they must not endanger their lives. Husayn (a.s) released them from his allegiance and told them that all of them could leave him and go away wherever they liked so that their lives could be saved. The Imam explained to them in various ways so that they may leave him and obtain their survival. In the end he even extinguished the lamp so that they could leave in the cover of darkness if they are embarrassed otherwise. In reply to this, a wail arose from the gathering and different people stood up and reiterated their faith and loyalty to the Imam. Their wordings were different, their voices were various. But the aim of all of them was one and the same, that, “O Master! This is dying only once and achieving eternal success. Even if we are killed seventy times and our corpses are burnt and ashes scattered in the wind and after that again we are enlivened, we would not leave you ever.”

By according freedom of action to his companions and relatives, Imam Husayn (a.s) performed the same duty that Prophet Ibrahim (a.s) had performed by seeking the opinion of Ismail (a.s). Ibrahim (a.s) could have sacrificed his son without informing him about it. But in that case it would have been only the achievement of Ibrahim (a.s) and it would not have been shared by Ismail (a.s). Ibrahim (a.s), by taking the opinion of his son and the son by expressing his willingness for slaughter, made it a model of partnership between the Friend (of God) and the slaughtered one (Ismail). Exactly in the same manner, Imam Husayn (a.s) also, by according permission to them all to leave Karbala’, and the companions by expressing their determination to voluntarily lay down their lives, made this event a model of a shared sacrifice. That is why Iqbal the bard of the orient says:

“The end of it is Husayn and the beginning, Ismail.”

The morning of Ashura was the day of terrible turmoil. By shooting the first arrow, Umar Ibn Saad initiated the battle. Initially the companions of Imam Husayn (a.s) laid down their lives one after the other. In the afternoon, it was the turn of Banu Hashim (or more precisely the progeny of Abu Talib). The progeny of Aqil became extinct from the world. The beloved sons of Zainab were smeared in their blood. The last remains of Qasim were trampled under horses. The sons of ‘Ali (a.s) praised the bravery. Abbas lost both his arms in his struggle to get drinking water for children and the lion of ‘Ali (a.s) after capturing the Euphrates went to sleep on the riverbanks. The image of the Prophet, ‘Ali Akbar, arrived in the battlefield. The people witnessed the same valor of ‘Ali (a.s). At last a dagger pierced the chest and the shattered facsimile of the Holy Prophet, after being smeared with blood, mixed into the sands of Karbala’.

Now ‘Ali Asghar heard the call of his father for help and made himself fall off the cradle. Husayn (a.s) could not bear to see the thirst of the six-month old infant. He brought the child to the fields shading him with the tails of his cloak and asked for water for the child. Instead of giving water, Hurmula quenched the baby’s thirst with an arrow. This arrow not only pierced the neck of ‘Ali Asghar and the shoulder of Husayn (a.s), it also pierced the heart of Fatima (s.a.).

Now Husayn (a.s) pounced upon the forces of Yazid like a heavy flood. He launched three such deadly attacks that the enemy forces began to feel helpless. The time of Asr (late afternoon) approached. Husayn (a.s) was covered with wounds from the head to the toe. Incessant bleeding made him feel physically weak. He restrained his sword for a moment and the enemies began to shower him with arrows and stones from all sides. At last the moment arrived that a poet says,

The rider of the Prophet’s shoulders has come down from the saddle.

If I am not wrong, it is as if the sky has fallen to the earth.

Shimr exhibited such heartlessness that the heavens and the earth were in turmoil. A call echoed in the atmosphere:

Know that Husayn is slain in Karbala’!

Know that Husayn is slaughtered in Karbala’!

The world became empty of Husayn (a.s).

After the martyrdom of Imam Husayn (a.s), the enemies began to plunder his camp and his women and children. The tents were burnt down. Head coverings were snatched from the heads of the Prophet’s daughters. The ailing son of Husayn (a.s) was arrested and tied up in chains and iron-collars.

Now the terrible night fell, which is called “Shaam-e-Ghariba” (the night of the homeless). Yesterday, Husayn (a.s) had been present to protect the folks of Harem.4 There was Abbas and ‘Ali Akbar. The companions and helpers were also present. Today none remained. After Husayn (a.s), the responsibility of this plundered group and the defense of Islam fell upon Zainab. Zainab fulfilled her role in such a beautiful way that the world gave her the title of “Partner of Husayn.”

This apparent defeat of Husayn (a.s) was actually a magnificent victory. See, Yazid was demanding allegiance from Husayn (a.s) and his companions. Though Imam Husayn (a.s) was martyred, when his successor, the ailing Imam ‘Ali Ibn Husayn (a.s) was brought chained before Yazid, Yazid could not summon the courage to demand allegiance from him. Yazid and his cohorts had to give up their demands. Husayn and his supporters remained firm on their stance. What can be a better proof than this of the victory of Husayn (a.s) and the defeat of Yazid? That is probably why Mir Anees said about the holy Imam:

“He suppressed Byzantine and Syria with such ferocity

That Jihad was not required from the remaining nine Imams.”

Notes

1. Surah Baqarah 2:29

2. Surah Anam 6:162

3. Surah Baqarah 2:154

4. Ladies and children


4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15