Alhassanain(p) Network for Heritage and Islamic Thought

Ashura

The research and analysis on the Uprising of Imam Husayn (as) from Hijaz to Iraq.

Author(s): Shaykh Muhammad Mahdi Al-Asifi

Translator(s): 'Umar Kumo

Publisher(s): ABWA Publishing and Printing Center

Table of Contents

Publisher’s Foreword. 6

Introduction. 7

Critical Juncture In The Life Of Mankind. 8

Days Of Separation. 8

Ashura Is Among The Days Of Separation. 8

First class 9

Second class 9

Third class 10

Comparison Between The First And Second Class 11

The Story Of How Umar Ibn Sa'ad Tried To Escape Fighting Husayn (As) 11

The Story Of How Al-Hurr Tried To Escape Fighting Husayn (as) 12

A Return To Umar Ibn Saad At The Point Of Separation. 13

Comparison Between The Second And Third Class 14

Another Comparison Between Al-Hurr And Zuhayr 16

Aversion And Inaction. 17

Shock And Hesitation. 17

Willingness To Meet Husayn (As) 18

Response And Acceptance 18

Analysis Of Al-Hurr's Unusual Stand. 18

Conclusion. 19

Notes 21

Meditations On Husayn’s Speech On The Day Of Ashura. 22

1- “You Have Drawn The Sword With Which We Armed You, Against Us.” 22

2- ‘And You Ignited The Fire Which We Kindled Against Our Enemy And Your Enemy, Against Us.’ 23

3- “You Have Joined Hands With The Forces Of Your Enemies Against Your Allies.” 24

4- “They Have Not Established Any Justice Among You, Nor Do You Expect Any Good From Them.” 25

5- “Woe To You! Are You Heading Towards These People And Forsaking Us? 26

6- “O Slaves Of (This) Nation And Strangers!” 26

7- “Away With You, O Slaves Of The Nation And Strangers To The Parties!” 27

8- “An Old Treachery That Was Part And Parcel Of Your Forefathers” 27

Notes 29

Political Goals Of Imam Husayn (As)'S Uprising. 30

The Imam Tells About His Death In Iraq. 32

Where Military Campaigns Fail, Armed Struggle Succeeds. 33

1- Freeing the people's will 33

2- Stripping the Ruling System of Legitimacy. 38

Notes 41

Husayn (As)’S Letter From Karbala To His Brother, Muhammad. 42

The Reason The Letter Was Written. 42

Devotion To God And Withdrawing From The World. 43

What Are The World And The Hereafter? 43

How Can A Person Be Among The People Of The Hereafter While Living In This World? 43

From The Hereafter To The Hereafter 44

Incentives and Barriers 45

‘As If The World Has Never Been’ 46

As If The Hereafter Has Always Been. 47

The Results That Follow The Two Viewpoints 48

The Outcome Of The Second View. 49

Expelling The World From The Mind And Replacing It With The Hereafter 49

First point 50

Second Point 51

Notes 53

Defying Death On The Day Of Ashura. 54

How Do We Deal With Death? 54

How Do People Face Death? 54

Fear of Death. 55

Causes 55

The Stand. 56

Changing From A Position Of No Stand To That Of A Contrary Stand. 56

The Last Stage Of Apostacy. 57

Realignment On The Opposing Side And A Turnabout 58

Three States In Man’s Life 58

The first state 58

The second state 58

The third stage 59

The Effects Of Fear Of Death On Society. 59

Educative Methods For Fighting This Situation. 60

First Method. 60

Second Method. 60

Some Scenes Of Confronting Death In Al-Taff 60

His Companions’ Reply. 61

Notes 63

Some Instances Of Loyalty In The Supplication: Ziyarat Al-Warith. 64

First Aspect: Salutation. 64

Second Aspect: Testimony. 64

Third Aspect: Stand. 66

Repudiation: The Other Face Of Loyalty. 67

The Groups That Are Cursed In Ziyarat Al-Warith. 70

What Conflicts Of Civilization Do To Man. 71

The First Day of Separation. 72

The Second Day of Separation. 73

The Third Day of Separation. 73

Notes 85

Loyalty And Repudiation In The Supplication Of Ziyarat Ashura. 86

Loyalty And Repudiation: The Most Prominent Features Of The Day Of Ashura 86

The Three Peculiarities of the Al-Taff Battle Theatre 87

An Inherited Theatre 88

A Separating Theatre 89

A Legator Theatre 92

Emotional Co-Existence With The Al-Taff Tragedy As Expressed In Ziyarat Ashura 93

Scenes of Loyalty and Repudiation in Ziyarat Ashura 94

Loyalty, Repudiation And Hostility. 95

Greetings Of Peace And Cursing. 95

Peace And War 95

Association And Disassociation. 95

Distress And Vengeance 97

Loyalty And Repudiation Are Two Faces Of The Same Question. 98

Loyalty And Repudiation: Blessing And Honour That God Bestowed On Man  99

Generalizations Of Loyalty In Ziyarat Ashura 102

Generalizations Of Repudiation In Ziyarat Ashura 103

Monotheism And Purity Of Faith Depicted In Loyalty. 104

Loyalty comes under the concept of Monotheism. 104

Monotheism And Purity Of Faith Depicted In Repudiation. 106

Two Loyalties Cannot Meet In The Heart Of A Faithful Person. 107

Ascension Points Of Loyalty And Repudiation In Ziyarat Ashura 108

Honour And Distinction. 109

Avenging The Death Of Husayn (as) 110

To Be in the Company of the Ahl Al-Bayt (as) And Attain A Good Standing With Them  110

The Company of the truthful 110

The Laudable Station. 111

Sincerity To God In Life And Death. 112

Unlimited Reward From God. 112

Stairways For Getting Proximity To God. 114

Notes 115

Imam Husayn (As)’S Portrayal of Islamic Society During Umayyad Rule 117

1- The Condition of The World At That Time 117

2- The Peoples Disregard For Truth And Their Inclination Towards Falsehood  119

3- Need For Aversion To The World And Desire To Meet God. 120

Note 121

The Four Unchangeable Aspects of Imam Husayn (as)’S Uprising. 122

1- Inevitability Of Martyrdom. 122

2- Certainty Of Victory. 123

3- Relationship Between Victory And Martyrdom. 126

4- This Victory Will Not Be Repeated In History. 127

Notes 129

Loyalty and Repudiation on the Day of Ashura. 130

Conflict of Loyalty. 130

Monotheism And Polytheism In Loyalty. 130

Ferociousness Of The Conflict Of Loyalties 130

The Theatre Of Conflict Entails A Stand And Rejects Onlookers 131

Elements And Instance Of Loyalty. 131

1- Obedience and Submission. 131

2- Love and Sincerity to God the Glorious 131

3- Helping God, His Messenger (S) and the believers 131

Direction in Loyalty. 131

Repudiation. 133

An Analysis of the State of Challenge and Confrontation Between Monotheism and Polytheism  133

Loyalty Is Within The Domain Of Monotheism. 134

True Guardianship Is Only By God's Permission, Within The Domain Of His Guardianship And By His Appointment 135

The Role and Importance of Guardianship in the Life of the Community. 136

Arrogance and Abasement 137

Features of the Conflict Between Truth and Falsehood. 137

The Incident of Al-Taff: A Touchstone For Loyalty And Repudiation. 141

Notes 144

The First Speech of Imam Husayn's (as) Uprising. 145

1- Listen! Anyone Who Will Sacrifice His Life For Our Sake 145

2- 'Who Will Sacrifice? 146

3- 'For Our Sake' 147

4- Sincerity. 148

5- Reconciling Oneself 149

6- Meeting God. 149

7- Let Them Set Out 150

8- 'With Us' 152

9- 'If God Wills' 152

Notes 156

Publisher’s Foreword

In the Name of Allah, the All-beneficent, the All-merciful

The invaluable legacy of the Household [Ahl al-Bayt ] of the Prophet (may peace be upon them all), as preserved by their followers, is a comprehensive school of thought that embraces all branches of Islamic knowledge. This school has produced many brilliant scholars who have drawn inspiration from this rich and pure resource. It has given many scholars to the Muslimummah who, following in the footsteps of Imams of the Prophet’s Household (‘a), have done their best to clear up the doubts raised by various creeds and currents within and without Muslim society and to answer their questions. Throughout the past centuries, they have given well-reasoned answers and clarifications concerning these questions and doubts.

To meet the responsibilities assigned to it, theAhl al-Bayt World Assembly (ABWA) has embarked on a defence of the sanctity of the Islamic message and its verities, often obscured by the partisans of various sects and creeds as well as by currents hostile to Islam. The Assembly follows in the footsteps of theAhl al-Bayt (‘a) and the disciples of their school of thought in its readiness to confront these challenges and tries to be on the frontline in consonance with the demands of every age.

The arguments contained in the works of the scholars belonging to the School of theAhl al-Bayt (‘a) are of unique significance. That is because they are based on genuine scholarship and appeal to reason, and avoid prejudice and bias. These arguments address scholars and thinkers in a manner that appeals to healthy minds and wholesome human nature.

To assist the seekers of truth, theAhl al-Bayt World Assembly has endeavored to present a new phase of these arguments contained in the studies and translations of the works of contemporary Shī‘ah writers and those who have embraced this sublime school of thought through divine blessing.

The Assembly is also engaged in edition and publication of the valuable works of leading Shī‘ah scholars of earlier ages to assist the seekers of the truth in discovering the truths which the School of the Prophet’s Household (‘a) has offered to the entire world.

TheAhl al-Bayt World Assembly looks forward to benefit from the opinions of the readers and their suggestions and constructive criticism in this area. We also invite scholars, translators and other institutions to assist us in propagating the genuine Islamic teachings as preached by the Prophet Muhammad (ṣ).

We beseech God, the Most High, to accept our humble efforts and to enable us to enhance them under the auspices of Imam al-Mahdī, His vicegerent on the earth (may Allah expedite his advent).

We express our gratitude to Ayatullah Muhammad-mahdi Asifi, the authors of the present book, and Umar Kumu, its translator. We also thank our colleagues who have participated in producing this work, especially the staff of the Translation Office.

Cultural Affairs Department

Ahl al-Bayt (‘a) World Assembly

Introduction

The sermons that are delivered concerning Imam Husayn (as) attract the largest audience from all classes of people. The respect they have for these speeches is very significant, a feature rarely found in other gatherings. Speakers for such occasions are required to reciprocate this respect and earnest attendance by doing justice to the feelings of the people and the gatherings for Husayn (as).

The people who come from far and wide to listen to the lectures that are delivered about Imam Husayn (as), expect the speakers to enrich their talks with a greater knowledge of Islam and Qur'anic concepts; new horizons of thought, understanding and analysis of Husayn (as)'s words, speeches and stances, as he moved from Hijaz to Iraq; the speeches of his kinsmen and companions; the positions they took and the sacrifices they offered, that are unique in history.

The uprising of Husayn (as) is replete with ideas, concepts, values and beautiful scenes, the like of which are rarely witnessed in the words and deeds of others, which speakers are expected to analyse as they trace his route from Hijaz to Iraq. They should be able to present these lessons to their listeners during the month of Muharram and also on other occasions.

The present book is an effort in that direction but I cannot be sure that it has achieved its goal. All the same, I have tried, knowing success is from God alone.

Muhammad Mahdi al-Asifi

Holy Najaf

The 20th day of Shawwal, 1425.