Alhassanain(p) Network for Heritage and Islamic Thought

Al-Husayn on the Taff Day

These are the guidelines that the father of ‘Abdullah, al-Husayn (‘a), followed on theTaff Day. He did not order his men to start the war despite the persistence of his foes in adhering to misguidance and in fighting him with all their might and means.

They, in fact, went as far as prohibiting him, his family and companions from drinking the water regarding which the one who brought the divineShari’a , peace and blessings of Allah be upon him and his progeny, said, “All people have an equal right to water and (their animals to) pasture.”

Imam Husayn (‘a), by doing so, wanted to establish his argument against his foes. He stood to address that multitude that had been immersed in misguidance in order to explain his argument. He first acquainted them with the loss of this vanishing world by anyone who threw himself in its lap; it would not bring him anything but disappointment.

Then he resorted to reminding them of his status with the Prophet of Islam (S), testifying to himself and to his brother al-Hasan (‘a) that they were the masters of the youths of Paradise, let alone the testimony to this fact given by the one who does not speak out of his own desires but was guided by the divine wahy: such a testimony is the criterion for distinguishing right from wrong.

Then he reminded them of the fact that had they had anything with him that belonged to them, he would have given it back to them. Finally, he raised a copy of the Holy Qur’an over his head and invited them to accept its arbitration.

When all these precious pieces of advice fell on deaf ears, and when it became quite clear to him that they insisted on their misguidance and stubbornness, opting to act against the commandments of Allah Almighty and His Messenger (S), he unveiled the curtain from the ‘Alawide pride according to which he grew up.

He removed the curtain from the feeling of disdain to anyone who refused to abide by the commandments of Allah and His Messenger (S). It is such disdain that he and other offspring descending from ‘Ali (‘a) used to study day and night and round which their meetings revolved. It is then that he, peace of Allah be upon him, said,

The da’iyy and the son of the da’iyy required us to choose one of two: either to let his men draw their swords against us, or we accept humiliation and submission to his authority. It is far from us to accept humiliation; Allah rejects that we, His Messenger, or the faithful should ever submit to humiliation. These are [the fruit of] good and pure chambers, men of dignity and souls too proud to prefer obedience to a mean and lowly person over death in honour and in dignity. Let it be known that I shall fight with this family although our number is small, and despite the betrayal of those who promised to support us.

How could he to a lowly one his submission wield?

Only to Allah did he ever submit and yield:

Mightier than the shield is his will,

Before lances thirsty for blood, eager to kill,

To him will every hafiz refer at will,

To one big as the world and greater still,

One who insisted to live only in dignity,

To sacrifice and personify such struggle for eternity.179

Such are the commandments of the purifiedShari’a , and such are its injunctions regarding inviting people to righteousness, and to rise to close the door against falsehood. Just as it mandatedjihad against those who promote misguidance as well as the polytheists, it likewise exempted from suchjihad the children, the invalid, the blind, the elderly, the women, and the adults who did not obtain the permission of their parents to participate injihad .

But the show of force at theTaff violated its greatest canon, permitting even what was not previously permitted in order to serve the interests and the mysteries that are beyond the reach of men's comprehension. Such was the most oppressed martyr (‘a), informed by his grandfather, the supreme saviour (S), and by his own father, the wasi (‘a).

Al-Husayn (‘a) did not bring about a new Sunnah injihad ; rather, it was no more than a divine lesson fixed by the most sacred tablet in the world of perfection, one limited to a particular circumstance and to a specific place, one received by Gabriel, the trusted archangel (‘a), who then conveyed to the one who was loved and chosen by Allah, namely Muhammad (S), the one who conveyed the divine message and who in turn entrusted it to his grandson the Master of Martyrs (‘a).

All the unusual events that took place during that bloody encounter, whose essence cannot be comprehended by men were things whereby the Master, Praise to Him, bestowed upon His wali andHujjah , Abu ‘Abdullah, al-Husayn (‘a).

It is to these same traditions that the martyr of Kufa, Muslim Ibn ‘Aqil, adhered. He was, indeed, distinguished from all others by his knowledge, deeds, an abundance of wisdom and divine faculties that his position as deputy of the Imam, theHujjah , required.180 He suffered from acute thirst to the extent that he was permitted to drink even what wasnajis .

Both Ibn ‘Aqil and the moon of the Hashemites [Abul-Fadl, al-’Abbas, Imam Husayn's brother] drank the same milk and graduated from the same school of Imamate and infallibility. They, therefore, earned a testimony from the Infallible Imams (‘a) in the sincerity of intention through their readiness to sacrifice their lives for the sake of the creed.

Such testimony qualified them to serve as role models in their good deeds. Just as Muslim did not taste water till he died of thirst, so was the case with the father of al-Fadl, al-’Abbas, who shook the ranks of the enemy till he finally had access to the water.

Knowing the extent of thirst of the Master of Martyrs and that of the Prophet's ladies and of the children who descended from Fatima (‘a), he did not see in theShari’a , which he had learned from his father, the wasi, and from both of his brothers who were Imams whether they stood or sat181 , according to the Prophet's words, any provision for him to drink out of concern for the thirst of theHujjah of his time even with a little thereof. But alas! Destiny stood between him and the achievement of his desire.

He did not taste of the Euphrates following his example,

Taking his water straight to the tent.

He found no provision in the creed to quench

His thirst while his brother was burning with thirst.

He derives his deed from theShari’a

And due to his unshaken conviction,

Like al-Husayn who controlled the water source

Just to be told that his tents were being looted,

So he threw water away, sensing the gravity

Of the situation, enthused with zeal,

So al-’Abbas followed his example as he

Breathed his last in honour, his zeal fiery.

Abu ‘Abdullah, al-Husayn (‘a), rose with that small group of the elderly and the children, with infants and women, in contrast with those who were not apprehensive in regard to conscience or kinship, being determined to eradicate the Prophet's family and relatives.

But the line followed by the martyr of theTaff , the one whose extent cannot be realized, nor can the minds comprehend its deep meaning, acquainted the succeeding generations that came across this epic, the like of which history has never witnessed, with the deeds committed by those tyrants whose fathers did not accept Islam, when they pretended to have done so, except out of fear of Islam's sword.

Abu ‘Abdullah (‘a) achieved the objective when the clouds of doubt were dispelled by the light of his shining revolution and the calls of his ladies, the calls that confused and upset the minds that became the subject of all meetings, of what those tyrants and their ancestors had committed of shame and infamy.

Desertion Permitted

It is on such a straight path that the Master of Martyrs declared, in his precious, wise and far-sighted statement, permission to his family and companions to part with him for safety. The text the historians narrate in this regard is his statement (‘a), to his family and companions on the eve of the ninth of Muharram saying,

“I know no companions better than mine nor family more righteous or kind or united than mine; so, may Allah reward all of you. I think tomorrow will be our last day in facing these folks. I am of the view that you should all set out for safety, you do not owe me anything, while the night is covering you with its covering. Ride it as you would a camel, and each one of you should take the hand of one of my family members. May Allah reward all of you with the best of His rewards; so, disperse under the cover of darkness and go back to your towns, for these people seek me, and if they get hold of me, they will not seek anyone else.”182

What a pithy statement, O Father of the Oppressed, and how noble your objective, O Master of Martyrs! How wise your statement and deeds, O soul of Prophethood!

Yes, this golden statement was etched in letters ofnoor on the forehead of time, that those righteous elite men, who were described by the Commander of the Fatihful (‘a) as the masters of martyrs, and that none ever reached their heights nor ever will183 , were the cream of the crop of all mankind and the elite of the cosmos.

We have been enlightened by such rays to realize their intention to be determined in their firmness and sincerity to offer the holy sacrifice. In all of these, there are sublime lessons for all those who wish to follow in the footsteps of those honourable men to rise above loving this life and to die under the banner of dignity and not to submit to the oppressive authority, to either achieve the goal or attain martyrdom and eternal happiness.

Had it not been for that permission to desert issued by the custodian of theShari’a and for those words that their pure souls permitted, no succeeding generation could have realized the extent of their knowledge, conviction, and variation of their faculties and ambition to the highest goals and firmness in upholding their principles with sincerity and insight.

The Master of Martyrs wanted by so doing to test their intentions. Testing is done by a wise person who knows what was and what will be, and it does not demean his knowledge and his being familiar with what is hidden since the goal is precious and the status is sublime. This is something to which we pointed out when we wanted to acquaint the reader with the gifts adorning al-Husayn’s followers and those of Ahl al-Bayt (‘a).

And such a test should not surprise anyone especially since the Creator of all beings, the Almighty, from whose knowledge nothing small nor big escapes, ordered His friend Abraham to sacrifice his son Isma’il. Being knowledgeable of the extent of obedience to Him rendered by His messenger, the Friend of Allah, Abraham, and of the firmness of His prophet, Ishamel, he did not require it except for a benefit known to the Lord of the Worlds though it is obscure from the comprehension of humans.

The incident of the bald, the leprous, and the blind also testifies that Allah Almighty wanted by granting them His blessings to make their story a lesson of wisdom for those who come across it and who find themselves

bound to thank Him for His blessings, and that denying His blessings will lead to loss.184

Abu ‘Abdullah, Imam al-Husayn (‘a), wanted through this test to acquaint the next generations with the status attained by his Ahl al-Bayt (‘a) and companions, the status of honour, dignity, purity and submission to whatever pleases Allah and His Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him and his progeny.

To know the extent of any man of purity in the world, and to uphold the principle of obedience to the most pious person who most pleases the Master, the Almighty, does not become possible except by his statements supported by good deeds or by a testimony for him from someone familiar with his every movement.

Nobody is ignorant of the defects in the history books in our hands regarding many deeds of righteous men who exhaust all influence and possession in order to support the authenticShari’a . Nor does history record any deeds undertaken by those elite ones, namely the martyrs of Karbala’, indicative of the holiness of their conscience, the sincerity of their intentions, the purity of their souls..., better than that bloody scene.

Had it not been for those statements made by the companions of al-Husayn (‘a), and of his family, when he gave them permission to leave him for safety and to desert so that he would alone face those who surrounded him, we would not have come to know the differences in their levels of awareness and variations in their far-sighted views, nor their virtues which no human being can attain.

Knowledge is a light that Allah Almighty casts in the heart of whomsoever He chooses from among His servants in various degrees of intensity.

Muslim Ibn ‘Awsajah al-Asadi, for example, does not have anything on the pages of history to testify to his immortal deeds and good merits in anything more or less than a statement made by Shabth Ibn Rab’i that he invaded Azerbaijan on the side of the Muslims and killed six polytheists before Muslim cavalry troops came to his rescue.

What can the reader know from this statement other than the extent of his sure loyalty to the Prophet's caliphs and his not having changed as time and circumstances changed? But his statement to al-Husayn (‘a) in which he said,

“Are we the type of men who would abandon you? What excuse shall we produce before Allah Almighty for having thus fallen short of serving you? By Allah! I shall never leave you till I break my lance in their chests and strike them with my sword as long as I can hold its handle, and even if I have no weapon to fight them with, I shall throw stones at them till I die with you.”

Such a statement informs us of the firmness of this man in upholding his principles at the last stage of life, and that if one is not concerned except about pleasing Allah Almighty and His Messenger (S), he is not concerned about any pain or bleeding. This statement is accompanied by actions when he faced the swords and the lances with his chest and neck.

Moreover, he was not satisfied with all of this till he commended Habib Ibn Muzahir, the man who benefitted from the science of fates and epics from the Commander of the Faithful (‘a), to support al-Husayn (‘a), and that

he would not otherwise be excused by the Messenger of Allah (S) for having fallen short of carrying out his responsibility even when he was drawing his last breath His soul thus parted from his body as he maintained his creed and submission.185

He was followed in sincerity of loyalty and readiness to sacrifice by Sa’id Ibn ‘Abdullah al-Hanafi who said, “By Allah! We shall never abandon you till Allah knows that we safeguarded the absence of the Messenger of Allah (S) in your person.

By Allah! Had I known that I will be killed then brought back to life, then burnt alive, then my ashes strewn, and this is done to me seventy times, I would still not abandon you till I meet death defending you. Why should I not do so? It is only one death followed by a bliss that lasts forever.”

He, therefore, defended Abu ‘Abdullah (‘a) and admonished others to do likewise. He was not satisfied with all the bleeding wounds which he received when he assaulted the enemies of Allah Almighty in defense of al-Husayn (‘a), who was then performing the noon prayers on the battlefield, till he understood from the Father of the Oppressed that he had discharged his responsibility towards the Message and proven his faithfulness to what Allah had mandated on him, so he died feeling elated for having pleased the Almighty God.

Anything besides this is a shortcoming and a loss. Abu ‘Abdullah (‘a) comforted him of attaining happiness through martyrdom and of the meeting with the Messenger of Allah (S) before him.

As soon as he had finished his speech, Zuhayr Ibn al-Qayn al-Bajali stood up to recite for all future generations lofty teachings in promoting the creed that immortalized him. To al-Husayn (‘a) he said,“By Allah! I wish I had been killed then brought back to life then killed, and so on, for a thousand times, as long as my being killed protects you and protects these youths of Ahl al-Bayt (‘a).”

There is no doubt in Allah accepting obedience from any of His servants if such obedience earns him victory on the Day of Eternity. But there is something even beyond that of a more lofty objective: it is the obedience of the people of conviction who are not concerned, when they perform what they are obligated to perform, except to be closer to the Lord, Praise to Him, Who is the only One worthy of being worshipped.

Ibn al-Qayn is a bastion of conviction and pure faith, a man who recited for us in such a situation his far-sighted view, his true beliefs, and his noble goals: protecting the man who was appointed by Allah Almighty as the Imam and protecting the lives which were held dear by the Messenger of Allah (S) without aiming by worshipping Allah, through performingjihad against His enemies, except to earn the rewards of the hereafter for his endeavour on the Day when wages shall be granted for good deeds.

Rather, he aimed by performing this rite to protect the person who was charged with safeguarding the Message, theHujjah of his time, citing the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him and his Progeny.

“Husayn is of me, and I am of Husayn,” 186 says the Messenger of Allah (S). The one who brought us theShari’a did not make this statement simply to inform the nation that theTaff Martyr was part of him (i.e. a member of

his family), for such an interpretation is quite shallow and is not expected of the master of orators. Of course every offspring is part of his father and grandfather; so, there is no distinction for al-Husayn (‘a) here.

Rather, he (S) intended for this golden statement to point out to the responsibility vested upon the Master of Martyrs in cementing Islam’s foundations, removing the thorns of falsehood from the path of the justShari’a , and alerting the nation against the crimes committed by those who played havoc with the sanctity of the creed. Just as the Prophet (S) was the first person to rise to disseminate the divine call, al-Husayn was the last to rise to cement its foundations:

The creed did moan, groan and complain

About him; it did complain to none but Husayn.

The Prophet's grandson saw that to cure the creed,

At Karbala’ to death he had to defend it and bleed.

Never did we hear that a patient could be cured

Only with the death of the one who cured and endured.

When Husayn was martyred, Islam's guidance standard rose high

When Husayn is remembered, Islam's fragrance does intensify.

Had it not been for the open statements made by the son of the singers, we would not have been able to realize his attitude vis-a-vis loyalty [or the lack thereof] for those whom the Omnipotent, Praise to Him, chose as the Infallible and as the beacons of guidance for His servants and the custodians of HisShari’a .

Other than this fact, history has not recorded for the singers' son any loyalty except to ‘Uthman Ibn ‘Affan versus his animosity towards the grandson of the most pure Messenger of Allah (S).

As for the stand of ‘Abis Ibn Abu Shibib al-Shakiri, when the oath of allegiance was sworn to Muslim Ibn ‘Aqil at Kufa, and on theTaff Day, it reveals his superiority over many others, his firm conviction and love for Ahl al-Bayt (‘a), and that nothing at all mattered to him in his bid to protect the Imam (‘a) even at the cost of sacrificing his own life and everything precious in his possession.

Having witnessed the betraying throngs assembled to swear the oath of allegiance to Muslim Ibn ‘Aqil, he [‘Abis] said to him,

“I do not wish to inform you about these people, nor do I know what they hide in their hearts and what attracts you to them, but by Allah I shall tell you about what I have decided to do: By Allah! I shall respond to you when you call, and I shall fight your enemy, and I shall defend you with my sword till I meet Allah desiring nothing for doing so except what Allah has in store for me.”187

With these brief words did he interpret those people's intentions and the feebleness of their wills, and that they were molded on betrayal, hypocrisy and the following of their own whims, and that they did not wish to openly declare their inclination to betray him else it should weaken their already weak allegiance and become the cause of animosity.

So they said what was beautiful as they waited for the outcome. Muslim Ibn ‘Aqil could not get even one of those thousands of men to lead him to any highway to exit the city when the clouds of doom overshadowed him, not even one, so he did not know where to go...

On theTaff Day, Ibn Abul-Shibin said to al-Husayn (‘a),“Nobody on the face of earth, be he a kin of mine or a stranger, is dearer to my heart than you. Had I been able to defend you with anything more precious than my life, I would have most certainly done so.” 188

Yes, O son of Abul-Shibin! Men who are sincere to Allah Almighty are endowed with self-denial. They regard the world as a vanishing thing and hope to attain immortality through supporting the Imam, the essence of beings, the orbit of existence itself.

Then Nafi’ Ibn Hilal stood and said, “By Allah! We are not too afraid to submit to Allah's destiny, nor are we averse to the meeting with our Lord. We are with our minds and intentions supporting whoever supports you and are the enemy of whoever antagonizes you.” The rest of his companions made similar statements.

When he (‘a), granted permission to his family members to leave, they all said in one voice,“Shall we do so in order to survive you? May Allah never permit us to see that happen.” Then he turned to ‘Aqil's offspring and said, “Suffices you [the calamity that you have suffered because of] Muslim's murder. I have permitted you to leave.”

They immediately expressed their unrelenting determination to support the creed and to defend the Imam, theHujjah, saying, “If we do so, shall we then say to the people that we abandoned our mentor and master, while our cousins are the best of cousins, without having shot one arrow with them, nor have we stabbed anyone with our lances nor struck anyone with our swords? No, by Allah!

We shall never do that; rather, we shall sacrifice ourselves, our wealth, and our families for your sake and fight with you till we meet the same fate as yours; abominable, indeed, it is to survive you.”

Such readiness to sacrifice in that precarious situation, wherein all avenues of help and rescue were blocked, and even water, which was made available to the animals, was denied them, reveals their attainment of the most sublime attributes of perfection.

It reveals their renunciation of this vanishing life. Had they had in their heart the least desire to stay, or to love this world, they would have taken his permission to leave them as an excuse they would produce on the Day of Judgment.

But these souls, which the Lord of the Worlds, Praise to Him, created of a holy mould and blended with thenoor of conviction, did not desire to stay alive except to uphold what is right or to put an end to what is false. How could they find life meaningful while knowing that the man who was so much loved by the Messenger of Allah (S), the heart of Islam, was suffering of bleeding wounds and of a painful agony?

Souls that wanted nothing but the legacy of their father

Are either killed without being avenged,

Or are killing those whom none will avenge.

Their souls were used to the battlefield,

Just as their feet were used to the pulpits.189

Meanwhile, news reached Muhammad Ibn Bashir al-Hadrami that his son was captured in the outskirts of Ray, so he said,“To Allah do I entrust him; I do not wish that he should be taken as a captive while I survive him.”

When al-Husayn (‘a) heard him say so, he excused him from his oath of allegiance to him so that he could manage to have his son released. Having heard the Master of Martyrs say so, he now was fired with holy zeal for the creed and was prompted by his sincere loyalty to demonstrate his firm conviction in sacrificing everything he had to defend the Imam, saying,“O Abu ‘Abdullah! May the wild beasts feed on me should I ever part with you!”

Firm conviction and obedience to Allah Almighty and to His Messenger (S) raise those who are thereby enabled to attain the zenith of greatness to a level superior even to virtue itself. Had Ibn Bashir's conviction been shaky, he would have seized the opportunity of the permission that he had received from the Imam (‘a) to leave as his excuse before the Master, Praise to Him, and before people.

Al-Husayn's martyrdom did not leave its hero any choice except to release the black slave John who belonged to Abu Tharr al-Ghifari so that his modesty might not keep him from fleeing. But the Master of Martyrs, having come to know his persistence and firmness in the face of calamities, wanted by testing him to acquaint those who had surrounded him, as well as the succeeding generations, with his character.

He wanted to highlight the extent of John’s stand to defend theShari’a with which those who betrayed it played havoc no matter how serious the danger was and how many the woes. He, therefore, excused John from his covenant, permitting him to to seek his own safety saying, “O John! You have accompanied us for your health's sake; so, do not be afflicted by our own way of life.” It was then that John’s tears ran down. John feared he would not succeed in earning eternal happiness.

He blended his tears with a statement that has been reverberating to all succeeding generations ever since, acquainting them with success for those who persevere during the time of trials and tribulations. Said he,“Only rest follows fatigue...”

He also said, “Should I during the time of ease eat your food then betray you during the time of hardship? My smell is bad, my descent is lowly, and my colour is black, so do breathe upon me of the breath of Paradise so that my smell will turn good, my descent will become honourable, and my colour will be white!

No, by Allah! I shall never leave you till my blood is mixed with yours.” 190

Had it not been for such frank statements made by al-Husayn (‘a), nobody would have come to know the purity of the conscience of that slave or of his good intentions. His insistence to be killed, even after receiving permission to be released and to part with the group, demonstrates a very firm conviction.

Summary

Safeguarding the Imam (‘a) is like safeguarding the Prophet (S), something which reason and theShari’a mandate, something which nobody

should abandon or hesitate to safeguard against those who wish to eradicate it. What is obligatory is to sacrifice one's own life for his [Imam’s] sake in order to thus remove the aggression against the life of the Imam who is the life of existence and the existence of the cosmos itself.

The Imam (‘a) was also required to call others to support and to defend him with the knowledge that whoever responded would be jeopardizing his life, and that there was no choice except to avoid the fatal danger. He, in such case, was obligated not to require anyone to defend him, for it would then be in vain.

Al-Husayn (‘a) was familiar with what he was going to endure.“A destiny which cannot be altered, a decree which cannot be reversed,” said he to Umm Salamah adding, “If I do not die today, I will tomorrow, and if not tomorrow, then the day after. Do you think that there is anyone who can avoid death? Do you think that you know what I do not?”

He, then, is not required to obligate others to defend him. Yes; any human who is unfamiliar with divine decrees is not exempted from being required to defend the person of the Imam, theHujjah .

Nobody is excused upon seeing how those people besieged a man whom Allah chose as His viceregent in dealing with His servants, how they cut off all supply routes from him and even prohibited him from having access to water, without rising to remove such an oppression or to protect his sacred life.

Allah Almighty does not accept the excuse of one who sees such a situation and is reluctant to support him even when it is quite precarious except when theHujjah of his time grants him permission to part with him and to leave him to face his enemy, since he is fully familiar with the best course; he is informed by the Wise One, the Knowing, the Sublime.

In such a case, neither reason nor theShari’a requires him to stay and to defend him, nor will his parting be regarded as a violation of what theShari’a has decreed. He will then have an excuse when the books of deeds are spread: he was granted permission by the Imam (‘a) not to support him.

The Imam himself will not then be jeopardizing his life upon permitting others to abandon him to face his foes alone and to excuse them from having sworn the oath of allegiance to him; he will not be going beyond the actual facts at all. If one does not see the Imam seeking his help and support, he does not carry any obligation or responsibility.

Contrariwise, if he sees the Imam in such a precarious situation, repeatedly asking for help, it does not befit him to be too reluctant to support him. In such a case, the Imam will be in a very dire need for his help; so, no excuse shall ever be accepted from him on the Day of Judgment.

Abu ‘Abdullah (‘a) met ‘Ubaydullah Ibn al-Hurr al-Ju’fi at Qasr Muqatil and solicited his support saying,“I advise you that, if you could, you should avoid hearing us crying and mourning our dead, and do not witness our tragedy. Do so, for by Allah, none who hears us mourning our dead without supporting us except that Allah will hurl him headlong into the fire of hell.”

This statement supports our rebuttal of the claims of those who heard the Imam pleading for help without helping him. As for one who does not hear such mourning, and he is granted permission to leave, he surely is excused.

Al-Dahhak Ibn ‘Abdullah al-Mashriqi, therefore, will have no excuse on the Day of Judgment because he heard al-Husayn (‘a) pleading for help, and he saw him greatly outnumbered. He was obligated to support him to the last breath

A man came to al-Husayn (‘a) before the battle started and said,“I would like to fight on your side as long as I see others doing so, but if I do not see anyone fighting with you, shall I then be permitted to leave you?”

Al-Husayn (‘a) answered him in the affirmative. The man hid his horse in a deserted place upon seeing how al-Husayn's horses were being hamstrung and kept fighting on foot. When al-Husayn (‘a) stood alone on the battlefield, al-Dahhak asked him,“Is my term still honoured?” The Imam (‘a) said,“Yes; you are free, if you can, to flee for safety.”

The man, therefore, took his horse out of its hiding place, rode it and assaulted the foes forcing his way through their ranks. They made way for him, then fifteen men pursued him.

He came to an old dried-up well near the bank of the Euphrates. The chasing party caught up with him. Ayyub Ibn Mashrah al-Khaywani, Kathir Ibn ‘Abdullah al-Sha’bi, and Qays Ibn ‘Abdullah al-Sa'idi recognized him and said to their brethren, “This is our cousin! We plead to you in the Name of Allah to spare his life.” He was spared.191

His being told by al-Husayn (‘a) that he was excused will not avail him on the Day of Judgment because Abu ‘Abdullah (‘a) could not have asked him to stay till he could meet his death, knowing that the man had set his mind, from the beginning, on leaving safely.

The Creator, Praise to Him, will not excuse him on the Day of Gathering because he had heard the Father of the Oppressed (‘a) pleading for help, and whoever hears the Imam thus pleading and does not support him will be hurled by Allah into the fire headlong.

The Shari’a Survided through Al-Husayn

Al-Husayn's revolution was the concluding part of the cause of firming the creed’s foundations. It clearly distinguished between those who called for righteousness and those who advocated falsehood. It drew a line between this party and that, so much so that it has been said that Islam started by Muhammad (S) and its continuation is through al-Husayn (‘a).

The Imams of guidance (‘a), therefore, found no means to promote their cause to reform the nation, and to get their word to resurrect theShari’a of their most sacred grandfather (S), except by attracting the attention to this glorious revolution due to what it contains of the calamities that split the solid rocks, cause children to grow gray hair, and cause the heart to dissolve.

They, peace be upon them, kept urging the nation to support it and to bring to memory the cruelty and persecution meted to the martyr/reformer, and to familiarize the nation with what took place during those bloody scenes of oppression meted to al-Husayn (‘a) and to his family members and relatives.

They, peace of Allah be upon them, knew that demonstrating the oppression from which he suffered would bring sympathy and soften the hearts. The listener will naturally investigate the calamities and get to know the status of this oppressed Imam (‘a) and the reasons why he was mistreated.

Of course he will come to know that the Prophet's grandson was a just Imam who did not court this world, nor did he pay attention to those who promoted falsehood, and that his Imamate was inherited from his grandfather (S) and from his own father the wasi, and that his opponent had no legitimate claim to caliphate at all, nor did anyone who followed his line.

Once the listener comes to know all this to be the truth that al-Husayn and the Imams who succeeded him (‘a) were all on the right track, he will have no choice except to follow their lead and to embrace their exemplary method, thus firming the foundations of peace and harmony.

The usurping Umayyad and ‘Abbaside authorities forced Ahl al-Bayt, peace be upon them, to keep to their homes, closing all doors before them, prohibiting them from meeting with their followers.

The Ahl al-Bayt suffered at the Umayyad and the ‘Abbaside hands from all types of harm and annihilation, so they preferred isolation to taking to arms and fighting the promoters of falsehood despite their seeing them going to extremes in their oppression and in being unfair to the followers of the Commander of the Faithful and to his offspring (‘a), pursuing them under every rock and in every city so that they would remove the ‘Alawides from the face of earth.

They saw how al-Mansur and al-Rashid placed the offspring of Fatima, peace be upon her, inside building columns in order to suffer a slow death, all out of injustice and oppression.192

Yet all of this did not distract them from urging the upholding of the supreme struggle by admonishing their Shi’as to hold majalis193 to commemorate theTaff incident. Disgust persisted on account of the

calamities and catastrophes, and floods of tears were shed because of the abundance of their painful tragedies.

They went to extremes in explaining the merits of doing so because they were convinced that that was the strong factor for maintaining the religious link for which the Commander of the Faithful (‘a) suffered what he suffered, and so did his son al-Hasan (‘a) as well as al-Husayn (‘a), tragedies which shook the firm mountains.

The Ahl al-Bayt (‘a) used to explore various avenues to explain the spiritual importance of remembering al-Husayn (‘a) because of the perfect link between such remembering and the safeguarding of the creed from extinction. They expressed it once in general terms and once in specific references. Imam al-Baqir (‘a), for example, has said,

“May Allah have mercy on one who meets with another to discuss our cause, for the third of them will be an angel seeking forgiveness for them; so, keep such memory alive, for your meetings and discussions keep our cause alive, and the best of people after us are those who discuss our cause and invite others to remember us.”

Imam as-Sadiq (‘a) once asked al-Mufaddal Ibn Yasar, “Do you meet and discuss?” He answered the Imam (‘a) in the affirmative, whereupon the Imam (‘a) said,“I surely love such majalis; so, keep our memory alive; whoever sits at a majlis in our memory, his heart will not die when hearts die.”

The Imams, peace be upon them, aimed by so explaining to urge the nation to believe in their Imamate and in what the Master, Glory to Him, has mandated of their Infallibility and what He bestowed upon them of the virtues and merits, and that directing people to them cannot be separated from belief in their being the caliphs, had it not been for those who usurped this divine post.

The things that remind people of al-Husayn (‘a), in their various methods, such as commemorative majalis, mournings,194 beating the cheeks195 at homes and in the streets..., help promote the sect. The role of the re-enactment of the tragedy, accompanied by the recitation of poetry and the narration of the epic, best demonstrates the cruelty which the Umayyahds and their followers inflicted upon al-Husayn (‘a).

It thus clearly reaches the minds of children and the commoners who do not comprehend what is contained in the books, or in poetry, of the particulars of the incident. It is the most effective means in influencing people and in strengthening their determination to safeguard the religious links between us and the Imams (‘a) and those who paid tribute to them, and it plays a major role in firming the creed.

Other people, such as the Indians, in addition to other Islamic sects, have emulated the Shi’as in the re-enactment of theTaff tragedy. This is more prevalent in India than in any other Islamic heartland.196

Attracting attention to such reminders and promoting them is needed primarily to keep the memory of the Infallible Ones alive with those who love them, those who love to discuss them and to remember them. Probably a host of the benefits of doing so are not appreciated by the nation. The most they get out of them is that their doing so brings them rewards in the hereafter; that is all.

But one who is acquainted with the mysteries of Ahl al-Bayt (‘a) and who digs deep in order to digest the implications of their statements and actions will clearly see what they have referred to with regard to such meetings and with their urging their Shi’as to do due to their munificence and vast knowledge.