In the history of
Islam, there is no instance when any Infallible Imam (a.s.) had ever attacked
first on any suspected enemy in either open encounter or from a hiding place.
The Commander of the Faithful Imam Ali (a.s.) never attacked an enemy who was
disarmed or unable to defend himself. He gave clear instructions to the Muslims
in the light of the Glorious Qur’an, never to attack women, children, disabled,
sick or one who run away from the battlefield. This principle saved the lives
of Abu Sufiyan and Muawiya who ran away from the battlefield during their fight
against the Noble Messenger (s.a.w.a.s.). The King of Martyrs Imam Husayn
(a.s.) followed his grandfather and father during the entire course of events
leading to the greatest tragedy in human history-Karbala. During this period,
many of his friends offered to accompany him, the Imam dissuaded them saying
that Yazid was after his blood.
The Makkans received him with great love and reverence and
gathered around him for guidance. The Imam’s chief aim was to train people to
be pious and God-fearing and strictly follow the Islamic practices. While he
was still in Madinah, he had received hundreds of letters from Kufans, which
increased to 12,000 after the death of Muawiya. They complained about the
oppressive, vicious and merciless killing of innocent people by the governor of
Basra, Ibn Ziyad. The letters emphasized that they were left without an Imam,
and as the Imam of the time it was incumbent upon him to come to the rescue of
the oppressed and to render justice, and if he failed to do so, he would be
responsible before God.
Imam Husayn (a.s.) replied to their appeals and told them
that he was sending his trusted cousin Muslim bin Aqil to let him know the real
affairs in Kufa and that the people were unanimously petitioned that they were
without an Imam for guidance. Further he was not planning to come as a conqueror
but as an Imam fettered by the chains of Divine laws to act justly and
righteously. He was not an opportunist to empower himself with the support of
the disgruntled and impatient masses.
At Mina, Imam Husayn
(a.s.) gave a sermon: “You are fully aware of the tyranny and oppression of Mu’awiya
and Yazid. By God and the close relationship between me and the Messenger of Allah,
I ask you to bear witness to what I shall say, and to write it down and propagate
my speech to everyone in your city. I apprehend that the truth will be buried and
falsehood will be made to prevail. Is not Muhammad the Messenger of Allah? Is
not Fatima the only child of the Prophet and Chief of the women in Paradise? Is
not Ali the cousin and deputy of the Prophet? Have you not heard that the
Prophet say, when he created brother hood between his followers that Ali was a
brother to him like Aron was to Moses? Am I not the son of Ali and Fatima? Have
you not heard that the Prophet say that I and my brother Hasan are the masters
of the youth in Paradise? Is it true that when the Prophet constructed the
mosque, he had all the doors closed except the one leading to the house of Ali
and Fatima, and when Umar wanted to open a chink in the wall of his house so
that he could peep into the mosque, the Prophet sternly forbid it? Is it true
that on the day of Mubahaila with the Christians, the Prophet took my mother
Fatima to represent women, my father Ali to represent men and I and my brother
Hasan to represent the children of the Prophet? This the Prophet did in
accordance with what was revealed to him by God. Have you not heard the Prophet
say that ‘Fatima, Ali, Hasan and Husayn are from me and I am from them’ and ‘they
are my Ahlul Bayt’? Have you not heard the Prophet say that’one who loves my
Ahlul Bayt loves me and one who loves me loves Allah, and he who opposes my
Ahlul Bayt opposes me and one who opposes me oppose Allah’?” The people said, “We
affirm the truthfulness of what you said.”
The Imam (a.s.) said,
“I make it obligatory on all of you gathered here to repeat all what you have
heard from me now, to your kith and kin, friends and acquaintances, in
villages, towns and cities and wherever you find two believers gathered in one
place.”
Source:
The Hidden Truth about Karbala by A.K. Ahmed
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