Mughira ibn Shu’ba was the governor appointed by Muawiya in Basra. At a time when Muawiya was striving to solidify the succession of his son Yazid, Mughira ibn Shu’ba went with his son to Muawiya in Syria to stabilize his own rule in Basra.
Mughira’s son says: “One night, my father returned from Muawiya, but I saw him very upset. When I asked him the reason, my father said: ‘I used to think Muawiya was irreligious, but not to this extent. We were alone with Muawiya, and no one else was with us. I told him: “You are the caliph, and no power can oppose you. Why do you persecute the family of Abu Talib—the children of Amir al-Mu’minin (peace be upon him) and the Banu Hashim? Ease their hardship a little.” Muawiya angrily replied to me, saying: “Do you think we have achieved our goal? The situation is not as we desire. Don’t you see that every day, five times, the call ‘Ashhadu anna Muhammadur Rasulullah’ (I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah) is proclaimed from the minarets? I swear by Allah that I want to kill this name and erase it.” [1]
What Muawiya told Mughira revealed a secret plan that, since it was not fully operational during Muawiya’s time, had to be postponed until after his death.
Unfortunately, after the passing of the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him), the rulers of the Muslims (who gathered at Saqifah) propagated the idea among the people that the opinion of the caliph was the criterion for religion. Wherever the caliph deemed something appropriate and commanded it, his order (even if it conflicted with the principles of Islam) would be considered legal and obligatory. According to this theory, disobedience to the caliph’s command was a crime and deserving of punishment. This mindset had penetrated so deeply into the people that if the caliph declared someone to be a kafir (disbeliever) or heretic, it was accepted by the people. In this system, it did not matter whether the caliph had come to power through consultation or by war and dictatorship. Under such conditions, if the caliph ordered the killing or the committing of immoral acts, Muslims were supposed to obey him. Moreover, since the Muslims followed the caliph’s command, they were believed to earn paradise! Based on this view, Allah Himself decides how to deal with the caliph—whether to forgive him or punish him and send him to hell. This is why Shimar ibn Dhil-Jawshan, the killer of Imam Hussain (peace be upon him), considered himself an honorable man and took pride in killing the grandson of the Prophet (peace be upon him), saying: “I did what I was commanded to do!” [2] This poisonous view posed a great danger that threatened the foundation of Islam, and Imam Hussain (peace be upon him) had to confront such a situation.
In these circumstances, Imam Hussain (peace be upon him) rejected Yazid’s request for allegiance and announced that he would never pledge allegiance to him. By this decision, Imam Hussain stood against the Umayyad mindset and dealt a major blow to Muawiya’s plan. The shock caused by his martyrdom and that of his companions, which spread across the entire Islamic world, severely shook the foundations of the deceitful caliphate system. A system that, over many years and step by step, had steered the Islamic community away from the teachings of the Quran and the Sunnah of the Prophet (peace be upon him). The blessing of the blood of Sayyid al-Shuhada (Imam Hussain) and the struggles of the Imams who followed him (peace be upon them) in teaching and spreading the true Islamic knowledge were truly the key to the survival of Islam in the centuries that followed.
Although Hussain (peace be upon him) and his companions were martyred on the soil of Karbala, his children and survivors (chiefly Zainab and Imam Ali ibn Hussain (peace be upon them)) excelled in their roles as the messengers of Karbala. The caravan of survivors, while enduring hardships and afflictions, traversed various parts of the Islamic world, spreading the message of Imam Hussain’s movement to the dormant Muslims—a message that was not confined to Karbala or the first century of the Hijra. Therefore, every year millions of Muslims gather in Karbala on the fortieth day of Ashura to honor the unparalleled resistance and patience of Hussain (peace be upon him) and his small caravan, and to draw inspiration from it on their path of divine unity.
(Rereading some aspects of Ashura based on lectures by the late Ayatollah Allama Sheikh Mohammad Reza Jafari)
Footnotes:
[1] Sharh Nahj al-Balagha by Ibn Abi al-Hadid (Vol. 5, Pages 129–130)
[2] Lisan al-Mizan: 3/504