Five decades after Prophet Muhammad\u2019s\n(PBUH&HP) demise, Muslims living in birthplaces of Islam, Mecca and Medina,\nor those who lived in the capitals of government such as Damascus or Kufa(1),\nconsidered sole obedience to the caliph -regardless of his characteristics or\nvalues \u2013 in all aspects of their religion an obligatory command and a principle\nof religion. People believed uprising against a ruler only weakens the unity of\nthe Islamic nation, and results in exiting the circle of religion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The majority of Muslims believed in\nabsolute submission to authority, regardless of the ruler. Their Islamic view resembled that of the rule\nand Caliph of the time. In the case of\nYazid for example, they saw him as the legitimate Islamic leader. But let us ponder a moment about Yazid. What kind of a Caliph are we talking about?\nThe one who did not believe in the religion and was overruled by his desires;\nthe one who drank, disregarding all Islamic practices; the one who ordered to\nkill the Prophet\u2019s grandson; the one who massacred the people of Medina; the\none who, ignited the Ka\u2019ba with catapults; and these were only part of what he\ndid. This is the kind of Caliph which people thought submission to his will is\na must!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This was the face of Islam which the\npeople witnessed from the Caliph of Muslims and the successor of the Great\nProphet (PBUH&HP) (2). As an example, Muslim Ibn Uqbah\u2019s (Yazid\u2019s Army\nCommander) final words in his deathbed, after having massacred the people of\nMedina and looting their properties with his army, showed his viewpoint about\nthe Caliph as such: \u201cO Allah! There was nothing more pleasant and dear to me\nthan killing the people of Medina for my Hereafter. If I fall into the hell\nfire after performing these acts, then I have lost it all (3)! O My Lord! If\nyou punish me after being obedient to your Caliph\u2019s order, Yazid Ibn Mu\u2019awiyah,\nin killing the people of Medina, then I am indefinitely a loser(4)!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hence, one can observe that the\nproblem of Muslims during that time was not just a tyrant ruler who should have\nbeen thrown off the government and be replaced with one who did justice. Rather\nit was a matter much deeper. The issue at stake was loss of true Islamic\npractices and people\u2019s blind and unconditional obedience of the Caliph\n(whatever command it might be). In such\ntime, the only solution was to change the belief and understanding of Muslims\nabout Caliphate and the Caliph. This\nwould allow for Islam to represent itself in its origin. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In such chaos, the one person who\ncould revolt for the sole purpose of reviving the teachings of Prophet Mohammad\n(PBUH&HP) was Imam Hussain (PBUH). Imam Hussain was the last grandson of\nProphet Mohammad (PBUH&HP). Muslims were aware of the numerous verses\nrevealed about Imam Hussain (PBUH) and the narrations of Prophet Mohammad\n(PBUH&HP) about his virtues and role. \nAnd Imam Hussain (PBUH) was well aware of his responsibility to create\nawareness in such a time. Imam Hussain\n(PBUH) saw that he had two choices; they were to either:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
1-Pledge\nallegiance to Yazid as the Caliph, and take the financial benefits and\npolitical power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
2- To rise\nagainst Yazid and his acts, and to awaken an Islamic nation from blindly obeying\nand accepting the acts of such a ruler. This way, the world would not mistake\nYazid\u2019s words and actions with Islam. It\nwould be known that Yazid does not represent Islam, and therefore, the wrong\npath would be distinguished from Islam. \nAs a result, Imam Hussain (PBUH) and the later Imams would have the\nopportunity to reconstruct the true traditions of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hussain ibn Ali (PBUH) chose the\nsecond path. He stood firmly by his\nvalue and moved in the way of this goal until he reached it. As a result, he\ndeclared the governorship of Yazid as void due to its danger for Islam. In a\nresponse to those who criticized Hussain\u2019s (PBUH) actions and recommended that\nHussain (PBUH) pledge allegiance to Yazid to benefit his two worlds, and to him\nwho suggested that Hussain\u2019s (PBUH) actions would create disunity amongst the\nMuslim community, Imam Hussain (PBUH) responded: \u201cAs of now that Yazid has\ntaken hold of the Muslim Ummah (nation), one must bid farewell to Islam!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And when Abdullah ibn Umar (son of the\nsecond Caliph) said to him: \u201cFear Allah, and don\u2019t create disunity among the\nMuslims!,\u201d Imam Hussain (PBUH) said: \u201cBy Allah! If I do not find any haven in\nthis world, I will not pledge allegiance to Yazid, son of Mu\u2019awiyah.\u201d What he meant by this statement was his\nintention to reform the Muslim nation and to portray the falsity of Yazid\u2019s\nrule; this was Imam Hussain\u2019s slogan and goal, and to achieve it he chose the\npath of martyrdom. This slogan is beautifully\nrestated in the words of a poet: \u201cIf the religion of Muhammad will not\nstrengthen in any other way but by my death, then O swords embrace me.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
(The above is a\nselection from \u201cThe Two Schools in Islam, vol.3: The Effect of the Hussain\u2019s\nRising in Reviving the Prophet\u2019s Sunnah\u201d, by Late Allamah Sayyed Murtaza Askari)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Roshd website offers its\ncondolences upon the fortieth day of martyrdom of the unique reformer of Islam\nand Master of Martyrs, Imam Hussain Ibn-Ali (PBUH), to all Muslims of the world\nand you dear friend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Footnotes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
1. Kufa: Near\ncurrent Baghdad; Shaam: current Damascus<\/p>\n\n\n\n
2. The\ngovernment used to call the Caliph the \u201cCaliph of Allah\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
3. Tarikh Ibn\nKathir, Vol 8., pg. 225<\/p>\n\n\n\n
4. Tarikh\nYaqubi, Vol. 2, pg. 251<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Five decades after Prophet Muhammad\u2019s (PBUH&HP) demise, Muslims living in birthplaces of Islam, Mecca and Medina, or those who lived in the capitals of government such as Damascus or Kufa(1), considered sole obedience to the caliph -regardless of his characteristics or values \u2013 in all aspects of their religion an obligatory command and a principle […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28248],"tags":[20456,20455,19551,17892,20345,22,18418,18536,20457,19683],"class_list":["post-4252","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-occasional-letters","tag-2011-01-25","tag-embraced-by-swords","tag-government","tag-imam-hussain","tag-mecca","tag-muslims","tag-occasion-letters","tag-prophet","tag-religion","tag-value"],"yoast_head":"\n