One of the important matters regarding\nthe movement of Imam Hussain (PBUH) which has been discussed over and over\namong the intellectuals as well as ordinary people is the question that \u201cWas\nImam Hussain (PBUH) defeated or did he achieve victory in Karbala?\u201d At the\nsurface level, the incident came to an end with the martyrdom of Imam Hussain\n(PBUH) and his loyal companions on the evening of Ashura, and the army of Yazid\nchanted, celebrated, and blew their trumpets as signs of victory. Considering\nthis situation could we consider Imam Hussain (PBUH) as the victorious party?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In any ideology, the differentiation\nbetween truth and falsehood is essential. According to the Holy Quran, the\nuniverse is based on truth, and Islam considers truth to be everlasting. On the\nother hand, although Islam does not deny the existence of falsehood, it\nconsiders falsehood to be temporary and impermanent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The originality, permanence, victory,\nand establishment of truth are mentioned in the Holy Quran in different\nwordings. For example, in the last verses of Chapter 37, Allah (SWT) says,\u201d And\ncertainly Our word (Our definite promise) has already gone forth in respect of\nOur servants, the messengers, [which is] Most surely they shall be the assisted\nones, And most surely Our forces shall be the victorious ones (1)\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Does the Holy Quran refer to a\nmilitary victory? Does it mean that a Prophet or his followers, a truthful man,\na friend of Allah, or an Imam are always victorious over their opponents? This\nis definitely not true, because the Holy Quran itself has narrated the unjustly\nmurder of Prophets in numerous occasions (2).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Although we often witness military\nbattles, not all the conflicts have a military component. Conflicts may be in\nthe form of political, social, etc. In fact, some conflicts may be ideological,\nin which a party who has a specific ideological view wants to eliminate the\nbarriers to its propagation, or to find a way to preach its own view in the\nworld.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Based on that, what Holy Quran refers\nto as the victory of the Prophets is definitely not a military victory, rather\nthe victory of the armies of Allah (SWT) and people of truth in the ideological\nconflict. Therefore, if we say that the Prophets and party of Allah are always\nvictorious, it does not necessarily refer to a military victory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For example, if we look at the battle\nbetween Imam Hussain (PBUH) and the army of Yazid and Ibn Zyiad from the\nmilitary point of view, Imam Hussain (PBUH) was defeated and the other party\nachieved victory; however, if we consider the reality of the matter, this was\nan ideological conflict. In fact, the party of Yazid consisted of those who\nwanted to eradicate the Islamic thoughts whereas Imam Hussain (PBUH) rose to\nrevive the Islamic thoughts. Therefore, in order to recognize the victorious\nparty, we need to see if whereas Imam Hussain (PBUH) achieved his goal or not.\nWas he successful in reviving his ideology in the world?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To answer this question, we need to\nstudy the history at different stages in time. If we look the ancient history\nas well as the contemporary era, we realize that Imam Hussain (PBUH) was able\nto achieve his goal. This movement has been achieving a new victory ever single\nday for over thirteen hundred years. In other words, the incident of Ashura is\nalive every year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Although the children of the Messenger\nof Allah (PBUH&HP) were murdered in the most brutal way in Karbala, and\nalthough his family were taken as captives and the Umayyads claimed victory, it\ndid not take long until the eternal promise of Allah (SWT) was fulfilled;\neventually, the caravan of the captives returned to Karbala while the left no\ndignity for the oppressors; the truth became so manifested that even today,\nImam Hussain is the symbol of truth, perseverance in the way of truth, and\nenlightenment for all the freeman and those seeking justice in the world. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Throughout history, the truth and\nfalsehood have always been in conflict, but as mentioned before, the Holy Quran\nhas promised the ultimate victory of truth over falsehood; therefore, it\nadvises people to be faithful, not to be grieved, and to be certain that they\nwill be victorious (3); it orders them not to fear the small number of\nthemselves against the large number of the enemies and all the wealth they have\ngathered; it asks them not to fear the weapons and the power of the enemies; it\norders them to be equipped with faith and truthfulness, and to be true\nbelievers, for verily this would lead to their victory. This reality was\nmanifested in its absolute form in the incident of Karbala.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As such, the meaning of the slogan of\n\u201cEvery day is Ashura\u201d is that there is a battle against oppression and\nfalsehood every day, and truth and justice is revived every day. This is indeed\na victory; is there a victory more valuable than this? People such as Yazid and\nIbn Zyiad go, but people such as Hussain and Abbas and Zainab (PBUT) stay\u2026\nIndeed those oppressors die but these truthful ones are everlasting and eternal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
(The above is a slection\ntaken from \u201cTruth and Falsehood\u201d, by Martyr Murtada Mutahhari (with some\nchanges and additions))<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Roshd Website offers condolences\nto all Muslims, especially you dear friend, upon the Arba\u2019een of the martyrdom\nof the light of guidance and the arc of rescue, the third master of the\nShiites, Imam Hussain (PBUH) and his loyal companions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Footnotes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
1. The Holy\nQuran, (37:171-173)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
2. \u201cSurely (as\nfor) those who disbelieve in the communications of Allah and slay the prophets\nunjustly and slay those among men who enjoin justice, announce to them a\npainful chastisement.\u201d (The Holy Quran, 3:21)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
3. \u201cAnd be not\ninfirm, and be not grieving, and you shall have the upper hand if you are\nbelievers\u201d (The Holy Quran, 3:139)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
One of the important matters regarding the movement of Imam Hussain (PBUH) which has been discussed over and over among the intellectuals as well as ordinary people is the question that \u201cWas Imam Hussain (PBUH) defeated or did he achieve victory in Karbala?\u201d At the surface level, the incident came to an end with the […]<\/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":[20498,18131,17892,18480,18418,17943,20497,17954,18777,20499],"class_list":["post-4258","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-occasional-letters","tag-2012-01-13","tag-holy","tag-imam-hussain","tag-important","tag-occasion-letters","tag-quran","tag-the-everlasting-light","tag-true","tag-truth","tag-victorious"],"yoast_head":"\n