THE PHILOSOPHY OF SHAHADAT

THE PHILOSOPHY OF SHAHADAT

(Synopsis of an Urdu speech by)

Maulana Dr. Fazl-ur-Rahman al-Ansari (R.A.)

Compiled and Translated by

Begum Safia Saeed M. A.

If we make use of insight for looking into the tragedy of Karbala, we come to know that the Muslims, either under the pressure of emotions or due to some conspiracy have not so far tried to understand the events in their true perspectives.

As for the sequence of events which ultimately led to the tragedy of Karbala, we must go far back to the time when Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) migrated from Mecca to Medina. Immediately after the migration he had to face the Jewish conspiracy, which he tried to eradicate during his life-time; and his last will made in this respect also contained the directions ;

Expel the Jews from the Arabian Peninsula.

Now as the doors of Islam were always to remain open for everybody, no ban could be imposed upon the Jews who expressed their desire to embrace Islam. Hence these cunning people, having disguised themselves as Muslims, started working upon their evil designs of undermining Islam.

The Jewish nation is one of the distinguished nations in the world, for having astonishing intellect and the brains best suited to conspiracy. They have played an important role in removing other religions like Christianity from their right places, and they wanted to do the same thing with Islam as well. The best brains from amongst them now came forward, and occupied a number of mosques, mausoleums, courts and other important places, and they were doing all these things under the guise of Muslims. By the grace of Allah, the Holy Quran exists till now in its original form, otherwise Islam too would have met the same fate as other religions did. Then attention however was directed towards creating breaches in the ranks of the Muslims, and have they undoubtedly achieved a considerable success.

Abdullah bin Saba, who was a Jew from Yemen, took the lead of this conspiracy into his hands, and the whole group of the Jewish conspirators started working under his guidance, having made Iran and its adjacent country, Iraq their special abodes. The people of Iran had inherited a great historical tradition, and they hated the Arabs, the so called “mouse-eaters” who had come in confrontation with them. The Sabais, however, took advantage of the prevailing situation 'Kui'a and Basra now became the centres of their activities.

In Hazrat Abu Bakr’s period of Caliphate this group had not properly organized itself, and then came the glorious reign of Hazrat Umer who—being engrossed in the conquests, could only throw these mischiefs away but could not devote his full attention towards crushing them completely. Ultimately, the second Callph himself was murdered by an Irani, whom the Sabais had hired for the purpose. Hence Hazrat Omar was the first and Imam Husain the last victim of the Jewish conspiracy.

Hazrat Osman was the third Caliph of the Muslims, and his great contribution to Islam is that he gave great stability and expansion to the Muslim Empire. The Principle that Hazrat Osman had kept in view was that whatever be the consequences the blood of the Ummah will not be spilled. Had he taken instead a firm stand at that time the mischief would have been checked then and there, Hazrat Ali and other Shabis were present in Medina, and they sought the permission of the calliph to crush the mischief-makers who had arrived from Kufa, Basra etc. but he was not ready to give up his principle, which at last cost him his own life.

After the murder of Hazrat Osman the matter went from bad to worse. Undoubtedly Hazrat Ali was the most deserving person to assume the office of the Caliphate, but unluckily the people who rock the lead for vowing allegiance to him were those very Sabais who had been responsible for the murder of Hazrat Osman. It is said to be wrong on Hazrat Ali’s part to get Baiat from these people, but he had most probably clone so in the interest of the nation. Keeping in view the existing condition Hazrat Ali now adopted certain measures for the benefit of the Muslim world, and shifting of the capital from Medina to Kufa was also one of those measures. But unfortunately this shifting brought him a number of troubles resulting in his own murder after some time at the hands of these very Sabais, who had incited him to come into conflict against Ameer Muawiyah.

Ummul Momineen Hazrat Ayesha had insisted upon Qisas (the revenge) of Hazrat Osman’s murder, and the same was the demand of Ameer Muawiyah, in whose opinion Hazrat Ali had every right to become the caliph but his caliphate would remain incomplete unless he had taken the Qisas of the murdered caliph. Now in the democratic system of Islam none is above law, and in accordance with this principle Ameer Muawiyah had also a right to such a claim. But the Sabais here succeeded in their evil aims of creating rift among the followers of Islam, and they played their obnoxious roles in the battles of Jamal and Siffieen.

Hazrat Ali and Ameer Muawiyah, however, displayed the best modes of conduct and brought the battles to an end by coming to terms. Since the Sabais could not forbear this reconciliation they passed the verdict against Hazrat Ali that he had become a Kafir, and they murdered him too.

Now the people of Kufa said to Imam Hassan that he deserved to be the Caliph, and they promised him their full support. Ameer Muawiyah did not oppose this, but he warned him that those people after having deceived his father would now deceive him. He also held them responsible for spreading the conspiracy against the Millat-e-Islamia, and expressed his fear that he (Imam Hassan) won't be able to control them. Imam Hassan agreed to this and openly performed. Baiat at the hands of Ameer Muawiyah saying that he could serve the nation better than him. Only then did Ameer Muawiyah proclaim himself to be the next Caliph after Hazrat Ali, and this was a great deed performed by Imam Hassan in the interest of the Millat ...... the matter would have ended here but the Sabais now blamed Imam  Hussan that he had also become a Kafir like his father.

Having been unsuccessful in the case of Imam Hassan the Sabais now decided to shoot the last arrow from their bow in case of Imam Husain, so that the Millat-e-Islamia might get entangled in a permanent type of scuffles and here they did succeed. Had there been no Shahadat-e-Husain the Shia movement would never have been formed. This great movement owes its formation only to the Sabais efforts.

We come to learn from the study of history that seven years before his death Ameer Muawiyah had held a large-scale plebiscite on the Caliphate of Yazeed, and no objection was raised by anybody at the time. Yazeed is generally supposed to be a vicious man, worthy of disgust and liable to be cursed, whereas a detailed review of the historical facts show him to be quite a different person. He was Ameer of the Jehad which was organized for invading Constantinople, and even Imam Husain had then been under his command. Moreover, Yazeed’s election to the Caliphate had taken place after due consultation with the great personalities of the Islamic world. Then if he became the Caliph after the death of Ameer Muawiyah, it was not his fault. Another noticeable thing is that Yazeed himself never brought an army to fight against Imam Husain.

In fact, Imam  Husain had every right to challenge the validity of Yazeed’s Caliphate, for such rights are enjoyed even by ordinary Muslims in a democratic Islamic State, and Imam Husain's superiority to others stands beyond all questions. It is said that the governor of Medina went to Imam Husain for getting Balat from him in favour of Yazeed, but he refused to do so. Just after that the people of Kufa wrote him a large number of letters requesting him to come over to Kufa at once as they had anxiously been waiting for him. At this Imam Husain sent his cousin Muslim bin Aqeel to review the prevailing conditions there, and Muslim bin Aqeel agreed with the proposal by confirming that the Kufis were really backing Imam Husain. But just after the dispatch of this letter, Muslim bin Aqeel too became a victim of the plot of the Sabais of Kufa, who prior to that had murdered Hazrat Osman and Hazrat Ali. Imam Husain, on the other hand, being unaware of the turn the events had then taken, left Medina accompanied by his kith and kin.

The remarkable point here is that Imam Husain had not set off with the Intention of fighting a battle otherwise he would not have taken ladies and innocent children with him. Neither had there been any proclamation of war on behalf of Imam Husain on that occasion. He really intended to go to Kufa in order to inquire about the complaints that the letters of the Kufls addressed to him had contained. According to his plans he was also to meet Yazeed afterwards in order to inform him about his errors and shortcomings, and to advise him to take certain measures which would be necessary for the benefit of the Muslims.

When imam Husain reached near Kufa he came to know about the faithlessness of the Kufis that led to the Shahadat of Muslim bin Aqeel. Governor lbne Zlad now sent his Commander-in-Chief with the orders that Husain was not to go anywhere except Kufa. Imam Husain now put forward three terms :

1.     I should be allowed to meet Yazeed,

2.     Let me go back to Medina,

3.     I may be given permission to migrate to some other country.

But lbne Ziad turned down all the three terms. Now the question arises that lbne Ziad was the Governor appointed by Yazeed himself, why then did he prevent Imam Husain from going to him? Had the cause of Husain's murder been the intimation from Yazeed, the aim would have been achieved more easily if Imam Husain himself had gone there. But all this seems to be due to plot making of the Sabais, and in my opinion Yazeed was not involved in it.

Anyway, the most important thing that stands before us as a milestone is Imam Husain's character as depicted in the tragedy of Karbala. He had not come with the intention to Wage a war, but he was forced in fight. So we have got the example of his Uswa-e-Hasanah that when a Muslim is surrounded like this on all sides, he is not to play the role of a coward. instead of giving his life passively he is to fight bravely, and in case he is empty-handed he would better snatch the sword of his opponent although he may get his fingers cut in the attempt. Another lesson that we learn from Imam Husain’s formidable character is that if a Muslim is asked to give up his principle for saving his life, he would stick to his principle even at the cost of his life. Then if he is warned that not only his own life, but the lives of his innocent children and young men would also be lost, and the ladies of his family would also be embarrassed, his reply should be ‘These things don’t matter at all’.—Such is the strife between truthfulness and falsehood, and this Uswa-e-Hasanah of imam Husain is very great indeed.

Now the thought-provoking question before us is, whether this horrible conspiracy against Imam Husain was conducted by the Sabais or the whole of Millat-e-Islamia was involved in it. In the latter case we must feel greatly ashamed because we too belong to the same nation. I personally think neither the Muslim Nation nor the Caliph of that time was involved in it. When the caravan of Ahl-e-Bait arrived in Damascus, the women of Yazeed’s family were crying so badly, and even Yazeed’s eyes were shedding tears. He ordered to give them due honour, and they were later sent off in most befitting and respectful manner. Had he been such a dreadful beast as to rejoice over the murder of Imam Husain and his dear and near ones, there was no need of expressing grief and shedding tears. This is something against human nature. It is only on these points that the Millat-e-Islamia can feel itself secure against th: most serious charge of having treated Prophet Muhammad’s (ﷺ) most beloved grandson in this way.

This mischief was actually spread by Sabais, who murdered Hazrat Osman, Hazrat Ali and Imam Husain turn by turn. The speeches made by Imam Husain in the field of Karbala are a clear proof of the fact that the Sabais of Kufa were responsible for his murder, as only these people had brought their army to fight against him. The Shaheed imam in his speeches addressed the Kufis in this way:

“You have deceived me. Today you are coming forward to murder me l”

It is a matter of great regret that instead of bringing the facts to light, the books of history teem with blame and allegations. The impression one is likely to get after reading them is that the Ashab of our Holy Prophet (ﷺ) were very inferior, faithless and mischievous types of people. Ma‘az Allah. Islam loses its significance if this impression is created, because if the people who had received training under direct supervision of the Prophet (ﷺ) possessed these low moral qualities what would happen now when he himself is not with us?

All the Ashab of the Prophet (ﷺ) of Islam, even Abu Sufyan after embracing Islam, are very valuable and respectable persons and it is very wrong to speak ill of them. There is a special witness of Qur’an-e-Karim in the favour of Sahaba-e-Kiram that Allah is pleased with them and they are pleased with Allah. We must never talk rudely against any of the Ashab otherwise our faith would be gone. These Sahabis are the favourites of our Prophet (ﷺ) and he says about them:

“All these are my bright stars.”

To hurl upon Ameer Muawiyah is a great blunder, and the people who indulge in these absurdities don't recognize his real worth. Ameer Muawiyah had become the Caliph after having got the consent of Imam Hassan. Then he performed remarkable deeds for the uplift and stability of Islam. Ameer Muawiyah besides being a Sahabi is also Katib-e-Wahi; he was also the brother of Prophet Muhammad’s (ﷺ) wife Umm-e-Habiba, and since all the wives of the Prophet (ﷺ) are Ummahat-ul-Momineen he thus becomes the maternal uncle of this Ummah. For his rendering valuable services to Islam, Ameer Muawiyah is a man of high rank and great dignity indeed!

We Muslims must realize that it was a great conspiracy — a real one — which inflicted so heavy a loss to the cause of Islam. This hideous plot to undermine the influence and reputation of Islam, was made by the Jewish group working under the guidance of Abdullah bin Saba. These people exploited the Muslims who had fragile faith, for there had been ninety percent such Muslims as had entered Islam as in the manner of sheep and goats. Since these followers of Islam required years of training they could easily get themselves caught in the net of conspiracy.

Even today this is the duty of us all—whether Sunni or Shia—to due consideration and serious thought to the fact that Millat-e-Islamia is passing through a crisis at the moment, and our future can be darker still if we do not reform ourselves.

To mourn the Shahadat of Imam Husain is not something creditable, for we have not adopted the beautiful character of Sayyld-ush-Shuhada. A few dignitaries from the Miilat like Sayyiduna Ghaus-ul-Azam, Sultan Salahuddin Ayyubi and even Hazrat Omar-bin Abdul Aziz from Banu-Ummayya itself are, however, the products of this Uswa-e-Hasanah....We are not to forget that Islam is a practical religion, and what it demands from us is ‘Amal (Practice) and not mourning which seems to be quite useless. This is an established fact that in the field of Karbala imam Husain had won such a glorious victory as can only be cherished by others. It was possible because of the light, can only be cherished by other. It was possible because of the light, the training and the courage Husain had received from his grandfather. Everybody can’t do this.

Of the warmth of love a false lover has no experience,

Between a fly and the devoted moth there is a great difference.

This is our most sacred duty to pay due reverence to all from Ahl-e-Bait and Sahaba-e-Kiram, for they all have been linked up with Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ), whose love naturally leads to the love of his beloved ones. .this is to be our faith, upon which rests the grandeur of Islam.

All the educated Muslims must try to penetrate the historical facts in order to turn the tide of the prevailing views. May Allah enable us to follow the footsteps of Imam Hassan and Imam Husain as well as of Ahl-e-Bait, and Sahaba-e-Kiram and to pay them homage for the glorious deeds they have performed for the sake of Islam. May Allah make us true Muslims so that through our hands Millat-e-Islamia regains its strength and Islam recaptures its past glory.