Today, we continue to discuss the era of Imamate of the Third Infallible Successor to Prophet of Islam, Imam Hussein (Peace be upon him).

As it was said, upon the death of the tyrant, ungodly ruler, Moavieh, in the month of Rajab of the year 60 AH, his corrupt son, Yazid, succeeded him. Upon his instatement to caliphate, he wrote a letter to the governor of Medina, Walid ibn Utba, calling on him to force the Infallible Imam to swear allegiance with Yazid, or otherwise kill the Infallible Imam.

Upon receiving Yazid’s letter, the governor of Medina immediately sent his representative to Imam Hussein, seeking Imam’s presence in a negotiation about an important matter. When Walid ibn Utba spoke of Yazid’s demand for Imam’s pledge of allegiance with him, Imam Hussein noted:  “We are the Prophet’s Household… However Yazid is an evildoer, who has killed many innocent individuals, and openly commits sins. I would never swear allegiance with someone like him.”

Imam Hussein gave a crushing response to the governor of Medina and Yazid’s regime. The Infallible Imam intended to shatter the power of a corrupt, evildoer such as Yazid, who intended to take the fate of Muslims into his own hands, and to derail the Islamic Ummah form the righteous path. In accordance to historical documented evidences, Yazid was an obstinate, power-thirsty, and lustful individual. He openly drank wine and was infamous for his lack of commitment to ethical principles. Naturally, the Infallible Imam who was from the Prophet’s Household would never swear allegiance with a corrupt criminal such as Yazid.

Note that Yazid’s rule was based on deceit and betrayal, given that based on the peace agreement between Moavieh and Imam Hussein’s infallible brother, Imam Hassan (AS), Moavieh did not have the right to appoint his own successor. So, the rule of Yazid was illegal and illegitimate and was not based on people’s views. Imam Hussein knew that the hypocrite, Yazid, intended to pursue the goals of Omayyad Dynasty against the divine religion of Islam and Holy Quran. The corruption of the Omayyad Dynasty, massacre of people, and establishment of a climate of fear by the Omayyad rulers; ethnical and racial prejudices; injustice; and discrimination were some of the evident immoralities and sins committed by the Omayyad Dynasty. At that time, indifference of the Omayyad rulers toward the status quo of people; abysmal poverty, and a widening class gap were some of the factors which threatened the pillars of the Islamic community.

Under these conditions, Yazid brazenly named himself as the ruler of Islamic Ummah, and resorted to force in order to receive others’ pledge of allegiance with him. He took advantage of religion in order to achieve his personal interests.

Obviously, under these conditions, a prominent figure, such as Imam Hussein who was the most qualified individual for Imamate and leadership of the Islamic Ummah, could not remain silent. Imam Hussein not only refused to swear allegiance with Yazid, but also covered a calculated path for liberation of the divine religion of Islam and Muslims from the yoke of repressive rulers. The Infallible Imam knew that the deviation of rulers had endangered the foundation of Islamic ideology and if that status quo continued, a large number of Islamic teachings would have been forgotten.

As we said, the governor of Medina, left two options for Imam Hussein, namely pledge of allegiance with Yazid, or getting killed. The Infallible Imam, who did not accept allegiance with Yazid, decided to leave Medina and head for Mecca in the company of his children, family members, and associates. Upon the departure from Medina, Imam Hussein wrote an important testament and gave it to his brother, Mohammad Hanafiyeh. In his testament, the Infallible Imam expressed his views about monotheism, prophet hood, and Day of Resurrection, while pointing out the goal behind his journey, noting: “I do not leave Medina because of selfishness, or corruption. In fact, the goal of my journey is to promote virtues and to prevent vice, and to revive the tradition of my grandfather, Prophet Mohammad, and my father, Imam Ali.”

The interesting point was that Imam Hussein, in his journey to Mecca, chose the same path which all other passengers and convoys went through. One of the disciples of Imam Hussein had called on the Infallible Imam to choose one of the mountainous paths to be immune from Yazid’s agents. However, the Infallible Imam refused to do so.

In fact, the intention of Imam from choosing the general path for his journey was to openly announce his movement and to make people aware of the goal of his uprising which was disclosure of the hypocrisy and corruption of Omayyad Dynasty.

Finally, Imam Hussein reached Mecca in the company of his family members and disciples after a five-day journey. Upon arriving in Mecca, Imam Hussein wrote a letter to tribal leaders of the city of Basra, referring to the deviation of caliphate from the right path, while calling on the people of Basra to cooperate with him to stand up against the inappropriate status quo of the Islamic Ummah. In his letter, Imam referred to the threats which were posed against Islam and reminded that he invited people to the Book of God and the tradition of Prophet of Islam, because the tradition of the Prophet was on the verge of destruction. Imam Hussein added that he would guide them to the path of growth if they listened to his remarks and complied with his instructions.

Imam Hussein sent this letter to Basra via one of his disciples, Solayman ibn Razin. Upon the fulfillment of his mission and delivery of Imam’s letter, Imam’s envoy was arrested by the agents of Basra’s regime and was beheaded upon the order of ibn-e Ziad.

Meanwhile, when the people of Kufa became aware of the refusal of Imam Hussein to pledge allegiance with Yazid, and the entry of Imam Hussein to the city of Mecca, they wrote countless letters to the Infallible Imam, highly criticizing Moavieh’s rule. In one of these letters which was written by some of the well-known figures of Kufa and Shias of that city, it was noted: “Thank God for destruction of your rogue enemy, who raided this Ummah and seized their rule; took away people’s belongings by force and instated himself as their ruler, without seeking their content, while killing the prominent representatives of people, and replacing them with evildoers.”

In these letters, people of Kufa announced their preparedness to cooperate with Imam Hussein’s movement and invited the Infallible Imam to their city.

In response to the repeated requests of people of Kufa, Imam Hussein wrote a letter noting: “I send my trustworthy cousin, Moslem ibn Aqil, toward your city. If in his report, he informs me that the view of majority of residents of Kufa is compatible with the contents of your letters and the messages of your envoys; God-willing I will soon arrive at your city. The true leader and righteous Imam is the one, who instructs people to follow the Book of God; to adopt the righteous path; and to follow the righteous religion.”

Upon residing for a while in Mecca, Imam Hussein realized that Yazid would certainly kill him if he would not pledge allegiance with Yazid. The Infallible Imam also realized that a number of individuals were instructed by Yazid to assassinate him. Nonetheless, Imam Hussein did not submit to Yazid’s blatant demands. Imam decided to leave Mecca in order to maintain the honor of that city and to head for Iraq.

On the verge of his journey, Imam Hussein delivered a keynote sermon for the members of Hashemite Clan, and some of his disciples, who had joined the Infallible Imam throughout his stay in Mecca. In his sermon, Imam Hussein clearly spoke of martyrdom and selflessness for the sake of God. Imam called on his disciples to accompany him in this dangerous journey if they were ready to devote their lives for the sake of the divine path. Imam Hussein left Mecca for Kufa on the 8^th of the month of Zihajja.

MR/ME