Imam Husain’s uprising – manifestation of the Holy Qur’an (5)

Welcome to the 5th edition of this series “Imam Husain’s uprising – manifestation of the Holy Qur’an”.

Imam Husain (AS) moved along with his caravan. At each stop on the way to Karbala, the rendezvous of martyrdom, he delivered sermons to guide the people. His thoughts based on the Holy Qur’an, his statements were as pleasing as the fragrance of the Book of Allah, He would recite ayahs 2 and 3 of Surah Talaq, which say:

“And whoever is wary of Allah, He shall make a way out for him,”

“And provide for him from whence he does not reckon.”

On Zilhijjah 28 the Imam encountered a detachment of Omayyad troops commanded by Horr ar-Riyahi and sent by the tyrannical governor of Iraq, Obaidollah ibn Ziyad. He saw that the soldiers and their mounts were exhausted and literally dying of thirst. At once Imam Husain (AS) instructed his companions to provide water to the enemy troops. He then asked them the reason for their coming and Horr said he was sent to check his movements. The Imam explained the reason for his own coming to Iraq on the invitation of thousands of Kufans to rescue them from Yazid’s Godless rule and guide them towards salvation. Horr and his troops preferred to pray the daily ritual payers behind the Imam, who delivered a sermon, saying:

O People beware! The Omayyads have abandoned the path of God and become followers of the Satan. They are promoting corruption and violating the limits set by God. They have changed the Halaal or the permissible to Haraam or the prohibited, and vice-versa. It is thus incumbent upon me to strive to reform the society on the divine principle of ‘Amr bi’l-Ma’rouf’ or Enjoining Good and ‘Nahi an’il-Munkar’ or Forbidding Evil.

Imam Husain (AS) showed the Kufans the letters they had written to him inviting him to come to Iraq to deliver them from the illegitimate rule of the Omayyad tyrant Yazid. Yet, despite have pledged allegiance to the Imam through his now martyred cousin, Muslim ibn Aqeel, they seemed to have reneged on their promises. Horr for his part said, he was unaware of any such letters.

The Imam warned them of the dire consequences in afterlife of the breach of their promises to him, the Prophet’s grandson, the son of such Impeccable Parents as Imam Ali and Hazrat Fatema Zahra (peace upon them), and therefore the rightful leader of the Ummah of his times.  

Imam Husain (AS) also reminded the fickle-faith Kufans of what they had earlier done to his Father the Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali (AS) and to his elder brother, Imam Hasan Mojtaba (AS), by breaking their promises.

The Imam said that a deceived person is the one who trusts you and your pledge. Then he recited ayah 10 of Surah Fath, in which God reprimands the oath breakers:

“So whosoever breaks his oath, breaks it only to his own detriment,”

This ayah was revealed to the Prophet following the “Peace Treaty of Hudaibiyah", that he concluded in the year 6 AH with the Arab infidels of Mecca. When the Meccans breached their own promises and some of them rebelled, the Prophet by the commandment of Allah had to take a new oath from the people, known as Bayeth Redhwan.”

AS/ME