Imam Husain’s Uprising – Manifestation of the Holy Qur’an (7)
Sep 17, 2018 16:45 UTC
Welcome to the 7th episode of our daily series “Imam Husain’s Uprising – Manifestation of the Holy Qur’an”.
For the information of our listeners, the 7th of the month of Muharram is the day on which God Almighty spoke for the first time with Moses, entrusting him with Prophethood and the mission to invite the tyrannical Pharaoh to monotheism and to demand the release of Israelites from bondage. As is evident by ayah 9 onwards of Surah TaHa of the holy Qur’an, while searching for fire in the wilderness, Moses saw flames atop Mount Sinai and was startled to see a bush on fire but with all its green leaves and branches miraculously intact. Here he heard the voice of the Almighty Creator asking him to take off his shoes, throw his walking staff down that miraculously turned into a snake and to remove his hand from the armpit to find the palm glowing with light.
Since the topic of our discussion is the connection between the holy Qur’an and the epic stand of the grandson of Prophet Muhammad (blessings of God upon him and his progeny), let us present you some similarities between Prophet Yayha or John the Baptist and Imam Husain (AS).
Prophet Yahya, who was martyred by the Jewish king, Herod on the 6th of Muharram, when an adulteress after an enticing dance before him, asked for the head of the Prophet, has been mentioned several times in the holy Qur’an. In ayah 12 of Surah Maryam, God Almighty says: “O Yahya! Hold on with power to the Book! And We gave him judgement while still a child.”
According to hadith Yahya, whose birth to the aged Prophet Zakariyya and his equally old wife, was a miracle, was a mere 3-year old boy when God the All-Wise granted him the scripture and the sense of judgement.
The narrator Sa’eed bin Abdullah says that once he posed some questions to the young, less than 5-year old Imam Mahdi (AS), the Prophet’s 12th and Last Infallible Heir who was sitting in the lap of his father Imam Hasan Askari (AS). Sa’eed requested explanation of the opening ayah of Surah Maryam which begins with the disjointed letters (hurouf muqatta’aat) “Kāf, Hā, Yā, ʿAyn, Ṣād”. The boy Imam at once said that there is a great secret behind of these letters.
It is narrated that Zakariyya requested the Almighty God to make him know the names of “As-Haab al-Kisaa” or People of the Book. God sent Archangel Gabriel teaching him these names. When Zakariyya was reciting the names of Muhammad, Ali, Fatemah, and Hasan (peace upon them), his tension and sadness dissipated at once, but when he recited the name Husain, his throat was choked and he started crying. Then one day he supplicated to God and asked the reason of his tears on reciting the name Husain. The Almighty informed him about the tragedy of Karbala by revealing these letters. Thus ‘Kāf’ stands for Karbala, Hā for Husain the Martyr, Yā for Yazid the perpetrator of the tragedy, Ayn for “atash” or thirst of Imam Husain and his family, and Ṣād for “sabr” or patience of Imam Husain.
On learning this, Zakariyya was deeply saddened and supplicated to God, saying: “O Lord! When You test Your Greatest Messenger through such grief in order to universalize the message of Islam, grant me a son, and I will prove myself to be Your truthful servant. O Allah make me cry and feel sad for my son’s sorrows.” Allah the Merciful granted him the virtuous son named Yahya, who attained tragic martyrdom. It is said the earth and the heavens did not weep for anyone except Prophet Yahya and Imam Husain (peace upon them).
With the passing of each day we are nearing the fateful day of Ashura or the 10th of Muharram on which Imam Husain (AS) was martyred. On the 7th of Muharram, Obaidullah ibn Ziyad, the tyrannical Omayyad governor of Iraq, dispatched more forces to Karbala to besiege Imam Husain (AS), He ordered the commander of his army, Omar ibn Sa’d, to cut off access to the waters of the River Euphrates in order to extract oath of allegiance to Yazid’s illegal rule from the Prophet’s grandson. Ibn Sa’d promptly stationed Amr ibn Hajjaj az-Zubaidi with five hundred horsemen on the river bank, but the Imam’s valiant brother, Hazrat Abbas (AS), managed to fetch water from the Euphrates during a night raid and stored it in the encampment, until all resources ran dry on the following day.
These were indeed days of divine trial and tribulation for the Prophet’s blessed family, who in the state of thirst watched from a distance the fresh flowing waters of the Euphrates, on whose banks were palm trees and green grass. While reciting the holy Qur’an, Imam Husain (AS) remembered how before reaching Karbala, he was informed of the martyrdom of Qays Ibn Musaher as-Saidawi.
Qays was carrying a letter to the elders of Kufa in reply to the letter the Imam had received from his cousin and emissary to the people of Kufa, Muslim ibn Aqeel. In the meantime, Muslim had been martyred in Kufa, and when Qays reached al-Qadessiya, the Omayyad soldiers seized him and took him to the court of Obaidollah ibn Ziyad, the tyrannical governor of Iraq, who asked him about the contents of the Imam’s letter. Qays, who had shredded or eaten the letter to prevent it from falling into the hands of the enemies, refused to divulge its contents.
Ibn Ziyad told Qays that his life would be spared he went on the pulpit of the mosque to praise Yazid and curse Imam Husain and the Prophet’s Ahl al-Bayt in front of everyone.
Qays ascended the pulpit and started his speech, saying: “O people! I am the messenger of Imam Husain (AS) to you! I have left him in such-and-such a place; so, you should rush to his aid.” He glorified God Almighty and sent salutations upon Prophet Muhammad (blessings of God upon him and his progeny). He then recounted the merits of Imam Husain, his elder brother Imam Hasan and his father the Commander of the Faithful Imam Ali ibn Abi Taleb (peace upon them). He next exposed the falsity of the Omayyad regime and without fear of death curse Obaidollah ibn Ziyad, his father Ziyad, and the tyrant Yazid. At this Ibn Ziyad became furious and ordered his men to seize Qays, take him to the rooftop and fling him down to death. On being thrown to the ground from the high walls of the palace, the bones of Qays were crushed and he attained martyrdom.
On learning of the martyrdom of Qays ibn Musaher, the eyes of Imam Husain (AS), swelled with tears, and while praising the firm faith and courage of his loyal messenger, he recited ayah 23 of Surah Ahzab and said:
“Of them are some who have fulfilled their pledge, and of them are some who still wait, and they have not changed in the least.”
Thus, Imam Husain (AS), through his reformative and revolutionary movement, in accordance with the teachings of the holy Qur’an, taught humanity the dynamics of real Jihad or striving in the way of God Almighty on the basis of virtue and all humanitarian values. He proved that death, even of his infant son Ali Asghar, in defence of faith and dignity is the triumph of blood over swords.
This is not the so-called Jihad of the misled who commit macabre acts of terrorism against innocent men, women and children, as the evil forces of the accursed Yazid did in Karbala, and what the Takfiri terrorists are doing today in order to tarnish the image of Islam.
Imam Husain (AS) showed to the world real enlightened visage of Islam, which based on egalitarian values continues to guide the seekers of truth to the right path. His spirit and soul were intertwined with the holy Qur’an, and his martyrdom ensured the spread of the culture of the holy Qur’an. In view of these facts, the mourning ceremonies and the discourses which the faithful have continued to hold in the months of Muharram and Safar over the past millennium and three centuries have rejuvenated societies and instilled in them the spirit of the holy Qur’an.
Imam Husain (AS) thus taught us that by reciting the holy Qur’an with the proper perspective of understanding the message of the heavenly scripture, as explained by his grandfather the Prophet, we will definitely attain the proximity of God’s in the light of Ayah 111 of Surah Towbah:
“Indeed Allah has bought from the faithful their souls and their possessions for paradise to be theirs: they fight in the way of Allah, kill, and are killed. A promise binding upon Him in the Torah and the Evangel and the Qurʾān. And who is truer to his promise than Allah? So rejoice in the bargain you have made with Him, and that is the great success.”
AS/SS
Tags
