First Sermon
Ashura - History and
Popular Legend
In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent,
the Merciful
All Praise belongs to Allah, the Lord of the worlds and the Maker of
all creation, and may Peace and benedictions be upon His servant and
messenger, His beloved and elect, our master, our prophet, and our
sire, Abul Qasim Muhammad, may Allah bless him and his pure,
immaculate, and infallible Progeny.
I seek the refuge of Allah from the accursed Satan
So for their breaking their compact We cursed them and made their
hearts hard; they would pervert the words from their meanings. and
they forgot a portion of what they were reminded of.
(5:13)
Our discussion here concerns the misrepresentations (tahrifat)
relating to the historic event of Karbala'. There have occurred
various kinds of distortions in recounting the details of this great
event. We shall carry out this discussion in four parts. The first will
deal with the meaning of tahrif and its various existing forms,
while pointing out that such misrepresentations have occurred in the
[popular] accounts of the historic episode of 'Ashura'. The
second part deals with the general factors responsible for tahrif,
that is, the causes which commonly lead to the distortion of events and
issues in the world. Why do men misrepresent and distort events, issues,
and, occasionally, personalities? In particular, what factors have
played a distorting role in the narrative of the episode of Karbala'?
The third part consists of an explanation concerning the distortions
that have crept into the narratives of this historic event. The fourth
part deals with our duty, that of the scholars and the Muslim masses, in
this regard.
The first part of this discussion is about the meaning of tahrif:
What does tahrif mean? The Arabic word tahrif is derived
from harrafa meaning, to slant, incline, alter, distort,
misconstrue which means to make something depart from its original or
proper course and position. In other words, tahrif is a kind of
change and alteration, though it includes a sense not possessed by mere
change and alteration. If you do something that prevents a sentence,
message, verse, or passage from conveying the meaning that it ought to
convey and gives it some other sense, you have subjected it to tahrif.
For instance, you make a statement before someone. Elsewhere he quotes
you, and later on you are told that so-and-so has reported that you have
made such a statement. You find out that what you had said was very
different from what he has reported. He has interpolated your statement,
deleting words which conveyed your intent and adding others on his own
account, with the result that your statements have been distorted and
totally altered. Then you would say that this person has misrepresented
your statements Especially, if someone tampers with an official
document, he is said be guilty of causing tahrif in it These
examples were meant to elucidate the meaning of the term tahrif,
and it does not need any further explanation or clarification. Now we
shall take up the different forms of tahrif.
There are various kinds of tahrif, the most important of which
are tahrif in words and tahrif of meaning. Tahrif
of wording occurs when the literal form of a statement is changed. For
instance, when words and phrases are deleted or added to a statement or
the sequence of sentences is altered in such a manner as to change its
meaning. In this case tahrif occurs in the outward form and
wording of a statement
Tahrif of meaning occurs when one does not change the words,
which remain in their original form, but the statement is interpreted in
a manner that is contrary to the intent of its speaker. It is
interpreted in such a manner as to express one's own intent, not that of
its author.
The Noble Qur'an employs the term tahrif specifically in
relation to the Jews. A study of history shows that they have been the
champions of tahrif throughout the course of history. I don't
know what kind of race this is that has such an amazing penchant for
misrepresenting facts! Accordingly they always take up professions in
which they can distort and misrepresent events. From what I have heard,
the world's well-known news agencies, which are perpetually quoted by
the radios and newspapers, are exclusively in the hands of the Jews.
Why? Because they can report the events as they wish. How amazing is the
Qur'an's statement about them! This characteristic of the Jews, the
tendency for tahrif, is considered a racial trait by the Qur'an.
In one of the verses of the Sura al-baqarah, the Qur'an declares:
Are you then eager that they (i.e. the Jews) should believe in
you, while a party of them had heard Allah's word, and then
consciously misinterpreted it, after they had understood it, and did
that knowingly? (2:75) [1]
This means, 'O Muslims, have you pinned your hopes on their telling you
the truth? They are the same people who would go along with Moses, and
hear God's pronouncements. But by the time they returned to their
people's midst to recount what they had heard, they would twist it out
of shape.' The tahrif that they would carry out was not for the
reason that they did not understand and so altered what they reported.
No! They are an intelligent people and they understand matters the
issues very well. But despite the fact that they understand what they
have heard they would recount them in a distorted manner for the people.
This is what tahrif is, that is, distorting and twisting things
out of their original shape-and they carried out tahrif even in
Divine scriptures!
In this context, in most of the cases the Qur'an uses the very term
tahrif or expresses the matter in some other manner. However, the
exegetes have pointed out that the Qur'anic reference to tahrif
in this context includes tahrif in wording as well as in meaning.
That is, some of the instances of corruption that have occurred [in the
scriptures at the hands of the Jews] relating to the wording and some of
them relate to the meanings and interpretation. As this involves a
digression from my main topic, I do not wish to discuss this matter any
further.
There is a story which would not out of place here. One of the
scholars used to recount that once during the day of his youth a
maddah [2] from Tehran was visiting Mashhad.
During the day he would stand in the Gawharshad Mosque or in the
courtyard of the shrine and recite verses and eulogies. Among things
that he recited was the famous ghazal ascribed to Hafiz:
O heart! Be slave of the world's King and rejoice!
Forever dwell in the shelter of God's grace!
Embrace the tomb of Rida, the Eighth Imam,
From the heart's depth, and cling to the threshold of his shrine (bargah).
This gentleman, in order to have some fun with him, had approached him
and said to him, "Why do you recite this verse wrongly? It should be
read like this, which means, as soon as you reach the shrine you must
throw yourself down in the manner a bundle of straw (barekah) is
rolled off the back of an ass. Thereafter, whenever the poor maddah
recited these verses, he would say bar-e kah instead of bargah and at
the same time throw himself down on the ground! This is what tahrif
does!
Here I must point out that tahrif also differs in respect of
the subject involved. There is a time when tahrif occurs in an
ordinary speech, as when two persons misrepresent each other's words.
But there are times when tahrif takes place in a matter of great
significance to society, such as when there is misrepresentation of
eminent personalities. There are personalities whose words and deeds
represent a sacred authority for the people and whose character and
conduct is a model for mankind. For instance, if someone were to ascribe
to Imam 'Ali (a) a statement that he did not make or something that he
had not meant to say, that is very dangerous. The same is true if a
characteristic or trait is ascribed to the Prophet (S) or one of the
Imams ('a) when in fact they had some other qualities, or when
tahrif occurs in a great historic event which serves as a moral and
religious authority and as a momentous document from the viewpoint of
society's norms and is a criterion in matters of morality and education.
It is a matter of incalculable ,importance and entails a crucial danger
when tahrif-whether in respect of words or meaning-occurs in
subjects which are not of the ordinary kind.
There is a time when someone tampers with a verse of Hafiz or makes
interpolations in an animal fable. This is not so important, though, of
course one should not tamper with books of literary value.
One professor wrote a paper about Mush-o gorbeh ("The Cat and
the Mouse"), which is a book of considerable literary value. He had
found that it had been victim of so many interpolations, changes of
wording, addition and deletion of verses, as to be beyond reckoning.
There, he remarks that in his opinion no nation in the whole world is so
untrustworthy as the Iranians who have made such extensive unauthorized
interpolations in works belonging to their literary heritage. The same
is true of Rumi's Mathnavi. God knows how many verses have been
appended to the Mathnawi! For instance, there is a fine couplet
in the original versions of the Mathnawi about the power of love.
It says:
Love sweetens matters bitter,
Love turns bronzes into gold.
That is a sensible thing to say: love is something that turns even the
bitter aspects of life into ones that are sweet and pleasant. Love, like
an elixir, transforms the bronze of man's being into gold. Then others
came and added verses to this one, without bothering for pertinence or
aptness in respect of analogy. For instance, they said: 'Love turns a
serpent into an ant,' or that 'love turns the roof into a wall,' or
'love turns a musk-melon into a water-melon'! These analogies have no
relation at all to the theme. Of course such a thing should not happen,
but these interpolations do not harm a society's life and felicity and
do not cause deviance in its course. But when tahrif occurs in
things that relate to the people's morality and religion, it is
dangerous, and this danger is incalculable when it occurs in documents
and matters that constitute the foundations of human life.
The event of Karbala' is, inevitably, an event possessing
great social meaning for us, and it has a direct impact on our morality
and character.
It is an event that prompts our people, without anyone compelling
them, to devote millions of man-hours to listening to the related
episodes and to spend millions of tumans for this purpose. This event
must be retold exactly as it occurred and without the least amount of
interpolation. For if the smallest amount of interpolation takes place
at our hands in this event, that would distort it, and instead of
benefiting from it we would definitely suffer harm.
Now my point is that we have introduced thousands of distortions in
retelling the narrative of Ashura, both in its outward form, that
is, in respect of the very episodes and issues relating to the major
events and the minor details, as well as in respect of their
interpretation and meaning. Most regrettably, this event has been
distorted both in its form and content.
At times a distorted version has at least some resemblance to the
original. But there are times when distortion is so thorough that the
corrupted version has not the least resemblance to the original: the
matter is not only distorted, but it is inverted and turned into its
antithesis. Again I must say with utmost regret that the
misrepresentations that have been carried out by us have all been in the
direction of degrading and distorting the event and making it
ineffective and inert in our lives. In this regard both the orators and
scholars of the ummah as well as the people have been guilty,
and, God willing, we will elucidate all these matters.
Here I will cite examples of some of the distortions that have
occurred in the outer form of this event and the concoctions that have
grown around it. The topic is so vast as to be beyond expression. It is
so vast that should we attempt to collect all the unfounded narratives
it will perhaps take several volumes of 500 pages each.
Marhum Hajji Mirza Husayn Nuri, may God elevate his station,
was the teacher of such figures as marhum Hajj Shaykh 'Abbas Qummi,
marhum Haji Shaykh 'Ali Akbar Nehawandi and marhum Hajj
Shaykh Muhammad Baqir Birjandi. He was a very extraordinary man and a
muhaddith (scholar of hadith) with an unparalleled command of
his field and a prodigious memory. He was a man of fine spirituality
with a highly fervent and passionate faith. Although some of the books
that he wrote were not worthy of his station [3] -and
for this reason he earned the reproach of his contemporary scholars -
but in general his books are good, especially the one that he wrote on
the topic of the minbar (pulpit), entitled Lu'lu' wa marjan.
Though a small book, it is an excellent work in which he speaks about
the duties of those who deliver sermons and recount for the mourners the
narrative of Karbala' from the minbar. The entire book consists
of two parts.
One part is about the sincerity of intention and purpose, as one of
the requirement for a speaker, orator, sermonizer, and rawdeh-khwan [4]
is that the motive of someone who relates the narrative of 'Ashura'
should not be greed or attainment of pecuniary gain. How well he has
discussed this topic!
The second requirement is honesty and truthfulness. Here, he
elaborates on the topic of false and true narration, discussing various
forms of lying in such a thorough-going manner that I do not think there
is any other book which deals with Iying and its various form in the way
that it does, and perhaps there is no such other book in the whole
world. In it he exhibits a marvelous learning and scholarship.
In this book, that great man mentions several examples of falsehoods
that have become prevalent in narratives of the historic event of
Karbala'. Those which I will mention are all or mostly the same
things that the marhum haji Nuri has lamented about. This great man even
says explicitly, "Today too we must mourn Husayn, but there are
tragedies which have befallen Husayn in our era which did not occur in
the past, and they are all these falsehoods that are said regarding the
event of Karbala' and which no one opposes! One must shed tears
for the sufferings of Husayn ibn 'Ali, not for the sake of the swords
and spears that struck his noble body on that day, but on account of
these falsehoods." In the book's introduction he writes that an eminent
scholar from India had written him a letter complaining about the false
narratives that are recited in India, and asking him to do something or
to write a book to stop the fictitious narratives that were current
there. Then he remarks: "This Indian scholar has imagined that the
rawdakhwans tell false stories when they go to India. He does not
know that the stream is polluted from its very source. The centre of
false rawdahs are Karbala', Najaf and Iran,
that is, the very centres of Shi'ism."
Now as a sample, I will cite some instances of tahrif, of
which a few relate to the events that occurred before 'Ashura',
some that occurred during the Imam's way, some during the days of his
final halt at Karbala' in the month of Muharram. I will also
mention some of them that relate to the days of his family's captivity
and some about the Imams who lived after the event of Karbala'.
However, most of them will relate to the day of 'Ashura' itself.
Now I will give two examples of each of them.
It is essential to mention a point at first, and that is that the
people are responsible in all these cases. You folks who attend the
majalis [5] sessions imagine that you have no
responsibility in this regard, and think that it is only the speakers
who are responsible. The people have two major responsibilities. The
first is that of nahy 'anil-munkar (forbidding what is wrong)
which is obligatory for all. When they find out and know-and most of the
time they do know!-that a narrative is untrue, they should not sit in
that gathering. It is forbidden to sit in such gatherings and one must
protest against them. Secondly, they must try to get rid of the
eagerness and expectation which the hosts as well as the audience
attending the majalis have for the majlis to become fervid, that there
should be impassioned mourning and the majlis should get feverish with
cries of the mourners. The poor speaker knows that if he were to say
only things that are true and authentic, the majlis would not get into a
frenzy and the same people will not invite him again. Hence he is
compelled to add something.
The people should get this expectation out of their heads and refrain
from encouraging the kind of fictitious narratives which kill the soul
of Karbala but work up the mourners into a frenzy. The people
should hear the true narrative so that their understanding and level of
thinking is elevated. They should know that if a sentence creates a
tremor in one's souls and attunes it with the spirit of Husayn ibn 'Ali
and, as a result, one small tear were to come out of one's eyes, it is
really a precious station. But tears drawn by the scenes of mere
butchery, even if a deluge, are worthless.
They say that in one of the towns there was an eminent scholar who
had some concern for the faith and who protested against these
falsehoods which are uttered from the minbar. He would say, "What are
these abominable things that they say on the minbar?" One wa'iz said to
him, "If we don't say these things we will have to shut down our shops
right away!" That gentleman replied, "These are mendacities and one must
not utter them." By chance, some days later this gentleman himself
happened to host a majlis in his mosque and he invited the same waiz; to
make the rawdah. But before his taking his seat on the minbar the host
said to the wa'iz, "I want to hold a model majlis in which nothing is
said except the true narrative. Make it a point not to recount any
episode except out of the reliable books. You shouldn't touch any of
that abominable stuff!' The wai'z replied, "The majlis is hosted by you.
Your will, will be done." On the first night, the gentleman himself sat
there facing the qiblah in the prayer niche, close to the minbar. The
wai'z; began his sermon, and when the time came to recite the tragic
narrative, as he had committed himself to recite nothing but the true
accounts, the majlis remained unmoved and frozen as he spoke on. The
gentleman was now upset. He was the host of the majlis and he thought
about what the people would say behind his back. The women would
certainly say, "To be sure, the Aqa's intent was not sincere, and so the
majlis was a fiasco. Had his intentions been good and were his motives
sincere the majlis would have been rocked with the howls and-groans of
mourners crying their eyes out. He saw that it would all end up in a
loss of face. What should he do? Quietly, he signaled to the wai'z, "Get
a bit of that abominable stuff!"
The expectation of the people that the majlis should go wild with
mourning is itself a source of falsehoods. Accordingly, most of the
fabrications that have occurred have been for the purpose of drawing
tears, nothing else.
I have heard this story repeatedly, and you too must have heard it.
Hajji Nuri also mentions it. They say that one day 'Ali, the Commander
of the Faithful, may Peace be upon him, was delivering a sermon from the
minbar. Suddenly Imam Husayn ('a) said, 'I am thirsty,
Imam 'Ali said, 'Let someone bring water for my son.' The first person
to get up was a little boy, Abu al-Fadl al-'Abbas ('a). He went
out and got a jar of water from his mother. When he returned carrying
the jar on his head, his head was drenched in water as it spilled from
the sides. This story is narrated in its elaborate detail. Then, when
the Commander of the Faithful's eyes fell on this scene, tears flowed
from his eyes. He was asked why he was crying. He told them that the
ordeals that this young son of his would face had come to his mind. You
know the rest of the story, which serves the purpose of a point of
departure for switching to the tragic scenes of Karbala'. Hajji
Nuri has an excellent discussion at this point. He writes, "Now that you
say that 'Ali was delivering a sermon from the minbar, you should
know that 'Ali spoke from the minbar and delivered sermons only
during the period of his caliphate. Hence, the episode must have
occurred in Kufah. At that time Imam Husayn was a man of about
thirty-three years." Then he remarks, "Is it at all a sensible thing for
a man of thirty-three years to say all of a sudden, in a formal
gathering while his father is delivering a sermon, 'I am thirsty!' 'I
want water!" If an ordinary man does such a thing, it would be
considered ill-mannered of him. Moreover, Hadrat Abu al-Fadl, too, was
not a child at that time but a young man of at least fifteen years." You
see how they have fabricated the story! Is such a story worthy of Imam
Husayn? Aside from its fictitious character, what value does it have?
Does it elevate the station of Imam Husayn or does it detract from it?
It is definitely detracting to the dignity of the Imam, as it ascribes a
false act to the Imam and detracts from is station by bringing the Imam
down to the level of a most ill-mannered person who, at a time when his
father - a man like 'Ali - is delivering a sermon, feels thirsty and
instead of waiting for the session to be over, suddenly interrupts his
father's sermon to ask for water.'
Another example of such fabrications is the story of a messenger who
has brought a letter for Abu 'Abd Allah ('a) and he awaits a
reply. The Imam tells him to come after three days and collect the
reply. After three days on inquiring he is told that the Imam was
departing the same day. He says to himself, "Now that he is setting out,
let us go and watch the majesty and glamour of the prince of the Hijaz
He goes and there he sees the Imam, together with other Hashimis among
men, seated on splendid chairs. Then the camels are brought bearing the
litters draped in silk and brocade. Then the ladies emerge and with much
honor and ceremony they are escorted into these litters. This
description continues in this vein until they make the digression to
switch to the scene of the eleventh day of Muharram, to compare the
glamour and honor of this day with the sorry state of the womenfolk on
the latter day. Haji Nuri calls such descriptions into question. He
says, "It is history which says that when Imam Husayn left Madinah he
recited this Qur'anic verse:
He left it in the state of fear and concern.
(28:21)
That is, he likened his own departure to that of Moses, son of 'Imran,
when he fled for the fear of the Pharaoh.
He said, "It might be that my Lord will guide me to the right
path."(28:22)
The Imam had departed with a most simple caravan. Does the greatness of
Imam Husayn lie in his sitting, for instance, on golden chairs? Or does
the greatness of his family and womenfolk lie in their using litters
draped in silk and brocade, or their possessing fine horses and camels
and a retinue of lackeys and servants?!
Another example of tahrif in the accounts of 'Ashura'
is the famous story of Layla, the mother of Hadrat 'Ali' Akbar, a story
that is not supported even by a single work of history. Of course, Ali'
Akbar had a mother whose name was Layla, but not a single historical
work has stated that Layla was present at Karbala'. But you see
how many pathetic tales there are about Layla and Ali' Akbar, including
the story of Layla's arrival at 'Ali Akbar's side at the time of his
martyrdom. I have heard this story even in Qum, in a majlis that had
been held on behalf of Ayatullah Burujerdi, though he himself was not
attending. In this tale, as 'Ali Akbar leaves for the battlefield the
Imam says to Layla, "I have heard from my grandfather that God answers a
mother's prayer for the sake of her child. Go into a solitary tent,
unfurl your locks and pray for your son. It may be that God will bring
our son safe back to us."
First of all, there was no Layla in Karbala' to have done
that. Secondly, this was not Husayn's logic and way of thinking.
Husayn's logic on the day of 'Ashara' was the logic of self-sacrifice.
All historians have written that whenever anyone asked the Imam for the
leave to go to battlefield, the Imam would at first try to restrain him
with some excuse or another that he could think of, excepting the case
of 'Ali' Akbar about whom they write:
Thereat he asked his father's permission to go forth to fight, and
he gave him the permission. [6]
That is, as soon as 'Ali Akbar asked for permission, the Imam told him
to depart Nevertheless, there is no dearth of verses which depict the
episode in quite a different light, including this one:
Rise, O father, let us leave this wilderness,
Let us go now to Layla's tent.
Another case relating to the same story, which is also very amazing, is
the one that I heard in Tehran. It was in the house of one of the
eminent scholars of this city where one of the speakers narrated the
story of Layla. It was something which I had never heard in my life.
According to his narrative, after Layla went into the tent, she opened
the locks of her hair and vowed that if God were to bring 'Ali Akbar
back safely to her and should he not be killed in Karbala' she
would sow basil (rayhan) all along the way from Karbala'
to Madinah, a distance of 300 parasangs. Having said this, he began to
sing out this couplet:
I have made a vow, were they to return
I will sow basil all the way to Taft!
This Arabic couplet caused me greater surprise as to where it came from.
On investigating I found that the Taft mentioned in it is not Karbala'
but a place related to the famous love legend of Layla and Majnun. Taft
was the place where the legendary Layla live. This couplet was composed
by Majnun al-'Amiri and sung for the love of Layla, and here this man
was reciting it while attributing it to Layla, the mother of 'Ali Akbar,
conjuring a fictitious connection with Karbala'. Just imagine,
were a Christian or a Jew, or for that matter some person with no
religious affiliation, were to be there and hear these things, will he
not say what a nonsensical hagiography these people have? He would not
know that this tale has been fabricated by that man, but he would say,
na'udubillah, how senseless were the women saints of this people
to vow sowing basil from Karbala' to Madinah!
A worse fabrication is the one mentioned by Hajji Nuri. As you know,
in the heat of the battle on the day of 'Ashura', the Imam offered his
prayers hurriedly in the form of salat al-khawf [7]
and there was no respite even to offer full prayers. In fact, two of the
companions of the Imam came to stand in front of him to shield the Imam
(against the arrows) so that he may offer two rak'ahs of the salat
al-khawf. The two of them fell from the injuries inflicted under the
shower of the arrows. The enemy would not even give respite for offering
prayers. Nevertheless, they have concocted a story that the Imam called
for a wedding ceremony on this day, declaring, 'It is my wish to see one
of my daughter wedded to Qasim.' Obviously, one cannot take one's wishes
to one's grave.
By God, see what kind of things they have attributed to a man like
Husayn ibn 'Ali, things the like of which we sometimes hear from persons
of a very mediocre character, who express a wish to see the wedding of
their son or daughter in their life. And this is said to have occurred
at a time when there was hardly any respite even for offering prayers.
They say that the Hadrat said, 'I want to wed my daughter to my nephew
here and now, even if it is just an appearance of a wedding.' One of the
things that was an inseparable part of our traditional ta'ziyahs
was the wedding of Qasim, the boy bridegroom. Such an episode is not
mentioned in any reliable book of history. According to Hajji Nuri,
Mulla Husayn Kashifi was the first man to write this story in a book
named Rawdat al-shuhada' and it is totally fictitious. The case
here is similar to the one about which the poet says:
Many are the appendages that they have clapped upon it,
You will hardly recognize it when you see it again.
Were the Sayyid al-Shuhada' to come and observe these things (and, of
course, he does from the world of the spirit, but were he come into the
world of appearance ) he will find that we have carved out for him
companions that he never had. For instance, in the book Muhriq
al-qulub - whose author was, incidentally, an eminent scholar and
jurist, but who had no knowledge of these matters - that one of the
companions to appear out of nowhere on the day of 'Ashura' was Hashim
Mirqal, who came bearing an eighteen cubits long spear in his hand.
(After all someone had claimed that Sinan ibn Anas - who according to
some reports severed the head of Imam Husayn - had a spear sixty cubits
long. He was told that a spear could not be sixty cubits. He replied
that God had sent it for him from the heaven!) Muhriq al-qulub
writes that Hashim ibn 'Utbah Mirqal appeared with a spear sixteen
cubits long, whereas this Hashim ibn 'Utbah was a companion of Amir
al-Mu'minin 'Ali and had been killed twenty years earlier.
We have attributed several companions to Husayn ibn 'Ali that he did
not have, such as the Za'far the Jinn. Similarly, there are some names
among the enemies that did not exist. It is mentioned in the book
Asrar al-shahadah that 'Umar ibn Sa'd's army in Karbala'
consisted of one million and sixty thousand men. One may ask, where did
they come from? Were they all Kufans? Is such a thing possible?
It is also written in that book that Imam Husayn himself personally
killed three hundred thousand men in combat. The bomb that destroyed
Hiroshima killed sixty thousand people. I calculated that if we assume
that a swordsman kills one man every second, it would take eighty-three
hours and twenty minutes to massacre a force of three hundred thousand.
Later, when they saw that this number of those felled by the Imam did
not fit with a day's duration, they said that the day of 'Ashura
was also seventy-two hours long!
Similar things are said concerning Hadrat Abu al-Fadl, that he killed
twenty-five thousand men. I calculated that if one man were killed per
second, it would require six days and fifty and odd hours to kill that
many. Therefore, we have to admit what Hajji Nuri, this great man, says,
that if one wanted to mourn the Imam today and narrate the ordeals of
Abu 'Abd Allah, may Peace be upon him, one should lament over these new
tragedies, over these falsehoods, which have been incorporated in the
accounts of his martyrdom.
Another example relates to the day of 'Arba'in. At the time
of 'Arba'in everyone relates the narrative that leads the people
to imagine that the captives of the Imam's family arrived at Karbala'
on the day of 'Arba'in, and that Imam Zayn al-'Abidin met Jabir
(ibn 'Abd Allah al-Ansari) there. However, excepting the Luhuf,
whose author is Sayyid ibn Tawus and who has denied it in his other
books, or at least has not confirmed it, such an episode is not
mentioned in any other book, nor does it seem very reasonable to believe
it. But is it possible to expunge these stories, which are repeated
every year, from the people's minds? Jabir was the first visitor to Imam
Husayn grave, and the significance of 'Arba'in is also nothing
except that it is the occasion for the ziyarah of Imam Husayn's
tomb. It is not for the renewal of mourning for the Ahl al-Bayt, nor on
account of their arrival in Karbala'. Basically, the road to
Madinah from Syria is not through Karbala' and the two ways
diverge from Syria itself.
What is more painful is that, incidentally, there are few events in
history that are as rich as the event of Karbala' from the
viewpoint of reliable sources. Formerly I used to imagine that the basic
reason for the proliferation of legends in this field is that the actual
events are not known to anybody. But when I studied I found that no
event of remote past-for instance of a period thirteen or fourteen
centuries ago-has as reliable an history as the event of Karbala'.
Reliable Muslim historians have reported the pertinent episodes with
trustworthy chains of transmission from the first/seventh and the
second/eighth centuries, and their narrations are close and corroborate
one another.
There were certain reasons which were responsible for the
preservation of these details in history. One of them, which caused the
details of this event to be preserved and its objectives to remain
clear, were the many speeches (khutbahs) that were delivered
during its course. In those days, an oration was what communiques and
press releases are in our era. In the same way that official communiques
issued during wartime are the best historical source, so were orations
in these days. Accordingly, there were many of them before the event of
Karbala', during, and after it. Individuals from among the
Prophet's household made orations in Kufah, Damascus and other places.
Basically, their aim by delivering these orations was to inform the
people about the episodes as well as to declare the truth of the matter
and to spell out the goals. This was itself one of the reason for the
events to be reported.
There were also many exchanges, questions and answers, in the event
of Karbala' and these are recorded in history. They too disclose
for us the nature of the occurrences.
Rajaz poetry [8] was also recited a lot
during Karbala', and, in particular Abu 'Abd Allah ('a)
himself recited much rajaz, and these rajaz verses also
reveal the character of the confrontation.
There were many letters that were exchanged before and after the
episode of Karbala', letters that were exchanged between the Imam
and the people of Kufah, between the Imam and the people of Basrah, the
letters that the Imam wrote earlier to Mu'awiyah (which indicate that
the Imam was preparing for an uprising after Mu'awiyah's death), the
letters that the enemies wrote to one another, Yazid to Ibn Ziyad, Ibn
Ziyad to Yazid, lbn Ziyad to 'Umar ibn Sa'd, 'Umar ibn Sa'd to Ibn
Ziyad, whose texts are all recorded in the history of Islam.
Hence the developments relating to Karbala' are quite clear
and all of them are throughout a matter of great honor and pride. But we
have disfigured this shining historic event to such an extent and have
committed such a monstrous treachery towards Imam Husayn ('a)
that if he were to come and see, he will say, 'You have changed the
entire face of the event. I am not the Imam Husayn that you have
sketched out in your own imagination. The Qasim ibn Hasan that you have
painted in your fancy is not my nephew. The 'Ali Akbar that you have
faked in your imagination is not my aware and intelligent son. The
companions that you have carved out are not my companions."
We have fabricated a Qasim whose only desire is to become a
bridegroom and whose uncle's wish, too, is to have him wedded. Contrast
this one with the historical Qasim. Reliable histories report that on
the night of 'Ashura' the Imam ('a) gathered his
companions in a tent whose location, as described by the phrase 'inda
qurbil-ma', [9] was the place where water used to
be kept, or near it. There he delivered that very well-known sermon of
the night preceding 'Ashura'. I do not want to mention its
details here, but, to put it briefly, in this sermon the Imam told them
that every one of them was free to depart and leave him to confront the
enemy alone. The Imam did not want anybody to stay just for
considerations of courtesy or to remain out of compulsion, or even to
think that they were obliged to do so by virtue of the allegiance (bay'ah)
they had given him. Hence he tells them, "You are all free, my
companions, members of my family, my sons, and my nephews-everyone-to
leave without being liable to anything. They [i.e. the enemy's forces]
have nothing against anyone except me. The night is dark. Take advantage
of the darkness of the night and depart. They will definitely not stop
you." At first, he expresses his appreciation for them and tell them, I
am most pleased with you. I do not know of any companions better than
mine, and no better relatives than the members of my family."
But all of them tell him, in unison, that such a thing was
impossible. What answer will they give to the Prophet on the Day of
Resurrection? What will happen to loyalty, to humanity, to love and
attachment? Their ardent responses and their words said on that occasion
melt a heart of stone and are most moving. One of them says, "Is one
life worth enough to be sacrificed for someone like you? I wish that I
were brought to life seventy times to die seventy time for your sake."
Another says, "I would lay down a thousand lives for your sake if I had
them." Another says, "If I were to sacrifice my life for you and my body
were burnt to ashes and the ashes were cast to wind, and were this done
a hundred times, I would still love to die for your sake." The first to
speak was his brother Abu al-Fadl, and then the Imam changed the subject
and told them about the events of the next day, informing them that they
all would be killed. All of them receive it as a great good news.
Now this young man - to whom we are so unjust and think that all
that he cherished in his heart was the wish to become a bridegroom -
puts a question to the Imam. In reality he expresses his real wish. When
a group of elderly men gather in an assembly, a boy of thirteen does not
sit in their midst, but reverently stays behind them. It appears that
this youth was sitting behind the Imam's elderly companions and was keen
to hear what others said. When the Imam told them that they would all be
killed on the next day, this child wondered if he too would be one of
them. He thought to himself, After all I am only a boy. Perhaps the Imam
means that only the elderly would be martyred. I am just a minor."
Therefore, he turned to the Imam and asked him:
Will I be among those who will be killed?
Look! See what his wish and aspiration are! The Imam says to him,
"Qasim, first let me ask you a question. I will reply after you have
answered me." I think the Imam purposefully put this question. With this
question he wanted to show to posterity that they shouldn't think that
this youth gave his life without awareness and understanding, that they
should not imagine that what he cherished was a wish to become
bridegroom, that they should not conjure up a wedding for him and be
guilty of the crime of distorting his fine character. So the Imam said,
"First, I will ask you a question":
That is, "My child, my nephew, tell me, how do you regard death and
what do you think about getting killed?' He promptly answered.
"It is sweater to me than honey!"
That is, "I haven't a desire that should be dearer and sweater to me!"
This is an astounding scene. These are the things that have made this a
great and historic event - and we should keep it alive! For there will
not be another Husayn, nor another Qasim ibn Hasan. These are the things
that make us give so much value to this event, and if after fourteen
centuries we build such a husayniyyah as this [10]
in their memory and in their name, we have done nothing. Or else the
wish to become bridegroom does not oblige one to put in one's time and
money, to build husayniyyahs or to deliver sermons. But they were
the very essence of humanity, the very concrete instances of the Divine
purpose as stated in the verse:
Surely I will make a vicegerent in the earth (2:30)
and they stood above the angels.
After getting this answer, the Imam said to him, "My nephew, you too
will be killed. But your death will be different from that of others
and (it will be) after you have faced a great ordeal.
Accordingly, when Qasim, after much insistence, received the permission
to leave for the battlefield, being very young, there was no armour that
was fit for his years, nor a helmet nor shoes, nor arms. It is written
that he wore a turban ('ammamah) and this description is given of
his appearance:
He appeared like a piece of the moon. [11]
This boy was so handsome that when the enemies saw him they described
him as a piece of the moon:
'Where does the wind carry this petal of red rose?'
said whoever that saw you on your fleeting mount.
The narrator says: "I saw that the strap of one of his sandals was
untied, and I do not forget that it was his left foot" This shows that
he was not wearing boots. They write that the Imam stood near the tents
as he held his horse's reins. Evidently he was alert and ready. At once
he heard a cry. It was Qasim: "Ya 'ammah!" (O Uncle!). They write
that the Imam flew on the horse like a hunting falcon. As he arrived by
the side of this youth, about two hundred men had surrounded this child.
They fled as the Imam attacked, and one of the enemy's men who had
dismounted to sever Qasim's head was himself trampled under the hoofs of
the horses of his fleeing comrades. The one who is said to have been
trampled to death under the hoofs of the horses was one of the enemy's
men, not Hadrat Qasim. In any case, when the Imam arrived at Qasims
side, there was so much dust and confusion that nobody could see what
was happening; When the dust settled down, they saw the Imam sitting at
Qasim's side with his head in his arms. They heard the Imam utter this
sentence:
My nephew! By God, it is very hard on your uncle that you should
call him and he should not be able to respond, or that he should
respond without being able to do anything for you! [12]
It was at this moment that a cry came from this youth and his spirit
departed towards its Creator.
O God, may our ultimate end be one that is of felicity. Make us
aware of the realities of Islam! Remove from us our ignorance and
nescience with Your grace and munificence. Give all of us the ability to
act with sincere intentions. Fulfill our legitimate needs and forgive
all our dead and pardon them.
Continued in part 2 ...
Notes from part 1:
[1] J. M Rodwell in his translation of the Qur'an
(London: Everyman's Library, p 345) makes in a footnote the following
remark under this verse:
"This is one of the passages which shows great familiarity with the
habit of the Jews on the part of Muhammad." [Tr.]
[2] The professional maddah, himself somewhat
of a rawdeh khwan, though mostly without a clerics training, is
someone who recites elegies, verses and even delivers a rawdah in
the majalis, the gatherings that are held for the sake of
ceremonial mourning, before the rawdeh e khawn takes to the
minbar.[Tr.]
[3] This is a reference to his controversial book
Fasl al-Khitab in which he, contrary to the general belief of
Shi'i Imami scholars through the course of history, raised doubts
concerning the occurrence of tahrif (mainly the occurrence of
deletions) in the Qur'an.[Tr.]
[4] The rawdeh-khawn, often a cleric is
someone who delivers the rawdah, consisting of narratives
relating in particular to the martyrdom of Imam Husayn, his family and
companions, and in general to the ordeals of Ahlal Bayt, the Prophet's
family. Wa'iz, Dhakir, Minbari, etc. are other names for the
professional rawdeh-khwan.
[5] The verse pertains to the story of Moses at the
time of his flight from Egypt: So he departed therefrom, fearful and
vigilant; he said, 'My Lord, deliver me from the wrongdoers.' And when
he turned his face towards Midian, he said, 'It may be that my Lord will
guide me on the right way.' Quran, 28:21-22
[6] Ibn Tawus, al-Luhuf, p. 47
[7] The Shari'ah stipulates certain modifications
in the obligatory salat, the daily ritual prayers, when offered in
conditions of war and danger of the enemy's attack. The salat
thus offered is referred to as salat al-khawf; (see the Quran,
4:101). [Tr.]
[8] It was a tradition among the Arab warriors to
recite verses during combat and encounter with the enemy on the
battlefield. Rajaz is the form of poetry composed of such
purposes and occasions. [Tr.]
[9] Bihar al-Anwar, vol. 44 p. 392, A'lam
al-Wara, p. 234, al-Shaykh al-Mufid, Kitab al-Irshad, p. 231,
al-Muqarrim, Maqtal al-Husayn, p. 257. Apparently, there was a
tent where water-skins used to be kept and stored from the first days of
the caravan's halt at Karbala'.
[10] This is a reference to the Husayniyyeh-ye
Irshad, in Tehran. Husayniyyah is a building which is at times
also used as a mosque but is built mainly with the purpose of holding
mourning ceremonies during the months of Muharram and Safar as well as
other occasions relating to anniversaries of the martyrdom of the
figures of the Ahl al-Bayt.
[11] Ibn Shahr Ashub, al-Manaqib, iii, p.
106, see also A'lam al-Wara, p.242; al-Luhuf, 48; Bihar
al-Anwar, vol 45 p. 35, al-Mufid's Kitab al Irshad, p. 239,
al-Muqarrim's Maqtal al-Husayn, p. 331; and al-Tabari's
Ta'rikh, vi, p. 256.
[12] Ibn Shahr Ashub, al-Manaqib, iv, p.
107, A'lam al-Wara, p. 243; al-Luhuf, 38; Bihar
al-Anwar, vol. 45 p. 35, al-Mufid's Kitab al Irshad, p. 239,
al-Muqarrim's Maqtal al-Husayn, p. 332; and al-Tabari's
Ta'rikh, vi, p. 257.
