We said that the event of 'Ashura'
has been subject to tahrif and it has occurred both in
its outward form as well as its inner content. A consequence of
these distortions has been that this great historic document and
this great educative source has become ineffectual or less
potent, in our lives, leaving, at times, even an opposite
effect. All of us have the duty to purge it of the distortions
that have polluted this sacred document. Tonight we will discuss
the general factors responsible for tahrif. Thereafter
our discussion will focus on tahrif in the content and
significance of this event.
The Factors of Tahrif:
These factors are of two kinds, one of which are of a general
nature. That is, there are in general certain factors that lead
to the corruption of histories and these are not limited to the
event of 'Ashura' alone. For instance, the enemy's motives are
themselves a factor that distort an event. In order to achieve
their purposes, the enemies bring about alterations in
historical texts or misinterpret them. There are many examples
of it which I do not wish to mention here. All that I would say
is that this kind of tahrif did play a role in distorting
the facts of Karbala', and the enemies did take resort in
misrepresenting the uprising of Imam Husayn. As usually happens,
the enemies accuse sacred movements of causing conflict and
division and of disrupting social harmony and peace. The Umayyad
regime also made much effort to give such a hue to the Husayni
uprising.
Such propaganda began from the very first day. When Muslim
arrived in Kufah, Yazid, while sending an order appointing Ibn
Ziyad to the governership of Kufah, wrote: "Muslim, son of 'Aqil,
has gone to Kufah and his aim is to disrupt peace and to create
social discord and disunity in the Muslim community. Go and
suppress him." When Muslim was captured and brought to the
dar al-imarah, the governor's residency, Ibn Ziyad said to
Muslim: "Son of 'Aqil! What was it that brought you to this
city? The people here lived in satisfaction and peace. You came
and disrupted their peace, causing disunity and conflict amongst
Muslims." Muslim answered in a manly manner and said: "Firstly,
I did not come to this city on my own account. It was the people
of this city who invited us. They wrote a great number of
letters, which are in our possession. In those letters they
wrote that your father, Ziyad, who ruled this city for years,
had killed its virtuous men and imposed its scoundrels over the
virtuous, subjecting them to various forms of tyranny and
injustice. They appealed to us to help them establish justice.
We have come to establish justice!"
The Umayyad regime did wage much propaganda of this kind, but
their misrepresentations did not affect the history of Islam.
You will not find a single competent historian in the world who
might have said that Husayn ibn 'Ali, naudhubillah, made
an unlawful uprising, that he rose to cause conflict and
disunity among the people. No. The enemy could not bring about
any misrepresentation in [the history of] the event of Karbala'.
Most regrettably, whatever tahrif has occurred in the
event of Karbala' has been at the hands of the friends.
The Second Factor:
The second factor is the human tendency towards myth-making
and for turning facts into legends. This tendency has been at
work in all the world's historical traditions. There is a
tendency in men for hero worship which induces the people to
fabricate myths and legends about national and religious
heroes. [13] The best evidence of it are the
legends that the people have invented around the figures of some
geniuses such as Ibn Sina and Shaykh Baha'i. Ibn Sina,
undoubtedly, was a genius and was gifted with extraordinary
physical and intellectual powers. But these very gifts have led
the people to weave out legends about him. For instance, it is
said that once Ibn Sina saw a man from a distance of one
parasang and remarked that the man was eating a bread made with
oil. They asked him how could he know that the man was eating a
bread and that it was made with oil. He replied that he saw
flies circling the bread, which had made him conclude that there
was oil in the bread. Obviously, this is a legend. Someone who
can see flies from the distance of one parasang will see a bread
made with oil much sooner than he would see flies!
Or it is said that once during the time that Ibn Sina was
studying at Isfahan he complained that when he gets up in the
middle of the night to study, he was disturbed by the noise of
the hammering of the coppersmiths of Kashan. They went and made
a test. One night they told the coppersmiths of Kashan not to
use their hammers. That night, said Ibn Sina, he had slept
peacefully and was undisturbed in his study. Obviously this is a
legend.
Many such legends have been made about Shaykh Bahi'i as well.
Such things are not confined to the event of 'Ashura.
However, let the people say what they would about Ibn Sina. What
harm does it do? None! But in respect of individuals who are
guides of mankind and whose words and deeds and whose stands and
uprisings serve as a model and authority, there should not be
any tahrif whatsoever in their statements, in their
personality, and history.
How many legends have been fabricated by us Shi'is about Amir
al Mu'minin 'Ali, many Peace be upon him! There is no doubt that
'Ali ('a) was an extraordinary man. No one has doubts
about 'Ali's courage which was superior to that of any ordinary
human being. 'Ali did not encounter any contestant in battle
without felling him to the ground. But does that satisfy the
myth makers? Never! For instance, there is the legend about
'Ali's encounter with Marhab in the battle of Khaybar with all
the curious details about the physique of Marhab. The historians
have also written that 'Ali's sword cut him into two from the
middle (I don't know whether the two halves were perfectly
equal!). But here they found the opportunity to weave out fables
which are harmful for the faith. It is said that God commanded
Gabriel to go immediately to the earth lest 'Ali's sword when it
comes down on Marhab should cut the earth into two halves,
reaching right down to the Cow and the Fish. Gabriel was told to
shield the blow with his wings. Gabriel went and when 'Ali
struck the blow with his sword, it slashed Marhab into two
halves which had they been put in a balance would have turned
out to be exactly equal. However, one of Gabriel's wings
suffered injury and he could not ascend to the heaven for forty
days. When at last he arrived in heaven, God asked him as to
where he had been all these days. He replied, "O Lord! I was on
the earth. You had given me an assignment to go there." He was
asked why he had taken so much time to return. Gabriel said, "O
God, the blow of 'Ali's sword wounded my wings and I was busy
bandaging and healing them all these forty days!" According to
another legend 'Ali's sword flew so swiftly and slickly through
Marhab's forehead cutting all the way to the saddle that when
'Ali pulled away his sword Marhab himself did not know what had
happened (he thought the blow had gone amiss). He jeered at
'Ali, "Was that all of your swordsmanship?!" 'Ali' said to him,
"Just move yourself a bit and see." As soon as Marhab made a
movement, one half of his body fell on one side of the horse and
the other on the other side!
Hajji Nuri, this great man, in his book Lu'lu wa marjan,
while condemning the practice of fabricating of such legends,
writes about legends that some people have put into circulation
concerning the valour of Hadrat Abu al-Fadl al-'Abbas. According
to one of them, in the Battle of Siffin (in which,
basically, it is not known whether he had participated, and even
if he did he must have been a boy of fifteen years) he threw a
man into the air, then another, and so on up to eighty men, and
by the time the last one was thrown up the first one had not yet
reached the ground. Then when the first one came down, he cut
him into two halves, then the second and so on to the last man!
A part of the interpolations in the narratives of the event
of Karbala have resulted from the myth-making tendency. The
Europeans assert that one finds many exaggerations in accounts
pertaining to the history of the East, and there is some truth
in what they say. Mulla Darbandi writes in his book Asrar
al-shahadah that the cavalry of the army of 'Umar ibn Sa'd
consisted of six hundred thousand horsemen and twenty million
infantrymen - in all a force of one million and six hundred
thousand plus all the people of Kufah! Now how large was Kufah?
Kufah was a recently founded city and not more than thirty-five
years old, as it was built during the time of 'Umar ibn Khattab.
It was built at 'Umar's orders as a military outpost for Muslim
warriors near the borders of Iran. It is not certain whether the
entire population of Kufah during that time was even a hundred
thousand. That a force of one million and six hundred thousand
could have been assembled on that day and that Husayn ibn 'Ali'
should have killed three hundred thousand of them is not at all
reasonable. Such figures cast a shadow on the whole event.
It is said that someone once made exaggerated claims about
the largeness of the city of Herat in former days. He said,
'Herat was a very big city at one time.' 'How big? he was asked.
He said, 'At one time there were in Herat twenty thousand
one-eyed cooks named Ahmad selling head and totters stew. Now
imagine, how many men there must be in a city, and how many
named Ahmad, and how many one-eyed Ahmads, to have twenty-one
thousand one-eyed Ahmads selling head and totters stew!
This myth-making tendency has always been very active; but we
must not leave a sacred document to the mercy of myth-makers.
There is amongst us, the Ahl al-Bayt, in every
generation reformers who purge the faith of the perversions
of the extremists, of the false beliefs of the falsifiers,
and of the misinterpretations of the ignorant. [14]
We have a duty here. Now let anyone say anything he likes about
Herat. But is it right that such legends as these should find
way into the history of the event of Ashura', an event
concerning which our duty is to keep it alive and revive its
memory every year?
The Third Factor
The third factor is of a particular nature. The two factors
that we have discussed above, that is, the hostile ends of the
enemies and the human tendency for conjuring legends and myths,
apply to all histories of the world, but there is also a factor
which is specific to the event of Ashura' that has led to
fabrication of stories.
The leaders of the faith, from the time of the Noble
Messenger and the Pure Imams, have commanded in clear and
emphatic terms that the memory of Husayn ibn 'Ali must be kept
alive and that his martyrdom and ordeals should be commemorated
every year. Why? What is the reason underlying this Islamic
ordinance? Why is there so much encouragement for and emphasis
on visiting the shrine of Husayn ibn 'Ali? We should reflect
over these questions. Some might say that it is for the sake of
condoling with Hadrat Zahra' and offering her consolation! But
is it not ridiculous to imagine that Hadrat Zahra' should still
need consolation after fourteen hundred years, whereas, in
accordance with the explicit statements of Imam Husayn and
according to our creed, since his martyrdom Imam Husayn and
Hadrat Zahra have been together in heaven? What a thing to say!
Is it correct to think of Hadrat Zahra as a little child that
goes on weeping, even after fourteen centuries, and whom we have
to go and console? Such kind of beliefs are destructive for
religion. Imam Husayn ('a) established the practical
ideology of Islam and he is the practical model for Islamic
movements. They (that is the Prophet and Imams) wanted Imam
Husayn's ideology to be kept alive. They wanted Husayn should
reappear every year with those sweet, sublime and heroic summons
of his and declare"
Don't you see that what is right and true is not acted upon,
and what is wrong and false is not forbidden? [In such
conditions] the man of faith should long to meet his true
Lord! [15]
They wanted the words:
Death is better than a life saddled with indignity, [16]
to be kept alive forever, and so also the words:
To me death is nothing but felicity, and life with
oppressors is nothing but disgrace, [17]
They wanted such other saying of Imam Husayn to be kept alive:
The children of Adam carry the mark of death like necklaces
that adorn the neck of damsels! [18]
Far from us is disgrace and indignity! [19]
They wanted to keep alive the memory of such scenes as that of
Imam Husayn's confronting a force of thirty thousand men, in a
state when he and his family are faced with a great ordeal, and
declaring in a manly manner - and the world has never seen such
a manly personage!
Indeed, that baseborn son of a baseborn father has left me
only two alternatives to choose from: the sword or disgrace.
And far from us is disgrace! It is disdainful to God, His
Messenger and the faithful that we should yield to anything
of that kind, and those born of chaste mothers and
high-minded fathers and possessing a lofty sense of honour
disdain that submission to vile men should be preferred to
honourable death! [20]
They wanted to keep alive the formative school of Imam Husayn so
that the rays of the Husayni spirit may breathe life into this
community. Its objective is quite clear.
Do not allow the event of 'Ashura' to be consigned to
oblivion! Your life, your humanity, and your dignity depend on
this event!
You can keep Islam alive only by its means! That is why they
have encouraged us to keep alive the tradition of mourning Imam
Husayn, and very rightly! The institution of mourning Husayn ibn
'Ali has a correct philosophy underlying it, a philosophy which
is also extremely sublime. It is fitting that we should do all
that we can to endeavour for the sake of this cause, provided we
understand its purpose and goal. Unfortunately some people have
not understood it. Without making the people understand the
philosophy of Imam Husayn's uprising and without making them
understand the station of Imam Husayn, they imagine that if they
just came and sat in mourning assemblies and shed tears, without
knowledge and understanding, it would atone their sins.
Marhum Hajji Nuri mentions a point in the book, Lu'lu' wa
marjan. That point is the belief of some people that the
reward (thawab) for mourning Imam Husayn is so great that
it is justifiable to employ any means whatsoever for this end.
Nowadays a group which subscribes to the views of Machiavilli in
political thought says that ends justify the means. If the end
is a good one, it does not matter what means are used to achieve
it. Now these people also say that we have a sacred and exalted
goal, which is mourning Imam Husayn and it does not matter what
means are used for this end. As the end is a sacred one, it does
not matter what the means are: Is it correct to perform
ta'ziyahs - even ta'ziyahs which are vulgar - for
this purpose? They ask, 'Do they make the people cry? If they
do, there is so problem with such ta'ziyahs.' So also
there is no problem if we blow trumpets, beat drums, commit
sinful acts, make men dress as women, conjure a wedding for
Qasim, or fabricate and forge episodes. Such things do not
matter in the tradition of mourning Imam Husayn, which is
something exclusive. Here lying is forgiven, forgery and
fabrication are forgivable, making pictures, and dressing men as
women is pardonable. Here any kind of sinful conduct is
forgivable as the end is most sacred! As a consequence of such
thinking, some persons have resorted to such tahrif and
misrepresentation that are stunning.
About ten or fifteen years ago when I was on a visit to
Isfahan, I met a great man, marhum Hajj Shaykh Muhammad Hasan
Najafabadi, may God elevate his station. I recounted to him a
rawdah that I had heard recently somewhere. It was something
which I had never heard until that time. Incidentally, this man
who had delivered that rawdah, an opium addict, had made
the people weep profusely with that rawdah of his. In it
he recounted the story of an old woman during the reign of
Mutawakkil (the 'Abbasid caliph who persecuted the Shi'ah). The
woman had set out with the purpose of making a pilgrimage to the
tomb of Imam Husayn, which was forbidden at that time and they
would cut off the hands of the pilgrims. He went on with the
narrative until the point when the old woman is taken and thrown
into the river. In that state she cries out for help, calling
out, "O Abu al-Fadl al-'Abbas!" As she is about to drown a
horseman appears and tells her to catch hold of his stirrup. The
woman takes hold of the stirrups but she says, "Why don't you
give me your hand?' The horseman says, "I haven't any hands!" At
this point the people wept a lot.
Marhum Hajj Shaykh Muhammad Hasan recounted for me the
history of this legend. In a place near the bazaar, in the near
abouts of Madrasah Sadr, there used to be held a majlis
which was one of the major majalis of Isfahan and which
even the marhum Hajj Mulla Isma'il Khwaju'i used to
attend. One day there had occurred there an incident. (It had
taken place earlier and he had heard its account from reliable
persons.) It involved a well-known wa'iz; who himself had
recounted it in these words: "One day mine was the last turn to
speak from the minbar. Other speakers had come and each one of
them had exerted his skills to make the people weep. Everyone
that came would try to surpass his predecessor and having
delivered his rawdah would descend from the minbar to sit
among the audience and watch the art of the succeeding
rawdeh-khwan. This continued until the time of noon. I saw
that everyone had tried his prowess and together they had drawn
out all the tears that the people could shed. What should I do?
I thought for a while, and then and there I made up this story.
When my turn came, I went up and related the story, leaving all
of them behind. In the afternoon, the same day, while attending
another majlis in the Char-suq locality, I saw that the
one who took to the minbar before me related this same story.
Gradually it came to be written in books and appeared in
print."
The false and wrong notion that the tradition of mourning
Imam Husayn is an exception to all norms, that it is justified
to use any means to make the people weep, has been a major
factor leading to fabrication of legends and tahrif.
Marhum Hajji Nuri, that saintly man and teacher of
marhum Hajj Shaykh 'Abbas Qummi, who as confessed by Hajj
Shaykh 'Abbas himself as well as others was superior to his
pupils, was an extraordinarily learned and pious man. In his
book he makes the point that if it is a correct notion that the
end justifies the means, then one may also justify the following
line of reasoning. One of the Islamic precepts is that bringing
delight to the heart of a believer and to do something to make
him happy is a greatly commendable act. Such being the case,
according to this reasoning, it is justifiable to do backbiting
in his presence, as he loves listening to backbiting. And should
someone say that it is sinful to do so, the answer will be," No!
The purpose is a sacred one and the backbiting is being done to
make a believer pleased and happy!"
Marhum Hajji Nuri gives another example. A man
embraces a non-mahram woman, which is an unlawful act. We ask
him why did you do that? He replies, "I have done it for a
believer's delight." The same reasoning can be applied to such
unlawful acts as adultery, drinking wine, and sodomy. Isn't this
an absurd reasoning? Wouldn't such a notion destroy the
Shari'ah? By God, to think that it is permissible to use any
kind of means for making people cry in mourning Imam Husayn is a
notion that contradicts everything that Imam Husayn stands for.
Imam Husayn was martyred to uplift Islam, as we confess while
reciting his ziyarah:
I bear witness that you established the prayer, gave
zakat commanded what is right and forbade what is wrong,
and did such jihad in the way of God as ought to be
done. [21]
Imam Husayn was killed in order to revive Islamic traditions,
Islamic laws and regulations, not in order to create an excuse
for the violation of Islamic norms. Na'udhubillah, we
have changed Imam Husayn into a destroyer of Islam: the Imam
Husayn that we have conjured in our imagination is a destroyer
of Islam.
In his book Hajji Nuri mentions a story that was related to
him by one of the students in Najaf, who originally came from
Yazd. "One day," he said, "in my youth I made a journey on foot
to Khorasan, going by the road that passes through the desert (kawr).
In one of the villages of Nayshabur I went to a mosque, as I did
not have any place to stay. The imam of the mosque came and led
the prayers. Afterwards he went on the minbar to make a
rawdah I was amazed to see the mosque attendant bring a
pile of stones which he handed over to the imam. When the
rawdah started, he ordered the lamps to be put out. When the
lamps had been put out, he pelted the stones at the audience and
there arose cries from the people. When the lamps were lighted,
I saw bleeding heads. Their eyes were tearful as they walked out
of the mosque. I approached the imam and asked him why he had
done such a thing. He said, 'I have tested these people. There
is no rawdah in the world that will make them weep. As
weeping for the sake of Imam Husayn has a great reward and
thawab, I have found that the only way to make them cry is
to throw stones on their heads. This is how I make them weep.' "
He believed that the end justifies the means. The end was to
mourn Imam Husayn though it should involve emptying a pile of
stones on the people's heads.
Accordingly, this is a particular factor which is specific to
this historic event and it has led to much fabrication and
tahrif.
When one studies history one finds what they have done to
this event. By God, Hajji Nuri is right when he says that if we
were to weep for Imam Husayn today, we should mourn for him on
account of these falsehoods, fabrications and tahrif!
There is a well-known book called Rawdat al-shuhada'.
whose author was Mulla Husayn Kashifi. According to Hajji Nuri,
he was the first to write in his book the stories of Za'far the
Jinn and the one about Qasim's wedding. I have read this book. I
used to imagine that it contained only one or two of such cases.
But afterwards when I read it I saw that the matter was very
much different. This book, which is in Persian, was compiled
about five-hundred years ago. Mulla Husayn Kashifi was a scholar
and learned man. He has authored several books including the
Anwar suhayli. His biographical accounts do not indicate
whether he was a Shi'i or a Sunni. Basically he was a Chameleon:
among the Shi'ah he would pose as an outright Shi'i, while
amongst the Sunnis he would pass as a Hanafi. He was a native of
Sabzawar, a Shi'i centre whose people were staunch Shi'is. In
Sabzawar he would act as an out and out Shi'i, and at times when
he would go to Herat ('Abd al-Rahman Jami was the husband of his
sister or sister-in-law) he would give sermons for the Sunnis in
the Sunni style. But in Sabzawar he narrated the tragedies of
Karbala'. His death occurred around 910/1504, that is, either at
the end of the 9th or the beginning of the 10th century. This
was the first book, compiled about five hundred years ago, to be
written as an elegiac narrative (marthiyah). Earlier the
people used to refer to the primary sources. Shaykh Mufid, may
God be pleased with him, wrote the Irshad and how sound
is his narration! If we were to refer to the Irshad of
Shaykh Mufid we would not stand in need of any other source.
Tabari, among Sunni authors, has also written about it. Ya'qubi,
Ibn 'Asakir and Khwarazmi have also written. I don't know what
this unjust man has done! When I read this book I saw that even
the names are spurious. He mentions names among Imam Husayn's
companions that never existed. He mentions names of the enemy's
men which are also spurious. He has turned the factual accounts
of the event into fables.
As this was the first book to be written in Persian, the
orators in mourning assemblies, who were mostly illiterate and
could not use the Arabic texts, would take this book and read
from it in the mourning sessions. That is why the gatherings
that are held nowadays to mourn Imam Husayn are called
rawdeh-khwani. Rawdeh-khwani was not in vogue during
the time of Imam Sadiq or Imam Hasan 'Askari, nor it was
prevalent during the times of Sayyid Murtada [d 436/1044] or
even Khwajah Nasir al-Din al-Tusi [d. 672/1273].
Rawdeh-khwani came into vogue since the last five hundred
years and it came to be called as such. Rawdeh-khwani
meant reading from the book Rawdat al-shuhada', a pack of
lies. From the time that this book fell into the hands of the
people, no one has bothered to study the actual history of Imam
Husayn.
Then, about sixty or seventy years ago, there appeared
another man, the marhum Mulla Darbandi. He took all the
contents of the Rawdat al-shahuda' and compiled them
together with other material, collecting it all in a book called
Asrar al-shahadah. The contents of this book make one
lament for the fate of Islam.
Hajji Nuri writes, "We used to attend the lectures of Hajj
Shaykh 'Abd al-Husayn Tehrani (who was a very saintly man) and
benefited from his teaching. A sayyid from Hillah, who was a
rawdeh-khwan, came to meet him and he showed him a book
written about the events of Imam Husayn's martyrdom (maqtal,
plural: maqatil) to see whether its contents were
reliable. This book did not have any beginning or end. Only at
one place in it was mentioned the name of a certain mulla of
Jabl al-'Amil who was among the pupils of the author of the
Ma'alim al-usul. Marhum Hajj Shaykh 'Abd al-Husayn took the
book to examine it.
First he studied the biographical accounts of that scholar
and found that such a book had not been attributed to him. Then
he read the book itself and found it to be full of falsehoods.
He said to that sayyid, 'This book is a pack of lies. Don't
circulate this book and don't quote anything from it, for it is
unlawful to do so. Basically this book has not been written by
that scholar and its contents are spurious.' " Hajji Nuri says
that the same book fell into the hands of the author of Asrar
al-shahadah and he copied all its contents into his book,
from the beginning to the end!"
Hajji Nuri relates another episode, which is rather touching.
Once a man came to author of the Maqami' [22]
and said to him, "Last night I saw a horrible dream." "What was
it?" he asked him. He said, "I saw that I am biting away flesh
from the body of Imam Husayn." The scholar trembled on hearing
these words. He lowered his head and thought for a while. Then
he said, "Perhaps you are a marthiyeh-khwan?". "Yes, I
am," he replied. He said, "Hereafter, either abandon
marthiyeh-khwani altogether or draw your material from
reliable books. You are tearing away the flesh Imam Husayn, with
these lies of yours. It was God's grace that He showed this to
you in a dream."
If one studies the history of 'Ashura' one will find that it
is the most vivid and well-documented of histories with plenty
of sources. The marhum Akhund Khurasani used to say, "Those who
are ever after 'new' rawdahs should go and read the true
accounts, for no one has ever heard them" One should study the
addresses of Imam Husayn ('a) delivered in Makkah - in
the Hijaz as a whole - at Karbala', during his journey, as well
as the sermons addressed to his companions, the questions and
answers that took place between him and others, the letters that
were exchanged between him and other people, the letters that
were exchanged between the enemies themselves, in addition to
the accounts of those (from among the friends as well the
enemies) who were present on the occasion of 'Ashura'. There
were three or four persons from among Imam Husayn's companions
who survived, including a slave named 'Uqbah ibn Sam'an, who had
accompanied the Imam from Makkah and lived to write the accounts
pertaining to the Imam's troops. He was captured on the day of
'Ashura' but was released when he told them that he was a slave.
Humayd ibn Muslim was another chronicler who accompanied the
army of 'Umar ibn Sa'd. Of those present on the occasion was
Imam Zayn al-'Abidin ('a) himself who has recounted all
the events. There is no blind spot in the history of Imam Husayn
('a).
Hajji Nuri refers to a spurious story that relates to Imam
Zayn al-'Abidin ('a). According to it when there remained
no companion with Hadrat Abu 'Abd Allah ('a), the Hadrat
went into the tent of Imam Zayn al- 'Abidin ('a) to bid
him good-bye. Imam Zayn al-'Abidin ('a) asked him,
"Father! How did things come about between you and these people?
(that is, Imam Zayn al-'Abidin was unaware of what was happening
until that time). The Imam said to him, "Son, this matter has
ultimately led to a battle." 'What happened to Habib ibn
Mazahir?, asked Imam Zayn al-'Abidin. "He was killed," replied
the Imam. "How about Zuhayr ibn Qayn?" "He was also killed,"
replied the Imam. "What happened to Burayr ibn Hudayr?" "He was
killed," said Imam Husayn ('a). Imam Zayn al-'Abidin
continued naming each of his father's companions one after
another and the Imam's reply was the same Then he asked
concerning the men of Banu Hashim. "What happened to Qasim ibn
Hasan?" What happened to my brother 'Ali Akbar?" "What happened
to my uncle Abu al-Fadl The answer was the same: "He has been
killed." This is a fabrication and a lie. Imam Zayn al-'Abidin,
na'udhubillah, was not so sick and unconscious as not to
know what was going on. Historians have written that even in
that state of illness he rose from his bed and said to Zaynab,
"Aunt, bring me my staff and give me a sword." In any case, Imam
Zayn al-'Abidin ('a) was one of those who were present on
the scene and related the accounts of events.
Truly, we should be penitent for these crimes and treacheries
that we are guilty of in respect of Abu 'Abd Allah al-Husayn ('a),
his companions, comrades and members of his family, and for
effacing all their achievements. He should do penance and then
make effort to derive benefit from this most educative source.
Is there any inadequacy in the life of 'Abbas ibn 'Ali as
recounted in the reliable maqatil (accounts of
martyrdom)? The single point that there was no danger to his own
life is enough to be a matter of pride for him. Imam Husayn had
also told him, "They are only after me, and if they kill me,
they will not have anything again anyone else." At Kufah, when
Shimr ibn Dhi al-Jawshan was departing for Karbala', one of
those who were present said to Ibn Ziyad that some of his
relatives on the mother's side were with Husayn ibn 'Ali. He
requested Ibn Ziyad to write a letter granting them amnesty, and
Ibn Ziyad wrote it. Shimr belonged to a clan that had remote
ties with the tribe of Umm al-Banin (the mother of Abu al-Fadl).
Shimr personally brought this letter of amnesty on the night
following the ninth day of Muharram. This wretch approached the
camp of Husayn ibn 'Ali and shouted, "Where are my nephews!" (ayna
banu ukhtina?!).[23] Abu al-Fadl, along
with his full brothers, was sitting with Hadrat Abu 'Abd Allah ('a).
He remained silent and did not reply, until the Imam said to
him, "Answer him, though he be an evil man (ajibuhu in kana
fasiqa). At the Imam's leave, he answered Shimr, saying,
"What do you want?" (Ma taqul?). Shimr said, "I have come
with some good news for you. I have brought a letter of amnesty
for you from the emir, 'Ubayd Allah. You are now free, and you
will be safe if you leave now." Abu al-Fadl said to him, "May
God damn you and your emir, as well as the letter that you
bring. Do you think we will abandon our Imam and brother for the
sake of our own safety?"
On the night of 'Ashura', the first person to declare his
loyalty towards Abu 'Abd Allah was his brother Abu al-Fadl.
Aside from the foolish exaggerations that are often made, that
which is confirmed by history is that Abu al-Fadl was a very
wise person, valiant and courageous, tall and most handsome. He
had been nicknamed 'The Moon of the Hashimis.'[24]
These things are true. To be sure, he had inherited Ali's
courage. The story is also true regarding his mother, that Ali'
had asked 'Aqil, his brother, to propose a woman born of a
heroic descent (waladatha al-fuhulah) [25]
who might give birth to son who would be a warrior and man of
valour (li-talidani farisan shuja'ah).[26]
'Aqil had suggested Umm al-Banin. So much of it is true. 'Ali's
wish was fulfilled in Abu al-Fadl.
According to one of two reports, on the day of 'Ashura' Abu
al-Fadl came to the Imam and said, "Dear brother, now give me
the permission. This breast of mine is suffocated and I can bear
it no more. I want to sacrifice my life for your sake." I don't
know the reason why Imam responded to Hadrat Abu al-Fadl's
request in the manner that he did. Abu 'Abd Allah himself knows
better. He said, "Brother, now that you want to leave, try to
get some water for these children." Hadrat Abu al-Fadl had
already come to receive the nickname Saqqa (water
carrier), as earlier, on one or two occasions, at nights he had
been able to pass through the enemy's ranks to fetch water for
the children in Abu 'Abd Allah's camp. It was not the case that
they had not drunk any water for three days and nights. Access
to water had been closed for three days and nights, but during
this time they had been able to get some water on one or two
occasions, including the night of 'Ashura', when they had taken
bath and washed their bodies. Abu al-Fadl consented. Now note
this majestic scene! What greatness! What valour! What a spirit
of understanding and self-sacrifice! A lone warrior, alone by
himself, advances against a host. The number of men who guarded
the river bank was four thousand. He descends along the river
bank and leads his horse into the water (all historians have
written this). First, he fills the waterskin that he has brought
and lays it on his shoulder. He is thirsty. The air is hot and
has been fighting. But as he sits on the back of his horse and
the horse stands in water reaching up to its belly, he lowers
his hands into water, takes water into them and raises them
somewhat towards his sacred lips.
Those who were watching from a distance report that he
hesitated for a while. Then they saw that he threw the water
back and came out of the river without drinking any. No one knew
why Abu Al-Fadl did not drink water there. But when he came out
he recited rajaz verses which were addressed to himself.
Now from these verses they understood why he had not drunk
water:
O soul of Abu al-Fadl!
My wish is that you live not after Husayn!
Will you have a drink of cold water,
While there stands Husayn, thirsty, near the tents,
And about to drink the cup of death!?
Such is not the way of my faith,
Nor that of one who abides in conviction and truth! [27]
What would become of manliness? Of honour? Of caring love? And
of sharing in the hardship of one's dear ones? Isn't Husayn your
Imam, and you his follower?
While Husayn is about to drink the cup of death,
Will you have a drink of cold water?
Never! My faith does not permit me to do that! My loyalty does
not allow me to do such a thing! Abu al-Fadl changed his route
while returning and now he came through the palm groves.
Earlier, he had come by the direct way, but he knew that he now
carried a precious trust with him. So he changed his route and
all his concern now was to get the water safely to the camp, for
it was possible that a single arrow may pierce the waterskin and
fail his task of bringing the water to its destination. In the
mean while they heard that Abu al-Fadl had changed his rajaz.
It appeared that something had happened. Now he cried out:
By God!
Even if you sever my right arm,
I will persist in defending my faith,
And the Imam, who is the true one, for certain,
the Prophet's grandson, pure and trustworthy! [28]
That is, by God even if you cut my right arm I will not flinch
from defending Husayn. Not much time passed when his rajaz
changed again:
O my soul, fear not the faithless,
And receive the good news of Almighty's mercy,
In the company of the Prophet, the Master and the Elect,
Though, insolently, they should slash my left arm! [29]
These rajaz verses signaled that his left arm too had
been severed. They write that with characteristic dexterity he
somehow turned the water-skin and bent himself over it. I will
not say what happened thereafter as it is most heart rending.
It is a custom to recount the account of the ordeals of this
great human being on the night of Tasu'ah (9th Muharram).
Let me add that Umm al-Banin, the mother of Hadrat Abu al-Fadl
was alive at the time of the event of Karbala', though she was
in Madinah at the time. She was given the news that all her four
sons were martyred at Karbala'. This saintly woman would go to
the Baqi' cemetery and mourn over her sons. They write that her
elegies were so full of pathos that they brought tears to
everyone who heard them, even Marwan ibn Hakam, who was the
staunchest of the enemies of the Prophet's family. Sometimes she
would remember all her sons and, at times, especially Abu
al-Fadl, the eldest of them, who was senior most of the
brothers, both in respect of age as well as in respect of
spiritual and bodily merits. I remember one of her two elegies
and I will recite them for you. These are the elegiac verses
that this grieved mother recited in mourning for her sons (in
general, the Arabs recite elegiac verses in a very touching
style):
You, who have seen 'Abbas make repeated forays against the
base hosts,
And following him were the Lion's sons, each a mighty lion!
I have been told, my son's head was struck when his arms
were cut,
Alas for my Lion's cub! Did a club fall on his head?
O 'Abbas! None would have dared to approach it,
Were your sword in your hand! [30]
That is, 'O observant eye, tell me, you who have been in
Karbala' and watched its scenes and observed the moment when Abu
al-Fadl, my son of a lion, with my other lion's cubs following
him, attacked that cowardly crowd - tell me is it true what I
have been told? They say that when they had cut my son's arms an
iron club fell on my dear one's head. Is that true?' Then she
says, "Abu al-Fadl! My dear! I know that if you had arms there
wasn't a man in the whole world to have the guts to face you!
They had the temerity to do that because your arms had been
severed from your body.
Continued in part 3 ...
Notes to part 2:
[13] During the nights of the 'id
of Ghadir, Dr. Shari'ati delivered an excellent lecture on this
general human tendency for hero-worship and making of myths and
legends, turning historic figures into legendary heroes with
extraordinary and superhuman characteristics.
[14] Al-Kulayni, Usul al-Kafi,
"kitab fadl al-'ilm", p. 32; al-Saffar, Basa'ir al-darajat,
p.10
[15] Bihar al-anwar, vol. 44, p.
381; Tuhaf al-'uqul, p. 176; al-Luhuf, 33;
al-Khwarazmi's Maqtal al-Husayn, ii, p. 5.
[16] Ibn Shahr Ashub, al-Manaqib,
iv, p. 110; al-Luhuf, p. 50, Bihar al-anwar, vol.
45, p. 50; al-Irbili, Kashf al-ghummah, ii, p. 32.
[17] Bihar al-anwar, vol. 44, p.
381; Tuhaf al-'uqul, p. 176; al-Luhuf, 33.
[18] Bihar al-anwar, vol. 44, p.
366; al-Luhuf, p. 25.
[19] Al-Luhuf, p. 41; Khwarazmi's
Maqtal al-Husayn, ii, p. 7; Ibn 'Asakir, Ta'rikh
al-Sham, iv, p. 333; al-Muqarrim's Maqtal al-Husayn,
p. 287; al-Harrani, Tuhaf al-'uqul, p. 176; Shaykh 'Abbas
al-Qummi, Nafs al-mahmum, p. 149, Mulhaqat Ihqaq
al-haqq, xi, pp. 624-625.
[20] Ibid.
[21] Mafatih al-janan, the
ziyarah of Imam Husayn ('a) for the nights of 'Id
al-Fitr and 'Id al-Adha.
[22] Marhum Aqa Muhammad Ali was
the son of marhum Wahid Behbahani and both of them were
great men. Marhum Aqa Muhammad Ali migrated to Kirmanshah
where he wielded great influence.
[23] al-Muqarrim's Maqtal al Husayn,
p. 252, Bihar al-Anwar, vol. 44, p. 391, al-Luhuf,
p. 37
[24] al-Muqarrim's al-Abbas, p. 81;
Ibn Shahr Ashub, al-Manaqib, iv, p. 108
[25] al-Muqarrim's al-Abbas, p. 69
[26] Ibsar al-ayn fi ansar al-Husayn
alayh al-salam, p. 26
[27] Yanabi al-mawaddah, ii, p.
165; Bihar al-Anwar, vol. 45, p. 41
[28] Bihar al-Anwar, vol. 45, p.
40
[29] Ibid.
[30] Muntaha al-amal, i, p. 386.
