The event of Karbala marks the greatest sacrifice for the sake of God in the human history. The minute and stunning details of this great event have been written and survived from the very first day by the eye witnesses.
For the last fourteen hundred centuries, the battle of Karbala reflects the collision of the good versus the evil, the virtuous versus the wicked, right versus the wrong, and the collision of Imam Husain (the head of virtue) versus Yazid (the head of impiety).
Edward G. Brown, the professor of Arabic and oriental studies at the
University of Cambridge, praises Imam Husain in these words:
"a reminder of the blood-stained field of Kerbela, where the grandson of the Apostle of God fell at length, tortured by thirst and surrounded by the bodies of his murdered kinsmen, has been at anytime since then sufficient to evoke, even in the most lukewarm and heedless, the deepest emotions, the most frantic grief, and an exaltation of spirit before which pain, danger and death shrink to unconsidered trifles."
[A Literary History of Persia, London, 1919, p. 227]
"a reminder of the blood-stained field of Kerbela, where the grandson of the Apostle of God fell at length, tortured by thirst and surrounded by the bodies of his murdered kinsmen, has been at anytime since then sufficient to evoke, even in the most lukewarm and heedless, the deepest emotions, the most frantic grief, and an exaltation of spirit before which pain, danger and death shrink to unconsidered trifles."
[A Literary History of Persia, London, 1919, p. 227]
As
the Imam of the time and true representative of his grandfather Prophet
Muhammad (S), Imam Husain (A) stood up against the tyrant of the time
to safeguard and protect Islam and guide fellow Muslims. On the other
hand, the staying power of the rulers (Mu'awiya and his son Yazid)
depended solely on the might of the sword. They used brute force to rule
over the Muslim empire even by all possible illicit means.
By the time the sun was set, the day
of Ashura in the plains of Karbala, witnessed Imam Husain (A) giving up
everything humanly possible in the way of God including his 72 brave
and loyal followers and his 6 months beautiful baby, Ali Asghar. In the
wake of such a great sacrifices, the Quran praises as:
“Think
not of those who are slain in God's way as dead. Nay, they are living,
finding their sustenance in the presence of their Lord” (Qur'an 3:169).
Before
the battle of Karbala, the world knew only the rule that “The Might is
the Right”. However, the day of Assura introduced even more powerful
rule to this world; “The Right is the Might” . Now, the blood of the
innocent could win over the sword of a tyrant.
Mahatma
Gandhi (Indian political and spiritual leader) writes: “I learned from
Hussein how to achieve victory while being oppressed.”
According to the great poet Rabindranath Tagore, Hussain’s sacrifice indicates spiritual liberation. He writes: “In
order to keep alive justice and truth, instead of an army or weapons,
success can be achieved by sacrificing lives, exactly what Imam Hussain
(A.S.) did”
Such an everlasting victory can only be achieved by the one who totally believes and trust in the Almighty God.
Thomas
Carlyle (Scottish historian and essayist) explains: “The best lesson
which we get from the tragedy of Karbala is that Husain and his
companions were rigid believers in God. They illustrated that the
numerical superiority does not count when it comes to the truth and the
falsehood. The victory of Husain, despite his minority, marvels me!”
Imam Hussain (A.S.) explains the mission of his sacrifice in his own words: “I
have taken this stand not out of arrogance or pride, neither out of
mischief or injustice. I have risen to seek reform in the community of
my grandfather. I would like to bid good, forbid evil, and follow the
tradition of my grandfather and my father ‘Ali bin Abi Talib.”
Charles
Dickens (English novelist) writes: “If Husain had fought to quench his
worldly desires…then I do not understand why his sister, wife, and
children accompanied him. It stands to reason therefore, that he
sacrificed purely for Islam.”
In
spite of all the painful aspects of Karbala, it holds a great
significance in the Islamic history, for the revolution of Imam Husain
(A) was not merely an event which had taken place by chance. It was
rather a movement for the revival of Islam. Imam Hussain (A) declared
his noble mission right from the day one.
Antoine
Bara (Lebanese writer) writes: “No battle in the modern and past
history of mankind has earned more sympathy and admiration as well as
provided more lessons than the martyrdom of Husayn in the battle of
Karbala.” (Husayn in Christian Ideology)
History
has seen numerous massacres of innocent people, but the tragedy of
Karbala is one of the few where men, women and children voluntarily
allowed themselves to be subjected to hunger, thirst, humiliation and
death on the burning sands of Karbala because they believed that Imam
Hussain (A) stood for righteousness. Little wonder that for over 1400
years Muslims, have been nurturing the tale of Karbala in their hearts
like an open wound, lest they should forget the supreme sacrifice of
Imam Hussain (A) and his followers.
Great
spiritual leaders are known to make great sacrifices, but at Karbala,
common men and women with infants at their bosom, their hearts and souls
aflame with righteousness, chose death rather than evil and weakness.
Such was the greatness of Imam Hussain (A); such was his spiritual
power, which could uplift common mortals to heights of supreme courage
and sacrifice.
Dr.
K. Sheldrake writes: “Of that gallant band, male and female knew that
the enemy forces around were implacable, and were not only ready to
fight, but to kill. Denied even water for the children, they remained
parched under the burning sun and scorching sands, yet not one faltered
for a moment. Husain marched with his little company, not to glory, not
to power of wealth, but to a supreme sacrifice, and every member bravely
faced the greatest odds without flinching.”
Dr.
Radha Krishnan writes “Though Imam Hussain gave his life years ago,
but his indestructible soul rules the hearts of people even today.”
The
tragedy of Karbala took place in 680 AD on the banks of the Euphrates
in Iraq but Karbala has a universal appeal and in today’s climate of
violence, it is more relevant than ever. The tragedy of Karbala and its
spirit of non-violent resistance and supreme sacrifice has been a source
of inspiration to the likes of Mahatma Gandhi and Pandit Nehru.
Mahatma
Gandhi’s first Salt Satyagrah was inspired by Imam Hussain’s non
violent resistance to the tyranny of Yazid. Gandhi is said to have
studied the history of Islam and Imam Hussain (A), and was of the opinion that Islam represented not the legacy of a sword but of sacrifices of saints like Imam Hussain (A).
Mahatma
Gandhi writes:“My faith is that the progress of Islam does not depend
on the use of sword by its believers, but the result of the supreme
sacrifice of Hussain (A), the great saint.”
Nehru considered Karbala to represent humanities strength and determination. He writes:
“Imam Hussain’s (A) sacrifice is for all groups and communities, an example of the path of righteousness.”
“Imam Hussain’s (A) sacrifice is for all groups and communities, an example of the path of righteousness.”
Dr.
Rajendra Prasad writes, “The sacrifice of Imam Hussain (A) is not
limited to one country, or nation, but it is the hereditary state of the
brotherhood of all mankind.”
Dr.
Radha Krishnan writes, “Though Imam Hussain (A) gave his life almost
1300 years ago, but his indestructible soul rules the hearts of people
even today.”
Swami
Shankaracharya describes, “It is Hussain’s (A) sacrifice that has kept
Islam alive or else in this world there would be no one left to take
Islam’s name.”
Mrs.
Sarojini Naidu writes, “I congratulate Muslims that from among them,
Hussain (A), a great human being was born, who is reverted and honored
totally by all communities”
Simon Ockley (1678-1720), the Professor of Arabic at the University of Cambridge writes:
"Then
Husain mounted his horse, and took the Koran and laid it before him,
and, coming up to the people, invited them to the performances of their
duty: adding, 'O God, thou art my confidence in every trouble, and my
hope in all adversity!'… He next reminded them of his excellencies, the
nobility of his birth, the greatness of his power, and his high descent,
and said, 'Consider with yourselves whether or not such a man as I am
is not better than you; I who am the son of your prophet's daughter,
besides whom there is no other upon the face of the earth. Ali was my
father; Jaafar and Hamza, the chief of the martyrs, were both my uncles;
and the apostle of God, upon whom be peace, said both of me and my
brother, that we were the chief of the youth of paradise. If you will
believe me, what I say is true, for by God, I never told a lie in
earnest since I had my understanding; for God hates a lie. If you do not
believe me, ask the companions of the apostle of God [here he named
them], and they will tell you the same. Let me go back to what I have.'
They asked, 'What hindered him from being ruled by the rest of his
relations.' He answered, 'God forbid that I should set my hand to the
resignation of my right after a slavish manner. I have recourse to God
from every tyrant that doth not believe in the day of account.'"
[The History of the Saracens, London, 1894, pp. 404-5]
Ignaz Goldziher (1850-1921), the Famous Hungarian orientalist scholar writes:
"Ever
since the black day of Karbala, the history of this family … has been a
continuous series of sufferings and persecutions. These are narrated in
poetry and prose, in a richly cultivated literature of martyrologies - a
Shi'i specialty - and form the theme of Shi'i gatherings in the first
third of the month of Muharram, whose tenth day ('ashura) is kept as the anniversary of the tragedy at Karbala. Scenes of that tragedy are also presented on this
day of commemoration in dramatic form (ta'ziya). 'Our feast days are our assemblies of mourning.' So concludes a poem by a prince of Shi'i disposition recalling the many mihan of
the Prophet's family. Weeping and lamentation over the evils and
persecutions suffered by the 'Alid family, and mourning for its martyrs:
these are things from which loyal supporters of the cause cannot cease.
'More touching than the tears of the Shi'is' has even become an Arabic
proverb."
[Introduction to Islamic Theology and Law, Princeton, 1981, p. 179]
Edward Gibbon (1737-1794), considered as the greatest British historian of his time writes
"In a distant age and climate the tragic scene of the death of Husain will awaken the sympathy of the coldest reader."
[The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, London, 1911, volume 5, pp. 391-2]
Peter J. Chelkowski, Professor of Middle Eastern Studies, New York University, writes
"Hussein
accepted and set out from Mecca with his family and an entourage of
about seventy followers. But on the plain of Kerbela they were caught in
an ambush set by the … caliph, Yazid. Though defeat was certain,
Hussein refused to pay homage to him. Surrounded by a great enemy force,
Hussein and his company existed without water for ten days in the
burning desert of Kerbela. Finally Hussein, the adults and some male
children of his family and his companions were cut to bits by the arrows
and swords of Yazid's army; his women and remaining children were taken
as captives to Yazid in Damascus. The renowned historian Abu Reyhan
al-Biruni states; "… then fire was set to their camp and the bodies were
trampled by the hoofs of the horses; nobody in the history of the human
kind has seen such atrocities."
[Ta'ziyeh: Ritual and Drama in Iran, New York, 1979, p. 2]
Reynold Alleyne Nicholson(1868-1945), Sir Thomas Adams Professor of Arabic at the University of Cambridge, writes, "Husayn
fell, pierced by an arrow, and his brave followers were cut down beside
him to the last man. Muhammadan tradition, which with rare exceptions
is uniformly hostile to the Umayyad dynasty, regards Husayn as a martyr
and Yazid as his murderer."
[A Literary History of the Arabs, Cambridge, 1930, p. 197 ]
Robert Durey Osborn (1835-1889), the Major of the Bengal Staff Corps, writes, "Hosain
had a child named Abdallah, only a year old. He had accompanied his
father in this terrible march. Touched by its cries, he took the infant
in his arms and wept. At that instant, a shaft from the hostile ranks
pierced the child's ear, and it expired in his father's arms. Hosain
placed the little corpse upon the ground. 'We come from God, and we
return to Him!' he cried; 'O Lord, give me strength to bear these
misfortunes!' … Faint with thirst, and exhausted with wounds, he fought
with desperate courage, slaying several of his antagonists. At last he
was cut down from behind; at the same instance a lance was thrust
through his back and bore him to the ground; as the dealer of this last
blow withdrew his weapon, the ill-fated son of Ali rolled over a corpse.
The head was severed from the trunk; the trunk was trampled under the
hoofs of the victors' horses; and the next morning the women and a
surviving infant son were carried away to Koufa. The bodies of Hosain
and his followers were left unburied on the spot where they fell. For
three days they remained exposed to the sun and the night dews, the
vultures and the prowling animals of the waste; but then the inhabitants
of a neighboring village, struck with horror that the body of a
grandson
of the Prophet should be thus shamefully abandoned to the unclean
beasts of the field, dared the anger of Obaidallah, and interred the
body of the martyr and those of his heroic friends.”
[Islam Under the Arabs, Delaware, 1976, pp. 126-7]
Sir William Muir (1819-1905),
the Scottish scholar and statesman and held the post of Foreign
Secretary to the Indian government as well as Lieutenant Governor of the
Northwestern Provinces writes: "The
tragedy of Karbala decided not only the fate of the caliphate, but of
the Mohammedan kingdoms long after the Caliphate had waned and
disappeared."
[Annals of the Early Caliphate, London, 1883, pp. 441-2]
Karbala
symbolizes the true face of struggle against injustice – non-violent
resistance. Not taking life but sacrificing your life for Islam. In
summary, it is not out of place to say in words of some known Indian
poets:
- Let humanity awaken and every tribe will claim Hussain as their own.
- In the martyr of Imam Hussain A.S.), lies the death of Yazid, for Islam resurrects after every Karbala