We can draw lessons from the life of Imam Husain to deal with the people who revel in hatred and have scant regard for humanity and human life
John Bradshaw once said, "Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God." Can man stand up to these conditions? "Man can but not necessarily with ease", Imam Husain managed to say daringly from the battlefield of Karbala (Iraq).
From Plato to Locke, all philosophers have been concerned about the danger of power being cornered by unscrupulous elements. The lust for power has been the seed of all-around corruption. There are certain crucial moments in the evolution of the human race, in which according to Ludwig Beethoven, "fate knocks at the gate of existence." These are instances in which socially active individuals are called upon to defend what is right and true, even risking their lives. Virtuous people who were endowed with sagacity and foresight always disliked sitting on the fence just listening to scheming, transgressor, and libertine despots. They acted as if they were the people who valued rectitude and struggled hard to preserve righteousness.
One such most critical situation arose when after the demise of Holy Prophet Mohammad, the school of Islamic thought, philosophy, culture, and administration was shifted to Caliphate with temporal and ecclesiastical powers. The four caliphs were Abu Bakar, Umar, Usman and Imam Ali Murtaza. Ali was assassinated by the henchman of the conspirator and hypocrite Muawiya son of Abu Sufian while Imam Ali was prostrating before Allah in the mosque. Subsequently, Muawiya deceitfully usurped the seat of the Caliphate in Syria and with the might of a sword declared himself the self-appointed caliph. Muawiya, the first ruler of the House of Umayyads displaced the democratic Islamic rule by oligarchical and barbaric despotic rule.
After the death of Muawiya, his son accursed Yazid ascended to the Caliphate seat of Syria. He was a heartless brute and had surpassed all his ancestors in practicing evil and vices. Yazidibn Muawiya was a hard-core terrorist and libertine. The barest mention of Yazid's objectionable character is taboo in this civilised society. Yazid was the mammon of unrighteousness whose lust for power prompted him to beat society into the mould he favoured. Yazid's criminal behaviour indicated the extreme occurrence of vulgar, inhuman innovations in the established Islamic values.
On the contrary, Husain was recognised throughout the Arab world for his excellence of behaviour, wisdom, compassion, and piety. Yazid instructed his governor Walid in Medina to force Husain to pledge allegiance to Yazid. Husain refused.
Husain's patience snapped when Yazid firmly demanded homage from him. Husain refused to subscribe to Yazid every time he was asked for allegiance as caliph and the leader of the faithful. Husain realized that the consequences of this prolonged anarchy in Islam and a wrecking triumph for immorality will permanently deface the true faith and a distorted pseudo-religion will emerge in the guise of Islam. Yazid bargained hard to choose between allegiance to him or facing death. Husain had a clear choice: either stand aside and let Yazid act according to his whims, justifying his abominable escapades, or counter and confront his lurking menace and acrimonious campaign. Husain who had to ensure the pristine purity of Islam refused allegiance.
The Karbala episode dates back to the 10th of Moharram, 61 Hijri (October 10, 680 AD), when there unfolded a grim spectacle. Husain be sought Yazid's commander-in-chief to let him go to 'Hindustan' but the proposal was rejected. On the morning of 10th Moharram, Husain and 72 immediate family members, including the children and a few companions were mercilessly massacred. Youngest among the martyrs was Husain's infant son, Ali Asghar.
The heads of 72 martyrs including the six-month-old Asghar were severed from their bodies and raised on lancers. The bodies were trampled by horses. The tents of Husain's remaining family members were torched. The children and ladies were made prisoners, paraded handcuffed, and fettered through the bazaars of Kufa and Syria until produced before the tyrant Yazid who was Satan in human form.
To remember the great sacrifice of the Lord of Martyrs, Imam Husain, men, and women, young and old, not only from the Muslim community but also from other faiths gather in homes and Imam bargahs to conduct majlis (congregation), where mournful tributes are paid to Husain through elegies called salam, soz, marsia, nauha and lyrical dirges. The congregation moves inexorably towards a crescendo of grief. The audience groaning heartbreakingly with tears, "Wa Mohammada, kushtashud Husain (O Mohammad, Husain has been assassinated).
Imam Husain is revered not only by Muslims but people of other faiths . The painting by Italian artist Bruno Cabrini shows how Muharram processions had tazias (replicas of Imam Husain's mausoleum in Iraq), during the 18th and 19th centuries in Rajasthan, Gujarat, and Maharashtra. Not only this, the Scindia of Baroda and Holkar of Indore conducted majlis. Even today, in Lucknow and heart of the Hinduism, Varanasi, Hindus join Muslims in mourning sessions.
(The writer is a senior journalist. The views expressed are personal)