THE HUSAYN WHO SAID NO

Husayn's shrine in Karbala (Iraq)

Today’s the 2^nd of Muharram, the 1442^nd year of the Arab-Islamic lunar calendar. Contrary to the global custom, the Muslim new year doesn’t begin with festivities and isn’t succeeded by celebrations. Instead, the adherents of Islam (a minority of them, in fact) spend the first Islamic month mourning the death of Husayn b. Ali, the grandson of Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him and his descendants). Every New Year, these mourning rituals are commenced in the Shiite-majority countries. Every New Year, I try writing another blog/article/booklet regarding the Battle of Karbala (680 CE) in which Husayn was murdered by the Islamic forces of Iraq and Syria.

I like to initiate my historical writings from the very beginning. The Battle of Karbala, its importance, and its effects on later Islamic generations cannot be comprehended without a proper understanding of the events that took place before Husayn’s murder. What makes Shiite Muslims – a numerically insignificant but politically and militarily strong section of Muslims – cry over a guy who was killed some 1,400 years ago? What emotional connection do they have with the martyrs of Karbala? Let’s find out in this brief piece intended to cover the basics of the infamous Shiite-Sunni discord and the emergence of the clan of Alids in opposition to non-Alid Caliphs of Islam.

The Prophet Muhammad

Mecca was a commercial center in pre-Islamic Arabia and the hub of the pagan religious activities. Even during the times when warring Arab tribes were fond of swords, lancets, and battle-cries, they’d unanimously agreed never to spill a single drop of blood inside the boundaries of the Meccan sanctuary.  Folklore confirms that the city of Mecca was founded by Abraham – the patriarch of the Jewish people – with his son Ishmael – the legendary ancestor of the Arabian race. This father-son duo also laid the basis of a cubical that became the Baytullah or the House of God. Arab clans visited the House to pay homage to Allah – the creator deity – and venerate the lesser idols placed inside the temple.

The Meccan metropolis was controlled by the powerful Quraysh tribesmen. This tribe had two – among many – influential families that were rivals in Mecca. Hashimites and Umayyads entered a feud when Hashim humiliated the Umayyad ancestor – his nephew – and banished him to live in Syria for a decade. Prophet Muhammad was Hashim’s great-grandson and Umayyah grandfathered the Prophet's bitterest nemesis in Mecca, Abu Sufyan. This tribal competition stopped many members of the Umayyad family from joining the cause of Islam because they couldn’t tolerate the idea of submitting before a Hashimite. When the heathens had exiled Muslims to Medina (622 CE), Abu Sufyan led two armies against Muhamamd to destroy his community. In the end, the Prophet conquered Mecca (626 CE) and pardoned his previous enemies. That’s how Umayyads became Muslims.

The Rashidun Caliphate

The death of Allah’s Apostle (632 CE) was followed by the election of Abu Bakr – his closest friend and father-in-law – as the next leader of the Islamic State that had expanded into the entire Arabian Peninsula and posed a serious threat to the weakly-administrated Byzantian and Persian territories. Ali b. Abu Talib – the Prophet’s cousin and son-in-law – had his claims on the immediate succession of Muhammad. But he had to wait for 25 years before he could finally be chosen to lead the Muslim world. He showed obedience to the first three Caliphs (and became the fourth one). Umar, for instance, highly valued Ali’s judgment and appreciated the wisdom of this young man.

Abu Bakr and Umar allowed Muslim forces to infiltrate Egypt, Syria, Iraq, and Iran. Their pious generals invaded the non-Muslim provinces and annexed them to the Islamic State. Persia and Syria were conquered during Umar’s tenure, as were Palestine and Egypt. Abu Bakr had made Abu Sufyan’s son Yazid the governor of the Syrian territories. Yazid died during Umar’s reign so the Caliph gave this position to Yazid’s younger brother Mu’awiyah. Mu’awiyah displayed his military genius when Uthman allowed him to fight Romans in the ocean. He conquered Cyprus and promoted naval warfare among Muslims. Gradually, he became the most powerful guy in the Islamic world after Uthman and his secretary Marwan.

Uthman was an Umayyad who had rebelled against his family's wishes and embraced Islam early in Mecca. He was tortured by his uncle for becoming a Muslim. But the Prophet appreciated the valor and faith of this young lord so he made him his son-in-law. When the Prophet’s daughter died in Medina, Muhammad gave another child to Uthman in marriage. After Umar’s death, both Ali and Uthman wanted to take charge. But a Caliph-selection committee assigned by Umar mere days before his demise (644 CE) favored Uthman who became Umar’s successor at the age of 70. He looked after the Muslim affairs for 12 years and didn’t remove Mu’awiyah from the post of governor. He also appointed his family members on key government posts. The corruption of the Umayyad governors enraged the public and they gathered around Uthman’s house in 656 CE to assassinate him.

After Uthman had been killed, Ali was chosen as the next Caliph by Medina’s general public. One of the first steps taken by Ali was to depose Mu’awiyah and all other Uthmanid governors. This act resulted in a civil war in the Islamic State. Ali faced severe opposition from his enemies. The Umayyads disliked him for being a Hashimite and some Companions of Muhammad possessed a personal grudge against him. Therefore, Ali's government wasn't successful and he was eventually assassinated by a political enemy.

Ali's shrine in Najaf (Iraq)

The Civil War

Civil wars had emerged in the Islamic State after the death of Muhammad. Some of his followers adhered to false claimants of prophecy. Others refused to give their taxes to Abu Bakr’s government. The second civil war emerged when Ali delayed the trial of Uthman’s unidentified murderers. The Prophet’s widow and Abu Bakr’s daughter A’ishah called people to rally behind her camel and execute the suspected murderers of Uthman. Ali didn’t like that attempt to break the law and defeated her in the Battle of the Camel.

On the other hand, Mu’awiyah had refused to recognize the legitimacy of Ali’s caliphate. He accused him of being a beneficiary of Uthman’s death and rejected Ali’s demand to step down. Ali gathered his army and fought the Syrians in the Battle of Siffin. Then Mu’awiyah’s general ‘Amr b. al-‘As played a trick on the Iraqis and asked his men to lift Koranic manuscripts on the top of their lancets. It was a signal to bring the Word of God as the judge between the two rival armies. Ali quickly recognized this as a ruse but a portion of his followers was deceived by the apparent piety of the Syrians. They forced Ali to declare a truce and even threatened to murder him if he didn’t stop fighting.

It was decided that two judges would be selected from each side and they would decide how to resolve the Ali-Mu’awiyah conflict. In short, the Syrian judge fooled the Iraqi judge to depose both Ali and Mu’awiyah but retained Mu’awiyah as the rightful successor to Uthman. When the Syrians returned to Damascus, they officially pledged fealty to Mu’awiyah as their Caliph. Ali refused to accept this decision and was preparing another attack against Syrians when he was struck down by one of his ex-soldiers. These ex-soldiers – called the Kharijites or the Seceders – believed that Ali and Mu’awiyah were guilty of disbelief and deserved to be executed. In 661 CE, Ali b. Abi Talib met his Maker and was succeeded by his son Hasan.

Hashimites, dethroned

Hasan found himself surrounded by a weakened and exhausted army that no longer wished to fight. Mu’awiyah realized that the Iraqis weren’t capable of battle anymore so he offered Hasan an opportunity to discuss settlement. The well-known Hasan-Mu’awiyah Treaty brought peace back to the Islamic State and put an end to the Civil War. Hasan abdicated the throne and allowed Mu’awiyah to assume the Caliphate as per the following conditions:

1. Hasan would become the Caliph after Mu’awiyah’s death.
2. Mu’awiyah wouldn’t nominate anyone as his heir-apparent.
3. Mu’awiyah would rule by the Book of God and the Sunnah of the Prophet.
4. There would be a general amnesty for the Iraqis and Ali’s Shiites.
5. Shiites of Ali wouldn’t be harmed in Hejaz and Iraq.
6. The custom of abusing Ali from the pulpits would discontinue.
7. Hasan would receive the taxpayer's money from certain cities.

Hasan passed away in 670 CE and his younger brother Husayn became the next leader of the Shiites. The word Shiite comes from the term “Shi’yah” which means partisan. Those Muslims who supported Ali in his conflict with Mu’awiyah came to be known as Shiites. They had two main factions. The first faction was composed of those Muslims who recognized Abu Bakr and Umar as the rightful Caliphs. The second faction was a minority and was labeled as the Rawafid (Rejectors) because they rejected the rightfulness of the first two Caliphs. These Rejectors believed that Ali was the best of all Companions of Muhamamd and the lawful immediate successor to the Prophet. Nowadays, these Rawafid bear the title of “Shiite Muslims” while most of the Sunni Muslims have recognized Ali as the legal fourth Caliph of Islam.

An artist's depiction of Husayn's final moments on earth

The Umayyad tyranny

The Umayyad Caliphate – which was a family dynasty – was established in 661 CE with Hasan’s abdication and Mu’awiyah’s rise to the throne in Damascus. Albeit being the second Umayyad to become a Muslim ruler, Mu’awiyah’s regime was dissimilar to the previous Rashidun Caliphate. He adopted the titular role of a malik (King) and, after the demise of Hasan, appointed his son Yazid as the heir-apparent. Husayn was among the elders of the Muslim community who refused to pay fealty to Yazid. But Umayyads coerced people into recognizing the validity of Yazid’s selection and used different Machiavellian tactics – handsome bribes, sheer intimidation, and threats of violence – to secure for him an imperial future.

Husayn had been approached by his Shiites who wanted him to rebel against the Umayyad tyranny. But he desired to respect the Hasan-Mu’awiyah Treaty and didn’t wish to act against it. Although he considered the Umayyad reign to be “the greatest trial upon the [Islamic] community” – because of the killing of Shiites by Umayyad governors, the constant utterance of disrespectful remarks regarding Ali from mosques, and a complete disregard for the Shari’ah in political matters – he displayed patience and, to his letter to the King, assured him of his loyalty to his brother’s agreement. Even Husayn wasn’t spared the threats of violence when he refused to recognize Yazid as Mu’awiyah’s successor. Nevertheless, Yazid became the heir-apparent and Mu’awiyah passed away in the summer of 680 CE.

The death of Husayn

Yazid wanted the Governor of Medina to secure the loyalty of Husayn. But Husayn fled with his family members to the Meccan sanctuary where he received hundreds of letters written by the Kufan Shiites – from an Iraqi city that was Ali’s stronghold during his Caliphate – inviting him to rebel against Yazid. Husayn dispatched his cousin Muslim b. Aqil as his emissary to Kufah to whom thousands of Muslims promised their fealty. Husayn – against the wishes of his elders – collected his family and friends and embarked upon a journey to meet his Kufan followers.

When Yazid heard how Kufans were rallying behind Muslim b. Aqil and the Governor wasn’t doing anything about it, he replaced that guy with Ibn Ziyad, a ferocious general of the Umayyad Empire. Ibn Ziyad - the son of Mu'awiyah's general and bastard brother Ziyad - dispersed Shiite gatherings, executed Muslim b. Aqil, and quashed any sign of revolt he observed. As per Muslim’s final wishes, Husayn was informed of the failure of the movement. But he kept on going and didn’t want to return to Mecca. Ibn Ziyad’s forces compelled him to camp in the desert of Nineveh, now known as Karbala. Then the Governor sent Umar b. S’ad to command the forces stationed at Karbala. Husayn refused to recognize the legality of Yazid’s reign. He presented three conditions before Umar b. S’ad:

1. Let me return to Medina.
2. Send me to a frontier province.
3. Take me to Yazid so I would deal with him.

But these negotiations failed as Ibn Ziyad didn’t want to do anything with Husayn unless he expressed his loyalty to Yazid. On the 10^th of Muharram, in the 61^st year of the Islamic calendar (680 CE), the imperial forces attacked Husayn and his small circle of friends. Only two men survived the atrocity – Hasan’s son Hasan II and Husayn’s son Ali al-Sajjad – while none of Husayn’s companions survived. Husayn was beheaded and the bodies of all these Hashimites were trampled by the royal cavalry. Then their heads were fixated on pikes and paraded in the bazaars of Kufah. The women present in the caravan – Husayn’s wives, daughters, and sisters – were arrested and taken into the Kufan governor-house as prisoners. Afterward, this caravan was presented before Yazid in Damascus. Yazid showed some compassion and released them. But some reports suggest that he didn't miss a chance to mock Husayn and play with his severed head to humiliate the Hashimites.

The fall of Yazid and the rise of Mukhtar

The Battle of Karbala was a disaster for the two sides. Yazid suffered political backlash for the massacre of the Prophet’s family. The province of Hejaz broke its allegiance and revolted under the leadership of Abdullah b. Zubayr – alternatively known as Ibn Zubayr – who was the most influential Muslim leader in Hejaz after Husayn. Yazid sent another force, this time with a different general because Ibn Ziyad had refused to commit another atrocity for the King, to suppress the revolt in Medina. These forces brutalized the city, massacred its population, raped the women, and caused the abandonment of prayers in the Prophet’s Mosque. For three days, the sacred metropolis was victimized in an incident called Harrah. Then Yazid sent the third general to fight Ibn Zubayr in Mecca. These forces had surrounded Mecca when the news of Yazid’s passing reached and they lifted the siege.

Yazid’s son and successor Mu’awiyah II died shortly after assuming Caliphate so the Umayyads made Marwan – Uthman’s corrupt secretary – the next King of Muslims. Marwan died nine months later and was succeeded by his son Abd al-Malik. Abd al-Malik’s loyal general Hajjaj b. Yusuf – referred to as the maker of the post-Yazid Umayyad Empire – fought, defeated, and hung the dead body of Ibn Zubayr. But Ibn Zubayr’s rebellion wasn’t the only consequence of Husayn’s death.

The Tawwabin (Penitants) was a group of Kufan Shiites who had invited Husayn to rebel with them but then ditched him under pressure. Now they felt guilty and wanted to avenge the death of the Prophet’s grandson. This group gathered under the leadership of Sulayman b. Surrad and fought the Umayyads. In 685, these warriors were annihilated by the royal army and their leader Ibn Surrad was killed. They dispersed and then rejoined under the guidance of Mukhtar b. Abu Ubaydah al-Thaqafi. Mukhtar shrewdly overthrew Ibn Zubayr’s government in Iraq. He invited people to pay fealty to him on the following conditions:

1. Book of God
2. Sunnah of the Prophet
3. Revenge for the Prophet’s family
4. Defending the weak
5. War on sinners

During his brief tenure as the ruler of Iraq, he arrested, prosecuted, and executed many soldiers who were involved in the Battle of Karbala. In 687, he was defeated and killed by Ibn Zubayr’s brother Mus’ab who falsely accused him of being an impostor. Therefore, many Sunni Muslims still believe that Mukhtar claimed to receive wahi from the Lord. Mukhtar had killed all the major people who fought and killed Husayn. Ibn Ziyad had been killed beforehand in a battle by one of Mukhtar’s generals. Ibn S’ad was executed by Mukhtar in an open court. For avenging the Hashimites, Husayn’s son Ali al-Sajjad appreciated Mukhtar.

Shiite worshipers beating their chests as an act of mourning

Epilogue

None of the mainstream Shiite Imams participated in such a rebellion after Husayn. Husayn’s grandson Zayd b. Ali revolted against an Umayyad King and was defeated. Then Hasan’s descendants Muhammad and Ibrahim – the sons of Abdullah b. Hasan II – rebelled against the Abbasids. They couldn’t taste victory either. But the Twelver Imams kept peace. Yet they still supported the cause of the Alids and mourned the deaths of their warriors. Shiite Muslims believe that their final and hidden Imam, al-Mahdi, will establish an Islamic State in the world. This mystical figure is currently the source of motivation for all the Shiites around the globe. This Mahdi is the messianic entity whose arrival has been predicted by the Prophet. May God bless Husayn and enable us to follow in his footsteps!