THE STORY OF KARBALA - PART 2
MUSLIM BIN AQEEL AND HURR

     When Waleed asked Husayn for Yazeed's Ba'ya (allegiance to one's authority), Husayn very diplomatically refused to do that. The next morning Husayn left Madinah with nineteen male and twelve female members of his family and a number of children.  First he headed towards Makkah.  He left Madinah on the 28th day of Rajab in the 60th year of Hijra.

    He arrived in Makkah a few days later.  He wanted to perform the Hajj, which was a few months away as yet. Two other important people were in Makkah. One of them was Abdullah bin Zubayr. He too was being pressed for Yazeed's bay'at. However, he escaped from Madinah before the governor could summon him. Before the arrival of Husayn, he was the center of people's attention in Makkah. After Husayn  arrived in Makkah, Muslims were naturally attracted to him. Husayn's own Mu'azzin would call for prayers and people would gather to offer prayers in his leadership. He talked to people at a personal level and also made speeches in which he explained why he had left home. The other person was the aging Abdullah bin Abbas. When he met Husayn he advised him not to take his women and children with him. He also warned Husayn that people of Koofa were unreliable and that they had mistreated his brother and had disobeyed his father. To this Husayn replied that all matters were in Allah's command and that the Banu Umayya would transgress in Zulm with him exactly like the People of Sabath.(he referred to Qur'anic verses 2:65, 7:166  and 16:124)
This is very significant. There were three groups of people in that community of Banu Israel who had broken the covenant of al-Sabt. One party were the actual transgressors, they were intent on breaking the law. The others were trying to stop them and they were fewer in numbers. The third party was the largest in number but they tried to remain neutral saying that they did not want to become controversial. If we look at Koofa, Makkah and Madinah, we will find those three parties among them. There were the Banu Umayya who were intent on harming  Husayn and his family. There were those who were going to help Husayn, and they did. But they were only 72 in number. Then, in the middle, there was the large majority who did not want to become part of a controversy. At the head of this third group was Abdullah bin Umar and the rest of the people of Makkah and  Madinah.

    During his saty in Makkah, close to the days of Hajj, Husayn got wind of profe-ssional killers being sent for him in the dis-guise of pilgrims to Makkah.  He immediately left Makkah, for two reasons.

1. He knew at the meeting with Waleed that there was no way he was going to escape death in the near future, because he was never going to swear allegiance to Yazeed. He also knew that those hired killers had no scruples and they would not respect the sanctity of Makkah (where even the killing of a pest is not allowed). Therefore, he decided to choose a place for himself.               
2. He wanted to make his death as public as possible, so that he could leave a legacy of sacrifice and martyrdom for all time to come.  Husayn wanted to bring about a revolution in human philosophical thought by his martyr-dom.

    The news of Yazeed's misdeeds were reaching far and wide.  The more Muslims came to know of his every-day life the more disgusted they became.  However, the fear of the Syrian army kept them from taking any action.  There were groups of people who wanted somebody to rise up against Yazeed and bring back the golden age of the Prophet of Islam.  There was no one better suited for this than the Prophet's own grandson Husayn.  The people of Koofa, a garrison town in Iraq near the Iranian border, was rife with this feeling.  Mostly because Ali, the fourth Khaleefa and Husayn's father, had made Koofa his capital.  Koofans remembered the just and puri-tan rule of Ali. Naturally, they were inclined to the son of their previous leader. 
At the same time the people of Koofa had been suffering at the hands of the Syrian terrorists, organized and paid by Muawiyah during his reign, only because they were the followers of Ali.  In this background, the tribal leaders in Koofa started sending letters to Husayn in Madinah that he should come and take charge of the people of Koofa and restore a just and peaceful society, and that they were willing to fight against the Syrians. Husayn received several thousand of these letters.

    We would like to pause here and give our readers a glimpse of the political situation in Koofa at this time, and the motivation behind those letters received by Husayn, and who actually were the writers of those letters.

    The people of Koofa consisted of three very diverse groups of people. The first one were the tribal leaders. These were only paying lip service in inviting Husayn to Koofa. The second were the true Shi'a who had accepted Husayn as their rightful Imam, and the third group were openly hostile to Ahlul-Bayt. The third group was easily identifiable. It were these people who had formed the bulk of the army who fought Husayn at Karbala. These cannot, by any stretch of the imagination, be called Shi'a.

    The other two groups have been identified as such by Allama Ali Naqi in his short paper titled: QATILAAN-E-HUSAYN KA MAZHAB. The Allama begins his research by looking at the letters that were sent to Imam Husayn from Koofa. He finds two very distinct types of letters. He quotes one of each kind as follows.
The first letter was received by Imam Husayn in Makkah on the 10th of the month of Ramadhan. This read as follows:
"There is no leader (imam) over us, you should therefore come. Perhaps through you we would be able to collect us on the right path. N'uman bin al-Basheer is in the governor's palace. However we do not attend the Friday prayers in his leadership neither do we go to the Eid prayers. If we get the news that you are coming here we will banish him (N'uman) towards Syria."

    This letter was signed by Sulayman bin Surad, Musaiyyab bin Najaba, Rifa'a bin Shaddad, and Habeeb bin Mazahir. This letter was delivered by Abdullah bin Samee Hamdani and Abdullah bin Waal.

    This original was followed by 53 similar letters in the next few days. We can only surmise that not all of those people who eventually signed those letters were committed Shi'a. It was a matter of a popular movement of discontent against a tyrant. Many people just joined the movement because everyone else was doing it. Therefore, names are important, because that is how we will be able to identify the true Shi'a eventually.

    There are various letters of similar sentiments that we can find in the books of history. All these letters show a general sentiment in the Koofan public of an open dissatisfaction with Yazeed, a show of wariness and anger against the oppression and hopefulness that if Husayn comes he will be able to free the people of Koofa from their misery.

    The Allama then finds another letter of which the contents are totally devoid of those sentiments but, the letter does invite Husayn to Koofa. It reads:

"Fields are overflowing with vegetation and greenery, trees are loaded with fruits, ponds are filled to their brims. So come as and when you wish (fa iza sh'at fa-aqdam). There is a large group of people (ready to welcome you)."

    This letter was signed by seven men - Shabath bin Rab'i, Hijar bin Al-Jar, Yazeed bin Harith, Yazeed bin Royem, Ghurrah bin Qays, Amr bin al-Hajjaj Zubaydi, and Muhammad bin Umayr Tameemi. The Allama then continues to follow the end of those people who had actually signed those letters. It turns out that those who had urged Imam Husayn to come to Koofa because they were looking for their Imam to come and lead them on the right path, were the actual Shi'a.
     
    Husayn himself being a man of wisdom and intelligence, knew the fickle nature of the Koofans.  He had seen how they had deserted his father in the hour of need.  He had seen how they had mistreated his brother, Hasan.  On the other hand, he considered it his moral duty to respond to this call from the Koofans.  Firstly, being the true representative of the holy Prophet, he felt responsible to lead the Muslims on the right path.  Secondly, as a leader of men, from a truly human point of view, he felt obliged to help and lead those who sought justice while a tyrant was denying them their basic human rights, and that the oppressed looked up to him in this hour of need.

    All indications are that Husayn was still reluctant to go to Iraq. Finally, one day he received a letter from the people of Koofa which read as follows:

"We have been writing to you to come and lead us on the
right path. You are our Imam. If you still do not heed our
call we will complain on the Day of Judgement that we had
called our Imam and he had not responded to our call. "

    Eyewitness reports tell us that as Husayn read that letter, he stood up shaking. It was at this point that Husayn finally decided to move towards Koofa.

    This short episode gives us a very clear insight into the Shi'a theory of Imamat. Husayn himself was confident that he was the rightful Imam. His followers on the other hand were confident that they were following the right Imam. Now they were calling their Imam to come and relieve them of the misery of Syrian oppression. It was like a child in real distress calling his father for a rescue attempt. Husayn had to respond even though he knew that he would be jeopardizing the safety and security of his person as well as that of his family and friends. Husayn's historic  step was very much like a father would try everything to save his own child from a dangerous situation even if his own life was endangered in that effort.

    Husayn first sent his cousin, Muslim bin Aqeel, to Koofa on a fact finding mission. He was welcomed by the Shi'a of Koofa with open arms. Nearly 18,000 people pledged their support to him in the mosque . But only a few days later, Muslim was deserted by his supporters and brutally executed on Ibn Ziyad's orders . Husayn received the news of Muslim's killing while he was on his way to Koofa. If Husayn's move was for purely political purposes, any intelligent person would immediately turn back, or, at least stop and reflect. Husayn, on the other hand, continued towards Koofa. In that same journey he was met by the poet Frazdaq, who told him: "the hearts of the people of Koofa are with you but their swords are with the Banu Umayya." Such a clear warning would not deter Husayn from his advance. That simile of the child in distress calling his father explains Husayn's decision of continuing towards Iraq even after Muslim's Killing.

         There is only one explanation for this course of action. Husayn's move was political only in the sense that if he had been able to draw the support he needed, he would have overthrown the Umayyad rule. In the circumstances, regardless of the odds against him, he had to move to fulfill his duty as the rightful Imam.  That makes Husayn's step fulfilling the duty he was assigned as IMAM MANSOOS MIN ALLAH. That is the spirituality in his actions. The overwhelming fact that comes out of this analysis is that the SPIRITUALITY OVER-RIDES THE POLITICAL CONSIDERATIONS in the true Political Philosophy of Islam..

         In the true political philosophy of Islam politics is subservient to spirituality. The law is governed by the Prophetic guidance and Qur'anic edicts. The Ahlul Bayt being the custodians of the Qur'an and the Prophetic Traditions are the true Imams of the community. Their claim to that high office would be proved not by brute force over the people neither by the hereditary principle but by the sacrifices they would make to protect the Qur'an and the Prophetic Traditions; and that would in effect protect the basic rights of the oppressed.
            The Tragedy of Karbala is the epitome of that political philosophy.

Against this background Husayn sent his cousin Muslim Ibn Aqeel to Koofa while he stayed in Makkah.  In the meantime new developments in Makkah made him leave soon afterwards.  It appears that Husayn travelled right across the subcontinent, from the Red Sea coast to the Gulf coast and then turned northwards along the shore.  He then passed through the present-day Kuwait and then through Basra along the river Euphrates and ended up in Karbala.  There is a mosque situated in a village on the East coast of present day Saudi Arabia, which is dedicated to Husayn, in memory of his visit there, en -route to Karbala.  However, recent study by S.M. Raza Shabbar of London has shown that Husayn may have taken a much shorter and direct route to Karbala from Makkah.
While Husayn was on his way to Koofa, Muslim Ibn Aqeel was received with open arms by the Koofans.  Eighteen thousand people swore allegiance to Husayn vicariously, on Muslim's hand.  Yazeed's spies were at work and they were giving full reports about the comings and goings of Koofa.  As soon as this news was brought to Yazeed he ordered Ibn Ziyad, the governor of Basra, to proceed immediately and take charge of Koofa.  Ibn Ziyad was well known for his hatred for the family of the Proph-et.  As soon as he arrived in Koofa, he summoned all the tribal leaders to his presence.  When they came, they were arrested and put behind bars.  This was sufficient to deter the Koofans from hel-ping Muslim.  That evening, several hundred people had gathered in the mosque to offer their prayers behind Muslim.  When the prayers were over, only twelve people were left.  By the time Muslim was returning home, only three followed him.  After a few minutes he was left alone in the back-alleys of Koofa.  He took refuge in a woman's house, for the night.  The woman's own son reported the whereabouts of Muslim for money.  Seven hundred people led by Muhammad Ibn Ash'ath attacked the house where Muslim had stayed the night.  Muslim came out with the sword in his hand, fought valian-tly and was wounded by trickery, arrested and pre-sented to Ibn Ziyad.  He ordered him to be thrown from the roof-top of the governor's palace.  His dead body was dragged in the streets of Koofa. This was now the 9th of Zilhijj.  The following day Husayn received the news of Muslim's brutal killing from travelling Bedouins.  He was well on his way to Koofa. Obviously, the travelling Bedouins rep-orted both ways.

Ibn Ziyad was well prepared for Husayn.  Every road leading into Koofa was completely blocked. There were troops stationed at every key-position in and around town.  Local leaders were made responsible for reporting any sympathies with Husayn, failing which they would be beheaded.
                        
As soon as news arrived in Koofa of Husayn's approach to the city, a detachment of one thousand cavalry-men was sent to intercept him.  The man commanding these troops was Hurr Ibn Yazeed Riyahi, a man of proven military exper-tise.  He also had a great regard for Husayn and the Prophet's family.  When Hurr's company met Husayn's caravan, Hurr and his men had lost their way in the desert and both the soldiers as well as the horses were on the verge of dying of thirst in the scorching heat of the desert.  Husayn saw this and immediately ordered his caravan to stop. Water was provided freely and generously to man and animal alike.  As soon as Hurr and his troops recovered from exhaustion, Hurr spoke to Husayn and said that his orders were to stop Husayn from entering Koofa at all costs.

Husayn refused to follow Hur's exhortations. Hur tried to show some firmness in his stance. The thing came to a head when Hur grabbed the reins of Husayn's horse. Husayn became angry and said:

"May your mother mourn for you, are you going to stop me?"

Hur replied: "If it was someone else in your place I would reply to him in the same tone but I cannot say those things for your mother."

This episode has been analysed by Shi'a scholars and they have explained that Husayn's statement in anger was actually a call to Hur and all those with him to come to the right path. And Hur did respond to that call. Only a few days later, Hur, his son and his personal servant would desert Yazeed's army at the battlefield of Karbala and fight protecting Husayn and give their lives.

Thank you for reading.

sincerely,

Syed-Mohsin Naquvi