Reasons for Imam Hussain (a.s.)'s Uprising

March 8, 2007

Reasons for Imam Hussein alayhis salam’s Uprising

All praise belongs to Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful. I thank Him for providing me with this opportunity to speak to you and I am grateful to Allah for assisting me in its preparation.

It is important for us to fully understand, not just believe, why Imam Hussein did what he did.

What were the reasons for his protest?
Why was it necessary to put himself and his family and companions in situation that would lead only to martyrdom and sufferings?

The main source of this information is a book on the sermons, sayings and letters of Imam Hussein (a.s.) while he was in Madinah until his martyrdom.
We will discuss the pre-existing conditions in the year 60 after Hijra, why is Imam Hussein considered the ‘warith’ or heir of all the prophets, why did Imam Hussein not accept Yazid.


وَلْتَكُن مِّنكُمْ أُمَّةٌ يَدْعُونَ إِلَى الْخَيْرِ وَيَأْمُرُونَ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَيَنْهَوْنَ عَنِ الْمُنكَرِ وَأُوْلَـئِكَ هُمُ الْمُفْلِحُونَ
The ayah quoted above is the 104th ayah of Surah-e-Aale Imran. It says, ‘There has to be a nation among you summoning to good, bidding what is right, and forbidding what is wrong. It is they who are felicitous.’
This verse is talking about the need to do Amr bil Maaruf and Nahi anil Munkar i.e. encouraging others to do good and stopping from doing bad. And this is exactly what Imam Hussein alahis salam did.
I. You all know that Allah send 124,000 messengers to guide the humankind.
A. They preached the religion of God and invited people towards Oneness of God and toward the goodness. But they were like teachers for different grade levels. The earlier ones spoke of basic teachings and those who came later brought more comprehensive Shariat from God. Our last prophet, Hazrat Mohammad Mustafa (s.a.w.w.) completed the religion of Allah, provided the latest version of the Holy Book, established an Islamic rule in Madinah which was a perfect model and the standard for an Islamic government.
B. But what happened after the demise of the Holy Prophet? Did the person, who was nominated by him to lead the Muslim Ummah after him, get his rightful position? No! Imam Ali (a.s.) who was declared as the ‘Master’, man kuntu maulaho fahaza aliyun maula…by the Holy Prophet to succeed him, was not given that position. One after the other, three caliphs ruled before him and the condition of the Ummah/State started to deteriorate. He had hardly fixed the harms done that he was martyred too. The person who disobeyed and fought with Imam Ali (a.s.) was Muawiya, who was the governor of Syria. Although, this guy made peace with Imam Hasan (a.s.) but secretly prepared grounds for his own son, Yazid’s succession.
C. In mid Rajab, 60 A.H., Muawiya died and his son Yazid became the ruler of the whole Islamic world. The areas that comprised of the Islamic world at that time were whole of the Arabian Peninsula, some parts of Northern Africa, Iran, Iraq, Syria, etc. Think here for a second in your mind what qualities you would expect in a leader of the Muslim world. We will see soon what Yazid had to offer.
D. As soon as Yazid came into power, he sent letters to all the governors of these regions, informing them about the demise of his father and announcing his succession to power. Before his death, Muawiya had already taken the oath of allegiance from all but three of the prominent people for his son.
E. . These were Abdullah ibne Umar, Abdullah ibne Zubayr and ImamHussain ibne Ali (a.s.). When Yazid sent his letters to the governors, he not only emphasized that the oath of allegiance must be renewed but it should be forced upon these three people who had refused to give allegiance earlier. The first two gave in soon.
F. Oath of allegiance is like voting these days to endorse someone. Just imagine the people of the Muslim world had endorsed and accepted Yazid to be their caliph who was the most corrupt person. He not only committed crimes openly such as drinking alcohol, etc but denied the prophethood or genuineness of the Quran.
G. We know that Imam Hussain was residing in Madinah at that time. And the governor of Madinah was Walid ibne Utba. When he received the letter one evening from Yazid to get the ‘bay’at’ of the three people, he sent for them to come see him for an important issue. When the courier arrived at Masjid-e-Nabavi where Imam Hussain was sitting with ibne Zubayr, the Imam figured out and told ibne Zubayr that they are being called to do bay’at as Muawiya has died. Imam Hussain, accompanied by armed relatives and companions, went to see Waleed and asked them to wait for him outside. He directed them to come inside if the need arises. As Imam Hussain had predicted, the governor of Madinah informed him of Mauwiya’s death and demanded an oath of allegiance for Yazid from him.What Imam told him that allegiance should be in front of everybody and not in secrecy. Waleed could not say anything and Imam started to get up to go but Marwan (who was also present there) gestured to Waleed to slay him right now according to Yazeed’s orders and don’t let him go away.
H. But when the Imam saw this, he spoke in a loud voice, ‘Are you going to kill me…’ He went on saying, ‘…we are the family of the prophethood, treasure of risalat; angels used to visit our home; Allah’s blessing are upon us, Allah commenced Islam from our family and it will remain with our family for ever.
I. ‘But Yazeed, for whom you are demanding allegiance, is a drunkard, killer of innocent people, one who trampled Allah’s commands, and commits crimes openly. A person like me can never pay allegiance to person like him. You and I will wait for that day and we’ll see who is more deserving of the caliphate and allegiance.’
By this time, the people who were waiting outside, heard Imam’s voice and came in, and the governor couldn’t fulfill his plan.

II..
A. We discussed how the foundation of the religion of Islam was laid which was the efforts of all the Anbiya, the prophets. All the labors and pains that they endured would go waste if a person like Yazid stayed in power. Since he was not a believer, he would change laws of Islam, spread corruption and sinful ways of life more in the society. True Islam would have vanished in a few decades.
B. This is why when we say in the Ziarat that Imam Hussain is the heir or warith of the Prophets, it is because, he saved the religion whose seed was sown by them. He protected the tree of their efforts.
Let us now see what we understand from the words of Imam in reply to the governor of Madinah.
III. Imam Husain was very clear on the fact that Yazid’s government was illegitimate.
The other important point that we derive from his words is the reason for the uprising. Although there were many causes that led to the uprising and the martyrdom but the most important goal of this great jihad was to remove the dominance of illegal and substandard usurpers who did not tolerate any opposition. They were planning their own plots behind the mask of Islam.
A. He introduced himself and explained his position.
1. One might think that why was he praising himself? As an example, consider the fact that when there is a job opening and you submit your resume, do you not tell what qualifications or experience you have? It is not regarded as bragging, but it is considered stating the facts. Was Imam Hussain (a.s.) not the most eligible person to lead the Muslim ummah? He introduced himself as the family of the prophet, who learnt the knowledge of Islam from the Prophet, who were the most pure of the people, he was one of the Five (Panjtan for whom Allah says, He created this world). Was then Yazid with all his faults, sinful life, corruption and oppression more deserving to be the caliph? Could he lead the nation; defend the borders, implement Quranic laws and so on?
B. Everybody else was quiet; no one protested. Should Imam had stayed silent too? Was it not his duty to speak up and reject Yazeed's bay’at. Some people even advised him to go away to another country and save his life, but at this stage, was it not important to disregard the safety of himself and his family but to save Islam?
Hence, a person like Imam Hussain, the embodiment of goodness, a masoom, the perfect role model, should have risen against the corrupt and evil authority and reject allegiance to him. This is what we learn from history: never to give in to pressures of evil and corruption (batil).

We discussed that the complete religion of Islam was the product of the hard work of the previous prophets and to save Islam was to save protect the legacy of these messengers. A person like Imam Hussain (a.s.) could not pay allegiance to a person like Yazeed. For this reason, he had to rise against him in a way that would shake the conscious of the Muslims and bring out the true picture of the Yazeediat.