And so, we remain with Al-Hussein (a.s.) throughout his entire life as an Imam for the Muslims. For Al-Hussein (a.s.), in his true essence, was not merely a revolutionary who entered the battle simply to launch a challenge or confront another. Nor was he (a.s.) just a martyr whose tragedy took its cruelest form in his martyrdom and that of the noble elite of his family and companions.
Indeed, Karbala embodied the human tragedy as no other tragedy in history ever did. It was a moving tragedy: where infants were slaughtered, children who had not yet reached maturity were killed, heads were cut off, horses crushed the chests of the martyrs, and women were taken captive. It was a tragedy which, had the world learnt its details through an artistic form, would have stood in awe before that bloody image which embodied the savagery of people whose hearts were filled with hatred, and whose humanity collapsed before their greed.
Yet, despite that, we must not confine Imam Al-Hussein (a.s.) within the framework of tragedy. For when we confine him to that circle, the one of battle, we distance ourselves from the awareness of his personality. Imam Al-Hussein (a.s.) is the Imam of the Muslims, with all what the Imamate entails — depth of soul, extension of thought, movement of the call, elevation of morals, greatness in values, and infallibility in all the intellectual and behavioral aspects of his personality. We must conceive him within the position of his Imamate, which represents in its profound meaning, the dynamic extension of Prophethood, without the prophethood itself: "O Ali, you are to me as Harun was to Musa, except that there is no prophet after me."(1)
Therefore, we must understand Imam Al-Hussein (a.s.) within the vastness that Imamate exhibits — through what it represents of the breadth of Islam, in its doctrines, its laws, its methods, its means, and its objectives.
This is how we must perceive Al-Hussein (a.s.), and if we want to connect with his revolution, this revolution represents a form of the dynamic movement of Imamate — just as when we reflect on the battles of the Prophet (p.) against polytheism, we see them as movements of prophethood confronting the challenges posed by others.
Perhaps the problem with our dealing with the tragedy of Al-Hussein (a.s.) is that we have confined him within this narrow circle. That is why, throughout most of the Ashura season, we rarely hear about what Al-Hussein (a.s.) used to preach to people, or guide them towards, or call them to. There is no clearly manifest image — and I do not claim there is none at all, as perhaps some do speak of that — that reflects the movement of Imamate in guiding people beyond the scope of Karbala. For Al-Hussein (a.s.) is not merely a Karbala-related figure; he is an Islamic figure in the fullest sense. He lived Islam, he lived its dynamism and its call, he lived it with his grandfather, with his father, with his brother, and he lived it with the Muslims, moving within Islamic activism and the call with all its dimensions.
Therefore, we must connect with Al-Hussein, the Imam, so we may live with his sermons, his advice, his guidance, Being attached to him is being attached to the truth which he embodied through his lived reality, and through the spiritual and moral values he represented — without limiting ourselves to the incidents of Karbala, We must not restrict ourselves to the events of Karbala, even though those events reflect the heights of spiritual and religious social and moral leadership.
(1) Bihar al-Anwar, Al-Majlisi, Vol. 37, p. 268.
And so, we remain with Al-Hussein (a.s.) throughout his entire life as an Imam for the Muslims. For Al-Hussein (a.s.), in his true essence, was not merely a revolutionary who entered the battle simply to launch a challenge or confront another. Nor was he (a.s.) just a martyr whose tragedy took its cruelest form in his martyrdom and that of the noble elite of his family and companions.
Indeed, Karbala embodied the human tragedy as no other tragedy in history ever did. It was a moving tragedy: where infants were slaughtered, children who had not yet reached maturity were killed, heads were cut off, horses crushed the chests of the martyrs, and women were taken captive. It was a tragedy which, had the world learnt its details through an artistic form, would have stood in awe before that bloody image which embodied the savagery of people whose hearts were filled with hatred, and whose humanity collapsed before their greed.
Yet, despite that, we must not confine Imam Al-Hussein (a.s.) within the framework of tragedy. For when we confine him to that circle, the one of battle, we distance ourselves from the awareness of his personality. Imam Al-Hussein (a.s.) is the Imam of the Muslims, with all what the Imamate entails — depth of soul, extension of thought, movement of the call, elevation of morals, greatness in values, and infallibility in all the intellectual and behavioral aspects of his personality. We must conceive him within the position of his Imamate, which represents in its profound meaning, the dynamic extension of Prophethood, without the prophethood itself: "O Ali, you are to me as Harun was to Musa, except that there is no prophet after me."(1)
Therefore, we must understand Imam Al-Hussein (a.s.) within the vastness that Imamate exhibits — through what it represents of the breadth of Islam, in its doctrines, its laws, its methods, its means, and its objectives.
This is how we must perceive Al-Hussein (a.s.), and if we want to connect with his revolution, this revolution represents a form of the dynamic movement of Imamate — just as when we reflect on the battles of the Prophet (p.) against polytheism, we see them as movements of prophethood confronting the challenges posed by others.
Perhaps the problem with our dealing with the tragedy of Al-Hussein (a.s.) is that we have confined him within this narrow circle. That is why, throughout most of the Ashura season, we rarely hear about what Al-Hussein (a.s.) used to preach to people, or guide them towards, or call them to. There is no clearly manifest image — and I do not claim there is none at all, as perhaps some do speak of that — that reflects the movement of Imamate in guiding people beyond the scope of Karbala. For Al-Hussein (a.s.) is not merely a Karbala-related figure; he is an Islamic figure in the fullest sense. He lived Islam, he lived its dynamism and its call, he lived it with his grandfather, with his father, with his brother, and he lived it with the Muslims, moving within Islamic activism and the call with all its dimensions.
Therefore, we must connect with Al-Hussein, the Imam, so we may live with his sermons, his advice, his guidance, Being attached to him is being attached to the truth which he embodied through his lived reality, and through the spiritual and moral values he represented — without limiting ourselves to the incidents of Karbala, We must not restrict ourselves to the events of Karbala, even though those events reflect the heights of spiritual and religious social and moral leadership.
(1) Bihar al-Anwar, Al-Majlisi, Vol. 37, p. 268.