WILAYAH NEWS VOICE OF THE GLOBAL AWAKENING
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**In the Realm of the Husseini Epic (8)**
**Abdul Sattar Al‑Jaberi**
**The Trial of Husayn (peace be upon him) and the Trial Through Him**
The public movement of Imam Husayn (peace be upon him) against the Umayyad authority began in the month of **Rajab in the year 60 AH**, after the death of Mu‘awiyah and the pressure exerted by Yazid upon Imam Husayn. Imam Husayn left **Medina for Mecca** following a verbal dispute between him and the governor of Medina. He remained in Mecca from the end of Rajab until the **8th of Dhu al‑Hijjah**, known as the **Day of Tarwiyah**.
During this period, Imam Husayn (peace be upon him) called people to rise against oppression and tyranny and to reject the rule of Yazid because of his open immorality and corruption, and his clear unfitness to administer the affairs of the Muslims. At that time, pilgrims performing **‘Umrah** from various parts of the Muslim world—as well as those who had come to perform the **Hajj**—witnessed Imam Husayn’s call to rise against the unjust ruler. In addition to them, the people of **Mecca and Medina**, as well as the people of **Kufa and Basra**, were directly confronted with the issue of Imam Husayn.
Thus, the entire Islamic world was, in a sense, tested through Imam Husayn (peace be upon him). The pilgrims and visitors, together with the people of the Hijaz and the Iraqis, were all aware of the call made by the Master of the Martyrs. On his journey from Mecca toward Iraq, Imam Husayn invited the inhabitants of the regions he passed through to support him. Many people initially accompanied him, but when they learned of the killing of his envoys sent to **Kufa and Basra**, they abandoned him.
This large segment of society was therefore tested by the call of Imam Husayn, yet it failed in this divine trial. They withdrew their support from the Master of the Martyrs and from his call to establish justice and to enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong. In this sense, they were a continuation of the earlier society that had abandoned the Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali (peace be upon him), after the death of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family).
In contrast to them, the **family of Imam Husayn from the House of Abu Talib**, his loyal companions, and the women of his household remained with him. They acted under the banner of the Master of the Martyrs to halt the movement of deviation within social reality and to restore the social compass to the path of truth. This was the test at the level of society.
As for the **trial of the ruling authority**, God also tested them through the movement of Imam Husayn (peace be upon him). They were required to take a position: either respond to the call of the Master of the Martyrs or enter into war with him in defense of their deviant path and worldly interests. The Umayyad court and its followers chose their benefits, interests, and corrupt method over responding to the call of truth.
On the other hand, **Imam Husayn himself was tested through the community**. Deviation from the path of truth, law, and justice had reached a level that could not be ignored. He faced two possibilities: either remain silent and allow falsehood to triumph—thus distorting Islam as earlier religions had been distorted by corrupt authorities and court scholars, leaving nothing of religion but its name—or declare a revolution against oppression and aggression, even though the outcome on the battlefield was already known, especially since the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) had foretold his martyrdom.
Imam Husayn (peace be upon him) chose to fulfill his duty toward the principles and values of religion and to rescue society from the claws of misguidance, deviation, and the worship of tyranny.
