Husaynism Pride – Pride of Imam Husayn (a.s.)
The main axes of the subject:
1- Total submission to Allah
2- Humility toward Allah and meekness toward his servants
3- Humility toward Allah alone and no one but Allah (The Exalted)
4- Examples of the pride of lord of the martyrs
Purpose:
We will define one of the facets of the character of Imam Husayn (a.s.). He was the lord of those who rejected tyranny as well as the good servant of Allah (The Exalted).
Exporting the subject:
Husayn (a.s.) was quoted as saying: “Know that the bastard son of a bastard had focused on two issues: either death or humiliation. Never are we to be humiliated. Allah rejects this issue for us as well as his messenger, the believers, and good and purified laps as well as proud and courageous people and souls; never are we to favor the obedience of the mean to that of the death of the nobles.”1
Total submission to Allah (The Exalted)
Imam Abu Abdullah al Husayn (a.s.), who took different stances, announces his dire need of his lord as he says, “God, I am poor when I am rich there-fore, how can I not be poor when I am poor?” And so he admits his absolute need to be tied to Allah so that he will not become one of those ignorant. He says, “God, I am unlearned when I am educated therefore, how can I not be ignoramus when I am ignorant?” “Guide me to a service that will take me to you… The deal of a servant is a lost one if you do not share him your love.” We can find that the Imam (a.s.) declares his defeat and humiliation before the almighty king uncaring about all the worldly considerations coupled with the gathering of the people around him in Arafa, a notable day when he cried enormously causing others to cry by reciting the following prayer: “God, this is my humility obvious in your presence, this is my case that is not hidden from you.”2
Humility toward Allah and meekness toward his servants
Imam Husayn (a.s.) showed this total submission to his God unashamed of such submissiveness. He also admitted that all favor is from his lord and that negligence was on his part. For example, al Thahabi and al Haithami narrated that “when he departed with humility toward Allah, aiming for his holy house, performing the rituals of Hajj with piety and humility to the point where he performed Hajj twenty five times walking.”3
Imam Husayn (a.s.) was the one who would say: “It is right for someone as he stands before the almighty to turn yellow and freeze in fear.”4
In addition, he was quoted as saying: “Had someone insulted me in this ear (pointing to his right one) after which he apologized to me in my left, I would have accepted it from him. This is because commander of the faith-ful, Ali Bin Abi Talib (a.s.) spoke to me saying that he heard my grandfather the prophet (s.a.a.w.) says: He, who does not accept apology from the rightful or unrightful person, will not reach the basin.”5
Humility toward Allah alone and no one but Allah (The Exalted)
However, Husayn who submit to Allah with meekness, showing all this humility, is the same person who stood with his father when the nation be-came infected with the forces of tyranny of those renegades, apostates and unjust.
He supported his brother Hassan (a.s.) against all the tyrants with boldness and faced all the tribulations and seditions in order to preserve the nation and the faithful group of the partisans.
For ten years, Imam Husayn (a.s.) faced the tyranny of Muawiyah that tar-geted the proud group of the loyalists. He was the man that took a stance with pride and rejection, refusing to pledge allegiance to the fiendish de-baucher. He also stressed on his right to such allegiance in accordance with the script of the peace treaty that was broken by Muawiyah. However, the Imam (a.s.) waited and bound himself to this treaty until Muawiyah died. When Al-Walid bin Utbah, the governor of Medina, requested from him to pledge allegiance to Yazid, the Imam answered him with his usual boldness and witnessed openness saying: “We are the members of the household of the prophecy, the essence of the message, Mecca to angels, and the focal point of mercy. With us Allah introduced and with us he will conclude; and someone like me does not pledge allegiance to someone like him.”6
Examples of the pride of lord of the martyrs (a.s.):
1- When al Hor Bin Yazid al Riya’hi was roaring at the army of Imam Abu Abdullah (a.s.), al Hor said to him: “I remind you to have mercy on yourself. I testify that: if you fight you will be killed and if you are fought you will perish.” The Imam (a.s.) replied: “Are you terrorizing me with death? Are you that troubled to kill me? I do not what to say to you. Anyhow, I can only say the same words that the brother of Aouse said to his cousin:
“I will go ahead for death does not defame the young man
If he the truth supported and fought as a Muslim
And consoled good men with himself
And disagreed with a destroyer and departed a criminal
If I live I will not regret it and if I die I am not to be blamed
Stop being forced to live in humility”7
In addition, he in the past replied his brother Muhammad when he advised him to stay calm or go to a safe place. He said: “Brother, I swear in Allah, if there were no safe haven or shelter in this world, still, I will never pledge allegiance to Yazid Bin Muawiyah.”8
When he addressed the tyrants with that great speech, providing them with the strongest pretexts, filling their minds with the most solid proofs, shackling their necks with the sanctity of his blood and the blood of his companions and his family, they asked him to obey the rule of his cousins. He (a.s.) replied saying: “No I swear to Allah. I will neither give you my hand like a servile, nor will I run away like the servants.”9
If we flip the pages of the last ten years of the life of our lord Abu Abdullah al Husayn (a.s.) and read his letters to Muawiyah in which he cracked the truth, and openly showed his rejection to all his actions and the actions of his partisans, and if we see how he confronted the loyalists of Muawiyah in Mecca and Medina with their bands, we would have seen examples that can crowd these lines.
However, we may conclude with that speech of his, with which he (a.s.) concluded his life on the tenth day of Muharram, as he faced the enemy lines saying in that last speech:
“Know that the bastard son of a bastard had focused on two issues: either death or humiliation. Never are we to be humiliated. Allah rejects this issue for us as well as his messenger, the believers, and good and purified laps as well as proud and courageous people and souls; never are we to favor the obedience of the mean to that of the death of the nobles. Know that I am marching with this family with the scarcity of numbers and the disappointing supporters.”10
1- Maqtal al Khawarizmi, Vol. 2, P. 6.
2- Part of the supplication of Imam Husayn (a.s.) that was accounted Sayyid Ibn Tawous, and was transformed by Sheikh Abbass al Qummi in book Mafatih al Jinan, P. 330-331.
3- Siyar al A’lam al Nobala’a, by al Thahabi, Vol. 3, P. 193. Majma’a al Zawayed, by al Haithami, Vol. 9, P. 201.
4- Jame’i al Akhbar, P. 76.
5- Ehqaq al Haq, by Shahid al Tastari, Vol. 11, P. 431.
6- The death of Husayn, by Khawarizmi, Vol. 1, P. 184. Also al Foutouh, by Ibn al A’atam, Vol. 5, P. 14.
7- Al Tabari History, Vol. 4, P. 254. Al Kamil, by Ibn Athir, Vol. 3, P. 270.
8- Al Foutouh, Vol. 5, P. 23.
9- Al Ershad, by Sheikh al Mufid, Vol. 2, P. 98.
10- Book Tarikh Dimashq (The history of Damascus), by Ibn Asakir, Vol. 69, P. 265. Also book Al-Lohouf Ala Qatla At-Toufouf (Alas for those killed in the savanna), by Ibn Tawous, Vol. 59, P. 124.