Ashura'
- History and Popular Legend

Ustad Shaheed Murtada Mutahhari

Translated from the Farsi by 'Ali Quli Qara'i

First
Sermon

بِس'مِ الله الرَّح'منِ الرَّحِيم

اََل'حَم'دُلله رَبِّ ال'عَالَمِينَ بارِيِء ال'خَلائِقِ اَج'مَعِينَ
وَالصَّلوةُ وَالسَّلامُ عَلي عَب'دِالله وَ رَسُولِهِ وَحَبِيبِه وَصَفيّه،
سَيَّدِنَا وَنَبِيِّنَا وَمَو'لانَا اَبِي القاسِمِ مُحَمَّدٍ صَلّي اللُّه عَليهِ
وَآلِهِ وَسَلَّم' وَ عَلي آلِهِ الطِيبيينَ الطَّاهِرِينَ ال'مَع'صُومِينَ.

اَعُوذُ بِالله مِنَ الsشَّي'طانِ الرَّجِيم':

فَبِما نَق'ضِهِم' مِيثاقَهُم لَعَنَّاهُم' وَ جَعَل'نا قُلُوبَهُم قاسِيَة'
يُحَرِفُونَ ال'كَلِمَ عَن' مَواضِعِهِ وَ نَسُوا حَظّاٌ مِمّا ذُكِّرُوا بِهِ.

In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the
Merciful

All Praise belongs to Allah, the Lord of the worlds and the Maker of
all creation, and may Peace and benedictions be upon His servant and messenger,
His beloved and elect, our master, our prophet, and our sire, Abul Qasim
Muhammad, may Allah bless him and his pure, immaculate, and infallible Progeny.

I seek the refuge of Allah from the accursed Satan

So for their breaking their compact We cursed
them and made their hearts hard; they would pervert the words from their
meanings. and they forgot a portion of what they were
reminded of. (5:13)

Our discussion here
concerns the misrepresentations (tahrifat) relating to the historic
event of Karbala'. There have occurred various kinds of distortions in
recounting the details of this great event. We shall carry out this discussion
in four parts. The first will deal with the meaning of tahrif and its
various existing forms, while pointing out that such misrepresentations have
occurred in the [popular] accounts of the historic episode of 'Ashura'. The
second part deals with the general factors responsible for tahrif, that
is, the causes which commonly lead to the distortion of events and issues in
the world. Why do men misrepresent and distort events, issues, and,
occasionally, personalities? In particular, what factors have played a
distorting role in the narrative of the episode of Karbala'? The third part consists of an explanation
concerning the distortions that have crept into the narratives of this historic
event. The fourth part deals with our duty, that of
the scholars and the Muslim masses, in this regard.

The
first part of this discussion is about the meaning of tahrif: What does tahrif
mean? The Arabic word tahrif is derived from harrafa [meaning, to
slant, incline, alter, distort, misconstrue] which means to make something
depart from its original or proper course and position. In other words, tahrif
is a kind of change and alteration, though it includes a sense not possessed by
mere change and alteration. If you do something that prevents a sentence,
message, verse, or passage from conveying the meaning that it ought to convey
and gives it some other sense, you have subjected it to tahrif. For
instance, you make a statement before someone. Elsewhere he quotes you, and
later on you are told that so-and-so has reported that you have made such a
statement. You find out that what you had said was very different from what he
has reported. He has interpolated your statement, deleting words which conveyed
your intent and adding others on his own account, with the result that your
statement have been distorted and totally altered. Then you would say that this
person has misrepresented your statement . Especially,
if someone tampers with an official document, he is said be guilty of causing tahrif
in it. These examples were meant to elucidate the meaning of the term tahrif,
and it does not need any further explanation or clarification. Now we shall
take up the different forms of tahrif.

There
are various kinds of tahrif, the most important of which are tahrif
in words and tahrif of meaning. Tahrif of wording occurs when the
literal form of a statement is changed. For instance, when words and phrases
are deleted or added to a statement or the sequence of sentences is altered in
such a manner as to change its meaning. In this case tahrif occurs in
the outward form and wording of a statement

Tahrif of meaning occurs when
one does not change the words, which remain in their original form, but the
statement is interpreted in a manner that is contrary to the intent of its
speaker. It is interpreted in such a manner as to express one's own intent, not
that of its author.

The
Noble Qur'an employs the term tahrif specifically in relation to the
Jews. A study of history shows that they have been the champions of tahrif
throughout the course of history. I don't know what kind of race this is that
has such an amazing penchant for misrepresenting facts! Accordingly they always
take up professions in which they can distort and misrepresent events. From
what I have heard, the world's well-known news agencies, which are perpetually
quoted by the radios and newspapers, are exclusively in the hands of the Jews.
Why? Because they can report the events as they wish. How amazing is the Qur'an
statement about them! This characteristic of the Jews, the tendency for tahrif,
is considered a racial trait by the Qur'an. In one of the verses of the Sura
al-Baqarah, the Qur'an declares:

اَفَتَط'معُونَ اَن' يَؤ'مِنُوا لَكُم' وَ قَد' كَانَ فَرِي'قٌ مِن'هَم'
يَس'مَعُونَ كَلاَمَ الله ثُمَّ يُحَرِّفُونَهُ مِن' بَع'دِ مَا عَقَلُوهُ وَ هُم'
يَعلَمُونَ.

Are you then eager that they (i.e. the Jews) should believe in you, while a party of them had
heard Allah's word, and then consciously misinterpreted it, after they had
understood it, and did that knowingly? (2:75)

This
means, 'O Muslims, have you pinned your hopes on their telling you the truth?
They are the same people who would go along with Moses, and hear God's
pronouncements. But by the time they returned to their people's midst to
recount what they had heard, they would twist it out of shape.' The tahrif
that they would carry out was not for the reason that they did not understand
and so altered what they reported. No! They are an intelligent people and they
understand matters the issues very well. But despite the fact that they
understand what they have heard they would recount them in a distorted manner
for the people. This is what tahrif is, that is, distorting and twisting
things out of their original shape-and they carried out tahrif even in
Divine scriptures!

In
this context, in most of the cases the Qur'an uses the very term tahrif
or expresses the matter in some other manner. However, the exegetes have
pointed out that the Qur'anic reference to tahrif in this context
includes tahrif in wording as well as in meaning. That is, some of the
instances of corruption that have occurred [in the scriptures at the hands of
the Jews] relating to the wording and some of them relate to the meanings and
interpretation. As this involves a digression from my main topic, I do not wish
to discuss this matter any further.

There
is a story which
would not be out of place here. One of the scholars used to recount that once
during the day of his youth a maddah from Tehran was visiting Mashhad. During the day he would stand in the Gawharshad Mosque or in the
courtyard of the shrine and recite verses and eulogies. Among things that he
recited was the famous ghazal ascribed to Hafiz:

اي دل غلام شاه جهان باش و شادباش
پيــــوسته در حمــايت لطف اله باش

قــبر امام هشتم سلطان دين رضــا
از جان ببوس و بر در آن بارگاه باش

O
heart! Be slave of the world's King and rejoice!
Forever dwell in the shelter of God's grace!
Embrace the tomb of Reza, the Eighth Imam,
From the heart's depth, and cling to the threshold of his shrine (bargah).

This
gentleman, in order to have some fun with him, had approached him and said to
him, "Why do you recite this verse wrongly? It should be read like this

قبر امام هشتم سلطان دين رضا
از آن ببوس و بر در آن بارگاه باش

Which
means, as soon as you reach the shrine you must throw yourself down like a
bundle of straw (bar-e kah) is rolled off the back of an ass.
Thereafter, whenever the poor maddah recited these verses, he would say bar-e
kah instead of bargah and at the same time throw himself down on the
grsound! This is what tahrif does!

Here
I must point out that tahrif also differs in respect of the subject
involved. There is a time when tahrif occurs in an ordinary speech, as
when two persons misrepresent each other's words. But there are times when tahrif takes
place in a matter of great significance to society, such as when there is
misrepresentation of eminent personalities. There are personalities whose words
and deeds represent a sacred authority for the people and whose character and
conduct is a model for mankind. For instance, if someone were to ascribe to
Imam 'Ali (A.S.) a statement that he did not make or something that he had not
meant to say, that is very dangerous. The same is true if a characteristic or
trait is ascribed to the Prophet (S.A.W.) or one of the Imams (A.S.) when in
fact they had some other qualities, or when tahrif occurs in a great
historic event which serves as a moral and religious authority and as a
momentous document from the viewpoint of society's norms and is a criterion in
matters of morality and education. It is a matter of incalculable
, importance and entails a crucial danger when tahrif - whether
in respect of words or meaning-occurs in subjects which are not of the ordinary
kind.

There
is a time when someone tampers with a verse of Hafiz or makes interpolations in
an animal fable. This is not so important, though, of course one should not
tamper with books of literary value.

One
professor wrote a paper about Mush-o gorbeh ("The Cat and the
Mouse"), which is a book of considerable literary value. He had found that
it had been victim of so many interpolations, changes of wording, addition and
deletion of verses, as to be beyond reckoning. There, he remarks that in his
opinion no nation in the whole world is so
untrustworthy as the Iranians who have made such extensive unauthorized
interpolations in works belonging to their literary heritage. The same is true
of Rumi's Mathnawi. God knows how many verses have been appended to the Mathnawi!
For instance, there is a fine couplet in the original versions of the Mathnawi
about the power of love. It says:

از محبت تلخها شيرين شود
و ز محبت مسها زرين شود

Love sweetens matters bitter,

Love turns bronze into gold.

That
is a sensible thing to say: love is something that turns even the bitter
aspects of life into ones that are sweet and pleasant. Love, like an elixir,
transforms the bronze of man's being into gold. Then others came and added
verses to this one, without bothering for pertinence or aptness in respect of
analogy. For instance, they said: 'Love turns a serpent into an ant,' or that
'love turns the roof into a wall,' or 'love turns a musk-melon into a
water-melon'! These analogies have no relation at all to the theme. Of course
such a thing should not happen, but these interpolations do not harm a
society's life and felicity and do not cause deviance in its course. But when tahrif
occurs in things that relate to the people's morality and religion, it is
dangerous, and this danger is incalculable when it occurs in documents and
matters that constitute the foundations of human life.

The
event of Karbala' is, inevitably, an event possessing great social
meaning for us, and it has a direct impact on our morality and character.

It
is an event that prompts our people, without anyone compelling them, to devote
millions of man-hours to listening to the related episodes and to spend
millions of tumans(Iranian currency) for this purpose.
This event must be retold exactly as it occurred and without the least amount
of interpolation. For if the smallest amount of interpolation takes place at
our hands in this event, that would distort it, and instead of benefiting from
it we would definitely suffer harm.

Now
my point is that we have introduced thousands of distortions in retelling the
narrative of Ashura', both in its outward form, that is, in respect of the
very episodes and issues relating to the major events and the minor details, as
well as in respect of their interpretation and meaning. Most regrettably, this
event has been distorted both in its form and content.

At
times a distorted version has at least some resemblance to the original. But
there are times when distortion is so thorough that the corrupted version has
not the least resemblance to the original: the matter is not only distorted,
but it is inverted and turned into its antithesis. Again I must say with utmost
regret that the misrepresentations that have been carried out by us have all
been in the direction of degrading and distorting the event and making it
ineffective and inert in our lives. In this regard both the orators and
scholars of the ummah as well as the people have been guilty, and, God
willing, we will elucidate all these matters.

* * *

Here
I will cite examples of some of the distortions that have occurred in the outer
form of this event and the concoctions that have grown around it. The topic is
so vast as to be beyond expression. It is so vast that should we attempt to
collect all the unfounded narratives it will perhaps take several volumes of
500 pages each.

Marhum Hajji Mirza Hyssayn
Nuri, may God elevate his station, was the teacher of such figures as marhum
Hajj Shaykh 'Abbas Qummi, marhum Haji Shaykh 'Ali Akbar Nehawandi
and marhum Hajj Shaykh Muhammad Baqir Birjandi. He was a very
extraordinary man and a muhaddith (scholar of hadith) with an
unparalleled command of his field and a prodigious memory. He was a man of fine
spirituality with a highly fervent and passionate faith. Although some of the
books that he wrote were not worthy of his station- and for this reason he
earned the reproach of his contemporary scholars- but in general his books are
good, especially the one that he wrote on the topic of the minbar
(pulpit), entitled Lu'lu' wa marjan. Though a small book, it is an
excellent work in which he speaks about the duties of those who deliver sermons
and recount for the mourners the narrative of Karbala' from the minbar. The entire book consists of two parts.

One
part is about the sincerity of intention and purpose, as one of the requirement
for a speaker, orator, sermonizer, and rawdeh-khwan is that
the motive of someone who relates the narrative of 'Ashura' should not be greed
or attainment of pecuniary gain. How well he has discussed this topic!

The
second requirement is honesty and truthfulness. Here, he elaborates on the
topic of false and true narration, discussing various forms of lying in such a
thorough-going manner that I do not think there is any other book which deals
with lying and its various form in the way that it does, and perhaps there is
no such other book in the whole world. In it he exhibits a marvelous learning
and scholarship.

In
this book, that great man mentions several examples of falsehoods that have
become prevalent in narratives of the historic event of Karbala'. Those which I will mention are all or mostly the
same things that the marhum Haji Nuri has lamented about. This great man
even says explicitly, "Today too we must mourn Hyssayn, but there are
tragedies which have befallen Hyssayn in our era which did not occur in the
past, and they are all these falsehoods that are said regarding the event of Karbala' and which no one opposes! One must shed tears for
the sufferings of Hyssayn ibn 'Ali, not for the sake of the swords and spears
that struck his noble body on that day, but on account of these
falsehoods." In the book's introduction he writes that an eminent scholar
from India had written him a letter complaining about the false
narratives that are recited in India, and asking him to do something or to write a book to
stop the fictitious narratives that were current there. Then he remarks:
"This Indian scholar has imagined that the rawdakhwans tell false
stories when they go to India. He does not know that the stream is polluted from
its very source. The centre of false rawdahs are Karbala', Najaf and Iran, that is, the very centres of Shi'ism."

* * *

Now
as a sample, I will cite some instances of tahrif, of which a few relate
to the events that occurred before 'Ashura', some that occurred during the
Imam's way, some during the days of his final halt at Karbala' in the month of
Muharram. I will also mention some of them that relate to the days of his
family's captivity and some about the Imams who lived after the event of Karbala'. However, most of them will relate to the day of
'Ashura' itself. Now I will give two examples of each of them.

It
is essential to mention a point at first, and that is that the people are
responsible in all these cases. You folks who attend the majalis[i][v] sessions imagine that you have no responsibility in
this regard, and think that it is only the speakers who are responsible. The
people have two major responsibilities. The first is that of nahy
'anil-munkar (forbidding what is wrong) which is obligatory for all. When
they find out and know - sand most of the time they do know!-
that a narrative is untrue, they should not sit in that gathering. It is forbidden
to sit in such gatherings and one must protest against them. Secondly, they
must try to get rid of the eagerness and expectation which the hosts as well as
the audience attending the majalis have for the majlis to become
fervid, that there should be impassioned mourning and the majlis should
get feverish with cries of the mourners. The poor speaker knows that if he were
to say only things that are true and authentic, the majlis would not get
into a frenzy and the same people will not invite him
again. Hence he is compelled to add something.

The
people should get this expectation out of their heads and refrain from
encouraging the kind of fictitious narratives which kill the soul of Karbala' but work up the mourners into a frenzy. The people
should hear the true narrative so that their understanding and level of
thinking is elevated. They should know that if a sentence creates a tremor in
one's souls and attunes it with the spirit of Hyssayn ibn 'Ali and, as a
result, one small tear were to come out of one's eyes, it is really a precious
station. But tears drawn by the scenes of mere butchery, even if a deluge, are
worthless.

They
say that in one of the towns there was an eminent scholar who had some concern
for the faith and who protested against these falsehoods which are uttered from
the minbar. He would say, "What are these abominable things that
they say on the minbar?" One wa'iz said to him, "If we
don't say these things we will have to shut down our shops right away!"
That gentleman replied, "These are mendacity and one must not utter
them." By chance, some days later this gentleman himself happened to host
a majlis in his mosque and he invited the same waiz;
to make the rawdah. But before his taking his seat on the minbar
the host said to the waiz, "I want
to hold a model majlis in which nothing is said except the true
narrative. Make it a point not to recount any episode except out of the
reliable books. You shouldn't touch any of that abominable stuff!' The waiz
replied, "The majlis is hosted by you. Your will, will be
done." On the first night, the gentleman himself sat there facing the qiblah
in the prayer niche, close to the minbar. The wai'z; began
his sermon, and when the time came to recite the tragic narrative, as he had
committed himself to recite nothing but the true accounts, the majlis
remained unmoved and frozen as he spoke on. The gentleman was now upset. He was
the host of the majlis and he thought about what the people would say
behind his back. The women would certainly say, "To be sure, the Aqa's
intent was not sincere, and so the majlis was a fiasco. Had his
intentions been good and were his motives sincere the majlis would have
been rocked with the howls and groans of mourners crying their eyes out. He saw
that it would all end up in a loss of face. What should he do? Quietly, he signaled to the wai'z,
"Get a bit of that abominable stuff!"

The
expectation of the people that the majlis should go wild with mourning
is itself a source of falsehoods. Accordingly, most of the fabrications that
have occurred have been for the purpose of drawing tears, nothing else.

I
have heard this story repeatedly, and you too must have heard it. Hajji Nuri
also mentions it. They say that one day 'Ali, the Commander of the Faithful,
may Peace be upon him, was delivering a sermon from
the minbar. Suddenly Imam Hyssayn (A.S.) said, "I am thirsty", Imam 'Ali
said, "Let someone bring water for my son." The first person to get up was a
little boy, Abu al-Fadl al-'Abbas (A.S.). He went out and got a jar of water
from his mother. When he returned carrying the jar on his head, his head was
drenched in water as it spilled from the sides. This story is narrated in its
elaborate detail. Then, when the Commander of the Faithful's eyes fell on this
scene, tears flowed from his eyes. He was asked why he was crying. He told them
that the ordeals that this young son of his would face had come to his mind.
You know the rest of the story, which serves the purpose of a point of
departure for switching to the tragic scenes of Karbala'. Hajji Nuri has an excellent discussion at this
point. He writes, "Now that you say that 'Ali was delivering a sermon from
the minbar, you should know that 'Ali spoke from the minbar and
delivered sermons only during the period of his caliphate. Hence, the episode
must have occurred in Kufah. At that time Imam Hyssayn(A.S.)
was a man of about thirty-three years." Then he remarks, "Is it at
all a sensible thing for a man of thirty-three years to say all of a sudden, in
a formal gathering while his father is delivering a sermon, 'I am thirsty!' 'I
want water!" If an ordinary man does such a thing, it would be considered
ill-mannered of him. Moreover, Hadrat Abu al-Fadl, too, was not a child at that
time but a young man of at least fifteen years." You see how they have
fabricated the story! Is such a story worthy of Imam Hyssayn? Aside from its
fictitious character, what value does it have? Does it elevate the station of
Imam Hyssayn (A.S.)or does it detract from it? It is
definitely detracting to the dignity of the Imam, as it ascribes a false act to
the Imam and detracts from his station by bringing the Imam down to the level
of a most ill-mannered person who, at a time when his father-a man like 'Ali-
is delivering a sermon, feels thirsty and instead of waiting for the session to
be over, suddenly interrupts his father's sermon to ask for water.'

Another
example of such fabrications is the story of a messenger who has brought a
letter for Abu 'Abd Allah (A.S.) and he awaits a
reply. The Imam tells him to come after three days and collect the reply. After
three days on inquiring he is told that the Imam was departing the same day. He
says to himself, "Now that he is setting out, let us go and watch the
majesty and glamour of the prince of the Hijaz. He goes and there he sees the
Imam, together with other Hashimis among men, seated on splendid chairs. Then
the camels are brought bearing the litters draped in silk and brocade. Then the
ladies emerge and with much honor and ceremony they are escorted into these
litters. This description continues in this vein until they make the digression
to switch to the scene of the eleventh day of Muharram, to compare the glamour
and honor of this day with the sorry state of the womenfolk on the latter day. Haji
Nuri calls such descriptions into question. He says, "It is history which
says that when Imam Hyssayn(A.S.) left Madinah he
recited this Qur'anic verse:

فَخَرَجَ مِن'ها خائِفاً يَتَرَقَّبُ

[He left it in the state of fear and concern.] (28:21)

That
is, he likened his own departure to that of Moses, son of 'Imran, when he fled
for the fear of the Pharaoh.

قَالَ عَسي رَبِّي اَنّ يَهَدِيَنِي سَوَآءَ السَّبِي'لِ

[He
said, "It might be that my Lord will guide me to the right path."](28:22)

The
Imam had departed with a most simple caravan. Does the greatness of Imam (A.S.)
lie in his sitting, for instance, on golden chairs? Or does the greatness of
his family and womenfolk lie in their using litters draped in silk and brocade,
or their possessing fine horses and camels and a retinue of lackeys and
servants?!

Another example of tahrif in the accounts of
'Ashura' is the famous story of Layla, the mother of Hadrat 'Ali' Akbar, a
story that is not supported even by a single work of history. Of course, Ali' Akbar had a mother whose name was
Layla, but not a single historical work has stated that Layla was present at Karbala'. But you see how many pathetic tales there are about
Layla and Ali' Akbar, including the story of Layla's arrival at 'Ali Akbar's
side at the time of his martyrdom. I have heard this story even in Qum,
in a majlis that had been held on behalf of Ayatullah Burujerdi, though
he himself was not attending. In this tale, as 'Ali Akbar leaves for the
battlefield the Imam says to Layla, "I have heard from my grandfather that
God answers a mother's prayer for the sake of her child. Go into a solitary
tent, unfurl your locks and pray for your son. It may be that God will bring
our son safe back to us."

First
of all, there was no Layla in Karbala' to have done that. Secondly, this was not Hyssayn's
logic and way of thinking. Hyssayn's logic on the day of 'Ashura' was the logic
of self-sacrifice. All historians have written that whenever anyone asked the
Imam for leave to go to battlefield, the Imam would at first try to restrain him with some excuse or another that he could
think of, excepting the case of 'Ali' Akbar about whom they write:

فا ستاذن في القتال آباه فاذن له

There
at he asked his father's permission to go forth to fight, and he gave him the
permission.

That
is, as soon as 'Ali Akbar asked for permission, the Imam told him to depart.
Nevertheless, there is no dearth of verses which depict the episode in quite a
different light, including this one:

خيز اي بابا از اين صحرا رويم
نك بسوي خيمه ليلا رويم

Rise,
O father, let us leave this wilderness,

Let
us go now to Layla's tent.

Another
case relating to the same story, which is also very amazing, is the one that I
heard in Tehran. It was in the house of one of the eminent scholars
of this city where one of the speakers narrated the story of Layla. It was
something which I had never heard in my life. According to his narrative, after
Layla went into the tent, she opened the locks of her hair and vowed that if
God were to bring 'Ali Akbar back safely to her and should he not be killed in Karbala' she would sow basil (rayhan) all along the
way from Karbala' to Madinah, a distance of 300 parasangs. Having said
this, the narrative began to sing out this couplet:

نَذ'رٌ عَلَيَّ لَئِن' عادُوا وَ إِن رَجَعٌوا
لاَز'رَعَنَّ طَريقَ التَّف'تِ رَي'حَانا

I
have made a vow, were they to return,

I
will sow basil all the way to Taft!

This
Arabic couplet caused me greater surprise as to where it came from. On
investigating I found that the Taft mentioned in it is not Karbala' but a place related to the famous love legend of
Layla and Majnun. Taft was the place where the legendary Layla live. This
couplet was composed by Majnun al-'Amiri and sung for the love of Layla, and here
this man was reciting it while attributing it to Layla, the mother of 'Ali
Akbar, conjuring a fictitious connection with Karbala'. Just imagine, were a Christian or a Jew, or for
that matter some person with no religious affiliation, were to be there and
hear these things, will he not say what a nonsensical hagiography these people
have? He would not know that this tale has been fabricated by that man, but he
would say, na'udubillah, how senseless were the women saints of this
people to vow sowing basil from Karbala' to Madinah!

A
worse fabrication is the one mentioned by Hajji Nuri. As you know, in the heat
of the battle on the day of 'Ashura', the Imam offered his prayers hurriedly in
the form of salat al-khawf and there was no respite even to offer full
prayers. In fact, two of the companions of the Imam came to stand in front of
him to shield the Imam (against the arrows) so that he may offer two rak'ahs
of the salat al-khawf. The two of them fell from the injuries inflicted
under the shower of the arrows. The enemy would not even give respite for
offering prayers. Nevertheless, they have concocted a story that the Imam
called for a wedding ceremony on this day, declaring, 'It is my wish to see my
daughter wedded to Qasim.' Obviously, one cannot take one's wishes to one's
grave.

By
God, see what kind of things they have attributed to a man like Hyssayn ibn
'Ali, things the like of which we sometimes hear from persons of a very
mediocre character, who express a wish to see the wedding of their son or
daughter in their life. And this is said to have occurred at a time when there
was hardly any respite even for offering prayers. They say that the Hadrat
said, 'I want to wed my daughter to my nephew here and now, even if it is just
an appearance of a wedding.' One of the things that was
an inseparable part of our traditional ta'ziyahs was the wedding of
Qasim, the boy bridegroom. Such an episode is not mentioned in any reliable
book of history. According to Hajji Nuri, Mulla Hyssayn Kashifi was the first man
to write this story in a book named Rawdat al-shuhada' and it is totally
fictitious. The case here is similar to the one about which the poet
says:

بس كه بستند بر او برگ و ساز
گر تو ببيني نشناسيش باز

Many
are the appendages that they have clapped upon it,

You
will hardly recognize it when you see it again.

Were
the Sayyid al-Shuhada' to come and observe these things (and, of course, he
does from the world of the spirit, but were he come into the world of
appearance) he will find that we have carved out for him companions that he
never had. For instance, in the book Muhriq al-qulub- whose author was,
incidentally, an eminent scholar and jurist, but who had no knowledge of these
matters - that one of the companions to appear out of nowhere on the day of
'Ashura' was Hashim Mirqal, who came bearing an eighteen cubits long spear in
his hand. (After all someone had claimed that Sinan ibn Anas - who according to
some reports severed the head of Imam Hyssayn - had a spear sixty cubits long.
He was told that a spear could not be sixty cubits. He replied that God had
sent it for him from the heaven!) Muhriq al-qulub writes that Hashim ibn
'Utbah Mirqal appeared with a spear sixteen cubits long, whereas this Hashim
ibn 'Utbah was a companion of Amir al-Mu'minin 'Ali and had been killed twenty
years earlier.

We
have attributed several companions to Hyssayn ibn 'Ali that he did not have,
such as the Za'far the Jinn. Similarly, there are some names among the enemies
that did not exist. It is mentioned in the book Asrar al-shahadah that
'Umar ibn Sa'd's army in Karbala'
consisted of one million and sixty thousand men. One may ask,
where did they come from? Were they all Kufans? Is such a thing possible?

It
is also written in that book that Imam Hyssayn(A.S.)
himself personally killed three hundred thousand men in combat. The bomb that
destroyed Hiroshima killed sixty thousand people. I calculated that if we
assume that a swordsman kills one man every second, it would take eighty-three
hours and twenty minutes to massacre a force of three hundred thousand. Later,
when they saw that this number of those felled by the Imam did not fit with a
day's duration, they said that the day of Ashura' was also seventy-two hours
long!

Similar
things are said concerning Hadrat Abu al-Fadl, that he killed twenty-five
thousand men. I calculated that if one man were killed per second, it would
require six days and fifty and odd hours to kill that many. Therefore, we have
to admit what Hajji Nuri, this great man, says, that if one wanted to mourn the
Imam today and narrate the ordeals of Abu 'Abd Allah, may
Peace be upon him, one should lament over these new tragedies, over these falsehoods,
which have been incorporated in the accounts of his martyrdom.

Another
example relates to the day of 'Arba'in. At the time of 'Arba'in
everyone relates the narrative that leads the people to imagine that the
captives of the Imam's family arrived at Karbala' on the day of 'Arba'in, and that Imam Zayn
al-'Abidin met Jabir (ibn 'Abd Allah al-Ansari) there. However, excepting the Luhuf,
whose author is Sayyid ibn Tawus and who has denied it in his other books, or
at least has not confirmed it, such an episode is not mentioned in any other
book, nor does it seem very reasonable to believe it. But is it possible to
expunge these stories, which are repeated every year, from the people's minds?
Jabir was the first visitor to Imam Hyssayn's grave, and the significance of 'Arba'in
is also nothing except that it is the occasion for the ziyarah of Imam
Hyssayn's tomb. It is not for the renewal of mourning for the Ahl al-Bayt, nor
on account of their arrival in Karbala'. Basically, the road to Madinah from Syria is not through Karbala' and the two ways diverge from Syria itself.

What
is more painful is that, incidentally, there are few events in history that are
as rich as the event of Karbala'
from the viewpoint of reliable sources. Formerly I used to imagine that the
basic reason for the proliferation of legends in this field is that the actual
events are not known to anybody. But when I studied I found that no event of
remote past - for instance of a period thirteen or fourteen centuries ago - has
as reliable an history as the event of Karbala'. Reliable Muslim historians have reported the
pertinent episodes with trustworthy chains of transmission from the
first/seventh and the second/eighth centuries, and their narrations are close
and corroborate one another.

* * *

There
were certain reasons which were responsible for the preservation of these
details in history. One of them, which caused the details of this event to be
preserved and its objectives to remain clear, were the many speeches (khutbahs)
that were delivered during its course. In those days, an oration was what
communiqus and press releases are in our era. In the same way that official
communiqus issued during wartime are the best historical source, so were
orations in these days. Accordingly, there were many of them before the event
of Karbala', during, and after it. Individuals
from among the Prophet's household made orations in Kufah, Damascus and other places. Basically, their aim by delivering these orations was
to inform the people about the episodes as well as to declare the truth of the
matter and to spell out the goals. This was itself one of the reason for the events to be reported.

There
were also many exchanges, questions and answers, in the event of Karbala' and these are recorded in history. They too disclose
for us the nature of the occurrences.

Rajaz poetry was also recited
a lot during Karbala', and, in particular Abu 'Abd Allah (A.S.) himself
recited much rajaz, and these rajaz verses also reveal the
character of the confrontation.

There
were many letters that were exchanged before and after the episode of Karbala',
letters that were exchanged between the Imam and the people of Kufah, between
the Imam and the people of Basrah, the letters that the Imam wrote earlier to
Mu'awiyah (which indicate that the Imam was preparing for an uprising after
Mu'awiyah's death), the letters that the enemies wrote to one another, Yazid to
Ibn Ziyad, Ibn Ziyad to Yazid, lbn Ziyad to 'Umar ibn Sa'd, 'Umar ibn Sa'd to
Ibn Ziyad, whose texts are all recorded in the history of Islam.

Hence
the developments relating to Karbala' are quite clear and all of them are throughout a
matter of great honor and pride. But we have disfigured this shining historic
event to such an extent and have committed such a monstrous treachery towards
Imam Hyssayn (A.S.) that if he were to come and see,
he will say, 'You have changed the entire face of the event. I am not the Imam Hyssayn(A.S.) that you have sketched out in your own
imagination. The Qasim ibn Hasan that you have painted in your fancy is not my
nephew. The 'Ali Akbar that you have faked in your imagination is not my aware
and intelligent son. The companions that you have carved out are not my
companions."

We
have fabricated a Qasim whose only desire is to become a bridegroom and whose
uncle's wish, too, is to have him wedded. Contrast this one with the historical
Qasim. Reliable histories report that on the night of 'Ashura' the Imam (A.S.)
gathered his companions in a tent whose location, as described by the phrase 'inda
qurbil-ma', was the place where water used to be kept, or near it. There he
delivered that very well-known sermon of the night preceding 'Ashura'. I do not
want to mention its details here, but, to put it briefly, in this sermon the
Imam told them that every one of them was free to depart and leave him to
confront the enemy alone. The Imam did not want anybody to stay just for
considerations of courtesy or to remain out of compulsion, or even to think
that they were obliged to do so by virtue of the allegiance (bay'ah)
they had given him. Hence he tells them, "You are all free, my companions,
members of my family, my sons, and my nephews -
everyone - to leave without being liable to anything. They [i.e. the
enemy's forces] have nothing against anyone except me. The night is dark. Take
advantage of the darkness of the night and depart. They will definitely not
stop you." At first, he expresses his appreciation for them and tells
them, I am most pleased with you. I do not know of any companions better than
mine, and no better relatives than the members of my family."

But
all of them told him, in unison, that such a thing was impossible. What answer
will they give to the Prophet (S.A.W.) on the Day of Resurrection? What will
happen to loyalty, to humanity, to love and attachment? Their ardent responses
and their words said on that occasion would melt a heart of stone and are most
moving. One of them says, "Is one life worth enough to be sacrificed for
someone like you? I wish that I were brought to life seventy times to die
seventy time for your sake." Another says,
"I would lay down a thousand lives for your sake if I had them."
Another says, "If I were to sacrifice my life for you and my body were
burnt to ashes and the ashes were cast to wind, and were this done a hundred
times, I would still love to die for your sake." The first to speak was
his brother Abu al-Fadl, and then the other Hashimis spoke after him. When they
had made their statements, the Imam changed the subject and told them about the
events of the next day, informing them that they all would be killed. All of
them receive it as a great good news.

Now
this young man - to whom we are so unjust and think that all that he cherished
in his heart was the wish to become a bridegroom - puts
a question to the Imam. In reality he expresses his real wish. When a group of
elderly men gather in an assembly, a boy of thirteen does not sit in their
midst, but reverently stays behind them. It appears that this youth was sitting
behind the Imam's elderly companions and was keen to hear what others said.
When the Imam told them that they would all be killed on the next day, this
child wondered if he too would be one of them. He thought to himself, "After
all I am only a boy." Perhaps the Imam means that only the elderly would be
martyred. I am just a minor." Therefore, he turned to the Imam and asked
him:

و اَناَ فِي مَن' يُق'تَل'

Will
I be among those who will be killed?

Look!
See what his wish and aspiration are! The Imam says to him, "Qasim, first
let me ask you a question. I will reply after you have answered me." I
think the Imam purposefully put this question. With this question he wanted to
show to posterity that they shouldn't think that this youth gave his life
without awareness and understanding, that they should not imagine that what he
cherished was a wish to become bridegroom, that they should not conjure up a
wedding for him and be guilty of the crime of distorting his fine character. So
the Imam said, "First, I will ask you a question":

كيف الموت عندك

That
is, "My child, my nephew, tell me, how do you
regard death and what do you think about getting killed?' He promptly answered.

احلي من العسل

"It
is sweeter to me than honey!"

That
is, "I haven't a desire that should be dearer and sweeter to me!"
This is an astounding scene. These are the things that have made this a great
and historic event and we should keep it alive! For there will not be another
Hyssayn, nor another Qasim ibn Hasan. These are the things that make us give so
much value to this event, and if after fourteen centuries we build such a Hyssayniyyah
as this in their memory and in their name, we have done nothing. Or
else the wish to become bridegroom does not oblige one to put in one's time and
money, to build Hyssayniyyahs or to deliver sermons. But they were the
very essence of humanity, the very concrete instances of the Divine purpose as
stated in the verse:

اِنِّي جاعِلٌ فِي الَار'ضِ خَلي'فَةً

Surely I will make a vicegerent in the earth (2:30)

and they
stood above the angels.

After
getting this answer, the Imam said to him, "My nephew, you too will be
killed. But your death will be different from that of others:

بَع'دَ اَن' تَب'لُوَ بِبَلاءٍِ عَظيمِ

and
(it will be) after you have faced a great ordeal.

Accordingly,
when Qasim, after much insistence, received the permission to leave for the
battlefield, being very young, there was no armor that was fit for his years,
nor a helmet nor shoes, nor arms. It is written that he wore a turban ('ammamah)
and this description is given of his appearance:

كانه فلقة القمر

He
appeared like a piece of the moon.

This
boy was so handsome that when the enemies saw him they described him as a piece
of the moon:

بر فرس تندرو هر كه ترا ديد گفت برگ گل
سرخ را باد كجا ميبرد

'Where
does the wind carry this petal of red rose?'

said
whoever that saw you on your fleeting mount.

The
narrator says: "I saw that the strap of one of his sandals was untied, and
I do not forget that it was his left foot" This shows that he was not
wearing boots. They write that the Imam stood near the tents as he held his
horse's reins. Evidently he was alert and ready. At once he heard a cry. It was
Qasim: "Ya 'ammah!" (O Uncle!). They write that the Imam flew
on the horse like a hunting falcon. As he arrived by the side of this youth,
about two hundred men had surrounded this child. They fled as the Imam
attacked, and one of the enemy's men who had dismounted to sever Qasim's head
was himself trampled under the hoofs of the horses of his fleeing comrades. The
one who is said to have been trampled to death under the hoofs of the horses
was one of the enemy's men, not Hadrat Qasim. In any case, when the Imam
arrived at Qasims side, there was so much dust and confusion that nobody could
see what was happening. When the dust settled down, they saw the Imam sitting
at Qasim's side with his head in his arms. They heard the Imam utter this
sentence:

يعز والله علي عمك ان تدعوه فلايجيبك او يجيبك فلا ينفعك صوته

My
nephew! By God, it is very hard on your uncle that you should call him and he
should not be able to respond, or that he should respond without being able to
do anything for you!

It
was at this moment that a cry came from this youth and his spirit departed
towards its Creator.

O
God, may our ultimate end be one that is of felicity. Make us aware of the
realities of Islam! Remove from us our ignorance and nescience with Your grace and munificence. Give all of us the ability to
act with sincere intentions. Fulfill our legitimate needs and forgive all our
dead and pardon them.

Notes:

1. J. M Rodwell in his translation of the Qur'an
(London: Everyman's Library, p 345) makes in a footnote the following remark
under this verse: "This is one of the passages which shows great familiarity with the habit of the Jews on the
part of Muhammad." [Tr.] . The professional maddah,
himself somewhat of a rawdeh khwan, though mostly without a clerics
training, is someone who recites elegies, verses and even delivers a rawdah
in the majalis, the gatherings that are held for the sake of ceremonial
mourning, before the rawdeh e khawn takes to the minbar.[Tr.]

. This is a reference to his controversial book Fasl
al-Khitab in which he, contrary to the general belief of Shi'i Imami
scholars through the course of history, raised doubts concerning the occurrence
of tahrif (mainly the occurrence of deletions) in the Qur'an.[Tr.]

. The rawdeh-khawn, often a cleric is someone
who delivers the rawdah, consisting of narratives relating in particular
to the martyrdom of Imam Hyssayn, his family and companions, and in general to
the ordeals of Ahlal Bayt, the Prophet's family. Wa'iz, Dhakir, Minbari,
etc. are other names for the professional rawdeh-khwan.

. Ibn Tawus, al-Luhuf, p. 47

. The Shari'ah stipulates certain modifications in the
obligatory salat, the daily ritual prayers, when offered in conditions of war
and danger of the enemy's attack. The salat thus offered is referred to
as salat al-khawf; (see the Quran, 4:101). [Tr.]

. It was a tradition among the Arab warriors to recite
verses during combat and encounter with the enemy on the battlefield. Rajaz
is the form of poetry composed of such purposes and occasions. [Tr.]

. Bihar al-Anwar, vol. 44 p. 392, A'lam
al-Wara, p. 234, al-Shaykh al-Mufid, Kitab al-Irshad, p. 231,
al-Muqarrim, Maqtal al-Hyssayn, p. 257. Apparently, there was a tent
where water-skins used to be kept and stored from the first days of the
caravan's halt at Karbala'.

. This is a reference to the Hyssayniyyeh-ye Irshad,
in Tehran. Hyssayniyyah is a building which is at times
also used as a mosque but is built mainly with the purpose of holding mourning
ceremonies during the months of Muharram and Safar as well as other occasions
relating to anniversaries of the martyrdom of the figures of the Ahl
al-Bayt. . Ibn Shahr Ashub, al-Manaqib, iii, 106, see also A'lam al-Wara, 242; al-Luhuf,
48; Bihar al-Anwar, vol 45 p. 35, al-Mufid's al Irshad, p. 239, al-Muqarrim's Maqtal
al-Hyssayn, p. 331; and al-Tabari's Ta'rikh, vi, 256.

. Ibn Shahr Ashub, al-Manaqib, iv, 107, A'lam al-Wara, 243; al-Luhuf, 38; Bihar al-Anwar,
vol. 45 p. 35, al-Mufid's Irshad,
p. 239, al-Muqarrim's Maqtal al-Hyssayn, p. 332; and al-Tabari's Ta'rikh,
vi, 257.

. The verse pertains to the story of Moses at the time
of his flight from Egypt: So he departed therefrom, fearful and vigilant;
he said, 'My Lord, deliver me from the wrongdoers.' And when he turned his face
towards Midian, he said, 'It may be that my Lord will guide me on the right
way.' Quran, 28:21-22