Is a city in Iraq,
located about 100 kilo meters southwest of Baghdad. Karbala is the capital of Karbala Governorate, and
has an estimated population of 572,300 people in (2003).
The city, best
known as the location of the Battle of Karbala (680),
is the holiest city for Shia Muslims after Mecca, Medina and the noble sanctuary in Jerusalem. It is home to the Imam Hussain Shrine.
Karbala is famous as the site of the martyrdom of Hussain Ibn-e- Ali (Imam Hussain), and commemorations are held
by millions of Shias annually to remember it. Karbala is considered sacred by
Shia and rivals Mecca as a place
of pilgrimage
Karbala was the
last breath of the age of faith. Very few historical events have shaped the
language, culture, music, politics and sociology of Muslim peoples, as has
Karbala. Languages such as Swahili and Urdu that were born a thousand years after
the event relate to it as if it happened yesterday. A laborer in Kuala Lumpur
reacts to it with the same immediacy as a
Qawwal in Lahore or a
professor in Chicago. Karbala is a noun, an adjective and a verb all at once.
Indeed, Karbala marks a benchmark in Islamic history and a central hinge around
which the internal dialectic among Muslims revolves.
Until the
assassination of Ali Ibn-e- Abu Talib (r) the issue of succession to the
Prophet had been decided through mutual consultation. Abu Bakar (r), Omar (r),
Usman (r) and Ali (r) (the Khulfa
e Rashideen as Muslims
generally refer to them) drew their legitimacy from the consent of the people.
The process was inherently democratic. Abu Bakar-as-Siddique (r) specifically
forbade the nomination of his own son as the Caliph after him, thereby avoiding
dynastic rule. Omar ibn al Khattab (r), in his last will, nominated a council
of six of the most respected Companions to choose his successor. The Companions
were cognizant of the pitfalls of dynastic succession and the excellence of
rule by consultation and consent. Theirs was the age of faith. The mission of
the first four Caliphs was the creation of a just society, enjoining what is
noble, forbidding what is evil and believing in God. In this struggle, they
took extraordinary pains to ensure that their immediate families did not profit
from their privileged positions.
Mawiya bin Abu
Suffiyan changed this process. Upon the advice of Mugheera bin Shoba, he
nominated his eldest son Yazeed as his successor. This was an historical
benchmark. Rule by consent requires accountability. Rule by a strongman
requires force without accountability. The nomination of Yazeed destroyed the
requirement for accountability. After Mawiya, Muslim history would produce
sultans and emperors, some benevolent, others despotic. Some would declare
themselves Caliphs, others would hobnob with Caliphs, marrying their daughters and
offering them exorbitant treasures as gifts, but their rule was always the rule
of a soldier. The transcendence of the rule of Tawhid and the accountability that went with
it came to an end with the assassination of Ali (r).
Mawiya had wasted
no time in extending his hold on the territories formerly held by Ali Ibn-e-Abu
Talib (a.s) (r) and Hassan ibn Ali. Iraq was in the juggernaut of Mawiya’s
police force, so the Iraqis had no choice but to accept the imposition of Yazeed.
The province of Hejaz (which is a part of Saudi Arabia today and includes the
cities of Mecca and Madina) was another matter. Respected personages such as Hussain
Ibn-e-Ali, Abdullah bin Zubair, Abdullah bin Omar, Abdullah bin Abbas and Abdul
Rehman bin Abu Bakar opposed the idea of a dynasty as contrary to the Sunnah of
the Prophet and the tradition of the first Caliphs. To convince them, Muawiya
himself traveled to Madina. A meeting was held but there was no meeting of the
minds. Not to be deterred by this defiant rejection, Muawiya came out of the
meeting and declared that the five had agreed to take their oath of allegiance
to Yazeed. According to Tabari and Ibn Aseer, Mawiya openly threatened to use
force if his proposition was not agreed to. The amah (general population)
gave in. Only later was it discovered that the rumor of allegiance of the
“pious five” was a ruse.
Mawiya died soon
thereafter (680) at the age of seventy-eight and Yazeed ascended the Umayyad
throne. One of his first acts was to order the governor of Madina, Waleed bin
Uthba, to force an oath of allegiance from Abdullah bin Zubair and Hussain
Ibn-e-Ali. Sensing the imminent danger to his life, Abdullah bin Zubair left
Madina for Mecca under cover of darkness and took refuge in the Ka’ba, where he
would presumably be safe from Yazeed’s troops. Hussain ibn-e- Ali consulted
with his half-brother Muhammad bin Hanafia and moved to Mecca as well.
Those Companions
of the Prophet and other Muslims, who believed that Ali (r) was the rightful
Caliph after the Prophet were called Shi’
Aan e Ali (the party of Ali
(r), which explains the origin of the term Shi’a. The term Sunni is of later
historical origin). As is recorded by Ibn Kathir and Ibn Khaldun, these
Companions were not entirely satisfied when Abu Bakar (r) was elected the
Caliph. However, to maintain the unity of the community they supported and
served Abu Bakr (r), Omar (r) and Uthman (r). When Hassan(r) abdicated in favor
of Mawiya, many amongst Shi’
Aan e Ali withdrew from politics. While maintaining no animosity against
the power structure, which was almost always hostile to them, they accepted the
spiritual leadership of Ali’s (r) lineage.
Kufa had been the
capital during the Caliphate of Ali Ibn-e-Abu Talib (a.s) (r) and members of Shi’ Aan e Ali were numerous in Iraq. Hussain
Ibn-e-Ali received insistent letters from the notables of Kufa inviting him to
Iraq and to accept their allegiance to him as the Caliph. As a first step,
Hussain sent his cousin Muslim bin Aqeel on a fact finding mission. Muslim bin
Aqeel arrived in Kufa and set up residence in the house of a well-wisher, Hani.
The supporters of Hussain thronged this residence, so Muslim sent word to
Hussain encouraging him to migrate to Kufa.
Meanwhile, Yazeed
dispatched Ubaidullah bin Ziyad, commonly known as Ibn Ziyad, the butcher of Karbala,
to apprehend Muslim bin Aqeel and stop the incipient uprising. Ibn Ziyad
arrived in Iraq and promptly declared that those who would support Yazeed would
be rewarded and those who opposed him would have their heads cut off. Greed and
fear of reprisals did their trick. The Kufans made an about-turn and abandoned
Muslim. He was attacked and executed by forces of Ibn Ziyad. Before his death,
Muslim sent word to Hussain that the situation in Kufa had changed and that he
should abandon the idea of migrating there. By this time, Ibn Ziyad’s forces
had cut the communications of Hussain’s supporters, so the second message from
Muslim never reached Hussain.
Unaware of the
ground situation in Kufa, Hussain started his move from Mecca to Kufa in 680
with his supporters and well-wishers. On the way, news arrived that Muslim had
been killed. According to Ibn Kathir, Hussain wanted to turn back but the
demand for qisas (equitable retribution) from Muslim’s
brothers prevented him. He did inform his entourage of the developments and
urged those who wanted to return to do so. All but the very faithful, mostly
members of the Prophet’s family, left him.
Undaunted, Hussain
Ibn-e-Ali moved forward and was stopped by a regiment of troops under umer bin
Sa’ad at Karbala on the banks of the River Euphrates. A standoff ensued,
negotiations took place and Amr bin Sa’ad communicated this to Ibn Ziyad in
Kufa. But Ibn Ziyad would accept nothing short of capitulation and Hussain’s
explicit baiyah (oath of allegiance) to Yazeed.
Sensing that Amr bin Sa’ad was reluctant to commence hostilities against the
Prophet’s family, Ibn Ziyad recalled him and replaced him with Shimr Zil
Jowhan. Shimr, a man without moral compunctions, surrounded the Hussaini camp
and cut off the supply of water. The final confrontation came on the 10th of Muharram. (Muharram is the first
month of the Islamic calendar and the date is mentioned here because the 10th of Muharram has come to occupy a
special place in Muslim history). Hussain, the soldier of God, who had drunk
from the lips of the Prophet and who would not submit to the tyranny of Yazeed,
arranged his seventy two men in battle formation, advanced and met the forces
of darkness. Each of the men was cut down and at last, the grandson of the
Prophet also fell. His head was cut off and sent to Kufa where Ibn Ziyad
mistreated it in the most abominable manner and paraded it through the streets.
The ladies and surviving children in Hussain’s entourage were safely escorted
back to Madina by some well-wishers. It was the year 680.
More Muslim tears
have been shed for the blood of Hussain Ibn-e-Ali than any other martyr in
Islamic history. Hussain’s martyrdom provided Islam with a paradigm for
selfless struggle and sacrifice. For hundreds of years, generations would rise,
invoking the name of Hussain Ibn-e-Ali, to uphold justice and to fight against
tyranny. For some Muslims, it was the defining moment in Islamic history.
Hussain stood for
faith and principle in the face of tyranny and coercion. In the person of
Hussain, faith held its head high against the sharpness of the tyrant’s blade.
Hussain was the embodiment of the Qur’anic teaching that humankind is born into
freedom and is to bow only before the Divine majesty. Freedom is a trust
bestowed upon all men and women by the Creator; it is not to be surrendered
before the oppression of a mere mortal.
Karbala imparted
a new meaning to the term struggle. Humankind must strive with patience and
constancy in the face of extreme adversity. Comfort and safety are not to be
impediments in the higher struggle for the rewards of the hereafter. Hussain
did not give up his struggle even though he was abandoned by the multitudes
that had offered him support. He did not surrender while facing insurmountable
odds.
History is a
jealous and demanding consumer. Time and again, it demands the ultimate
sacrifice from the faithful, so that faith may renew itself. Karbala was a
renewal of faith. Islam received an eternal boost from the sacrifice of Hussain
Ibn-e-Ali. Faith had triumphed even while the sword had conquered.
Before Karbala, Shia’ Aan e Ali was a religious movement. After
Karbala, it became both a religious and political movement. As we shall see in
later chapters, the echoes of Karbala were heard again and again throughout
Islamic history and imparting to it a directional momentum that persists even
in contemporary affairs.
So great was the
shock from Hussain’s martyrdom, that even Yazeed sought to distance him from
the tragedy. Ibn Kathir reports that when he heard of the events of Karbala, Yazeed
wept bitterly and cursed the actions of Ibn Ziyad. But when we view the sum
total of Yazeed’s actions and his personal character, these were nothing but
crocodile tears of a tyrant.
Karbala's
prominence in Shia traditions is the result of the Battle of Karbala, fought on the site of the modern city on
Oct 09, 680 AD (10 Muharram 61 AH). Both Imam Hussain Ibn-e-Ali and his brother
Abbas ibn Ali were buried by the local Banī Asad tribe at what later became
known as the Mashhad Al-Hussain.
The battle itself occurred as a result of Hussain's refusal to accept the
Umayyad Yazeed ibn Mu'awiya as caliph. The Kufan governor, Ubaydallah ibn
Ziyad, sent thousands of horsemen against Imam Hussain as he traveled to Kufa.
The horsemen, under 'Umar ibn Sa'd, were ordered to deny Imam Hussain and his
followers water in order to force Imam Hussain to agree to give an oath of
allegiance. On 9 Muharram, Imam Hussain refused and asked to be given the night
to pray. On 10 Muharram, Imam Hussain Ibn-e-Ali prayed the morning prayer and
led his troops into battle along with his brother Al-Abbas. All of Hussain's
followers, including all of his present sons Ali al-Akbar, Ali al-Asghar (a few
months old) and his nephews Qassim, Aun and Muhammad were martyred in an
inhuman way.
In 63 AH (682
AD), Yazeed ibn Mu'awiya released the surviving members of Imam Hussain's
family from prison. On their way to the Mecca, they stopped at the site of the
battle. There is record of Sulayman ibn Surad going on pilgrimage to the site
as early as 65 AH (685 AD). The city began as a tomb and shrine to Hussain and
grew as a city in order to meet the needs of pilgrims.
The city and
tombs were greatly expanded by successive Muslim rulers, but suffered repeated
destruction from attacking armies. The original shrine was destroyed by the Abbasid Caliph al-Mutawakkil in
850 but was rebuilt in its present form around 979, only to be partly destroyed
by fire in 1086 and rebuilt yet again.
No comments:
Post a Comment