The 'state of fear' in the verse however should not be...

The 'state of fear' in the verse however should not be mistaken for 'fear of death' for infallible leaders are far from such states. The fear in this verse perhaps was from any event that would hamper his path from fulfilling his mission of awakening the slumbering folk and reviving Islam in their hearts and minds of the Muslims. Thus he did not want to be martyred before he fulfills his mission.

Then when Imam al-Husayn ('a) reaches the outskirts and sees its mountains, he recites ^3 the following verse of Qur'an: وَ لَمَّا تَوَجَّهَ تِلْقاءَ مَدْيَنَ قالَ عَسى رَبِّي أَنْ يَهْدِيَنِي سَواءَ السَّبِيلِ And when he turned his face towards Midian he said: 'maybe my Lord will show me the right way.' (28:22) This verse also pertains to Prophet Musa ('a) when he enters the city of Midian.

Imam al-Husayn ('a) by reciting the verse perhaps sought Divine help to carry out his mission of conveying his message and stance to all the Muslims of the world in the proper way. He seeks guidance so that he may fulfill his mission in the best possible manner. The decision taken by Imam (‘a) to come to Makka reveals his timely move and extreme astuteness.

He would have gone to other places suggested by his companions, as a result of which he would be safe from the calamities and able to adopt a life of repose. However, he had a loftier mission, and the only way to carry out the same was to go to a place where he would get a global audience who would be able to communicate to their people the pathetic state of the government, so that every committed Muslim rises for the truth.

[^1]: Here la yubayi'u can be both narrative of the reality and informative as well. Thus by this statement one can inform his addressee the reality that (1) truth never unites with falsehood, and (2) truth will not unite with falsehood. [^2]: Shaykh Mufid, Kitab al-Irshad, v. 2, p.33 Previous…

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