If the circumstances are right...

If the circumstances are right, the Imam will succeed, and if not, he will, at least apparently, fail. This is because he is also bound by religious obligation. And as the leader, both spiritually and politically, of the Islamic nation, he is duty-bound to strive to spread the truth and uphold the cause of Islam. A Historical Background on Imam Al-Husayn’s Uprising One of the darkest and harshest periods for the and the Shi‘ah was Mu‘awiyah’s reign, which spanned two decades.

After securing his absolute rule over the entire Islamic empire through deceitful stratagems, he turned his attention to consolidating his power and destroying the prominent status of the among Muslims. His intention, however, was not merely to destroy their prominence. He wished to erase their name completely. For achieving his purpose, Mu‘awiyah was willing to utilize every possible measure—bribery, intimidation, torture, etc.

To this end, he persuaded a number of the respected companions (by various ways) to forge hadith s that praised the companions but damaged the status of the . By his command, the Master of the Faithful was dishonored from every pulpit, as if it were a religious rite. Mu‘awiyah’s agents—chief among them, Ziyad ibn Abih, Samarah ibn Jundab, Busr ibn Artat—were constantly on the lookout for sympathizers: when identified they were frequently killed.

These measures implanted in Muslims an aversion toward ‘Ali and the , and the true believers who cherished the love of the were forced to conceal their feelings. (The gravity of the situation can be grasped by noting that in the ten years of al-Husayn’s imamate—which to the exclusion of the last several months coincided with Mu‘awiyah’s rule—not a single hadith was narrated from him.[^11]) Despite this repressive atmosphere, however, Imam al-Husayn avoided open conflict with Mu‘awiyah.

For understanding why he chose to remain silent during Mu‘awiyah’s reign, one need only to consider the following reasons. First, Mu‘awiyah had made al-Husayn pledge to refrain from challenging his rule. With this pledge in effect, he would have lacked public support to challenge Mu‘awiyah.

Second, Mu‘awiyah had established a respectable reputation for himself as a companion of the Prophet and a confident of the three caliphs prior to ‘Ali; so much so that he secured for himself the honorific title “Uncle of the Faithful” [ khal al-mu’minin ].