The other one was a youth who was relatively a man of faith...

The other one was a youth who was relatively a man of faith and he did not agree with his father's ways. His name was 'Abd Allah. 'Abd Allah was present in a gathering where this sophistry was put into effect. 'Abd Allah said, "What a false argument that it was 'Ali who has killed 'Ammar, as he was among his troops.

If that is so, then it was the Prophet who killed Hamzah, the Doyen of the Martyrs, as Hamzah was killed due to his presence in the Prophet's troops." This enraged Mu'awiyah and he said to 'Amr ibn As, "Why don't you check this ill-mannered son of yours!" This is what is called distortion of meaning. How is the meaning of events and facts distorted? Historical events and facts have on the one hand certain causes behind them, and, on the other, they are inspired by certain goals and motives.

Misrepresentation of a historical event lies in ascribing to it causes and motives other than what they have actually been, or in attributing to it goals and motives other than what they in fact were. For instance, you visit someone who has recently returned from a pilgrimage to Makkah. The purpose you have in mind is that it is mustahabb to visit a hajji and so you go to see him.

Someone makes a remark about your motives for the visit, describing them as an intention to propose your son's marriage with his daughter under the pretext of visiting a hajji returning from Makkah. This is how he misrepresents your motive and purpose. This is what misrepresentation means. The historic event of Karbala' had certain causes and motives behind it, as well as certain sublime goals.

We Muslims and followers of Husayn ibn 'Ali have misrepresented this event in the same way as Mu'awiyah ibn Abi Sufyan distorted the meaning of the Prophet's statement concerning 'Ammar. That is, Imam Husayn ('a) had certain goals and motives for staging his uprising and we have ascribed to him some other motives and goals. The Character of a Sacred Movement: Abu 'Abd Allah ('a) made an uprising that was of unusual greatness and sanctity.

The uprising of Abu 'Abd Allah possessed all the charatertistics that make an uprising sacred, so much so that it is without a parallel in the entire history of the world. What are those characteristics? The first condition of a sacred movement is that it should not have a purpose and end that is personal and pertaining to the individual but one which is universal, covering the entire humanity and human species.