ভূমিকা

Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Understanding Karbala Banu Umayyah in the View of the Holy Qur’an Seeing some present conditions that a detailed biography of Yazid should be compiled so that true facts of his life and background may become known to all, we plan to discuss the following points in this treatise: (1) Name and genealogy (2) Banu Umayyah in the light of the Holy Qur’an and traditions (3) The initial lowliness of the Banu Umayyah and the causes of their later prominence (4) Character of Muawiyah (5) Character of Yazid’s mother (6) Upbringing of Yazid and his nature (7) Events preceding the appointment as heir apparent (8) Intrigues for heir apparency (9) Coronation and (10) Arrangement of the slaying of Imam Husayn (a.s) and its events in brief (11) The episode of Harrah (sack of Medina) – its causes and consequences (12) Siege of Mecca – its causes and consequences (13) Death of Yazid (14) Habits and traits of Yazid Since a lot of time and leisure is required to write on all the above topics, I have decided to write on each topic whenever there is opportunity.

And when all the topics are covered we can compile them into a book. If Allah the High, wills. First of all we intend to present and discuss the verses of Holy Qur’an regarding Banu Umayyah. The exegesis and commentaries on these verses is from the books of Ahl al-Sunnah themselves.

First Verse …and We did not make the vision which We showed you but a trial for men and the cursed tree in the Qur’an as well; and We cause them to fear, but it only adds to their great inordinacy.[^1] Under this blessed verse, following traditions are quoted in Tafsir Durre Manthur of Allamah Jalaluddin Abdur Rahman Suyuti:[^2] (1) Ibn Jarir has related from Sahl bin Saad that the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w) saw in his dream, so and so clan jumping on his pulpit like monkeys.

Thus he became so aggrieved by it that he never laughed as long as he lived and the Almighty Allah revealed the following verse: In this tradition the narrator has resorted to dissimulation and refrained from mentioning the name of the tribe or clan but later traditions clearly state the name of Banu Umayyah to be the ‘accursed tree’.