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Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books The Hidden Truth about Karbala Chapter 2: Historical Background One has to look beyond the canvas of the battlefield itself, into the early days of Islam, in order to understand the cause and the facts and circumstances, which led Imam Husayn (a.s.) to face an enormous army at Karbala and the reason and philosophy behind his refusal to submit to an apparently simple demand for allegiance to Yazid.

From a reading of the following pages, the reader will understand that the seed for the battle of Karbala was sown long prior to the birth of Imam Husayn (a.s.) and later the battle was ultimately forced upon him.

This is brought out by the repeated assertions of Yazid’s army that though Imam Husayn (a.s.) himself had done nothing against them or against Islam, they had gathered to seek revenge for their ancestors who were killed by his father Imam Ali (a.s.) in the battles of Badr , Uhud, al-Khandaq and Honain . During the life of the Prophet (S) all disputes, whether they led to a fight or not, were between believers and non-believers or the opponents of Islam.

Chief among the opponents of Muhammad (S) and the religion he preached, were the Banu Umayya (the Umayyads) headed by Abu Sufyan the father of Mu’awiya and grandfather of Yazid.

Abu Sufyan’s wife Hind is the most infamous woman in the history of Islam, who plucked out and chewed the raw liver of the martyr Hamza in the battle of ‘Uhud’.[^1] History does not record any serious conflict, except petty jealousies, between the Banu Umayya and the Banu Hashim (the Hashemites), prior to the proclamation of Islam. The Banu Umayya never believed the Prophet (S) to be the Messenger of God.

They suspected that under the cloak of religion, a mighty empire was in the making under their cousin Muhammad (S). The Banu Umayya only desired and planned to appropriate the leadership of the empire from (S). They had nothing to do with Muhammad’s Message.

Before ostensibly accepting Islam, when Abu Sufyan saw the zealous followers of the Prophet (S), he exclaimed, “ Indeed our cousin has built a powerful army .” The Prophet’s uncle Abbas rebuked Abu Sufyan saying that it was not an army but a small group of devout followers of the Message of Muhammad, the Prophet (S).