ভূমিকা

Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Martyrdom: Arise and Bear Witness Editor's Preface To return to Karbala is to return to martyrdom and those who arose and bore witness, bore witness to their covenant with God, agreed to on that sacred day long ago - so long ago that it forms part of the collective unconscious - the day when God said, "Am I not thy Lord?" and we answered, " Yea, we do bear witness ." (The Quran 7:172).

On that sacred day we committed ourselves as human beings responsible to God, passively responsible for the protection of the earth, for safe guar­ding all of God's creation and His creatures, actively responsible for the ridding of all of that which destroys God's creation and His creatures. In this activated capacity, we have a solemn duty to fight oppression and injustice with whatever means are available to us.

Some are able to fight with the sword, others with the Word but our beloved Imam Husayn ('a) found a third way. He fought for the Truth and what he believed in with his life - he offered martyrdom as the alternative and God accepted it. On the plains of Karbala near the ancient city of Babylon in 680 A.D. Imam Husayn ('a) and his family and his companions were martyred by Yazid.

Imam Husayn ('a), the third Shiite Imam, son of Hazrat Ali and Fatima and thereby, grandson of the Prophet of Islam, is known as the king of martyrs, shah-e shahidan for it was he who sacrificed his life by bearing witness to Islam. Imam Husayn ('a) was about 56 years old when the Ummayyid Caliph, Mu'awiyyah died.

He had been Imam for ten years (since the murder of his brother, Imam Hasan ('a) who had been killed by Mu'awiyyah.) Imam Husayn ('a) lived under the most difficult outward conditions of suppression and persecution. Religious laws had lost most of their credit as Shariati tells us. The laws of the Ummayyid government had gained complete control. Mu'awiyyah made use of every possible means to obliterate the name of Ali and the family of the Prophet.

He wanted to strengthen his son, Yazid's position. Thus Imam Husayn ('a) had to endure these difficulties from Mu'awiyyah. When he died and his son Yazid assumed the Caliphate, Imam Husayn ('a) underwent even greater hardship. He realized that he must leave Medina for Mecca as Yazid ordered the governor of Medina to force Imam Husayn ('a) to give his allegiance to him. To give allegiance in the Islamic tradition was vital for the continued existence of a government.