Please write and send me your view.

Please write and send me your view."[^3] Mu'awiya wrote to Marwan and ordered him to avoid confronting Husayn (as) as much as possible. In any case, Husayn (as) had decided to revolt against Umayyad rule after Mu'awiya died, and he had prepared his Shi'ah for that. We do not doubt the fact that the Imam did not intend, by his uprising against Yazid ibn Mu'awiya, to overthrow the Umayyad regime militarily and come to power.

He did not have supporters in Hijaz who could be counted upon in his movement, except in Iraq. Egypt and the Hijaz were too far away for its people to be well acquainted with the circumstances of the revolution (to be of any help), and Syria was the strong support base of Yazid ibn Mu'awiya’s rule and power.

The Iraqis, apart from his Shi'ah, were not inclined towards the Imam and he knew very well that it was impossible to depend on the Iraqi masses because they would side with the victorious party. So it was best for him and his uprising if they did not join him then, for they would break away from his army as they broke away from that of his brother Hasan (as) before.

They would only unnerve his companions and partisans and no one would be steadfast except those who were steadfast before in his brother's army, and they were only a few and could not face the Syrian army. What al-Farazdaq prophesied when he met the Imam in Al-Shaquq,[^4] had indeed come true. He came up to the Imam and kissed his hand.

The Imam asked him "How did you leave the people of Kufa?" He said: 'I left the people [in such a condition that]: their hearts are with you and their swords with the Umayyads." Then Husayn (as) said to him: "You have told the truth and done your duty. The affair is God's, He does what He wills."[^5] The experience of Imam Hasan (as) was not forgotten by Husayn (as) nor was he abler than his brother in mobilizing a military force to strike at Umayyad power and overthrow the regime.

The circumstances of Imam Husayn (as) were even more difficult than those of Imam Hasan (as). The power of the Umayyads had been consolidated and its influence had become extensive. By his well-known cunning Mu'awiya had strengthened the Umayyad power base and extended its influence by buying off the conscience of the people and unleashing fear and terror among the forces of opposition.

He controlled the majority through terror and enticements, and they were now ever inclined towards the victorious party, the one that proved its strength on the field.