ভূমিকা

Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books London Lectures Lecture 11 : Hussein (as) and Psalm 74 The word Hoosen is found in Exodus 25:7; 28:4,15,22,23,24,26,28,29,30; 29:5; 35:9,27; 39:8,9,15,16,17,19,21; and Leviticus 8:8. In every case it refers to the article of clothing worn by the ministering high priest on his chest, and containing twelve stones engraved with the names of the twelve tribes and the Urim and Thummim, oracular stones used to ascertain the divine will.

No other word is used in the Hebrew Scriptures from the same root at all. The word is therefore quite different from Hamda and Ali, the former of which appears clearly as the name of an awaited prophet in Hebrew Scripture, and the latter of which can also best be translated as sometimes referring to a divinely appointed human figure. The use of the word to refer to a symbol of the priest’s bearing the names of the people before God is of course tempting.

The feelings it may evoke in relationship to the grandson of the prophet, the Imam Hussein (as), are deep, but hardly convincing to the researcher or skeptic. One must admit the total lack of linguistic evidence for the names Hasan and Hussein (both of the same root) in the Hebrew Scriptures. Furthermore, the many references that speak to the Muslim mind about Hussein (as) are already co-opted by Christians in reference to Jesus (as), or by Jews in reference to the awaited Messiah (as).

Among these are the famous Isaiah 53 so often used by Christians as a prophecy of the crucifixion, but which seems so clearly to parallel the experiences of the martyred Hussein (as). There are other texts, less often noted by non-Muslims, that by their content lend themselves to application to the Imam (as). Among the best-known of these is Jeremiah 46:6,10. “Let not the swift flee away, nor the mighty man escape; they shall stumble, and fall toward the north by the river Euphrates….

For this is the day of the Lord GOD of hosts, a day of vengeance, that he may avenge him of his adversaries: and the sword shall devour, and it shall be satiate and made drunk with their blood: for the Lord GOD of hosts hath a sacrifice in the north country by the river Euphrates.” The implication, from the Islamic point of view, is that this is a promise that God will avenge the attack on His beloved Hussein (as) and his companions at Karbela, on the Euphrates River.