ভূমিকা

Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books The Uprising of Ashura and Responses to Doubts Did Imam al-Husayn (as) have Prior Information about his Martyrdom? One of the doubts often raised by skeptics in connection with the event of Karbala is about the Shi‘ah belief that every imam is prescient so has knowledge of things that are hidden from most human beings. They believe that the Imams are able to foresee and know exactly what is going to happen in the future.

Skeptics dispute that if this Shi‘ah assertion is true, then how can they justify Imam al-Husayn’s (as) uprising against Yazid, the son of Mu‘awiyah, when he knew very well that he was going to be martyred in the end? If Imam al-Husayn (as) had prior knowledge about his death, then why did he undertake the uprising? The reality is that the above-raised question is not confined to Imam al-Husayn (as) alone.

This question is valid about the martyrdom of all the Imams, because they all knew by what means they would be martyred but still proceeded towards their own martyrdoms willingly. We will now discuss this topic in detail because it is an important one.

Evidence that the Imams knew of their martyrdoms The topic of Imam al-Husayn’s (as) knowledge about his own martyrdom is something that is not hidden to any researcher of history and can be proven in a variety of ways: In general, all Shi‘ahs believe that Imam al-Husayn (as) and all the other Imams had and have prior knowledge of events and knowledge about what would and will happen in the future. They acquire this knowledge from the Holy Prophet’s (S) teachings and divine inspiration.

One of the issues they have prior information about is their own martyrdoms. Although this topic has been a subject of exhaustive debate and dispute among Islamic scholars, we have shown the truth of this matter in a separate article entitled, “ ‘Ilm-e Ghayb-e Imam ” (Hidden Knowledge of the Imam).[^1] There are a lot of hadith s (traditions) recounted in books by the various sects of Islam which prove that the Holy Prophet (S) knew everything about the martyrdom of Imam al-Husayn (as) and the place and manner of the tragic event of Karbala.

These traditions have been traced and seen in the words of Amir al-Mu’minin ‘Ali (as), Imam al-Hasan (as), Imam al-Husayn (as) himself, Umma Salmah, ‘A’ishah, and others. There is no doubt that Imam al-Husayn (as) had heard these traditions and knew about them well.