No, by Allah -zawj !

No, by Allah -zawj !’ قُلْتُ جُعِلْتُ فِدَاكَ فَمَا كَانَ مِنْ أَمْرِ هَؤُلَاءِ الطَّوَاغِيتِ وَ أَمْرِ الْحُسَيْنِ بْنِ عَلِيٍّ ع I said, ‘May I be sacrificed for you -asws !

So, what was from the matter of those tyrants, and the matter of Al-Husayn Bin Ali -asws ?’ قَالَ بِعِلْمٍ يَأْتِيهِ وَ لأمرهم لَوْ [أَنَّهُمْ‏] ألحا [أَلَحُّوا] فِيهِ عَلَى اللَّهِ لَأَجَابَهُمُ اللَّهُ وَ كَانَ يَكُونُ أَهْوَنَ مِنَ السِّلْكِ الَّذِي فِيهِ خَرَزٌ وَ لَكِنْ يَا عُقْبَةُ بِأَمْرٍ قَدْ أَرَادَهُ وَ قَضَاهُ وَ قَدَّرَهُ وَ [لَوْ] بردت [رَدَدْنَا] عَلَيْهِ [وَ أَلْحَحَنَا] الحلول إِذاً نُرِيدُ غَيْرَ مَا أَرَادَ.

He -asws said: ‘It came with knowledge, and their -asws matter, had they -asws insisted in it to Allah -zawj , He -zawj would have Answered them -asws , and it would have become easier than (breaking) the thread in which are beads. But, O Uqba! He -zawj had Wanted it for a matter and Accomplished it, and Pre-determined it, and had we -asws repelled it and insisted upon the solution, then we -asws would have wanted other than what He -zawj Wanted’’.

[3] After the Shahadat of Imam Hassan -asws , through, Jawda -la , Imam Hussain -asws took the responsibility of Immamat for nearly 10 years. Imam Hussain remained patient during all this time while persecution and assassinations of his -asws Shias by Muawiyah -la continued. The Imam -asws got on with the facilitation and communication of Divine Commands until the son of Myawiyah -la , Yazid -la , took his place in the middle of 60 A.H.

Yazid -la , soon after coming into power, asked for an oath of allegiance from Imam Hussain -asws . A similar attempt had already been made earlier, by Abu Bakr -la when he tried to force Imam Ali -asws , without success, into accepting what he wanted when he legitimatised himself as the successor of Prophet -saww . No one dared to try it again not even Muawiyah -la .

But Yazid -la , out of his arrogance and faithlessness tried to repeat the mistake of Abu Bakr -la by sending soldiers in plain clothes to Medina. Imam Hussain -asws , with the view of safeguarding the great sanctuary of Madina and Mecca, left both of these holy places and travelled towards Kufa. It was also in response to a cry for help from the inhabitants of Kufa, who had written hundreds of letters to Imam Hussain -asws pledging loyalty to him -asws and asking for guidance and deliverance.

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