The Sermon of Mina, Al-Imam al Husayn's Everlasting Message to Religious Leaders The Sermon of Mina, Al- 'Imam al Husayn's Everlasting Message to Religious Leaders In the year 60/680, al-'Imam al-Husayn (A) stayed for about three months at Makkah in the course of his movement against the succession of Yazid, the degenerate son of Mu'awiah, to the Caliphate. Yazid had assumed the leadership of the Islamic world on Mu'awiah's death in Rajab 60/ March 680. his way of life was representative of the common among the youth of the Umayyad aristocracy during 'Jahiliyyah'. His un-Islamic conduct and practices were well known throughout the Muslim world and had earned for him contempt and disfavour amongst the religious. Nevertheless, Mu'awiyah's arrangements, ensured the succession of his son. In order to secure undisputed possession of the Caliphate, the first task undertaken by Yazid was to order al-Walid ibn 'Utbah, the governor of al-Madinah, to exact allegiance (bay'ah) from the refractory, especially from al-Husayn ibn ‘Ali and Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr, who were among the few who had refused to recognize Yazid's heir apparency during Mu'awiyah's life. In his letter to the governor, Yazid gave strict orders that they should not be allowed to delay, and if they refused al-walid should beheaded them at once. Al-'Imam al-Husayn (A) avoided the demand for bay'ah for two days and finally left for Makkah at night with his family and most of the Hashimites. It was at al-Madinah that al-'Imam al-Husayn (A) received repeated appeals and hundreds of letters sent by the kufans, pledging support to him in his movement against Yazid's rule. He also received reports that the government had sent some soldiers disguised as pilgrims to assassinate him in the sacred precincts of Makkah during the rituals of hajj, which was drawing near. On 8 Dhu -al-hijjah/10 september 680, al-'Imam al-Husayn left Makkah for Kufah, after performing umrah, foregoing hajj in order to safeguard the sanctity of the haram of Makkah and to avoid bloodshed in the holy precincts. Makkah was at the time full of pilgrims, who were pouring in from all parts of the Muslim world. There, at Mina, he delivered the famous sermon addressing the people, especially the learned in religion. This sermon is recorded in “Tuhaf al 'uqul “, a collection of sermons and aphorisms of the Imams (A) compiled by al-Hasan ibn ‘Ali ibn al-Husayn ibn Subah al Harrani (d. 381/ 991). The above sermon besides being an eye-opener for all of us, who should study the contemporary scene around us in the light of the genuine teachings of Islam, also reveals the sorry state of affairs that prevailed in the Muslim society of those days, just a generation after the holy Prophet (S) and his committed had established a just Islamic society after a lifetime of unimaginable hardship and struggle. The following points emerge from this noble sermon: 1. It shows the state of Muslim society during and after Muawiyah's twenty-year rule, a matter which prompts every concerned muslim to study and investigate how it came to prevail in the not too long a period, a single generation or nearly fifty years, after the demise of the Noble Messenger (S). 2. It shows that 'ulama' then, as today, enjoyed the people's respect and veneration, but having aligned themselves with the rulers they neglected their duties with respect to God and His laws and in regard to the people and their divine duty to strive to protect their rights. 3. It shows the state of the common people, especially the society's poor and weak, who lived in complete neglect on the part of the rulers, contrary to the Prophet's practice and his great concern for their welfare and rights. 4. The 'Ulama ' were not only silent vis-à-vis the oppression of the people, they failed to speak out against the anti-Islamic conduct of the rulers or to condemn their propagandists who misguided the people from their pulpits in every town. 5. It shows the people's indifference in regard to the Prophet's Ahlul Bayt (A) and their obliviousness to the Prophet's earnest and oft repeated advice and persuasions regarding them. It was this general indifference towards the Ahl-ul Bayt (A) and the common ignorance regarding their sublime station in Islam that emboldened a profligate like Yazid to kill the Prophet's only living grandson in such a barbaric manner and to imprison the women and children of his noble family. History shows that this indifference had causes that lay in the past. 6. Had it not been for the heroic struggle of al-'Imam al-Husayn (A), nothing would have remained of the genuine teachings of Islam, even Yazid, with the help of hired historians, would have gone into history as a respectable Islamic ruler and as a deserving successor of the Messenger of Allah (S). Of course, some court historians and fuqaha tried to justify even the blackest crimes of Yazid as errors of ijtihad. But such justifications did not succeed in convincing honourable or aware Muslim. All that such historians and fuqaha could succeed in achieving was everlasting ignominy for themselves. Al-Imam al-Husayn (A) through his tragic martyrdom revived Islam and preserved its authentic teachings from the hands of tyrants. hence the Islamic world is indebted to this brave son of Fatimah al-Zahra (A) and shall remain indebted to him to the Day of Resurrection. Imam Khomeini, a true son of al-Imam al-Husayn (A), in the course of his lectures on the topic of wilayat al-faqih, which were published in the form of a book with that name, expounds this hadith in the context of the tradition-based part of his discussion about the responsibilities of the scholars of religion. The sermon of al-Imam al-Husayn (A) is last of the traditions discussed by him in that context. The entire exposition has as its backdrop the conditions of Iran during the rule of the Shah in early 1970's. from al Tawhid, p. 34, Vol. VII No. 4 Shawwal Dhu al Hijjah 1410 O people, take lesson from the counsel God gave to His friends when He rebuked the rabbis by saying: “Why do the scholars and rabbis not forbid their sinful talk and consumption of what is unlawful? Truly what they have done is evil.” ( “Cursed by the tongue of David and Jesus, son of Mary are those among the Children of Israel who disbelieved on account of their rebellion and transgression. They did not prevent each other from committing vile and corrupt acts; surely what they did was abominable” ( God reproached them because they saw with their own eyes the oppressors committing vile and corrupt acts, but did not stop them, out of love for the favours they received from them as well as fear of persecution and injury. However, God says: