The month of Muharram, the first month of the Islamic calendar, brings with it the memory of the sacrifice of Imam Husain [a.s], the grandson of Prophet Muhammad [s.a.w.a], and his noble family and friends. This short text reflects the deep admiration of its author towards Imam Husain [a.s] and an insight into the tragedy of Karbala, its reasons and its consequences. It is presented with the hope that it will foster the Islamic unity and the brotherly love that the author seeks in his preface.
The author, of course, is none other than the well-known Sunni English translator and commentator of the Qur’an, Abdullah Yusuf Ali, who died in 1952 in England. Little would he have known that his English translation and commentary of the Qur’an would become so popular in the West and East alike, wherever English is read and understood?
And little would he have known that later editions of his Qur’an translation and commentary would undergo tampering such that favourable references to Imam Hussain [a.s] would be deleted, amongst other changes! (1) Perhaps there are some out there who want to see the memory of Imam Husain [a.s] wiped out. Perhaps Karbala is not quite over yet.
Imam Husain and His Martyrdom
Sorrow as a Bond of Union (2)
I am going to talk this afternoon about a very solemn subject, the martyrdom of Imam Husain at Kerbala, of which we are celebrating the anniversary. As the Chairman has very rightly pointed out, it is one of those wonderful events in our religious history about which all sects agreed. More than that, in this room I have the honour of addressing some people who do not belong to our religious persuasion, but I venture to think that the view I put forward today may be of interest to them from its historical, moral and its spiritual significance. Indeed, when we consider the background of that great tragedy, and all that has happened during the 1289 lunar years since, we cannot fail to be convinced that some events of sorrow and apparent defeat are really the very things which are calculated to bring about, or lead us towards, the union of humanity.
How Martyrdom healed divisions
When we invite strangers or guests and make them free of our family circle, that means the greatest outflowing of our hearts to them. The events that I am going to describe refer to some of the most touching incidents of our domestic history in their spiritual aspect. We ask our brethren of other faiths to come and share with us some of the thoughts which are called forth by this event. As a matter of fact, all students of history are aware that the horrors that are connected with the great event of Karbala did more than anything else to unite together the various contending factions which had unfortunately appeared at that early stage of Muslim history. You know the old Persian saying applied to the Prophet:
“Thou comest to the world to unite, not to divide.”
That was wonderfully exemplified by the sorrows and sufferings and finally the martyrdom of Imam Husain.
Commemoration of great virtues
There has been in our history a tendency sometimes to celebrate the event merely by wailing and tribulation, or sometimes by symbols like the Tazias that you see in India, – Taboots as some people call them. Well, symbolism or visible emblems may sometimes be useful in certain circumstances as tending to crystallize ideas. But I think the Muslims of India of the present day are quite ready to adopt a more effective way of celebrating martyrdom, and that is by contemplating the great virtues of the martyr, trying to understand the significance of the events in which he took part, and translating those great moral and spiritual lessons into their own lives.
From that point of view I think you will agree that it is good that we should sit together, even people of different faiths, – sit together and consider the great historic event, which exemplified such soul-stirring virtues as those of unshaken faith, and undaunted courage, thought for others, willing self-sacrifice, steadfastness in the right and unflinching war against the wrong. Islam has a history of beautiful domestic affections, suffering and of spiritual endeavour, second to none in the world. That side of Muslim history, although to me the most precious, is, I am sorry to say, often neglected.
It is most important that we should call attention to it, reiterated attention, the attention of our own people as well as the attention of those who are interested in historical and religious truth. If there is anything precious in Islamic history it is not the wars, the politics, the brilliant expansion, the glorious conquests, or even the intellectual spoils which our ancestors gathered. In these matters, our history, like all history, has its lights and shades. What we need especially to emphasize is the spirit of the organization, of brotherhood, of undaunted courage in moral and spiritual life.
Plan of discourse
I propose first to give you an idea of the geographical setting and the historical background. Then I want very briefly to refer to the actual events that happened in the Muharram, and finally to draw your attention to the great lessons which we can learn from them.
Geographical Picture
In placing before you a geographical picture of the tract of country in which the great tragedy was enacted, I consider myself fortunate in having my own personal memories to draw upon. They make the picture vivid in my mind, and they may help you also. When I visited those scenes in 1928, I remember going down from Baghdad through all that country watered by the Euphrates River. As I crossed the river by a bridge of boats at Al-Musaiyib on a fine April morning, my thoughts leapt over centuries and centuries. To the left of the main river, you have the old classic ground of Babylonian history; you have the railway station of Hilla; you have the ruins of the city of Babylon, witnessing one of the greatest civilizations of antiquity.
It was so mingled with the dust that it is only in recent years that we have begun to understand its magnitude and magnificence. Then you have the great river system of the Euphrates, the Furat as it is called, a river, unlike any other river we know. It takes its rise in many sources from the mountains of Eastern Armenia and sweeping in great zig-zags through the rocky country, it finally skirts the desert as we see it now. Wherever it or its interlacing branches or canals can reach, it has converted the desert into a fruitful cultivated country; in the picturesque phrase, it has made the desert blossom as the rose. It skirts around the Eastern edge of the Syrian Desert and then flows into marshy land. In a tract not far from Kerbela itself there are lakes which receive its waters and act as reservoirs. Lower down it unites with the other river, the Tigris, and the united rivers flow in the name of the Shatt-al-Arab into the Persian Gulf.
To be continued!
NOTES:
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1. (*) A detailed and documented case study is now available on Tahrif! Investigating Distortions in Islamic Texts.Imam Husain And His Martyrdom, Abdullah Yusuf Ali (d. 1952), 41 pages
2. The following article is based on a report of an Address delivered by “Abdullah Yusuf Ali” in London on Thursday the 28th May, 1931 (Muharram 1350 A.H.), at the Waldorf Hotel. The report was subsequently corrected and slightly expanded. The Majlis was a notable gathering, which met at the invitation of Mr. A. S. M. Anik. Nawab Sir Umar Hayat Khan,
3. Tiwana, presided and members of all schools of thought in Islam, as well as non-Muslims, joined reverently in doing honour to the memory of the great Martyr of Islam.
