Regulations and principles play a great role in the lives of societies and nations. The highness of the principles of any nation proves its civilization. Likewise, any feebleness that affects the principles implies the ignorance of that nation. The most favourable principles are those which contribute to normalizing individuals’ lives and protecting their freedoms and dignities. Nevertheless, principles, no matter how great they are, cannot achieve the expectations of a nation unless there are individuals who embrace, protect, and carry them out in the various fields of life. Otherwise, they become of no value. On that account, perseverance on the principles is the holiest inevitable obligation, since it raises the morale, empowers values, and achieves expectations.
All over history, humankind has never known any principles more perfect than the Islamic, which obtained all virtues of mortality. They are the one and only principles befitting the sound natures and achieving the pleasure of this worldly life as well as the life to come. In a period of less than twenty-five years, the Islamic principles could achieve matters that none else could do, through the conquests of faith and miracles of reformation. They also changed the Arab nation that was sinking in ignorance into the best nation ever seen by humankind in civilization, glory, knowledge, and morality.
Perseverance on principles is the only reason beyond the prevalence of the scientific civilization and leadership of the precedent Muslims who exerted all efforts and lost themselves in their principles. Likewise, the present disasters and incessant collapse of Muslims are the result of negligence and going astray from their principles. The holy Quran glorifies Muslims who show perseverance on principles and cling to the high values of faith:
To those who have said, “Allah is our Lord” and who have remained steadfast to their belief, the angels will descend saying, “Do not be afraid or grieved. Receive the glad news of the Paradise which was promised to you. We are your guardians in this world and in the life to come, where you will have whatever you call for, a hospitable welcome from the All-forgiving and All-merciful Allah”. (1)
Giving the best examples of steadfastness for the sake of God, the Prophet Muhammed (s) faced bravely and overcame the increasing hurricanes of disasters and powers of unbelief. In this regard, he (s) said:
If the sun is put in my right hand and the moon in the left so that I may leave this matter (i.e. the divine mission), I will not do it until Allah will give me victory or I will die in this cause.
Like the Prophet (s), Amir ul-Mu’minin (a.s) was the ideal in the field of perseverance on principles. When the leadership was given to him provided that he would follow the Book of God, the Prophets Sunna, and the way of the two Sheikhs, he rejected it because he adhered to his lofty opinion and genuine principle. He said: “No, I rule on the bases of God’s Book, the Prophets Sunnah, and my own elicitations”. As some of his retinues, on another occasion, suggested to him importunately to give some of these treasures exclusively to the celebrities of the Arabs and the Koreishites as well as every person that you anticipate he will leave you and join the camp of Muawiya, Amir ul-Muminin refused their suggestion out of his perseverance on the principles and said: Do you command me that I should seek support by oppressing those over whom I have been placed? By Allah, I will not do so as long as the world goes on, and as long as one star leads another in the sky. Even if it were my property, I would have distributed it equally among them, then why not when the property is that of Allah.
This unparalleled ideality crept into his friends to change them into nonesuch models of perseverance on principles in spite of suffering various sorts of terror and persecution: One day, al-Hajjaj ibn Yousuf at-Thaqafi said that he would like to arrest one of the companions of Abu Turab so that he would seek nearness to God through shedding his blood! The attendants said, As much as we know, Qanbar the servant had spent the longest period with Abu Turab. Hence, al-Hajjaj ordered the arrest of Qanbar.
When Qanbar was brought before him, al-Hajjaj asked: Are you Qanbar? He answered: Yes, it is I. Al-Hajjaj asked: Are you called Abu Hamdan?
He answered: Yes, I am. Al-Hajjaj asked: Ali ibn Abi Talib was your master, was he not? Qanbar answered: God is my Master and Ali was my benefactor. Al-Hajjaj then asked Qanbar to declare his disavowal of the religion of Imam Ali (a.s), but Qanbar asked: If I do, will you find me a religion better than his?
Out of his anger, al-Hajjaj told Qanbar that he would kill him and that he might choose the kind of killing that he would inevitably encounter. Qanbar said: I give you this right of choice. You should choose for me. Al-Hajjaj wondered: Why is that? Qanbar answered: That is because I will certainly kill you in the same way, you are going to kill me. Amir ul-Mu’minin foretold me that I will be slain wrongfully. Hence, al-Hajjaj ordered to slay him.
To Abu al-Aswad ad-Duali Muawiya sent candy as a present so as to make him leave the wing of Amir ul-Mu’minin (a.s) and join his. A little girl of Abu al-Aswad took a bite from that candy and swallowed. His father shouted at her to throw that bite away, and told her that candy was poison sent to them by Muawiya to take them away from their love and support for Ali ibn Abi Talib and the Ahl ul-Bayt (a.s).
The little girl tried her best to vomit that bite until she could. She, then, said: God may condemn Muawiya. Does he want us to leave the purified master by sending us such saffron candy? Woe to him who sends and who will eat such candy. She then composed: Son of Hind, is it by means of saffron candy. You want us to sell our religion and Islam to you? God forbid it! This will never occur. So long as our master is Amir ul-Mu’minin.
Rashid al-Hajari was one of the intimate friends of Imam Ali (a.s). Ziyad the cursed (the governor of Kufa in the reign of Yazid ibn Muawiya; the second Umayyad caliph) ordered his arrest. When he was brought before him, Ziyad asked: What did your friend (i.e. Amir ul-Mu’minin) foretell you regarding our deed to you?
Rashid answered: He foretold that you would cut my hands and legs and would crucify me. Ziyad said: By God, I will belie this foretelling. Hence, he ordered them to set Rashid free. When Rashid was about to leave, Ziyad shouted: Take him back to me. The best thing that I see as punishment for him is that which was foretold by his friend. This is because he will not stop doing evil to us so long as he is alive.
They took Rashid and cut his legs and hands. However, he did not stop declaring the right of Amir ul-Mu’minin (a.s); hence, Ziyad the cursed ordered him to be crucified. Let us now listen to the magnificent words of the companions of Amir ul-Mu’minin (a.s) that express their great love for him, perseverance on their principles, and sacrificing their lives for his sake.
To be continued!
NOTE:
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1. Qur’an 41:30-2
