EVEN NON-MUSLIM SCHOLARS SALUTE THE MARTYRDOM OF IMAM HUSSAIN BUT KHARIZIS SCORN.

By: Maulana Muhammad A. K. Azad [ Abu Arif Al Alawi ]

"Think not of those who are slain in God's way as dead. Nay, they are living, finding their sustenance in the presence of their Lord"[ Al Qur'an 3:169]

           

             Husayn ibn Ali Ibn Abi Talib (8 January 626 AD - 10 October 680 AD) is the beloved grandson of Rasulullah (PBUH). It's mandatory for Muslims to love him and other Members of Ahle Bait along with Sahaba e Keram. Even Non-Muslim Scholars showered praise on him.  Before presenting their view on Imam Hussain ( R A ), let us see what is written in Sahih Hadithes on him.

                Hadith No. 1 .    Rasulullah (PBUH) said:"Al-Hasan and al-Hussein are the chiefs of the youth of Paradise and Fatimah is the chief of their women:      
     

                       

1. Sahih al-Tirmidhi, v5, p660, on the authority of Abu Sa'id and Hudhayfa
2. Sunan Ibn Majah, Introduction 8
3. al-Tabarani, on the authorities of: Umar, Ali, Jabir, Abu Hurayrah, Usamah Ibn Zaid, al-Baraa, Ibn 'Adi, and Ibn Masud.
4. al-Kubra, by al-Nasa'i
5. Musnad Ahmad Ibn Hanbal, v1, pp 62,82, v3, pp 3,64, v5, p391
6. Fada'il al-Sahaba, by Ahmad Hanbal, v2, p771, Tradition #1360
7. al-Mustadrak, by al-Hakim, v3, pp 166,167
8. Hilyatul Awliyaa, by Abu Nu'aym, v5, p71
9. Majma' al-Zawa'id, by al-Haythami, v9, p187
10. Tuhfatul Ashraf, by Lumzi, v3, p31
11. Ibn Habban, as mentioned in al-Mawarid, pp 551,553
12. al-Sawa'iq al-Muhriqah, by Ibn Hajar Haythami, Ch. 11, section 3, p290
13. Mishkat al-Masabih, by Khatib al-Tabrizi, English Version, Tradition #6154

      Hadith No 2:  Rasulullah (PBUH) said:   " Hussein is from me and I am from him."

                     

1. Musnad Ahmad Ibn Hanbal, v4, p172
2. Fadha'il al-Sahaba, by Ahmad Hanbal, v2, p772, Tradition #1361
3. al-Mustadrak, by al-Hakim, v3, p 177
4. Amali, by Abu Nu'aym al-Isbahani, p 64
5. al-Kuna wal Asmaa, by al-Dulabi, v1, p88
6. al-Tabarani, v3, p21
7. Adab by al-Bukhari, also al-Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah, as quoted in:
8. al-Sawa'iq al-Muhriqah, by Ibn Hajar Haythami, Ch. 11, section 3, p291
9. Mishkat al-Masabih, by Khatib al-Tabrizi, English Version, Tradition #6160

 Hadith No 3:   Rasulullah (PBUH)   looked toward Ali, Fatimah, Hasan, and Hussein, and then said, "I am in war with those who will fight you, and in peace with those who are peaceful to you.:

      

1. Sahih al-Tirmidhi, v5, p699
2. Sunan Ibn Majah, v1, p52
3. Fadha'il al-Sahaba, by Ahmad Ibn Hanbal, v2, p767, Tradition #1350
4. al-Mustadrak, by al-Hakim, v3, p149
5. Majma' al-Zawa'id, by al-Haythami, v9, p169
6. al-Kabir, by al-Tabarani, v3, p30, also in al-Awsat
7. Jami' al-Saghir, by al-Ibani, v2, p17
8. Tarikh, by al-Khateeb al-Baghdadi, v7, p137
9. Sawaiq al-Muhriqah, by Ibn Hajar al-Haythami, p144
10. Talkhis, by al-Dhahabi, v3, p149
11. Dhakha'ir al-Uqba, by al-Muhib al-Tabari, p25
12. Mishkat al-Masabih, by Khatib al-Tabrizi, English Version, Tradition #6145

      

                           NON-MUSLIM SCHOLARS" SAYING ABOUT IMAM HUSSAIN (R A )

Charles Dickens had said the following about Imam Hussain (AS):

"If Hussain fought to quench his worldly desires, then I do not understand why his sisters, wives and children accompanied him. It stands to reason therefore that he sacrificed purely for Islam."

Thomas Carlyle has relayed this about the Tragedy of Karbala:

"The best lesson which we get from the tragedy of Karbala is that Hussain and his companions were the rigid believers of God. They illustrated that numerical superiority does not count when it comes to truth and falsehood. The victory of Hussain despite his minority marvels me!"

The famous, Dr. K. Sheldrake on Imam Hussain (AS) said this:

"Hussain marched with his little company not to glory, not to power or wealth, but to a supreme sacrifice and every member of that gallant band, male and female, knew that the foes were implacable, were not only ready to fight but to kill. Denied even water for the children, they remained parched under a burning sun, amid scorching sands yet no one faltered for a moment and bravely faced the greatest odds without flinching."

Brown in his `A Literary History of Persia' writes:

As a reminder, the blood-stained field of Karbala' where the grandson of the Apostle of God fell at length, tortured by thirst and surrounded by the bodies of his murdered kinsmen, has been at any time since then sufficient to evoke, even in the most lukewarm and heedless, the deepest emotion, the most frantic grief and the exaltation of spirit before which pain, danger, and death shrink to unconsidered trifles. Yearly, on the tenth day of Muharram, the tragedy is rehearsed in Persia, in India, in Turkey, in Egypt, wherever a Shiite community or colony exists; ... As I write it all comes back; the wailing chant, the sobbing multitudes, the white raiment red with blood from self-inflicted wounds, the intoxication of grief and sympathy

Mahatma Gandhi�My faith is that the progress of Islam does not depend on the use of sword by its believers, but the result of the supreme sacrifice of Hussain (ﮫﻨﻋﻰﻠﺎﻌﺘﷲﺍﻰﻀﺮ), the great saint.�


Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru

�Imam Hussain's (ﮫﻨﻋﻰﻠﺎﻌﺘﷲﺍﻰﻀﺮ) sacrifice is for all groups and communities, an example of the path of rightousness.


Reynold Alleyne Nicholson

"Hussain (ﮫﻨﻋﻰﻠﺎﻌﺘﷲﺍﻰﻀﺮ) fell, pierced by an arrow, and his brave followers were cut down beside him to the last man. Muhammadan tradition, which with rare exceptions is uniformly hostile to the Umayyad dynasty, regards Hussain (ﮫﻨﻋﻰﻠﺎﻌﺘﷲﺍﻰﻀﺮ) as a martyr and Yazid as his murderer." 
[A Literary History of the Arabs, Cambridge, 1930, p197]


Edward Gibbon

"In a distant age and climate the tragic scene of the death of Hussain (ﮫﻨﻋﻰﻠﺎﻌﺘﷲﺍﻰﻀﺮ) will awaken the sympathy of the coldest reader." 
[The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, London, 1911, volume 5, pp391-2]



 Rabindranath Tagore�In order to keep alive justice and truth, instead of an army or weapons, success can be achieved by sacrificing lives, exactly what Imam Hussain (ﮫﻨﻋﻰﻠﺎﻌﺘﷲﺍﻰﻀﺮ) did.�


Dr. Rajendra Prasad

�The sacrifice of Imam Hussain (ﮫﻨﻋﻰﻠﺎﻌﺘﷲﺍﻰﻀﺮ) is not limited to one country, or nation, but it is the hereditary state of the brotherhood of all mankind.�


Dr. Radha Krishnan

�Though Imam Hussain (ﮫﻨﻋﻰﻠﺎﻌﺘﷲﺍﻰﻀﺮ) gave his life almost 1300 years ago, but his indestructible soul rules the hearts of people even today.�


Swami Shankaracharya

�It is Hussain�s (ﮫﻨﻋﻰﻠﺎﻌﺘﷲﺍﻰﻀﺮ) sacrifice that has kept Islam alive or else in this world there would be no one left to take Islam's name.�


Mrs. Sarojini Naidu

�I congratulate Muslims that from among them, Hussain (ﮫﻨﻋﻰﻠﺎﻌﺘﷲﺍﻰﻀﺮ), a great human being was born, who is reverted and honored totally by all communities.�



     COURTSEY ; URDU POETRY FORUM


        Sir Thomas Adams, Professor of Arabic &  Oriental studies at the University of Cambridge said : "---------a re minder of the blood-stained field of karbala where the grandson of the apostle of God  fell at length tortured by thirst and surrounded by the bodies of his murdered kinsmen has been at any time  since then sufficient to evoke, even in the most lukewarm and heedless, the deepest emotions, the most frantic grief and an exaltation of spirit before which pain,danger and death shrink to unconsidered trifles."

           - A LITERARY HISTORY OF PERSIA , LONDON . 1919 PAGE  227


        Edward Gibbon (1737-1794) Considered the greatest British historian of his time said :    In a distant age  and climate  the tragic scene of death of Hosein will awaken the sympathy of the coolest reader."The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, London, 1911, volume 5, pp. 391-2]
[

Simon Ockley (1678-1720) Professor of Arabic at the University of Cambridge said: "  Then Hosein mounted his horse, and took the Koran andlaid it before him, and coming up to the people, invited them to the performance of their duty adding: O god , thou art my confidence in every trouble, and my hope on all adversity." he next reminded them of his excellency, the nobility of his birth. the greatness of his power, and his hjgh decent, and said ," consider with yourselves whether or not such a man as i am is not better than you; I who am the so of  your Prophet,s daughter, besides whom there is no other upon the face of the earth.  Ali was my father; Zafar and Hamzah, the chief of the martyrs, were both my uncles; and the apostle og God, upon whom be peace, said both of  me and my brother that we were the chief of the youth of Paradise. If You will believe me,, what I say is true, for by God,I never told a lie in earnest since  I had my understanding, for God hates a lie. If you do not believe me,ask the companions of the apostle of God (here he named them), and they will tell you the same. Let  me go back to what I have. They asked" " What hindered him  from  being ruled by the best of his relations."  He  answered " God forbid that I should set my hand to the resignation of my right after a slavish manner. I have recourse to God
from every tyrant that doth not believe in the day of the account." [

Sir William Muir(1819-1905) was Scottish scholar and statesman. Held the post of Foreign Secretary to theIndian government as well as Lieutenant Governor of the Northwestern Provinces, said :  "The traagedy of Karbala decided not only the fate of Caliphate, but of  the Mohammedan  Kingdoms long after the Caliphate had waned and disappeared."

[Annals of the Early Caliphate, London, 1883, pp. 441-2]The History of the Saracens, London, 1894, pp. 404-5] 

      

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World famous Arab historian al-Fakhri

has said this about Imam Hussain's sacrifice:

"This is a catastrophe whereof I care not to speak at length, deeming it alike too grievous and too horrible. For verily, it was a catastrophe than that which naught more shameful has happened in Islam...There happened therein such a foul slaughter as to cause man's flesh to creep with horror. And again I have dispersed with my long description because of it's notoriety, for it is the most lamented of catastrophes."

Sir Muhammad Iqbal says:

Imam Husayn uprooted despotism forever till the Day of Resurrection. He watered the dry garden of freedom with the surging wave of his blood, and indeed he awakened the sleeping Muslim nation.

If Imam Husayn had aimed at acquiring a worldly empire, he would not have traveled the way he did (from Medina to Karbala). Husayn weltered in blood and dust for the sake of truth. Verily he, therefore, became the bed-rock (foundation) of the Muslim creed; la ilaha illa Allah (There is no god but Allah).

Ronay wala hoon Shaheed-e-Kerbala key gham men main,

Kya durey maqsad na dengey Saqiye Kausar mujhey

I am one who weeps at the plight of the Martyr of Kerbala

Won't the reward be given to me by the Keeper of Kauser

Allama Iqbal in his Baqiyat (in Urdu)

KHWAJA MOINUDDIN CHISTI says:

He gave his head, but did not put his hand into the hands of Yazid.

Verily, Husayn is the foundation of la ilaha illa Allah. Husayn is lord and the lord of lords. Husayn himself is Islam and the shield of Islam. Though he gave his head (for Islam) but never pledged Yazid. Truly Husayn is the founder of "There is no Deity except Allah."

Shah hast Hussain, Badshah hast Hussain

Deen hast Hussain, Deen Panah hast Hussain

Sardad na dad dast, dar dast-e-yazeed,

Haqaa key binaey La ila hast Hussain

It's Hussain the Prince, it's Hussain the king,

He is Faith, and Faith's Defender most daring,

He preferred death to Yazid's allegiance,

With his blood, Islam has verily been living

May  Allah guide us along the path of  His beloved servants like Imam Hussain (R A ) and not on the path of Yazeed The Villain and his lovers.

                       
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