The Revolution of al-Husayn [as] chapter1

The Revolution of al-Husayn [as]

Shaykh Muhammad Mahdi Shams al-Din

Chapter 1

Introduction

Table of Contents

Explanation of the Use of Terminology

Attitude towards the Revolution

The Eve of the Revolution

The Aftermath of the Revolution

Motives and Aims which the Rising Implanted in Popular Consciousness

The First Tendency

The Second Tendency

The Ways the Rising Flowed into Popular Consciousness

The Doctrinal Factor

The Call of the Holy Family

The Nature of the Tragedy

The Psychological Situation of the Shi'ite Muslim

I. EXPLANATION OF THE USE OF TERMINOLOGY

Within the situation which existed, revolution at any time, or in any place, will have, political, social and economic causes, which impel a group of people to a movement-by force-against the existing situation, whether because that situation represents a deviation from an ideal which has been portrayed and is present in the faith of the umma, or because that situation does not respond to the aspirations of that group of people who represent the elite within the umma.

By its success or failure, a revolution will produce consequences. In the case of success the consequences will be represented by the change in the conceptions and institutions in the society. This will be accomplished by their transformation from their past form to the form put forward in the slogans of the revolutionaries when they embarked on their revolution. In the case of failure, the consequence will lead to the existing regime intensifying measures of repression in order to strengthen its foundations and make the conceptions which it applies to society more deeply-rooted in terms of policy, the economy, society and other matters of ordinary life.

On rare occasions, failure of the revolution may lead to the existing regime changing some of its conceptions or altering some of its institutions to respond, in some measure, to some of the slogans of the revolutionaries, when it seems that there is something in that which will help its existence and supremacy, which will subdue the growing popular hostility to it, and which deprive its opponents of their propaganda weapons.

The skeleton of the revolution are the material events which occur in time and place. This is what general history is concerned to record. Since, however, these events are stripped of their relationship with the general mentality of the nation and their emotional effect on the umma and the way in which it understands them, they have no significance and no meaning. Then they are something dead with no life and movement in them. Thus the events, in this respect, do not have any meaning to a man of thought. They may be an entertaining story but they are not, in this respect, anything more than that.

The flesh, sinews and blood of the events are the manifestations of their reflections in the general mentality of the umma and the reactions which the occurrence of the revolution produced in the lives of different groups, and then the reactions which the revolution produced after it had occurred.

From this standpoint, the revolution-whether a failure or a success-will be an influential and active element in its human environment. From this standpoint, it will take its place in the living history of the umma, the history which has affected it and which is affected by it, the history which will endure in time, in place and in man and whose effect does not end with the end of its time, or with the change of its place, or with the death of its hero.

From this point of view, the revolution affects the umma and is affected by it. It affects the umma insofar as it offers to it-both leaders and followers-examples on whose pattern the umma may work out its positions to face the situations and attitudes which it will be exposed to in its journey to the future.

The revolution is affected by the umma insofar as the picture of the events in the general mentality of the umma is influenced by its psychological attitudes towards the misfortunes which may befall it, the victories which it may achieve, and the difficulties which it may face and from which it may suffer. The events may change their composition in order to accord with the existing situation; the composition of the events may remain as they were but explanations for the events may be given which accord with the actual attitude in which men are now living. In these circumstances, they carry out what is termed the operation of 'ommission'.

At this point it seems clear that history, in this respect, is something living which moves in the minds and emotions of the umma. It is not an inheritance by which a theoretical relationship connects it. The relationship which unites the umma and its history is, in this respect, a living relationship which reflects the interaction between the umma and history in a continuous movement of give and take.

In this way, history may be a spur to go forward into the future and a light which guides the umma in its advance towards the attainment of its aspirations. It may be a mirror of the spirit of the present time, through which the umma is living now, and a justification for the situation to which it is shackled.

This view of an historical event is what we term 'history in popular consciousness' and it is what we mean by 'the revolution of al-Husayn in popular consciousness', insofar as, in this study, we intend to investigate the reflections of the revolution in the behaviour of the umma, its attitude toward its events, the nature of its practice in keeping it alive, the quality of its association with it, how the events influence its psychological attitudes so that they transform and change the composition of these events or give them new meanings and explanations which are different from their original meanings and significations.

I hope that the study will present a faithful picture of the revolution of al-Husayn in Muslim consciousness, in a general way, and of Shi'ite Muslims, in particular.

II. THE ATTITUDE TOWARDS THE REVOLUTION

1. The Eve of the Revolution

When people learnt of al-Husayn's determination to revolt, they took up three different attitudes towards it.

The first attitude was the attitude of the Shi'a of the Holy Family. It was to urge the revolution, to offer it promises of help and support and to undertake some actual tasks for its sake.

We find evidence for that in the event of al-Husayn's revolution when he refused to give the pledge of allegiance to Yazid ibn Mu'awiya and left Medina for Mecca. Indeed we find evidence for it even before the death of Mu'awiya, in the efforts of the Kufans to get al-Husayn to revolt and to rectify the situation-as they claimed-which had arisen as a result of the ratification of the peace treaty between Mu'awiya and Imam al-Hasan ibn 'Ali.

After the death of Mu'awiya, the assumption of office by Yazid and al-Husayn's departure for Mecca, letters from the leaders of the Shi'a came continually to him. Other leaders also participated in this call and this urging, and their letters came in abundance to him. They dissociated themselves from the Umayyad governor, al-Numan ibn Bashir al-Ansan, and then they gave a positive response to al-Husayn's messenger to them, Muslim ibn Aqil. Eighteen thousand of them pledged allegiance to him.

Many of them remained faithful to their attitude after the Umayyad regime had regained control over affairs in Kufa when the new governor, 'Ubayd Allah ibn Ziyad, arrived there and took over from al-Nu'man ibn Bashir. He exercised absolute authority over Kufa with ferocity and speed. Some of them were paralysed by fear; some of them were imprisoned after the abortive movement of Muslim ibn 'Aqil in Kufa; some of them were prevented from joining al-Husayn by the blockade which 'Ubayd Allah set up around Kufa; while others, who were able to slip through the cordon which had been positioned around Kufa, joined al-Husayn at Karbala', fought with him and were martyred in his presence.

The second attitude is the attitude of members of the clan of the Hashimites and the attitude of some of the tribal leaders. As for the attitude of members of the clan of the Hashimites, it is portrayed by the words of Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyya and 'Abd Allah ibn 'Abbas.

On the eve of Imam al-Husayn's departure from Medina, Muhammad ibn al-Hanifiyya gave him the following advice: 'You should go to Mecca. If staying there provides you with security, that is what we want. If it should be otherwise, you should go to the land of Yemen. They are supporters of your grandfather, your father and your brother. They are better-natured and have kinder hearts ...'

He received similar advice from 'Abd Allah ibn 'Abbas when 'Abd Allah ibn 'Abbas said in a conversation which took place between him and the Imam: 'I have learnt that you are setting out for Iraq. They are treacherous people and are only calling you to war. Do not hurry. If you refuse any other course but to fight against this tyrant and yet are unwilling to stay in Mecca, then go to Yemen. Write to the people of Kufa and your supporters in Iraq that they should drive out their governor. If they do not do that, you should remain there until God sends His commandment, for there, there are fortresses and mountain paths.'

As for the attitude of those who were not members of the clan of Hashim, it is portrayed by the words of 'Abd Allah ibn Muti al-'Adawi: 'O son of the Apostle of God, I remind you of God and of the sanctity of Islam lest it be defiled. I adjure you before God concerning the sanctity of the Apostle of God and the sanctity of the Arabs. By God, if you seek what the Umayyad clan has in their hands, it will kill you. If they kill you, they will never fear anyone after you. By God, it is the sanctity of Islam which will be defiled, the sanctity of Quraysh and the sanctity of the Arabs. Do not do it. Do not go to Kufa. Do not expose yourself to the Umayyad clan.'

In principle, these men agree with the revolution but they are concerned about its results. Some of them-like 'Abd Allah ibn Muti-are absolutely certain of its failure and express their feelings of consternation and alarm at the Umayyad audacity against everything sacred which will follow this failure.

Others are doubtful about its result and advise him to take refuge in places and among groups which will make the possibilities of success greater than the possibilities of failure.

The third attitude is represented by 'Abd Allah ibn ' Umar and other such men of piety who have withdrawn from politics since the killing of 'Uthman under the slogan of keeping away from discord, even though, by this attitude of theirs, they have rendered a great service to the existing regime when they made themselves into a party which was impeding the progress of revolutionary forces in society under the slogan of piety and keeping away from discord.

'Abd Allah ibn ' Umar said to Imam al-Husayn: 'Abu 'Abd Allah, you know the hostility of this clan towards you and their injustice to you. The people have given authority to this man, Yazid ibn Mu'awiya. I cannot be sure that the people would not favour him because of gold and silver (which he has given them) so that they would fight against you and thus many men would be destroyed through you. I advise you to enter into the agreement which the people entered into and to be patient as you were patient before.'

'Abd Allah ibn ' Umar and other such holders of this view were not from the Shi'a of the Holy Family. Nor were they members of that second group which believed in the justice of the revolution as a principle. In outward appearance at least, they were not supporters of the regime. They were only looking hostility at the revolution by starting out with a basic attitude in their public and private lives, which was the maintenance and acceptance of the status quo, not because it was just, but only because it existed, and because any change would not agree with their temperaments and interests.

2. The Aftermath of the Revolution

The Muslims faced the distressing end of the revolution and the consequences which followed (including the cutting off of heads and captivity) with three attitudes.

The first attitude was the attitude of the Shi'a of the Holy Family. They received the distressing end with sadness, regret and anger: they were sad because of the atrocity which had taken place at Karbala'; they felt regret because they had been remiss in their help and support; and they were angry with the Umayyad regime because it had committed a dreadful crime.

The interaction of grief with sadness generated in them extreme anger and a burning desire to atone, which they expressed against the regime and its supporters in poetry and speeches, and in revolutions which continued through generations. The slogan, 'Vengeance for al-Husayn', became a slogan for all revolutionaries against the Umayyads.

The second attitude was the attitude of the general body of Muslims who were not committed to the political policy of the Shi'a and the Imams of the Holy Family.

These met the disaster with shock and revulsion. The Umayyad techniques of dealing with their political opponents, as revealed in their suppression of the revolution, appalled them. These techniques showed no respect to law or morality, nor did they set any store in social norms.

There is no doubt that this discovery prompted many of the tribal and communal leaders to reconsider their attitude and friendship towards the Umayyad regime. Among such men was 'Ubayd Allah ibn al-Hurr al-Ju'fi who changed from being a supporter of the regime, who had refused to answer the summons of al-Husayn when the latter had asked him to help him, by becoming a revolutionary against the regime, who wrote poems of lament about the martyrs of Karbala' and proclaimed rebellion.

Even the so-called pious who had received the decision to revolt with lassitude and had given advice to stop it, even these men, were not able to maintain their previous negative attitude towards the revolution and were forced to follow popular opinion by showing shock and revulsion. Zayd ibn Arqam had been one of those present at 'Ubayd Allah ibn Ziyad's assembly in Kufa when the prisoners and the heads of the martyrs were brought in. He wept when he saw Ibn Ziyad poking at the teeth of Imam al-Husayn with a cane in his hand. When Ibn Ziyad rebuked him for weeping and threatened him, he declared: 'O people ... you will be slaves after today. You have killed the son of Fatima, and you have given power to Ibn Murjana (i.e. Ibn Ziyad). By God, the best of your men have been killed, and the worst of them have become masters. May God destroy those who consent to humiliation and shame!'

When al-Hasan al-Basri learnt of al-Husayn's martyrdom, he said: 'How despicable is an umma which has killed the son of the daughter of its Prophet!'

The third attitude was the attitude of adherents of the regime. These men received the news of the end of the revolution with joy and delight. They demonstrated their feelings of comfort and elation. Some of them could not desist from showing feelings of revenge and gloating.

Yazid ibn Mu'awiya showed his feeling of happiness and elation. Indeed it seems that he made the coming of the prisoners into an occasion for popular merriment in which music and songs were used.6 He could not hide his delight when the prisoners and the head of Imam al-Husayn were brought into him amid a lavish assembly.

The same is the case with regard to the rest of the members of the regime, like 'Ubayd Allah ibn Ziyad, Marwan ibn al-Hakam, 'Amr ibn Sa'id b. Al-'As and others. They expressed their delight in expressions which narrators have recorded and historians have reported.

Soon, however, the adherents of the regime discovered that the matter did not give rise to happiness. It was not the simple matter which they had envisaged. This revolution was not just a simple insurrection which could easily be put to an end, and then the regime would rid of its dangers.

The members of the regime discovered that the failure of the revolution generated dangers which were much greater than those which had existed before. The whole situation exploded. The failure of the revolution made the Shi'a of the Holy Family become much firmer in their attitude whereas before, during the reign of Muawiya, they had been more inclined to peaceful negotiations and forbearance. Similarly in a way which got talked about so that Muslims heard it from one another, the purifying effect of the revolution produced a great change in the attitude of large numbers of the Muslims towards the Umayyads and their government. We consider that this change made these groups equipped to adopt effective negative policies against the regime after their psycho- logical attitude against the regime had developed.

When the Umayyads discovered this new situation, they began to take practical measures aimed at destroying the effect of this psychological activity which the revolution had produced in the community. This activity had begun to turn the umma away from friendship with the regime to the public declaration of attitudes which resisted it and its institutions and policies.

Yet the adherents of the regime discovered the danger of the spiritual forces, which were unleashed as a result of putting down the revolution by the savage method which had been followed, and they brought into play every means of seduction and intimidation which they possessed in order to prevent these forces from working against the regime. In contrast to that, the Shi'ite leadership with the Imams at its head had also discovered the awesome powers, which the revolution had mobilized to work against the Umayyads and annihilate their regime, and new circumstances which were appropriate to the success of this work. This leadership prepared to use its energies against Umayyad activities, by aiming at releasing the rays of the revolution and spreading its psychological influence among the umma to the furthest extent and the widest range.

In the rest of this chapter we will present a brief picture of the Umayyad activities which were aimed at thwarting the transforming effect of the revolution within the umma in order to move from that to the presentation of a detailed study of the efforts of the Shi'ite leaders, with the Imams of the Holy Family at their head, which resisted Umayyad activities and which aimed at stimulating the activity of the revolution to change the umma from friendship with the Umayyads and to rally against them.

We will see that the activities of the Shi'ite leadership were the ones for which success was ordained in the end.

III. THE MOTIVES AND AIMS WHICH THE REVOLUTION IMPLANTED IN POPULAR CONSCIOUSNESS

The efforts of the Umayyads to frustrate the activity of the revolution in the nation are represented by two tendencies:

The First Tendency:

Among the realities of the history of the revolution of al-Husayn is that Yazid ibn Mu'awiya had the primary responsibility for what had happened at Karbala'. He received the dreadful result with happiness and joy. He did not show any opposition to the methods which Ibn Ziyad employed to deal with the revolutionaries. Rather he was at one with him through issuing directives about the nature of this method. When, however, the consequences of the crime were revealed, he attempted to shirk the responsibility for them.

'Ubayd Allah ibn Ziyad admitted to Musafir ibn Shurayh al-Bakri in a conversation between them: 'Yazid indicated to me that either al-Husayn was killed or I was. I chose to kill him.'

The historians have reported: When the head of al-Husayn was brought to Yazid, the position of Ibn Ziyad became high in his estimation. He loaded him with blessing, made gifts to him and was pleased with him for what he had done. It was not much later when he learnt of the people's abhorrence for the act, and their cursing and reviling it that he regretted the killing of al-Husayn.

He said to al-Numan ibn Bashir al-Ansan: 'Praise be to God who killed al-Husayn."

This reality prompted those in charge of the Umayyad regime to make efforts aimed at removing the responsibility for the suppression of the revolution by the savage method which had been used at Karbala' from the Umayyad regime and from Yazid, and putting the responsibility for that on specific adherents of the regime and essentially on 'Ubayd Allah ibn Ziyad. In that way the spirit of hostility and indignation was directed against one man, and not against its great symbolic figure and its leader, Yazid ibn Mu'awiya.

The researchers will find some traces of this tendency in some of the reporters. Among them is Ibn Hajar al-Haythami who went so far as to claim that Yazid was not pleased that al-Husayn was killed and had not ordered that to happen.

It appears that the practical efforts made on this course were concentrated on Iraq and the Hijaz, and not the Syrian area, for there the Umayyads had laid down that 10th Muharram should be a day of festival, of happiness and of rejoicing.

This attempt failed, and public opinion did not absolve Yazid and his regime of the crime, even though-after the Shi'ite tendency had become stronger and had expressed itself by carrying out the slogans of al-Husayn-some of the later men of religion utilized this Umayyad attempt to absolve Yazid and would not allow anything bad to be said about Yazid. Public opinion, however, was against this attempt. Therefore no success was ordained for it and it did not leave any mark in popular consciousness. Rather in this popular consciousness, Yazid ibn Muawiya remained the symbol of a great and hideous crime.

The Second Tendency

The second tendency was to distort the revolution. Because of that it was more serious than the first tendency.

This tendency shows itself in two forms within the framework of the texts which have come to us.

First of all, it is the portrayal to public opinion of al-Husayn as some one seeking a worldly kingdom. Thus, his aim in his revolution was not one which was universal, religious and Islamic but only a personal aim. When he despaired of achieving his objective, he showed himself ready to submit and surrender.

The manifestation of this is reflected in the account in which it is reported that al-Husayn said to ' Umar ibn Sa'd: 'Come with me to Yazid so that I may put my hand in his hand.' The evidence for the falseness of this report is the proof which many historians report from ' Uqba ibn Sim an. The latter was the servant of al-Rabab, the wife of Imam al-Husayn, and one of the few men who survived the slaughter at Karbala'. Therefore he is an eyewitness. He said: 'I accompanied al-Husayn from Medina to Mecca and then from Mecca to Iraq. I did not separate from him until he was killed. I heard all the conversations he conducted with the people right up to the day of his death. By God, he did not give them any reason for what the people are telling each other about him saying that he would put his hand in the hand of Yazid, nor that they should let him go to one of the frontier-posts of the Muslims. He said, "Leave me and I will return to the land from which I came, or leave me and I will go in this broad land until we see what the decision of the people comes to." However, they would not do so.'

The fact that this attempt had met with some degree of success had made 'Uqba ibn Sim'an say: '... He did not give them any reason for what the people are telling each other...'

It seems, however, that this attempt failed to achieve any success worth mentioning after eyewitnesses applied themselves to disproving and refuting it.

Secondly, the tendency showed itself in the portrayal to public opinion of al-Husayn and his followers as Kharijites, or as sinners who had rebelled against the constitution and constitutionality as represented by Yazid ibn Muawiya: they have revolted against their Imam, renounced their allegiance and spread discord on the umma.

Ibn Ziyad, from the time he arrived in Kufa and took charge of the suppression of the movement of Muslim ibn 'Aqil, had attempted to leave an impression in the minds of the people that the movement was the handiwork of the Kharijites and the Harurites.

There is no doubt that the efforts made to give the revolution of al-Husayn this characteristic became more serious and intense in order to produce reactions in the masses.

This attempt did not succeed in winning credibility with the masses. Instead of putting the revolution of al-Husayn outside constitutionality, the Umayyad regime, in its entirety, was put outside constitutionality, and increasing numbers of people rejected it after the extent of its distance from the truth in its claim to represent Islam became understood through the effect of the revolt of al-Husayn.

The growth of the Shi'ite entity after the Umayyads, the prominence of the Shi'a in political attitudes which were opposed to the political system, and the 'Abbasid recourse to nourishing juristic and theological tendencies which were opposed to any Shi'ite tendency produced a sectarian situation which prompted some jurists, traditionists and theologians to gratify the impulses of fanatical rulers and some fanatical extremists among the general body with despicable sectarian ideas. These ideas were recorded and clearly and decisively exposed by the important jurists, traditionists and theologians. Among these despicable sectarian ideas was the attempt to give a quality of constitutionality to the conduct of Yazid and the Umayyad regime against the revolution of al-Husayn, and to take away any quality of constitutionality from al-Husayn's revolution. In what follows, we will mention some of these attempts.

Among these ideas is the idea of Abu Bakr ibn al-'Arabi, in his book, al-'Awasim min al-Qawasim, where he said of al-Husayn: 'No one went against him (i.e. Al-Husayn) except by using their ability to understand. They only fought him because of what they had heard from his grandfather, the master of apostles, who had informed them about the corruption of the situation and warned them against entering into discords. His statements about that are numerous. Among them is that he said: "There will be lamentations and lamentations. Strike down anyone who wants to divide the authority of this umma, while it is united, whoever they may be." The people only went out against him with this or its like in their minds.'l5

Ibn al-Jawzi has stated in his book, al-Sirr al-Masun: 'Among the common beliefs which have prevailed among a group of those who associate themselves with the Sunna is that they maintain that Yazid was in the right, and al-Husayn was in the wrong in revolting against him ... Only a non-Shi'ite who was ignorant of the practice of the Prophet, would be inclined to such a view and would think that he could anger the Rafidites (i.e. The Shi'a) by that.'

Al-Shawkani has said: 'Some scholars have gone too far and judged that al-Husayn, the grandson of the Prophet, should have been content with the drunkard who was violating the sanctity of the sacred law, Yazid ibn Muawiya. May God curse them. How strange are such statements when they are laid bare. Rocks would split apart at hearing them.'

These ideas reflect a hostile attitude towards the revolution of al-Husayn in the popular consciousness of an insignificant group of Muslims. This attitude grew out of the efforts of the Umayyads and their propaganda apparatus. Soon, however, it was an attitude which had lost its supporters in Muslim circles, and there was no longer anyone who held it. The scholars and leaders of thought used to record it merely for the purpose of recording their rejection and revulsion of it. Among those who have done so in the modern era is Shaykh Muhammad 'Abduh, when he wrote: 'When one finds in the world a just government which maintains the sacred law and an unjust government which paralyses it, it is necessary for every Muslim to support the former ... In this category is the revolt of Imam al-Husayn, the grandson of the Apostle, against the leader of tyranny and injustice, who had gained control of the government of the Muslims by force and deceit, namely, Yazid ibn Mu' awiya, may God desert him and may God desert those Karamiyya and haters of 'Ali who supported him.'

This attitude began to be recorded as past dead history to arouse scorn and amazement at the rigid mentalities of men who were incapable of originality in though that they took refuge with strange ideas for their attitude. Perhaps that might achieve some of the commotion for them, which they imagined to be the fame which their sinews burned, in vain, to attain. As a result of their blind desire for the spreading of their reputation, they fell into the same sort of quagmires in which the supporters of Yazid wallow.

The true attitude, which still throbs with life, is the attitude which has, from the year 61 and still is even now, put its roots deep in the popular consciousness of all the Muslims in general and of Shi'ite Muslims in particular. It is the necessity, dedication and inspiration of the revolution. It is the attitude which is necessary for every free man and every man who thinks, who has become aware of the real nature of al-Husayn's revolution.

The revolution of al-Husayn has won its war against Umayyad distortion and has entered firmly and deeply into popular consciousness. On the one hand, that is because of its truth and purity. On the other hand, it is because of the efforts of Shi'ite leadership-and that is what we will explain in what follows.

Against Umayyad attempts aimed at frustrating the effect of the revolution on the umma-attempts which as we have already seen failed desperately-there were the efforts of the Shi'ite leadership aimed at activating the effect of the revolution in the umma.

Before entering into a discussion of the details of the Shi'ite leadership's efforts in this field, we must know the motives which impel this leadership to adopt this attitude in the course of Islamic history.

Will we find these motives in the emotions of love and hatred? Will we find them in a personal attitude towards the Umayyads through considering them as a family who were hostile to the Hashimites because of historical interventions?

On this basis, the Hashimites would have been motivated and would have motivated their Shi'a, to gratify the feeling of hatred which they bore against the Umayyads.

Or do we find the motives in the political advantages of the Hashimites in terms of the fact that the Umayyads had competed with the Hashimites for government after Umar ibn al-Khattab and beaten them to it? Then they would have been motivated, and would have motivated their Shi'a, against the Umayyads in order to pursue government as being a political authority which would consolidate the dominion of one family of Quraysh over the fate of the Muslims at the expense of another family of Quraysh.

If we deal with this problem superficially, there is scope for imagining that emotional or political motives, or both, were the things which impelled the Shi'ite leadership to strive to activate the effect of the revolution on the umma. The scope for imagining this is vast, for this is the kind of thing which accords with human nature at every age.

Any objective and deliberate study of this problem, however, will confirm to us the superficiality of the explanation, based on emotion and advantage, for the motives of the Shi'ite leadership in their attitude. It would also reveal other motives which were the basic instigation for the Shi'ite leadership to adopt this attitude towards al-Husayn's revolution.

* * *

When we examine the attitude of the Commander of the faithful, 'Ali ibn Abi Talib, towards the Caliphs who preceded him, we find that he relinquished his personal emotions and interests and the interests of his family in order to support the state and mission of Islam. If he had wanted to serve his own interests and emotions, he could have brought about a harmful political struggle within the state, which may have enabled him to gain power. He did not do that, however, not because he was unable to stir up such a struggle, but only because he preferred the interest of Islam in the political unity of the Muslims.

After the incident at the Saqifa, he refused to respond to the call by Abu Sufyan, which was supported by al-'Abbas ibn 'Abd al-Muttalib and in which he urged him to resist the decision taken in the meeting at the Saqifa. He answered: 'The safety of the religion is something which we love more.'

Similarly he announced his acceptance of the result which came from the consultative council, even though he registered his disapproval of it, for he said: 'I submit to what the affairs of the Muslims have submitted, even while there is only injustice against me, in particular, in them.'

When he was invested with the caliphate, and his political rivals split the unity of the Muslims through their rebellion in Mecca, and then in Basra, he was compelled to struggle in order to preserve the unity of the Muslims by the peaceful means which his opponents refused to respond to. They forced him to fight against them in order to preserve Islamic unity.

When he brought the rebellion to an end and started to build the model state, the Umayyad party under the leadership of Mu'awiya ibn Abi Sufyan revealed its intentions aimed at destroying the unity of the Muslims and at changing Islam into an institution which served the interests of a class of exploiters at the expense of the interests of the umma.

At this point 'Ali b. Abi Talib struggled for a long time by peaceful means to attain a framework, which would preserve the unity of the Muslims and which would enable him to realize his dream of building a just state. He failed, however, because of his opponents' persistence in their separatist attitude. Then the Imam was forced to enter into war to protect the unity of the Muslims and to preserve Islam from the fraudulent interpretation of its principles.

He constantly declared his aims in embarking on this struggle.

Imam'Ali was martyred and the struggle went on.

Imam al-Hasan ibn 'Ali assumed authority after his father. He declared that he would adhere to the aims, for which Imam 'Ali had striven, and made strenuous efforts to safeguard the political unity of the Muslims through negotiation but he had no better fortune in this matter than his father. Indeed his opponents became more resolute in their attitudes as a result of their realization of the weakness of his position through the spreading of a defeatist spirit among the leaders of Iraqi society at that time.

After despairing of gaining any benefit from negotiations, he attempted to follow the policy of Imam 'Ali to protect the unity of the Muslims by force of arms. He discovered, however, that he was in a desperate situation and that new considerations in society made it impossible for him to engage in a successful war. Therefore he chose to preserve the unity of the Muslim under the auspices of the authority of his political rival, Mu'awiya, after having made the most prudent provisions possible for all the Muslims.

He chose to do this against his personal and family interests and feeling. Otherwise, he would have been able, by taking certain measures, to have remained in his position and embarked on a long-term war which would have been in his personal and family interests but would have brought dire consequences to the Muslims.

As a result of his conduct as a principled statesman, and not as an opportunistic politician, he faced severe and painful Shi'ite opposition which the leaders of his followers proclaimed according to their feelings. Yet he endured them patiently and began to explain to these men that he had taken this painful position with regard to himself personally out of his anxiety for them and the general body of the Muslims.

When Imam al-Hasan ibn 'Ali died as a martyr through the deception of his rival, Mu'awiya, Imam al-Husayn remained for a long period during the reign of Mu'awiya, inactive and quiet, not calling for a revolution because of his concern for the unity of the Muslims. Nonetheless he would have been able to raise a large number of people against Muawiya, who was hateful to him and contradicted his own interests and his family's. However, he did not, even though he did not refrain from criticizing the policies and excesses of Muawiya.

When, finally, he did rise up against Umayyad rule as will be accomplished by their transformation from their past form to the form put forward in the slogans of the revolutionaries when they embarked on their revolution. In the case of failure, the consequence will lead to the existing regime intensifying measures of repression in order to strengthen its foundations and make the conceptions which it applies to society more deeply- rooted in terms of policy, the economy, society and other matters of ordinary life.

On rare occasions, failure of the revolution may lead to the existing regime changing some of its conceptions or altering some of its institutions to respond, in some measure, to some of the slogans of the revolutionaries, when it seems that there is something in that which will help its existence and supremacy, which will subdue the growing popular hostility to it, and which deprive its opponents of their propaganda weapons.

The skeleton of the revolution are the material events which occur in time and place. This is what general history is concerned to record. Since, however, these events are stripped of their relation- ship with the general mentality of the nation and their emotional effect on the umma and the way in which it understands them, they have no significance and no meaning. Then they are something dead with no life and movement in them. Thus the events, in this respect, do not have any meaning to a man of thought. They may be an entertaining story but they are not, in this respect, anything more than that.

The flesh, sinews and blood of the events are the manifestations of their reflections in the general mentality of the umma and the reactions which the occurrence of the revolution produced in the effects, it was known that his revolution was one of self-sacrifice which would not lead him to any effective political support. It was only drawing the attention of the umma to the danger, setting it towards confronting that danger and releasing in it the power of the revolution and the spirit of refusal by compelling the government to maintain some regard for the principles of Islam in its policies, even at a minimal level.

* * *

The consideration of the problem of the motives of the Shi'ite leadership, and at their head the Imams of the Holy Family, to strive to release the rays of al-Husayn's revolution in the umma in the light of this fact, will show us that these motives were not emotional, arising out of the Hashimites' hatred of the Umayyads, nor based on self-interest, arising out of the struggle for government in terms of worldly domination. The proven history of the Imams of the Holy Family-as we have seen demonstrates that this was not their idea. It, further, establishes that their lives were a continuous chain of sacrifices for the public good. They were only overcome by their Umayyad rivals in the political battles because, in their dealings with the umma, with their rivals and with their supporters, they always followed principles and standards which rose out of their feelings of Islamic responsibility of the first degree.

It is sufficient, here, to mention, in addition, to the proven history, that Imam Zayn al-'Abidin 'Ali ibn al-Husayn who himself, witnessed the atrocity of Karbala', and lived it, hour after hour, with all its pain and sorrow, used to pray for the frontier fighters, the soldiers of the Umayyad regime, who had perpetrated the crime of Karbala', captured him with his aunts, sisters and other womenfolk, and imprisoned him.

That prayer of Imam Zayn al-'Abidin was only because of his consciousness of the role of the armies of the frontier in defending Islamic society from its enemies, even though that army also used to protect the regime of the Umayyads.

The motives of the Imams of the Holy Family and the other Shi'ite leadership sprung out of the fact that the revolution of al-Husayn-in terms of representing a defense of the essence and qualities of Islam and in terms of its aim to require the regime to be faithful in applying Islam to the life of the nation-that revolution, for both reasons, had to be spread and made influential in the minds of Muslims, so that, by keeping it alive, it would be a constant incentive to a Muslim to be watchful and critical. Thus, when revolution becomes a necessity in order to preserve the unity of the Muslims and the integrity of the application of Islam, he will arise. In this way his association with its principles and slogans is assured so that it attaches him to Islam, and he does not deviate from it, nor does he turn away from its guidance.

From this starting point, we shall study the manifestation of the escorts of the Shi'ite leadership and at their head the Imams of the Holy Family, to release the rays of al-Husayn's revolution to the furthest extent and the widest scope in the life of the umma.

IV. THE WAYS THE REVOLUTION FLOWED INTO POPULAR CONSCIOUSNESS

Before embarking on the study of the manifestations of the expression of popular consciousness through the influence of al-Husayn's revolution upon it-both with the Muslims, in general, and the Shi'ite Muslims, in particular, I feel I ought to indicate the ways in which this revolution entered so deeply and comprehensively into popular consciousness, and developed its expression in celebratory manifestations and artistic works, especially in poetry.

Here the indication of these ways will be brief because the following chapters in the book and the studies which they include, will guarantee that sufficient details will be given to the reader to illuminate the subject in all its aspects.

Among the ways in which al-Husayn's revolution entered into popular consciousness and developed and grew, there are the following:

The Doctrinal Factor

The revolution of al-Husayn was an Islamic movement, which one of the great leaders of Islam undertook. When the Muslims differ about the degree of his sanctity-some of them holding the view that he was an infallible Imam, while others holding the view that he was a little less than that-they never differ that it was his right, even his duty, to correct the theoretical and practical deviations into which the rulers had fallen; and that it was his right, even his duty, to strive to assume power in the service of this objective.

It was, then, a revolution which the principles and laws of Islam demanded to be undertaken for the purpose of warning the umma of the evil situation which it was in, and making it improve this by setting its Islamic personality in the face of a deviating ruler. That was by correcting the policy of this ruler.

It was not a tribal or regional or sectarian movement. Here it is not possible to consider it as a sectarian inheritance of the Shi'a, because its sectarian hue came as a result of historical factors which are beyond the scope of this study.

At that time all the Islamic leadership understood and were aware of the comprehensive nature-both political and cultural- of the identity of the revolution and the fact that it belonged to the whole of Islam. This is what made the revolution-the men involved and the events enter widely into popular consciousness as a celebration of sanctity. It gained respect and love even from the most savage and bitter enemies of the Imams of the Holy Family, namely the Kharijites. Al-Sayyid Muhsin al-Amin reports in his book, Iqna'al-La'im: 'We learnt that the Kharijites of the Ibadite group in Zingibar perform ceremonies of grief on the day of 'Ashura', not ceremonies of festivals. In the same measure as they hate 'Ali and his son, al-Hasan, they love al-Husayn because of him rising with the sword and resisting oppression.'

The Call of the Holy Family

The Imams of the Holy Family were anxious to keep the revolution and its hideous details alive in the general mind of the nation. That was done by encouraging the composition and recitation of poetry about it, by their holding special gatherings to listen to it, and by their calling for gatherings and meetings to be held dedicated to the study of the events of the revolution, by the institution of the ritual of pilgrimage (ziyara), and by other directives than the ones we have mentioned which all served one aim, namely to keep the revolution alive in men's minds and hearts.

The goals of this call will be classified in greater detail in coming studies in the book.

If the doctrinal factor had enabled the revolution to enter into the popular consciousness of the nation generally, the call of the Imams of the Holy Family very much strengthened the effectiveness in the doctrinal factor in the mind of the umma, even though the influence of this call on the umma had differing force. The revolution had decisive influence on the Shi'a of the Holy Family and those who shared their affection from the point of view of their love for the Imams of the Holy Family in terms of considering them as the most trustworthy, sincere and understanding representatives of Islam. The nature of this influence was no less important for the rest of the Muslims.

The Nature of the Tragedy

From its beginning to its end, the revolution was so appalling as to raise deep grief and distress. From there, it came to enjoy an extraordinary attraction which raised it to a human level in addition to its religious goal.

Al-Husayn's revolution represented the eternal human dialectic between good and evil, between nobility and baseness, between political expediency and moral idealism, between the tribal ethos and the rational conscience which aspires to the formation of an integrated umma, between mercenary man and a man of principle.

The intensity of the struggle impelled each one the contrasting theses of the dialectic to express itself and its vision with absolute clarity, in the course of a continuous exercise in which revolution represented the nobility and the ideal humanity of the revolutionaries, and the Umayyad regime represented man's worst endeavours and lowest methods.

The nature of this tragedy captivated every man who read about it or heard about it. Then, in addition to Muslims, non-Muslims were also affected by it, both at the level of ordinary people and of men of culture. This was the case in the past and it still continues right up to the present. How numerous are the creative works of poetry, which non-Muslims have composed and in which they express their emotions about his revolution, its heroes, its events and its aims. How numerous are the manifestations of the rites of remembrance which non-Muslims undertake in some areas (the Indian sub-continent, for example) to express their veneration for the revolution and their respect for its heroes.

The Psychological Situation of the Shi'ite Muslim

From the time of Muawiya ibn Abi Sufyan, the Shi'ite Muslim has endured different kinds of persecution, harassment and terrorization. He has been pursued by the authorities and has seldom felt secure. These authorities have waged war against the resources of life when they have failed to annihilate him and impede his freedom. In the best of circumstances he was a second-class citizen.

All of this was because of one of his doctrinal views, namely the Imamate, and because of his legal tendency in terms of his following the Imams of the Holy Family, for they were the guides in the law of Islam.

The tragic situation for the Shi'ite has continued for long periods. Out of this situation, under which generations after generations have lived and died, a man has emerged who carries, in the depths of his being, a feeling of sorrow and a spirit of revolution. This situation has made him keep close to his historical symbols, in the vanguard of which is the revolution of Imam al-Husayn, in particular, and the history of the Imams, in general.

The attitude of most of the authorities, which govern in the Islamic world, has strengthened this psychological situation, across the centuries, to keep the memory of Imam al-Husayn alive or to make a pilgrimage (ziyara) to his grave. These authorities have persisted in making public their disapproval of these practices which the Shi'ite has continued to carry out. They have put obstacles before his freedom to carry these practices out. Their attitude has varied between complete prohibition, under penalty of death, imprisonment or confiscation for anyone who practices any intellectual, cultural, artistic and remembrance activity connected with al-Husayn's revolution, and between laying down legal limits on the freedom of movement and expression in this field.

In the coming chapters we will see how this attitude, which was opposed to any expression of the existence of al-Husayn's revolution in popular consciousness, was an established policy of many of the governments in many of the Islamic countries.

The ruling authorities, who adhered to this or that attitude against keeping the memory of al-Husayn alive in the popular consciousness of the Shi'ite, were transformed into symbols of repression and persecution which were heirs of the Umayyads and became an extension of the Umayyad entity in authority, which used to execute its plans and policies against al-Husayn and the policy of al-Husayn. This feeling in the Shi'ite impelled him even more to keep close to the symbol of al-Husayn, in doctrine, in religious law, in society and in politics.

As we shall see, these basic factors were the essential great influence on the existence of the revolution of al-Husayn. We will become acquainted with the extent of the participation of each one of them, when we study, in the following chapters, the revolution of al-Husayn in popular consciousness in the following manifestations: (i) the pilgrimage (ziyara), (ii) the poetry of lament for al-Husayn, (iii) the gatherings of remembrance, and (iv) the phenomenon of weeping.

Chapter 2

The Ziyara

I The legality of the Ziyara

II The History of the Ziyara before al-Husayn

III The Ziyara to al-Husayn: Its objectives and aims

IV The Ziyara in the legal texts

V Two examples of the Ziyara to al-Husayn

VI The Ziyara in the poetry of lament for al-Husayn

VII Three other Ziyaras concerned with the revolution of al-Husayn

I. THE LEGALITY OF THE ZIYARA

Al-Shaykh Taqi al-Din Ahmad b. 'Abd al-Halim, better known as Ibn Taymiyya (661-728) held the view that pilgrimage (ziyara) to the tomb of the Prophet was forbidden, let alone pilgrimage to other tombs. He considered that travelling to make a pilgrimage to tombs where the performance of prayer was necessary, was forbidden. For this view of his, he relied upon Traditions, which do not substantiate his requirement, arguments based on the application of discretion in Islamic law, which have no value in legal deduction, and dangers which, he claimed, were consequences of pilgrimages to tombs which do no exist.

On the other hand, the jurists and Traditionists from all the Islamic schools of law reject his views and confirm the legality of making a pilgrimage to the tomb of the Prophet and others with much evidence taken from the Qur 'an and Sunna, the consensus of the Muslims and the evidence of reason.

Al-Sayyid Muhsin al-Amin, in his book, Kashf al-Irtiyab fi Atba' Muhammad b. 'Abd al-Wahhab has reported from al-Samhudi al-Shafi'i in his book called Wafa ' al- Wafa ' bi Akbar Dar al-Mustafa, the attitude of the leaders of the four schools of law to this problem. He says: [1]

As for what is reported from the leaders of the four schools of law, in Wafa ' al- Wafa' after mentioning the differences among the early Muslims about whether it was best to begin at Mecca or Medina, he records that Abu Hanifa said that it was best to begin at Mecca, although it was permissible to begin at Medina. Then one would come close to the tomb of the Apostle of God and stand between the tomb and the qibla (or direction of prayer)....

As for the report that Malik disliked men saying, 'We made a pilgrimage,' to the tomb of the Prophet, assuming that this is true, it should be interpreted as a dislike of using this expression for reasons which he mentioned but we should take too long to report, not because of a dislike of the principle of such a pilgrimage (ziyara). There are, however, scholars, like al-Subki and Ibn Rushd, who, according to Wafa al Wafa', dispute with him over the dislike of this expression.

Al-Samhudi had mentioned in Wafa' al-Wafa' statements by Shafi'ites concerning the recommended nature of making a pilgrimage to the Prophet's tomb. Then he added that the Hanafites maintained the pilgrimage to the Prophet's tomb was the best of the recommended practices, even close to being treated at the level of an obligatory practice. He went on to say that, in the same way, the Malikites and Hanbalites stipulated it and al-Subh has explained their report in his book on pilgrimage (ziyara) ....

The permissibility of making a pilgrimage to the graves of righteous men, and even of those who are merely Muslims, of calling for peace to be with them, of praying for them and of bringing reward to them by recitation of the holy Qur 'an and by good actions-this permissibility is confirmed by the Sunna which is supported by the definitive practice associated with the time of the Prophet.

It is well known that the Imamite Shi'a hold the view that it is are commended practice to make pilgrimages to the tomb of the Prophet, of the Imams of the Holy Family and of righteous men, to worship God at them by performing the salat, praying, reciting the holy Qur 'an, calling for peace to be with them and praying for them. Furthermore, they consider that that is one of the rituals of God and it is an act of piety of the heart. According to them, it was established by the definitive Sunna and the definitive consensus. There is no dispute about that among them.

It is certain that the practice of the Muslims from the time of the Apostle of God throws light on the legal aspect of the problem and reveals, at least, the permissibility of making pilgrimages to tombs,

even if it does not reveal its legal predominance.

II. THE HISTORY OF THE ZIYARA BEFORE AL-HUSAYN

Al-Sayyid Muhsin al-Amin has reported:

It has been established that the Prophet used to visit the cemetery of al-Baqi' and the martyrs of Uhud. Ibn Maja has related with his chain of authorities that the Prophet said: 'Visit graves, for they will remind you of the Hereafter.' [2]

He also reported with his chain of authorities that

A'isha said that the Prophet allowed the visit to graves He also reported with his chain of authorities that the Prophet said: 'I used to forbid you to visit graves but now visit them, for they will make you abstain from the world and remind you of the Hereafter.' Muslim has reported the first part of the above tradition up to the words 'but now visit them.' [3] Al-Nasa'i has reported it in a slightly variant form: 'I forbade you from visiting graves but now let whoever wants to visit them, do so.'

The Prophet visited the grave of his mother. Muslim has reported in his Sahih as has Ibn Maja and al-Nasa'i, with their chain of authorities, that Abu Hurayra said: 'The Prophet visited the grave of his mother. He wept and it made those around him weep." [4]

Muslim has reported that whenever the Prophet used to spend the night with 'A'isha he used to go out, last thing at night, to the cemetery of al-Baqi' and say: 'Peace be with you, abode of people who believe. What you were promised has come to you.'

He taught 'A'isha when she asked him: 'How should I address them, Apostle of God?' He said, 'Say: Peace be with the people of the place who are believers and Muslims.' This tradition is reported by Muslim.

Ibn Abi Shayba has reported from Abu Ja'far (i.e., Imam Muhammad al-Baqir) in Wafa ' al-Wafa' that Fatima, daughter of the Apostle of God, used to visit the grave of Hamza. She repaired it and improved it, and she marked it with a stone. [5]

It is reported on the authority of the former (i.e. Muhammad al-Baqir) that Fatima used to visit the graves of the martyrs every two or three days until she died.

Al-Hakim has reported on the authority of'Ali' that Fatima used to visit the grave of her uncle, Hamza, every week. There she would perform the salat, pray and weep.

* * *

When 'Umar made peace with Jerusalem, during the conquest of Syria, and Ka'b al-Ahbar came to him and submitted to Islam, 'Umar was delighted with his acceptance of Islam and said to him: 'Would you come with me to Medina, visit the Prophet's tomb and enjoy seeing it?' 'Yes,' he replied. When he returned to Medina from the conquest of Syria, the first thing he did was to go to the mosque and pray for peace to be with the Apostle of God.

In Wafa ' al- Wafa ' of al-Samhudi 'Abd al-Razzaq reponed with his sound chain of authorities that when Ibn 'Umar came back from a journey, he would go to the Prophet's tomb and say: 'Peace be with you, O Apostle of God, peace be with you, O Abu Bakr, and peace be with you, O my father.'

In the Muwatta' in the recension of Yahya ibn Yahya, it is reported that Ibn 'Umar used to stand at the tomb of the Prophet and he would pray for blessings and peace to be with the Prophet and he would pray for peace to be with Abu Bakr and 'Umar.

It is also reported from Ibn 'Awn that a man asked Nafi whether ibn 'Umar used to pray for peace at the tomb. 'Yes,' he replied, 'I have seen him a hundred times, or more than a hundred times. He would come to the tomb and stand before it. Then he would say: Peace be with the Prophet, peace be with Abu Bakr and peace be with my father.'

In the Musnad of Abu Hanifa it is reported that Ibn 'Umar said: 'It is from the Sunna that you should come to the tomb of the Prophet from the direction of the prayer, or qibla. You should put the direction of prayer, or qibla, at your back and you should face the tomb. Then you should say: Peace be with you, O Prophet, and the mercy and blessings of God.'

* * *

There is a detailed report from ' Umar ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz that whenever he used to send a messenger (to Medina) from Syria, he used to say: 'Pray for peace to be with the Apostle of God on my behalf.' That was in the early period of the generation of the followers of the Companions. Among those who have mentioned that about him is Abu Bakr ibn 'Asim al-Nabg. He said, in his Manasik, that ' Umar b. 'Abd al-'Aziz used to send a messenger straight from Syria to Medina to recite the prayer for peace to be with the Prophet. Then he would return.

As for what is reported of the action of the rest of the Muslims, in Wafa' al-Wafa', [6] it is reported that historians and Traditionists have mentioned that Ziyad ibn Abihi (i.e. son of his father) wanted to make the pilgrimage (hajj) to Mecca. His brother Abu Bakra came to him but he would not speak to Ziyad directly. So Ziyad took his son and sat him in Abu Bakra's lap so that he might speak to the son directly and hear Ziyad. Abu Bakra said: 'Your father has done this and he has done that. Now he wants to go on the pilgrimage (hajj) while Umm Habiba, the wife of the Prophet is in Medina. If she permits him to see her, what a great disaster and treachery to the Apostle of God by her it would be! If she remains in seclusion from him what a great proof against him it would be!' 'You will not let your brother have your advice,' said Ziyad. According to what al-Baladhuri reported, Ziyad then abandoned the idea of going on the pilgrimage. Others reported that he made the pilgrimage (hajj) to Mecca but he did not make a pilgrimage (ziyara) (to the Prophet's tomb at Medina) because of the words of Abu Bakra. Al-Subh has commented: 'Taking in every consideration, the story gives evidence for the fact that the pilgrimage (ziyara) (to the Prophet's tomb at Medina) during the pilgrimage (hajj) to Mecca was well-known at that time. Otherwise, it would have been possible for him to make the pilgrimage (hajj) without going by way of Medina. Indeed it would have been nearer for him because he was in Iraq. Yet going to Medina was in their eyes a matter which could not be abandoned.' [7]

The passage which we have quoted clearly reveals the legality of the pilgrimage (ziyara). Depending on this legality Muslims, both male and female, in every age, have carried out this practice as being one of the rituals of God. None of their jurists, Traditionists or preachers have denounced them for that. Rather they have urged them to do it. The denunciation of this practice is only known to have come from Ibn Taymiyya and Shaykh Muhammad b. 'Abd al-Wahhab in more recent times. The Muslim scholars have met this juristic attitude to the problem with amazement and disapproval the direction the invalidity of the view forbidding it, with evidence from the Qur'an, the Sunna, the consensus and the evidence of reason.

Therefore, when the Imams of the Holy Family directed their Shi'a to make pilgrimages to al-Husayn, they were only applying a common legal practice to a particular destination, namely al-Husayn ibn 'Ali ibn Abi Talib. The Imams of the Holy Family have made public their great concern to direct Muslims, in general, and the Shi'a, in particular, to make pilgrimages to the Prophet, to the Imams of the Holy Family and to the men and women who have stood the test in the history of Islam, by fighting against his enemies, and by sticking fast to his laws, as a means of attaining educational and religious objectives. We will treat these in detail in the ensuing section of our study.

III. THE ZIYARA TO AL-HUSAYN: ITS OBJECTIVES AND AIMS

Perhaps, it may be that one of the things which distinguishes the Imamite Shi'a from many other Muslims is their extraordinary concern to make pilgrimages to saintly men and women in the history of Islam, and their intense eagerness to practise this continually.

The foremost of these saintly men is the Apostle of God and, after him, the Imams of the Holy Family. The foremost of the latter is Imam al-Husayn ibn 'Ali. Added to these are some women who enjoy a special status in the history of Islam, in general, or the history of Shi'ism, in particular. At the head of these women comes the Lady Fatima the Fair. Then there is the Lady Zaynab, daughter of Imam 'Ali ibn Abi Talib. After her, there are the women who have participated, in one way or another, in the history of Islam in general, or the history of Shi'ism in particular.

There is a widespread belief in the minds of the people, even in the minds of a great majority of the Shi'a themselves, in recent times, that the motives for making these pilgrimages (ziyara) are connected with the veneration of the persons to whom the pilgrimages are made, because they are noble in the eyes of God, and therefore the pilgrimages are connected with seeking intercession by them with God, and with seeking blessing from God through their mediation.

In short, the widespread belief is that these motives bring the persons to whom pilgrimages are made and the person who makes a pilgrimage to them into contact; and that this is everything.

This, however, is a great mistake.

The mistake of non-Shi'ites in the understanding of this Shi'ite practice is a result of judging it from the outside without understanding it from the inside, and without understanding its processes in the political and social ideas of the Imams of the Holy Family. The latter have made the pilgrimage (ziyara) an established practice in Islamic legal tradition and something the Muslim practises continually as a political, social and cultural institution which has been established at the heart of the Shi'ite cultural cosmology.

The mistake of the Shi'a, themselves in their practice of such pilgrimages arises out of their failure to understand it as an institution which represents, in the history of Islam, the revolutionary core which has set itself up as a permanent witness and critic of the existing government and its methods of dealing with the umma.

When the inner structure of the Shi'ite man begins to crack and abandon its basic virtue, his understanding of the practices, which were formed to nourish his soul and mind, changes. Then he changes them into practices which paralyse him and justify his defeatist position. This is what has happened to the Muslim individual in general, but here we are studying the special position of Shi'ite man.

The Imams of the Holy Family directed their Shi'a to make visitations to the Prophet and the Imams who preceded them in the service of a great aim. This was to keep the relationship between living Islam and the Shi'ite man throbbing with life lest Islam become transformed in his mind into mere ritualistic practices and dead jurisprudence. Lest the formal practical patterns of Islam, with which the Muslim lives in his daily life at the level of government and society, should become merely repetitive patterns which have been accepted from the past. Whereas they should be kept alive in his mind as the sound, healthy and pure patterns of Islam, and they should be kept alive in his mind as the faithfu1 trusted practices of Islam.

When the Imams of the Holy Family made the ziyara into an intellectual, political and social institution, they intended to put Shi'ite man in living and direct contact with the sources of his Islam in thought and ideology, in application and practice.

The texts concerning the ziyara to the Apostle of God bring light to bear on the efforts of the Apostle of God in the call to Islam, in its spreading and in its consolidation, in addition to the expressions of praise, honour and respect for the person of the Apostle which they contain.

The texts concerning the ziyara to the Commander of the faithful, 'Ali ibn Abi Talib, include an exposition of his intellectual and practical efforts in the cause of Islam.

The same is the case with regard to the texts concerning pilgrimages to the other Imams of the Holy Family. Each of the approved pilgrimages includes a commitment before God which the Shi'ite man makes, particularly, with the person to whom the pilgrimage is made and, generally, with the Apostle and the Imams of the Holy Family, that he will remain faithful to their covenant, their faith and their practice. Here, we will give some examples of that:

O God, make me, in this state that I am in, one of those who will receive Your blessing, mercy and forgiveness. O God, make my life the life of Muhammad and the family of Muhammad, and my death the death of Muhammad and the family of Muhammad, may the blessings of God be with him and his family. [8]

O God, I testify before You to the authority (wilaya) of those to whom You and Your Apostle have dedicated it. I testify to my renunciation of those whom You and Your Apostle have renounced. [9]

I testify before God, the Blessed and Exalted-and He is indeed a sufficient witness. I testify before You that I believe in You and will follow You in my very nature, in the legal requirements of my religion, in the impressions made by my actions and in my final destiny and resting place. [10]

O God, I testify before You and before those of Your angels who are present that I believe in them and reject those who fight against them. O God, make what I say with my tongue be a reality in my heart and a religious precept in my actions. [11]

There is much more of this material.

Among (the prayers of) these pilgrimages which are recited at the shrines or places of pilgrimages of the Holy Family, those of al-Husayn ibn 'Ali are the most numerous and the richest in intellectual and kinetic content.

The concern of the Imams of the Holy Family has been constantly and consistently intent on bringing light to bear on there volution of al-Husayn. It has made the memory of al-Husayn afirm and fiercely living presence in the public mind. It has put pilgrimages to al-Husayn at the head of religious festivals for the Shi'a in every part of the world.

The reason for that is that the revolution of Imam al-Husayn was the greatest event in tragedy and nobility in the history of the Shi'a. Even though Imam 'Ali waged many wars to correct the course of Islam, he waged them from a position of authority. On the other hand, Imam al-Husayn had embarked on his war of self sacrifice from outside authority, even against authority, and without worldly expectations. It is because of this that his revolution enjoys a greater power of revival and a greater ability to influence and to outline the sacrificial example for Shi'ite man to face the difficulties of his existence under oppressive governments. From another angle, it is an exemplary, intensely stimulating and practical application of the changing of an intellectual attitude into a course of action and activity in daily life.

* * *

It is, then, an absolute certainty that, in order for the pilgrimage to accomplish its influence, it must arise out of an awareness of the role played in Islam by the person, to whom it is made, and of his attitude towards the struggle for the sake of Islam. This state of awareness is the preoccupation of many of the texts which have reported that the character of a pilgrim to al-Husayn is of 'one who knows his right." [12]

The knowledge of the right of the person, to whom the pilgrimage is made, means an awareness of the role which he carried out in his life, of his central position in the leadership of the movement of Islam in the two fields of legislation and application. Whenever a pilgrimage is carried out in the light of this awareness, it will strengthen the contact with dynamic and effective Islam in the heart and mind of the pilgrim because it will bring him into contact with dynamic and effective examples in the history of Islam.

Making a pilgrimage to the Apostle and the Imams of the Holy Family is not an idle pastime, nor is it a worldly activity. It is a spiritual act of worship. It is an action which is aimed at bringing oneself closer to God. Because it is an act of worship, the texts, which call for the practice of it and devotion to it, contain promises of reward from God, of forgiveness of sins and errors and of the granting of blessings.

This is a matter which can be understood when such a pilgrimage is put in the correct framework which we have elucidated, and when it does not become a mere act of celebration and veneration which a living man carries out to honour a dead man. When a Shi'ite carries out a pilgrimage, he is renewing his contact with Islam as a whole and he is promising God that he will hold fast to it, guard it and apply it in his life. It is an action which entitles him to reward and blessings from God in accordance with the principles of Islam.

From what we have mentioned the magnitude and great effect of this institution on the formation of Shi'ite man will be clear as well as the vast potentialities which abound in it and the extent of its ability to transform psychologically Shi'ite man from his position of surrender to a dynamic and active position when he regains the true concept of the pilgrimage and puts it into practice in the essential spirituality from which it sprung forth.

It also makes clear the extent of the burden of error into which Shi'ite man has fallen, as well as some of his spiritual leaders, when he conceives of the pilgrimage as being only a form of honour and veneration of a certain person and neglects the numerous aspects of the educational objectives which it aims at.

The field of study of the pilgrimage is very broad as must now be clear. It includes the pilgrimages to the Prophet, all the Imams of the Holy Family and other outstanding men and women in the history of Islam, generally, and in the history of Shi'ism, in particular.

We are, however, compelled to limit our present work to the specific field of our study, namely the pilgrimages made to Imam al-Husayn as a manifestation of the revolution of al-Husayn in popular consciousness.

This field, in terms of the material which can be studied, is, as we mentioned above, the fullest of the aspects of pilgrimage and the richest of them in ideas and emotions. This arises out of the special position which al-Husayn and his revolution enjoy in the Shi'ite mind in terms of his important position in the continuous movement of correction which began with 'Ali ibn Abi Talib and has, in no way, finished.

IV. THE ZIYARA IN THE LEGAL TEXTS

Hundreds of sound Traditions have been reported from the Imams of the Holy Family, in many of which there is the call to make pilgrimages to al-Husayn and that this should be done at all times, as well as on specific days, and from near and from far.

Similarly texts have been reported from them, which give the pattern of the pilgrimages which are made to al-Husayn at specific times and on every other occasion.

In the same way the Imams of the Holy Family had performed pilgrimages to al-Husayn, themselves. By that they were a model for their Shi'a in this matter. The earliest example which we have of that is the action of Imam Zayn al-'Abidin 'Ali ibn al-Husayn. He used to go from Medina to Karbala' to make pilgrimages to the tomb of his father. One of the Shi'a of the Holy Family saw him at the mosque of Kufa. Since he was surprised at his presence, he asked him: 'What has brought you to a land in which your father was killed?' He answered him: 'I have made a pilgrimage to my father and I have performed the salat in his mosque.' [13] It appears from the question of the questioner that he was surprised at Imam 'Ali ibn al-Husayn's presence. This suggests that the pilgrimage had not yet become widespread and a familiar matter.

In what follows, we shall mention some selected texts which contain the basis for the legality of the pilgrimage as a principle. They, also, include the urging and wish for it to be done.

1. In a Tradition whose chain of authorities goes back to Imam Muhammad al-Baqir ibn 'Ali ibn al-Husayn, the latter said: 'Order out Shi'a to make pilgrimages to the tomb of al-Husayn b. 'Ali. Doing this is a duty for every Muslim who acknowledges the Imamate of al-Husayn.' [14]

2. In a Tradition whose chain of authorities goes back to Zurara, who reported: I said to Abu Jafar (i.e. Imam Muhammad al-Baqir), 'What do you say about anyone who makes pilgrimages to your father when he is afraid?' He answered, 'God will keep him safe on the day of the greatest fear. The angels will meet him with good news and he will be told: Do not fear and do not be sad. This is the day of your success.' [15]

3. It is reported on the authority of Musa ibn Umar, on the authority of Hassan al-Basri, on the authority of Mu'awiya ibn Wahb, who recounted: I asked permission to visit Abu 'Abd Allah (i.e. Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq). I was told to enter. So I went in and found him in his place of prayer in his house. I sat until he had finished his salat. Then I heard him address his Lord in private prayer saying:

O God, forgive me and my brother, and those who make pilgrimages to the tomb of al-Husayn, who have spent their wealth and made their bodies go there out of a desire for reverence towards us, out of hope for what there will be with You for them through contact with us, out of a joy which they have entered into through Your Prophet, in answer to out command and because of anger which they have entered into against our enemies. By that, they wish for Your approval. Reward them on our behalf with happiness. Watch over them night and day and remain, in the best way possible, with their families whom they have left behind Accompany them and protect them from the evil of every tyrant, from every weak and violent one of Your creatures and from the evil of devils, both jinn and human. Give them the most excellent reward which they hope for from You through their absence from their homes and through their preference of us to their sons, their families and their relations. O God, our enemies denounce them for their journey. Yet that does not stop them from journeying to us, out of opposition by them to those who oppose us. Have mercy on those faces which have been burnt by the sun. Have mercy on those cheeks which have twisted in grief at the hollow grave of Abu 'Abd Allah (i.e. Imam al-Husayn). Have mercy on those eyes which have shed tears, out of mercy for us. Have mercy on those hearts which have mourned and been enflamed for us. Have mercy on that cry which was for us. O God, I entrust to you those bodies and those souls until you receive them at the watering-places of Heaven on the day of the greatest thirst.

Mu'awiya ibn Wahb continued: He continued to pray while prostrating as he made this prayer. When he finished I said, 'May I be your ransom, If what I heard you saying was said to someone who did not know God, I would think that Hell-fire would never feed on anything of him. By God, I wish that I had made a pilgrimage (ziyara) to him and not performed the pilgrimage to Mecca (hajj).' He replied, 'I do not rejoice with you for that.

What prevents you from making a pilgrimage to him?' Then he went on, 'Mu'awiya, why did you not do that?' 'May I be your ransom,' I replied, 'I did not see that the matter had reached all this extent.' He said, 'Mu'awiya, those in Heaven who pray for those who make pilgrimages to him are more than those who pray for them on earth.' [16]

4. In the Tradition from Ibn Bukayr, that latter said: I said to Abu 'Abd Allah (i.e. Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq), 'I stopped at al-Arjan. My heart struggled with me about staying at the grave of your father. When I left, my heart was apprehensive and worried so that I went back out of fear of the authorities, informers and soldiers from the garrisons.' He said: 'Ibn Bukayr, don't you want God to see you fearful concerning us? Don't you known that God shades anyone who is afraid, out of fear for us, under the protection of His throne. His reporter under the throne is al-Husayn and God keeps him safe from the terrors of the Day of Resurrection. The people will be terrified but he will not be terrified. The angels will bring succour to his power and they will quieten his heart with good news." [17]

5. In a Tradition of Abu'Abd Allah (Imam Jafar al-Sadiq), he said: "Ali (ibn Maymun al-Sayigh), make a pilgrimage to al-Husayn and do not abandon him.' 'Ali ibn Maymun asked: 'What reward will there be for anyone who goes to him?' He replied: 'For him who goes to him on foot, God has ordained a good reward for each step and the removal of an evil for each step, and He has raised his rank.' [18]

6. In a Tradition which is reported from Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq, he said: 'Whoever would rejoice to be at the tables of light on the Day of Resurrection, let him be among those who make pilgrimages to al-Husayn ibn'Ali.' [19]

7. In a Tradition from Imam Musa al-Kazim ibn Jafar, who said: 'The least reward for one who makes a visitation to al-Husayn on the banks of the Euphrates, if he recognises his right, his sanctity and his authority as Imam, will be that his past and later sins will be forgiven.' [20]

8. In a Tradition whose chain of authorities goes back to Imam 'Ali al-Rida ibn Musa, he said: 'Every Imam has a mutual compact with his close associates and his Shi'a. This compact can be properly fulfilled and carried out by making visitations to their tombs. Whoever of them makes a visitation to them out of the desire to make such a visitation and in confirmation of their desire, for them their Imams will be intercessors on the Day of Resurrection.' [21]

* * *

There are examples of the hundreds, perhaps thousands, of texts which have come from the Imams of the Holy Family urging pilgrimages to al-Husayn in different ways.

Some of these texts came in answer to questions from different men; others were made from the beginning without any question in order to direct the thought of the Shi'a towards pilgrimages. Because of these texts which are specific to the pilgrimage to al-Husayn or those in which the Imams urge pilgrimages to the Prophet and other Imams or other righteous men and woman a Shi'ite social and cultural climate has developed in respect to the pilgrimage, in a general way, and in respect to the pilgrimage to al-Husayn, in particular. This has formed an emotional human tendency which constantly grows in importance in all lives and places which it travels through at all times and in all circumstances.

Among the evidence for the growing importance of the pilgrimage among the Shi'a is the story that one of the adherents of the Shi'a complained to the seventh Imam, Musa al-Kazim ibn Ja'far, that the pilgrimage to al-Husayn had become so well-known that the pious pilgrim was no longer able to practise it without drawing attention to himself. This was something which was a negation of the piety which made a Muslim prefer to do good works secretly. He reopened: I went to the Imam and said: 'May I be your ransom, people who know of this matter [22] and others who do not, are making pilgrimages to al-Husayn. Even women are making the journey to him. It has become very famous so that I have held myself back going because of the fame which I have seen it to have.' The Imam stopped without answering for some time. Then he came towards me and said: 'O Iraqi, since they make themselves known, you will not make yourself known! By God, anyone who goes to al-Husayn recognising his rights, cannot but have his past and later sins forgiven by God.' [23]

Fear of the official authorities did not succeed in limiting the development and spread of this tendency. There are texts which indicate that the measure of the authorities only had a slight effect. It appears that this tendency-as the nature of things requires-began little by little. Then it constantly grew in importance and its scope widened. It came to have fixed seasons which were formed at a very early period, at least in the time of Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq. In a Tradition recorded by 'Abd Allah ibn Hammad al-Basri, the Imam said to him: 'I have learnt that people are going to the tomb of al-Husayn from regions around Kufa as well as other people and women who mourn for him. That is in the middle of the month of Sha'ban. Among them are reciters who recite, story-tellers who tell his story, mourners who mourn and poets who recite laments.' 'Yes,' I answered. 'May I be your ransom, I have seen some of what you describe.' He said: 'Praise be to God Who has caused there to be among people, those who come to us, praise us and lament for us. God has made our enemies those who criticise them for being close to us, and others who threaten them and revile what they do.' [24]

It appears that the Imam meant the 'Abbasids and their followers by his last words.

* * *

All the means of transportation known at that time were used in travelling to make a pilgrimage to the tomb of al-Husayn in addition to walking. [25] The same is the case right up to the present time-the majority of the text lays stress on the importance of walking to make a pilgrimage to al-Husayn. In some texts, however, there is mention of boats. The texts in Kamil al-ziyara come from Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq, with the exception of one text which comes from Imam al-Baqir. It is certain that this tendency had begun to grow and spread its scope during the Umayyad period.

Similarly groups of pilgrims used to come in crowds from the majority of the regions of the Islamic world at that time, perhaps even all of them. Instructions are mentioned in the texts to pilgrims who came from Khurasan, Arjan and Yemen.

As for those who were unable to get to the tomb of al-Husayn, they were able to perform the ritual of ziyara at a distance. The Imams have given texts for the ziyara to al-Husayn from a distance. The report of Malik al-Juhm contains an explanation of the appropriate actions for a believer to do when he is far from Karbala' and cannot travel there to perform the pilgrimage to al-Husayn. Malik said: I asked the Imam: 'May I be your ransom, what should someone do who lives far away from the place and cannot get to it on the Day of 'Ashura '?' Imam al-Baqir replied: 'On that day he should go out into the desert or up on a high roof of his house. There he should give an indication of his wishing peace to be with al-Husayn and he should strive in prayer against his killer. After that he should perform two rakas, doing that on the middle of the day before the sun begins to decline. Then he should mourn for al-Husayn and weep for him. He should, also, tell those in his house to weep for him.' [26]

In this way the opportunity was provided, for everyone and in all circumstances, to participate in and be influenced by the ziyara and through that to renew contact with al-Husayn and what he represents. This facet of the legality of performing the ziyara, even while at a distance from the tomb, which has mentioned, reveals the intense anxiety of the Imams of the Holy Family to fix firmly the roots of the institution of ziyara in every heart in order to provide the widest scope of its educational and guiding task.

While the performance of the pilgrimage is something which is recommended on every day of the year, there are special days and nights in which the merit for performing it is greater. They are: the Day of 'Arafat (Yawm 'Arafat), that is 9th Dhu al-Hijja; the Day of Sacrifice (Yawm al-Adha), that is the 10th Dhu al-Hijja; the Day of the End of the Fast (Yawm al-Fitr), that is 1st Shawwal; the Day of'Ashura', that is 10th Muharram; 1st of Rajab; 15th of Rajab; 15th of Shatban; and the Nights of Destiny (layal al-qadr), that is 19th, 21st and 23rd of the month of Ramadan. Sometimes added to these times is the pilgrimage made to him on 20th of Safar, which is the ziyara of the forty days (on the occasion of the passing of forty days after the martyrdom of al-Husayn; that is from 10th Muharram to 20th Safar). On that day a great number of pilgrims gather at the tomb of al-Husayn at Karbala', even though it does not enjoy, with the religious scholars, the status which is accorded to the rest of the times for pilgrimage which we have mentioned earlier, because the narration for the pilgrimage after forty days has a weak chain of authorities and is supported by weak evidence.

* * *

By this direction of theirs-in addition to the personal factor of al-Husayn and his revolution with every Muslim-the Imams of the Holy Family have been able to make the personality, revolution and tragedy of al-Husayn and what happened to him, his family and his followers at Karbala', into a living vibrant thing which is continually recalled. By means of the performance of the pilgrimage, they have made it something which preserves contact with his reasons and objectives, something which brings praise and veneration to al-Husayn and his family, something which contains the pledges which the pilgrim makes before God that he will keep to this path and follow this way, also something which includes the denunciation of the oppressive deviating forces which committed their hideous crime at Karbala', and the denunciation of all other forces, later on, which followed those criminal forces in their example, their slogans and their attitude.

May God curse a people who killed you. May God curse those who gave them the possibility of fighting against you. May I be innocent before God and you of them, their party and their followers. [27]

May God curse those who fight against you. May God curse those who ordered it. May God curse those who got that order and accepted it. [28]

The ruling powers, in the time of the Umayyads and the 'Abbasids and those who followed, became aware of the danger of this current and of its ability to produce a state of consciousness of the situation among the people and a repudiation of the dominant political forces. Therefore throughout Islamic history, various attempts were made by the authorities and their supporters, aimed at stopping the increasing number of pilgrims to Karbala'.

The attempts appeared in two different manifestations.

The First Manifestation was to put garrisons and guards on the roads leading to Karbala' to stop the pilgrims from reaching the grave of al-Husayn and to carry out various punishments on those who were apprehended. The punishment, on some occasions, was death.

It appears that this repressive manifestation was so cruel that its effects were reflected in the demeanour of the Shi'a in performing the pilgrimage. It was also the reason for the great number of questions about the rules for the pilgrimage in circumstances of fear. It reached such a degree that Ibn Qawlawayh al-Qummi devoted a special chapter in his book with the title: Chapter Forty-five: The Reward for the Pilgrimage to al-Husayn made in Fear. In it he has recorded some of the things which have been set out by the Imams of the Holy Family in this matter. Some of what he presents is reported from Imam Abu Jafar al-Baqir and the other part of it is from Imam Abu' Abd Allah al-Sadiq. This means that the repression of this Shi'ite practice existed in the Umayyad period and continued into the 'Abbasid period. In what follows, there will be some of the texts which Ibn Qawlawayh has presented.

It is reported from Muslim ibn Muhammad: Abu Ja' far Muhammad ibn'Ali (i.e., Imam al-Baqir) asked me: 'Are you going to the tomb of al-Husayn?' 'Yes,' I replied, 'but in fear and dread.' He said: 'The more intense this is, then the reward for it will be in accordance with the fear.' [29]

It is reported from al-Asamm that Ibn Bukayr said: I said to Abu 'Abd Allah (i.e. Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq), 'I stopped at Arjan. My heart struggled with me about staying at the grave of your father. When I left, my heart was apprehensive and worried so that I went back out of fear of the authorities, informers and soldiers of the garrisons ....' [30]

Another example is reported by al-Husayn ibn Abi Hamzaal-Thumali. He recounted: 'Towards the end of the period of the Marwanids, I went to perform a pilgrimage to the grave of al-Husayn, keeping myself out of view of the Syrians until I reached Karbala'. Then I hid myself in the area of the tomb until the middle of the night ....' [31]

Another example are the words of'Abd Allah ibn Hammadal-Basri to Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq: 'May I be your ransom, I used to go to the grave of al-Husayn until I became beset by the authorities who were determined to guard their wealth. I was well-known to them. So out of precautionary dissimulation (taqiyya), I gave up going to it.' [32]

Another example is the answer Misma' Kardin gave to Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq when he asked him whether he was going to the tomb of al-Husayn. He said: 'No, I am a man well-known to the people of Basra, among whom are people who follow the wishes of the Caliph. We have many enemies among the tribesmen including those who hate the Shi'a and others. I could not be sure that they are not watching my situation on behalf of the sons of Sulayman.' (The Sulayman who is mentioned here is Sulayman ibn 'Abd Allah b. 'Abbas, the governor of Basra.)

This method of combatting the pilgrimages to al-Husayn did not succeed in checking the overriding tendency which continued to grow in size and importance. The texts, which Ibn Qawlawayh and others have reported, and the fact of history confirm that this tendency remained firm and constantly increasing without the repression having any effect on it.

The Second Manifestation was the attempt to remove the object of pilgrimage. This was done by the destruction of the tomb of al-Husayn and the wiping out of any trace of it so that its place would become lost and would not be found. This manifestation occurred in the reign of the'Abbasid, al-Mutawakkil, through the decision he made to destroy the tomb of al-Husayn. We will let Abu al-Faraj al-Isfahani tell us his methods in what he has reported of that time:

Al-Mutawakkil was very hostile towards the descendants of Abu Talib, cruel towards their group and suspicious of their activities. He had great anger and animosity towards them and was very doubtful and suspicious of them. It occurred to him that Ubayd Allah ibn Yahya ibn Khaqan, his vizir, also used to think badly of them and the denunciation of their activity seemed good to him. He carried out actions against them that none of the 'Abbasids before him had carried out. Among these, he ploughed up the grave of al-Husayn and removed all trace of it. He put armed garrisons on the rest of the roads. Anyone they found making a pilgrimage to it, they brought to him. He killed or punished them severely.

Ahmad ibn al-Ja'd al-Washa reported to me-and he was a witness of it: The reason for ploughing up the grave of al-Husayn was that one of the songstresses used to send their young girls to him, before he was Caliph, to sing to him when he was drinking. When he assumed authority, he sent for that songstress. He learnt that she was absent and had gone to perform a pilgrimage to the tomb of al-Husayn. News of this reached her and she hurried back. She sent one of her young girls to him whom he was familiar with. He asked her, 'Where were you?' She answered, 'My mistress went to make the pilgrimage and she took us with her.' It was in the month of Shaban. So he asked, 'Where were you making a pilgrimage to in the month of Sha'ban?' 'To the tomb of al-Husayn,' she answered. He flew into a rage and ordered her mistress to be imprisoned, and he confiscated her property. He sent one of his men, called al-Dizaraj-who was a Jew-to the tomb of al-Husayn. He ordered him to plough it up, obliterate it and destroy everything around it. He carried that out. He destroyed everything around it, demolished the building and ploughed up about two hundred fields around it. When he reached his grave, no one would approach it. So he brought some Jews and they ploughed it up. Then he made water flow all around it. He put armed garrisons in control of it. There was a mile between each armed garrison. No one could perform the pilgrimage without being apprehended by them and sent to him.

Muhammad ibn al-Husayn al-Ashnani reported to me: My promise to perform the pilgrimage seemed impossible in those days because of the terror. Then I decided to risk my life to do it. A perfume merchant helped me to do that. We set out to perform the pilgrimage, hiding by day and travelling by night until we came to the area of al-Fakhiriyya. From there we departed in the middle of the night and went into between two garrisons so that we came to the grave of al-Husayn. It was hidden from us. We began to sniff for signs of it and search for some aspect of it until we came upon it. The structure, which had been around it, had been torn down and burnt. Water had been made to flow over it and the place where bricks had been sunk down so that it had become like a ditch. We performed the rituals of the pilgrimage to him. We threw ourselves down on the ground and smelled a fragrance from it which I have never smelled anything like. It was like some kind of perfume. I asked the perfume merchant, who was with me, 'What fragrance is this?' 'By God, I have never smelled any kind of perfume like it,' he replied. We made our farewells and put marks around the grave in a number of places. When al-Mutawakkil was killed, we gathered with a group of the descendants of Abu Talib and the Shi'a to go to the grave. We removed the marks and restored it to the state which it had been before. [33]

Al-Tabari has reported in his history concerning the events of the year 236 [34]: It has been mentioned that an official of the head of the shurta proclaimed in the area: 'After three hours, any man whom we find at his tomb, we will send to the dungeons.' The people fled. They were prevented from going there. The place was ploughed up and the area around put under cultivation.

We must presume that his terrorisation had some effect for sometime on the activity of the movement towards performing the pilgrimage and that it caused it to become moribund. Indeed the persecution seems to have increased in some periods to such an extent that the 12th Imam (al-Mahdi Muhammad ibn al-Hasan) was obliged to issue a general directive to the Shi'a in which he forbade them from performing pilgrimages to the cemetery of Quraysh in Baghdad (the sacred site of the graves of the two Imams, Musa ibn Ja'far al-Kazim and Muhammad al-Jawad) and the sacred site of the grave of al-Husayn at Karbala'. [35]

Even though the method of repression and the method of destroying the grave, in addition to the former, had made the development of the movement to perform these pilgrimages moribund for some time, or had prevented them, they had not succeeded in bringing them to an end in any final way. The Shi'a seized every opportunity available to activate the movement to perform the pilgrimage, especially after periods of repression and persecution. Moreover, after such periods, the movement to perform the pilgrimage used to return in a more intense and varied form that had been the case before its prevention and the suppression and punishment of the pilgrims. The only explanation for that is the fact that al-Husayn's revolution and personality continued to grow without any interruption in popular consciousness in a way which could not be stopped at any point, such was its size and nature. It is still growing and spreading its extent even to the present day.

After having got to know about the pilgrimage from the external aspect-its motives, history, preventions, circumstances, time and continuous growth-it is necessary for us to become acquainted with it from within-if that is the correct expression. We shall examine examples from the texts which have been reported from the Imams of the Holy Family of how the pilgrimage to al-Husayn was to be performed, together with a brief analysis of each of the texts.

We shall put forward here two examples of prayers of the ziyara of al-Husayn. One of these is long and detailed and the other is brief and general. The two examples should be considered as representative of dozens of texts which have been reported from the Imams of the Holy Family about how the pilgrimage to al-Husayn should be performed. Of a similar nature are those texts which have been laid down about how the pilgrimage to the other Imams of the Holy Family, apart from al-Husayn, should be performed.

These two examples are reported from Imam Abu 'Abd Allah (Jafar al-Sadiq).

V. TWO EXAMPLES OF THE ZIYARA TO AL-HUSAYN

1. The First Example

It is reported from Imam Abu 'Abd Allah Ja' far ibn Muhammad al-Sadiq that he said: 'When you enter the Ha'ir, [36] say:

1. O God, this is a position by which you have honoured me and distinguished me. O God, through it give me my desire for the reality of my faith in You and Your apostles.

The visitation begins with thanking God for honouring and distinguishing the pilgrim by giving him the opportunity to perform the pilgrimage. Then he prays to God that He will answer him and grant him his request for the reality of his faith in God and His prophets.

2. The peace of God be with you, son of the Apostle of God and the peace of His angels be with you in the pure fragrances which come to you and on you in the evening and the morning. Peace be with the angels of God, who bring men close to God. Peace be with the Muslims who have you in their heart and who speak to you of your great virtue with their tongues.

After discharging his duty of remembering God and thanking Him, the pilgrim begins by calling for peace to be with al-Husayn. Then he calls for peace to be with the angels of God. He goes on to call for peace to be with all those who believe in al-Husayn's attitude and who declare their faith in him.

This suggests that al-Husayn is not alone, nor is the pilgrim, who believes in al-Husayn's cause, alone; they are both part of a great movement which God blesses and sends His peace to its men and women through the angels. Part of this movement are the angels who bring men close to God; part of it are those people who believe and trust in al-Husayn with their hearts and who declare their faith in him.

3. I testify that you are truthful and trustworthy. I trust in what you called for, I trust in what you came for. You are the vengeance of God on earth for the blood whose vengeance will only be attained on earth by your friends.

O God, make me love their martyrdoms and their witness, so that You bring me close to them and make me with the first of them and a follower of them in this world and the Hereafter.At this stage of the pilgrimage, the pilgrim declares his close bond with al-Husayn in terms of faith and principles.

First, he testifies to the truth of what al-Husayn came for and called for.

Secondly, he testifies to the fact that al-Husayn, when he made the sacrifice in his true and sincere mission, did not belong to any man, nor one group of people He belonged to the whole of humanity. Therefore he is 'the vengeance of God'. His vengeance, then, is a common cause which profiteers and deviators cannot deal with. Only the friends of God can deal with it '. . . For the blood whose vengeance will only be attained on earth by your friends.'

After this testimony, which signifies the bond of reason and principle with God, the pilgrim then turns to ask that God bind him emotionally to al-Husayn . . . 'make me love their martyrdom and witness.' This is for the sake of joining them in their struggle so that he may be in their vanguard in witness and a follower of them in principle in this world and the Hereafter.

4. Glory be to God, to Whom the angels and the Kingdom of Heaven give praise, and through Whose names all His creation is sanctified. Glory be to God, the Most Holy Sovereign, the Lord of the angels and the Spirit. O God, inscribe me within the group, which has come to the best of Your places, and within the best of Your creatures. O God, curse idolatry and tyranny and curse their parties and followers. O God, make me bear witness to all the testimonies of God with the Holy Family of Your Prophet. O God, receive me as a Muslim and give me a sure place with those surviving inheritors who inherit Paradise, where they will dwell eternally among Your righteous worshippers.

Here there is a return to remembering and glorifying God. Then there is the prayer to God that He may accept his coming and his pilgrimage to al-Husayn, so that He will inscribe him among those who have come to him. This is a result of the pilgrim having already declared the bond of principle and emotion with al-Husayn and his revolution. The pilgrim, then, announces his negative attitude which rejects the enemies of al-Husayn and of his call, including the Umayyads and the representatives of their policy in history, who were their followers.

He returns, after this, to the prayer with a supplication which comes from the depths of a soul thirsting to meet God in purity. Thus he prays to God that He make him among the group of His righteous worshippers whose lives form a continuous chain of striving for the sake of Gods the end of which comes through the faith and Islam.

5. O God, ordain faith for me and confirm it in my heart. O God, make what I say with my tongue a reality in my heart and a religious precept in my actions. O God, make me one of those who have a firm footing with al-Husayn and establish me among those who were martyred with him.

At this stage of the pilgrimage, the pilgrim returns to asking God to establish him in the true faith. Here, the prayer of the ziyara includes assurance about an important problem of the true faith, in fact the most important problem concerning this faith. It is that this faith is not a belief alone- it is belief and works, ideology and conduct. What the pilgrim aspires to, is not a theoretical faith but a living active faith. In this way it becomes clear that the pilgrimage is employed in the service of a pure and practical Islamic policy.

The pilgrim, then, returns to al-Husayn and prays to God tha the will decree that he be among those who were martyred with al-Husayn in terms of those martyrs representing the apex of the vocation in which faith is transformed into works and conduct.

6. I testify that you are the purity of the pure and pure of purity. Through you, the land is pure. The earth where you are is pure and your sanctuary is pure. I testify that you ordered and called for justice, and that you are the vengeance of God on His earth so that He may arouse the feelings of all His creation because of you. The blessings of God be with your spirit and your body. You are the sincere one, the truthful one and confirmer of truth. May God destroy those who destroy you with their hands and tongues.

Here, purity means innocence from religious and moral sins. The holiness which al-Husayn enjoys arises out of his purity, not from any other source. This purity spreads wherever the pure man settles. The places, themselves, do not enjoy any holiness; their holiness only derives from them being a centre of action and activity by the pure man.

After that the pilgrim to al-Husayn testifies that his revolution was for the sake of justice; justice was its slogan and its objective. Thus, al-Husayn is the vengeance of God, not of any particular person or group, because the justice, which he strove to establish, was the justice of God.

Then, he testifies to his practical truth: a vocation which gives corroboration through action, effort, slogans and theoretical belief. This is what made him an opponent of those in power nominally in the name of Islam, who were men with slogans; the reality of their conduct gave testimony to their insincerity.

The pilgrim goes on to reiterate his renunciation of the enemies of al-Husayn, who are, at the time, the enemies of justice and truth.

7. Peace be with you, O martyrs. You precede us and we follow you. Receive the good news of a meeting with God which has no discrepancy. God will attain your vengeance for you and He will overcome His enemies on earth through you. You are the lords of the martyrs in this world and the Hereafter.

This salutation is to the men who bore witness with al-Husayn at Karbala'. On the occasion of every pilgrimage to al-Husayn there is a salutation and a prayer for peace for the martyrs.

In this salutation, the pilgrim declares that the martyrs precede him and he follows them, that they are all-both the pilgrim and the martyrs-companions in one journey of struggle. In this way the pilgrim binds his life to the path which the martyrs traveled and for the sake of which they died.

8. Praise be to God, Who remains One in all matters. He created the creatures and none of their affairs is absent from His knowledge. The earth and those who are on it are sureties for your blood and you vengeance, O son of the Apostle of God, may God bless you. I testify that you will have from God the support and victory which He promised you, that you will have from God the truthful promise of the destruction of your enemies and the fulfilment of God's promise to you.

I testify that those who follow you are the true ones of whom God said: Those are the truthful ones and the witnesses before their Lord, they will have their reward and their light. [37]

In this section, after praising God and His unity, the pilgrim makes a declaration of the cosmic nature of al-Husayn's revolution, for the earth and those on it will be the guarantors for his blood and are not transitory, for the confirmation of realities which are eternal and which extend into the future of time and of man. Similarly it has deep roots in the past and present of man and time.

Then, the pilgrim speaks of hope, for the martyrdom of al-Husayn and the end of his revolution do not bring an end to hope, nor do they throw one into the abyss of despair devoid of action. Al-Husayn's cause is the climax of war in a long uninterrupted history of the struggle for the sake of the Muslim, and for man, in general. Therefore, the divine promise will be attained, must be attained. For this reason, the Shi'ite works for al-Husayn's policy through the inspiration of the attainment of God's promise from this hope.

This section calls to mind the words which al-Husayn wrote from Mecca when he decided to leave his brother, Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyya and the Hashimites: '. . . Whoever joins me will be martyred and whoever does not join me will not attain victory.' [38]

At the end of this section of the prayer of the ziyara the pilgrim performing it renews his testimony of the faithfulness of the supporters of al-Husayn.

9. Praise be to God, Who has not taken a son and has no partner in His sovreignty. He created and determined everything. I testify that you called upon God and His Apostle, that you fulfilled his covenant with God and you carried out his words to God, that you strove for the sake of God until certainty came.

May God curse a people which killed you. May God curse a people which treated you unjustly. May God curse a people which forsook you. May God curse a people which abandoned you. O God, I testify in the authority (wilaya) of those whom You and Your Apostles appointed. I testify to my renunciation of those whom You and Your Apostles renounced. O God, curse those who lied against Your Apostle, destroyed Your Ka'ba, distorted Your Book, shed the blood of Your Holy Family, spread corruption in Your land and disparaged Your worshippers. O God, redouble the torment on them for what has taken place on Your roads, Your land and Your sea. O God, curse them in secret and in public in Your earth and Your Heaven. [39]

In this section, the prayer of the ziyara reaches its climax. The pilgrim returns to praising and exalting God. We notice, here, that the remembrance, praise and exaltation of God permeates every section of the prayer of the ziyara. The pilgrim remembers God in a variety of ways throughout the prayer of the ziyara to al-Husayn, and his pilgrimage to al-Husayn is, itself, a kind of remembrance of God through remembering one of His righteous servants who struggled for His sake.

The pilgrim reiterates his declaration testifying that al-Husayn's revolution was for the sake of God. After this he curses all the forces opposed to al-Husayn's call and revolution: those who forsook him; those who abandoned giving him support; and those who killed him.

He, then, declares his firm life-long bond with the policy of struggle of al-Husayn, and his absolute renunciation of the enemies of that policy.

In an intense emotional manner appropriate to the psychological state which he should have reached when he comes to this stage of the pilgrimage, the pilgrim reiterates his complete and absolute renunciation of the enemies by cursing them through mentioning the features and acts which require such a curse: they lied against the Apostle; they destroyed the Ka'ba; they distorted the Book; they shed the blood of the Holy Family; they disparaged Your worshippers.

Here are clear indications of specific historical events. These include the revolt of Ibn al-Zubayr, al-Hajjaj's bringing it to an end and the destruction of the Holy Ka'ba.

This example of the prayer of the ziyara is representative of the largest part of the texts associated with the pilgrimage to al-Husayn.

It contains the following elements:

1. It remembers God and glorifies and praises Him. It declares the extent of His authority, omnipotence and magnitude;

2. It honours al-Husayn and the Holy Family as being representatives of the Islamic way of life, of the righteous conduct required by the Islamic way of life and of the true causes of a Muslim and of mankind, in general.

3. It mentions al-Husayn's revolution, his witness, and the martyrs and witnesses with him as the climax of the struggle to realise truth and achieve justice. It gives these a universal and cosmic quality in terms of those who are witnesses of it being 'the vengeance of God.'

4. It concentrates on the hope for the coming victory and it rejects despair.

5. It declares the life-long bond between the Shi'ite and al-Husayn and his policy. It also declares the absolute renunciation of all forces whose policy opposes the policy of al-Husayn.

All these elements are repeated in the prayer of visitation in several ways, in a variety of expressions and from different angles in order to attain one aim: to make al-Husayn's revolution, insofar as it is an application of Islam and its principles, something vibrant with life in man's consciousness, something which inspires him in his daily life through the ideas which are appropriate to it.

2. The Second Example

It is reported from Imam Abu 'Abd Allah Ja'far al-Sadiq that he said: 'When you come to the tomb of al-Husayn stand at the door and say:

1. Peace be with you, O heir of Adam, the chosen of God.

Peace be with you, O heir of Noah, the prophet of God.

Peace be with you, O heir of Abraham, the dear friend of God.

Peace be with you, O heir of Moses, the one addressed by God.

Peace be with you, O heir of Jesus, the spirit of God.

Peace be with you, O heir of Muhammad, the beloved of God.

Peace be with you, O heir of 'Ali, the entrusted delegate of the Apostle of God.

Peace be with you, O heir of al-Hasan, who gave satisfaction.

Peace be with you, O heir of Fatima, daughter of the Apostle of God.

In this example, the revolution of al-Husayn is presented from an angle which differs from the angle in which this revolution has been presented in the previous example.

Al-Husayn's revolution had been accused by the regime of having departed from the general policy. It was a rebellion against the legal authority and it caused dissension in the community. Therefore it was an aberration in the course of Islam and because of that it was without legality.

The Umayyads attempted to give this quality to the revolution of al-Husayn. It is indisputable that the apparatus of information at that time-the hired Traditionists and the story- tellers-attempted to give this picture of al-Husayn's revolution to the masses. This attempt was not ordained to have its hoped for success, even though it did succeed in forming some of the insignificant views of some jurists and Sufis, fragments of which we find in some of their books, represented by unfriendly expressions towards the revolution of al-Husayn.

The Imams of the Holy Family and their followers among the scholars undertook to refute this falsification. Instead of the revolution of al-Husayn being made unlawful, the whole Umayyad regime was made unlawful. In the same way its extensions in time as represented by any regime, which bore the slogans of the Umayyads, were made unlawful. In a general way, the pilgrimage was one of the means of refuting and exposing this. This example of the prayer of the ziyara is more concerned with these points than other prayers of the ziyara.

In this example, the revolution of al-Husayn is closely connected to the movement of Islam which is deep-rooted in history of the life of humanity. It goes back in time to the first human existence which brought Islam in its first form on the earth as represented by Adam, the father of mankind. It goes on to Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad and then comes to 'Ali.

From this viewpoint, the revolution is not an event without any precedent. It is part of the movement of Islam in history. It is an extension of the movement of the prophets of God and their entrusted delegates in time, place and man.

Therefore, it enjoys legality and thus it is its right that it should receive the support of all the Muslims. Its legal and political opponent, i.e. The regime, is what does not enjoy legality. Therefore it is men's duty to destroy the latter in order to bring victory to the revolution.

This is one of the aims of this example of the prayers of the ziyara Perhaps it has the greatest importance in the view of the Imams of the Holy Family.

Another aim is that the Shi'ite Muslim should be aware that, through the revolution of al-Husayn, he is linked to Islam in its furthest extension. Since Islam has acted in steering time in this manner, it does not stop at the revolution of al-Husayn. Rather, it takes a new impetus and a new strength from this revolution and continues to accumulate the power of an active transforming movement through the conscious act of heroism motivated by a faith, which believes in it and works for the good of mankind through it and by its guidance.

2. Peace be with you, O truthful witness.

Peace be with you, O pious reverend entrusted delegate (wasi).

Peace be with you, O proof of God and son of His proof.

Peace be with the souls who dismounted at your open field of battle and remained where you stopped.

Peace be with the angels of God, who surround you.

In the previous section the pilgrim declared his awareness of the position of the revolution of al-Husayn in the historical movement of Islam, and his awareness of its legality and the lack of legality of the regime which it rose against. After that, the pilgrim declares, in this section of the prayer of ziyara, his awareness of the qualities which gave al-Husayn and his revolution this position in the history of Islam and its historical movement.

First, he is truthful and a witness. A truthful person transforms his faith into a living actual application. He does not leave it confined to the realm of ideology, nor does he seek comfortable justifications for himself. This truthfulness leads him on to become a witness so that he seals his life with the most glorious act of truth. He seals it by witnessing with it through, and for the sake of, his faith.

This reality is the reality of truthfulness and witnessing. It is what makes it suitable that he and his revolution should be among the outstanding features of the movement of Islam in history.

Secondly, he is the entrusted delegate (wasi). He is the entrusted delegate of his brother, Imam al-Hasan, who was the entrusted delegate of his father, Imam 'Ali, who was the entrusted delegate of the Apostle of God.

He is a pious reverend entrusted delegate. Through the reality of his being an entrusted delegate, he works for the religion of God and for the umma. Thus he bears a heavy responsibility and sacrifices his life to carry it out.

Thirdly, he is the proof of God and the son of His proof. This quality comes from his being a pious reverend entrusted delegate (wasi) of God. Through this quality, he was the heir of Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad. After Muhammad, he was the heir of 'Ali and al-Hasan. They are proofs of God to His creatures. He is like them in being a proof of God to His creatures. He is a continuation of them, and his revolution is an extension of their revolutions and calls. He explained to men and summoned them to God so that the authorities of his time no longer had any argument or excuse for shunning the guidance of God and the faithful application of the Islamic way of life demanded by God.

Finally the pilgrim takes note of the fact that al-Husayn was not alone in his truthfulness and his witness. His supporters participated with him in a degree of truthfulness and witness. They, then, are also a model which should be imitated, beacons through which one will receive light on the long journey to truth and justice. The pilgrim calls for peace to be with them to show his awareness of their rank and their great role.

The pilgrim brings this section to a close by calling for peace to be with the blessed angels who surround the grave of al-Husayn and the grave of the martyrs.

3. I testify that you have performed the salat and you have paid the alms-tax (zakat), you have enjoined the good and forbidden evil; you have worshipped God sincerely so that certainty came to you. Peace be with you and the mercy and blessings of God. [40]

At the end, the pilgrim declares his awareness of the essence and core of al-Husayn's life. It is living Islam. The relationship with God is represented by salat, a real relationship which always exists in daily activity. The salat is not merely the formal prayer which ends at the call for peace in it. The salat with the believer is something which encompasses within its nature the life and actions of the person praying.

The relationship with men is represented by the alms-tax (zakat) a form of giving. Thus his position with regard to men is the position of the giver, someone who sacrifices and pays no attention to himself and his own interests for the sake of others.

Movement in society is represented by enjoining good and forbidding evil. It is the movement of building society, building righteous man and a clean life.

The first feature of all these manifestations of the life of al-Husayn-in relation to God, in relation to men and as a movement in society-is absolute sincerity towards God, total absorption in God and shunning everything else except God.

These are two examples of the dozens of texts which deal with the visitation to al-Husayn and his fellow martyrs at Karbala' at all times and at specific times previously indicated

The scope of the ritual of visitation has been broadened to include all the Imams of the Holy Family and the supporters who were martyred alongside them, or who accomplished an important area of work for Islam during the time of the Imams and at their direction. The overwhelming majority of the texts concerned with the pilgrimages to the other Imams and their followers repeat the honour given to al-Husayn and his followers, the horror at what befell them and the renunciation of their enemies.

The pilgrimage fulfils the role which it is intended to fulfil in the formation and historical existence of the Shi'ite Muslim. It keeps him in living vibrant contact with the Imams of the Holy Family, with their vision and with their movement which provides opposition and yet is constructive. It keeps him in contact with the Islam which confronts in order to remove injustice and establish justice among all the people-not with Islam through its official governing institutions. In the eras of the rule of Islam, neither the Holy Family nor their Shi'a have had any share worth mentioning in the official institutions of the government of Islam.

Vl. THE ZIYARA IN THE POETRY OF LAMENT FOR AL-HUSAYN

In the odes of the poets of lament for al-Husayn which they composed in praise of and in lament for the Holy Family, and in lament for al-Husayn, they have given expression to the ritual of the ziyaira since the first half of the fourth century. It is a date for which we possess poetic evidence. Even though we can estimate that the poetry of lament included this purpose before this date, there is not much before it.

That is because the reflection of any concern of the people in poetry implies two things: (i) This concern which the poetry reflects, is a common subject which excites the interest of many groups of people of diverse schools of thought and views. This common subject excites in the people emotions and feelings of love, or awe, or hostility towards it. (ii) There is no danger, or at least no great danger, in the expression and practice of this common subject. Otherwise the poets would not express it in poetry which came readily to men's tongues and which was recited at their gatherings.

In the light of this analysis we can judge that poetry gave expression to the pilgrimage from several aspects out of the total of its purposes when the pilgrimage became a common concern for the Shi'a, and was no longer limited to a selected few among them, when it became an established part of their religious activity which had a socio-political quality. This is from one aspect. From another, poetry probably gave expression to the pilgrimage when it became possible to carry it out with security and the safety of the pilgrim was not exposed to danger.

We can deduce that these two matters-the widespread nature of the pilgrimage and freedom to carry it out with security-were achieved in the second stage of the 'Abbasids, after the Buwayhids had gained real control over Iraq and Iran and the Hamdanids had gained control in Syria.

In this period, popular consciousness attained an understanding of the pilgrimage in a comprehensive form. This consciousness came to express its understanding of it on numerous occasions when thousands of people gathered. Karbala' began to witness a constant movement of pilgrims coming to the tomb of al-Husayn. Then the pilgrimage became one of the topics of the poetry about al-Husayn, which the poets expressed in a variety of ways and at which they looked from different aspects.

Perhaps Abu Bakr Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn al-Hasan ibn Murad al-Dabbi al-Halabi al-Antaki, known as al-Sunawbari (d. 334) was among the first poets of lamentation who reflected the subject of- the pilgrimage to al-Husayn in their poetry. Al-Sunawban spent his life between Aleppo and Damascus. For this reason, his poetry's inclusion of references to the pilgrimage in a number of his odes discloses, without any doubt, an important historical fact about this subject, namely that groups of pilgrims at this historical period were flowing into Karbala' from the Syrian area. This is a phenomenon which, first of all, proves that the ritual of ziyara had become a common popular Shi'ite practice which went beyond the geographical region of Karbala', that is Iraq, to other geographical regions. Secondly it proves that the element of security had increased to such an extent that it allowed great numbers of people to cross this long distance between Syria and Iraq without very great fear.

In one ode in lamentation for al-Husayn, al-Sunawban called on the pilgrims to stop at the place on the bank of the Euphrates and described their weeping at the graves.

In another ode, he tells of their camels halting at the place of grief and the people smelling the musk and kissing the camphor of the ground. They perform the pilgrimage there, which is recommended, and they grieve for him with tears flowing down.

In a third ode, he urges the people to travel straight. The pilgrimage to the Imam of guidance is the best pilgrimage which can be made.

It appears that the third ode may be adressed in farewell to a group who are heading for Karbala' to perform the pilgrimage.

Abu 'Abd Allah al-Husayn ibn Ahmad ibn al-Hajjaj al-Nilli al-Baghdadi (d. 391) comes almost half a century later than al-Sunawbun so that he reflects for us, in one of the beautiful passages of his poetry, a picture of the pilgrimage, which indicates the depth of the penetration of the ritual into popular consciousness so that it has become an institution with traditional practices.

In his ode, al-Husayn ibn al-Hajjaj has spoken about the pilgrimage to the Commander of the faithful, 'Ali ibn Abi Talib. It gives a picture of the circumstances which were prevailing then at the sanctuary of Imam al-Husayn.

Al-Husayn b. Al-Hajjaj calls on 'Ali ibn Abi Talib. He says that the pilgrims may gain a cure or reward which they seek. It instructs the pilgrims to be in a state of ritual purity before entering the tomb. They should prepare themselves to answer his call and go round his tomb seven times. At the door to the tomb, they should stand and call for peace to be with the people of knowledge and nobility. Then they should acknowledge that they are holding fast to the faith, because the Imam is the firm bond which binds them to the faith. They hope that he will intercede for them, that no harm will come to them and they will have no fear.

These verses depict some of the popular customs at the pilgrimage, as well as expressing some of the ideas which were circulating in some of the texts.

Abu al-Hasan 'Ali ibn Hammad ibn 'Ubayd Allah ibn Hammad al-'Adawi al-'Abdi al-Basri (d. End of 4th century), was a poet who was a contemporary of al-Husayn ibn al-Hajjaj. In one of his odes of lament, he speaks of the ritual of the pilgrimage and the Divine blessing which are promised to those who perform it.

He tells the pilgrims to al-Husayn that they may receive forgiveness for their sins and safety from Hell. When they call upon al-Husayn, he will answer their prayers whether they are said aloud or in secret. For al-Husayn is alive with God. They should go round his tomb and kiss the soil of his grave, for al-Husayn possesses very great purity.

In another ode, the poet speaks of the great effect the deaths of the sons of the Prophet at Karbala' had. He mentions that whoever sees their graves begins to weep. He describes the light which shines on these graves and the angels which go back and forth from them. These are graves with the power to ward off harm and evil and pilgrims seek cures for their evil thoughts. Whenever one sees them, one is reminded of the day on which al-Husayn died and the words he spoke in admonition to his enemies.

Al-Sharif al-Radi Abu al-Hasan Muhammad ibn Abi, Ahmad al-Husayn al-Musawi (359 406) spoke of the ritual of pilgrimage in one of his beautiful poems. In it he revealed his desire to perform the pilgrimage to the Commander of the faithful and Imam al-Husayn and he said that he quenched this thirst in his heart by performing the pilgrimage to the two tombs of the two Imams (al-Kazimayn) Imam Musa b. Ja'far and Imam Muhammad al-Jawad-in Baghdad. This demonstrates that in this period performing the pilgrimage to the tombs of the Imams of the Holy Family in Iraq had become a popular general practice.

* * *

Abu al-Hasan Mihyar ibn Marzawayh al-Daylami, the famous poet, (d. 428) was one of those in this period who spoke of the ritual of pilgrimage in an ode of lament for Imam 'Ali, the Commander of the faithful, and Imam al-Husayn. That was in the month of Muharram in 392. In his discussion he shows that the pilgrimage involves the practice of blessing the soil of the tomb of al-Husayn. It appears from this text that those who performed the pilgrimage used to go back with some of the soil of Karbala' which they used to sprinkle on those of their family and friends who used to ask for it as a means of seeking blessings and seeking cures. This practice does not exist in the present time, and it is a point which ought to be studied from the historical angle.

* * *

Al-Sharif al-Murtada al-Qasim 'Ali ibn al-Husayn ibn Musa al-Musawi, known as 'Alam al-Huda (the sign of guidance) (355-436) is one of the distinguished men whose poetry reflects the ritual of the pilgrimage. In it he mentions the healing effect on the soul of performing the pilgrimage.

* * *

In this way poets of lament for al-Husayn have continued to reflect in their poetry the ritual of the pilgrimage to the tomb of al-Husayn and the rest of the tombs of the Holy Family. They are expressing the doctrinal and emotional relationship of the Shi'ite with al-Husayn, the martyr. This relationship considers the pilgrimage as one of the most outstanding means of expressing it.

There has been much poetry dealing with the subject of the pilgrimage in recent times, even to the extent of some poets making it the sole purpose of some odes. This reflects the growth of this ritual in popular consciousness as one of the manifestations of the revolution of al-Husayn in popular consciousness.

VII. THREE OTHER ZIYARAS CONCERNED WITH THE REVOLUTION AL-HUSAYN

1. The ziyara to al- 'Abbas ibn 'Ali ibn Abi Talib

i

Al-'Abbas was born in 26. His mother was Fatima, daughter of Hizam ibn Khalid ibn Rabi' (he was the brother of the poet labid) ibn 'Amir ibn Kilab ibn RAbi'a ibn 'Amir ibn Sa'sa'a, of the tribe of Kilab. She was famous for her kunya 'Umm al-Banin'.

The Commander of the faithful, 'Ali ibn Abi Talib married her at the suggestion of his brother, 'Aqil ibn Abi Talib, who was an expert in the genealogy of the Arabs. He had asked'Aqil to look for a woman for him who would give birth to Arab warriors so that he could marry her and she could bear him a noble son. 'Aqil indicated her to him.

After the death of Lady Fatima, the radiant, he had married her, or perhaps after his marriage to Umama, daughter of Zaynab, daughter of the Apostle of God.

She bore the Commander of the faithful four sons. They were al-'Abbas (he was the eldest of them), 'Abd Allah, Ja'far and 'Uthman. These were her sons (banin) and she was given her kunya after them so that she was called ' Umm al-Banin' .

They were all martyred in front of their brother, Imam al-Husayn, at Karbala'.

Al-'Abbas had lived with his father, Imam 'Ali, for fourteen years. On the day he was martyred, he was about thirty-four years of age.

He married Lubaba, daughter of 'Ubayd Allah ibn al- 'Abbas ibn'Abd al-Muttalib, and she bore him two sons. They were 'Ubayd Allah ibn al-Abbas ibn 'Ali and al-Fadl ibn al-'Abbas ibn'Ali. Through the latter he received his kunya so that he is called Abu al-Fadl al-'Abbas. He was a mighty horseman with tall stature. 'He used to ride a sturdy horse and his feet could trail along the ground.' He was brave and was given the nickname, 'the moon of the Hashimites', because of his beauty. At Karbala' after his martyrdom he was given the nickname 'the bringer of water', and 'the father of the water-skin', because he risked his life to provide water for al-Husayn's camp after the Umayyad army blockaded it from water. Then he had made more than one raid to the Euphrates to bring water. He was martyred in one of these attempts on 10th Muharram after his hands had been cut off during the battle while he was holding a water-skin which he had filled with water in order to give a drink to the children who were parched with thirst.

He was the standard-bearer of al-Husayn at Karbala'. When al-Husayn put his followers into their positions early in the morning of 10th Muharram, his place was in the centre. He was martyred after his brothers whom he asked to go before him into the battle.

ii

Al-'Abbas was a man of knowledge. In this connection, it is reported that the Commander of the faithful, 'Ali, said: 'My son, al-'Abbas, has fed well on knowledge.'

Concerning him, it is reported that Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq said: 'Our uncle, al-'Abbas, was penetrating in his insight and firm in faith. He had a position with God, for which all the other martyrs envied him.'

It seems from the rajaz poetry, which is attributed to him and which he used to recite at the battle in which he was martyred-it seems from this rajaz poetry that he was at a very high level of awareness of his faith. Despite the fact that he took part in a battle which his brother led against a family which was hostile to his family, not the slightest hint of his personal feeling appears in his rajaz verse. In it, he only speaks of the religion which his brother, al-Husayn, embodied by being Imam. He recited:

By God, if you cut off my right hand, I will still defend my religion. And an Imam who speaks truly and with certainty, the pure and faithful offspring of the Prophet.

Al-'Abbas is singled out from all the other martyrs, whether Hashimite or not, with an independent grave on which a great shrine has been built.

iii

In all the poetry of lament which has been composed about Karbala', al-'Abbas is mentioned as one of the martyrs, most outstanding in rank, or the most outstanding of them in rank, after al-Husayn. Later poets of the Shi'a have composed special poems of lament for him.

In the rites of remembrance for the death of al-Husayn, he has a special position. Thus he is remembered with special honour and is favoured by the full description of his life and martyrdom. In the rites of'Ashura' special rites of remembrance for his death are held. The preachers on the pulpit during the rites of remembrance for al-Husayn in Iraq, usually speak of him on the night of 7th Muharram.

Al-'Abbas enjoys a very strong presence in the popular consciousness of Iraqi and Iranian Shi'ites, which is clearly reflected in the intense and crowded thronging to perform a visitation to his tomb.

Al-'Abbas occupies a special place in the pilgrimage. Whenever his name is mentioned, it is associated with the call for peace to be with him and his position is praised in nearly every one of the prayers of pilgrimage for Imam al-Husayn. Similarly pilgrimages specially concerned with him, have been reported from the Imams of the Holy Family. In what follows we will mention an example of one of them which Abu Hamza al-Thumah has reported from Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq. Ja'far al-Sadiq said: 'When you want to perform a pilgrimage to the tomb of al-'Abbas ibn 'Ali, it is on the bank of the Euphrates opposite the Ha'ir, stand at the door of the enclosure and say:

1. The peace of God, the peace of His angels who bring men close to God, of His Prophets who He has sent, of His righteous worshippers, of all the martyrs and men of truth, and the pure blessings, which come constantly, be with you, O son of the Commander of the faithful.

I testify to your submission to Islam, truthfulness, loyalty and devotion to the successor of the Prophet sent by God, the chosen grandson, the knowing guide, the one entrusted with authority who conveyed his mission, the man who was wronged and killed.

May God reward you with the best reward on behalf of His Apostle, on behalf of the Commander of the faithful and on behalf of al-Hasan and al-Husayn, the blessings of God be with them, for what you endured, sacrificed and suffered. May the result be blessings in Paradise.

May God curse those who killed you. May God curse those who were ignorant of your rights and who scorned your sacredness. May God curse those who prevented you from getting the water of the Euphrates.

Throughout the prayer for peace in this form, the prayer of the ziyara reveals the group to which al-'Abbas belongs. He belongs to the angels, the prophets, the martyrs and the men of truth. The passage which follows the section praying for peace explains the reasons for al-'Abbas belonging to these groups of righteous worshippers of God. He is a Muslim, truthful, loyal and devoted to Imam al-Husayn. That is to say, he is loyal to his religious commitment which arises out of him being a sincere Muslim because, at this point, al-Husayn is not a brother, he is the leader of Islam.

This section of the prayer of ziyara ends with the prayer that God will reward al-'Abbas for his noble stance. Then it renounces, with a curse, his enemies as the enemies of religious law. In this section also the distinguished role of al' Abbas is given prominence in a way which preserves his memory in popular consciousness as the most outstanding of those concerned to provide the thirsty camp with water.

2. I testify that you were killed unjustly and that God will fulfil his promise to you. O son of the Commander of the faithful, I have come as a pilgrim to you. My heart submits to you; and I will follow you. My support will always be ready for you until God gives His judgement, and He is the best of judges. I will be with you, with you, not with your enemies. I am one of the believers with you and will suffer with you. I am not one of the unbelievers with those who oppose you and killed you. May God kill a people who killed you with their hands and tongues.

In this section, the pilgrim bears witness to the justice of the cause, for which al-'Abbas was martyred by saying that he was killed unjustly. Therefore his killers must be unjust. Yet the pilgrim is not in despair because the ultimate result of al-'Abbas' struggle is that he is certain of God's victory and the establishment of a state of truth and justice. The pilgrim proclaims his commitment to the same policy of struggle, which al-'Abbas had followed and for which he had died. In the same way he proclaims his renunciation of the opposite policy, the policy of injustice which the Umayyads followed.

3. Peace be with you, O righteous worshipper, dedicated to God, to His Apostle, to the Commander of the faithful and to al-Hasan and al-Husayn, may peace be with them. Peace be with you and the mercy, blessings and favour of God be with you, your soul and your body.

I testify, and God is my witness, that you died like those who fought at Badr for the sake of God, who acted in good faith toward Him in fighting against His enemies who did their utmost in support of His chosen ones and who defended His loved ones. May God reward you with the best and most abundant reward of any one of those who fulfilled their pledge to Him, answered His call and obeyed those whom He had entrusted with authority.

I testify that you exceeded the utmost in good faith and that you gave the ultimate in striving. Then God raised you among the martyrs and put your soul alongside the souls of the marytrs. He has given you one of the largest and best places in His Paradise and has gathered you with the prophets, the truthful ones, the martyrs and the righteous men as a good companion for them.

I testify that you have never demeaned yourself nor recoiled. You died in full awareness of your situation, emulating the righteous and following the example of the Prophets. God will unite us with you, with His Apostle and with His saints in the mansions of those who are Humble before God. Indeed He is the most merciful of those who are merciful.

In this passage the pilgrim begins his address by asking for peace to be with him and by a prayer in which he demonstrates the element of the faithful obedience shown by al-'Abbas which arises out of an awareness of duty and a commitment to it.

After the call for peace and the prayer, the pilgrim gives testimony that this obedience was not formal; it expressed itself through practical commitment. Here a group is shown to which al-'Abbas belongs in a more defined way, namely those who fought at Badr. These men occupy the highest rank in the processions of noble martyrs who bore witness to the truth with their lives in front of the Apostle of God.

Then follows the testimony that in his striving al-'Abbas went beyond the standard required by virtue of being an obedient Muslim to a much higher standard. 'He exceeded the utmost in good faith and gave the ultimate in striving.'

Next there is the testimony that he carried out his magnificent role at Karbala', resolutely facing death in the end through a conscience governed by principle. His was not an unconscious faith, nor a blind faith because there is no blind faith in Islam. '. . . You died in full awareness of your situation ....' Therefore there was, in his high moral attitude, that with which he achieved the highest Islamic moral standards in transcending one's personal nature. [41] In this attitude, '. . . He never demeaned himself nor recoiled.' This is confirmation that his attitude was the result of consciousness, 'full awareness'. [42]

Abu Hamza al-Thumah has reported from Imam Ja'far al Sadiq that he said that when he parted from al-'Abbas, he should say:

4. I bid farewell to you, commending you to God and asking for your concern and attention. I recite my call for peace to be with you. We believe in God, His Apostle, His Book and what he brought from God. O God, decree that we should be with the martyrs. O God, do not make this the last pilgrimage to the grave of the cousin of Your Prophet. For as long as You preserve me, let me make pilgrimages to him. Then Bather me with him and his fathers in Paradise. O God, bring recognition between him, Your Apostle and Your saints and myself. O God, grant blessings to Muhammad and the family of Muhammad and receive me as someone who believes in you, who acknowledges the truth of your Apostle and the authority (wilaya) of'Ali ibn Abi Talib and the Imams among his offspring and who renounces their enemies. O Lord, I have been pleased to do that. [43]

This form of farewell reveals the depth of the emotional association of principle between the pilgrim and al-'Abbas. It links them with bonds of love which arise out of both of them being committed to one principle in which the one to whom the pilgrimage is being made represents the role of the exemplary model.

Then the pilgrim declares his faith and directs his prayer towards God, asking Him to create a permanent association with al-'Abbas both in this world and the Hereafter. He asks God to strengthen him in faith and keep him loyal to Islam and to the authority of the Imams of the Holy Family.

2. The ziyara of 'Ali (al-Akbar) ibn al-Husayn ibn 'Ali ibn Abi Talib

i

'Ali ibn al-Husayn was born on 11th Shaban in the year 33. When he was martyred on 10th Muhharram in the year 61, he was twenty-seven years and five months old. His mother was Layla bint Abi Murra ibn 'Urwa ibn Mas'ud al-Thaqafi. Urwa ibn Mas'ud had been an important intermediary between Mecca and al-Ta 'if. The grandmother of 'Ali's mother was Maymuna bint Abi Sufyan, the sister of Muawiya and the aunt of Yazid.

Ali ibn al-Husayn had the kunya of Abu al-Hasan. There is a report from Imam al-Rida that he married a slave-mother of his child (umm wala) but we doubt the authenticity of this report. However, in the prayer for his ziyara there is some evidence that he had children. It says, 'May God bless you, your offspring, your family, your fathers and your sons.' It is, nonetheless, possible that the words 'your sons' (abna ' ika) may be an addition of a copyist or a misrepresentation of 'your fathers' (abai ' ika). The kunya (naming a man as father of so and so, in this case Abu al-Hasan) is not evidence that he was married and had children. It may have been given out of the appropriateness of the name, 'Ali to go with the kunya, Abu al-Hasan-this was the name and kunya of his grandfather, 'Ali ibn Abi Talib. The custom was carried out of giving a child a kunya when he was born as being among some of the practices mentioned by legal scholars, in accordance with reports that have been handed down from the Imams of the Holy Family concerning this matter. In any case whether 'Ali ibn al-Husayn (al-Akbar) was in fact married is doubtful in our view.

Ali was given the nickname al-Akbar (the elder) to distinguish him from his brother 'Ali ibn al-Husayn Zayn al-'Abidin.

He was like the Apostle of God in form, temperament and speech and had a handsome face.

Ali al-Akbar was the first of the Hashimite martyrs after all the supporters of al-Husayn, from outside the Hashimite family, had been martyred. When only his family were left with al-Husayn, one after the other came to say farewell to him. 'Ali al-Akbar was the first to ask his father's permission to go into battle. Al-Husayn bowed his head and wept. Then he raised in supplication to God as he said:

O God, I testify against these people, against whom has advanced a young man who most resembles your Apostle in form, temperament and speech. When we used to long for Your Prophet, we used to look at him.

When he went forward to fight, he was offered security in view of his kinship with Yazid ibn Mu 'awiya through the grandmother of his mother, Maymuna bint Abi Sufyan. He refused the offer of security which had been given to him, saying, 'Kinship with the Apostle of God has a greater right to be observed.'

He had directed himself into battle while suffering from severe thirst. He returned to the camp of his father, Imam al-Husayn, after having fought fiercely and having killed a great number. His thirst became unendurable. When he told his father about his thirst, the latter wept and said, 'Help will come for it. Soon you will meet your grandfather; he will give you a drink from his cup after which you will never be thirsty.' He took his tongue and licked it, and he gave him his ring to put in his mouth.

Ali al-Akbar returned to the battle and died a martyr.

ii

Ali al-Akbar enjoyed the highest level of consciousness in faith. There is a text which gives clear evidence of this fact. A conversation took place between Imam al-Husayn and his son, 'Ali al-Akbar after al-Husayn and his followers had learnt of what had happened to Muslim ibn 'Aqil in Kufa. The end to which the revolution was coming was clear to everyone. While al-Husayn was continuing the journey with his followers, he was heard to say: 'We belong to God and to Him we shall return. Praise be to God, Lord of the universe.'

'Ali al-Akbar asked him why he had recited the verse of return used for those who die.

The Imam replied, 'I became drowsy and my head nodded off. A horseman appeared before me, saying: "The people are advancing and death is coming towards you." Then I knew that our lives were bringing the news of our deaths to us.'

'God will not show evil towards us,' replied 'Ali al-Akbar. 'Aren't we in the right?'

'Yes,' he answered, 'it is to Him that all men must return.' 'Father,' declared' Ali al-Akbar, 'as long as we are in the right, we should have no cares.'

'May god reward you with the best reward a son can receive from his father,' exclaimed al-Husayn. [44]

Mention is made of 'Ali al-Akbar in all the lamentation poetry which has been composed about al-Husayn. Later poets of the Shi'a have also composed special poems of lament about him. In their odes they recall his qualities, the way he asked his father's permission to fight, his thirst and the sorrow, grief and distress of his mother, Layla, when he was martyred.

'Ali al-Akbar enjoys an outstanding place in the rites of remembrance for al-Husayn. One of the nights of the ten days to 'Ashura ' is devoted to him, when preachers on the pulpit tell the story of his martyrdom.

He has also been given a distinguished place in the rituals of ziyara; in all the rituals of ziyara to al-Husayn, his son, 'Ali-Akbar, is especially mentioned. In the prayers of his ziyara there are expressions calling for peace to be with him, expressions of honour and praise for his struggle and expressions of distress for what happened to him. Everything which comes in the ritual of ziyara to him comes within the ritual of ziyara to Imam al-Husayn. As far as we know, there is no repetition of it in an independent ziyara as there is in the case of his uncle, al 'Abbas. Perhaps this results from the fact that his grave is nearby the grave of his father, Imam al-Husayn, in contrast to al-'Abbas whose grave is far from the grave of his brother.

Among the prayers of ziyara for'Ali al-Akbar which come within the prayers of ziyara for his father, Imam al-Husayn, is one which Abu Hamza al-Thumah has reported from Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq, who said after he had taught him how to perform the ziyara to Imam al-Husayn that then he should pass on to the grave of'Ali ibn al-Husayn which is at the foot of al-Husayn's and say:

Peace be with you, O son of the Apostle, and the mercy and blessings of God, son of the successor (khalifa) of the Apostle of God, son of the daughter of the Apostle of God. May the peace, the mercy and the blessings of God be multiplied with you whenever the sun rises and sets. Peace be with you and the mercy and blessings of God.

I would sacrifice my mother and my father for you, that you were unjustly slaughtered and killed. I would sacrifice my mother and father for you, that when you came before your father, he reckoned Heaven would be yours and he wept for you, with his hearts burning with pain for you. He raised your blood in his hand towards the clouds in the sky. No drop of it came back to him. No moaning comforted your father for your loss. He said farewell to you at your departure. Your place with God is with your fathers who have died and with your mothers in Heaven. Before God, I renounce those who killed and slaughtered you.

This section of the ziyara begins with a prayer for peace to be with him, in which the kinship of 'Ali al-Akbar is shown. This kinship involves the Apostle of God. 'Ali al-Akbar is the son (that is a direct great-grandson), of the Apostle of God and he is the son of the successor (khalifa) of the Apostle of God (that is, he is a grandson of 'Ali ibn Abi Talib). The same description is frequently used about al-Husayn without mentioning him by name. This goes to show the position of sanctity which 'Ali al-Akbar enjoys in terms of the fact that all the descriptions of his kinship come together with the 'Apostle of God'.

The prayer of the ziyara conveys scenes from Karbala' in the emotional cry from the heart, 'I would sacrifice my mother and father for you'; the scene of 'Ali al-Akbar coming forward to his father to ask for permission to go into battle; the scene of al-Husayn bending over the prostrate body of his son, taking his blood into his hand and raising it to the sky. Then the pilgrim renounces those who have commited the crime of killing him.

The peace of God, the peace of His angels who bring men close to God, the peace of His prophets whom he has sent, the peace of his righteous worshippers be with you, my master, son of my master, and the mercy and blessings of God be with you. May God bless you, your offspring, your family, your fathers, your sons and your mother, the best of people, the pious ones from whom God has removed all evil and whom He has made pure.

Peace be with you, son of the Apostle of God, son of the Commander of the faithful, son of al-Husayn ibn 'Ali and the mercy and blessings of God. May God curse your killers. May God curse those of them who survived and those of them who died. May God curse those who scorned your rights and those who killed you. May God curse those of them who survived and those of them who died. May God and His angels bless you and grant you much peace.

In this passage, the pilgrim repeats his call for peace to be with 'Ali al-Akbar in another form. This peace is from God and a select group of humans: prophets and their sincere sons. During this call for peace, he shows that this elect group is one to which 'Ali al-Akbar belongs. In the same way the other form of this call for peace shows the relationships of kinship of 'Ali al-Akbar from another angle which differs from the previous passage.

Imam Ja' far al-Sadiq went on to tell Abu Hamza that he should put his cheek against the tomb and say:

May God bless you, O Abu al-Hasan (three times). I would sacrifice my father and my mother, I have come to you as a pilgrim, journeying to you and seeking refuge with you from the evil which I have inflicted upon myself and which I gathered up on my back. I ask God Who is Your authority (wali) and mine that He make my destiny be through my ziyara to you, freedom from the burden of Hell-fire. [45]

Perhaps Imam Jafar al-Sadiq's direction to put one's cheek On the grave is an allusion to what Imam al-Husayn did when he stood over the dead body of his son and put his cheek against his, saying, 'After you there is nothing left in the world .... What has made them so bold against God to commit sacrilege against the Apostle?'

The action of putting one's cheek against the grave is an expression of the emotions of love, sadness and devotion. The pilgrim finishes the prayer of his ziyara by praying to God that He forgives him his sins and frees him from the punishment of Hell-fire.

3. The ziyara of the Martyrs of Karbala'

i

The martyrs of the revolution of al-Husayn at Karbala' have a very strong presence in popular consciousness. Their hearts encompass the emotions of love, wonder and sanctity which arise out of their attitude and devotion at Karbala. [46]

The scope for any discussion of these pious men, may God be pleased with them, is broad and extensive. Their lives, which they directed towards their struggle is full of lessons and morals for every generation which aspires to take any part in the noble search for peaceful social change.

It is not one of the purposes of this brief section to include studies of their numbers, accounts of all their lives and details of the participation of each of them at Karbala '. We have devoted a book to these studies, as already indicated. [47] We only intend here to show their existence and presence in popular consciousness as reflected in the prayers of ziyara in which they are addressed by the pilgrim as has been reported from the Imams of the Holy Family, together with an indication of their existence in popular consciousness as reflected in poetry and the rites of remembrance.

* * *

The martyrs of the revolution of al-Husayn expressed their high degree of awareness in the revolution until the end which they knew would be martyrdom. They refused to take advantage of al-Husayn's offer to them that they should leave him and that each one should try to save his own life. This was when he gathered them together on the evening of 10th Muharram and spoke to them.

Among the things he said to them was: '. . . Indeed I think that tomorrow will be the day when we meet these enemies. I have already given you permission to go. Therefore you are all released s you in darkness. Take advantage of it to ride away. Let each of you take the hand of a member of my Holy Family. Then God give you all a good reward. Scatter to your lands and towns. These people are not pursuing you. If they could strike me down, they would not bother to pursue anyone else.'

Muslim ibn 'Awsaja spoke: 'Are we to leave you? How would we excuse ourselves to God for not carrying out our duty towards you? By god, I will not leave you until I lunge my spear into their breast, until I strike them with my sword for as long as its hilt remains in my hand. If I no longer have any weapon to fight with, I will hurl stones against them until I die with you.'

Then Sa'id ibn 'Abd Allah al-Hanafi spoke: 'We will not leave you so that God may know that we have remained loyal to the absent Apostle of God through you. By God, if I knew that I would be killed, then brought back to live, then burnt alive, then scattered in the wind, and that was done to me seventy times, I would not leave you until I meet my death in defence of you. How, then, could I not do so when death only comes once. It will be an honour which will have no end.'

Zuhayr ibn al-Qayn, next, spoke: 'By god, I want to be killed, then brought back again so that I may be killed in that way a thousand times. Indeed God, the Mighty and High, will guard my soul and the soul of these young men from the Holy Family through that death.' [48]

The rest of his followers spoke similar sentiments.

* * *

In the same way they refused to let any of the Holy Family go into battle before them. They went forward towards the Umayyad army until they were all killed.

Al-Husayn spoke words of praise when they were killed, some of which have been preserved by the narrators. These words express his esteem and love for them. An example are the words he spoke over the dead body of Muslim ibn 'Awsaja: 'May God have mercy on you, O Ibn 'Awsaja. There are men who meet the death and there are men who wait but have not changed their mind.' [49] He addressed al-Hurr when he had been killed: 'You are a free man (hurr), al-Hurr just like your mother named you. You are free in this world and in the Hereafter.' To the corpse of Zuhayr ibn al- Qayn, he said: 'God will not destroy you, Zuhayr. May He curse your killers and may He curse those who turned themselves into baboons and pigs.'

Al-Husayn had said of them: '. . . I do not know of followers more faithful than my followers, nor a family more pious and generous than my family.' [50]

ii

Lamentation poetry also alludes to the followers of al-Husayn, commending them and praising their attitude and devotion. Only a few of the names of the martyrs are mentioned in lamentation poetry, and then it is some of the famous among them who are mentioned, men like al-Hurr ibn Yazid al-Riyahi, Muslim ibn 'Awsaja and Zuhayr ibn al-Qayn. However, we have not come across any poetry which has been specially composed about them.

The same is the case with regard to the rites of remembrance. The rites of rememberance for al-Husayn do mention them when the appropriate subject requires it. Sometimes some of the famous ones among them are mentioned by name when the subject requires the reporting of an incident in which one of them was involved. Lamentation poetry and the rites of remembrances are only incidentally concerned with them, and it does not happen that they are made an independent topic, by itself, in lamentation poetry and the rites of remembrance. As we have observed in our book, Ansar al-Husayn (the Supporters of al-Husayn), [51] they have not been given the attention which they deserve by narrators, researchers and authors. There we commented: 'Perhaps the glorious radiance, which emanates from the personality of Imam al-Husayn, and the great shadow, which this great personality leaves on the spirit of the researcher, has been responsible to some extent for the neglect of historians and Traditionists in providing us with the basic material for a better study.' [52]

Here we might add that perhaps it may be the glorious radiance, which emanates from the personality of Imam al-Husayn, and the great shadow, which this great personality leaves on the spirit of the poet and the preacher at rites of remembrance, has been responsible for the deficiency which has occurred with regard to these martyrs in the poetry of lamentation for al-Husayn and the rites of remembrance for al-Husayn. We consider that the poets of lament would find a rich spring of images, emotions and feelings as well as struggles full of human ideals in the lives of these martyrs. In the same way the preachers at the rites of remembrance would find, in their lives, material of great value for education and direction which would make the rites of remembrance richer and more engrossing.

It would seem that there would be the possibility, at the end of the second stage of the rites of remembrance for al-Husayn, of making the followers of al-Husayn an independent topic in the rites of remembrance for al-Husayn. We already find the first beginnings of this tendency from al-Shaykh Fakhr al-Din in his book, al-Muntakhab, in a number of the accounts of gatherings (majalis) in that book. [53] Yet it still seems to be a tendency which has not established any permanence.

We have drawn attention to this problem so that it may be given the regard which it deserves from all those who are concerned in reciting poetry for al-Husayn and in the rites of remembrance so that they should develop in the best and most beneficial way, both in form and content. We will return to dealing with this problem in the chapter about the rites of remembrance for al-Husayn.

iii

Although the martyrs of Karbala ' have been deprived of their right to be honoured and extolled in the poetry of lament for al-Husayn and in the rites of remembrance for al-Husayn, although the Shi'ite individual has been deprived of deriving full benefit from their lives in those two fields, the matter is different in the ziyara, insofar as none of the pilgrimages to al-Husayn, whether of a general or particular nature, is likely to be without a prayer of ziyara to them, which will be full of expressions of honour and love, drawing attention to their role in the service of Islam by their struggle and self-sacrifice.

The following is one of the prayers of a ziyara which has been reported about them.

Peace be with you, o men associated with God. You are our predecessors and fore-runners, and we are your followers and supporters. I testify that you are the supporters of God, as God has said in His Book: How many a prophet has fought, with whom were men worshippers of the Lord and they were not weak because of what they had been struck by for the sake of God and they were not humiliated. [54] You have not been feeble, you have not been weak and you did not surrender until you met God on the path of truth and in support of the complete words of God. May God bless your souls and your bodies and grant them peace.

In the form of the call for peace, the prayer of the ziyara, attention is drawn to the quality of rabbaniyya. This word means 'a relationship with the God at a high level' which makes the life of a man who worships the Lord (rabbani) an act which is dedicated to God insofar as personal desires are united with responsibilities imposed by the Divinely inspired way of life and morality. There can be nothing opposed to these responsibilities. Thus the quality in man of being associated with God entails 'loving through God and hating through God'.

Then the pilgrim expresses the idea that is associated with them, has embraced underlying principle and is following their path. He considers himself to be their follower and supporter, and he regards them as predecessors and fore-runners. There is one continuous path, a single path joined by links. They are an earlier link in it and the pilgrim is a link following them along this path. In this way the pilgrim expresses his commitment in principle to the revolution of al-Husayn.

The pilgrim goes on to testify that they are defiant, strong and noble supporters of God. They are like the devoted supporters of prophets, who fight with their supporters in the cause of God.

Rejoice at the promise of God, which will not be altered, for God does not alter His promises. God will attain the vengeance for you which He promised you. You are masters of the martyrs in this world and the Hereafter. You are the one who went first, the emigrants (muhajirin) and the supporters (ansar).

I testify that you fought for the sake of God. You were killed fighting for the policies of the Apostle of God and the son of the Apostle of God. Praise be to God, Who has kept Faithful to His promise to you and shown you what you love. [55]

In this passage of the pilgrim's prayer of the ziyara, he expresses this deep-rooted hope that the lofty aims, for the sake of which the supporters of al-Husayn fought, will be achieved because that is God's promise and He does not alter His promise. For this reason, the pilgrim does not despair because the followers of al-Husayn were martyred without achieving their aims during their lives.

After this, the pilgrim describes them with Qur'anic expressions which were revealed concerning a select band of believers. They are those who went first to the faith, they were emigrants to God and they were supporters of the religion of God.

They were those who went first in terms of all the bravery involved in the quality of being first. It is a bravery which enables the one who has such a quality to go beyond the stagnant imitative attitudes of the people of his time and to realise his dreams of the future in a movement of defiance which has taken over his life. It does, however, provide an ideal model and example for future generations. Thereby great honour is achieved. In this respect, the followers of al-Husayn are those who went first, who went beyond the attitudes of their generation and the cowardly norms of their society in a movement of defiance in which they have cut a path for future generations.

They were the emigrants (muhajirin) in terms of all that the emigration (hijra) implies of leaving the usual, the familiar, the comfortable and the guaranteed for the unusual, hardship and danger for the sake of others, not for the sake of themselves. Emigration (hijra) goes beyond the self to others for the sake of God.

They were supporters (ansar) in terms of all that support implies of altruism, cooperation and enduring dangers for the sake of God.

The pilgrim brings this part of the prayer of ziyara to an end and giving testimony which springs from these qualities: they fought for the sake of God and they were killed defending the policies of the Apostle of God and Imam al-Husayn.

Texts have been reported from the Imams of the Holy Family about the words of farewell to the martyrs when the pilgrim finishes his pilgrimage to al-Husayn. Among them is the following.

O God, do not make this my last pilgrimage to them. Rather make me close to them and bring me into the righteousness which you gave to them through their support for the son of Your Prophet and Your proof (hujja) to Your creatures and through their struggle alongside him for Your sake.

O God, unite us and them in Your Paradise with the righteous men, and may they be good companions.

I commend you to God's protection and I recite my prayer for peace to be with you. O God, grant me the chance of coming to them again. Gather me with them on the Last day, O Most Merciful of those who are merciful. [56]

These words of farewell throb with hope of what may come from God, with love for the martyrs and with the wish for God to allow the pilgrim to express his close ties of love by coming again to

these martyrs, may God be pleased with them all.

References:

[1] The following passage is taken from al-Sayyid Muhsin al-Amin's Kashf al-Irtiyab fi A tba' Muhammad b. 'Abd al- Wahab (p. 471 ) citing al-Samhudi, Wafa ' al-Wafa ' bi Akhbar Dar a/-Mustafa, II 411-415.

[2] Ibn Maja. Sunan. vol. L, 235.

[3]. Muslim, Sahih on the margin of Irshad al-Sari, IV, 225.

[4]. Ibid.; Ibn Maja, op. Cit., 245; al-Nasa 'i, vol. L, 286.

[5]. Al-Samhudi, op. Cit., II, 112.

[6]. Ibid, II, 410.

[7]. Al-Sayyid Muhsin al-Amin, Kashf al-Irtiyab &ldots; op. Cit. Devotes chapter XVII, pp. 459 483 to the ziyara to tombs. In this chapter there is a comprehensive study of the problem of ziyara in all its aspects. We have relied upon it for all that we have presented above. The significance of the statement by Abu Bakr is that Ziyad claimed to be the son of Abu Sufyan but this had no basis for legitimacy because he was born as the result of an unlawful relationship between Abu Sufyan and Sumayya, his mother, whereas Umm Habiba, a mother of the faithful, was a legitimate daughter of Abu Sufyan. If Ziyad made the ziyara to the tomb of the Apostle in Medina, he ought to visit Umm Habiba as he claimed that she was his sister. She was not, however, his sister because, as we have just mentioned, he was not a legitimate son of Abu Sufyan. If she had met him because of his claim that she was his sister, that would have been a betrayal of the Apostle of God. If she had refused to meet him, that would have been a humiliation for him and a denial of his claim to be the son of Abu Sufyan.

[8]. Ibn Qawlawayh al-Qummi, Kamil al-ziyara (Najaf, 1356 A.H.) 177-178.

[9]. Ibid., 197.

[10]. Ibid, 233.

[11]. Ibid, 240.

[12]. Ibid., 138-141,146.

[13]. Al-Kulayni, Rawdat al-Kafi, (Tehran, 1389 A.H.), 255.

[14]. Ibn Qawlawayh, op cit., 121.

[15]. Ibid, 125.

[16]. Ibid., 115-118.

[17]. Ibid., 12s-6.

[18]. Ibid, 1334.

[19]. Ibid , 1 35.

[20]. Ibid, 138.

[21]. Ibid., 122.

[22]. 'This matter' (amr) is a term which occurs frequently in reports and Traditions from the Imams of the Holy Family; it also occurs in the questions of their followers. It means 'Shi'ism'. A person who knows 'this matter' is a Shi'ite, and someone who does not know 'this matter' is a non-Shi'ite. Perhaps this expression to indicate Shi'ism was used in conversations because of the atmosphere of caution which prevailed among the Shi'a as a result of the state's hostile attitude to them.

[23]. Ibn Qawlawayh, op. Cit., 140.

[24]. Ibid, 3254.

[25]. Ibid, 13}5.

[26]. Ibid, 154,163.

[27]. Ibid., 176.

[28]. Ibid, 202.

[29]. Ibid, 127.

[30]. Ibid, 126.

[31]. Ibid, 111-2.

[32]. Ibid, 125.

[33]. Abu al-Faraj al-Isfahani, Maqatil al-Talibiyyin, 579-9. Ibn Khallikan has also reponed: When al-Mutawakkil destroyed the tomb of al-Husayn in the year 226, al-Bisaml recited: 'By God, if it was the Umayyads who wrongfully killed the son of the daughter of their Prophet, his cousins have come against him in the same way. By my life, here is his tomb destroyed. They regretted that they had not participated in killing him. So they pursued him as a corpse.' Al-Tusi has reported in al-Amali (p. 209) from-Abd Allah ibn Daniyya al-Turi, who said: I made the pilgrimage (hajj) in the year 247 A.H. When I came from pilgrimage (ha.ul and went to Iraq, I made a ziyara to the tomb of'Ali b. Abi Talib in a state of fear because of the authorities. Then I went to make a ziyara to the tomb of al-Husayn. Its ground had been ploughed up, water had been poured over it, and oxen and men sent to work on it. With my own eyes, I saw oxen being driven over the ground. They were driven over it until they came to the tomb where they turned to the right and left of it. Even though they were beaten fiercely with sticks, it did not make them tread directly on the grave. It was impossible for me tomake a ziyara. Therefore I headed for Damascus while reciting: By god, the Umayyads came against .... Cf. Adab al-Taff, (Beirut, 1969) 327.

[34]. Al-Tabari, op cit., IX, 185.

[35]. I'lam al-Wara, 421; al-Tusi, al-Ghayba, 172. It appears that in this period of the'Abbasid dynasty the terrorisation had become so much greater than what it had been in the beginning of theeAbbasid government and in the Umayyad period that the Imam was impelled to order a temporary halt to be made in the movement of the Shi'a to make the ziyaira. This situation had not ccurred in the time of Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq from which the majority of the reports about making the ziyara in a state of fear come. In some of these he directs the Shi'a not to give any consideration to fear as an excuse for not making the ziyara. For example, his words to Mu' awiya ibn Wahb: 'Do not abandon the ziyara of the tomb of al-Husayn because of fear .... Ibn Qawlawayh, op. Cit, 126.

[36]. Originally al-Ha'ir meant 'flat ground in which water flowed around', in the sense that there was no way for it to flow out. In the Traditions of the Holy Family, it is a name for the area surrounding the tomb of al-Husayn. It is a subject of dispute with regard to the definition among the Jurists because of it being a place for the application of the religious law which give a traveller the choice of shortening the salat and completing it in the Ha'ir. Ibn Idris al-Hilli holds the view that it is the area which runs around the wall of the shrine and the mosque there. According to some, it is the whole of the courtyard surrounding the shrine and the mosque. Others maintain that it is the area which the dome erected over the grave shelters. Yet others state that it is the enclosure of the sacred garden and the sacred building which surround it including the portico, site of the martyrdom, the enclosure and other buildings. According to al-Majlisi, the author of Bihar al-Anwar, the obvious definition is the whole of the ancient courtyard, not the area defined in the Safavid dynasty. Al-Sayyid al-Hakim regards that the restriction to the most certain extent of the meaning of Ha'ir and sacred enclave (haram) is the area which is close to the sacred mausoleum. (Cf. Mustamsak, VIII, 718.) It appears that naming the tomb together with the area around it as al-Ha'ir developed after al-Mutawakkil's destruction of the tomb.

[37]. Qur'an LVII, 61; Ibn Qawlawayh, op. Cit., 75.

[38]. Ibid

[39]. Ibid., 19-7.

[40]. Ibid., 206 7.

[41]. Cf. My book, Bayn al-Jahiliyya wa-al-Islam (Beirut. 1975), the chapter on morals (al-akhlaq).

[42]. Cf. My book, Ansar al Husayn, op. Cit., 165-70, where there is a study of 'the people of awareness'.

[43]. Ibn Qawlawayh, op. Cit., 256-7

[44]. There is some confusion over this 'Ali al-Akbar. According to Shaykh al-Mufid, he is 'Ali Zayn al-'Abidin, while, according to Shaykh Shams al-Dm, he is the'Ali who was murdered at Karbala'. Nonethless, it still seems incorrect to attribute this conversation with Imam al-Husayn to him, for it actually took place between Imam al-Husayn and 'Ali Zayn al-'Abidin. (tr.)

[45]. Ibid., 139-140.

[46]. We have published a book about them which we mentioned earlier in this book. Ansar al Husayn Dirasa an Shuhada Thawrat al Husayn: al Rijal wa al Dalala

(Beirut, 1975).

[47]. Cf. note 45 above.

[48]. Al-Tabari, op. Cit., V, 419ff; al-Ya'qubi, op. Cit., II, 231; al-Khawarizmi op. Cit., I, 247.

[49]. Al-Tabari, op. Cit., V, 435. The allusion is to Qur 'an, XXXIII, 23.

[50]. Al-Shaykh al-Mufid, al Irshad, op. Cit., 231.

[51]. Cf. Ansar al- ,Husayn, op. Cit.

[52]. Ibid, 11

[53]. Al-Tanrihi, al-Muntakhab, 36, 76, 100, 415.

[54]. Qur 'an, III, 146.

[55]. Ibn Qawlawayh, op. Cit., 204.

[56]. Ibid, 209

Chapter 3

Lamentation Poetry

Table of Contents

The Doctrinal Background to the Literature of Lamentation Poetry for al-Husayn as a Manifestation of the Revolution of al-Husayn in Popular Consciousness

The Hostile Attitude of the Authorities

The Poetic Content and Man's Psychological Disposition

The Umayyad Period

 The Early Abbasid Period

The Later Abbasid Period

TheThemes of the Poetry of Lamentation for al-Husayn

Human Grief

Nature's Grief

The Grief of the Angels and the Jinn

The Virtues of the Holy Family

Their Personal Virtues

Their Religious Virtues

Their Family Background as Direct Descendants of the Apostle of God

The Human Enemies of the Revolution

The Muslims

The Kufans and the Iraqis

The Umayyads

Other Men and Women

The Women of the Holy Family

The Children of the Holy Family

The Story of the Battle

Water and Thirst

Karbala'

The Humiliation of Quraysh and the Humiliation of Islam and the Muslims

The Meeting with the Apostle of God and the Holy Family

The Martyrs

The Hardship the Poets Faced because of their Allegations

Support with the Tongue

The Value of the Poetry about al-Husayn

The First Reason

The Second Reason

The Third Reason: The Profusion of Verses of Lament for al-Husayn

Lamentation Poetry

The effects of the revolution of al-Husayn began to appear through the poetry of lamentation for the martyrs of the revolution and in the poetry of regret and repentance by those who had stayed away from giving support to the revolution or had actually participated in fighting against it.

The relative paucity of such poetic references in the first period after the revolution is due to the fear of persecution by the Umayyads who launched a wide-scale campaign to keep the effects of the revolution within narrow confines. This was after they discovered the danger from the reactions which the revolution had unleashed.

The outbreak of the rebellion in the Hijaz against the Umayyad regime, its extension to Iraq and elsewhere, and the outburst of acts of vengeance against the Umayyads and their supporters, at the end of the Umayyad era and the beginning of the 'Abbasid state, released a flood of poetry of lamentation for the revolutionaries of Karbala', which has continued to pour out right up to the present time.

* * *

One of the richest fields of Arabic poetry is the poetry of lamentation when we observe the vast amount of poetry composed in lament for al-Husayn, in particular and for the revolution of al-Husayn at Karbala', in general. It is clear that the poetry composed in lament for al-Husayn and his followers and the event of Karbala ', generally, is much greater and more natural than that on any other single subject. This is not confined to classical Arabic, for the colloquials of Iraq and the Gulf possess a vast inheritance of this lamentation poetry about al-Husayn and his revolution.

Persian poetry about this event is like Arabic literature but, perhaps, there is even more of it, for it contains very many works of lamentation and praise for al-Husayn and his revolution in a variety of styles.

Indeed Shi'ite Muslims have composed poetic works on this subject in any language they speak-Arabic, Persian, Turkish, Urdu and others. These works are vaster than their compositions in other fields. [1] The phenomenon of poetry of lament for al-Husayn in Shi'ite literature did not only arise as a result of the tragedy of al-Husayn having an emotional appeal. In addition to that it also had a religious aim which was to preserve for ever in poetry an act of piety.

In what follows, we will study this phenomenon from several aspects.

I. THE DOCTRINAL BACKGROUND TO THE LITERATURE OF LAMENTATION FOR AL-HUSAYN AS A MANIFESTATION OF THE REVOLUTION OF AL-HUSAYN IN POPULAR CONSCIOUSNESS

It is reported that Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq said: 'No poet recites a line of poetry about us without the support of the Holy Spirit.' [2]

He also said:

'God has built a house (bayt) in Heaven for whoever recites a line (bayt) of poetry about us.'

Abu Harun al-Makfuf reported: Abu 'Abd Allah (i.e. Imam Jafar al-Sadiq) said to me,

'Abu Harun recite to me about al-Husayn.' [3]

I recited and he wept. Then he said,

'Recite as you were reciting.'

He meant with emotion. [4]

So I recited:

Pass the grave of al-Husayn and speak of his great purity.

'He wept and then asked me to give him more. I recited another ode. He wept and I heard weeping behind the curtain. When I had finished, he said to me: 'Abu Harun, whoever recites poetry about al-Husayn and weeps making ten others weep, Heaven is decreed for him. Whoever recites poetry about al-Husayn and he weeps and he makes one other weep, Heaven is decreed for them both....' [5]

Abu 'Umara al-Munshid reported that Imam Jafar al-Sadiq asked him,

'Recite to me the verses of al-'Abdi about al-Husayn.'

He recited to him and he wept. Then he recited to him and he wept. Then he recited to him and he wept. By god, he continued to recite to him with weeping until he heard weeping from the house. He said:

'Abu 'Umara, whoever recites poetry about al-Husayn and makes fifty others weep, will have Heaven as a reward. Whoever recites poetry about al-Husayn and makes forty others weep will have Heaven as a reward. Whoever recites poetry about al-Husayn and makes thirty others weep will have Heaven as a reward … [6]

Al-Harith al-A'war reported that 'Ali said:

'By my father and my mother, al-Husayn will be killed on the outskirts of Kufa. By God, it is as if I am looking at wild animals of all kinds stretching their necks towards his grave weeping and lamenting for him throughout the night until morning. If that is the case, beware of being estranged from him.' [7]

Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq told Sufyan ibn Mus'ab to recite to him about al-Husayn. He told Umm Farwa and his family to come near. When they were present Sufyan recited.

Umm Farwa, weep much with flowing tears . . .

Umm Farwa shrieked with grief and the women shrieked. Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq called for the door to be shut while people of Medina were gathering outside. He sent a message out to explain to them that a boy had fainted and that was the reason for the women screaming. [8]

The Imams of the Holy Family honoured the poets who composed this kind of poetry in lamentation and praise of the Holy Family and of al-Husayn, in particular.

An example of that is the words of Imam Muhammad al-Baqir to al-Kumayt ibn Zayd al-Asadi when the latter had recited an ode to him about his love for the Hashimites as the noblest of men. Imam al-Baqir said, 'You will continue to be supported by the Holy Spirit as long as you defend us, the members of the Holy Family.' [9]

During the days of tashriq immediately after the great pilgrimage (hajj), al-Kumayt asked for permission to visit Imam al-Sadiq and wanted to recite an ode to him. It troubled the Imam that they should be reminding themselves of poetry during the great days of the pilgrimage. However, when al-Kumayt said that it was about the Holy Family, the Imam was satisfied. He called some of his family and brought them near. Then al-Kumayt began to recite and the tears flowed. When he reached the words about the archers firing on al-Husayn, Imam al-Sadiq raised his hands and said, 'O God, forgive al-Kumayt for his past and future offenses, whether secret or public, and give him what will please him.'

The poetry which the Sh'ia recite in lamentation for al-Husayn and the Holy Family is not, in the majority of cases, poetry for special occasions. Rather it is an activity which emotion and religion brings forth.

Emotion brings it forth through the close relationship between the Shi'ite individual and his Imam who led a revolution and was wickedly oppressed.

Religion brings it forth as represented in some of the texts which we mentioned which urge the recitation of poetry about the Holy Family and which awaken a desire for it. It is also represented in the personal attitudes which the Imams of the Holy Family adopted towards the poets who wrote about al-Husayn. We have already dealt with some of this earlier.

For this reason and that, the composing and recitation of poetry became a religious act which entered into the glorification of the rites of God. Al-Husayn had not striven for personal glory through his revolution. He had undertaken it to serve the people on the basis of the guidance of Islam. Therefore, to make the revolution live on in his person and to spread its slogans and influence in society through poetry and other things is an act of piety. Whoever exalts the rites of God that will come from the piety of the heart. [10]

The poets themselves have expressed this religious vision of their poetic works in lamentation of al-Husayn as a result of the direction of the Imams of the Holy Family. Among the earliest poetic texts which reflect the religious vision of the poetry of lament for al-Husayn are the words of Abu al-Aswad al-Du 'ah Zalim ibn 'Amr (d. 69 at the age of 85) in his ode in which he laments al-Husayn and those of the Hashimites who were killed with him. There he wishes that he could have been a shield to protect them and thereby he would have gained eternal reward from God. [11]

Another example is the words of Abu Muhammad Sufyan ibn Mus' ab al-'Abdl al-Kufi (d.c. 120 in Kufa) from his ode about the Holy Family. He addresses 'Ali as a leader who drove armies away from the rich soil. The poet, himself, tells how he has fought for 'Ali with ideas and words, using poetry and orations as weapons. If 'Ali is pleased with him, he does not care about any who are displeased with him. All he wants is to be accepted as his companion through love of him and piety. With such friends his soul will find comfort from fatigue. [12]

Al-Kumayt ibn Zayd al-Asadi (d. 126) spoke to Imam al-Baqir after reciting one of his odes to him and the Imam offered him money which he would not accept, 'By God, I have not said anything about you for which I want to be given a worldly reward. I will not accept anything as compensation for it because it belongs to God and His Apostle.'

Then the Imam replied:

'You will have what the Apostle of God mentioned: You will continue to be supported by the Holy Spirit as long as you defend us, the members of the Holy Family.'

Al-Kumayt said in his Hashimiyyat that it was through the love of the Holy Family that he approached God when he was in distress.

Another example of that kind is the verses of al-Sayyidal-Himyan, Isma'il ibn Muhammad (d. 183 or 187 in Baghdad). He declares that he has made the family of the Apostle a means by which he hoped to attain salvation from destruction. How could he be blamed for loving those whom he had made the method for him to attain Heaven?

Muhammad ibn Idris al-Shafi'i, the founder of the school of law, (d. 204 in Egypt) composed an ode in lament for al-Husayn. In it, he said that, if he had committed a fault in loving the family of Muhammad, it was a fault from which he would not repent, for they would be his intercessors on the Day of Resurrection when important decisions were made plain to the onlookers.

Di'bil al-Khuza'i (d. 246) asked in one of his famous poem show a man could blame the family of the Prophet, for they were always his beloved friends and the family of his trust. He had chosen them to be good to himself because they were the best of the best men. He called on God to increase his love for them and to increase their love for his good deeds. He sought Paradise from God through love of them.

* * *

With these examples, we have given sufficient evidence of the religious background of the poetry of lamentation for al-Husayn. A researcher would find manifestations of this religious background in the poets of lamentation for al-Husayn in all periods from the first century of the hijra until today. We will observe that the religious background of the poetry of lamentation for al-Husayn is at its strongest in the late periods.

II. THE HOSTILE ATTITUDE OF THE AUTHORITIES

We have seen how the Imams of the Holy Family explained the high rank with God and the promised reward in Heaven for those who composed poetry of lamentation for al-Husayn and the Holy Family. We have also seen how they used to honour their poets, call upon them and shower them with love and concern. Further, we have seen how this attitude gave this poetry of lamentation a religious incentive alongside its emotional incentive. These two factors made the poets of the Sh'ia and others increase and diversify this quality in their poetry.

Here we must be mindful of an extremely important matter connected with the great reward from God reported by the Holy Family-some of which has already been mentioned-for those who compose or recite any poetry about the Holy Family. The modern reader may be surprised and ask himself whether such a simple action deserves the great rewards which are reported in the texts from the Imams of the Holy Family.

In answer we would say that this high rank, which the poet or the reciter of poetry about al-Husayn receives, is not absolute. It arises out of the nature of the conditions which prevailed at that time. Poetry in praise or lamentation of the Imams of the Holy Family and especially of al-Husayn, speaking about the injustice done to them and denouncing their oppressors . . . All this encompassed a political attitude which rejected the existing authority. It also meant a political attitude which supported the Holy Family and their political and legislative program. As literary history demonstrates, the poets were constantly under observation by the political authorities of the time. For a poet or writer to reveal his support for the Imams of the Holy Family through poetry or a book was liable to lead to his death at the hands of the men in power, or to expulsion and banishment, or to imprisonment and seizure. This was due to the fact that in the past an attitude expressed in poetry did not merely mean an intellectual and emotional attitude; it also meant a political attitude.

It then becomes clear that work of this size and importance appropriately provides its author with the high status which the text reported concerning this matter speak of and entitles him to great honour and praise from the Imams of the Holy Family.

In the rest of this section, we will see a picture of the hostile attitude of the authorities which violently punished every poet who answered the call of the Holy Family. When the composition and recitation of poetry and the writing and publishing of books about the Holy Family, and especially about al-Husayn, became a cultural activity, which did not expose the author to any danger or cause him any hardship from the authorities, it was still a noble and blessed activity and the author was still sure of a reward from God. However, it certainly did not attain the level of merit and nobility of the heroic poets who sang of the revolution and tragedy of the Holy Family in those harsh circumstances; for by that they exposed themselves, their families and their children to the most terrible dangers. Through their poetry, they attained their absolute commitment to the cause of the individual Muslim to the extent that the circumstance and means allowed them at that time. In what follows we will give a picture of the suffering of these men who were entitled, as the heroes they were, to praise and honour.

Throughout the different political epochs, during the Umayyad period, then the 'Abbasid period and what followed it, the ruling authorities realized the danger of this kind of poetry. It enflamed religious zeal and strengthened the doctrinal and emotional relationship with the opposition; it raised doubts about the legitimacy of the existing government. As a result of this realization, the authorities persecuted the poets of the Holy Family. Because of this the poetry of lamentation used to circulate secretly among the Shi'a; and the poets would keep it hidden from the authorities and be anxious that they should not get to know of any of this poetry, for if they knew of any of it, they would pursue them.

Here we refer to the reply of Imam Jafar al-Sadiq to the people of Medina who came to inquire after hearing the sound of weeping. He kept the real reason hidden from them and told them that a boy in the house had fainted. In all probability Imam al-Sadiq's behaviour was as a result of his desire to keep Sufyan ibn Mus'ab's reputation as the author of the ode unknown and to protect him from the oppression of the authorities.

Abu al-Faraj al-Isfahani has reported: 'A group of later poets, whom I will not mention here as I do not want to be unduly long, all composed poems of lamentation for al-Husayn ibn 'Ali. None of the poems of lamentation of the poets of the earlier period have come to us. These poets did not make that public out of fear of the Umayyads. ' [13]

This quotation demonstrates that composing poetry of lament for al-Husayn was a prohibited activity which was punished. Later there was some relaxation. We should not forget that Abu al-Faraj al-Isfahani wrote his book, Maqatil al-Talibiyyin, during the Buwayhid period, after the 'Abbasids had become weak and the Sh'ia had gained some ability to express their beliefs publicly.

Ibn al-Athir reported in his history the ode of A'sha Hamdan in which he lamented the Penitents (Tawwabun). He described howt hey marched in a state which sought piety and which was repentant for what had happened to al-Husayn through their desertion of him. Then they met the army who came against them at the Battle of'Ayn al-Warda and fought with sharp swords. Then Ibn al-Athlr added concerning the poem: 'It was one of the things which was kept hidden at that time.' [14]

In the Dictionary of Poets (Mu'jam al-Shu'ara) of al-Marzubani, it is reported that 'Awf ibn 'AbdAllah al-Azdi wrote a long ode in which he lamented al-Husayn. 'This poem of lamentation was kept hidden during the time of the 'Abbasids and only emerged after that.'

It included a derogatory verse about Mu'awiya.

Al-Kumayt ibn Zayd al-Asadi was almost killed when Hisham Ibn 'Abd al-Malik heard his poems called the Hashimiyyat. He only escaped death through a trick by which he was able to flee from prison.

He has explained in his poetry the hostility and censure he faced as a result of the attitude which he expressed publicly in his poetry. He said that he hated the Umayyads and was hated by them. While he found fault with them, they blamed him. The ignorant members of his tribe blamed him for loving the Holy Family but not to love such noble people was shameful and disastrous. His relatives hated him for loving the Holy Family and those who were not so close as his relatives gave him troubles so that he suffered. People pointed at him and hoped that he would fail but they, in fact, were the ones who were failing. Some even called him an unbeliever for loving the Holy Family, while others accused him of sinfulness for doing it. As a result of loving the family of Muhammad, he was in constant fear wherever he went. He asked what his crime was and his conduct that he should be treated in such a way.

* * *

When Harun al-Rashid heard of the ode of Mansur al-Numayri in lament for al-Husayn and praise of the Holy Family, he became very angry and ordered Abu 'Isma, one of his generals, to go immediately to al-Raqqa. He ordered him to apprehend Mansur al-Numayn, cut his tongue out, kill him and send his head to him. When Abu 'Isma arrived at the gates of al-Raqqa, he saw the funeral cortege of al-Numayn coming out of it. He went back to al-Rashid and told him of al-Numayn s death. Al-Rashid re- marked: 'If I had found him dead, I would have burnt him in the fire.'

Di'bil al-Khuza'i explained his fear in one of his famous poems. He says that he hid his love for the Holy Family because of the obstinate opposition to the people of truth. Although he was frightened in this life with its struggles, he hoped for safety after death.

* * *

In the literature of lamentation for al-Husayn, there has arisen an element known as the poetry of the Jinn in lamentation for al-Husayn.

In his book, Kamil al-Ziyara, Ibn Qawlawayh al-Qummi devoted a chapter to this subject which he entitled: 'The Wailing of the Jinn for al-Husayn ibn 'Ali. In it, he gives examples of this poetry. These are characterized by being short utterances which are usually weak and trivial. Many of them have been attributed to historical figures, like the well-known rajaz verse of al-Tirimmah al-Ta'i.

O my Camel, do not fear my urging . . . Etc. In much the same manner there have been other verses attributed to Jinn in many of the books of history and literature. It seems to us that most of this poetry is by unknown human poets who wanted to spread propaganda on behalf of the revolution and who wanted to take part in one of the cherished acts of piety without endangering themselves and exposing themselves to the punishment of the authorities. Therefore they composed these verses and attributed them to the Jinn. Perhaps some of this poetry was the work of the women who used to devote themselves to exclamations of grief at the women's rites of remembrance for al-Husayn, they might have wanted to create wonder and amazement by attributing their exclamations of grief to creatures who were not human. This would fit in with the popular mentality which craves for such things.

Whatever the case may be, this phenomenon clearly indicates the atmosphere of fear and caution which prevailed in literary circles and among the ordinary people when they approached the subject of composing or reciting laments for al-Husayn and the Holy Family.

However, this hostile attitude, which successive governments adopted towards the subject of lamentation for al-Husayn, did not affect the growth of such poetry. It may even have increased its growth and fervour. The poets of the Sh'ia began to carry it out in a spirit of self-sacrifice and piety.

The hostile attitude of the authorities towards this lamentation made these authorities become, in popular consciousness, partners in the Umayyad pattern: it made them become, in popular consciousness, participants with the Umayyads in the persecution of al-Husayn.

III. POETIC CONTENT AND MAN S PSYCHOLOGICAL DISPOSITION

The poetry of lamentation for al-Husayn gives a picture of the psychological disposition of the Shi'ite, in particular, and the Muslim, in general.

The poetry of lamentation for al-Husayn is sad without being submissive and defeatist in the face of the cruelty and challenges of the existing situation. That it should be and is something which is generally natural and acceptable in the genre of lamentation poetry. How could it be otherwise, when it springs from a true emotion of love and real anguish in the heart, as is the case in the poetry of lamentation for al-Husayn? How could it be otherwise, when, in addition to the emotional motive, it springs from a religious motive, as is the case in the poetry of lamentation for al-Husayn? However, the poetry of lamentation for al-Husayn is not only this. There is also a spirit of glory and a spirit of vengeance in it. It is full of ideas of power and threatening against those who participated, in one way or another, in the atrocity of Karbala': the Umayyad regime and its supporters. The poet who writes of al-Husayn expresses, in his poetry, his readiness to struggle and sacrifice to gain vengeance against the criminals who committed the crime of killing al-Husayn, his family and his followers at Karbala '.

In the poetry of lamentation for al-Husayn, which has comedown to us from the first and second centuries of the hijra, one will find many examples which are full of these ideas.

In what follows, we will examine some of the examples of the kind of poetry of lamentation for al-Husayn.

1. The Umayyad Period

Among these poets was 'Ubayd Allah ibn al-,Hurr al-Ju'fi. He was one of the outstanding leaders in Kufa and had refused to help al- Husayn when the latter had asked him to. Then he regretted his action and lamented al-Husayn and his followers in a poem in which he shows his grief, his regret and his desire for vengeance. Later he proclaimed his rebellion against the Umayyad regime as represented by ' Ubayd Allah ibn Ziyad. He gathered his followers around him and went to Karbala'. He looked at the places where al-Husayn and those with him had been killed. Then he went on to al-Mada'in. There he recited a poem.

In this poem he blamed himself for his failure to support the son of the daughter of the Prophet, This failure filled him with a grief that would not leave him, He remembered standing at the graves of those who had been killed and prayed to God for them. He described them as heroes and the best and bravest of them. Then he promised vengeance on their behalf. Thus, this poem of lament expresses the profound grief and regret in his heart and gives the threat of vengeance.

'Ubayd Allah ibn al-Hurr al-Ju'fi was killed in 68 after a battle in which he fought against ' Ubayd Allah ibn al-'Abbas al-Sulami, one of the generals of Mus 'ab ibn al-Zubayr in Kufa. Sulayman b. Qatta al-'Adawi al-Taymi composed a poem when he passed Karbala ' three years after al-Husayn had been killed. He described how he passed by the graves of members of Mohammed's family. The sun had become sick and the land had shaken at the killing of al-Husayn, He describes the treachery of the tribes of Qays and Ghani in killing al-Husayn and promises them vengeance to come for the shedding of such blood. The dead body of al-Husayn on the banks of the Euphrates brings shame and disgrace to Muslims. The sky and the stars wept at his death.

In these verses there is a portrayal of real grief and the threat and promise of vengeance. However, the threat is not made specifically at the Umayyad regime but at the tribes of Qays and Gham. Yet we could consider his threat against the tribe of Qays to be a threat against the whole regime in view of the fact that members of the tribe of Qays made up the vast majority of the Umayyad army at Karbala'.

* * *

Abu al-Aswad al-Du'ali, Zalim ibn 'Amr (d. 69) composed a poem in which he described the one who brought news of al-Husayn's death as the conveyor of tidings of the death of religion and piety. He declared that harsh men of Nizar killed the sons of 'Ali on the banks of the Euphrates. He called upon men to follow the truth and defend al-Husayn and his family from the tyrannical hypocrites. They are the best of men in the eyes of God. Men should be guided by them and it is ungrateful to God to reject their guidance.

Although this poem is without fervent emotion, it nonetheless, reinforces the religious idea of the Holy Family and its call for vengeance.

* * *

Al-Fadl ibn al-'Abbas ibn ' Utba ibn Abi Lahab ibn 'Abdal-Muttalib ibn Hashim composed a poem in which he described how he wept for the death of the noblest man. Again he blamed the tribesmen for killing Husayn and his followers. He said that in every tribe there flowed the blood of the family of Hashim. Their life and death belonged to God and God would be the judge of their goodness on the Day of Resurrection. Every life that is lost has a wali who is entitled to vengeance, and the wall for the blood shed at Karbala' was approaching. He was the one who would rise over the murderers and conquer them. When the two parties met before God, the enemies of the Hashimites would see which party belonged to the pure Prophet.

The threat of vengeance in this poem is clearly stated.

* * *

Al-Fadl ibn al-'Abbas b. Rabi'a ibn al-Harith ibn 'Abdal-Muttalib composed a poem in which he gave a broad wide-sweeping picture and showed the ancient struggle which existed from the time of the Apostle of God. He showed the sufferings of the 'Alids from the earliest times: how they were killed and imprisoned; how their rights were ignored and no attention was paid to God's injunction about the Prophet's next of kin. However, the Prophet belonged to the family which the 'Alids belonged to and their enemies would be punished. When they had been summoned to guidance, they turned away from it. They rejoiced that they had killed the believers from the family of Hashim and their supporters. Justice would come to them at the hands of revolutionary tribesmen. Then the poet mentioned some of the supporters of the 'Alids who were killed in the early wars of Islam and those at the battle of Siffin who had died as martyrs fighting for Imam 'Ali, men like Dhu al-Shahadatayn (Khuzayma ibn Thabit) and 'Ammar b. Yasir. He went on to mention other 'Alid supporters who became martyrs when Ziyad was governor of Kufa, men like Rashid al-Hujari and Mitham al-Tammar. Then he turned to revolutionaris who were martyred at Karbala' with al-Husayn, men like Zuhayr and 'Uthman ibn 'Ali. He demanded that these men be restored to life and threatened vengeance against those who had killed them. In particular, he pointed to the possibility of vengeance coming from Yemen where there were men whose fathers had been loyal supporters of religion and Imam 'Ali.

'Awf ibn 'Abd Allah ibn al-Ahmar al-Azdi, one of the Penitents (tawwabun) who revolted against the Umayyads under the leadership of Sulayman b. Surad al-Khuzai's to demand vengeance for al-Husayn, composed a poem of lamentation. It appears that the poem may have been composed during the revolt.

In the poem he called for al-Husayn's death to be proclaimed as the death of the noblest man. It was the poor and needy, the deprived who would weep for al-Husayn. Al-Husayn was an Imam who had every right to complain about many of his followers, for he was exposed to lances and swords and betrayed on the banks of the Euphrates. The poet urged the umma, which has become lost and gone stupidly astray, to return to God. He then declared his intention to fight against Yazid with an army and to test which of the two groups was really more cowardly. The poet called on anyone who wept for al-Husayn whenever the sun rises or darkness falls. He reviled the people who sent for al-Husayn and gave him false promises of support but were not with him at the battle to defend him. He probably included himself among such people, for he goes on to say that he wished now that he had been there. If he had been there, he would have struck out against these hateful enemies and defended al-Husayn with his sword for as long as he was able to.

* * *

The poet, Abu Dihbil Wahb ibn Zam'a al-Jumahi was a contemporary of Mu'awiya ibn Abi Sufiyan and his son, Yazid. He used to compose poetry of lamentation for al-Husayn and defamatory poems against the Umayyads so that he had to avoid people. He lived in the first century of the hijra. [l5]

In one of his poems, he gave a picture of his passionate concern for the dead heroes at Karbala. The nobility and integrity of those who were killed there is contrasted with the sinful extravagance of the Umayyads, with their drinking and their humiliation of chaste women. The poet saw that Islam had been corrupted and was wandering blindly in the darkness with nobody to lead it as a sinful man was in control of affairs and was incapable of putting anything right. This corruption of Islam had been caused by those who had killed al-Husayn. These men, namely the Umayyads, had turned away from good in order to preserve their transitory power. The poet then gave another pitiful picture of the events at Karbala' where a child was killed by arrows and children were left orphaned with no one to console them. He, then promised that he would always remember events and weep over them. Finally he promised to fight against the Umayyads and either die or defeat them.

In this ode, we find an awareness of the real situation in the Umayyad regime: luxury and oppression, deviation from Islam in accordance with passion for government and domination. There is also a sincere grief and a clear and open spirit of vengeance. It is a vengeance which is drawing near but it is not merely retaliation and a cure for himself. It is only to restore justice and bring truth back to its rightful place.

In our view, this kind of poetry of lamentation for al-Husayn was the kind of lamentation poetry which prevailed during the Umayyad period, despite the assumption which has been made of the existence of other examples which do not represent the spirit of the age nor the psychological characteristics of the Shi'ite in that age. In the 'Abbasid period the call for vengeance against the Umayyads becomes almost inaudible in the poetry of lamentation for al-Husayn. Its place is left to the kind of poetry of lamentation, in which there is grief and in some of which there is satisfaction that the 'Abbasids have avenged the martyrs of Karbala'.

The Umayyads used to represent the rival who had committed the crime. The Shi'ite poet gave expression to his and the Shi'ite people's desire for vengeance against them by threat, promise of punishment and incitement to vengeance. We believe that the poetry of lamentation for al-Husayn which has come down to us from that period is only a few of the examples of such a poetry. Most of this kind of lamentation poetry, and particularly the most violent in impact and the most lavish in ideas of force and vengeance, has been lost and its effect forgotten because of the circumstance prevailing at that time. These were circumstances of fear of persecution and death which made the poets of the Shi'a keep this kind of poetry secret, prevented the narrators from recording it and stopped the people from reciting it. Thus only a little has come down to us.

2. The Early 'Abbasid Period

The Umayyad state came to an end and its authority was inherited by another state in accordance with a new mental attitude towards understanding the task of government and in accordance with a new style in carrying government out. Thus the direct rival and his state had come to an end and another state had come into existence as a result of using the slogan, 'Vengeance for al-Husayn'. This was the Abbasid state; they were Hashimites and descendants of the uncle of al-Husayn.

The poets of the Shi'a and other poets naturally continued to compose poems of lament. However, some of the poets attempted, in their laments, to reflect the new situation which had come about through the rise of the 'Abbasid state on the ruins of the Umayyads. Some of the poets composed odes in lamentation for al-Husayn, in which there was grief but in which there was also-as we have indicated earlier-joy and gladness at the fact that the wicked Umayyads had received their promised punishments at the hands of the 'Abbasids.

Among such poets was 'Abd Allah ibn al-Mu'tazz (247-296).Ibn al-Muttazz provides us with two examples of such poetry. In the first he claims that the 'Abbasids have punished the Umayyads for the wrongdoing. They have made the Umayyads taste the fruits of sin. If it had not been for the 'Abbasids, the blood of al-Husayn would have flowed at no cost and to no avail.

In his other ode he claims that the 'Abbasids did not just weep with tears for al-Husayn. In fact they wept with the blood which flowed from their swords which destroyed the Umayyad state. (Is this a suggestion against the Imams of the Holy Family and their Shi'a?) He goes on to assert that it was the 'Abbasids who raised the slogan of his name in battle. They let their hair fall long over their shoulder in grief and they put on black clothes in mourning for him.

Another of these poets is al-Qasim ibn Yusuf ibn Subayh., who died at the beginning of the third century of the hijra. His brother was Ahmad b. Yusuf b. Subayh, one of the most excellent secretaries of al-Ma'mun (d. 212). His brother al-Qasim died after him.

In one of his poems, the poet lamented for al-Husayn and described the dreadful acts of the Umayyads including their recognition of Sumayya as the mother of Ziyad as a result of an illicit relationship with Abu Sufyan, and the resulting attempt to declare Ziyad legitimate and therefore the legitimate brother of Mu'awiya. He recalled that the Umayyad might was destroyed at the battle of al-Zab. This poem is an explanation that it was the 'Abbasids, 'the ones who sought that vengeance', who achieved it. They were the ones who killed the Umayyads, they were the ones who 'crushed with a crushing blow' (hashamu bi-hashimatin), the Hashimites, the 'Abbasids.

Perhaps the 'Abbasids, themselves, were behind this attempt to form a tendency within lamentation poetry, which would portray them to the Shi'a as bringers of divine vengeance, so that, thereby, they might gain popularity with the Shi'a of the Holy Family and use that to diminish the intensity of 'Alid opposition to them. This opposition, which had emerged soon after the establishment of the 'Abbasid state, had become very severe.

This view may be supported by the fact the authors of the poem, which we have just discussed, were both men who belonged to the 'Abbasid regime.

'Abd Allah ibn al-Muttazz ibn al-Mutawakkil ibn al-Muttasam ibn Harun al-Rashid was an important prince in the ruling 'Abbasid family. It was in his own interest and that of his family that he should spread a poetic attitude in lamentation poetry which adopted the idea that it was the 'Abbasids who had achieved vengeance for al-Husayn. There can be no doubt, even for a moment, that he composed the poem of lamentation for al-Husayn out of his own and his family's special interests, not out of any genuine emotion. His attitude towards the descendants of Abu Talib (Talibids), in general, and the 'Alids, in particular, was an attitude of hostility and hatred. In his collection of poems, he has an ode of forty lines in which he defames the Talibids and the 'Alids.

Al-Qasim ibn Yusuf was from a family which worked in the service of the 'Abbasids and their regime. His brother, Ahmad ibn Yusuf Subayh (d. 212), has been described as one of the most excellent of the secretaries of al-Mamun. Our poet, al-Qasim, was put in charge of land-tax of the Sawad in Iraq. 'He collected more of it than anyone else in the time of al-Ma'mun.' This is reported in the book, al-Awraq, of al-Suli. That quotation means, in effect, that he oppressed the people and treated them harshly, even though he improved his position with his master, al-Ma'mun.

This attempt may have been part of an overall plan to reduce the influence of the 'Alids in the Islamic mind, in general, and the mind of the Shi'a of the Holy Family, in particular.

The Imams of the Holy Family relied on several factors in the mind of the umma: that their behaviour was regarded as ideal and free from any faults and blemishes; they were the descendants of the Apostle and connected to the Imamate in a successive chain through designation; that they were oppressed by the Umayyads in terms of the fact that the Umayyads had usurped authority after the Commander of the faithful, 'AII, insofar as Imam al-Hasan had not been able to continue in government; and that they were the source of Islamic legislation for the laws by virtue of being the heirs of the Apostle's knowledge; and therefore were Imams of the Muslims.

The 'Abbasid plan was to thwart this by trying to deprive them of these qualities. They constantly attempted to belittle the Imams of the Holy Family. They tried, in vain, to disfigure their reputation in the eyes of the people. Yet their behaviour was transparent and obvious to anyone.

The 'Abbasids attempted to demonstrate that the Imams of the Holy Family were ignorant of the injunctions of Islamic law. They failed after having made some attempts with Imam al-Rida and Imam Muhammad al-Jawad. Thereafter they turned to encouraging the growth of other legal tendencies.

The 'Abbasids tried to deprive them of the quality of being sons of the Apostle of God in a negative way, by concentrating on the son of the daughter not being a son, and in a positive way, by concentrating on the paternal uncle being a closer relation to a person than the son of his daughter. They did this because they were sons of al-'Abbas, the uncle of the Prophet and from that they maintained that they were more entitled to the caliphate than the Imams of the Holy Family from the line of al-Husayn and that they were more entitled than the sons of al-Hasan to the caliphate which was inherited from the Apostle of God.

The 'Abbasids attempted to deprive them of the quality of being oppressed by explaining that it was they who had taken vengeance for al-Husayn and the other Talibids who had been martyred during the time of the Umayyads. It, then, followed that the Talibids, and especially the 'Alids, had attained their objective through the vengeance which had been taken and therefore did not have anything further to complain about.

If there was a plan like this, it failed completely and achieved absolutely none of its aims.

As far as our research is concerned, the attempt to form an attitude in the poetry of lamentation for al-Husayn, which adopted the idea that vengeance was achieved through the 'Abbasids soon failed.

The basic contradiction between the aspirations of the 'Alids, especially in the line of al-Husayn, and the 'Abbasids clinging on to power was liable to thwart any attempt to lessen its intensity. The 'Abbasids tried to wipe out completely their Alid opponents. They drove them out of every land and stifled their activity with a ferocity that has had no parallel. This policy led to the 'Abbasids becoming like the Umayyads in Shi'ite consciousness. Indeed they were portrayed as even worse and more despicable.

As a result, a poetry of lamentation for al-Husayn grew, which was full of the demand for vengeance against the 'Abbasids as well as condemning the Umayyads.

Among the poets of this kind of lamentation poetry is Mansur al-Numayri (d. 190 or 193). In one extract of a poem, he declared that the family of the Prophet and those who loved them were silent out of fear of being killed. The Christians and Jews were given safety while those from the umma of Islam were in distress.

Ibn Qutayba commented in his book, al-Shir wa-al-Shu'ara that al-Rashid recited one poem by Mansur al-Numayri after the latter had died and declared that he wanted him captured and burnt.

In this poem the grief expressed was moderated but it painted a clear picture of the problem faced by the descendants of al-Husayn. The most serious allegation in it was that the poet considered the 'Abbasid government to be a legal continuation of the Umayyad government which killed al-Husayn. He regarded the vengeance against the 'Abbasids as the same as the vengeance against the Umayyads because the attitude of both the Umayyads and the 'Abbasids towards the offspring of the Prophet was one and the same. He asked, 'Are you jealous that I love the sons of Muhammad?' Then he taunted them with the words, 'Let there be dirt in the mouth of the man who is jealous.' He declared that they had treated the offspring of the Prophet with harshness. Finally he threatened that there were men ready to fight with weapons on behalf of the family of the Prophet. Perhaps this was what caused Harun al-Rashid to order him to be killed when he heard his poem. However, when they reached him, he had already died and his funeral cortege was going to the grave.

Di'bil ibn 'Ali al-Khuza'i (148-246) composed a similar kind of poem to the one just mentioned. In it he cursed the Umayyads who were led by the devil. He then turned to the shocking treatment they meted out to the women in al-Husayn's camp. After this he brought out the following fact, that the corrupt regime was using the people to support its members and its government apparatus without any concern for the good of the people. The result which emerged from the people's consent to the wicked regime was that they had lost their personality, they had lost 'the nobility of life and that is precious.'

Di'bil promised the family of Muhammad that he and his people would prevail for them, in time to come, 'over the cursed people, who are grim-faced (abus).' Thus he was promising vengeance. But vengeance against whom? Against the Umayyads? The Umayyads had disappeared, never to return, and Di'bil was born after the fall of their regime. (There may be an allusion to what Di'bil is intending in his words 'one day we will prevail over a cursed people who are grim-faced abus).' The Arabic word 'abus comes from the same root as 'Abbas and it may be used as a deliberate allusion to the 'Abbasids.) At any rate it seems clear to us that he, like his predecessor, Mansur al-Numayri, was speaking about vengeance against the legal continuation of the Umayyads as represented by the 'Abbasid regime which was no better in relation to 'the family of Muhammad' than the Umayyad regime. Indeed it may have been worse than it on many occasions.

In another poem of lamentation, Di'bil describes how al-Husayn was cheated by men, who marched against him while saying, 'this is the leader of men.' This was the way people repaid Muhammad for bringing them divine revelation; they opposed him by opposing his son. All the tribes were involved and partners in shedding al-Husayn's blood. They carried out killing, capturing, burning and plundering just as if they were raiding Byzantine territory. Yet the poet said that there was a way in which the Umayyads could be excused, for their family had been among the first opponents of the Prophet and as soon as they got the opportunity they returned to their disbelief. However there could be no excuse for the 'Abbasids' treatment of the family of the Prophet. The poet turned his attention to Tus where he had been staying at the grave of the pure man. This is a reference to Imam al-Rida who was poisoned by al-Mamun. He pointed out that there were two graves in close proximity at Tus, one was the grave of the best of men, namely Imam 'Ali Rida, and the other was the grave of the worst of men, namely the 'Abbasid Caliph Harun al-Rashid. He contrasted the two and in a bitter verse declared that 'the abominable would not profit by being close to the pure nor will the pure suffer any harm by nearness to the abominable.'

These poets include al-Bisami-'Ali ibn Muhammad ibn Nasr ibn Mansur ibn Bisam al-Baghdadi-(d. 302). When the 'Abbasid Caliph al-Mutawakkil destroyed the tomb of al-Husayn, he wrote verses in which he declared that if the Umayyads had killed the son of the daughter of the Prophet, his own relatives, the 'Abbasids had treated him in a similar way by destroying his grave. In fact it seemed that they were sorry that they had not taken part in killing and were trying to compensate for that by pursuing his corpse.

Another of such poets was al-Qadi al-Tannukhi-Ali ibn Muhammad-(d. 342). He wrote a refutation of the ode in which Ibn al-Muttazz had defamed the Talibids and the 'Alids. He said that Ibn al-Mu'tazz had accused them of rising up in revolt with the slogan of vengeance for Zayd (the brother of the Imam al-Baqir who was killed in a revolt against the Umayyads). Then he turned on him and accused the 'Abbasids of using a similar slogan. He recounted the 'Abbasids' mistreatment of the Talibids and 'Alids: the oppression by al-Mansur and al-Ma'mun's poisoning of Imam al-Rida.

Thus in popular consciousness the 'Abbasids had changed into symbols of oppression like the Umayyads because they had followed a policy of murder and persecution against the 'Alids and their Shi'a.

Al-Sharif al-Radi (359 406) was one of these poets. He, too, wrote comparing the attitude of the later 'Abbasid regime with that of the earlier Umayyad regime and complaining of their treatment of the 'Alids.

3. The Later 'Abbasid Period

In the second half of the 'Abbasid era and the period after it, the poetry of lamentation for al-Husayn changed generally into poetry of tears without any challenge, spirit of resistance or slogans of vengeance. This is not to deny the existence of some poetic works which preserve the spirit of the old school of the Umayyad era. However, these are works which lack sincerity and reality. Their challenges are merely imaginary heroics divorced from reality. We find many examples in the poetry of later poets like al-Sayyid Haydar al-Hili, and others like him. This genre confirms the rule which states that whenever the situation becomes bankrupt and decayed there emerges a literature of compensation which searches for imaginary acts of heroism or re-enacts past acts of heroism which have no connection with the life which is being lived.

Perhaps some of the poetic works of al-Sharif al-Radi in this historical period are exceptions to this rule in respect to our subject. In these works, he used to point to the Fatimid state in Egypt as a representative, in some ways, of the 'Alids and, therefore, as a candidate to take revenge for them on the Umayyads and the 'Abbasids.

In one poem he reminded the Umayyads that vengeance was waiting for them in distant lands. Swords were ready and horses waiting in their stable. He was waiting for the day when the swords would strike them down. Perhaps there may be in these verses an allusion to the Mahdi. [16]

He, also, has poetry of this kind which does not speak about the immediate situation even though there are allusions in it to the circumstances which he is living through. This is represented as suppressed resistance to the 'Abbasid government under whom he was living. [l7]

His brother, al-Murtada, wrote in similar vein. [18]

In this period, the poetry for al-Husayn changed into pure lament without any spirit of challenge and slogans of vengeance. The immediate symbols of vengeance had been destroyed with the fall of the Umayyad state and the deaths of the Umayyads and the desecration of their graves. [19]

In addition to this there was the break up which had occurred within the 'Alid ranks. The 'Alids of the line of al-Hasan had continued the struggle against the 'Abbasids trying, in vain, to ignite the land with revolution. It had brought destruction, death and banishment to them and those of the Shi'a who supported them. On the other hand, the Imams of the Holy Family had laid down another policy. This was to build a cultural structure for the individual Muslim and to form a cultural climate for opposition which would be based on changing the mental attitude of the popular base of the existing government through ideas. This was to be achieved by transforming the Shi'a into an effective intellectual force in ordinary society. [20]

At this time lamentation poetry for al-Husayn, like the ziyara, still had to be considered as a cultural factor which participated with other cultural factors in consolidating the relationship of the individual with Islam as it struggled and with its men and movements. Although as a result of the change in the political situation in this period, namely the disappearance of the Umayyads, the poetry of lamentation for al-Husayn had lost the justification for one of its elements, the element of challenge and vengeance, it did neglect to mention the Umayyads just because they had disappeared. In the same way they have continued to be mentioned in every age and their memory has been preserved. However it was not as an object of revenge but merely in order to curse them and denounce them, their policies and their deeds. At this stage in the development of the poetry of lamentation for al-Husayn the 'Abbasids were added as a result of a change which had entered into the psychology and circumstances of the Shi'ites.

There were two objects of enmity to the Fatimids: the Umayyads in Spain, who were their political rivals and the heirs who traced the descendants back to the Umayyads in Damascus, who had killed al-Husayn and persecuted the descendants of 'Ali; and the 'Abbasids in Baghdad, who were their political rivals in Egypt and Syria, who had pursued the policy of the Umayyad, and gone beyond it, in persecuting the descendants of 'Ali's.

The poetry of lamentation and the poetry of praise, which included the expressions of pride and lamentation that the Fatimid poets pressed upon their master on great occasions, differs in its content from the lamentation poetry of the East in the same period. It contains the spirit of threatening and promising punishment and it raises the slogans of vengeance. It recalls the political and military victories achieved by the Fatimids as being a support for religion and vengeance against its enemies, the killers of the Holy Family, who were the guarantors of the religion of God; it counts them as more than victories.

The outstanding representative of this kind of poetry in this period among the Fatimids was Muhammad ibn Hani' ibn Muhammad ibn Sa'dun al-Andalusi (320 or 326-362). In a poem in which he praised the Fatimid Caliph al-Mu'izz li-Din Allah, he also mentioned what happened to al-Husayn. He related that the accomplishments of the Fatimid Caliph were not through luck. Men must be united on a path that leads to truth. They were eager to fight for religion as it called to them that it had been oppressed. The 'Abbasid caliphate was ridiculed as dependent on others and described as wandering aimlessly between the power of the Buwayhids from Daylam and the Turks. As a result of the Fatimid Caliph doubts have been removed and truth was no longer oppressed. Then the idea of the oppression of truth made the poet turn his thought to Karbala'. He mentioned how there al-Husayn was deprived of water to perform ritual Ablutions for prayer and although the Euphrates was overflowing with water, he was allowed none to drink. He described the stifling atmosphere of the desert and the deprivations of al-Husayn. He referred to the humiliation of the womenfolk of al-Husayn. Then he declared that 'the best grandson of Muhammad [21] was destroyed but the next of kin who would take vengeance was not destroyed.' (This is probably a reference to Imam 'Ali Zayn al-'Abidin whom the Fatimids claimed to be descended from through Imam al-Baqir and al-Sadiq. It was the Fatimids, in the eyes of the poet, who would take vengeance.) He then says that even worse than the Umayyads were those who had been contemporary with the events but later desecrated the corpses. This is a reference to the 'Abbasids. The attack on the 'Abbasids was continued when Ibn Hani raised a historical problem of great importance, even though the historical texts do not assist him in his claim. It is that al-'Abbas helped Abu Bakr to seize power after the Apostle and kept authority away from 'Ali ibn Abi Talib.

In another poem in praise of the Fatimid Caliph, al-Mutizz li-Din Allah, he declared that behind the rights of the son of the Apostle here were lion-hearted men who were well-armed. He asked God that the Fatimid Caliph might now scatter the Umayyads. In what are obvious references to the suffering of al-Husayn at Karbala ', he talked of depriving them of water to drink and wash with. Then he went on to accuse men of lying when they claimed that the Umayyads had rights. They had, in fact, stripped away the right of the wasi, the true Imam who has been stipulated to act on behalf of the umma.

Ibn Hani ' again praised the Fatimid caliph in another poem but this time he mentioned the conquest of Egypt and criticized the 'Abbasids He told the inquiring 'Abbasids that Egypt had been conquered. Vengeance for the son of the Prophet had not been lost. It was the descendants of the grandson of the Prophet who were the true rulers not the 'Abbasids. He asked them whether there were verses in the Qur 'an about the grandson of the Prophet or about their ancestor who was a late convert to Islam, 'Abbas. He accused them of imprisoning the noblest of men, namely the 'Alids, in Iraq. Then he gave a warning that soon there would be little left of the 'Abbasid empire for them. The world would be transferred to the family of Muhammad and the rights of the Talibids would be restored.

In this way, Ibn Hani ' continued to raise the slogans of vengeance and victory on behalf of the Fatimids in Egypt and North Africa against the Umayyads and the 'Abbasids at a time when these calls had ceased to be heard in the lands of the eastern caliphate and the poetry of lamentation for al-Husayn and poetry in praise of the Holy Family had lost this element from the elements which formed it.

Another of the Fatimid poets was Prince Tamim, the son of the Caliph al-Mu'izz li-Din Allah (d. 374). He composed an ode in lament for al-Husayn. He declared that as a result of the attack of the Umayyads on the Holy Family, he would pursue them until they departed but they would find no safe haven anywhere.

We will now leave this Fatimid poetry in order to return to the poetry of lamentation in its original land. We notice that, after the fall of the Umayyads, it was transformed into poetry of grief without any challenge or spirit of vengeance towards them. However, this was not a transformation into despair; it continued to throb with the hope that the great day of vengeance would come.

After the fall of the Umayyads, the idea of immediate vengeance lost its place in the poetry. Instead the idea of vengeance by the Mahdi, who would fill the world with justice and fair treatment after it had been full of injustice and oppression became one of the outstanding features of the poetry of lamentation from the second century of the hijra onwards up to the present time. The Mahdi was the one who would take vengeance for al-Husayn and all the oppressed against their oppressors: Umayyads, 'Abbasids and others. His punishment would be terrible as it would correspond with the hideous crimes which these oppressors had committed.

The doctrine of the Mahdi provided a psychologically cohesive force for the Shi'ite. Thus he did not despair, he was not destroyed psychologically as a result of the discovering that the 'Abbasids-with regard to the 'Alids and their Shi'a-were only a Hashimite version of the Umayyads, or that they were even worse than the Umayyads. We find that the 'Abbasids and those who came after them are considered, in Shi'ite consciousness, as a legal continuation of the Umayyads. Many of the texts of prayers of ziyara include passages which contain curses against the Umayyads and renunciations of those who followed them, those who were their partisans and those who continued their practice.

The nature of things demanded that the Shi'ite should waste away and become utterly broken as a result of the harsh and bitter situation. However, many factors connected with religious law and with doctrine, among which was the doctrine of the Mahdi, preserved his psychological cohesiveness and provided him with hope of future happiness.

The doctrine of the Mahdi provided a psychological and doctrinal refuge which saved the Sh1'ite from despair about worldly victory. This despair seemed likely in the early period, to cast its shadow over the psychology of a section of those in the Shi'a.

Dik al-Jinn (161-235 or 236) has expressed his hope that the oppressors would receive their punishment in the Hereafter. He told his soul to be steadfast and endure. People were rushing around on the earth while its master, the Mahdi, was awaited to exact a settlement. Then on the Last Day the slain (al-Husayn) would arise and his killers would be asked why they had done it. Dreadful punishment in Hell would then follow. Until then, there must be resignation. In the future, the one who was awaited would come.