We find this spirit of worldly defeat, submission to tyranny and hope for change and for vengeance in the Hereafter is widespread in the lamentation poetry of the period later than this. However, though evidence that this idea was not expressed in other texts, as far as we know, it seems that despair had given way to the great expectation of a great worldly victory at the hands of the Mahdi.
The third century of the hijra sees the beginning of this idea, namely the idea of the Mahdi, in the poetry of lamentation for al-Husayn. Among the first poets, in whose poetry this idea appears, is Di'bil al-Khuza'i (148-246).
In an ode in lament and praise of the Holy Family, he declared that if it was not for him whom he hoped to come soon, grief would break his heart. The revolt of the Imam was certain and he would come forward in the name of God and with His blessings. He would distinguish right and wrong for the Shi'a and would repay men with blessings and punishment. The poet told his soul to rejoice for not far away everything was coming.
Al-Qasim ibn Yusuf, the secretary, (died in the first half of the third century of the hijra) said in part of an ode in lamentation of al-Husayn that he hoped that a hand which brought healing to the grief in the heart would bring them the Mahdi who would arise and take control (al-qa 'im al-mahdi) sooner or later.
Another poet, 'Ali ibn Ishaq al-Zahi (318-352) mentioned concerning the Holy Family that men's eyes flowed with tears for them because of the way those tyrants treated them. How God would change things for the oppressor with the man who would arise (qa'im) with justice, publicly announcing the truth.
Ali ibn Hammad (d. Latter half of the fourth century) recorded in part of an ode in lamentation for al-Husayn an address to the Mahdi. He called upon the awaited Imam and asked him when the promise which he had given would be fulfilled. Then the poet affirmed the certainty that God would fulfill his promise so that they would see the standard of victory. The rising of the Imam was certain. He would arise and establish the pillars of religion with swords and spears. He would administer the law with justice, fairness and guidance helped by Jesus, Joshua and al-Khidr. The poet, referring to himself by name as Ibn Hammad, hoped that he might be able to unsheathe his sword and strike against the enemies of his masters. However, if he died before then, he would continue to fight against them by cursing them in his poetry.
In part of an ode by Mihyar al-Daylami (d. 428), he said that the time might soon come when truth would rise over the world and deficiency would be overcome. He knew that God had brought about some things but his heart would not be comforted until he heard the call of the man who would arise and set things right, the Mahdi.
In these verses Mihyar saw that vengeance had come to the Umayyads at the hands of the 'Abbasids. However, it was insufficient vengeance, and he was waiting for the great vengeance at the hands of the Mahdi.
Al-Sayyid al-Murtada (355-436) continued into a new period the expression of the hope of victory at the hands of the Mahdi as a fixed element in the poetry of lamentation for al-Husayn.
Later, we will examine some of the examples from the later centuries and the fourth century of the hijra.
* * *
Another element was introduced into the lamentation poetry alongside the idea of vengeance through the Mahdi. From the middle of the fourth century an idea began to appear in lamentation poetry that the vengeance would not belong to this world. It would only occur in the Hereafter. The role of the poet became limited to the enumeration of merits, the portrayal of the tragedy of Karbala' and bringing people close to God, through lamentation poetry, in the hope of gaining reward and entering Paradise.
Perhaps Abu Firas al-Hamdam (320-357) was the first poet in whose poetry this idea appeared in its first beginnings. Later it became firmly rooted in lamentation poetry. However, this is a matter which should be treated with caution. Attention should be paid to the personality and psychology of Abu Firas, his position with the authorities and the nature of his Shi'ism as well as the geographical position of the Hamdanid state between the 'Abbasids and the Fatimids. All of that may have militated against his own view that revenge and vengeance were worldly and personal. Does the appearance of the idea of revenge in the Hereafter in this poetry indicate that the cause of the Holy Family had begun, at his time, to lose its political effectiveness in ordinary life in the area and to have become a sacred historical subject only, as happened later?
Abu Firas composed an ode in lamentation for al-Husayn in which he mentioned that God seemed forbearing towards the wickedness of wicked men. Yet such men were damned and punishment would eventually come to them, even though they now seemed to think that they could kill God's children and no punishment would come to them. They even managed to suppose that they would be able- to drink from the waters of Paradise while al-Husayn drunk his own blood which they had shed!
Among the poets, in whose lamentation poetry this idea appeared, is Abu al-Hasan'Ali Ahmad al-Jurjani al-Jawhan (d.c. 380 A.H). He composed an ode in lament for al-Husayn in which he described how God saw the killers of al-Husayn dripping with his blood. They stood abashed before God while God announced that they were people who had become surrounded by evil and had exchanged true faith for the unbelief of the blind. They killed al-Husayn as he was suffering from thirst and now they hoped for God's kindness at the waters of Paradise. Then, the poet called on God to take vengeance on them for all the evil that they had done. He asked the killers of al-Husayn what they would say in the Hereafter when Fatima was their adversary and the judge on behalf of the oppressed was God.
The poetry of Sahib Isma'il ibn 'Abbad (32S385) also uses this idea and he repeats it in more than one ode.
In one of these odes he gave a similar picture of the Last Day. Fatima surrounded by her father, her husband and her sons would come looking for judgment. She would ask God why her children were slaughtered. God would tell her not to worry, as these people were all doomed to eternal punishment in Hell-fire.
In another poem Sahib ibn 'Abbad told the Shi'a not to grieve. They could be sure of God's concern and they should not try to hurry it. Soon they would see those who hated the Shi'a in the depths of the pit of Hell while they would be blessed by being with God and the Prophet in the garden of Paradise.
The same poet repeats similar words of comfort in another ode. He told the Shi'a not to worry, for on the Day of Resurrection there would be satisfaction for them when Hell-fire blazed with the crackling sounds of punishment. Then Muhammad and his entrusted delegate (wasi), namely 'All, together with his two grandsons, al-Hasan and al-Husayn would arise for the judgment of the wrongdoers by God, who is all-powerful, all-conquering. There God would seize the evildoers and Hell-fire would receive them.
Sahib ibn 'Abbad remarked in another poem that if Muhammad saw the suffering at Karbala', if he had seen the grief-stricken sister of al-Husayn, Zaynab, being taken prisoner by one of the murderers of al-Husayn, Shimr, he would have complained to God about this-and he did complain to God about it. In the end Shimr would come before God and he would be most entitled to his punishment.
Another of the poets who used this idea was 'Ali ibn Hammad al-'Abdi al-Basri. (He was born at the beginning of the fourth century of the hijra and died towards the end of it.)
In one ode he described a terrible picture of the punishments of the murderers of al-Husayn in the Hereafter. He said that the enemies of al-Husayn and his followers would learn the truth on the Day of Resurrection. Fatima would come forward surrounded by troops of angels. In her hand she would have the shirt of al-Husayn daubed with his blood, and the angels would weep at the sight of it. Then God would call out: 'Where is Yazid?' Yazid and his followers would be brought forward, dragging their feet, and their faces would be black. Then God would order them to be killed and then brought back to life. All the sons of Fatima would kill them, while the Shi'a witnessed this. Then God would gather al-Husayn's murderers in Hell-fire where they would live forever. When their skins had been thoroughly cooked by the fire, new skins would be given them to be burnt again.
Al-Sharif al-Radi was another of the poets who used this idea. In one ode, he described the Apostle of God's attitude towards the murderers of al-Husayn on the Day of Judgment. He would complain to God about them. And what hope was there for people whom the Apostle of God complains about? He would tell God how they had not given refuge to his family, they had not defended it and they had not supported it. They had changed the religion which he had brought them and had treated his family dreadfully. He declared to God that on that day he would be their adversary and he would come before God and them as one who had been oppressed.
Another of al-Sharif al-Radis odes in lament for al-Husayn warned the killers of al-Husayn that just as they attacked people who were deprived of water on the banks of the Euphrates, so would they be attacked and deprived of the eternal waters of Paradise. There at Karbala ' the wicked had dealt out evil. Now in Heaven they would receive evil. At the final hour, they would be judged by the just grandfather, the Prophet, of the men whom they killed.
Among these poets, there was also Mu'in al-Din Yahya ibn Salmama al-Hasfah (46F553). In one of his poems he pictured al-Husayn's death on the banks of the Euphrates. The Euphrates nearby could see him thirsty but 'Ubayd Allah ibn Ziyad, the son of a father who made fraudulent claims about his lineage, denied him water. Yet his death would light a blazing fire. God would be sufficient to bring punishment to those who had oppressed al-Husayn and his family.
In this way the idea of divine punishment in the Hereafter against the oppressors alongside the idea of vengeance against the oppressors carried out by the Mahdi became two established elements in the poetry of lament for al-Husayn.
We can observe the extent of the change which had come upon the psychology of the individual when we compare this attitude which threatened direct vengeance. When the threat of divine punishment is made, it is made into a worldly tool that is looked for and exists.
Some of the verses of Khalid ibn al-Muhajir ibn Khalid ibn al-Walid expressed that idea. In them the poet warned the Umayyads that the tomb at Karbala' would be remembered and God would be sufficient for them in His anger.
Later other ideas came into the lamentation poetry for al-Husayn. One of these was the idea of salvation through the composing of poetry of lament for al-Husayn. The poet wrote his ode and at its end he begged the Holy Family and al-Husayn to be intercessors for him with God on the Day of Resurrection. Frequently he would mention his own name in the poem as if he was putting his signature at the end of the poem. This has been apparent in the poetry of lament since the ninth century of the hijra.
Another idea was of abstinence from the world and disparagement of it. This idea appeared in a limited form in lamentation poetry from the fourth century of the hijra. However, it then disappeared only to re-emerge with some force in the tenth century of the hijra.
The third idea which began to appear in lamentation poetry for al-Husayn was the idea of fate. God had decreed what had happened. If it had not been for that, what had happened would not have happened.
The entry of these ideas into the poetic content of the lamentation indicates the emergence of a change in the psychology, the situation of life and way of thinking of the Shi'ite. The poets expressed these changes indirectly through their lamentation poetry.
Basically the cause of Karbala' was no longer able to influence the daily political life of the people as a political cause. The connection between the people and political struggle for this cause had been broken. Those who aspired to authority seem to have abandoned the use of the slogans of Karbala' in their wars and struggles. Yet the power of these slogans to have political influence in the general mentality still continued.
There was no longer a symbol to which the emotion of revenge was directed in the existing political situation, for every political grouping in the political arena in the Islamic world were all consciously attached to the cause of al-Husayn and acknowledged its justice. Yet it was considered as something which had happened in history, not as something which had meaning for the present time. Indeed Shi'ism, in one way or another, had destroyed all the artificial patchwork introduced into Islam. The 'Abbasids had lost their power when the system of emirates came to be applied throughout the caliphate. The actual rulers in Baghdad became the Shi'a or those who put forward a claim of belonging to the Shi'a. While the rulers in Egypt were the Fatimid Shi'a.
At that time factors of internal break-up in the Islamic world began to carry on the destructive work of tearing apart the great political entities within it and then in dividing up smaller political entities also. They prompted religious, political, racial and regional groupings into civil wars which brought, in their wake, ruin, despair and destruction to the people and harm to the towns and countryside.
This political situation was accompanied by the growth of the Sufi movement with its different tendencies and origins so that it became a great cultural power in opposition to the traditional Islamic scholars and in opposition to the other cultural forces of literature, science and philosophy. Sufism became the cultural and religious spring at which the ordinary man drank.
The Muslim suffered expulsion from his home and land, from tyranny, from a loss of dignity, and from the plundering of his provisions and food. He was in constant fear for his life, his honour and his dignity. He suffered from devastating famines and plagues which used to destroy thousands of people. He suffered from the destruction of towns and the countryside by armies, which left behind them ruins and despair.
As a result of this situation, the Muslim formed a pessimistic outlook, fearful of the future, in which, if there was any hope at all, it was very little. This situation produced a favourable environment for the acceptance of the ideas and tendencies of the Sufism, of resignation which concentrated on the concept of death, the negation of the self, the evil in the world and the corruption in the soul. It was anxious to abandon worldly activity and it put forward a concept of asceticism, which was not Islamic, an asceticism which had a negative attitude towards life and worldly activity.
We have put forward the view that this asceticism was not Islamic, because Islamic asceticism, as presented in the Qur'an and Sunna and the activities of the great representatives of Islam in the law and conduct, is a positive asceticism which combines the idea of productive work and a positive constructive attitude with a psychological and rational cohesion during disasters and tragedies, without the world occupying all man's activity and without it possessing all the areas of his thoughts.
This new psychological situation was reflected in the Muslim's life and formed all his cultural activity. Included in that was the poetry of lamentation for al-Husayn, which contained this outlook of surrender and despair of any change.
As a result of this, the lamentation poetry for al-Husayn was cut off from its real place in the community. It spoke of the atrocity as history. It spoke of the glorious deed and compared the Umayyads and the 'Abbasids on the one side, with the 'Alids on the other. It expressed tearful emotions of grief.
The revolution of al-Husayn became emotional and religious. It was treated as one of the rituals, and not as a real effort in the daily situation of man in his relations with authority and society. Among the new intellectual elements which entered into lamentation poetry for al-Husayn, as a result of the psychological situation of man, were: (a) disparagement of the world and fear of its influences. This was one of the effects of Sufi asceticism of resignation; (b) the view that lamentation for al-Husayn was a means of salvation in the Hereafter; (c) we will find in the middle of the third century of the hijra the beginnings of the expression of the idea of destiny in the poetry of lamentation. The poet expresses the view that what happened would not have happened unless God had decreed it. Sometimes we have even found some astrological ideas.
With regard to the first of the three elements mentioned above, we sometimes find it expressed in a direct form and at other times in an indirect way which is clear to anyone who has studied the general atmosphere in which the lament was composed.
Among the examples of direct expression are the verses of an ode of Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn al-Hasan al-Sanawburi (d. 334). In these verses, the poet exclaimed that the cares of life would cease and his prayer for an easier life would be answered when he went to his death. As for a man who was constantly seeking profit, when such a man praised his activity, he should be told that praise for the family of Muhammad was more profitable.
Another example of this kind art the verses of Sahib Isma'il ibn 'Abbad (32S385). These suggested that the desire for vengeance of al-Husayn was now worldly and such emotions would not purify the man of religion.
A further example comes from the poetry of'Ali ibn Hammadal- 'Abdi (d. Towards end of the fourth century). In his verses, he complained of time which controlled changes in fortune and had two tongues and two faces in the world. It had harmed the Holy Family and scattered them. It seemed to have sworn to destroy men, whether they were obstinate men or men of religion.
An ode by al-Sharif al-Radi (359-406) portrayed a mournful resignation to the tragic death of al-Husayn. It expressed thoughts like, 'There is no one to hope and nothing to hope for.' He went on to suggest that the ultimate end of men was annihilation just as the ultimate end of twigs was to wither away. Despite the fact that everyone capable of weeping wept for al-Husayn, the situation had remained the same for a long time and those left without children remained without them. Desires were only sadness and concern for him and one was left perplexed and grief-stricken after the son of Fatima had been swallowed up by death in a waterless desert.
The vizier 'Abd al-Mujini 'Abdun (d. 520) composed verses in a similar vein. In these verses he complained of time which brought affliction after destruction. Time involved conflict because whenever it showed the two sides to any problem, these would become swords and spears fighting against each other. There could be no peace. If one tried to escape from the world and war, it was always there ready to disturb one. When one was happy with something, it was only to make it distant from you. States disappeared and memories of them vanished. The poet feared for everything which was protected and in which trust had been put.
In this way did this tendency in lamentation poetry grew. We will find it of increasing prominence in later centuries.
It might be argued that this kind of attitude is natural in the poetry of lamentation, and we can find it at all periods and among all people. Death raises great questions in the mind about existence and destiny. These questions produce a special mental vision of events.
However, in answer to that, we would say that there is a clear difference between the attitude, which comes about as a result of the blows and tragedies of life, and the established philosophical attitude which grows out of an intellectual and psychological situation which gives its imprint to man's behaviour and attitude towards events. The latter is what we witness in the poetry of lamentation for al-Husayn in this period. The poets of lamentation for al-Husayn, in representing and expressing this view, are expressing their vision of their milieu and their times because-as we have already mentioned-this view imprints itself on the cultural and artistic production of the man of that period just as it imprints itself on the behaviour of great sections of the people.
Nonetheless we admit that the amount of expressions of this ascetic spirituality is much less in the lamentation poetry for al-Husayn than we would expect to find. In our view, this is due to two reasons, the first of which is general and the second particular. The general reason goes back to the Shi'ite attitude toward Sufism in general. This Shi'ite attitude, as a result of the efforts of the scholars of Islamic law towards Sufism, has been less influenced by Sufi movements and tendencies. Therefore their influence has remained limited. (One should observe the relations between Shi'ism and Sufism.) Certainly, the Shi'a had their Sufi orders just as they were influenced by the general Sufi atmosphere, and a rich Sufi literature grew among them. However, the Shi'ite was less influenced by the Sufis because he remained much closer to the scholars of Islamic law.
The particular reason goes back to the nature of the tragedy of al-Husayn. There is in Shi'ite consciousness an awareness of the power of the Umayyad presence as a direct and indirect cause of all the tragedies and sufferings which befell the Holy Family at Karbala' and before and after it. This powerful presence of the Umayyads has made the Shi'ite, when exposed to tragedy, see only its anticipated objective causes without looking for transcendental causes. Were he to do that, he would be looking for acceptable excuses for the Umayyads. He has no desire to do that, either psychologically or emotionally. Thus he is inclined to put the burden on them entirely without finding any excuses for them in the transcendental world or the immediate world.
The idea of lamentation for al-Husayn being a means of salvation in the Hereafter is found at a very early period in the lamentation poetry for al-Husayn. It exists at the beginning of the second century of the hijra in the work of one poet, Sufyan ibn Mu'sab al-'Abdi al-Kufi, who died at about 120 in Kufa. In one of his odes about the Holy Family, he addressed the Commander of the faithful and told him: 'I have made love of you a companion of piety and you have increased their companionship for me as if they are the best of companions.' He went on to say that he made his soul tired in praising 'Ali in the knowledge that its rest would come as a result of that tiredness caused by praising 'Ali.
We have put forward this poem despite our doubts about the genuineness of its attribution to the first century of the hijra, because of our doubt about the circulation of this style of dedicating odes to the people who were being praised. This was something which is only known of in a much later period of history. However, we put forward this poem in order to say that, on the assumption of its genuineness, it would be the first text to include this kind of dedication as far as we are aware. This doubt is based on the doubtfulness of the use of this style of dedication as we have said. These verses are also attributed to Ibn Hammad al-'Abdi (d. Towards end of the fourth century). As for the origin of the idea of salvation through poems of praise and lamentation, it has a doctrinal basis in the Sunna of the Prophet where there are texts which make love and affection for the Holy Family and their followers a means of pleasing God, of course in accordance with keeping the rules of the Islamic way of life (sharia).
We observe that al-'Abdi, the poet, did not confine the attainment of salvation to love and praise. He, also, coupled action with it. Thus he was loyal to the Islamic way of life. He said: 'I have made love for you a companion of piety, and you have increased their companionship for me as if they are the best of companions.' Such an idea is missing from lamentation poetry, and we do not find any expression of it until the beginnings of the fourth century of the hijra where we find that it has become a widespread characteristic in the odes of praise and lamentation for al-Husayn by the poets of the Shi'a. However, we do find it in another form which is in terms of the words alone, or in terms of the love alone, as a way to salvation in the Hereafter. It is, however, seldom that we find the poet expressing his concern about the Islamic way of life (sharia) in this area.
Among the poets who portray this idea in their poetry is Ahmad ibn al-Hasan al-Sanawburi (d. 334). His poetry portrays this idea alongside keeping close to the Islamic way of life (sharia). In one poem he said that those who followed the guidance of the family of Muhammad would be successful. He, himself, strove and toiled to do that and nothing else. Perhaps God would forgive him his sins.
Another of the representatives of this idea is Kashajim (died 350or 360). In one poem he refers to the praises given to the Holy Family. He tells them that he needs to love them when he is summoned to the final judgment, for he is certain that through his love for them his sins will fall from him like dust.
Al-Zahi (318-352) is another of these poets. In some verses, he says that they hope that God will remove their grievous sins through their grief and weeping for the Holy Family, and that it will bring them intercession from the grandfather of the Holy Family, the Prophet.
A poet who expresses similar sentiments is Sahib ibn 'Abbad(326-385). In one poem he describes himself growing old and hopes that this praise for the Holy Family of the Prophet will bring forgiveness for his sins. They are masters who take praise rightfully as theirs and leaders whose glory is spread by word and by the sword. Ibn 'Abbad, mentioning himself by name, hopes to gain closeness to them by his praises of them and that these praises will bring perfection.
In another poem Ibn 'Abbad declares that he praises God, Lord of the throne, and his masters, the Holy Family. He calls on a Kufan to recite these words. Yet he makes it clear that he, Ibn 'Abbad, is their author, again he mentions himself by name. Then he adds that he seeks Heaven through these praises.
Ibn Hammad al-'Abdi (d. Towards end of the fourth century hijra) is one of the poets of lamentation for al-Husayn who, in our view, uses this style of dedication most frequently and also most frequently expresses the idea of salvation through his love and praise of the Holy Family.
In one poem he asserts, using his name, Ibn Hammad al-'Abdi, that the only work he has is to use the letters mim and 'ayn in poetry. The letter mim is the ultimate of his hopes as Muhammad belongs to it. (It is the first letter of Muhammad's name.) The letter 'ayn is most concerned with 'Ali (the first letter of his name) who is a delight of the eye ('ayn in Arabic and therefore also of the letter 'ayn). He calls upon God to bless them whenever the sun rises and sets.
At the end of one of his odes he asks God to receive his poem in praise of the Holy Family and that the reward for his poem should be fulfilled, namely that his scale should be balanced with good on the Day of Judgment. He goes on to say that he loves and praises them and curses anyone who avoids them. He declares that he never praises them out of acquisitiveness but only out of love for them. Mentioning himself by name, he says that Ibn Hammad hopes for the reward of heaven through praising them.
Another of the poets using these expressions is Mihyaral- Daylami (d. 428). In one poem, he asks how much his praises of the Holy Family will help him. He tells them that it is their duty at the Resurrection to weigh his balance with good if it is short in weight. Then he asserts that he is certain that his hopes in them will be true on that day, and not false.
In another poem, he talks about how much the man who envies him wished that he had not been alive at that time so that the poet could compete with him through composing poetry in praise of the Holy Family. He tells his rival that the rival's desire is for the world while he knows that the black marks in God's account of his action will become white on the Day of Resurrection through his praise of the Holy Family.
The poet, Tala'i ' ibn Zurayk (d. 556) also wrote verses expressing similar ideas. In one ode, he tells his masters from the Holy Family that although his spear had not helped them in battle, he would support them with his verses. He has written poetry to preserve their memory and glory. Then he goes on to say that he hopes that through his love and sincerity towards them he will escape from Hell-fire in the life to come.
Ibn Jabr (420-487) composed poetry with similar sentiments. In some of his verses, he says that if you weep for the Holy Family, you will meet them with a joyful face in the Hereafter. The poet asks God to make his love of them a shield for him against the evils of oppression and unbelief. Then he hopes that when the debts of the enemies of the family of Muhammad keep them locked out of Heaven, his poetry in praise of them will redeem his debts and bring him success.
The poets of lamentation for al-Husayn have continued to express this idea in this fashion right up to modern times. We will study later where the poetry of lamentation has adopted other forms and other content.
What is the psychological background of this poetic attitude?
From the beginning of the fourth century of the hijra, the Shi'ite had lost his active contact with his doctrinal symbols. In this his situation was similar to the Muslim in general. He, too, had lost his active contact with his doctrinal symbols. Pessimistic and negative thoughts began to dominate. Action lost its sincere and transforming power in his consciousness. A Sufi tendency and attitude influenced by ideas of magical powers over things prevailed in the popular Islamic mentality. Words and, in the most favourable circumstances, emotions and good intentions became the things which, the Muslim imagined, would be able to change the situation.
Because of this psychological and cultural situation, its effect began to appear even in Islamic law (e.g. A great concern with the forms and practices of worship, hypothetical problems in juris- prudence, numerous vows, the ceremonies of the Prophet's birthday and the recitation of certain texts to gain victory in battles).
The misery of the Shi'ite has increased, as a result of his sectarian affiliation, because not only was he continuing to face, in many of the historical stages of this period, official hostility, he even began to face popular antipathy. This was when some of the extremist theologians and legal scholars of the Sunnis succeeded in presenting the Shi'ite to their common people as being outside Islam. Perhaps the growth of Persian Shi'ism and its adoption of a political character through the foundation of the Safavid state helped in the growth of hatred toward the Shi'a outside the authority of the Safavid state.
IV. THE THEMES OF THE POETRY OF LAMENTATION FOR AL-HUSAYN
The poetry of lament for al-Husayn is generally in agreement with the genre of lamentation poetry in many of the shared themes which inevitably abound in lamentation poetry. The poetry of lament for al-Husayn differs from the rest of lamentation poetry by the fact that it, alone, deals with some themes which arise out of the special nature of the subject.
Whether independent of or included with others, the poetry of lament comes in several ways.
Sometimes, it comes independently when a poet composes an ode which is solely concerned with lamenting for al-Husayn and the martyrs at Karbala '. Most of the poetry of lament for al-Husayn is like that.
Sometimes, it comes as part of a general lament for the Holy Family. Sometimes, the lament comes in the context of a defamatory poem about the Umayyads.
Sometimes, it comes in the context of praising some rulers or leaders. This was the case in some of the poems of praise of Muhammad ibn Hani' al-Andalusi (320 or 326-362 ) about al-Mu'izz li-Din Allah, the Fatimid. The same occurs in some of the poems of praise by al-Qadi al-Julays 'Abd al-'Aziz ibn al-Husayn (d. 561) about the good ruler, Tala 'i' ibn Zurayk.
With regard to the person to whom the poem of lament for al-Husayn is addressed, it can come in the following ways: Sometimes, it is a speech to the poet's soul and a conversation with himself. Sometimes, the address in it is made to the Apostle of God, and it is a presentation of the incidents and circumstances of the revolution and other such topics.
Sometimes, the address in it is made to the Twelfth Imam, the awaited Mahdi. Sometimes, the address in it is made to the Commander of the faithful, 'Ali ibn Talib or the Lady Fatima, the fair.
Sometimes, it is addressed to the Islamic umma. Sometimes, it is addressed to the Umayyads. Sometimes, it is addressed to the Hashimites. One poem may include several forms of address.
In what follows, we will examine, in brief, the themes of the poetry of lamentation for al-Husayn. We will not persist in giving examples from the poetry on every theme because such elaboration would serve little purpose and the specialist can easily find the example for himself.
1. Human Grief
The assumption made about lamentation poetry is that it has been composed to express emotions of sadness and grief for the loss of a noble person. Therefore, the expression of human grief is a common feature in all lamentation poetry. The laments may include a number of features by which it expresses this grief.
There is a kind of lament which is given the name 'dirge' (nadb). It is concerned only with the expression of the emotion of grief and occurs frequently in the lamentation poetry for al-Husayn, whether ancient or modern. It is recited with a kind of loud wailing. Sometimes it is accompanied by bodily movements like striking one's face in grief.
Among the examples of that are the verses attributed to al-Rabab, wife of Imam al-Husayn. In it she cries out to al-Husayn, saying that she will never forget al-Husayn who was killed by the spears of enemies, who left him a corpse at Karbala'.
Another example is given by al-Mufid in his book, al-Amali. He says that Dharra, a professional wailing-woman, saw in a dream the Lady Fatima, the fair, who accompanied her to the tomb of al-Husayn and wept. She told her to recite some verses in the wailing manner. (It is said that these verses were by one of the Kufan poets.) The verses call upon the eyes to overflow with tears and make them fall copiously. They should weep for the dead on the Banks of the Euphrates, whose heart was left broken.
* * *
At this point we should notice that there is a kind of lamentation poetry for al-Husayn which is not concerned with the expression of grief as is the case in the rest of lamentation poetry. It is in fact without any expression of grief. It is the kind of lamentation poetry for al-Husayn which could be termed a 'eulogy'. In it the poet does not express his grief and sadness. He only speaks of the virtues and qualities of al-Husayn and the Holy Family in facing the wicked actions of their enemies. This kind of poetry is usually artistically weak and is lacking in any beauty.
2. Nature's Grief
This is an extension of human grief. Frequently a poet makes nature a partner in his grief. Or he may regard the momentous tragedy as not so much a human catastrophe as a cosmic one. For this reason the material world trembles at the terrible tragedy which has befallen al-Husayn, his family and his followers. The poet sees grief in the earth, in the sky, in the mountains and in the seas. He questions them and holds a dialogue with them about the disaster. When he sees that they continue as they were, he is surprised and amazed that the mountains have not split asunder, that the earth has not swallowed up its inhabitants, that the seas have not sunk into the earth. That the stars have not fallen like meteorites on the criminals.
Sulayman ibn Qatta (d. 125) gives expression to some of these sentiments in the poem where he describes how he passed the houses of the family of Muhammad. On the day of the tragedy he had never seen anything like it. The sun had become sick because of the killing of al-Husayn, and the land trembled.
Muhammad ibn Idris al-Shafi'i expresses similar ideas in his poem where he says: 'The world shook for the family of Muhammad. Solid mountains almost melted for them. The stars sank down and constellations quavered. Veils were rent and caves split open.
Abu al-Firas al-Hamdam (320 357) described in another poem how the sun changed, on the day it happened, and the clouds wept blood because of what they had seen.
Some of the poets make the animal world behave like the material world. A poet may consider that the animals in the desert sand the forests are sad and sorrowful, perhaps even weeping.
3. The Grief of the Angels and the Jinn
Another of the cosmic manifestations of grief for al-Husayn is the picture given by lamentation poetry of the grief of the angel and the jinn. An example of that can be cited from the poetry of al-Sanawburi (d. 334). The poet declares that jinn, man and the noble angels all weep, without exception, at the limbs dyed red with his blood.
4. The Virtues of the Holy Family
i. Their Personal Virtues
The poets of lamentation poetry demonstrate the noble natures of the Holy Family, their self-sacrifice, their knowledge of the Islamic way of life (sharia), their clemency and forgiveness towards those who wronged them and attacked them, and their bravery and skill. In his exposition of their great courage, a poet will indicate that the courage of al-Husayn, his family and his followers was such that it would ensure the defeat of the enemy army unless God had decreed otherwise.
This theme of the personal virtues of the Holy Family, alongside their other virtues, is one of the most frequently occurring themes in the lamentation poetry for al-Husayn.
ii. Their Religious Virtues
On this subject, the poet reviews the honour God has bestowed upon them in the Qur 'an, their great knowledge of the Islamic way of life (sharia), the fact that they are the true successors of the Apostle of God, the designation made on 'Ali at al-Ghadir and the other texts referring to them, the Tradition of the Apostle about the two weighty things he was leaving as guides to the umma after his death (the Qur'an and his family), the way that they were wronged by being denied the caliphate. All these ideas, and others like them, are also frequently occurring themes in lamentation poetry.
iii. Their Family Background as Direct Descendants of the Apostle of God
The Shi'a of the Holy Family lay great emphasis on this unique quality which the Imams of the Holy Family enjoy, with all that it entails in terms of sanctity, respect and rights of inheritance.
The poets who supported the Holy Family made this a basic theme of all the poetry which they composed, whether in praise of or in lament for the Holy Family. They were aware that kinship was, and still is, a most important influence providing a moral power to a relative, especially in early Islamic society.
The argument of kinship was used at the meeting held in the hall of the Banu Sa'ida by the Ansar after the Prophet's death against their aspirations to succeed the Apostle of God in the political dispute which took place between the Ansar and the emigrants of the Quraysh about who had the right to succession after the Apostle of God. The spokesman of Quraysh argued: 'Who can dispute our right to the authority of Muhammad while we are his next of kin and his tribe.'
Imam 'Ali ibn Abi Talib has made the bitter comment on what took place at the hall of the Banu Sa'ida, that since Quraysh had argued that they were closer in kinship to the Apostle of God than the Ansar and therefore had more right to succession, it was more fitting for them to hand over power to the Hashimites as they were closer in kinship to the Apostle of God than the rest of Quraysh.
In the general view, this aspect of close relationship used to be a strong argument in support of the demand of the Shi'a of the Holy Family that the government should be handed over to their Imams. For this reason it was one of the basic intellectual, political and legal preoccupation of the Umayyad regime, and after them the 'Abbasid regime. It appears that the Umayyads in Syria took refuge in creating a general impression with the people that the Prophet had no other kin than them. The words of the Syrian delegation to Abu al-'Abbas al-Saffah (the first 'Abbasid caliph) after the fall of the Umayyad regime indicate that, for they swore that they did not know that the Prophet had any other kin than the Umayyads.
Sometimes the Umayyads used storytellers, whom they frequent- ly employed, to accomplish this aim. They were, also, anxious to follow a policy of isolating the Syrians from contact with any outside cultural influence.
Outside Syria, the Umayyad regime, and afterwards the 'Abbasid regime, strove in another way, namely culturally on the basis of jurisprudence and relationship. Both regimes concentrated on the argument that the son of the daughter was not a direct descendant, and that therefore al-Hasan, al-Husayn and the Imams who were descendants of al-Husayn were not direct descendants of the Apostle of God. An example of the attempts in the Umayyad period is a violent dispute between al-Hajjaj al-Thaqaff and Yahya ibn Yatmur al-'Adawani al-Basri (d. 128). In it al-Hajjaj denied that al-Hasan and al-Husayn were direct descendants of the Apostle of God. He tried to produce evidence for that from the Qur 'an. Yahya ibn Yamur put forward the Qur 'anic proof that the son of the daughter was a direct descendant. This was when God counted Jesus as among the progeny of Abraham with the words: 'We gave him Issac and Jacob, each of whom We guided. And before We guided Noah, and among his progeny, David, Soloman, Job, Joseph, Moses and Aaron. Thus do we reward those who do good. And Zakariya, John and Jesus... [22] There is a much greater distance between Jesus and Abraham than there is between al-Hasan and al-Husayn and Muhammad.
The 'Abbasids too, were unable to distort the true nature of the family background of the 'Alids. At the same time they were also exposed to great danger from this family claim of the 'Alids, for we can observe that the descendants from the line of al-Hasan strove unceasingly to raise difficulties for them. For this reason, the 'Abbasids concentrated on trying to repudiate the 'Alid claim that they were more closely related to the Apostle of God, and therefore had more right to the caliphate than the 'Abbasids. The 'Abbasids maintained this by arguing, with regard to the problem of the son of the daughter and the paternal uncle and the sons of the paternal uncle, that the sons of the daughter were not direct descendants and had no right to inheritance, whereas the paternal uncle had closer kinship than the son of the daughter and more right to inheritance. Thus they aimed to put 'Ali ibn Abi Talib and his progeny outside the law because the Prophet died while his paternal uncle, al-'Abbas, was still alive.
In this way the problem was given a legal dimension.
The 'Abbasids intimated to the poet, Marwan ibn Abi Hafsa who was an anti-'Alid who hated the Holy Family that he should introduce this argument into his poetry. He composed an ode in which he maintained that it was not right that the sons of daughters could be heirs before paternal uncles. [23]
The problem had now become a subject of heated poetic controversy. It raised a storm of reactions from the poets of the Shi'a. They reviled the 'Abbasids through Nathala, wife of al-'Abbas, in order to show the difference between her and the mother of the 'Alids, the Lady Fatima, the fair. They brought up the subject of the way al-'Abbas became a Muslim and the fact that he was among those who embraced Islam only at the conquest of Mecca by the Prophet.
One of the poets who replied in this way was Jafar ibn'Affan al-Ta'i (d.c. 150). He pointed out in one of his poems that the daughter received half of the inheritance while the uncle was left without any share. In any case a late convert such as 'Abbas had no right to any inheritance as he only prayed as a Muslim out of fear of the sword.
Al-Shaykh al-Saduq has reported in his book, 'Uyun Akhbar al-Rida, that a group of men came to visit Imam 'Ali al-Rida. They saw that he had become changed and they asked him why. He replied: 'I have spent the night awake thinking about the words of Marwan ibn Hafsa'-he recited the verse previously mentioned- 'and then I fell asleep. Then I saw a man who had taken hold of the door-post while he was reciting verses.'
In these verses quoted by Imam 'Ali Rida, the poet in his dream declared that polytheists did not have the rights of those who had been supporters of Islam. The sons of the daughter did have a share in inheritance from their grandfather but the paternal uncle was left without any. A late convert such as al-'Abbas had no right to any inheritance as he only prostrated himself as a Muslim out of fear of the sword. The Qur'an has told of his true merit and judgement has been passed against him. The son of Fatima, who is extolled by his name, possesses the right of inheritance to the exclusion of the sons of paternal uncles. The son of Nathala remains standing hesitantly and weeps while the true kindred are happy.
It appears that the 'Abbasids went to extremes in their attempt to distort the reputation of the 'Alids and undermine their family background. They, even, used poetry against them, something which had never happened in Islam. The first to do this was the 'Abbasid prince, 'Abd Allah ibn al-Mu'taz (244 296). [24] Almost a century later, in the fourth century of the hijra, he was followed by the 'Abbasid Muhammad ibn 'Abd Allah, who is known as Ibn Sakra. There must have been others beside these two who took part writing defamatory poetry against the 'Alids. This defama- tory poetry was, however, met by storm of protest from the poets of the Shi'a, who matched it with verses in which they lampooned the 'Abbasids and extolled the virtues of the Holy Family.
Among the replies made to Ibn Muttazz are the poems of al-Qadial-Tannukhi (d. 342), Tamim ibn Ma'ad al-Fatimi (d. 374), Saft al-Din al-Hilli (677-752). It seems that the poets of the Shi'a did not dare to reply to Ibn al-Mu'tazz during the period of 'Abbasid strength and power. The replies which have come down to us are much later than the time of Ibn al-Mu'tazz, since the earliest of them is al-Qadi al-Tannukhi who died half a century later than Ibn Muttazz.
The Shi'ite poet, al-Husayn ibn al-Hajjaj (d. 391) wrote replies to the 'Abbasid Ibn Sakra.
* * *
We have devoted some space to the discussion of the problem of kinship and family background in order to explain the emphasis which the Shi'ite poets gave to the Holy Family in their poems of praise and lament. Indeed the relationship was subjected to Umayyad and 'Abbasid attempts which aimed at belittling this importance, or even at rooting out its importance by denying the evidence for the great significance of kinship and its legal and political implications. Therefore the Shi'ite poets directed themselves to making it a reality in the general consciousness of the umma by causing every contrary attempt to be doomed to failure. They were given the greatest possible success in that.
5. The Human Enemies of the Revolution
Mention is frequently made in the lamentation poetry for al-Husayn of the group of people or individuals who had some role in the revolution, whether at the beginning, during the actual events or in the course of its consequences.
i. The Muslims
When Muslims are mentioned in the poetry of lament for al-Husayn in terms of blame, it means the supporters and friends of the Umayyad regime. These are described as traitors to their faith and their religious duty; they are rebels against God. They are regarded as men who abandoned giving support to what they believed to be true because they preferred the world and its ornaments. They are considered to be men who broke faith with the Apostle of God by not safeguarding him through his offspring. Sometimes the poet accuses them in terms of the law by considering them as men who have disobeyed their religious obligations. At other times he accuses them in moral terms by describing their treachery, their lack of trustworthiness and their disloyalty. [25]
ii. The Kufans and the Iraqis
These are regarded as the Muslims most responsible for what happened. They wrote to al-Husayn asking him to come and promising to support him. They reneged on their promises. Yet they did not limit this to breach of faith and desertion. Some of them, including most of their leaders, actually stood alongside the Umayyad oppressors despite the letters which they were involved in writing to ask al-Husayn to come to them. Verses by Tala'i' ibn Zurayk show this. He describes how when the tribes of Iraq summoned al-Husayn, he answered them. Yet when he summoned them, they did not listen. Hypocrisy was spread among them at Karbala' when they had claimed to belong to the Shi'a. May God punish them for what they did.
iii. The Umayyads
These are considered the real criminals who were directly responsible. At their head come Mu'awiya and his son, Yazid. Other attacks on the Holy Family which took place during the Umayyad period are mentioned and the Umayyads take the blame.
iv. Other men and Women
In particular the poets mention Hind, the mother of Mu'awiya, Summayya, the grandmother of 'Ubayd Allah ibn Ziyad, among other women through whom the Umayyads and their followers may be cursed. Ziyad and his son, 'Ubayd Allah are mentioned together with Umar ibn Sa'd and Shimr ibn Dhi Jawshan as being, with Yazid, the worst criminals at Karbala '.
6. The Women of the Holy Family
Another theme of the lamentation poetry are the women of the Holy Family. The Lady Fatima, the fair, is frequently mentioned and consoled for the death of al-Husayn when the dreadful events are described.
Zaynab is mentioned: her state on the journey; her state at Karbala '; her conversations with al-Husayn and al-'Abbas, or with her nephews, 'Ali al-Akbar and 'Ali Zayn al-'Abidin, or with her sister, Umm Kulthum, or with her niece, Sakma. Her circumstances when they were taken prisoner are mentioned and the words she spoke to Shimr,'Umar ibn Sa'd, Ibn Ziyad and Yazid ibn Mutawiya, or to the Umayyad soldiers generally.
Sakina, the daughter of al-Husayn, is remembered in scenes with her father, Imam al-Husayn, before his death and in a pathetic scene after his death on the battlefield, and also in conversation with Shimr.
Al-Rabab, the wife of Imam al-Husayn, is particularly mentioned veen her child, 'Abd Allah, is discussed. This element concerned with the women of the Holy Family in lamentation poetry is not only presented for its own sake. It is also presented as one of the elements which raise emotions. When it is mentioned for its own sake, the women are presented as a group and not as individuals. This happens when the 'daughters of the Apostle of God' are humiliated by the Umayyads or the Kufans or the Muslims. Some of the scenes of battle are dealt with in this way especially, like the burning of the tents and the women and children fleeing from the fire, or the plundering of al-Husayn's camp and family by the Umayyad soldiers, or becoming prisoners and the scene of the women and children being made to ride on emaciated camels without humps, or the scene of the heads raised on spears in the midst of the prisoners.
7. The Children and the Young Men of the Holy Family
The children of the Holy Family are seldom mentioned as an independent theme in the poetry, and even less frequently than that are the names of the children given. The exception is 'Abd Allah, the baby who was slaughtered, as he was in the lap of this father, Imam al-Husayn, by an arrow which was shot at him. The other children are rarely mentioned. An example of one being mentioned are the verses of al-Nashi ' al-Saghir Abu al-Hasan 'Ali ibn 'Abd Allah ibn al-Wasif (271-365). He describes little Fatima, whom grief has clothed in the garments of humiliation, calling to her grandfather, saying, 'Grandfather, after such a loss, we want revenge.'
The young men of the Holy Family are occasionally mentioned, in particular when there is a description of those of the Hashimite young men who were killed. The poets then bring out the most moving aspects about them: their beauty, their bravery, their thirst and their self-sacrifice.
The most frequently mentioned are al-' Abbas ibn 'Ali,' Ali al-Akbar ibn al-Husayn and al-Qasim ibn al-Hasan.
8. The Story of the Battle
The poets usually describe the battle which took place at Karbala ' in a general way but in some cases in great detail. In the poetry of some of the later poets of lamentation, the story is presented in the form of a dialogue which the poet recounts: 'He said . . . They replied . . . One man said . . . One woman said . . .' Sometimes it is presented in the form of a speech to the Apostle of God, 'O Grandfather . . .'
Some poets mention only the events without giving their more distant causes while others indicate the causal relations between the battle at Karbala' and the problem of the caliphate. They see the earlier mistake of depriving 'Ali of the caliphate as being responsible for forming the attitudes which finally led to the catastrophe at Karbala'.
9. Water and Thirst
Thirst is one of the basic themes of the poetry of lament for al-Husayn. The poets have given expression to it in several ways. They picture the sufferings from thirst of al-Husayn, the women, the children and the rest of the men. They turn their attention to the river Euphrates whose water is deprived to the Holy Family with various expressions of blame such as, 'How far off is your water, O Euphrates!'
Al-Sanawburi (d. 334) gives some examples of the treatment of water and thirst in lamentation poetry. He described al-Husayn being driven from the waters of the Euphrates as a misfortune which brought further misfortune. He was not able to drink from it while the swords drunk deep draughts of his blood. The poet asked the Euphrates why it had not helped when it gave water to wicked men and women to drink, Yet how many of the sons and daughters of Fatima had been kept away from it without having committed any crime.
10. Karbala :
The Bank of the Euphrates and the Graves Every ode of lamentation mentions Karbala ' or the Bank of the Euphrates. The name Karbala ' is associated in lamentation poetry with grief (karb) and misfortune (bala'). The poets frequently repeat this idea.
It appears that in the early poetry Karbala' was treated as an object to be blamed and cursed because it had witnessed the deaths of the Holy Family. We know of one example including such as a curse which is attributed to al-Rabab, the wife of the Imam. She calls to al-Husayn and declares that she had not forgotten when the swords of the enemies were directed against him and how they left him dead at Karbala'. Then she calls upon God not to water the banks of the river at Karbala'.
However, it appears that this attitude did not continue for long. The idea which becomes most repeated with regard to Karbala '-perhaps because of the reports which the Holy Family circulated among their followers-is that Karbala ' is blessed and sacred ground. In lamentation poetry, Karbala' became a beloved land because it contained the bodies of the holy loved ones. It became the practice of the poets of lamentation to speak of it with grief and love.
In poetry it then came to receive prayers for divine blessings and for God to water it. It is still, in some of the poetry, a place of grief (karb) and misfortune (bala'). Yet it is a grief which happened and its role has finished and a misfortune which took place and the people involved endured it. Now it has become a place of loved ones, an area of sad memories, a scene of legendary heroism, a place where the angels of God come down, and a site of divine blessings for those who are honoured by making pilgrimages to it.
Mansur al-Numayri (d. 190 or 193) wrote a poem in which he reported that time was attacking the son of Fatima in the soil of Karbala' while the traces of the abodes of the people sleeping in their graves were being destroyed. The poet calls for greetings and blessings to be upon that place and for God to send unceasing and hoped for rain upon it.
In another poem al-Sanawburi calls on the pilgrim to greet Karbala ' and not to be disgusted at such greeting but to speak as lovingly as he can. He calls upon him to greet the abodes whose outlines on the banks of the Euphrates have become well-known signs. They should be called the abodes of the Apostle of God and the fountain of messages. There should be the prayer for peace to be upon them for as long as the sun and moon rise over creation. The poet goes on to say that he stopped at the graves and spoke to them. Then he stopped at the best of them; pure grave which contained the purest of bones. The most fragrant breeze is for those whom it blows upon from the pure flowers on the hillside. Let rain fall upon the ground in the mornings and let rain not part from it in the evenings.
In another poem al-Sanawburi calls on the man urging his camel along to stop and not to move on from the bank of the Euphrates at Karbala'. It is the place where his desire has led him and he asks the camel-driver to share in his desire. The land on the bank of the Euphrates at Karbala' is the land which belongs to God and a land of guidance. He calls on everybody whether coming at night or in the morning to greet the bank of the Euphrates and its inhabitants in their graves.
The poet Muhammad ibn al-Husayn, known as Kashajim, (d.350 or 360) mentioned in one of his poems that the day was dark at Karbala'. Then it cleared of clouds while they lay slaughtered. The rain does not cease falling on that land and every sunrise reckons up its coming in the morning and in the night.
11. The Humiliation of Quraysh and the Humiliation of Islam and the Muslims
From the first century of the hijra, the poet of lamentation poetry for al-Husayn regarded the killing of al-Husayn and his family and followers as a humiliation of Islam and Muslims. On rare occasions the poet considers that the killing of al-Husayn has brought humiliation to Quraysh or to the Hashimites.
Abu Rumayh, Umayr ibn Malik al-Khuza'i (d.c. 100) wrote a poem in which he declared that clouds of tears were racing across his eyes. They would not dry up after the tears were shed until they flowed with tears again. They were weeping for the family of the Prophet Muhammad. How many were these tears, yet how few in view of what happened! Those people had not drawn their swords while their enemies killed them when they were drawn. The man from the Hashimites killed on the bank of the Euphrates was the most humiliated man of Quraysh and Quraysh were humiliated as well.
Perhaps this poet and other like him were giving expression to a tribal view of the subject and regarding what happened as a personal struggle. Soon, however, this misleading view gave way to the correct view of the subject. Throughout the Islamic era the poet of lamentation poetry has considered what happened as an Islamic concern, meaning Islam as a religion and the Muslims as an umma. What happened at Karbala ' was sacrilege against Islam and an act of aggression against Muslims.
When Abu al-Rumayh recited these verses, previously mentioned, to Fatima, daughter of al-Husayn and she heard the words,'. . . The most humiliated man of Quraysh and Quraysh were humiliated as well,' she said to him, 'Abu Rumayh, do you speak of it like that?' 'How should I speak of it, may God make me a ransom for you?' he asked. She replied, 'Say: . . . The most humiliated man of the Muslims and the Muslims were humiliated as well.' He is reported to have said that after that day he only recited verses in the way she told him.
The poet of lamentation considered that al-Husayn was a hope for Islam which had been extinguished when the Umayyads killed him. Therefore Muslims were humiliated by his death.
Abu al-Aswad al-Du 'ali (d. 69) had said: 'O conveyor of the news of the death of religion, who announces the death of piety, arise and announce his death and the death of his family ....'
Ja'far ibn'Affan (d. 150) had said: 'Let whoever can weep, weep for Islam. Its laws have been lost and misappropriated. In the morning al-Husayn was defiled by spears. Swords drunk from his blood and took a second draught.'
Mansur al-Numayri (d. 190 or 193) had said: 'I would have sacrificed my life for al-Husayn when he went out towards death never to return. That was a day which advanced with the sword against the summit of Islam ....'
12. The Meeting with the Apostle of God and the Holy Family
The poet of lamentation frequently asks the Umayyads directly, or he asks the killers (the Umayyad army), or he asks the umma (the helpers of the Umayyads): How will you meet the Apostle of God, 'Ali and Fatima on the Day of Resurrection? What will you answer when they ask you about your attitude towards their sons? How will you ask them to intercede for you with God when will you have done what you have done to their sons?
An example of that is the verses of Umm Luqman bint'Aqil ibn Abi, Talib. She said: 'What will you say if the Prophet asks you: What have you, the last umma, done with my offspring and my family after my death? Some of them are prisoners and some of them are stained with blood.'
Similarly Mansur al-Numayri has said in his verses: 'Woe upon the killer of al-Husayn, you have gained a burden which will make the one who carries it fall down. With what face will you meet the Prophet when you have become involved in killing al-Husayn? Will you ask for his intercession tomorrow or not? ....'
Another example of that is from the verses of al-Jurjan ial-Jawhari. He said: 'They were abashed before their father on a day that he saw them dripping dizzily with red blood. He will say: O umma what error surrounds? You have exchanged faith for the unbelief of the blind. What crime did I commit against you when I brought the good of the Qur'an?'
13. The Martyrs.
The martyrs who were killed at Karbala' with Imam al-Husayn are given special honour in lamentation poetry. Hardly any poem is without some mention and praise of them, sometimes for their religious conscience and at other times for their loyalty to the Prophet. In every case, the poet lays emphasis on their courage and their self-sacrifice by dying with the Imam.
Among the poets who mention them is 'Ubayd Allah ibn al-Hurr al-Ju'fi (d. 68). He calls upon God to let the rain fall constantly on the souls of those who set out to help al-Husayn. He describes himself standing at their graves while his stomach churns with grief and his eyes fill with tears. He swears by his life that they were heroes in the battle which they hurried to. Then he imagines how they consoled one another by helping the son of the daughter of the Prophet with their swords like fierce lions. If they were killed, every pious soul should have become shocked at that. No one has seen more excellent men than them; they were leaders and the flower of men in the face of death.
Talha ibn 'Ubayd Allah al-'Awni al-Misri (d. 350) also composed verses about them. He said: 'His close associates defended him and embraced the swords and spears. They were seventy against thousands and they were covered in wounds. Then they all were struck dead and met their fate.'
The emir Muhammad al-Susi (d. 370) described their heroism in some of his verses. He told of the man who brought the news of the death of a great man on the banks of the Euphrates. It was the news of the death of al-Husayn. The poet says that he wishes he could sacrifice his soul to alleviate how al-Husayn was surrounded by enemies. Yet he was with men who helped each other, comforted each other and fought the fiercest battle until they died.
14. The Hardship the Poets Faced because of their Allegiance
We find this phenomenon in the poetry in praise and in lamentation for the Holy Family from the first century of the hijra and it has continued to appear on the tongues of the poets until the beginnings of the modern period. It reflects the atmosphere of the terrorization which the Shi'a used to face from the authorities and groups of people who were fanatically opposed to them when the Shi'a tried to express their own doctrinal views.
We have given many examples of this kind of phenomenon in the poetry of praise and lamentation during the course of this discussion. Another example can be cited from the verses of al-Sharif al-Murtada. In these, the poet declares his love for the family of the Prophet and asserts that he will never turn aside from it even though men may blame him for it. He tells those who blame him for his love of the Holy Family that to be insincere is blameworthy. He tells them not to revile him with their errors, for he will never submit.
15. Support with the Tongue
Another of the themes of this poetry is the poet's view of his poetry of praise or lament as a support for the Holy Family with his tongue after he had not been able to help them with his hand because he had forsaken them and then regretted his action, or because his circumstances did not help him, or because he came at a later time than them.
An example of regret for forsaking al-Husayn in lamentation poetry is contained in the poem of Ubayd Allah ibn al-Hurr al-Ju'fr. He said: 'A treacherous commander and a treacherous son ask: 'Haven't you killed al-Husayn ibn Fatima?' My soul is full of blame because I deserted him and gave my pledge of allegiance to this man who breaks his covenant. O how I regret that I did not help him. No soul can make up that regret. I am full of grief because I was not one of his defenders. That will stay with me even if I leave.' Verses, which illustrate sorrow at not being with al-Husayn because circumstance did not help the situation, are those of al-'Awf al-Azdi, one of the repentant (tawwabun) who took part in the revolt to gain vengeance for the blood of al-Husayn: 'Would that I had been present with him at that time. I would have defended him by striking against his hateful enemies. I would have defended him for as long as I was able to fight. I would have used my sword against them.'
Mansur al-Numayri provides an example of a poet expressing regret that he lived too late to be of assistance. He wishes that he had been here with his hand on his sword. He would have offered himself to death against the swords and never forsaken al-Husayn and his family.
Al-Sharif al-Radi declares: 'Even though I was absent in time from supporting you with the sword, I have not been absent with my mouth.'
Al-Sharif al-Radi has another idea with regard to this theme in some of his poetry. He considers that the opportunity of supporting al-Husayn with the sword did not escape him because he lived too late to be at the Battle of Karbala '. He can help al-Husayn with the sword by taking vengeance for him and realizing the aims of his revolution. This is a matter which was still possible during his own time but obstacles and impediments prevented it from being attained. He hoped that these obstacles would be removed so that he could achieve his ambition. There is no doubt that al-Sharlf al-Rad is there alluding to his ambition to take control of the caliphate and make it an 'Alid caliphate instead of it continuing as an 'Abbasid one. He repeats this idea in a number of poems.
Most poets, throughout the ages, conclude their poems of lament by declaring that they are sorry that they missed the opportunity of giving support with their hand and are limited to giving support with their tongue.
This is an outline of the themes of the poetry of lament for al-Husayn. We have presented it in order to make both the scholar and the reader aware of the basic ideas in this vast poetic inheritance prior to the modern period.
V. THE VALUE OF THE POETRY ABOUT AL-HUSAYN
If we considered the poetry of lament for al-Husayn as an artistic work, we would come to a judgment about it which would differ from our judgment of it if we were considering it for its educational value.
The artistic value of the lamentation poetry for al-Husayn does not correspond in any absolute way with its vast size. While the poetry of the first three centuries includes many outstanding pieces, the situation is different from this from the third century onwards insofar as artificiality and weakness of expression began to prevail in this kind of poetry. Most of it lacks imagination and artistic expression. Much of it might be considered rhymed prose, as if the poet has put one of the books about the death of al-Husayn into rhyme with the addition of some books about the virtues of al-Husayn. Similarly much of it is identical in expressions and images.
This does not mean that during this long period there were not some excellent and outstanding works in the poetry of lament for al-Husayn. There is no doubt that the scholar will find many like the poems of lament by al-Sharif al-Radi and Mihyar al-Daylami. However, we are discussing the general impression of this poetry after the third century of the hijra until the beginnings of the modern period. There can be no doubt that its vast quantity in no way corresponds with its qualitative value as a work of art.
We consider that the responsibility for this weakness of quality in the artistic aspect of this poetry of lament for al-Husayn is due to a number of reasons
1. The first reason
During this period, this poetry came under the influence of the general cultural situation. The Arabic language had become weak; literature and the sciences had fallen into decay. The idea prevailed over men of culture that they should preserve the models of the ancients without them having the linguistic and artistic resources to enable them even to copy them. The language of poetry declined until the colloquial almost prevailed over it. During this period the poetry of lamentation was affected by the same tendencies which affected the rest of the poetry.
2. The second reason
Most of the poets of lamentation poetry for al-Husayn in this period, or at least many of them, were not poets at all; they were religious scholars or men trained in religious scholarship. Their poetic and artistic culture did not go beyond a knowledge of the poetic metres. Thus they were dealing with a subject which needed an artistic spirit which most of them lacked, and which needed an artistic culture which most of them lacked.
They used to compose poetry about al-Husayn with the motive of it being a work of piety. In this way you will not find any poem by them about any subject other than al-Husayn and the virtues of the Holy Family, seemingly written in response to the directives from the Imams of the Holy Family about writing poetry, which we discussed at the beginning of this chapter.
Many of these poets, then, did not have the artistic competence to compose a poetic work of art, even by the standards of the poets of their own age whose own poetry did not enjoy any real artistic value. We can, thus, assume that many of them were writing poetry in lamentation and praise of al-Husayn and the Holy Family with a mentality better attuned to writing about syntax, or grammar, or jurisprudence, or the other subjects which were put into rajez verse so widely during that period.
3. The third reason: The profusion of verses in lament for al-Husayn
In this long period which we are discussing in terms of the value of its lamentation poetry, there were many poets who had restricted their poetic composition to the subject of lament for al-Husayn and praise for the Holy Family and they did not go beyond that to anything else. There were poets who had written dozens of poems in lament for al-Husayn and dozens of poems in praise of the Commander of the faithful and the other Imams. There is no doubt that this profusion, when added to the weakness of poetic culture and the decline of the literary language at that period, was responsible for the artistic weakness of the poetry, both in form and content.
These, then, are the causes which we consider to have been responsible for the poor artistic value of the poetry of lamentation for al-Husayn during this long period.
We say this in the knowledge that we have only studied examples of each of the poets of this period, which we consider to be sufficient to make a judgment about the poetry of the poets which we have not been able to study. This has brought us to the view that a comprehensive study of all the lamentation poetry would lead a scholar to a similar judgment about the artistic benefit of lamentation poetry in this period.
However, the poetry of lament for al-Husayn throughout the ages is a subject rich in possibilities, which is suitable for a variety of types of research which could deal with it from the artistic aspect, for its historical evidence, and from the viewpoint of doctrine, psychology and sociology.
We have already given our estimation of the artistic aspect of lamentation poetry for al-Husayn. However, its educational value differs greatly from its artistic value. The educational value of the lamentation poetry for al-Husayn is real, important and of decisive influence.
This poetry continued its educational task of guidance which had been intended for it when the Imams of the Holy Family directed their Shi'a to compose and recite it.
Throughout the different Islamic epochs, it has shared with the other cultural currents, the pilgrimage (ziyara) and the rites of remembrance, in nourishing the Shi'ite individual with the basic concepts of the attitudes and great ideas of Shi'ism and in strengthening the relationship of the Shi'ite individual with the revolution of al-Husayn.
The weak artistic value of much of this poetry in the periods of Islamic decline did not affect its educational role. Perhaps, it even helped it to carry out its role with greater success. Most of this poetry was composed to be recited at the rites of remembrance for al-Husayn, which were attended by the ordinary people. These were, in most cases, illiterate and incapable, by virtue of their linguistic paucity and their own colloquial language, of understanding complicated artistic expressions and rhetorical images which needed an artistic culture which was not available to the vast majority of them. For this reason, simple speech close to their own colloquial language and with a musical beat was more in tune with their understanding and more influential on them.
Thus, this poetry-with its concepts, ideals and morals- became part of the culture of the ordinary Shi'ite individual and then part of his intellectual fabric. The rituals of 'Ashura' every year in the month Muharram and the gatherings for the rites of remembrance in other days during the year provided an opportunity for thousands of men and women to attend meetings in honour of al-Husayn and to hear the story of the battle and the history of Islam. Much of this poetry recited by the mourners was intermingled with all this. Then at a later period, the preachers from the pulpit for al-Husayn became involved with it as well.
The educational value of the lamentation poetry for al-Husayn was important in the past and it will continue to be so in the future for as long as there is the pulpit for al-Husayn. The techniques of modern equipment are the channels which take this poetry to the people and renew for them their relationship with the revolution of al- Husayn and its ideal. They fix it in their hearts and minds as a living symbol of the struggle to attain truth and justice and of martyrdom for the common good.
Footenotes:
[1]. One poet, Shaykh Ahmad al-Biladi, one of the poets of the twelfth century of the hijra, composed a thousand odes in lamentation of al-Husayn which he put into two large volumes, cf. Al-Amini in his Encyclopaedia. Shaykh Khali'i Jamal al-Din ibn 'Abd al-Aziz, one of the poets of the ninth century of the hijra, has a collection of poetry about Imam al-Husayn. I have come across the collection of Shaykh Hasan al-Datistani, one of the poets of the thirteenth century of the hijra, all of which is about the Battle of Karbala'. Shaykh Muhammad al-Shubaki, a poet of the twelfth century of the hijra, has a collection of poems in praise of the Prophet and his family and another in lament for them, which he named the Flood of Tears (Sayl al-' Ibarat) It contains fifty odes. I have an anthology (al-Muntakhab) by Muhi al-Din al-Turayhi, who died in the twelfth century of the hijra. In this book there are dozens of odes whose authors are unknown. Similarly there are hundreds of works about the martyrdom which tell the story of al-Husayn and provide poetic quotations which were composed to lament for him. There are collections of manuscripts in public and private collections in which there are hundreds of odes about al-Husayn, whose authors are unknown. Cf. Adab al-Taff, I, 18.
[2]. Shaykh al-Saduq, Muhammad b. 'Ali- ibn al-Husayn ibn Babawayh Abu Jafar al-Qummi, 'Uyun Akhbar al-Rida (Qumm, 1377), 1, 7.
[3]. Ibid.
[4]. It appears the rites of remembrance or al-Husayn had already reached an advanced stage at the time of Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq insofar as he named a special style of recitation.
[5]. Ibn Qawlawayh, op. Cit., 10v6.
[6]. Ibid.
[7]. Ibid, 79 80.
[8]. Al-Kulayni, Rawdat al-Kafi, Tradition no. 263.
[9]. Al-Kashshi, al Rijal, 181
[10]. Qur'an, XXII, 32.
[11]. Jawad Shubbar, Adab al-Taff, (Beirut, 1969),I, 101.
[12]. Ibid., I,179-180.
[13]. Abu al-Faraj al-Isfahani, Maqatil al-Talibiyyin, 122.
[14]. Ibn al-Athir, al-Kamil, 186-9.
[15]. Al-Sayyid, Muhsin Amin, A'yan al-Shi a, I, part II. 123.
[16]. Jawad Shubbar, op. Cit., 11, 278.
[17]. Ibid, II, 215.
[18]. Ibid, II, 274, 276, 284-5.
[19]. If we take into account a much later period than the period of the setting up ofthe 'Abbasid state, the idea of vengeance was still useful. It was a slogan which wasraised in some of the wars of expansion in order to attract the allegiance and support of some sectarian groups. Timurlung had conquered Damascus under the slogan of 'Vengeance for al-Husayn from the descendants of Yazid ibn Mu' awiya', meaning by that the people of Damascus. Cf. Muhammad Ja'far al-Muhajir, Hayrat al- Lubnaniyyin (unpublished M.A. Thesis. University of St. Joseph. Beirut), 48.
[20]. Perhaps the realisation by official cultural leadership in Islamic society at that time, of their general political influence over the authorities, was what made them examine every literary text carefully to find out its relationship with the intellectual attitude of the Imams of the Holy Family. In the same way as it was said that the author of a literary work was Shi'ite, it was also said of the literary work that there was 'the smell of Shi'ism' in it or that there was loathsome Shi'ism' in it, and other similar warnings. All these were intended to prevent ordinary man from coming into contact with this intellectual tendency.
[21]. It should be noticed that Ibn Hani speaks of al-Husayn as 'the best grandson of Muhammad'. It is clear that this arises out of al-Husayn being suitable-because he actually rose in rebellion-to be a subject for poetry which was of service to the political aims of the Fa,timids against the Umayyads and the 'Abbasids. It was also useful because the contemporary descendants of al-Husayn did not have any great political ambitions. On the other hand, Imam al-Hasan, because he did not actually rise in rebellion-was not suitable to be a subject for poetry which was in accord with actual political objectives. In addition to this, the descendants of al-Hasan were involved in revolution to get control of the government. Therefore to use them for moral support would have been inappropriate for the Fatimids since they wanted the government for themselves.
[22]. Qur 'an, VI,84-85.
[23]. Abd Allah ibn As'ad al-Yafi al-Tamimi, Mirat al- Janan wa-Ibrat al- Yaqzan (Hyderbad, 1337 A.H.) 1, 271-272.
[24]. Ibn al-Muttazz has been described as the most hostile person to the 'Alids in the umma in a piece of poetry which was compared on his failure to keep power against al-Muqtadir after having received the pledge of allegiance for the caliphate in 296. Ibn al-Athir, op. Cit., VIII, 17. The same author also comments (ibid., 18) on the pledge of allegiance to Ibn Mu'taz that one of the most surprising features of it was that al-Husayn ibn Hamdan, despite his strong Shi'ite attitude and his inclinations towards 'Ali and the Holy Family, strove to achieve the pledge of allegiance for Ibn al-Muttaz even though the latter was hostile towards 'Ali and extremely hostile to the 'Alids.
[25]. Cf. Jawad Shubbar, op. Cit., I, 192 which gives an example by Ja'far ibn 'Affan.
Chapter 4
Rites of Remembrance for al-Husayn
Table of Contents
FUNERAL AND REMEMBRANCE RITES FOR AL-HUSAYN HELD BY THE FAMILY AND SPONTANEOUSLY BY THE PEOPLE
Introduction
The Funeral and Remembrance Rites of the Family
At Karbala
In Damascus
iii. In Medina
The General Rites of Remembrance which Occurred Spontaneously
In Kufa
In Medina
THE PUBLIC RITES OF REMEMBRANCE FOR AL-HUSAYN
THE STAGES OF THE RITES OF REMEMBRANCE FOR AL-HUSAYN
The First Stage
The Second Stage
The Language of the Rites of Remembrance
Historical Accuracy
Poetry
The Virtues of the Holy Family
The Other Imams
Acts of Renunciation of the World
The Third Stage
THE PRESENT AND THOUGHTS ON THE FUTURE
I. FUNERAL AND REMEMBRANCE RITES FOR AL-HUSAYN HELD BY THE FAMILY AND SPONTANEOUSLY BY THE PEOPLE
1. Introduction
There is no doubt that the atrocities committed at Karbala' reached their brutal climax with the death of al-Husayn as a martyr in the afternoon of 10th Muharram in the year 61. It led to the performance of funeral and remembrance rites by the surviving family at Karbala' and in the houses of the Hashimites in Medina and elsewhere. The savage execution of vengeance, as represented by taking the families of the martyrs into captivity, among them were the 'Alid women, by driving the column of prisoners from Karbala' to Kufa, and then from Kufa to Syria, and by accompanying them with the heads of the martyrs, carried on spears and hung round the necks of horse, including the head of Imam al-Husayn ... This savage execution of vengeance led to spontaneous funeral and remembrance rites being performed in the towns and among other groups of people, through which the procession of prisoners and heads passed, as the inhabitants gathered, whether drawn to find out about it by curiosity or drawn to meet it by earlier information about the nature of the procession which was coming. When the people met the procession of prisoners, words would be exchanged and some of the Holy Family would make speeches which would arouse great sorrow and cause much weeping.
2. The Funeral and Remembrance Rites of the Family
i. At Karbala
There is no doubt that Karbala' witnessed the first funeral and remembrance for al-Husayn which took place immediately after his martyrdom. These must have been rites which were predominantly of a family nature, made up of the women and young girls from the family of 'Ali, wives, daughters and sisters of Imam al-Husayn and the Hashimites from the Talibid part of the family, who had been martyred with him. In the nature of the situation, they would also have been joined by the wives of the martyrs who were not Hashimites. However, the latter's numbers appear small in proportion to the number of 'Alid women. [1]
We consider that these funeral and remembrance rites occupied a relatively long time. As far as we can estimate, they began after the death of al-Husayn as a martyr after mid-day on 10th Muharram, continued throughout the night and ended in a distressing way in the afternoon of 11th Muharram. That was when the leaders of the Umayyad army gave the orders for the long sad journey to Syria and prepared the camels to carry the prisoners.
The hearts of those grief-stricken women and girls must have been torn asunder with torment and distress. They were being told to depart and leave behind the bodies of their beloved and blessed dead which had been thrown on the sand without being buried.
'Umar ibn Sa'd had buried his own dead but he showed no concern about burying the martyrs. On the contrary, he ordered that the body of al-Husayn should be trampled on by horses' hooves.
For this reason, we are inclined to accept the reports which tell of some of the soldiers and leaders in the Umayyad army using violence to separate some of the women from the bodies of their dead. Among these is the report about Sakina, daughter of Imam al-Husayn. She had embraced the body of her father and would not leave it until a number of bedouin Arabs gathered round her and pulled her away from it. [2] Indeed we are inclined to accept the general evidence for these kinds of reports because the nature of things seems to require the reality of what they tell.
We consider that these funeral and remembrance rites were held, for the most part, in the open air on the field of battle (after the burning of the tents) [3] under the sun as it shone over them for the rest of 10th Muharram, then under the frail light of the stars of that night which was weighed down by the grief of those women whose hearts were overflowing with torment and distress. The
Hashimite women and the others must have been tormented with worry about the begrimed bodies of the martyrs in the sand as they mourned and wept for them. We think that the greatest mour- ning must have taken place around the body of al-Husayn.
These were certainly funeral and remembrance rites which took place in the most degrading and distressing situation, from which rose the quivering keening of these women, far from home with their children. They were thirsty, hungry and terrified at the sight of their husbands, sons, fathers and brothers Iying dead.
ii. In Damascus
The hails of the palace of al-Khadra' in Syria witnessed the second occasion for the family's rites of remembrance. It would have been appropriate if Syria had witnessed general spontaneous rites of remembrance as occurred in Kufa when the party of prisoners arrived there. However, we only consider what took place in Syria to have been private family rites of remembrance. As we see it, there were no general rites of remembrance in Syria because of the difference in the relationship with the Holy Family between the Kufans and the Syrians. The Kufans had lived side by side with Imam 'Ali and his sons for several years during the period when Imam 'Ali was the caliph in Kufa which was the capital of the state during his period in office. Later the leaders of Kufa had sent to Imam al-Husayn asking him to come and promising to give him support.
On the other hand, the Syrians had no direct contact with the Holy Family. Perhaps, they were not aware of their existence as a result of the policy of isolation which Mu'awiya had imposed on them so that they should not be influenced by the culture of the Iraqis or anyone else in this matter. [4] It seems that, at that time, the coming of the prisoners did not arouse any sadness in the hearts of the Syrian people, nor did the Syrians show any concern. Some of the sources, even, say that the occasion was made into a festival in Damascus, perhaps under the slogan that some of the enemies of the state from the Kharijites had been killed.
Yet even though the coming of the column of prisoners and the heads to Syria did not arouse any rites of remembrance to fill the streets and public squares as had happened in Kufa, great rites of remembrance were held in the halls of the palaces of the caliphate in Damascus which were made up of women from the family of 'Ali and women of the Umayyad family.
iii. In Medina
Shaykh al-Mufid has reported in Irshad that Yazid ibn Muawiya despatched'Abd al-Malik ibn Abi al-Harith al-Sulami to Medina to take the news of the death of al-Husayn to his governor there. 'Abd al-Malik reported: 'When I went to 'Amr b. Sa'd, he asked, "What is your news?" "Something which will please the governor," I replied. "Al-Husayn ibn 'Ali has been killed." He ordered me to go out and announce the news of his death. I announced it and I have never heard such wailing of the Hashimites in the houses for al-Husayn ibn 'Ali when they heard the announcement of his death.'
There is no doubt that when the men and women of the Talibid family learnt of the end of al-Husayn and his family at Karbala ', they held rites of remembrance in their houses, in the streets and in the public squares as the reports suggest.
Umm Luqman Zaynab bint 'Aqil ibn Abi Talib came out with her sister when she heard the news of the death of al-Husayn to weep for their dead on the Bank of the Euphrates. She was reciting:
'What will you say if the Prophet asks you: "What have you, the last umma, done With my offspring and my family after I left them? Some of them are prisoners and some of them lie killed, stained with blood. What sort of reward to me is this after I had advised you, that you should oppose me by doing evil to my family?'
After the arrival of the news of the dreadful event in Medina, the Talibids began rites of remembrance which continued and reached their climax with the arrival of the sad party in Medina.
There were rites of remembrance which were carried out by the men and there were rites of remembrance which were carried out by the women.
The men and women of Medina must also have attended these rites of remembrance, consoling, indignant and showing how they shared with the Talibids in their painful tragedy.
We consider that the rites of remembrance held by the men used to begin with expressions of condolence After that the stories of the battle and its circumstances would be told. These stories would be full of cries for vengeance against the Umayyads and their followers. History has preserved for us a picture of rites of remembrance held by men. These were the rites of remembrance for 'Abd Allah ibn Ja'far.
The rites of remembrance of the women would have been more heated and emotional as is the nature of the case. Some of them would have been held in the houses and some would have been held in the cemetery of al-Baqi'. The Medinan women would have attended these rites of remembrances Perhaps, even some of the men attended them as well, as may be deduced from some reports. In our view the rites of remembrance of the Talibid women would have included an account of the battle in emotional language and an explanation of the great virtues of the martyrs. That would be permeated with a wailing kind of poetry. It may also have been accompanied by the beating of faee and breasts.
We believe that the rites of remembrance for al-Husayn carried out by women have preserved their basic characteristics through the ages. No change worth mentioning has been introduced into them other than the language of the wailing kind of poetry and of the story of the battle. Certainly this language has changed insofar as it was classical and it has become colloquial or almost colloquial.
History has preserved a picture of some of these family rites of remembrance held by the women:
'Umm Banin-and she is Fatima bint Hizam al-Kilabiyya, the mother of al-'Abbas and his brothers, Abd Allah, Ja'far and 'Uthman, who were killed with their brother, al-Husayn on the Day of 'Ashura'_used to go every day to the cemetery of al-Baqi', carrying ' Ubayd Allah, the child of her son, al-'Abbas. She would mourn for her four sons with the deepest and most tormented grief. The people would gather and listen to her grieving. Marwan ibn al-Hakam used to come with those who came for that purpose and he would continue to listen to her grief as he wept.' [5]
Then there were the rites of remembrance of al-Rabab, the wife of al-Husayn. However the greatest of the family rites of remembrance held by the women was undoubtedly the rites which Zaynab, daughter of 'Ali, held. They were solemn rites under the leadership of Zaynab. These rites and the anti-Umayyad reactions they generated in Medina prompted the governor of Medina, 'Amr ibn Satld ibn al-'As to write to Yazid ibn Mu'awiya: 'The presence of Zaynab among the people of Medina is inflAminatory. She is eloquent, clever, intelligent. She and those with her are determined to take vengeance for the death of al-Husayn.'
This led to her being taken away from Medina and sent to Egypt where she died on 14th Rajab in the year 62.
3. The General Rites of Remembrance which Occurred Spontaneously
We mean by the rites of remembrance which occurred spon- taneously, those gatherings which took place as the column of prisoners and heads passed through the towns and scattered groups of people on its journey from Karbala ' to Kufa, then to Syria, and from there to Medina where the greatest of the spontaneous rites of remembrance was held. In our view, these rites of remembrance took place in many of the places inhabited by people who recognised the postion of the Holy Family in Islam and had been Abie to get to know something of what had taken place at Karbala'. We will mention here two outstanding examples of these rites of remembrance. They were the rites of remembrance which took place in Kufa while the prisoners were about to set out for Syria and those which took place in Medina at the end of the journey of the revolution after the return of the rest of the Prophet's family from Karbala'.
i. In Kufa
When the column of prisoners with the heads of the martyrs arrived in Kufa they were met by what could now be termed 'a popular reception'.
Throughout the weeks of tribulation Kufa had been living on its nerves. The beginning had been represented by Muslim ibn' Aqil with his extraordinary success and then his dreadful end. It had watched the army being despatched to Karbala'. It had suffered the pains and oppression of the martial law which dominated it during the weeks of tribulation. Now it had to come to see the result of the treachery by its leaders, the desertion by its inhabitants and the tyranny of its rulers.
Kufa met the women of the Prophet's family who expressed their bitterness and their misfortune in speeches which they addressed to the groups of people who had come to meet them. Imam Zayn al-'Abidin 'Ali ibn al-Husayn spoke to them in a similar way.
The historians have described the effect which these speeches had on the people. They have mentioned the effect of the speech of Imam'Ali ibn al-Husayn: '... The voices of the people were raised in weeping from every side. Some were saying to others "You have been destroyed while you did not understand."'
As for the effect of the speech of Zaynab, they have reported: 'Someone who heard it said: "By God, I have never seen a diffident lady speak more eloquently than her. It was as if she had borrowed the tongue of the Commander of the faithful, 'Ali ibn Abi Talib. By God, she had not finished speaking before the people were in a turmoil of weeping. They became utterly distracted with grief and dropped whatever they were holding at the horror of this black tribulation."'
The historians report about the effect of Umm Kulthum's speech with the words: 'The people were in a turmoil of weeping and lamentation. The women loosened their hair and covered their faces with dust. They scratched their faces and struck their cheeks. They prayed for woe and destruction. The men wept. I have never seen more men and women weeping than I saw on that day.'
Of the effect of the speech of the young Fatima, they said, '... A little before the end of her speech, the Kufans raised their voices in weeping and lamentation. They said: "Enough, O Daughter of the best of men. Our hearts have become enflamed and our bodies have been set on fire." So she fell silent.'
ii. In Medina
When the sad party of the Holy Family were approaching the hills of Medina, Imam Zayn al-'Abidin asked Bashir to go ahead into Medina to announce al-Husayn's death and tell the people of the arrival of the Holy Family. Bashir reported: 'I mounted my horse and galloped into Medina. When I reached the Mosque of the Prophet, I raised my voice and recited: "People of Medina, you have no replacement there now that al-Husayn has been killed. So weep profusely. His body was dyed red with blood at Karbala ' and his head was swung around on the shaft of a spear. Here is coming 'Ali ibn al-Husayn with his aunts and sisters. They have reached your suburbs and have stopped there. I am his messenger to you to tell you where he is."'
Medina already knew about what had happened at Karbala' after 'Ubayd Allah ibn Ziyad's messenger brought the news. The family rites of remembrance had been going on in the houses of the Talibid family which were full of people bringing their condolences and discussing the news of Karbala'. Here was what was left of the slaughter of Karbala' by the Umayyad sword, returning to their home draped in the cloth of sadness, with bleeding hearts and tearful eyes.
Bashir ibn Jadhlam described the scene:
'There was not a woman who normally stayed in seclusion nor a woman who kept herself veiled who did not show her face as they were all calling for woe and affliction. Everybody in Medina came out making a great turmoil of weeping. I have never seen more people weeping than I saw on that day. Nor have I seen a more bitter day for the Muslims than it except for the death of the Apostle of God.'
Bashir ibn Jadhlam continued:
'I whipped my horses and began to return. I found that the people were already taking to the roads and streets ... 'Ali ibn al-Husayn was entering ... He had come holding a cloth with which he wiped away his tears. Behind him, his servant had a chair which he put down for him. He sat down upon it while still not being able to control his tears. On all sides the voices of the people were raised in weeping as they tried to console him. The place was in a great turmoil. He made a sign with his hand for them to be quiet and their uproar subsided. Then he made an emotional speech to them. Then he went into Medina ...'
In this way the whole of Medina was transformed, after the arrival of the Holy Family from Karbala', into one great rite of remembrance which was nourished with emotional agitation by the very centre of sadness and tragedy, the houses of the Talibid family, with the family of Imam al-Husayn at their fore. This transformed their family rites of remembrance into the greatest lamentations.
These spontaneous and overflowing rites of remembrance, which were held in Kufa and Medina and at the stopping-places along the route in the journey of return from Karbala ', carry within them the seeds of the public rites of remembrance as an institution. This is so because those who participated in them only did so as people involved in the problem who claimed that the cause of al-Husayn was Islamic, not something which only belonged especially to one family, that is the Hashimites and the Talibids. Perhaps, even the family rites of remembrance performed at Karbala', Damascus and Medina also participated, in some way, in preparing the atmosphere appropriate for the growth of the foundation of the concept of the public rites of remembrance.
II. THE PUBLIC RITES OF REMEMBRANCE FOR AL-HUSAYN
The revolution of al-Husayn was a tremendous event which sent a convulsion through the whole of Islamic society, breaking down the false calmness and the silence which had wrapped itself around it. It made Islamic society think again about its view of many of its political conventions and it gave rise to a movement of self- criticism which was awakened in men's consciences.
The soldiers returned to their towns and their tribes with the news of the horror, which they had seen and helped to commit, and of the terrible end that came to revolutionaries. Along the roads from Karbala' to Kufa, Syria and Medina, the people saw the column of prisoners and the heads of the martyrs. They were affected emotionally by the spontaneous rites of remembrance and those of the family which took place at different places.
The spontaneous effect of the revolution, together with the profound grief and extreme distress which it aroused, must have given the people, who knew about what happened, an excuse for gathering together, a subject of conversation, and an incentive to re-examine their attitudes and opinions and to review their position with regard to the whole system. What had happened was on such a great scale and of such importance that it was impossible to ignore it. What had happened was an Islamic revolution, in which many of the men, who led it and were martyred in it, were at the very peak of Islamic society, the foremost of them being Imam al-Husayn.
The gatherings of people, which the emotional effect of the tragedy and the effect of the rites of remembrance, whether of the family or spontaneous, brought about, are, in our view, the core from which the rites of remembrance for al-Husayn as an institution began and developed during the course of history.
The remembrance rites for al-Husayn began immediately after the end of the revolution and news of it had spread in Islamic society. They began, however, in a spontaneous and simple way.
Small groups of indignant Muslims, both followers of the Holy Family and others, used to hold meetings in a house of one of them, in a mosque, in a street, or in an open square. They would speak about al-Husayn, his followers and his family and what had happened to them; they would criticise the authorities who had attacked him and their legal extension as represented by the governor in the area; they would renounce them; and sometimes they would recite some poetry of lament which had been composed about the revolution, its hero and its dead.
Through the ages, these rites of remembrance developed and passed through various stages until they reached the present form in which they are held today. We will examine these stages later. For the present, we want to explain the factors which led to these spontaneous gatherings being transformed into a cultural and sociological institution which has incomparable influence, namely the rites of remembrance for al-Husayn.
In our opinion, the Imams of the Holy Family are the ones who induced these spontaneous gatherings to go in this direction and change into an institution with customs and traditional practices.
* * *
The earliest sources, which we believe prompted these groupings to become the cultural institution of the rites of remembrance for al-Husayn, refer to a very early period after the revolution, I mean after the month of Muharram in the year 61.
These texts have been reported from Imam 'Ali ibn al-Husayn Zayn al-'Abidin (38-95). He had been present in the revolution with his father, Imam al-Husayn, from its beginning until its terrible end and he had tasted the bitterness of being taken prisoner with his aunts and sisters and the other women of the Holy Family.
In these texts Imam Zayn al-'Abidin explains the reward to be gained by anyone who wept for the tragic fate of al-Husayn. One such text is the following:
Whatever believers eyes shed tears for the death of al-Husayn until they flow over his cheeks, will be provided by God, as a consequence, with rooms in Paradise which he will inhabit for a long time. Whatever believers eyes shed tears until they flow over his cheeks because of the grievous harm inflicted upon us by our enemies in this world, will be provided by God, as a consequence, with a true abode in Paradise. [6]
We consider that this explanation, and others like it, gave a specific direction to these spontaneous gatherings which were being held after the end of the revolution. This direction was based on the following idea: A constant reason for these gatherings would be easily achieved when there was a special meeting to discuss and study a tragedy which was overflowing with reasons for weeping. [7]
* * *
In the time of Imam Abu Ja'far Muhammad al-Baqir, the son of Imam Zayn al-'Abidin (57-114 or 117), who was present at Karbala' with his father when he was four years old, he issued a directive which gave a definite form to keeping the memory of al-Husayn alive at an appointed time each year, 10th Muharram, the first month in the Islamic lunar calendar.
This form consisted of two practices: (a) The pilgrimage (ziyara) should be made to al-Husayn on the day of 'Ashura' for those whose houses were near the grave of al-Husayn; otherwise pilgrimage rites should be held at home for those who lived 'so far away that they could not make the journey there on that day.' (b) People should gather together and weep.
Imam al-Baqir said in connection with the man who is too far away to make the pilgrimage:
Then let him mourn and weep for al-Husayn. Let him order those in his house to weep for him. Let him celebrate the tragedy in his house by showing anguish for him. Let people meet together to weep in their houses for al-Husayn. Let them console each other for what befell al-Husayn ibn 'Ali.
Malik al-Juhm asked him, 'How should they console each other?' He answered:
Let them say:
May god increase our rewards as a result of what has befallen us through al-Husayns sufferings. May God make both you and us men who seek vengeance for him together with His great saint (wali), the Imam, the Mahdi from the family of Muhammad. [8]
We are here faced with a clear directive for a gathering which was aimed at a defined objective, namely to keep the memory of al-Husayn alive. It has also been given a personal dimension with the words ... 'May God increase our rewards.' Thus the tragedy of al-Husayn is not just the special concern of his family. It is something of general concern which is connected with everyone who loves the Holy Family.
Here, we should draw attention to the directive made about what the man who is far away from Karbala ' on the Day of 'Ashura ' should do. It indicates he should provide himself with a substitute ritual for what was taking place at the grave of al-Husayn on the Day of 'Ashura'. In the time of Imam al-Baqir, the great rites of remembrance were held at the grave of al-Husayn in the way which has been recorded in the directive. Those who were unable to come to Karbala' held their own rites of remembrance in their houses and in their quarters.
Since this directive was specially concerned with what the Shi'ite should do on the Day of 'Ashura', there is also another report which has come from Imam al-Baqir in which there is a general directive about gathering and remembering the situation of the Holy Family, which is not limited to a specific time:
May God have mercy on a man who meets with another in order to remember our situation. There will be a third person with them who will be an angel who will seek forgiveness for them. Two people shall never meet to remember us without God making them sincerely proud through the presence of an angel. If you gather together and occupy yourselves in remembering us, then our memory will be kept alive in your meetings and in your remembrances. The best of people after us are those who remember our situation and urge others to remember us.
This test illustrates that the rites of remembrance for al-Husayn in the time of Imam al-Baqir had begun to take on the form of an institution with a purpose, whose activity was not subject to any specific limitation concerned with time. Rather, it was spreading both in time and place and developing, through being performed, its own customs and techniques.
* * *
From the sources, it appears that by the time of Imam Ja'far ibn Muhammad al-Sadiq (80 or 83-148), the gatherings devoted to the memory of the Holy Family and their tragedies, and the foremost of them, the tragedy of Imam al-Husayn, had become well-known in Shi'ite circles.
It is reported that Imam al-Sadiq said to al-Fudayl ibn Yasar, 'Al-Fudayl, do you sit together and talk?' 'Yes,' replied al-Fudayl.' The Imam then commented, 'Al-Fudayl, I love these gatherings. Keep the memory of our situation alive. God will have mercy on a man who keeps the memory of our situation alive.' [9]
We have already seen many texts which have been reported from Imam al-Sadiq urging the composition of poetry about al-Husayn and explaining the great reward that will come to anyone who makes fifty or ten or five ... people weep through his recitation of such poetry. Such texts contributed greatly to the motivation of people gathering for this purpose. This kind of recitation required people to gather. Whenever the gatherings increased in size, the impulses to weep increased.
It seems that the recitation of poetry of lamentation for al-Husayn had developed during this period and a special style arose in it which was rather like wailing, or was even wailing itself. It was not merely the chanting or recitation of poetry. Elements of voice-production had begun to be introduced which increased its emotional and psychological effect. The words of Imam al-Sadiq to Abu Harun al-Makfuf, when the latter recited him one of the poems of lament for al-Husayn, illustrate this point.
Abu Harun reported: Imam al-Sadiq said to me, 'Abu Harun, recite to me about al-Husayn.' I recited and he wept. Then he said, 'Recite as you were reciting.' He meant with emotion. So I recited:
Pass the grave of al-Husayn and speak of his great purity.
He wept ... [10]
Furthermore, it seems that in this period the development of the rites of remembrance for al-Husayn had acquired another character- istic, that is, it made men and women devote themselves to composing poetry of lament for al-Husayn and they made the style of wailing a special feature of this kind of poetry. Such a person was Abu Harun whom we have just mentioned. Another of them was Abu ' Umara, the reciter. [11]
Alongside the reciters of poetry, who used to use the special form of wailing, we find another group of men who participated in the rites of remembrance for al-Husayn at this period. They are the story-tellers.
Story-tellers had existed since the time of ' Uthman ibn 'Affan. It appears that their function was in the gatherings in the mosque after the salat. There they would tell stories about the wars of conquest, the life of the Prophet and the virtues of the Companions of the Prophet and they would give sermons of encouragement and warning. Mu'awiya ibn Abi Sufyan employed this group to spread his propaganda among the ordinary people. [12]
After becoming a growing institution which attracted increasing numbers of people, the rites of remembrance for al-Husayn seemed to have come within the interest of the story-tellers, or they created special story-tellers of their own.
An indication of this comes in an account reported from Imam al-Sadiq which describes the state of the people at the grave of al-Husayn during the night of 15th Sha'ban. It shows that by this period there had developed story-tellers who were introducing the life of al-Husayn into their stories, or even limited their stories to it. Imam al-Sadiq says: 'I have learnt that people are going to the tomb of al-Husayn from the regions around Kufa as well as other people and women who mourn for him. This is on 15th Sha'ban. Among them are reciters who recite, story-tellers who tell his story, mourners who mourn ....' [13]
These reciters, mourners and story-tellers seem to be the early predecessors of the preachers from the pulpit of al-Husayn who have made their vocation preaching on the occasions of rites of remembrance for al-Husayn throughout the year.
We will return to the discussion of this subject later in this chapter when we deal with the stages of the rites of remembrance for al-Husayn.
* * *
During the time of Ja'far al-Sadiq, the Shi'a derived some benefit from the fall of the Umayyad regime and the founding of the 'Abbasid state insofar as the Umayyads were occupied in fighting the wars which the 'Abbasids and their propagandists instigated against them. The 'Abbasids, in turn, had taken control of the government using the slogan that they were members of the Prophet's family (ahl al-bayt). Therefore it would not have been regarded as natural by the people for them to harrass Imam al-Sadiq, the most illustrious member of the Prophet's family (ahl al-bayt) in the eyes of the Muslims. In addition to this, the 'Abbasids were distracted from close observations of Imam al-Sadiq and the Shi'a of the Holy Family by trying to set up their state, on the one hand, and by fighting the Umayyads and destroying their bases, on the other hand.
Imam al-Sadiq and the Shi'a enjoyed a great deal of freedom during this period. There were numerous directives and instructions issued by the Imam so that he would complete the structure of Shi' ism. There were also many gatherings of the Shi'a, and they developed their cultural institutions, in particular the institu- tions of the rites of remembrance for al-Husayn and the pilgrimage (ziyara).
However, Abu Ja'far Mansur brought this activity to an end when he pursued the Shi'a and the members of the 'Alid family with death and banishment. This was one of the reasons which compelled them to restrict their activities and keep them secret.
The Imams of the Holy Family contined their concern for the institution of the rites of remembrance which they showed concern for by support and directives. They personally used to meet the poets and reciters and used to hold special gatherings to listen to their poetry and recitations. Their womenfolk and their special followers would attend these gatherings.
The Imams had showed their great concern for these meetings with the poets at an early period, the time of Imam Muhammad al-Baqir, and then after that at the time of his son, Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq.
Among the outstanding people at these meetings was al-Kumayt ibn Zayd al-Asadi (60-120). He had gone to see Imam al-Baqir and meet him in Medina. He recited to him an ode about his love for the Hashimites.
Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq met the poet Ja'far ibn 'Affan al-Ta'i and asked him to recite a poem of lamentation for al-Husayn.
Al-Sayyid al-Himyari, Isma'il ibn Muhammad ( 105-173 or 178), was another poet who met Imam al-Sadiq and recited him his ode which begins:
Pass the grave of al-Husayn and speak of his great purity [14].
Di'bil ibn 'Ali al-Khuza'i was a poet whom Imam 'Ali ibn Musa al-Rida met in Khurasan. He recited one of his odes to the Imam:
Schools of verses of the Qur'an are without recitation and the place of revelation is like courtyards empty of people. [15]
There were many others besides these.
Alongside this direct activity of meeting poets and performing the rites of remembrance in their houses, the Imams of the Holy Family persevered in their efforts to direct the Shi'a to hold gatherings and meetings in order to keep alive the memory of the Holy Family and especially of al-Husayn.
However, the Shi'a did not enjoy for long the relative freedom which had been afforded to them during the period of Imam al-Sadiq, as we alluded to earlier. The period of his son, the seventh Imam Musa al-Kazim, was a much blacker period for the Shi'a. During it they were treated dreadfully by the 'Abbasid authorities as their organsations strove to combat the activities of the Shi'a and to suppress violently their cultural movements, among which, naturally, were the rites of remembrance for al-Husayn.
So violent was the terrorisation which the Shi'a faced from the authorites and their organisations in this period that the Shi'a were compelled to use taqiyya (precautionary dissimulation) on a wide scale in their public lives, in some circumstances even in their private lives, in order to preserve their physical safety.
Imam Musa spent a long period of his life in 'Abbasid prisons, and he died a martyr in one of the prisons of Baghdad in the year 183, during the reign of Harun al-Rashid.
However, the Shi'a regained some freedom of movement during the periods of the eighth and ninth Imams, Imam 'Ali ibn Musa al-Rida (148 or 153-203) and his son, Imam Muhammad ibn 'Ali al-Jawad (195-220). The reign of the 'Abbasid Caliph, al-Ma'mun, was characterised by the relative moderation in the treatment of the Shi'a. The atmosphere of tolerance continued in the reign of his successor, al-Muttasim.
Imam al-Rida became heir apparent to al-Ma'mun in 201 and his son-in-law through marrying al-Ma'mun's daughter, Umm Habiba. Similarly Imam al-Jawad became al-Ma'mun's son-in-law by marrying his daughter, Umm al-Fadl.
Among the directives of al-Rida concerning the performance of the rites of remembrance is the following:
Whoever remembers our sufferings and weeps for the crimes which have been committed against us, will be within our rank on the Day of Resurrection. Whoever remembers our suffering and weeps and makes others weep, his eyes will not weep on the Day when many eyes will weep. Whoever attends gatherings where our situation is kept alive, his heart will not die on the day when many hearts will die.
* * *
During the periods of the next three Imams, 'Ali ibn Muhammad al-Hadi (b. Medina, 212, d. Samarra ', 254), al-Hasan ibn 'Ali al-'Askari (b. Medina 231 or 232, d. Samarra' 260) and the twelfth Imam, the awaited Mahdi (b. Samarra ' 255), the attitude of the authorities changed.
The reign of the 'Abbasid Caliph al-Mutawakkil and those who came after him were times of harshness and tyranny in the treatment of the Shi'a and the Imams of the Holy Family. The stage saw only some slight relaxations which had little value for the course of events until the Buwayhids gained control over the government in Baghdad in the first half of the fourth century of the hijra.
However the harshness of the rulers like the fanaticism of the general populace which we will examine later could not impede the growth of the institution of the rites of remembrance for al-Husayn and its continuation in men's consciousness. The rites of remembrance for al-Husayn were held secretly during the periods of harshness and persecution. The danger did not affect the enthusiasm of the Shi'a to hold these rites constantly, and especially on the Day of'Ashura'.
We consider that the correct explanation for the attitude of the Imams of the Holy Family to the problem of keeping alive the memory of al-Husayn through poetry and gatherings of remembrance and urging the people to do that, is found in the fact that keeping alive this memory constantly shows the people the policy which the Imams of the Holy Family laid down to safeguard and defend Islam. It shows the umma the great sacrifices which they have made for the sake of that. Similarly it reveals the nature, enmity and distance from Islam of the forces which confronted and combatted them. It explains the essence of the struggle between them and their opponents. It is not personal nor self-interested; it only goes back, in one respect, to the concern of the Imams of the Holy Family to make every ruler adhere to trust and truth through the application of the principles of Islam in his policies; and, in another respect, it goes back to the contradiction of the personal and family interests of the rulers with the aims of the Imams of the Holy Family in defence of Islam from exploitation and in defence of the Islamic way of life (shari'a) from distortion.
Keeping the memory of the revolution of al-Husayn alive, recalling the incidents involved in it, reviewing its slogans and the slogans of its opponents and examining their behaviour in their lives and their policies towards the umma ... All of this ensures that the corrupt government which exists in any period and in any time will be found guilty because it is the illegal continuation of the government whose distorted conduct led to the revolution and death of al-Husayn.
Family wanted to realise through the creation of this institution.
This, in our view, is the real content of the call by the Imams of the Holy Family to keep alive this memory in the rites of remembrance for al-Husayn and others. As for the emotional content of the rites of remembrance for al-Husayn, we shall deal with that in another chapter devoted to the discussion of the phenomenon of weeping.
* * *
The Imams of the Holy Family, thus, created the institution of the rites of remembrance for al-Husayn. During the earliest Islamic eras, this institution began its activity in a limited form. Some contributory factors strengthened its existence, and these factors gave it additional causes for growth. Its subject matter was enriched with new contents, all of which helped to serve the basic aim of its creation. In the same way, new techniques of expression and practice were introduced.
We will mention, in what follows, three matters which we consider to be among the contributory factors for rooting the institution of the rite of remembrance for al-Husayn firmly in popular consciousness, for enriching it and for giving variety to its content.
1. There were the revolutions which broke out against the existing govenment as a result of the revival of the spirit of struggle which the revolution of al-Husayn kept alive.
These revolutions raised the slogans of vengeance for al-Husayn in order to arouse and mobilise the people to support them. They made the revolution of al-Husayn a beacon and a slogan. This was an important factor in providing the revolution of al-Husayn with new reasons to live in the hearts and minds of men.
This factor was not just limited to the Umayyad period. It also occurred in the 'Abbasid period in the revolutions of the descendants of al-Hasan and others. It used to appear to the people that it was as if the spirit of Karbala' was the thing which was motivating the revolutionaries.
2. By virtue of its power to arouse the emotions, by virtue of its ensuring and publicly declaring the guiltiness of the corrupt government, and by virtue of its direction by the Imams of the Holy Family along this course, the memory of al-Husayn became in many periods one of the means of secret opposition to the existing government.
Under the yoke of a corrupt government, the Shi'ite used to suffer in two ways: (i) He was persecuted and hunted because of his beliefs and his historical attitude. (ii) He learnt from the progrAmine of the Imams of the Holy Family that Islam was an integrated belief and way of life. For this reason he would never accept any falsification of its truths.
The situation in which the Shi'ite lived and his intellectual policy put him at the centre of opposition. Therefore he needed to express himself and his attitude as an opponent with the caution necessary to provide a minimum of security for himself and his economic interests.
The memory of al-Husayn provided him with the opportunity of carrying out his opposition to the existing government in secret within a relatively safe compass. It also attained for him a psychological ease which grew out of the ideals of the Holy Family. These shining ideals were guaranteed by the memory of al-Husayn.
3. These were the reactions against the attitude of the tyrannical rulers towards the memory and rites of al-Husayn.
From the Umayyad period until the present, tyrannical rulers have realised the implictions involved in the holding of gatherings to remember al-Husayn in terms of the condemnation of their excesses and injustice. Therefore they have attempted to stop them and suppress them.
We find this in the Umayyad period, and we find it in the 'Abbasid period. We find it in the political dynasties which followed the 'Abbasids, where the Shi'a lived.
In previous studies we have given much evidence for government suppression of the Shi'a when they practise, in any way, the rites to keep alive the memory of al-Husayn. Further evidence will be given in future studies.
The memory of al-Husayn, in the pilgrimage and the rites of remembrance, has faced, in most political periods, suppression prohibition and persecution for those who tried to practise them. In the periods of some rulers there have been feeble relaxations in which the Shi'a enjoyed only a limited amount of freedom. Soon a new period or a new ruler plundered this from them, sometimes preventing them from holding the rites or at other times restricting the rites to keep his memory alive with numerous heavy restrictions. This was done in order to try to empty them of any content critical of the existing regime.
Yet all these acts of repression failed to wipe out the rituals associated with this remembrance. The rites of remembrance and other ceremonies were held secretly on their appropriate occasions even in the most harsh and unjust periods.
One of the things which may be of great evidence in this connection is the fact that stopping rites of remembrance, preventing them from being held or putting restrictions on the freedom to carry them out in terms of them representing opposition to the government is a policy which even Shi'ite rulers as well as others have followed. In Iraq, Iran and other Islamic countries, when the chief responsibility in the state came into the hands of a Shi'ite ruler, it used to happen that, on some occasions, he would follow the policy of prohibition or restriction. In this way the situation does not differ from what pertains when the person in chief responsibility in the state is a non-Shi'ite. This confirms that the memory of al-Husayn is essentially non-sectarian.
This attitude by the authorities against the rites of remembrance for al-Husayn has remained constant and still generates a reaction which prompts the Shi'ite to hold on to them and care for them. The feelings of the Shi'ite with regard to this may have been that the authorities wanted to deprive him of the only refuge, in which he could relieve his emotions of fear and anger and his psychological repression, and during which he could express his views of the government's attitude and behaviour.
* * *
These, in our view, are the contributory factors which helped to strengthen the position of the rites of remembrance for al-Husayn in popular consciousness and gave it the power to remain firm and contine despite the hostile attitude towards it throughout the centuries. They, also, provided it with the possibilities of develop- ment and renewal generation after generation.
These were in addition to the basic reason for its existence and growth, namely the fact that the Imams of the Holy Family had directed their Shi'a to develop this great cultural institution.
III. THE STAGES OF THE RITES OF REMEMBRANCE FOR AL-HUSAYN
In the nature of the case, when the rites of remembrance for al-Husayn were founded, they did not exist in any already completed way. They were not fixed in a single form in the centuries which followed. They developed and changed during different historical periods and elements were introduced into them which had not existed in them before.
We consider that, from their institution to the present, the rites of remembrance for al-Husayn have passed through three major stages, represented by the historical and cultural epochs through which the Muslims, in general, and the Shi' ites, in particular, lived. These left their mark on their institutions, including the rites of remembrance. Each of these three major stages, which we will classify, also had changes within so that the researcher could divide each of these stages into many more stages.
The three stages, which we consider the rites of remembrance for al-Husayn to have gone through from the time they began up to the present, are the following: (i) the first stage began shortly after the revolution, i.e. A year after 61, and it continued until the fall of Baghdad at the hands of Hulagu, or shortly before that; (ii) the second stage began at the time of the fall of Baghdad, or shortly before that, and contined through the dark ages of the history of the Muslims until the modern period; and (iii) the third stage was from the beginnings of the modern period until the present.
These are the stages which we consider that the rites of remembrance have passed through from their institution until now.
We do not have the sources for an exhaustive investigation of the stages, development, fixed content and changing content of the rites of remembrance throughout its history.
In the preface of this book we explained that this study of the revolution of al-Husayn in popular consciousness was a pioneering work insofar as we do not know of any study on the subject before this one. As a result our study suffers from a paucity of sources which would make it easier.
With God's guidance we come to what we consider as the basic source for this study and what we consider as a contributory source to the basic source, in addition to the general sources of history, civilisation and intellectual development.
In our view the basic source is the books about the death of al-Husayn (maqtal). For this reason we will rely on these books in our analysis of the stages, through which the rites of remembrance for al-Husayn passed, and of the content of the rites in each of those stages.
The contributory source is the poetry of lamentation for al-Husayn in the different Islamic periods insofar as, in some cases, it reflects the state of the rites of remembrance during that time, even though it lacks relative exactness in portraying the actual situation of the rites of remembrance for al-Husayn because the personal and subjective element in it dominates the objective factor, which we assume to be the mark of prose writing in the books about the death of al-Husayn.
What made us consider the books about the death of al-Husayn to be a basic source for this study was our knowledge that the writers, both Shi'ite and non-Shi'ite who were closely attached to the Imams of the Holy Family, had written much about the death of al-Husayn. Although some of them had written about this subject in response to a purely scientific motive, we consider that group of writers to be small and rare. There is no doubt that most writers on this subject wrote in response to two integrated motives. One of these was the motive of religious piety and emotional loyalty to the Holy Family. The second was in response to the people's demand for written material which set out the account of the death of al-Husayn for use in gatherings and meetings held to keep the rites of remembrance for al-Husayn alive.
In view of this, these latter books reflect, with objective truth, the situation of the rites of remembrance during the periods in which they were written, since they are, without any doubt, a mirror of the general view of the rites of remembrance, their cultural content and the elements which formed this content.
In what follows, we will put forward some of the texts from some of the books about the death of al-Husayn which demonstrates that these books were written in order to be read at the rites of remembrance for al-Husayn.
In the introduction to his book, Muthir al-Ahzan, Ibn Nama al-Hilli (d. 645) says:
O man of insight and understanding, O man of reason and dreams, behold the watchword of grief. Let grief clothe men of faith. Imitate the Apostle in love for the children of Fatima the fair and pure. O you who love the family of the Apostle, wail like the women bereft of her children wails. Weep with flowing tears for the Imams of Islam. Perhaps you may give them solace for the tragedy by showing grief and dejection and by declaring your yearning and your lamentation. Make me happy through your wailing and keening. Mourn for him whose death shook the throne of Heaven. Shed tears for the man who was killed in a distant land ...
I was told by my father, may God have mercy upon him, that Imam al-Sadiq said: 'Whoever refers to us at a gathering with the slightest word or whose eyes overflow with a tear, even the amount of the wing of a mosquito, because of compassion towards us and sympathy for our tragedy, will have his sins forgiven ...'
I have written this account of the death of al-Husayn as one which is intermediate between the other accounts .... Hearts should delight in the sweetness of its expression. The sleeper will wake from his sleep and dozing.
The man who ignores this tragedy and the man who is forgetful of grief and distress will pay attention .... O listeners, if you missed the honour of giving support and were deprived of fighting against that cavalry, you have not missed the opportunity of letting your tears flow for the noble lords of the family and putting on the watchword of grief for the family ....
Ibn al-Ghuti, in his book, al-Hawaidith al-Jami'a, has reported some of the incidents which indicate that the books about the death of al-Husayn were compiled to be read out at the gatherings for the rites of remembrance, from which it can be assumed that it was a common phenomenon and a firm element in the practices of keeping the rites of remembrance for al-Husayn alive. It supports our view for considering the books about the death of al-Husayn as a basic source for our study. He says:
In the year 641, al-Muttasim sent to Jamal al-Din 'Abd al-Rahman ibn al-Jawzi, the inspector of public order (muhtasib), to stop the people from reading aloud the account on the death of al-Husayn on the Day of 'Ashura' and reciting it in the rest of the areas beside Baghdad, except at the grave of Musa ibn Ja'far ....
In Muharam in the year 648, al-Muttasim prohibited the people of Kufa and al-Mukhtara from wailing, reciting and reading aloud the account of the death of al-Husayn, out of fear that it would go beyond that into something which would lead to disorder.
As a result of this, in our study of the stages, cultural content and the differing elements of each stage of the rites of remembrance for al-Husayn, we will examine the books about the death of al-Husayn in terms of them being representative of the periods in which they were written and therefore representative of the revolution of al-Husayn in popular consciousness in each of those periods. We will also seek the help of the poetry of lamentation for this purpose, alongside the general sources for the history of civilisation and intellectual development.
In these three stages the rites of remembrance for al-Husayn always included a fixed element just as changing elements were found in them.
This fixed element in the rites of remembrance for al-Husayn has been, from its inception right up to the present time, the story of the revolution of al-Husayn with a concentration on the tragic aspect of it: the treachery and betrayal of the Kufans; the extreme oppression of the Umayyads and their rejection of true values; the prevention of water reaching al-Husayn's camp; the thirst of the women, children, fighters and horses which that led to; the conversations between the women and children and al-Husayn and others about the problem of water and thirst; the conversations of al-Husayn with his followers, or his brothers, or his sisters, or the Umayyad army; the insistence of Ibn Ziyad in humiliating al-Husayn and the refusal by the latter and those with him to accept injustice; al-Husayn's call to his family and followers to leave him and save themselves and their refusal to do that with declarations of their determination to support him until death in very moving words; the martyrdom of his followers and the members of his family and the killing of youths and children; and the rites of remembrance reach their climax with death of al-Husayn together with exact details about the place of his death and about every place of death at Karbala '.
In addition to the story of al-Husayn's revolution, there is within the fixed element criticism of the authorities when reasons for that criticism exist.
In Umayyad and 'Abbasid times, that criticism was often clearly stated because these rites of remembrance were held in secret at that time. The criticism may be through allusions and indirect indications when there are men of the authorities who are associated with the Shi'a who may cause fear of indicating this attitude openly.
After the criticism, the guiltiness of the authorities has to come to an end with cursing. The cursing of the Umayyads and those who followed their policy have become a fixed characteristic in the rites of remembrance for al-Husayn.
This is what we understand to have happened during the Umayyad and the'Abbasid periods. Later, in times of freedom, the rites of remembrance were held in public. The criticism and cursing of the Umayyads and 'Abbasids took place openly without arising any opposition from the actual authorities. That was because it had become criticism which was devoid of any political content, even though criticism of people in the past may on many occasions be an indirect criticism of the existing authorities.
1. The First Stage
The rites of remembrance for al-Husayn began in this stage in a simple form, as we mentioned in the introduction of this chapter. However, throughout this stage, they developed in form and in mode.
The formal aspect, we believe, provided the rites of remembrance with fixed times, i.e. They entered into a framework of time and became a cultural activity which was progrAmined in terms of times. This programme of times consisted of:
Occasions connected by time with memory of al-Husayn's revolution. They were the first ten days of the lunar month of Muharram, the first month of the Islamic year. After the 10th Muharram (the day of the battle) was made a special day of memorial, the first days of Muharram (lst-l0th) became, in the later period of this stage, special days of memorial. This means that the temporal span for carrying out the rites of remembrance and showing grief was extended from what it had been at the beginning of the institution of rites of remembrance.
Days of memorial which had become times to make the pilgrimage (ziyara) to al-Husayn's grave.
The most important of these is, in our estimation, the night and day of 15th Sha'ban. Some early texts issued by Imam Muhammad ibn'Ali al-Baqir give evidence for that. In them the Imam urges that the pilgrimage be made to the grave of al-Husayn on the middle day in the month of Sh'aban. More were issued by Imam al-Sadiq with regard to that matter.
It appears from a text, mentioned earlier, which 'Abd Allah ibn Haminad al-Basri reported from Imam al-Sadiq that the 15th Shaban was a very important occasion for the rites of remembrance for al-Husayn.
Next in importance to the night and day of the 15th Sha'ban, in terms of performing the rites of remembrance for al-Husayn, are the other days in the year on which the Imams have urged the pilgrimage to al-Husayn to be made. For example, there is the Day of 'Arafat, which is 9th Dhu al-Hijja, the twelfth month of the Islamic calendar; the evening of the festival at the end of the fast ('id al-fitr), which is the 1st Shawwal, the tenth month of the Islamic calendar; 1st Rajab, the seventh month of the Islamic calendar; and there are other occasions.
These days were days of memorial for people to gather together where a great number of people would meet to perform the pilgrimage of al-Husayn. If we are allowed to consider the picture which comes in the report given by 'Abd Allah ibn Haminad al-Basri as a model, we could hold the view that these days of memorial were also great seasons for the rites of remembrance for al-Husayn as well as being days of memorial for the pilgrimage. Circles and gatherings were held at which poems in praise of the Holy Family and in lament for al-Husayn, his family and his followers were recited, and the events of the Battle of Karbala' were discussed.
We can hold the view that the rites of remembrance on these occasions were not limited to the shrine of al-Husayn at Karbala' but took place in many of the countries where the Shi'a lived on those days on which the pilgrimage took place. The Shi'a, who were unable to get to Karbala', used to perform the rituals of the pilgrimage away from it. This kind of ritual of pilgrimage would be appropriate for the performance of the rites of remembrance by those of the Shi' a who were far away from Karbala' as the evidence of the report from Imam Muhammad al-Baqir, which we mentioned at the beginning of this chapter, suggests. In it there is a direction to the Shi'a who are far away from Karbala' on the Day of 'Ashura' to perform rites of remembrance.
A clear text has been reported by al-Sayyid Muhsin which gives evidence for and expresses the idea that the days of memorial for the pilgrimage were days of memorial for the rites of remembrance for al-Husayn. It says:
'It is reported in Kitab al-Muhadara wa-AkAbar al-Mudhakara by al-Tannukhi that there was at the Ha'ir in Karbala' a man called Ibn Asdaq who used to recite poetry about al-Husayn in the wailing style. Abu al-Hasan, the scribe, sent Abu al-Qasim al-Tannukhi 'Ali ibn Muhammad ibn Dawud, the father of the author of al-Nashwar, to this reciter so that he should recite in the wailing style for al-Husayn a poem to some of the Kufan poets. The poem begins:
O eyes flow with tears and let them fall unceasingly.
Abu al-Qasim commented:
'This was 15th Sha'ban and the people at that time were put under great pressure by the Hanbalites when they wanted to go out to the Ha' ir. I continued to be polite with them until I got out and I was in the Ha'ir on the evening of 15th Sha'ban.' [22]
This probably took place between the end of the third century of the hijra and the beginning of the fourth, as Abu al-Qasim al-Tannukhi was born in 278 and died in 342.
These days of memorial, which were repeated in every year, brought together classes of people from different directions, from various countries and from a variety of cultural levels. This led to a unified view of the revolution of al-Husayn and to the enrichment of popular consciousness with new outpourings of the emotional and psychological influence which rooted the history and slogans of the revolution firmly in this consciousness, together with the spreading of the idea of the rites of remembrance in areas where it had not yet become established. Thus the rites of remembrance were instituted in new areas of the Islamic world every year.
The institution of the pilgrimage did the institution of the rites of remembrance a great service at the level of rooting the feeling for the cause of al-Husayn in the rites of remembrance in new lands year after year.
There was another formal element which entered the practice of the rites of remembrance for al-Husayn.
That was that there began to arise men and women who specialised in reciting the life of al-Husayn and others who specialised in composing poetry of lament with the styles of wailing.
The life story of al-Husayn, after being a dialogue between those gathered together, became a text which was recited while the others listened. Those who did the recitation were 'the story-tellers'. We have alread discussed the allusion to them in one of the accounts of the pilgrimage which tells of what happened at Karbala' on 15th Sha'ban, namely the account of 'Abd Allah ibn HAminad al-Basri. The texts which these story-tellers recited were the books about the death of al-Husayn. An indication of that is given in the historical accounts, some of which we have mentioned with regard to what happened during the reign of the 'Abbasid Caliph, al-Musta'sim. Similarly we have mentioned a clearly-stated text on the subject which came within the books about the death of al-Husayn.
After it having been the poet who recited his own poem or the special reciter of the poet reciting the poem of his poet in a gathering which was brought together by chance or hurriedly, there came men and women who specialised in memorising much of the poetry which was composed in lament for al-Husayn and in praise of the Holy Family. Then deliberate gatherings were held, which were for the purpose of keeping the memory of al-Husayn alive. The man or woman who specialised in the wailing technique would be invited to recite poetry in this special style in which the effects of voice-production served to help bring about weeping which was one of the aims of the rites of remembrance for al-Husayn.
The sources sometimes incidentally mention the names of some of the men and women who specialised in this special style of wailing recitation.
Abu al-Hasan, the scribe, sent Abu al-Qasim 'Ali ibn Muhammad ibn Dawud al-Tannukhl to a reciter called'Ali ibn Asdaq al-Ha'in so that he should recite poetry in the wailing style for al-Husayn at Karbala' on the evening of the middle day of Sha'ban to some Kufans.
Abu al-Qasim was born in the year 278 and died in the year 342. Therefore at the end of the third century of the hijra or the beginning of the fourth century there existed specialist reciters of the wailing technique who enjoyed reputations which went beyond their own towns.
The name of Dharra, the wailing woman, is reported by al-Nisaburi according to what Shaykh al-Mufid (d. 413) mentioned in his Amail.
Ahmad ibn al-Muzaddiq, the reciter with the wailing technique, was alive in 346 and he enjoyed a considerable reputation in Baghdad.23
There was a professional reciter with the wailing technique in Baghdad whose name was Abu al-Qasim 'Abd al-'Aziz al-Shatranjl, who used to recite wailing poetry about al-Husayn at Karbala'. He must have been alive between the end of the third century of the hijra and the beginning of the fourth because he is mentioned for his wailing recitation of his poem to al-Nashi' al-Saghir, 'Ali ibn'Abd Allah ibn al-Wasif (271-365).24
There was in Baghdad a famous accomplished woman wailing reciter called Khallab. She gave a wailing recitation of a poem by al-Nashi '. She was alive in 323. Al-Barbahari (d. 329) ordered her to be killed.25
In Fatimid Egypt in the fourth century there was a group of people who specialised in wailing and recitation. We can assume that the same practice was taking place in Syria and Iraq. The following text illustrates the situation in Egypt.
On the Day of 'Ashura ' in the year 396, it happened, as it did every year, that the markets were closed. The reciters came out to the mosque of Cairo and stopped there as they gathered for wailing a recitation. After that day, the chief judge (qadis) gathered the rest of the reciters who earned their living from wailing and recitation and said to them: 'You would not pester the people to take something from them if you stayed at your shops. Do not earn a living by wailing and reciting. Whoever wants to do that can do it-in the desert.' 6
This formal development in the practice of the rites of remembrance is one of the changes which occurred during the first of the stages of the rites of remembrance for al-Husayn. There is no doubt neither reciters nor story-tellers could recite from written texts when this stage began in the first century of the hijra. This development was introduced later when the remembrance rites took on the character of an institution with special dates and customs and when this institution, as a result of that, began to create its own time schedule, its own devices and its own human apparatus.
We will see that the story-teller, who used to undertake the task of giving the historical information about the revolution and would speak to the mind and the emotions through his stories, and the reciter, who used to arouse the emotions of his listerners with the poetry of lamentation we will see that both of these men became united in the following period in the second stage into the preacher of the pulpit for al-Husayn who brought together the function of the story-teller and the function of the reciter.
* * *
In the middle of this period the geographical area where the performance of the rites of remembrance for al-Husayn was held spread in the climate of relative freedom which was provided by Shi' ite political forces gaining power in many of the Islamic countries.
From the year 333 the Hamdanids began to extend their domination over Syria and Mosul. Under the protection of their government Shi' ism flourished. Naturally, as a result of that, Shi' ite thought and Shi' ite institutions flourished. Aleppo became a centre for Shi'ite jurisprudence just as it became a destination for Shi'ite men of culture, scholars and poets. There is no doubt that the rites of remembrance for al-Husayn gained a share of this relaxation which gave an opportunity for those who cared for it to practise it and develop it in form and mode.
The poetry of lament for al-Husayn flourished in this climate. The lamentation poetry which was composed under the Hamdanids reflected the people's increasing concern for the institution of the pilgrimage, as we mentioned earlier when we gave evidence for it in the discussion of the pilgrimage (ziyara) in the poetry of lamentation for al-Husayn. This leads to the belief that the rites of remembrance gained a great share in that especially after the Fatimids gained control over Egypt which influenced, and was influenced by, the Syrian region.
Muhammad Kurd 'Ali in his book Khitat al-Sham, mentions this in a discussion of the group called 'Mutawalis', i.e. The Shi' a, when he refers to the rites of remembrance for al-Husayn: 'During the Days of 'Ashura ' the Shi' a gather and perform rites of remembrance for al-Husayn ibn 'Ali, the martyr of Karbala'. Their observance of that goes back a long way to the period of the tragedy.... It appears from the life of Dik al-Jinn al-Humsi in Kitab al Aghani that these gatherings to perform rites of remembrance for al-Husayn were well-known at this time.'27
At the time when the Hamdanids became masters of Syria the Buwayhids, who were also of the Shi' a, took control of Iraq and Iran, gradually depriving the 'Abbasid Caliph of all effective authority. This provided the land which gave birth to the rites of remembrance for al-Husayn the opportunity to enjoy a freedom, which it had frequently lost, to perform the rituals of the rites associated with al-Husayn. In this way the rites of remembrance for al-Husayn developed greatly in form and mode.
It seems that at first the Buwayhid did not publicly and clearly proclaim their Shi'ite position. They did not make the state a party to the practices of the rites of remembrance. They only allowed the people freedom to practise them. However, some two decades later they did make the rites of remembrance a state affair.
Ibn al-Athir has reported in the events of the year 352:
In this year the state ordered the people to shut their shops on the 10th of Muharram and to suspend the markets and all buying and selling. The people did that, and the Sunnis had no power to prevent that because of the great number of the Shi' a and the fact that the authorities were from them. [28]
It is well-known that the rites of remembrance for al-Husayn did not begin in Iraq at this time. They go back to the earliest Islamic times as we mentioned previously. In this period they became much more widespread and during the rule of the Buwayhids they became an official ceremony.
The Buwayhids may have delayed the announcement of the rites of remembrance as an official institution out of their concern at the beginning of their establishment of their state, for the feelings of a group of their subjects who were not Shi'ites. On the eve of the Buwayhids assumption of power, the Hanbalites had become fanatically hostile towards these rites of remem- brance. They had used violence in their opposition to Shi' ite activity in this field. There are many historical texts which provide evidence for that. Among these is the following report in Bughyat al-Nubala ':
There was in Baghdad a famous accomplished woman wailing reciter who was known as Khallab. She gave a wailing recitation of a poem by al-Nashi' and we heard her in the houses of some of the leaders, because at that time the people were not able to perform wailing recitation except with support from men in authority or secretly because of the Hanbalites.
This incident took place in 232, i.e. Ten years before the Buwayhids came to power.
We have already referred to the text which explains that 'the people were put under great pressure by the Hanbalites when they wanted to go out to the Ha'ir.' We commented that this took place between the end of the third century of the hijra and the beginning of the fourth.
The Hanbalites then, were using violence in their opposition to the rituals of al-Husayn as represented by the rites of remem- brance and the pilgrimage. Ibn al-Athir's statement, '. . . The Sunnis had no power to prevent that because of the great number of the Shi' a,' is not correct. The Sunnis in Iraq even participated in the rites of remembrance. Those among the Sunnis who opposed these rituals were a small group, the Hanbalite sect.
These sectarian clashes because of the rites of remembrance for al-Husayn seem to have begun at an early time in respect to this period. That was when the Shi' a in the 'Abbasid era tried to perform the rituals associated with al-Husayn publicly and especially in the month of Muharram. Ibn Taghri Burdi has reported in the events for the year 174:
Then partisanship rose and there were disturbances between the Sunnis and the Rafidites (Shi' a). [30]
He does not give the reason for that but it seems likely to be the one which we have suggested.
Egypt had known the rites of remembrance for al-Husayn from a very early time. The Umayyad administration in the Hijaz was afraid of the consequences of the activity which Zaynab had been striving to carry out in Medina after her return from Karbala', where, through the family rites of remembrance, she was enflaming the Hijaz with the spirit of the revolution in a society which was ready for it. 'Amr ibn Said ibn al-'As the governor of Medina wrote to Yazid ibn Mu' awiya to tell him of his fear of the consequences of the movement of Zaynab if she continued her activities. He said: 'The presence of Zaynab among the people of Medina is inflAminatory. She is eloquent, clever and intellegent. She and those with her are determined to take vengeance for the death of al-Husayn.'
An order appears to have issued that Zaynab should be sent outside the Hijaz. This point in the history of Zaynab is unclear. How was the order for her to travel issued? Why was Egypt rather than any other country chosen? The sources do not provide us with an explanation of the real situation. What we do know from the sources is that Zaynab arrived in Egypt in the month of Sha'ban in the year 61, i.e. Approximately eight months after the Battle of Karbala'. Maslama ibn Mukhallad al-Ansari, the governor of Egypt, met her in Bilbis with the leaders of the Muslims amid weeping and condolences. Maslama went with her and she resided with him. She lived there for about a year after her arrival and then she died on 14th Rajab in the year [62.]
The Umayyad choice of Egypt as the place of exile for Zaynab may have arisen out of the belief that any propaganda activity she undertook there would have only limited effect on the stability of the Umayyad government, as Egypt was far away from events in Iraq and the people who knew about what was going on in Iraq was a very limited number of those in government and those associated with them. The ordinary people knew nothing about the true situations, in contrast to the people in Iraq, Syria and the Arabian peninsula where there was an active and busy exchange of ideas, news and people among them.
We believe that Zaynab, during the short period which she spent in Egypt, was able to influence the Egyptians, who came into contact with her, to varying degrees because she must have spoken to them about what had happened at Karbala'. However, we have to admit that this influence was so limited that its effects were not shown in any wavering of the people's allegiance to the Umayyad government in Damascus, although this influence was a nucleus whose importance for the future could not be ignored.
* * *
While the Hamdanids in Syria and Mosul and the Buwayhids in Iraq and Iran were planting their authority firmly and while the rites of remembrance and the other rituals associated with al-Husayn were flourishing under these Shi'ite governments, the Fatimids were extending their control over Egypt which they entered in 358. In this way the area, in which the rites of al-Husayn and the other rituals flourished, was increased far beyond what it had been in the past.
The Fatimids, when they took control of Egypt, did not introduce rituals to an area where the rites of remembrance had not existed. They had existed there during the weak rule of the Ikshidids whom the Fatimids overthrew. Al-Maqrizi in al-Khitat has explained that the call for grief for al-Husayn took place during the time of the Iksh-ldids and its scope was broadened during the time of the Fatimids. Yet the situation of the rituals of the rites of remembrance in Egypt before the Fatimids was the same as their situation on Iraq before the Buwayhids. They existed but they aroused opposition against them from some fanatical sectarian elements. An example of this is what happened on 'Ashura' in the year 350 when a disturbance occurred between the soldiers and a group of citizens at the tomb of Umm Kulthum. It appears that this was because of the rites of remembrance that had been held on that day. However, we should notice that the situation was not always like this during the 'Abbasid period. There was a long period of time for the Shi' a in Egypt when they were exposed to persecution. An example of that is what happened to them when Yazid ibn 'Abd Allah ibn Dinar was appointed governor of Egypt by the 'Abbasid Caliph, al-Muntasar, in the month of Rajab in the year 242. 'He searched for all the Rawafid (Shi' a) in Egypt, destroyed them or punished them and afflicted them. Their important members were suppressed and groups of them taken to Iraq in the worst possible way.' [31] These measures seem to have been taken in the year 245.
After the coming of the Fatimids, the rituals on 'Ashura ' became official ceremonies of state, and the rites of remembrance became one of the cultural institutions of the state.
The favourable political situation in Iraq, Iran, Egypt and North Africa gave the rites of remembrance for al-Husayn a golden opportunity to become widespread. They became public under the protection of the state on most occasions. This did not stop them from arousing the opposition of fanatical groups, especially the Hanbalites in Iraq.
In the atmosphere of freedom and security which political development provided over a vast geographical area, the rites of remembrance were able to attain for themselves developments in form which were of great importance, the most outstanding of which we have discussed in the first part of this section. Similarly they achieved for themselves changes in the mode of their content, which we will discuss in what follows.
* * *
The developments of mode in the rites of remembrance for al-Husayn during the first stage occurred in the following ways:
There was a widening of the exposition of the details of the events and the ancient causes which had preceded them, including matters associated with the succession to the Apostle of God, the policies which were followed during the reign of 'Uthman and the Umayyad policy in a comprehensive manner.
We find manifestations of this development in the poetry of the second century of the hijra and after, insofar as in the second half of the second century there begins to appear what we could describe as 'lamentation poetry with a historical and theological tendency.' The poetry comes to use the events of history with the rationality of theologians in order to give an explanation to the subject of al-Husayn.
Sufyan ibn Mus'ab al-'Abdi (d. 120 or 178) and al-Kumayt ibn Zayd al-Asadi (d. 120) were possibly the first who used this technique in lamentation poetry, even though al-Kumayt's poetry of praise and of the virtues of the Holy Family shows more of this style than his lamentation poetry. When we come to the third century of the hijra and what follows it, we find this kind of lamentation poetry widely among the poets of lament for al-Husayn. Such poets include 'Abd al-Salam ibn Raghban (known as Dik al-Jinn), Di'bil al-Khuzati, al-Qasim ibn Yusuf, the secretary, al-Sharif al-Radi and al-Sharif al-Murtada. This kind of poetic mode continued to grow and spread until by the end of the fifth century lamentation poetry came to be like a record of history and virtues.
We judge that this phenomenon in lamentation poetry would be reflected in the rites of remembrance for al-Husayn during this period.
There was a growth in the extent of the mentioning of virtues in the rites of remembrance for al-Husayn. The rites of remembrance began to include the mentioning of the virtues and the outstanding position in the history of Islam of the Imams of the Holy Family, the testamentary designations (wasaya) by the Apostle of God of the Imams and the opposition of some of the umma to these testamentary designations. In addition to that special forms of honour were expressed about Imam al-Husayn.
We became acquainted with this new phenomenon in the rites of remembrance for al-Husayn through the lamentation poetry which was composed in the second century and afterwards. Similarly we learn of it through the books about the death of al-Husayn which were compiled after the second century insofar as these books became concerned with the recording of Traditions about virtues of the Holy Family and al-Husayn and expressions of honour as well as the historical account. The poetry of lament which was composed in this period is full of evidence of this phenomenon.
Poetry and prose become integrated. We believe that the rites of remembrance began in the form of conversations. Then there came a story which was reported or a poem which was recited. Then there arose a written text (an account of the death of al-Husayn). At the end of this stage a form began to emerge in which poetry and prose were integrated. The rites of remembrance became a mixture of the two together. Prose tells the story of the tragedy in the spirit of giving an account of history and virtues and with only a limited amount of emotional expressions. Poetry colours the story and endows it with a sad tragic artistic quality.
We are not saying that the preacher for al-Husayn, whom we know today, could be found at the end of this stage. We are only saying that the predecessor of this preacher had begun to be formed at the end of this stage as represented by a story-teller who embellished his stories with pieces of poetry, or by a reciter who followed his recitation by giving account of the stories and the virtues or prepared for it in that way.
Other Imams and other revolutions were included. Since the Battle of Karbala', the deaths had been caused by the sword or poisoning of a great number of 'Alid revolutionaries against the Umayyads or the 'Abbasids or whose loyalty the authorities doubted or whom they suspected of specific political aspirations. Similarly some of the Imams of the Holy Family had been killed by poisoning or had died as they were being oppressed and persecuted by the governments of their time.
The Shi'a used to grieve for what had happened. They would add these griefs of theirs to their great grief for Imam al-Husayn. They would add the horrible events and tragedies, which filled the lives of these later Imams and revolutionary 'Alids, to their tragic inheritance which was linked to the lives of the Holy Family, in general, and to the Imams of the Holy Family, in particular.
We know that this material of revival of memories was reflected in lamentation poetry. One of its outstanding features had become the mentioning of the hardships and misfortunes of the Holy Family at different times.
We think it likely that this material of revival of memories, which was reflected in lamentation poetry, was also reflected in the rites of remembrance for al-Husayn and had become more indispensible within the story-telling, poetic and critical element.
We think it likely that the story-teller, or the wailing reciter, used to discuss in his stories, or his wailing recitation, what had happened to the Imams after al-Husayn, or what had happened to certain of the martyrs of 'Alid revolutions after al-Husayn. He would do this in order to honour them, to tell of their fate and to recite what had been composed in lament for them. All that would be sealed with the mentioning of the tragedy of Imam al-Husayn as being the prototype and most painful to men's hearts of the tragedies which had befallen the Holy Family.
Sometimes towards the end of this stage there was even the growth of 'Alid rites of remembrance in a general form. A report from the emir Tala ' i' ibn Zurayk (495-556) suggests this. On the night of 19th Ramadan in the year 556, which was the night he was killed a little before morning, he said: 'This is a night like that on which Imam 'Ali, the Commander of the faithful, was killed.' He ordered the reading of the account of his death. [32]
Among the things which point to the correctness of our suggestion that the sufferings of the rest of the Holy Family had been introduced into the content of the rites of remembrance for al-Husayn is the growth in the compilations about the subject of the Holy Family.
During this stage books were compiled which included the life story of each one of the Imams or of the 'Alids who had been killed by the sword or by poisoning. Outstanding examples of such compilations are Maqatil al-Talibiyyin (The Killings of the Talibids) by Abu al-Faraj al-Isfahani (d. 356) and Kitab al-Irshad (The Book of Guidance into the Lives of the Twelve Imams) by Shaykh al-Mufid. Both these writers did not limit their books to reporting the killing of al-Husayn but their writings were extended to others. In Maqatil al-Talibiyyin, Abu al-Faraj al- Isfahani has mentioned all the Talibids whom he knew to have been killed at the hands of the authorities in Umayyad and 'Abbasid times, even though he had devoted a large chapter of his book to the killing of Imam al-Husayn. Shaykh al-Mufid, in Kitab al-Irshad, gives an account of all the Imams after mentioning Imam 'Ali's life, particularly with the Apostle of God and with Fatima. After this section by far the largest section of his book is specially devoted to Imam al-Husayn.
Among the best pieces of evidence for the entry of this development of mode into the rites of remembrance for Imam al-Husayn is a famous ode by the poet Di'bil al-Khuzatl (d. 246), which he recited before the eighth Imam, 'Ali ibn Musa al-Rida in the town of Merv. In it he mentions:
'Ali as the Commander of the faithful, his place in Islam and how he was deprived of succession despite having the right to it;
His sadness for 'Abd Allah ibn Ja'far, his father, Jatfar al-Tayyar, Imam 'Ali, Imam al-Husayn, Hamza ibn 'Abd al-Muttalib, Imam Zayn al-'Abidin and other 'Alids;
He addresses the Lady Fatima, the fair, mentioning the graves of her descendants, two at Kufa, the graves at Medina, the grave at Fakh and in Gurgan and the graves in Baghdad. [33]
Then he returns to speaking of al-Husayn, his revolution and the tragedy of Karbala' with fuller detail than he had given at the beginning of his ode.
This ode, at this period, shows the origin of this change of mode in the rites of remembrance for al-Husayn by mentioning all the hardships of the Holy Family together. That is because it reflects the popular Shi' ite awareness of the nature of the oppressive relationship between the rulers and the Holy Family. The Shi'ite is made sad and angry by this relationship.
This element in the rites of remembrance for al-Husayn has further developed in the second and third stages until its characteristics have become integrated through the growth which will be explained in the appropriate part of this chapter.
This picture of the development of mode in the rites of remembrance for al-Husayn in this first stage which extends from 61 to just prior to the fall of Baghdad in the seventh century of the Hijra this picture is best reflected in five texts, in addition to the poetry of lamentation in this period as we have alluded to it within the study as well as the general sources for history and civilisation. The five texts which we have just referred to are the following:
Maqtal al-Husayn by Abu Mikhnaf Lut ibn Yahya. This text is preserved in the Ta 'rikh of Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari. [34]
Maqatil al-Talibiyyin by Abu al-Faraj al-Isfahani (d. 356).
Kitab al-Futuh by Ibn A'tham Abu Muhammad Ahmad (d. 314). This book is also extensively reported in the Maqtal al-Husayn by al-Khawarizmi.
Kitab al Irshad by Shaykh al-Mufid Muhammad ibn Numan.
Maqtal al-Husayn by al-Khawarizmi
Among these texts we can see that Abu Mikhnaf's has brevity, historical accuracy and a sensitive portrayal with the emotional outbursts being very limited. The poetic element is rare except for the material organically related to the story of the battle. In the later texts we can see an increase in the presentation of the details, a concern to mention virtue and merit, a growth in the emotional expressions and a richness in extraneous poetic material which is not organically connected to the battle, whether in poetry of lamentation or poetry of virtues.
To summarise everything which we have mentioned, we can say that in its first stage the rites of remembrance for al-Husayn included a fixed element which was an exposition of the tragedy of al-Husayn together with criticism of the Umayyad and 'Abbasid government. This criticism was either explicitly stated or given in allusions depending on what was possible in the light of the circumstances of the rites of remembrance and the safety of the participants from attack by the authorities or by fanatical anti-Shi' ites.
The rites of remembrance developed during this stage in terms of form and content as we have mentioned earlier in this study. The development in mode was concentrated on the content in four ways: an expansion of the exposition of the details and historical background of the tragedy; the growth of the reports about virtues in the rites of remembrance; the integration of prose and poetry; and the inclusion in the rites of remembrance of the sufferings of the Imams of the Holy Family and other'Alid revolutionaries.
2. The Second Stage
In this stage the rites of remembrance preserved the fixed element, namely the account of the tragedy and criticism of the authorities.
At this stage, however, the criticism of the Umayyads and 'Abbasids was direct as they no longer had any existence in the political life of Iraq, Iran and other Islamic countries, except in a formal way which had no value as a result of what took place in Mamluk Egypt. Yet this clear direct criticism was now merely words without any real content. It was a theoretical criticism of something which no longer existed.
Direct criticism of the contemporary authorities was a dangerous business which exposed the critics to the greatest dangers, sometimes death.
We doubt, whether the direct criticism of the Umayyads and the 'Abbasids in this stage contained any attitude towards the contemporary authorities, which might have arisen out of a clear understanding of the guidance possible through the memory of al-Husayn, in the way which we indicated took place on some occasions in the first stage where there was indirect criticism of contemporary authorities.
At this stage the memory of al-Husayn had lost its political and social guidance, in the understanding of the Shi'ite, towards the plight which he was suffering as a result of the policies of despotic rulers. It had become a ceremony which was merely related to the Hereafter except on very rare occasions which sometimes might occur. Shaykh al-Turayhi has reported what appears to be his view of the function of the rites of remembrance in his work, al-Muntakhab
My brothers, weep and lament much for this great and noble man so that you may obtain a good reward from the great Lord. God has made our following them in the actions which he has made possible, our weeping for them with abundant tears and cursing their enemies, the Veople of error, take the place of fighting alongside in the day of the battle.3
We doubt, however, whether he meant by 'their enemies, the people of error,' anyone except the Umayyads and the 'Abbasids and their governors who had persecuted the Holy Family. We think it very probable that he was not referring by this expression and others like it to every wrongdoer and oppressor of the people among the rulers and their supporters. This is supported by the fact that the examples which he gave were the rulers and governors who have been directly oppressive to the Holy Family by killing, imprisonment, terrorisation, confiscation, the destruction of graves and the like, without extending it to include ever wrongdoer and oppressor. The content of the first session which he gives in the book, al-Muntakhab, is evidence for that.
That was the position with regard to the fixed element. As far as changes were concerned, these occurred in the rites of remembrance in developments of form and mode which were of very great importance.
The developments in form appeared in the following two matters.
1. The days of memorial for celebrating the rites of remembrance became more fixed and more organised. Similarly the different human elements involved in the rites of remembrance, including wailing chanters, reciters and story-tellers became more numerous.
However, the rites of remembrance in this stage were subject to persecution and restrictions in nearly every part of the Islamic world.
The roots of Shi'ism in Egypt had been cruelly and savegely torn out after the fall of the Fatimids and the coming to power of the Ayyubids. The same was the case in Syria. In this stage, too, the Turks spread their authority to Iraq. Sectarian fanaticism against the Shi' a received protection which enabled it to persecute Shi' ite activities, and especially the rites of remembrance for al-Husayn. This was among the reasons why these activities were restricted to traditional Shi'ite centres (the sacred shrines in Iraq) and to those other places where the rites of remembrance could be held in secret or almost in secret. The only area in this stage where the rites of remembrance flourished was Iran after the Safavids came to power. In Iran Shi'ism became strong and its activities in every field flourished. The chief of these was the rites of remembrance for al-Husayn, which thrived under the Safavids.
2. The Second Stage In this stage, striking oneself became a firm element in some of the rites of remembrance for al-Husayn in Iraq and Iran.. This kind of striking oneself was one of the customs which the Buwayhids had introduced into the rites of remembrance. It was accepted by the emergence of a kind of rhythmic poetry in classical Arabic or in colloquial. The rites of remembrance used to begin or end with it and it was accompanied by striking the chest with the top half of the body being naked, or by striking the chest when still covered by clothes.
This used to happen in the rites of remembrance for men. In the women's rites the striking had been a basic element, as we have already indicated in this study, and it is still so today.
So much for the development in form. As for the development in the mode of content of the rites of remembrance, our evidence for that in this stage is the following books: (i) Manaqib Ali Abi Talib (The Outstanding Qualities of the Family of Abu Talib) by Ibn Shahrashub al-Sarawi al-Mazandaram (d. 588); (ii) Muthu al-Ahzan (The Arousal of Grief) by Ibn Numma al-Hilli (d. 645); (iii) Al-Luhuf fi Qatla al Zufuf (Sorrow for the Dead on the Banks) by Ibn Tawus al-Hilli (d. 664).
In addition to these, there are the poetic works which were composed in this period.
The development in mode appears in the following matters:
i. The Language of the Rites of Remembrance
The language of the rites of remembrance is quiet and objective at the beginning of the first stage. It preserves this character for a long period of time during this stage. Then a change began to enter into this aspect towards the end of the stage so that it has become emotional in the second stage. The object of the language in the first stage was to portray the events of the revolution. In the second stage the object has come to be to arouse the mind and the emotions of the people attending the rites of remembrance for al-Husayn.
Just as rhyming-prose (saj') became an established feature in the style of writing and oratory in that period, so it did in the language of the rites of remembrance when the matter was not concerned with reading an historical text word for word and only depended on the composition of the preacher or the writer.
Mostly this rhyming prose was weak, devoid of artistic grandeur. In what follows we will present two texts, one of which is by Ibn Numma and the other by Ibn Tawus in order to try and give a picture of the emotional language of the rites of remembrance.
Ibn Numma wrote:
(Al-Husayn) said: 'Arise for death which is inevitable.' They rose and the two armies met, foot-soldiers and horsemen. The battle was fierce. Because of the dust that raised, courage was hidden. The hard strong spear whetted the black blood while the Yemeni sword was heard striking into heads. Al-Husayn, peace be with him, did not find anyone to listen to his warning amid those who fell in war. They had disbelieved in the Apostle without preferring the cutting swords and spear-tips. There was nothing left between them except skulls and sliding swords. You could see the heads falling like down-pouring rain and burnt-out sparks. You could recite verses in describing the situation because you knew the battle would make them become decayed bones. [36]
Ibn Tawus wrote about the return of Zayn al-'Abidin with the prisoners to Medina:
Then he, the blessings of God be with him, journeyed to Medina with his family. He looked at the house of his people and his men. He saw those houses wailing in the name of their circumstances and wailing at the misfortunes of their tears as they fiowed for the loss of their defenders and their men. They grieve for them with the grief of bereaved women. They ask the people at the halting place about them. Their grief was excited by the deaths of their killed ones. The houses call out for their sake and for the bereaved among them. They say, 'People, forgive me wailing and lamenting. Help me in this noble tragedy. These people, at whose loss I grieve and for whose noble conduct I yearn, were the companions of my days and nights, the lights of my darkness and my dawns, the sinews of my honour and my pride, the causes of my strength and my victory, and what is left of my suns and my moons.'
Rhyming-prose continued to be a permanent style in the language of the rites of remembrance until the end of this stage and the beginning of the third stage, insofar as Shaykh Fakhr al-Dm al-Turayhi (d. 1075) was a representative of the second stage of the rites of remembrance through his book al-Muntakhab. This book represents a development in the manner of writing the account of the death of al-Husayn. He divided it into sessions (majalis) and parts in accordance with the nights and days on which the rites of remembrance were held. I maintain that Shaykh al-Turayhi used emotional rhyming-prose in writing the sessions which he compiled in al-Muntakhab. In that way we know that the stage began with the language of the rites of remembrance in emotional rhyming- prose and ended in this form as well.
ii. Historical Accuracy
In this stage the scope was extended to include embellishments in the narration of events and became particularly tolerant in accepting accounts connected with actions which would lead to exciting the emotions. Among the examples of that is the account of the marriage of al-Qasim ibn al-Hasan ibn 'Ali ibn 'Abi Talib to the daughter of al-Husayn. Another is the report that the 'Abbasid Caliph, al-Mutawakkil, continued to plough up the grave of al-Husayn for twenty years.37 Both of these reports were untrue. When al-Qasim ibn al-Hasan died as a martyr, he was still a youth who had not reached the age to marry, and there is no reliable historical text concerning this marriage. Similarly the period of the caliphate of al-Mutawakkil, from the time he was given the pledge of allegiance to the time he was killed, was about fifteen years. (He was given the pledge of allegiance in 232 and he was killed in 247).
Other manifestations of this lack of historical accuracy are found in the acceptance of the suggestions of some of the writers about the death of al-Husayn as if they were historical facts.
iii. Poetry
In their first stage the rites of remembrance limited the poetry to what was organically connected with the Battle of Karbala', like the rajaz rhymes of the fighters and similar things. Then during the first stage the rites of remembrance developed and began to include poetry of lament and about virtues composed by later poets. It might even be the composition of the author of the particular account of the death of al-Husayn himself. This is what we find in Ibn Numma al-Hillis book, Muthir al-Ahzan, where most of the pieces of poetry appropriate to the situation which he is discussing in his account of the death of al-Husayn are his own compositions. He, even, introduced poetic material which was alien to the account of the death of al-Husayn, as though it might be appropriate for it. Thus he wrote: 'I have concluded this book of mine with the verses of Ibn Zaydun al-Maghribi which cut deep into the heart of the grief-stricken like a javelin. [38]
Then he quoted a long passage from a famous poem of Ibn Zaydun.
This development which occurred in the rites of remembrance towards the end of the first stage increased in a distinct and clear way in the second stage. Thus the poetry of lamentation about the martyrdom of Imam al-Husayn became, in the very late period, basic material in the rites of remembrance for al-Husayn. Similarly the poetry about virtue which was composed in praise of the Holy Family also became basic material in the rites of remembrance for al-Husayn.
Al-Turayhis book, al-Muntakhab, is the best text to represent the development which took place in the rites of remembrance during this stage. It includes poetry of lamentation and of virtues composed about Imam al-Husayn or the other martyrs from the Hashimites so that frequently the session of the rites of remem- brance begins with a piece of lamentation poetry or poetry about virtues and ends with a long poem by one of the later poets. Similarly within the session there are included pieces of poetry connected with the rites of remembrance or the virtues of the Holy Family or some other poetry which seems appropriate to mention in the course of a story which has been introduced into the rites of remembrance in order to serve the purpose of emphasising the virtues or the tragedy.
iv. The Virtues of the Holy Family
Among the developments which were introduced into the rites of remembrance during its first stage was their inclusion of accounts of the virtues which were reported from the Apostle concerning the Imams of the Holy Family or what was reported in praise and honour of them by other men of Islam.
This characteristic clearly increased in the rites of remembrance during their second stage. Special books about the great qualities of the Holy Family were compiled. The book, Manaqib Ali Abi' .Talib, by Ibn Shahrashub exemplifies this in the second stage of the rites of remembrance. The chapter devoted to Imam al-Husayn begins by giving general reports about his virtues from Imam al-Sadiq, from Abu Hurayra reporting from the Apostle of God, from al-Mufaddal ibn ' Umar reporting from Imam al-Sadiq, from al-Suddi, the exegete, from Imam Musa ibn Ja'far and others, together with poetry about his virtues by al-Zahi, al-Qadi ibn Qadus al-Basri, Kashajim and al-Bashnawi. Then he devotes a section to the miracles of Imam al-Husayn which he concludes with some poetry about his virtues by al-Susi and al-Saruji. He follows this with a section which is about the miracles and signs from Imam al-Husayn after his death, which is permeated with poetry of lament. After this comes a section about the noble moral qualities of Imam al-Husayn, which is full of poetry about his virtues. He, then, goes on to a section about the Prophet's love for Imam al-Husayn, which contains much poetry appropriate to that subject. He follows this with a section about his noble accomplishments, which he concludes with a piece of poetry about his virtues. That is followed by a section giving his dates and different names, which is concluded with a poem in praise of his virtues which he attributes to Imam al-Husayn on the Day of 'Ashura'. A further section comes with expressions about his virtues and great qualities, which is also permeated with poetry about his virtues. Finally, there comes a section about his martyrdom.
Since we find that the extent of the concern with virtues has become deep and increased its roots in the rites of remembrance for al-Husayn in their second stage in the way we have just described, we will also find that the extent of the concern with virtues in the rites of remembrance is, at the end of their second stage, interposing itself with the rites of remembrance themselves, and becoming part of its internal fabric. The book, al-Muntakhab, by al-Tarihi gives us a picture of the growth of this extensive concern with virtues in the internal structure of the rites of remembrance. Here we find the virtues mentioned alongside the incidents of the tragedy in order to give a feeling of its grievousness and to form in the listener feelings of respect, love and disaster. The first section of the third session, for example, is devoted to the second night of the first ten days of Muharram. It begins by mentioning some of the virtues of the Commander of the faithful, 'Ali ibn 'Abi Talib. Within this it mentions the attitudes of those who reject them. Then the author turns his attention to the tragedy of Karbala'. He says: '. . . Hold true to the truths of the tragedies to his offspring, his sons, his Shi' a and those who loved him. Only look at the dead on the ground, or the imprisoned one as he suffered throughout his journey, or the unveiled women on the humps of camels whose faces are scrutinised by me ....' Then he mentions the learning of Imam al-Husayn in the time of 'Umar ibn al-Khattab. He goes on to say: 'How strange are people who know their noble virtue but still commit dreadful acts against them ....' [39] Al-Turayhi continues in this session and others in this style of mixing virtues together with the tragic events.
v. The Other Imams
This development, which had occurred in the first stage of the rites of remembrance, increases in clearness and becomes more firmly- rooted in the second stage. The tendency to compile works about the tragedies of the Imam becomes widespread emanating from the reality that they represent one course and one tragedy which has many links. This leads to the rites of remembrance for al-Husayn becoming an integrated whole from this aspect so that the discourse concerning it is not limited merely to referring to the life and martyrdom of al-Husayn. It is extended to include a discussion of the lives, virtues and tragedies of the other Imams. The elements pertaining to the virtues and tragedies of the other Imams become a basic part of the rites of remembrance for al-Husayn. In the same way this led to the evolution of rites of remembrance being held on the days when they died so that there are rites of remembrance for al-Husayn which are really devoted to the memory of Imams other than al-Husayn. Rites of remembrance have come to be held in memorial to the death of the Apostle of God, the death of Imam 'Ali, the death of Imam al-Hasan and the death of Imam Zayn al-'Abidin.
In these rites of remembrance, the life-story and virtues of the Imam, whose memorial it is, is told. The oppression and tyranny which he met from the rulers of his time is also discussed. The session of the rites of remembrance finishes by mentioning Imam al-Husayn. Poetry of lamentation and poetry of virtues permeates the whole of that.
The best example of work which intermingles the other memorials in the rites of remembrance for al-Husayn during this stage is al-Muntakhab of al-Turayhi.
vi. Acts of Renunciation of the World
The rites of remembrance for al-Husayn, like any cultural or social institution, were influenced by the changes and new factors which occurred in Islamic society during the period between the fall of Baghdad and the beginnings of the modern era, which is the time-span of the second stage of the rites of remembrance for al-Husayn.
The rites of remembrance for al-Husayn were influenced by what befell the Muslims and his society in this period: Political disintegration, economic backwardness, civil wars, famines and plagues.
In this climate, full of the causes of misery for man and society, there grew a cultural current which provided a philosophy for this misery. It was the Sufism of resignation, which gave the Muslim a philosophy which was able to extend the power of its influence and activity through the claim that it was a religious movement which concentrated on the Book, the Sunna and the practices of the great representative of Islam. It was a claim which had absolutely no basis in truth. It arose out of ignorance of the general spirit of Islam and the influence of non-Islamic $uii tendencies.
This philosophy made the misery of the existing situation a fixed fate created by God and it made resignation and acceptance of this misery a necessary fate for man. It regarded any activity by man and society to change this miserable situation for the better as vain effort. It regarded the purpose of man, in his work and toil in the life of the world, as death and the grave.
As a result of this logic, this philosophy made the memory of al-Husayn into an activity concerned with death rather than activity concerned with life. It made it into ritual which would bring benefit to man in the grave rather than an incentive to make him change the situation of his miserable degrading life. The revolution of al-Husayn came to be considered as if it had been an action which al-Husayn undertook in order to enable people, through repeating and telling his story in words, to enter Paradise by this kind of verbal activity.
The end of the first stage of the rites of remembrance for al-Husayn had witnessed the appearance of this attitude towards the purpose of remembering al-Husayn. However, during the second stage, this attitude became increasingly apparent. Al- Muntakhab of al-Turayhi gives a perfect illustration of this attitude towards remembering al-Husayn. It is weighed down with expres- sions which demonstrate that, like the following:
My brothers, you desire the noble mansion of Paradise and great reward. Then perpetuate your grief, your sadness and your sorrow for them. You should know that God will accept such actions from you and the result will be favourable for you in His eyes. Yet God will not accept excuses for abandoning the rites of remembrance for the pure Holy Family because His practice is to impose obligations about men after He has inspired them with guidance in order that He may pour goodness upon them so that they may arrive at perfection. By my life, nothing is more efficacious to attain great reward and remove dread punishment than the performance of the ritual of griefs and making tears flow because of the treachery and desertion done to the Holy Family at that time.
The Shi'ite man began to perform the rites of remembrance for al-Husayn, or to attend them, for the sake of storing up acts of piety for the Hereafter which would benefit him after death and gain great reward from God. Apart from that, his attendance did not help him to understand them as being an activity which would benefit him in his life and change some of the evil and misery in it. Thus cursing the Umayyads became purely an activity concerned with the Hereafter and it was not a renunciation of Umayyad policy in its political implications.
In the second stage of the rites of remembrance for al-Husayn, the memory of al-Husayn lost its political and social implications concerned with adhering to an attitude of life and existence in face of the challenges of the miserable situation.
The call to renounce the world and the negative preaching which urged men to leave actions involved with living, by rejecting the world as a basic factor of life came into the rites of remembrance for al-Husayn at this stage, alongside the story of the tragedy.
The following line of verse portrays for us how deeply this spirit of renunciation had penetrated into the rites of remembrance for al-Husayn so that the negative attitude towards life had become intermingled with the tragedy of al-Husayn:
Do you hope for good from a world which had despised al-Husayn, the grandson of the Prophet, and chosen Yazid.
The author of al-Muntakhab gives us a picture in a great many passages of this negative attitude of renunciation of the world as it appears in the rites of remembrance for al-Husayn during this stage, and how this attitude has become incorporated, in the understanding of the ordinary Shi'ite, with the tragedy of al-Husayn. The following quotation is a good illustration of the way al-Muntakhab approaches this matter:
The base world prompted you to kill the Prophet's offspring. It has been reported by great men: Love for the world is one of the greatest dangers which will cause the wrath of God and throw men into Hell-fire. In a Tradition which gives the words of God, He says: If My servant prays the prayer of the people of Heaven and earth, fasts the fast of the people of Heaven and earth, makes the pilgrimage of the pilgrims of the people of Heaven and earth, does without food like the angels who are close to God, then I see in his heart an atom of love for the world, or for its reputation, or for its leadership, or for its praise, or for its finery, or for its decoration, or even less than an atom, such a man will not be with Me in My noble abode. Indeed I will root out of his heart love for Me and I will oppress his heart until he forgets any memory of Me so that I will not bedeck him with My mercy on the Day of Resurrection.
In a Tradition from Imam al-Sadiq, the latter said: . . . The Apostle of God said: By God Who sent me as a prophet with the truth, if there was an atom of love for the world in the hearts of Gabriel and Michael, God would hurl them on their faces into Hell-fire.
Brothers, keep yourselves away from all trust in the world. Beware of seeking leadership and high position in it, for it is an abode in which all blessings cease and none of its evil people will be safe. How can an intelligent man be satisfied with the world as an abode after the family of the Apostle and the offspring of Fatima. This, by God, is a place which betrays its friends. There is, by God, no good in it except for those who take their provisions in it for the Day of Resurrection. By my life, no action in it is better than loyalty to the Holy Family which prompts terror towards the Day of Judgement and its consequences.
This attitude of renunciation by the Muslims was formed at an early period and began to express itself in the Shi'ite in the rites of remembrance for al-Husayn towards the end of the first stage of those rites. This sad atmosphere of the rites of remembrance, full as it was of tragic memories and terrifying pictures of tyrannical acts of oppression against man, was intensely suitable for the growth of ideas of negative renunciation which was provided with life and strength by the misery of existing life and ignorance of the spirit of Islam. It continued to grow in the consciousness of the ordinary Shi'ite as an expression of himself in the rites of remembrance for al-Husayn during their second stage until it reached its apex at the end of this stage.
This negative attitude of renunciation continued throughout the period of the dark ages of Islam and it even stretched into the modern era in some areas.
The Ottoman government, through its oppression and perse- cution of the Shi'ite, was one of the factors for the continuation of this negative attitude of renunciation insofar as the Ottomans had power over Shi' ites.
3. The Third Stage
As we mentioned earlier, the third stage of the rites of remembrance for al-Husayn began at the beginning of the modern period, and they have continued in this stage up to the present time.
Here we should notice that the books about the death of al-Husayn during this period are only of a very limited use as a source for observing the changes in form and mode which have occurred in the rites of remembrance for al-Husayn. The changes of mode which have been introduced into the rites of remembrance have a nature which differs fundamentally from the nature of the books about the death of al-Husayn, for these books are devoted to telling the story of the actual event. We shall see that the changes have made the rites of remembrance go beyond the story of the actual event to other aims and contents. Indeed, it is possible that some of the books about the death of al-Husayn have participated in tracing the modern direction in some respects, (e.g. The books of al-Amini in terms of historical accuracy). Some of this was in response to the demand for a new picture.
In this stage the rites of remembrance for al-Husayn have witnessed developments in form and mode of very great impor- tance.