By: Seyyed Ali Shahbaz
     "Indeed, anyone joining me (in Karbala) will attain martyrdom, while anyone who does not join me will not attain victory.”
     This is what Imam Husain (AS) remarked, as the bloodthirsty hordes of Yazid closed in upon him in Karbala from all directions, eventually cutting his access to the waters of the River Euphrates on the assumption that thirst and hunger would make the grandson of the Almighty’s Last and Greatest Messenger, Prophet Muhammad (SAWA), yield to their illogical demand of giving pledge of allegiance to the Godless rule of the self-styled caliph, Yazid ibn Mu’awiyya.
     They were totally wrong. It is not that they did not know whom they were opposing!
      In his own words on the Day of Ashura, the Immortal Martyr of Karbala said:
     "Am I not the son of your Prophet's daughter – Hazrat Fatema Zahra (SA)? Is not my father – Commander of the Faithful Imam Ali ibn Abi Taleb – the "wasi” (vicegerent or testamentary legatee) of your Prophet and his cousin and the first person, who expressed belief in Allah and confirmed what was brought by His Prophet? Is the Doyen of Martyrs Hamza ibn Abdul Muttalib not the uncle of my father? Is the martyr Ja’far ibn Abi Taleb whom God has given two wings to fly with the angels in paradise, not my uncle? Have you not heard that the Prophet has said about me and my brother – Imam Hasan (AS): "These two sons of mine are the chiefs of the young men of Paradise?”
      The Omayyad hordes baying for his innocent blood, sheepishly acknowledged whatever he said, yet persisted in putting pressures of all sorts upon him in the vain hope that his surrender – or death – would bring them rewards in the form of wealth, land grants, political posts, or the governorship of the rich province of Rayy (extending in those days from the Alborz Mountain Range north of modern Tehran to Kashan and Isfahan).
     The Imam continued in his address: "By Allah I will not pledge allegiance to these people like weak and mean persons and will not flee the battlefield like slaves while fighting against the rascals. I seek refuge in Allah from the mischief of you people and of every arrogant person who does not believe in the Day of Judgment.”
     The Omayyad forces opposing him, failed to heed his wise words that real victory lies in martyrdom in the way of Allah. It means those who would kill him; severe his head; mount it in on a lance, parade it through the streets of Kufa and Damascus (with his children and womenfolk bound in ropes and chains walking behind), will not get anything in return.  
      A day earlier on the 9th of Muharram the Imam had held parleys with Omar ibn Sa’d, the Commander of the Omayyad forces and the son of Sa’d ibn Abi Waqqas, who was supposed to be a senior companion of the Prophet.
       Imam Husain (AS) asked him the reason for the hostility but did not receive any convincing answers from that weak and cowardly person, who made several lame excuses, initially saying he feared his own life if he disobeyed the libertine Yazid’s tyrannical governor of Iraq, Obaidollah ibn Ziyad. When the Imam invited him towards lasting felicities, with the promise of paradise in afterlife, the short-sighted Omar said the Omayyads had promised to reward him with governorship of Rayy in Iran, for doing their bidding.
      After a lengthy discussion which had no effect on Ibn Sa’d, the Imam got up saying: "You are not destined to taste even a single grain of the wheat of Rayy.”
       How true. A few years later, Omar ibn Sa’d perished like a miserable dog, killed by his own conscientious brother-in-law (wife’s brother), Mukhtar ibn Abi Obayda Thaqafi who avenged the innocent blood of Imam Husain (AS) by bringing to justice the principal perpetrators of the heartrending tragedy of Karbala.
      Imam Husain (AS), who fulfilled the Great Sacrifice ("Zibhin Azeem” – holy Qur’an 37:107) that had ransomed Prophet Ishmael in antiquity, thus stands for all times as the "Beacon of Light and the Ark of Salvation” – true to the words of his grandfather.
       As Heir of the missions of the prophets of the past (Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses and Jesus), and as the Legatee of his grandfather, father and elder brother, he was the divinely-designated Imam of mankind of his age.
       It means Imam Husain (AS) was not one of those caliphs thrust upon Muslims by a comrade (Saqifa Bani Sa’da); or supposedly nominated on deathbed by a questionable predecessor (without any evidence or legal authority); or chosen by a council of dubious persons.
      His authority was God-given. This is the reason eternal victory belongs to the Martyr of Karbala, while those who oppose him in every age and place, discourage pilgrimage to his holy shrine, destroy the holy shrines of his brother, son, grandson and great-grandson in Medina’s Sacred Baqi Cemetery, persecute his followers, cannibalistically eat raw their organs, and massacre Hajj pilgrims in the most inviolable of all places, may rule for a certain period, but will eventually be wiped out – as was the case of Yazid and the Omayyads.
     I end this brief column with another immortal phrase from Imam Husain (AS) which should serve as food for thought for all humanity – including those misled elements claiming to be Muslim but violating the letter and spirit of the holy Qur’an through acts of terrorism and wars against fellow Muslims.
     "If you do not have faith, at least be freemen in your worldly affairs.”

Heartfelt Condolences on Anniversary of the Heartrending Tragedy of Karbala