By: Seyyed Ali Shahbaz
     
“They desire to put out the Light of Allah with their mouths, but Allah shall perfect His Light though the faithless should be averse.” (Holy Qur’an 61:8)
We are on the eve of the anniversary of one of those tragic days of history when devils in human form thought they had succeeded in extinguishing the Light of Allah.
They had surmised that a fatal dose of poison to end the life in the prime of youth of the most pious person of the age (on the assumption that he was still issueless), would ensure continuation of the caliphate of the criminals without the Imamate of the Infallibles being an obstacle to their misrule.
It is obvious that they had failed to read history and the miserable fate of all tyrants and hypocrites preceding them. They had also failed to reflect on the above-quoted Words of God Almighty to perfect for eternity the Light decreed Lasting. 
Neither the self-styled caliph Mu’tamed of the usurper Abbasid regime believed in the Holy Qur’an, nor his courtiers, who advised him to soon end the life of Imam Hasan al-Askari (AS), the 11th Infallible Heir of Prophet Muhammad (SAWA).
Despite their disbelief, they were scared of the prophesied figure of Twelve Imams of the Ahl al-Bayt, the Last of whom will rise as Mahdi to end corruption on Earth. Having martyred the Prophet’s 10th Infallible Heir, Imam Ali al-Hadi (AS), through poison in 254 AH (868 AD), they now plotted against the life of his son and successor, without arousing the least suspicion from the Muslim Ummah, which greatly respected the Imams of the Ahl al-Bayt.
In fact, following the tragic martyrdom of the Prophet’s younger grandson, Imam Husain (AS), on the battlefield of Karbala in 61 AH (680 AD), and the miserable fate of its Godless perpetrator Yazid ibn Mu’awiyah, the caliphate of terror had desisted from doing open bodily harm to the Infallible Imams, for fear of rousing the anger of the Muslim masses.
A review of Islamic history in the light of the Holy Qur’an and the hadith of the Seal of Messengers confirms the scandalous nature of the caliphate that was born at the unholy gathering of Saqifa Bani Sa’da, while the Prophet’s funerary rites were in progress at the hands of his divinely designated Heir, Imam Ali ibn Abi Taleb (AS).
That is the reason, in 11 AH (632 AD), the Noblest Lady of all times, the Prophet’s Immaculate Daughter, Hazrat Fatema Zahra (SA) – the “Kowthar” of the Holy Qur’an – while defending the Imamate or the God-given authority of her husband, Imam Ali (AS), had warned the self-styled caliph of her time with the following statement:
“Now hang on to this cheap dromedary of caliphate of yours… but beware its hump is injured while there are blisters and holes in its feet. It carries the scars of ignominy and the sign of the wrath of Allah. Eternal shame is attached to it.”
This is the reason, a quarter century later when Imam Ali (AS) pressed by leaderless masses to take charge of political rule, he reluctantly agreed on condition to follow only the Holy Qur’an and the Prophet’s Sunnah, and not the unhealthy innovations that had crept during the past three reigns. His brief era was the sole instance in history of the model rule of social justice. As Head of the Infallible Imamate, he remarked that the caliphate was not even worth his worn-out pair of shoes. 
True to the words of Hazrat Zahra (SA) and Imam Ali (AS), a review of the caliphate reveals liars, hypocrites, hoarders of wealth, plunderers of public properties, drunkards, debauchees, 
tyrants, open rejecters of the shari’ah, and even apostates heading this scandalous institution.
Now coming to the times of Imam Hasan al-Askari (AS), he was only 28 years old in 260 AH (874 AD), when the Abassids, after subjecting him to imprisonment several times, and even unleashing upon him wild beasts which to their astonishment sat meekly at his feet, resorted to the cowardly practice of poisoning his diet.
Yet, during the six years he was at the helm of the Imamate of the Infallibles, the 11th Imam frustrated the designs of the caliphate of the criminals. He firmed up the foolproof system of “wikala” or representation to keep the faithful in touch with him, without endangering themselves. He thus groomed the faithful for the long period of occultation of his son and successor, the 12th Imam (the Promised Mahdi), who was already born – unknown to the enemies and growing up in safe custody.
A brief newspaper column cannot do justice to the glorious life and times of Imam Hasan al-Askari (AS). On his authority was compiled an exegesis of part of the Holy Qur’an. He clarified many issues of the Prophet’s dynamic shari’ah. He expounded to the seekers of truth the words of wisdom as well as discourses on not just the pillars of Islam but metaphysical issues and matters of science and technology. 
He explained the proper manner of “Ziyarah” or salutation at the shrines of his illustrious ancestors with emphasis on “Ziyarat al-Arba’een” of Imam Husain (AS) as one of the five fundamentals of faith of a true believer. The other four signs are: wearing a ring on a finger of the right hand, performing fifty-one raka’ats of the ritual prayers every day (17 obligatory, 34 recommended) , recitation in raised voice of “Bismillah-ir-Rahman-ir-Raheem” (in the Name of Allah the Most Merciful the Most Compassionate) during the ritual prayer and prostration on clay during the same.. 
Alas, on Rabi al-Awwal 8, after writhing in pain for a week due to the lethal poison mixed in his food, he achieved martyrdom. He was laid to rest beside his father in Samarra, as the markets closed in mourning and masses, who used to eagerly line the streets to catch his glimpse whenever he would be taken from house arrest by the guards to the caliph’s palace, thronged the house to pay their last respects.
The caliphate of the criminals had yet again failed to extinguish the Light of the Imamate of the Infallibles. God Himself has ensured in the Holy Qur’an that none can snuff out the Light bequeathed to His Last and Greatest Prophet and entrusted to the Immaculate Imams of the Ahl al-Bayt.
Insha Allah, to the detriment of the faithless, with the reappearance of the 12th Imam in the end times as Qa’em al-Mahdi (AS), the Planet will be cleansed of oppression through the global government of peace, prosperity and justice.a