Words of Wisdom of The Immortal Revolutionary

By: Seyyed Ali Shahbaz

     "Your have said (in your letter) if I oppose you, you would oppose me and if I proceed against you, you will proceed against me. You may take whatever steps you can against me. I am sure that your planning will cause me no harm. The greatest harm shall be to you. For, you are riding the vehicle of ignorance and are apt at breaking oaths and treaties. By my life, you have never considered any point of agreement.”

     The above passage is not a reply from a pious and self-confident senior official of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the thuggish US president, Donald Trump, a notorious liar, a shameless adulterer, a sadistic tormentor of refugee children, a fraudster, a violator of international accords, a warmonger, a potential mass-murderer with an urge to use nuclear weapons, and a supporter of not just the inhuman Zionist and Wahhabi cults, but also of every kind of bloodcurdling terrorism (including economic), who is totally devoid of all humanitarian values.

     It is in fact, part of a lengthy answer given by the peerless paragon of piety and patience whose birth anniversary we have been celebrating every year on the auspicious 3rd of Sha’ban for the past millennium and four centuries, on receiving a threatening letter from a Trump-like tyrannical ruler blinded by the superficial might of material power and his murderously macabre military machine.

    To be more precise, these are the immortal words of the younger grandson and third Infallible Heir of the Almighty’s Last and Greatest Messenger to mankind, Prophet Muhammad (SAWA), to the imposter Mu’awiyah ibn Abu Sufyan who had usurped rule of the Islamic realm and while masquerading as a Muslim, was trampling under feet all tenets of Islam.
     This means, Imam Husain (AS) who was destined to court immortal martyrdom on the plain of Karbala, Iraq, in 61 AH at the age of 57 years, during an unequal but brave fight against the ungodly hordes of Yazid, rather than give allegiance to his misrule, was equally opposed to the illegal caliphate of Yazid’s father Mu’awiyah. 

     Imam Husain (AS), whom the Prophet on Divine Command had hailed as "Leader of the Youths of Paradise” – along with his elder brother Imam Hasan (AS) – explicitly spelled out in his historic epistle to the Omayyad usurper:

     "You have killed those with whom you had made treaties, promises and oaths. And you killed them when they had neither any intention of waging a war against you nor had they committed any murder. You shed their blood only because they related our merits and were cognizant of the greatness of our rights.

     "O Mu’awiyah! Be prepared for Divine Retribution and be sure of the accounting before Allah. And know that the scroll of deeds has a record of every small and big sin. Nothing is omitted from it. Allah will never excuse your act of arresting people on mere suspicion. You accused wrongly the saintly people with baseless allegations and slaughtered them. You made them abandon their houses to be homeless in strange lands. You forcibly extracted allegiance from the people for your drunkard and dog-loving son (Yazid).”

     The 3rd of Sha'ban thus conjures up memories of a glorious birth that took place 1,436 lunar years ago in Medina, when Mu’awiyah was still a hardcore heathen worshipping a pantheon of idols and participating in armed encounters against the Prophet and Muslims.

     The birth of Imam Husain (AS) was destined to leave the most indelible mark, not just on Islam, its humanitarian teachings, and its future course, but on the history of the whole world itself. 

      His name, if it inspires the spirit of iron-resolve resistance among those striving for freedom and struggling against injustice for their inalienable rights, it engulfs tyrants with gloom because "exercise in futility" is the only fate the magnitude of their oppression meets when confronted by Hussaini aspirations.

      No wonder, Prophet Muhammad (SAWA) whom God describes as "Mercy unto the creation” (holy Qur’an 21:107), hailed his younger grandson as: "Lamp of Guidance and Ark of Salvation”. 

     The Beacon of Guidance that lit the world for the first time on this day in the year 4 AH, not only continues to shine all the more brilliantly today, but also serves as the speediest of the Arks of Salvation that the Almighty has granted mankind for the journey towards eternity. It was in view of these facts that the Prophet in one of his famous statements has likened his Ahl al-Bayt to the Ark of Prophet Noah, saying: "Whoever adheres to them is salvaged and whoever leaves them is drowned”.

      Imam Husain (AS), infused an immortal soul into the lifeless soil of Karbala by giving his own lifeblood and that of his dear and near ones, thereby inspiring legions of reformers and revolutionaries in every age and era to rise to the heights of glory in the fight against the forces of darkness. 

     It was Imam Husain (AS) who taught humanity how to stand steadfast in the most adverse circumstances. It was Husain (AS) whose blood triumphed over naked swords so that the message of his grandfather should remain in its pristinely pure form unsullied by the devilish designs of the hypocrites.

     That was the reason, the Prophet called Imam Hussain (AS) – who like his parents Imam Ali (AS) and Hazrat Fatema Zahra (SA) transcends history and all historical developments – "Husain is from me and I am from Husain.” 

     Prophet Muhammad (SAWA) was not a king and was not innovating princely practices in the egalitarian religion of Islam that transcends all superficial barriers, whether of class, colour, creed, language and ethnicity. Through expression of such phrases, he was warning Muslims of the dangers of obeisance to oppressors and prostration before potentates who would try to destroy the letter and spirit of Islam by usurping the caliphate, turning it into tyranny and wrongfully indulging in regal ways, to the extent that it would require superhuman efforts to restore the dynamic simplicity of Islam.

      Now it becomes clear why the Islamic Republic of Iran marks the birthday of Imam Husain (AS) as "Rouz-e Pasdaar” or the Day of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), as tribute to their heroic defence of Islam and humanitarian values against terrorists and terrorism of all kinds, including the state terrorism of the US, the Zionists and reactionary regimes.

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Congratulations on the Blessed Birthday of Imam Husain (AS)