Our aim is not to create fitnah with any other group we try our utmost to steer away from controversy. We do however feel it is important to make comment when remarks are made aimed at questioning the role of the Ahlulbayt. This tends to occur particularly during Moharrum, this year has of course been no different but since our main opponents on the issue of Imam Hussain (as) are the Wahabie’s rather than attacking the opinion of any particular group we will simply seek to rebut the verdict of their leading Imam Ibn Taimiyya:
“Hussain was not justified in his revolt. He was advised by men of learning and piety not to take up arms against the Government, but he did not listen. And the events proved that their opinion was correct, because no good came out of his rebellion either for religion or for the world”.
(The political thought of Ibn Taymiyah, by Prof. Qamaraddin Khan, p 168).
In order to understand the martyrdom of Imam Hussain (as), we need to understand what he was fighting for. What was the form of Islam he was seeking to represent and protect? Let’s start with a brief overview of Islam. This religion of Islam passed through 124,000 Prophets, it came bit by bit, imagine a jigsaw each Prophet brought a piece of the puzzle starting Hadhrath Adam (as) until the final piece of the puzzle came in to the hand of Hadhrath Mohammed (saws) with his last sermon came down the following verse:
“Today, I have perfected your religion and completed my bounty upon you, and I was satisfied that your religion be Islam” (Quran 5:3 ).
So the role of each Prophet was to convey the teachings of Islam, to call people to submit to their Lord. This role of Prophethood was explained beautifully by the Prophet (saws) himself through the following parable, you can find this tradition in Sahih Muslim and Sahih Bukhari:
“My relation to the long chain of Prophets can be understood by the parable of a Palace. The Palace was most beautifully built. Everything was complete therein except the place for one brick. I have filled in that place and now the Palace has been completed”.
Taken from towards understanding Islam Syed Abu Ala Maudidi, quoting Sahih Bokhari and Muslim, Page 49, footnnote 14
So each brick was brought by a Prophet Mohammed (saws) the Prophet being the final brick, the religion was therefore complete. So, here is the Palace, it stands erect with all its majesty and beauty, it is there for people to look at and admire. But with the completion of the Palace and the passing of the final piece, i.e. the Prophet (saws) there exist a number of forseeable risks which the Palace can quite easily be exposed to. Unwanted guests may seek to break in to the palace, sit on seats they have no right to sit on.
They have no right to enter the Palace yet they have come in without any one’s permission and now they refuse to leave…Worse still you might get the scenario of what has been coined as ‘Cowboy builders’ coming in to the Palace. When they enter the Palace they have their own machinations, their own distorted image of what the Palace should look like. So what to they do? Once inside the Palace they start moving things around, putting things where they should not be, changing the designs of the Palace, bringing new things in to the Palace, doing away with things which they do not like, things they see as not beneficial in his opinion. Worse still you might get intruders whose sole objective is to ransack and destroy the foundations of the Palace so it collapses. This is why Rasul (saws) left a protector / guardian of the Palace in the guise of Maula Hadhrath Ali ibne Talib (as). That is why the verse declaring the completion of the faith was declared following the declaration of Ali (as) Wilayat at Ghadhir Khumm.
Yes the Guide to that Palace was Ali (as) why else do you think the Seal of all Prophets said “I am the City of Knowledge and Ali is its gate, to attain knowledge you must enter the Gate”. To enter any place you must go through the door / the Gate, the entry Point and who stands at the Palace of Islam, its Gate, Hadhrath Ali (as). If you enter through a means other than the Gate, if for example you go through the window, or squeeze through the cat flap, or climb the walls, or any type of forceful entry you will be deemed a trespasser, an unlawful visitor.
The Greatest risk the Place has if from that unlawful entrant who occupies the Place illegally, and then seeks to damage the foundation of the Palace…it is here that one comes to understand the role of Imamate of the Imam e Muttliqa, Allah’s Imam is he who seeks to protect the foundation of Islam…of the Place, acts as a lock to ensure that the foundation can not be damaged in any way.
After the Prophet (saws) this responsibility was vested in the hands of Hadhrath Ali (as) and the Prophet (saws) had vouched for this fact for during the battle of Khunduq when the Imam went to fight Amr bin Wudd, the Prophet (saws) declared that “Complete Iman and Complete Kufr are doing battle today”.
Our critics say that the Shi’a always focus on Ali (as) and ignore the other Sahaba. To this our reply is direct, Ali (as) is Complete Iman, no one amongst us has complete Iman it is partial, it goes up and down, it is natural that when something is partial it will run to gain benefit from the complete source. In the same way that every drop of water from a stream rushes to the complete source i.e. the river, every individual with partial Iman will rush to that individual with Complete Iman, Hadhrath Imam Ali (as).
This is the role of Allah’s appointed Imam he has complete Iman and is therefore the Protector of the Palace, he is firmly placed at the foundation to ensure that it is not harmed in any way. The Imam protects the foundation, the Imams are those who have knowledge of every inch of the Palace, they can provide a commentary on every aspect of the Palace, they can guide you through the Palace, and ensure you don’t get lost inside it. If you are an unlawful occupant they will remind you of that fact, as is recorded by Suyuti:
“Al Hassan Ibn Ali came to Abu Bakr when he was upon the mimbar of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and said ‘Come down from my father’s seat’. He said ‘You have told the truth, it is your father’s seat,’ and he placed him in his lap and wept’. Ali said ‘By Allah this was not from my command’.
History of the Khalifahs who took the right away, by: Al Hafiz Jalaludin Suyuti. English translation by Abdasamat Clark Page 71. Taha Publishers.