Dr. Ali Shariati, an Iranian religious intellectual and reformist, believes that to view Imam Husain (A.S) and the battle of Karbala as isolated from historical and social circumstances would force us to view the man and the event purely as an unfortunate occurrence in the past and something for us to merely cry about rather than as an eternal and transcendent phenomenon. To separate Karbala and Imam Husain (A.S) from their historical and ideological context is to dissect a living body, to remove only a part of it and to examine it in exclusion of the living system of the body. Hence, let us not allot Imam’s revolution on the day of Ashura.
According to him, confronting the “neo-ignorance” and “neo-aristocracy”, which remerged within the context of Islam under the cover of Truth, the fourth Caliph Ali (A.S) was the base of resistance. For many years, he struggled and strove against poly-theism, which was cloaked in the dress of unity, within his ranks. He had to grapple with the atheist who had assumed the mantle of Islam and positioned the Quran on the point of the lance. In the end, the fourth Caliph was killed by religious radicals who were tools at the hands of a sharp enemy.
Imam Husain (A.S) inherits the Islamic movement. He is the inheritor of a movement which Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) had launched. Ali (A.S) had continued and in whose defense Imam Hassan (A.S) made the last defense. Hence, there was nothing left for Imam Husain (A.S) to inherit, no army, no weapons, no wealth, no power, no force, not even an organized following. Nothing at all!
The responsibility of safe-guarding the revolution had fallen upon Imam Husain’s (A.S) shoulders at a time when the last bastions of resistance were lost. Nothing remained for him from the power of his grandfather, his father, his brother, the Islamic government or the party of Truth and justice, not a sword, not a single soldier.
According to Dr. Shariati’s analysis, the disciples of the school of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) had fallen into three groups. The first group, who refused to tolerate the perversion of the movement, stood up and died for their cause. The second group busied themselves with prayer and ascetic devotion in such a difficult time – when self-sacrifice and jihad was a crying need. Instead of seeking heaven on the battlefields through the ranks of jihad, they strove for it in retreat through ascetic disciplines and retiring in the meditations of divine love, long fasting and mortification. The third group exchanged their belief and honor for wealth and position.
It was time for Imam Husain (A.S) to shoulder the responsibility but the central base of the power of the Revolution had been lost. The companions of the Resistance struggle had either been killed off or silenced. The faithful Companions who had not sold themselves, sought the security of devotion in out of the way corners rather than be bothered with the battling for that which is right and the risks involved in social and political struggle, to liberate the people and free them from their oppressive lot. They had slipped into the shell of respectability, piousness, self-centeredness and remaining silent.
The Omayyad dynasties knew that under the black ashes of defeat smoldered the red threat of a potential explosion. The army may be defeated but Islam was still very much alive. The party of faith had been dispersed but faith itself was very much alive. The leaders of justice and supporters of Truth, the arms and shields of freedom and humanity all had been destroyed. The barricade of liberty had been razed and the base of resistance had been destroyed.
Dr. Shariati says, “The true heart of these dangers, the well spring of these revolts is not in Medina where people are massacred, nor at the Kaba where people are stoned, nor at Kufa which is controlled by a coup d’état, nor at the Mosque of the Prophet (PBUH) where people are trampled under the feet of horses and chopped down by their riders, nor even in the house of the Prophet (PBUH), nor in the house of Fatima which is now ashes, nor in the Quran which they pierce with spears. Then where, indeed, is the heart of the fire, where is the constant well spring of danger? It is in the hearts and minds! If these two sources are not destroyed, all the victories remain without effect and all forces are endangered….”
Sixty years have passed since the migration of the Prophet (PBUH). Everything earned by the Revolution had been destroyed. All of the successes earned half a century before had been abolished. The culture and ideas which Islam had developed through jihad, struggles and efforts in the hearts and thoughts of the people became a means for explaining the Omayyad’s rule. All of the mosques were turned into support systems for polytheism, oppression, deceit and making fools of the people. All of the swords of the mujahedeen were put to use for the executioners.
All of the leaders of the community, judges, interpreters of the Quran, scholars and speakers at the mosques had either been killed or kept silent praying in the corners of the mosques or were propagators for the regime in Damascus.
The revolutionaries of the past had either died in the remote desert of Rabazeh or had been killed in the fields of Marial-Azar. The second generations of the Revolution who had created a movement and fought a struggle were mass-executed. The others were either engaged in a pessimistic philosophy of fatalism or surrendered to the side of the religious leaders. They realized that any effort to change the present situation was useless. Through experience, they had learned that any struggle to guard Islam and to establish truth and justice and any fight against the ever increasing neo-ignorance, were doomed to defeat.
So then, sixty years after the migration, all of the powers were in the possession of the oppressive ruler. The values were determined solely by the ruling regime. Ideas and thoughts were developed by idea making and thought making agents. Brains were washed, filled and poisoned with material presented in the name of religion. Faiths were altered, bought or paralyzed. If none of these efforts prove successful, faith is cut off with the sword. Imam Husain (A.S) revolted against this illegitimate and corrupt regime with empty hands. What could he do? Could he become an ascetic and run away to a corner to worship? Should he have kept quiet arguing that he was the grandson of the Prophet (PBUH) and the son of the fourth Caliph?