Kaukab Siddiue emails - Imam Husain's Betrayal by Shi'ism:

[Email]

Imam Husain's Betrayal by Shi'ism: Return to the Qur'an and Authentic Hadith only Way out of Sectarianism: Brief History of Shi'ism & Focus on Iraq
by Kaukab Siddique, Ph.D

The grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, pbuh, Husain ibn Ali, may Allah be pleased with both, was martyred on the 10th of Muharram in the year 61 of the Hijra [October 10, 680 c.e.] Throughout the centuries, mainstream Islam has gained inspiration and example from Husain's stand against tyranny, corruption and kingship. In our own times Allama Iqbal and Abul 'Ala Maudoodi extolled the virtues of Husain, r.a., in their writings. Countless millions of Muslims around the world named their male children after Husain and his elder brother Hasan, r.a.

However, as religion became more and more conventional and Islamic communities were mislead into cultural, tribal and nationalistic tendencies, the original message of Husain, r.a., was lost and was replaced by sectarianism based on fabricated stories.

Essential to any understanding of the tragedy of Kerbala, where Husain, r.a., was killed along with male members of his family, is the fact that during the time of Prophet Muhammad, pbuh, and the Rightly Guided Caliphs, Abu Bakr, Umar, Usman and Ali, may Allah exalt them, there were NO Shias or Sunnis. Islam does not recognize or legitimize sects. There is only ONE Islam.

So how did this catastrophe for the world of Islam come about that many Shi'as and Sunnis do not consider each other Muslims and some of them are intent on destroying each other? How did this terrible betrayal come about that the Shi'as of Iraq welcomed the storm troopers of the United States into the very heartland of Islam and consider them their saviors and liberators?

History is a teacher here. These are a few highlights of Muslim history related to the emergence of Shi'ite sectarianism. Remember during this discussion that Islam for us is only the Qur'an and the authenticated example of the Prophet, pbuh:


*
Tribalism and narrow family loyalties, which Islam had defeated, started re-surfacing after the ghastly murder of 'Usman, r.a., the third of the rightly guided Caliphs. 'Ayesha Siddiqa, r.a., tried very hard to bring the murderers to justice but the murderers brought Ali, r.a., forward as their leader and refused to listen to Ayesha, r.a., though she gave khutbas for 24 days in her efforts to bring about a just solution.
*
After 'Ayesha's, r.a, efforts failed, a long tribal war ensued between the Ummayads, led by Muawiyya, r.a., and the followers of Ali, r.a. The net result was that the Caliphate was undermined and kingship emerged. Ali, r.a., was killed by one of his own supporters. Ali's, r.a., leadership problems created dissension within his own ranks.
*
After the murder of Ali, r.a., his elder son Hasan, r.a., made peace with the Ummayads and the Muslims re-united. During the rule of Muawiyya, r.a, the forces of Islam scored major victories against the surrounding empires. These victories in their brilliance can only be compared with the great successes during the Caliphate of 'Umar, r.a.
*
Muawiyya, r.a., harbored a a desire to be king, rather than Caliph. Before he died, he obtained support from notable sections of the community for the designation of his son Yazeed as the next "Caliph."
*
Yazeed, who had been a good Muslim in his early years, gradually receded into dissolution, corruption, tyranny and all the vices of Kingship. Husain, r.a., rose against his regime and proceeded to Kufa where his supporters [literally "Shia's"] had promised to pledge allegiance to him and to make him the Caliph.
*
Husain, r.a., was betrayed by the Shi'as of Kufa. Seeing him left alone in the desert, the Governor appointed by Yazeed surrounded his small caravan at Kerbala. He died fighting to the last, along with all but one male in his family.
*
After the martyrdom of Husain, r.a., the masses of Muslims repeatedly rose in rebellion against the Umayyad rulers and and tried to bring to power people from the family of Ali and Fatima [may Allah be pleased with them]. THIS WAS NOT A SECTARIAN CAUSE but was a popular movement among the Muslim masses which intensified as the atrocities of the Umayyad kings increased in ferocity.
*
The family of Abbas, r.a., an uncle of the Prophet, pbuh, with the help of the Persians, relatively new converts to Islam, USED THE POPULARITY of the FATIMIDS, the descendants of Hasan and Husain, to overthrow the Umayads. A general slaughter of the Umayads followed.
*
Once the Abbasids gained power, they marginalized the Fatimids while paying lip service and tokens of esteem to the descendants of Hasan and Husain.
*
During the centuries of Abbasid rule, some of the Abbasid "Caliphs" tried to curry favor with the masses by encouraging sectarian activities in the name of the "Shias" of Ali, r.a., and Husain, r.a. Thus we find the emergence of MOURNING CEREMONIES, the rituals of self-flagellation and formalized passion plays about Kerbala.
*
The MOURNING on ASHURA was instituted by the Buwayhid ruler Mu'izz al-Dawla in the year 351 after Hijra [962 c.e.] It has no basis in Islam.
*
With the decline and breakup of the Abbasid "caliphate," various versions of Shi'ism emerged and took hold among tiny segments of the ever expanding Muslim domain.
*
In our own times, starting with the era of European colonialism, TWO opposing TENDENCIES have taken hold in the Muslim world as follows in simplified form:
*
From among the majority of Muslims, the followers of the Sunnah of Muhammad, pbuh, have emerged reform movements which urge Muslims to FOCUS on the BASIC TEXTS of Islam, the Qur'an and the authentic Hadith. Thus Islamic Schools of Thought, which appertain to the era of Kingship, came under critical scrutiny. More recently we have the SALAFI movement and the Ahle Hadith movement insisting that all activity in the name of Islam must be proven to be integral to the basic Islamic texts or be discarded.
*
By contrast the PROBLEM with Shi'ism has been the EXPANSION of FABRICATED STORIES and an ever increasing CONDEMNATION of the Muslim Ummah. As the Shi'as kept on with this process of EXPANDED FABRICATIONS, they moved towards abuse and vilification of the Prophet's Companions, Sahabah, r.a. The Muslim world has been shocked to receive insults from Shi'as aimed above all at 'Ayesha, r.a., and the first three Rightly Guided Caliphs, Abu Bakr, Umar and Usman, may Allah exalt them.
*
Shi'ism is based on the basic idea which Islam REJECTS: that spiritual value resides in ONLY ONE FAMILY, that of Ali, r.a., and Fatima, r.a., and only through the two sons of Ali, Hasan and Husain, NOT his other children.
*
Over centuries, ALIENATION has been the hallmark of the Shi'a community. They have come up with incredible story that the 12th imam of the Shi'as, who disappeared when he was a child of 12, MORE THAN A THOUSAND YEARS BACK, will re-emerge and fill the world with justice.
*
The Shrines of the 12 Shi'a imams are venerated, and in some cases, the people allegedly buried there are prayed to and worshipped. Scholars are not sure whether there were 12 imams, and then they are not sure where they are buried, but that has not deterred the Shi'as from carrying on their shrine-related activities.
*
Because the world is in a transitory stage before the 12th imam emerges, as the Shi'as believe, hence temporary marriage or MUT'AH has been legitimized in Shi'a mythology, a practice seen as fornication by almost all Muslims who are not Shi'as.
*
NOW WE COME TO THE SITUATION in the MIDDLE EAST: In the post colonial era, the rise of Muslim nationalism led to European withdrawal. However, the Europeans installed westernized elites in each country they left. They also created "ISRAEL" in the Muslim heartland and gave Kashmir to India. The "Arab countries" are European creations, each with its clique of secularized rulers.
*
IRAN became the exception. Imam Khomeini led an Islamic revolution, overthrew the American power structure in Iran and tried to link up with Islamic movements around the world. Unfortunately, Imam Khomeini's leadership cadres were decimated by American agents. The lower level leadership which took over was sectarian and nationalistic.
*
The horrors of the Iran-Iraq war fuelled Iranian sense of isolation. Later in his life Saddam Hussein changed, became very nationalistic and then blatantly Islamic. IRAN DID NOT CHANGE and REMAINED FIXATED on HATRED OF SADDAM, thus playing into American hands. The passing away of Imam Khomeini, to a major extent, put an end to the Islamic element in the Iranian revolution.
*
The betrayal of Imam Husain's message in our times came from the same area, southern Iraq, where the original betrayal took place. The Shias of Iraq and the American military armada worked hand-in-glove. The Muslim world watched in horror as the Americans shelled the mosque of Abu Hanifah and hit the tomb of Abdul Qadir Jilani. The entire city of FALLUJAH was wiped out, house by house, mosque by mosque during the nights of Ramadan and Lailatul qadr. THE SHIAS WATCHED IN SILENT GLEE and continued to help the invaders. The Islamic movement established itself in western Iraq, particularly five cities. The Americans destroyed the five cities, including their mosques and Islamic schools because these were being run by al-Qaidah. The Shias did not budge and continued to help the invaders.
*
Then the Shia shrine in Samarra was blown up. Who and why remains a mystery. It's a Sunni city and no one worshipped at the shrine. As the news came out, coordinated attacks were launched on 100 Sunni mosques in the Baghdad area.
*
After that, death squads went to work, reportedly trained by Iran and directed, directly or indirectly, by Moqtada al-Sadr, who in turn is part of the al-Maliki "government" which is supported by both Bush and Tehran. Thousands of Sunnis were executed at night and their bodies dumped in the desert, in an effort to "cleanse" Baghdad of Sunnis. In turn, ferocious resistance attacks have hit U.S. troops, Shi'ite police, Shi'ite troops and in many cases innocent Shia civilians.
*
The Shia exultation at the murder of Saddam Hussein, who resisted America and "Israel" to the bitter end, has made most Muslims unsympathetic to Shia causes. Every night, the Zionist/corporate media try to highlight the suffering of Shias while totally censoring the suffering of the majority of the Iraqi people who are Sunnis. [For the media, the people of Iraq are simply "millions of terrorists" who deserve to be killed.]

Serious efforts should be made to put an end to violence against civilians. Shias need to become self-critical and explain to the Muslim world how they can claim to be followers of Husain, r.a., ibn Ali, r.a. when they are the close associates of America in the war on Islam.

[Dr. Shabbir]

All this is nothing but conjecture of forged history.
-SA