We studied at university that for every time a person hears a piece of wrong information, he needs to hear the correct information 11 times in order to replace it in his mind! That is at the level of information; as for wrong ideas and convictions, they of course need greater effort to change. What we need today is the spirit of correcting ideas and practices, and serious work by all groups of society in this way, . especially after killing for the most trivial reasons has joined the list of crimes and deviations in our society. Here comes the importance of everyone's persistence in carrying out this role in the darkest circumstances. This persistence is often exposed to natural setbacks, which should not restrain us from carrying out our duty and working according to our principles. Sometimes some refrain from merely offering advice, and at other times they are struck by despair and frustration after offering some advice, as a result of the obstacles that confront them and the harm and offenses they meet, in addition to the weak response. But, fortunately, we possess sources of energy and radiance that revive our spirits and renew our resolve, embodied in the conduct and sayings of Allah's great prophets and His noble friends, at their head the Messenger of Allah (s) and his infallible Household (a). Among the greatest of these sources of energy is the uprising of the Master of Martyrs, Abu ʿAbd Allah al-Husayn (a), and the sincere ones among his companions and his household. Let us, then, make the remembrance of this uprising a station of reflection that inspires us how to work to reform the affairs of our religion and our world, and equips us with sufficient strength and persistence to continue on this path. And you went to the utmost in sincere counsel.. Many of the ziyarat transmitted from the Imams of the Ahl al-Bayt (a) have focused on the aspect of reform, sincere counsel, and enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong in the uprising of Abu ʿAbd Allah al-Husayn (a). This is not strange, because the movement of Imam al-Husayn (a) was based—in its entirety—on these values of reform, and he (a) himself declared and announced his aims, saying: “I went forth only to seek reform in the nation of my grandfather; I want to enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong, and to follow the conduct of my grandfather and my father,” and in another saying of his (a): “Do you not see that the truth is not acted upon, and that falsehood is not desisted from? Let the believer long for meeting Allah, rightfully”(1). But what is striking is that in one of the ziyarat there has come the testimony of the Infallible (a) and the praise of the standard-bearer of al-Husayn (a) and his brother, the teacher of humanity in the lesson of loyalty, Abu al-Fadl al-ʿAbbas (a), in the words: “I bear witness that you went to the utmost in sincere counsel and gave the utmost effort, so may Allah raise you among the martyrs and place your spirit with the spirits of the felicitous”(2). Going to the utmost in sincere counsel here means—as has come in Lisan al-ʿArab—: “bālagha, yubālighu, mubālaghatan and bilāghan: when he strove hard in the matter”(3). This passage is striking not only because it is a stance of great appreciation from an infallible Imam (a) for the act of giving counsel; rather, what is striking is the Infallible's (a) praise of “going to the utmost” in fulfilling sincere counsel and of giving the “utmost” and furthest effort. This is what we must pause at a great deal, evaluate ourselves and our practical conduct on its basis, increase in resolve and persistence in continuing counsel and reform, and correct our stances and performance if we are falling short; for our world, before our religion, we lose, and disasters occur, if we do not remedy the situation and confront deviation and the violation of laws and manners. Our security we lose if we do not stand up to wrongs, and when a person loses security he cannot make up for it with anything else, even if he possesses the world and what is in it. The Husayni persistence in offering counsel and reform Our master al-Husayn (a) did not abandon counsel to the nation, and enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong, for a single moment of his noble life. Whoever traces his (a) conduct sees his explicit and public stances in all the transformations he lived through: he made clear his stance toward the usurpers of the caliphate in the mosque of the Messenger of Allah (s) despite his young age; he fought alongside his father (a) in all his wars; he took part with his brother al-Hasan (a) in confronting the wrongdoers; he also rebuked Muʿawiya and reproached him often for the crimes he committed during his domination over the necks of the Muslims; and he concluded his great journey with the immortal epic of al-Taff, in which the highest degrees of denouncing deviation and wrongs were manifested. Our master al-Husayn (a) varied his methods of counsel and admonition, and addressed the people at length, especially on the day of ʿAshura, until ʿUmar ibn Saʿd called out among them: “Woe to you, speak to him, for he is his father's son; by Allah, if he stood among you like this for a whole new day, he would neither stop nor be at a loss for words”(4). This was despite the fact that the arena was an arena of battle, not an arena of reason, logic, counsel and guidance; but such is the conduct of the Messenger of Allah (s), the Commander of the Faithful (a), al-Hasan and al-Husayn (a), who gave the utmost effort to rescue the deviant and wept over them with bitterness and anguish!
In the same way went the loyal companions, the best of the people of the earth in that time, for the books of history and of the maqatil testify for them that they did not fall short in making the truth clear and in giving counsel, and for some of them more than one sermon has been transmitted, despite the very weak response—if not non-existent—and the reply with weapons from the opposing camp on many occasions. The practice of sincere counsel was not an attempt to overturn the balance of power and achieve victory, for the outcome of the battle was decided in advance, and Imam al-Husayn (a) had informed people at large of his fate before his journey; rather, it was an attempt to rescue the heedless and the deceived on the other side, to entrench the principle of enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong in the souls of successive generations because of its centrality in preserving religion and the soundness of worldly affairs, and to perform the human and religious duty of making the truth clear and reminding of it, “so that he who perishes might perish by a manifest proof, and he who lives may live on by a manifest proof” (Qurʾan 8:42)(5).
A moment that surpasses imagination!! The mercy of al-Husayn (a) and his self-devotion in rescuing humanity and delivering it from its evils reached a degree whose essence minds are unable to grasp and which tongues grow too weary to describe. Among the images of this mercy and this self-devotion is a moment that surpassed imagination and went beyond the limit of conception: a moment in which mercy and purity faced savagery and vileness.
When our Imam al-Husayn (a) was lying on the burning sands of Karbala, drowning in his pure blood, al-Shimr sat upon his sacred chest and seized his pure beard to sever his noble head; yet despite that, the Imam (a) made his final effort, and what remained of his strength, in counseling his enemy! Al-Husayn (a), on the rock of slaughter, counseling his slaughterer! What a stance, before which humanity stands in reverence and veneration for all time. The Imam (a) addressed the accursed Shimr, trying to turn him back from the greatest crime, saying: “Will you kill me while you do not know who I am? He said: I know you with true knowledge: your mother is Fatimah al-Zahraʾ, your father is ʿAli al-Murtada, your grandfather is Muhammad al-Mustafa, and your adversary is the All-exalted, the Most Exalted; I will kill you and not care”(6). And in another narration: “..He (a) said: Which is dearer to you, the reward from Yazid, or the intercession of my grandfather the Messenger of Allah (s)? The accursed one said: A daniq of the reward is dearer to me than you and than your grandfather”(7).
Let us walk on the path of al-Husayn (a) Commemorating the memory of al-Husayn (a) is not accomplished by considering it historical events that we read and hear every year; reading, listening and the ceremonies of mourning are means to practical ends that affect the reality of the nation through acting upon the conduct and principles of al-Husayn (a). The memory of al-Husayn (a) draws up a comprehensive program that requires practical action—not only emotional—from whoever commemorates this memory, so that he may support his Imam al-Husayn (a) and revive his principles and his conduct.
So let us go to the utmost in sincere counsel to our nation, and let us give the utmost effort in reform and in enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong.. Let our resolve be higher than all crimes and deviations, and let frustrations and negative stances not turn us back from performing this sacred duty; for our leader is al-Husayn (a), who exhausted every excuse in his call and gave his lifeblood in Allah to rescue the servants from misguidance, ignorance, blindness, doubt and suspicion, to the gate of guidance and right conduct; and we are proceeding on his line, if Allah the Exalted wills, until we meet Allah having fulfilled the trust.===================
* A writer from Saudi Arabia
(1) Tuhaf al-ʿUqul, by al-Shaykh Abu Muhammad al-Hasan ibn ʿAli ibn al-Husayn ibn Shuʿba al-Harrani, p. 174(2) Mafatih al-Jinan by al-Shaykh ʿAbbas al-Qummi, Ziyarat al-ʿAbbas (a), p. 509(3) Lisan al-ʿArab, entry b-l-gh(4) Bihar al-Anwar by al-ʿAllama al-Majlisi, vol. 45, heading: On what our master al-Husayn (a) said on the day of ʿAshura to the Kufan group by way of counsels and admonitions.(5) Surat al-Anfal, verse 42(6) Bihar al-Anwar by al-ʿAllama al-Majlisi, vol. 45, heading: On the martyrdom of Imam Abu ʿAbd Allah al-Husayn (a).(7) Mawsuʿat Kalimat al-Imam al-Husayn (a), prepared by the Hadith Department at the Baqir al-ʿUlum (a) Institute—Islamic Media Organization, heading (The final moments of his life (a)).
