Mouood Mouood English Edition
It is obvious that if he had considered the actions of Imam Husayn (a.s) rightful, he would not have decreed the mention of the martyrdom of Imam Husayn (a.s) as a prohibited deed.
Keeping all these things in mind one is compelled to say that in the view of these scholars, Imam Husayn (a.s) commands no respect and dignity. And the denial of the Imam to pay allegiance to Yazid, in their opinion, was such a serious mistake that their writers say that Imam Husayn (a.s) was (God forbid) of a very stubborn nature. Before Mahmud Ahmad Abbasi also, a person had written a book titled, The Great Martyr after reading which it seems that Yazid was a rightful, true and accepted caliph of the Holy Prophet (s.a.w) and that Imam Husayn (a.s) had without any right or acceptable excuse, solely in greed of rulership, rebelled against him. His own relatives tried to make him understand but he did not follow their advice. At last, Yazid’s governor killed him in order to keep him from mischief and after trying utmost, after exhausting all options and after being despaired of every effort, in extremely helpless circumstances in order to maintain peace he had to take such a step.
The writer had given his name as‘Abul Kalam Azad’ on the book. Keeping in mind the fame and position of the writer, Islah Organization Khajwa (Bihar) considered it necessary to reply the book and the reply titled, Shahadatul Uzma is still available. After independence of India someone called the attention of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (Education Minister) towards this book published under his name. He expressed ignorance about it and announced that he had no connection with that book. In my opinion his announcement of dissociation was based on sincerity because in all his writings the respected Maulana always mentioned the incomparable sacrifice of Imam Husayn (a.s) with utmost respect and devotion. For example see the long editorial of al-Hilal Journal that was published on the occasion of Muharram and which was republished verbatim in the Inquilab Newspaper of Lahore, Shabbir Number 1927 A.D. from which Khalifa Sayyid Muhammad Hashim Patiyalvi has quoted in the second part of his book, Namoos Islam on Pg. 274-278.
Anyway, people like Ibn Arabi, Ibn Taiymiyah and others have time and again directly or indirectly, expressed the opinion that the action of Imam Husayn (a.s) was not rightful.
The Second Problem
Now pay attention to another aspect, which is a reflection of the first one. That is, how a particular sect regards Yazid? After the first problem has been cleared, there is no need for details here. Yet for further clarification and more confirmation we would like to state a few things.
Shias consider his name as an abusive word and their child considers not only Yazid but the family tree and clan of Yazid, as per Qur’anic directions, an accursed tree, the details of which have already been given in the previous chapters.
On the other hand Wahabi gentlemen, followers of Ibn Taiymiyah consider Yazid as the rightful caliph. The statement of Abu Bakr Ibn Arabi has already been mentioned above. Mulla ‘Ali Qari on Pg. 84 of Sharh Fiqhe Akbar and Ibn Hajar al-Haithami who is mentioned by us before have given the proof of their hypocrisy. The latter has, in Sawaiqul Mohreqa,6 included Yazid among the twelve Imams regarding whom is the tradition of the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w) that religion shall remain dominant until 12 Imams (caliphs) are present.
Ibn Taiymiyah and his co-religionist Wahabi scholars try their utmost to save Yazid from curse and damnation. Sometimes decree is issued that Yazid was a Muslim and cursing a Muslim is unlawful. Sometimes the responsibility of the killing of Husayn is attributed from the beginning to the end to Ibn Ziyad so that Yazid could be saved. Sometimes the tradition is concocted that on the Day of Judgment Imam Husayn (a.s) would forgive Yazid. In other words, thousands of interpretations are tried so that Yazid does not become the target of curses.
A poet has beautifully versified this matter:
“O one who says that we should not curse Yazid and his progeny.
Because it is possible that the Almighty Allah may be merciful to him.
And the Progeny of the Prophet may forgive him.
Then are we not more deserving of being forgiven as we have only cursed Yazid?”
The fact is that Shias, Hanafis, Shafeis and moderate Hanbalis have absolute hatred for Yazid, while Nasibis, Wahabis (most of whom call themselves Hanbalis to deceive people) not only refrain from cursing Yazid and criticizing him, they also try to restrain other people from it.
The Third Problem
In view of Shias, Yazid and other killers of Imam Husayn (a.s) were infidels and they curse them and those who approve their actions and the Shias consider them inmates of Hell. Hanafi, Shafei and moderate Hanbalis also completely hate the killers of Imam Husayn (a.s) and consider them worthy of being denounced.
While the behavior of Nasibis and Wahabis is exactly opposite. Those who are connected to the murder of Imam Husayn (a.s) are generally, in their view, worthy of praise. Some of them have reached to the position of caliphate and some remembered as ‘truthful’ and trustworthy and a lot of them are included among the narrators of the ‘Sihah Sittah’ books and religious laws are derived from their traditions.
Now I shall mention their opinions about each of those people:
Umar bin Saad bin Abi Waqqas
He was the commander Yazid’s army. He was directly responsible for all those cruelties after Yazid and Ibn Ziyad. He had told his cronies: Be witness that the first arrow shot to the army of Husayn is mine. Regarding such character, the writer of Tahzibut Tahzib says:
“He has narrated traditions from his father and Abu Sa’eed Khudri, two companions of the Prophet. His son, Ibrahim has related from him and his grandson, Abu Bakr Ibn Hafs Ibn Umar has narrated from his son. Abu Ishaq Sabiee, Ibn Hareeth, Yazid Ibn Maryam, Qatadah, Zuhri and Yazid Ibn Habib and others have also narrated from him.
Ajali has said that he used to narrate traditions from his father and through him many other people used to narrate. And he was a Tabe-ie (companion of a companion) and was trustworthy. He is the same person who killed Husayn Ibn ‘Ali (a.s).”7
The following is mentioned about him in Taqreebut Tahzib:
Umar Ibn Saad Ibn Abi Waqqas Madani was a resident of Kufa. He was a very truthful man but people began to detest him only because he was the commander of the army that slew Husayn. He was from the second category of narrators.
It should be clear that the above statement is of the Shaykhul Islam of Wahabis, Ibn Hajar.
Among those who related from Umar Ibn Saad are Abu Ishaq Sabiee, Qatadah and Imam Zuhri. These three are the pillars of the Wahabi science of traditions. They are considered teachers of the teachers according to Wahabis. Their acceptance of traditions of Umar Ibn Saad proves his trustworthiness and truthfulness. Apart from this, Imam Nasai, Ibn Majah and Imam Bukhari have also in their books quoted traditions from Umar Ibn Saad. This further proves how reliable he is in their view.
