By Cyril Anderson

 Most Muslims are at least to some extent aware of the tragedy inflicted upon Imam Hussain ibn Ali (as), his family, and his followers in Kerbala.  Most know that he died as a martyr, fighting bravely for a noble cause.  But fewer understand the true accomplishment, the true victory of this event, which was, in reality, nothing less than a rescue of authentic Islam from the brink of destruction.

 A Moment of Truth

 The time was 61 A.H., a mere 50 years after the death of the Prophet Muhammad (saws).  But alas, what a difference 50 years had made.  The reforms that Muhammad (saws) had worked so hard to bring as a light to the darkness of his society, and the world beyond, were in danger of being turned back and erased from memory.  From his standpoint, Hussain (as) had witnessed the slow, steady attack on Islam, and the family of Muhammad, the ahlil bayt (as), (People of the house) Islam’s designated protectors.  Hussain (as) had seen his father, Ali’s (as) right to the leadership of the Muslims -- a right declared by Muhammad (saws) himself at Ghadir Khumm –taken away, his mother, Fatima  (as), the daughter of Muhammad (saws), dead before her time.  He had seen his father  murdered, and later cursed from the pulpits, and had seen his brother, Hassan (as) forced to abdicate his leadership of the Muslims by military force.  A dark shadow had grown over the Muslim world, a shadow of tyranny and corruption which threatened to put out the light of Muhammad’s (saws) message. 

 The Ummayyid clan, led by Muawiyya, son of Abu Sufyan, an early opponent of Muhammad (saws) in Mecca and Hind, a woman infamous for once eating the liver of Muhammad’s (saws) uncle, Hamza, had taken hold of the caliphate of the Muslim peoples through military force.  This clan sought to establish a hereditary dictatorship dedicated to securing wealth and power for this family and erasing the progress made by Islam in reforming mankind.  This dictatorship sought to control the people through fear and oppression, and sought to obliterate the influence of the descendants of Muhammad (saws) through violence and misinformation.   This tyranny and wrongdoing reached a new level with the appointment by Muawiyya of his cruel and depraved son, Yazid as his successor.  While Muawiyya has kept support by at least putting on the public guise of a moral believer in Islam, his son, made overconfident and arrogant by his family’s success in bringing corruption, threw off all pretense and made his contempt for Islam in deed and word public. 

Hussayn’s (as) Revolution

 It was in this moment of darkness that Hussain (as) saw his opening amidst the over-reaching of  Yazid, and made his move, writing his name on the pages of history, and, what is more, ensuring the survival of Islam through the storm presented by the Umayyids.  By his act of defiance, his refusal to submit to the rule of Yazid, he forced Yazid  to show the true colors of the Ummayyid regime.  Through the brutal slaughter of Imam Hussain (as) and his small group of followers on the plains of Kerbala he exposed the true depths of his corruption, and made a martyr of Hussain (as) and the values for which he stood.  In the darkness of this tragedy, the light shone out all the brighter in contrast. 

 Yazid had won the battle, in physical terms, and those who chose his side, had their 30 pieces of silver, but they had utterly lost the war.  This outrage against the very family of the Prophet (saws), in the name of Islam, was the final straw that woke the people from their slumber.   Like a shot of adrenaline to the heart, it opened the eyes of the people so that they could understand just how far things had fallen, and in so doing, inspire them to hold more tightly to preserve the gift of Islam.