The Hidden Truth About Karbala
 | |
| Author | A. K. Ahmed |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Published | 2007 |
| Publisher | Ansariyan Publications |
| Pages | 272 |
The book The Hidden Truth About Karbala is an excellent narrative that chronicles the injustices against the Ahlul Bayt and their followers through the ages until now.
About the book
This book published in Ansariyan Publications (January 1, 2007), has 272 pages. The Arabic title of this book is:
"حقائق خفیه عن واقعه کربلاء: کتاب یتضمن بیان المظالم التی تعرض لها اهل البیت و اتباعهم منذ الصدر الاول الی عصرنا الحاضر"
The present book is an attempt to understand the correct facts and philosophy behind the Battle of Karbala, in the Shiite perspective.
The main goal of this book is to spread the truth about the Islamic faith in general and the Shi`a School of Thought in particular due to the latter being misrepresented, misunderstood and its tenets often assaulted by many ignorant folks, Muslims and non-Muslims.
Abstract of chapters
Chapter 1: Preamble
This chapter examines the battle of Karbala as a well-known tragedy in the human history. The author examines the uniqueness of the battle at Karbala in several respects. Imam Husayn showed that truth and justice do not always lie on the side of the victorious majority. He showed that numbers do not count and a handful of persons, standing up to oppression at the cost of their lives, do in fact represent truth, justice, independence, and freedom. He showed that truth is irrepressible, eternal, and would manifest itself even from the trampled and lifeless bodies of the martyr. Their death is not defeat but is in fact the victory of truth, righteousness, justice, and the very spirit of freedom of mankind.
Chapter 2: Historical Background
For understand the cause and the facts and circumstances, which led Imam Husayn to face an enormous army at Karbala and the reason and philosophy behind his refusal to submit to an apparently simple demand for allegiance to Yazid, the author looks beyond the canvas of the battlefield itself, into the early days of Islam. This chapter shows that the seed for the battle of Karbala was sown long prior to the birth of Imam Husayn and later the battle was ultimately forced upon him. This is brought out by the repeated assertions of Yazid’s army that though Imam Husayn himself had done nothing against them or against Islam, they had gathered to seek revenge for their ancestors who were killed by his father Imam Ali in the battles of Badr, Uhud, al-Khandaq and Honain.
Chapter 3: The Antagonists
As Mecca was an international trade center populated by Jews, Christians, Idol worshippers, atheists, and a motley crowd professing several other philosophies and religions, when the Prophet propagated the concept and ideology of Islam, the immediate opposition was to the concept of One Unique God. They could not comprehend the Islamic philosophy of One Unique God. They assumed that by teaching a new philosophy the Prophet was obliquely hankering after worldly power and glory. They offered to make him their leader with as much wealth as he wished in addition to proposals of arranging his marriage with the most beautiful girl of his choice, provided he gave up his Mission. The Prophet refused, saying, “Even if you put the sun in my right hand and the moon in my left hand, I will not give up the Mission to which I am commanded.” Then the Meccans enforced a social boycott and later put him to mental and physical torture.
Chapter 4: Nomination of Ali to the Caliphate by the Prophet
This chapter provides a formidable record of evidence, from historical as well as Islamic traditional sources, that makes it obvious that the Prophet, at every stage and until the very last moment of his life, made every possible effort to discharge his duty commanded by God to nominate Ali as his successor. When he tried to make a Will, he was prevented by some of the people surrounding him. He then made an oral will, the crucial part of which was conveniently claimed to have escaped the memory of those who witnessed the oral will.
Chapter 5: The Intrigue
In this chapter the author recalls a parallel with the story of the Prophet's succession.
“When Satan heard that God was going to appoint His Deputy [Khalifa] on the earth, all the devilish desires and false self-esteem came to the fore and kindled the hope that by ingratiating himself in the company of the Angels and making pretensions to piety, he [Satan] stood a fair chance of being appointed as God’s deputy in the earth.”
The Prophet had declared that Ali was the fountainhead of all knowledge and wisdom and is the best jurist among them. Thus, by one of the strangest freaks of fortune ever recorded in history, did the persecutors of Muhammad usurp the inheritance of his children, and the champions of idolatry became the supreme heads of his religion and empire.
Chapter 6: Attributing fallibility to the Prophet
The author in this chapter examines the historical facts showing clearly that there was a deep-rooted conspiracy, the spark of which was lit by Abu Sufyan, Marwan, Amr bin al-Aas…etc., long before they became reluctant Muslims. The spark was fanned into a fire when a written pledge was made by some persons comprised of Banu Umayya along with some companions of the Prophet at the Kaaba, to hasten the early departure of the Prophet by waylaying and killing him during his return from the last Hajj, and thus usurp the Caliphate. When they could not succeed in killing him, they conspired to oppose every wish of the ailing Prophet. They refused to assemble under the banner of Usama violating the Prophet’s specific and repeated orders. Later, they frustrated the Prophet’s desire to write down his last will and came out openly saying that the Qur’an was sufficient and that there was no further need for guidance or directions from a delirious and dying Prophet.
Chapter 7: Hadith
Having gained the throne, the first Caliph, Abu Bakr, instead of collecting, collating, and propagating the Hadith, reiterated the words of Umar and declared that the Qur’an alone was sufficient guidance for Muslims. After a while, the Caliphs found that an omnibus prohibition against narrating traditions was impractical and that they had no other option but to refer to traditions, in order to explain not only verses from the Qur’an, but also matters relating to Islamic practices, whenever the occasion arose. Thus, compelled to rely upon traditions, the Caliphs resorted to a unique method of collecting them. Only those traditions narrated by the Banu Umayya or the Ansar were taken into consideration. Faced with some inconvenient situations, the early three Caliphs issued an edict saying that where no solution could be found readily in the Qur’an, one should use his own conjecture to arrive at a conclusion and deduce a plausible argument. This corrupted the real philosophy of Islam, and instead of searching for a solution in the Qur’an and the Sunna, each one who had any following, invented his own sect of Islam.
- In the following, this book deals with detailed and important topics, including:
- Mutilation of the Concept of Jihad
- Mutilation of the Concept of Zakat and Khums
- The Caliphate
- Imam Ali, The only Caliph by Public Choice
- Imamate
- The Muslim Empire
- Yazid bin Mu’awiya bin Abu Sufyan
- Imam Husayn migrates to Mecca
- Muslim bin Aqeel: Imam Husayn’s Ambassador to Kufa
- Imam Husayn’s Migration from Mecca
- Imam Husayn’s journey to Karbala
- Yazid’s forces gather at Karbala
- Seventh and eighth of Muharram
- The Ninth of Muharram
- Ashura; the Tenth of Muharram
- The Martyrs
- The Burial of the Martyrs
- Persecution after Karbala
- Miracles
- Persecution of the Shia