Sauw'urul-Hussain Zurufuhal-Ijtema'eea wa Aasaaruhal-Insani'yah

Sauw'urul-Hussain Zurufuhal-Ijtema'eea wa Aasaaruhal-Insani'yah, written by Muhammad Mahdi Shams al-Din is a book about Imam Hussain's uprising, its effects, and outcomes.

About the book

This book written around 1385 AH has been published several times so far, and its fifth edition includes more additions and new researches. Rather than working on Imam Hussain's uprising, the author has worked more on the social context, the uprising's effects, and outcomes. In every discussion, while describing the issues, he has also been responsible for analysis, but he has rarely been able to draw conclusions and theorize. Despite this, it is mentioned in the introduction of the fourth edition that many scholars and intellectuals have said: "This book is, by far, the best work that has been written about Imam Hussain's uprising" (p. 5).

Content of the book

The content of the book is presented in three chapters:

1. "The social and political background"
2. " Causes and motivations of the uprising"
3. " The effects of uprising in the life of Islamic society "

The second chapter (pp. 131-191), which is shorter, is about the Imam's uprising, and the first and the third ones are about its contexts and effects.

In the first chapter, the formation of the Saqifah, Umar's method of dividing the government treasury, and his council for choosing the Caliph, are pointed out to be the causes of the changes that occurred in the period of Uthman. Following it, the policies of Uthman and Muawiyah are discussed and the position of Amirul Momineen Imam Ali during this period was examined. However, the author has not been able to show the link between these events and Imam Hussain's uprising, as he should have.

In the second chapter, the state of the society during the time of Muawiyah, the way Imam Hussain acted against Muawiyah, the reasons for not uprising during that period, Yazid's character, Imam's position towards him, and the motivations for his uprising are discussed.

The third chapter of the book, which is the clearest chapter, is about the effects and outcomes of Imam's uprising. In this chapter, the four outcomes of Imam's uprising have been discussed:

1. Stopping the religious influence of the Umayyads which gave their government a religious outlook
2. The spread of feeling of being guilty for sin among everyone led to self-criticism
3. Creation of new moral values
4. Arousing the spirit of struggling to establish a society based on new foundations

At the end of this discussion, a report of the uprisings after the Imam's martyrdom had been presented, which were the outcomes of his uprising and martyrdom.

Translations and other publications

This book has been translated into Farsi three times:

• First with the title of Pijoohishi Piramoon-e-Zendegi-e-Imam Hussain (AS) (Qom, Dar al-Tabligh Islami, 1972), and then with the title Arzishyabi'ye Inqilab-e-Hussain (AS), written by Mehdi Pishvai (Qom, Tawheed Publications 1983)
• The second time with the title of Zamine'haye Ijtema'ee wa Rahaward'haye Insani-e Qiyam-e-Imam Hussain (AS), written by Seyyed Hussain Seyyedi (first edition: Mashhad, published in 2003)
• The third time under the title of Qiyam-e-Hussaini, Zamine'haye Ijtema'ee wa Payamad'haye Insani, written by Mohammad Javad Mamouri (first edition: Qom, Kalima'tul-Haq Publications, 2007)