Siyasat al-Husainiyyah

“Siyasat al-Husainiyyah” or “Rolisiyon-e-Kabir” (means the Great Revolution) is a book containing articles about the greatness of the politics of Imam Hussein's martyrdom and the influence of this serious matter among different nations and the proof of its greatness and importance, written by the German author, Marbin.

About the book

The above-mentioned book contains two articles: "The Great Revolution or "Siyasat al-Husayniyah" and "Taraqiyat Muhayir al-Oqool-e- Firqa Shia." The author of the first article is Marbin from Germany, and the author of the second article is Joseph from France. These two articles were first published in Hablul Matin magazine, Calcutta printing house. The editor of the magazine, Sayyed Jalaluddin Hussaini Kashani, known as Muayed al-Islam, was a close friend of Sayyed Jamaluddin Asadabadi, who played an important role in public awareness and establishment of constitutionalism in Iran by publishing this magazine. Marbin's article was translated into Arabic, Urdu, and Turkish and was published many times as an independent book, and several books under the title Al-Siyasa Al-Husainiyyah were even written in imitation of it.

Al Siyasat al-Husayniyah was published independently in Tehran and Tabriz a few months after its publication in Hablul Matin, in the same lunar year 1328. This work contains a short report of what happened after the death of the Prophet Muhammad, from the actions of Muawiya and the Umayyad’s actions to Imam Hussain’s uprising and its consequences and the mourning ceremonies that today are common.

Two important and new aspects are observed in this work:

1. First, the political perception of Sayyed al-Shahda's uprising and the fact that he was not a passive character, who was a champion of freedom and revolution and a fighter against oppression, and with strange measures, he launched a great revolutionary plan. This political view, which is obvious from the title of the book, was not prominent in previous authors’ books, and the present book may be considered the first work on this subject.
2. The second point is that the author says that Imam Hussain rose not with the intention of Imamate, nor with the knowledge of martyrdom, but beyond that, with the intention of martyrdom, to create a revolution and disgrace Bani Umayyah by shedding his blood and proving his innocence: "Hussain intentionally and with knowledge died for the great ideal he had in his mind and he volunteered to be killed in launching a revolution in Islam."

This book was favored by the clergy because it presented a revolutionary interpretation of Imam Hussain's uprising, and this interpretation was compatible with the requirements of that time, which was the period of revolution against colonialism and tyranny. In addition, its author was introduced as one of the great philosophers and historians of Germany. Ayatollah Safi Golpayegani writes in the book Shahid-e-Agah, under the title "Research on the book of Al-Siyasa al-Hussainiyyah": "Its basis is very close to the opinions of great Shia scholars and great thinkers, and the histories, news, and hadiths mentioned in it agree with their opinions, and it is valuable and significant compared to the works of other orientalists." Therefore, scholars such as Ayatollah Allameh Mujahid Seyed Sharafuddin and Ayatollah Sadr have liked this book in terms of the fact that the principles of its content on the subject of Imam Hussain’s uprising are in agreement with the principles of the Shia religion and based on reliable hadiths and chronicles, and its author is considered as a German sage and orientalist philosopher. Another value of this book is that it defends the uprising of the Imam and the ceremonies that are held as mourning for him, in the same sense as it has among Shias, and the fact that the holy uprising of Hussain is higher than other uprisings, such as the uprising of Yahya and Jesus. (pp. 413-414)

Therefore, the present book is very important in two ways:

• One is in terms of content, which gave a political and revolutionary interpretation of Sayyid al-Shuhada's uprising
• The other is in terms of influence, which reached several countries and was accepted by many

With this in mind, the author of the book Shahid Javid criticized a part of this work about the fact that Imam Hussain intended to be martyred. But it seems that this is a fake book and basically a person named Marbin did not exist externally. Moayed al-Islam, who first published this work in Hablul Matin, wrote the author's name as "Monsieur Marbin the German" and introduced this work as a chapter of his “Siyasa Al-Husainiyyah” book. He gave only this explanation about Marbin: "He is a famous philosopher and sage and the most knowledgeable foreigner about Islamic politics and is considered one of the great historians"(p. 16) and about the translation of the book and how to achieve it, he wrote: "One of the Islamists sent the translation of that chapter to our office [magazine]" (p. 16).

Source

Ketabshenasi-e- Tarikhi-e- Emam Hussain  (Historical bibliography of Imam Hussain (peace be upon him)), Mohammad Esfandiari, pp. 105-109