Weeping
Weeping over the Martyrdom of Imam Hussain forms a part of Shi’a culture of azadari. There are numerous Hadiths which recommend shedding tears for Ahl al-Bayt and in particular, for tragedy of Karbala.
Hadith on Merits of Weeping for Imam Hussain[edit | edit source]
1. Through successive chain of narrators, Shaikh Abul Qasim Ja’far bin Qawlawayh relates from Musme’ Kardeen who says that one day Imam Ja’far al-Sadiq told me,
“O Musme’! Being a resident of Iraq do you go for the pilgrimage to the grave of Imam Hussain”?
I replied, “No, for the people of Basra know me well and they are the adherents of the Caliph and there are numerous enemies from the nasibies (those who bear enmity towards the Prophet’s Ahl al-Bayt) of the clans and others around us. I fear lest they malign me in presence of the sons of Sulayman (bin Abdul Malik, the Abbasid Caliph), who would then torture and harass me.” Then Imam said,
“Then do you remember the troubles which were inflicted on Imam Hussain”
And I replied in the affirmative. Imam again asked,
“Are you then disturbed by it”?
I replied, “Verily yes, by Allah! And this grief affects me such that the people of my family see this (it’s effects) upon my face, and I even leave my meals while this sorrow becomes apparent on my cheeks.” Imam Sadiq said,
“May Allah have mercy upon your tears! Verily you are of those people who are afflicted by our grief, those who rejoice at our prosperity and lament over our sorrows, and who are attached to us in our time of dread and peace. In fact when you die, you will find our Blessed Forefathers close to you and they will counsel the Angel of death regarding you, and glad tidings shall be given to you which will illuminate your eyes. Then he shall be more compassionate and merciful towards you than a mother is to her son.”
Saying this Imam started weeping and I too could not control my tears. Then he continued,
“Praise be to Allah, Who with His Mercy, has exalted us over all creatures, and favored our Household (Ahl al-Bayt) with His blessings. O Musme’! Verily the heavens and the earth have been lamenting since the time the Commander of the faithful Ali was martyred. The Angels who weep over us are numerous, and their tears have never dried up from the time of our martyrdom, and there is none who does not lament over us. And no one weeps over us and our afflictions, accept that Allah sends His blessings upon him before his tears fall on his cheeks from his eyes. And if one tear, which have fallen from their eyes, is thrown in the pit of hell, it’s heat would cool down as if no fire ever existed there. The one whose heart feels pain for us will rejoice on the day he sees us during his death and (his delight) will remain intact till he meets us at the fountain of Kauthar. Kauthar itself will be contented to see our friends, and such delicacies will be placed in his mouth, that he will not be ready to move away from there.”
2. Through chain of transmitters, Shaikh Abul Qasim Ja’far bin Qawlawayh relates through his chain of transmitters from Abu Ammarah, the Nawha reciter, that one day the name of Imam Hussain was taken in the presence of Imam Ja’far al-Sadiq and he did not even smile till the night, and he would always say, “Hussain is the means of weeping for all believers.”
3. Through chain of transmitters, Shaikh Saduq Muhammad bin Ali bin Babawayh Qummi relates from his father (Ibn Babawayh Awwal), from the Master of Qummis Abdullah bin Ja’far Humayri, from Ahmad bin Ishaq bin Sa’ad, from Bakr bin Muhammad Azdi that Imam Ja’far al-Sadiq once told Fuzayl that,
“Do you discuss our traditions when you sit in each other’s company”?
Fuzayl replied, “Yes we certainly do so, may I be your ransom”! Imam said,
“Whoever remembers our traditions, or in whose presence we are discussed and tear equal to the size of a wing of a fly flow from his eyes, Allah will forgive all his sins although they be equal in number to the foam (of the water) of the river.”
Mourning over Imam Hussain in Sunni Sources[edit | edit source]
What follows are some examples of mourning over the martyrdom of Imam Hussain mentioned in Sunni sources:
One reads in Yanabi ul Mawwaddah by Allamah Shaykh Sulaiman al-Hanafi al-Qanduzi,:[1]
“The sky wept for forty days on (the martyrdom of) Imam Hussain”.
One reads in Tahdib al-Kamal by Jamaluddin al-Mizi,:[2]
وقال أبو الأسود النضر بن عبد الجبار عن بن لهیعة عن أبی قبیل لما قتل الحسین بن علی کسفت الشمس کسفة بدت الکواکب نصف النهار
Abu Qabeel said: ‘When Hussain bin Ali was killed, the sun was eclipsed (so long) so that the stars appeared in the middle of day’
Shah Abdul Aziz Dehlavi has narrated the lamenting and wailing of Jinn on page number 96 of his book titled “Sirrul Shahdatain”. He has also quoted the verses of the elegy, which was recited by the Jinn while weeping over Imam Hussain. Ummul Momineen Um Salma has also narrated as recorded by Imam Abi Bakar al-Haythami:
عن أم سلمة قالت: سمعت الجن تنوح على الحسین بن علی. رواه الطبرانی ورجاله رجال الصحیح.
“I heard the jinns mourning for Hussain ibn Ali’.
Tabarani has recorded it and all its narrators are narrators of Sahih’
Majma al-Zawaid, [3]
One further reads:
وعن میمونة قالت: سمعت الجن تنوح على الحسین بن علی ، رواه الطبرانی ورجاله رجال الصحیح
‘Maymunah said: ‘I heard the jinns mourning for Hussain ibn Ali’.
Tabarani has recorded it and all its narrators are narrators of Sahih’
Majma al-Zawaid, [4]
Abu Naeem al-Asbahani records in Marifat al-Sahaba,:[5]
عن حبیب بن أبی ثابت ، قال : « سمعت الجن ، تنوح على الحسین
Habib bin Abi Thabit said: ‘I heard the jinn mourning over al-Hussain’
Then Tradition 1687:
عن أبی جباب الکلبی ، قال : حدثنی الجصاصون قالوا : « کنا إذا خرجنا باللیل إلى الجبانة عند مقتل الحسین ، سمعنا الجن ینوحون علیه
Abi Habab al-Kalbi said: ‘Some grave diggers said: ‘Whenever we went outside at night to the cemetery during (the days) of the al-Hussain murder, we heared the jinn mourning over him’
We also read in Tradition 1688:
عن مزیدة بن جابر الحضرمی ، عن أمه ، قالت : سمعت الجن ، تنوح على الحسین
Mazidah bin Jabir al-Hadhrami narrated from his mother that she said: ‘I heard the jinn mourning over al-Hussain’