Abbas bin Ali (as) was the brother of Imam Husayn
(as). It is related that when they were in Karbala, Abbas (as) came
to Imam (as) and said, “The army of Yazeed has arrived and they
claim that they have received the command of their Ameer that we
should choose one of the two options: either we swear oath of
allegiance to Yazeed or prepare for the battle”.
Imam Husayn (as) told his brother thus:
“Go and tell them to delay
the battle until tomorrow. I want an opportunity of one night
wherein we can pray, supplicate and ask for forgiveness from our
Lord. These people are aware that I love praying, reciting the Book
of Allah and supplicate extensively”. (Quran-o-‘Itrat)
HIS ADMONITIONS FROM QURAN
The following is the sermon of Imam Husayn (as)
to the people about Amr bil-Ma’roof &
Nahyi ‘anil-Munkar (Enjoining good &
Forbidding evil):
“O People! Take lessons
from the matters that Allah (SWT) has cited for His friends when He
(SWT) dispraised the Rabbis (scholars of Jews) in His saying:
‘Why do not the rabbis and the
scribes forbid them from sinful speech and consuming illicit gains?
Surely, evil is what they have been working’.
(5:63) And He (SWT)
said, ‘The faithless among the
children of Israel were cursed on the tongue of David and Jesus, son
of Mary. That, because they would disobey and used to commit
transgression. They would not forbid one another from the wrongs
that they committed. Surely evil is what they had been doing’.
(5:78-79) Allah dishonoured them
because they did not forbid the wrong-doers from doing evil and
committing sins while they were among them, for they had desired for
gaining more gifts from the wrong-doers and they had feared them.
Allah (SWT) says: ‘So do not fear
the people, but fear Me’. (5:44)
‘But the faithful, men and women, are comrades of one another: They
bid what is right and forbid what is wrong’. (9:71)
Allah (SWT) has begun with enjoining good
and forbidding evil because He (SWT) knows that if these two matters
are carried out thoroughly, all the other obligatory duties, the
easy and the difficult ones, will be carried out thoroughly. This is
because enjoining good and forbidding evil is advocacy to Islam,
reins to control injustice, opposition of the wrong-doings, (just)
allotment of the booty and the spoils, and taking the alms to put
them in the rightful places…” (Tuhaf al-‘Uqool)
Dhahhak bin Abdullah has reported that when the
army of Umar ibn Sa’d was passing by Imam Husayn (as) in Karbala,
the Imam (as) kept repeating the following verse:
“Let the faithless not suppose that the
respite that We grant them is good for their souls: We give them
respite only that they may increase in sin, and there is a
humiliating punishment for them. Allah will not leave the faithful
in your present state, until He has separated the bad ones from the
good”. (3:178-179)
Abdullah bin Sameer, a soldier in the army of
Umar ibn Sa’d heard this so he said, “By the Lord of Ka’bah! We are
the good and pure ones separated from you”. Burayr bin Khadheer
heard this and said, “O transgressor!
Do you think that Allah (SWT) can include the likes of you among the
good and pure ones?” Abdullah asked,
“Who are you?” and he responded, “I am
Burayr bin Khadheer”. (Kitaab al-Irshaad)
mulla@almahdi.org.uk