The highest honors are for Imam Hussain (May Allah be well pleased with him)

 

The highest honors are for Imam Hussain
(May Allah be well pleased with him)

It (martyrdom) may seem a disgrace to those who see only the outward aspect of things.  However, for those who have deep insight, they see this disgrace as the highest form of honor.  As is mentioned in the Hadith:  The smell from the mouth of a fasting person is more beloved to Almighty Allah than the fragrance of musk.

 

What it means is that outwardly it is bad and in reality, it is really fine.  Similarly, With Allah Most High, this worldly disgrace of these high folk is the highest honor of the hereafter.  There is a Hadith in Mustadrak ‘Alas Sahihain:

 

Translation: The Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) passed by Hadhrat Hamza (May Allah be well pleased with him) on the day of the Battle of Uhud and saw that he had been mutilated.  He said:  If it weren’t for his sister, Safiya (May Allah be well pleased with her), I would have left him like this so that birds and animals would eat him and Almighty Allah would resurrect him from their bellies on the Day of Judgment.  After this, Hadhrat Hamza (May Allah be well pleased with him) was wrapped in a blanket and buried.

 

Just see!  Hadhrat Hamza (May Allah be well pleased with him) had such excellence that he was the head of all the martyrs of Uhud as is mentioned in Hadith, but in spite of all it, the thoughts of the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) were to let his body lie in that state of disgrace so that the disgrace reaches its pinnacle and no station of the hereafter remains to be had.  However, the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) abandoned this thought out of care for his sister Hadhrat Safiya (May Allah be well pleased with her)….

 

In the case of Imam Hussain (May Allah be well pleased with him), these stages of the hereafter were let to be attained by Almighty Allah Himself.  Thus, it is written in Tareekh Al Kaamil that Zahr bin Qais who was present in the Battle of Karbala in the army of Yazid, the accursed:

 

Translation: The bodies of the martyrs of Karbala were naked, their clothes soaked in blood and their faces were coated with dust.  The heat was dissipating their bodies and the wind was blowing dust upon them.  They were lying in such a place that was leagues away from any inhabitation.

 

In this regard, the Imam exceeded Hadhrat Ameer Hamza (May Allah be well pleased with him) as well.

 

The high stations of Imam Hussain (May Allah be well pleased with him)

 

The lovers of the Prophets’ Family are in a quandary.  When they look at the martyrdom, they feel that even if they mourn for a lifetime for each moment of difficulty that they had to face, it would still be less, but when they look at the events after the martyrdom, they feel such happiness that is also immeasurable.

 

It is conceivable if someone’s friend journeys and faces great difficulties in the journey, then one will feel great agony on those difficulties, but if one learns at the same time that after those difficulties, that friend became the king of some place and is in great luxury, then that agony will be transformed into a great content and gladness.

 

The late Maulana Karaamat ‘Ali has related in As Seeratul Muhammadiyya on the authority of Sahih Bukhari, Sunan Nasaai and Jame’ Tirmidhi that when Haritha bin Suraaqa (May Allah be well pleased with him) was martyred in the Battle of Badr, his mother came to the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) and said:  O Prophet of Allah (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam)!  You know how much I loved my son.  Now I ask you has he entered paradise or not?  If he is in paradise, I will be patient otherwise you will see what I will do in my sorrow!

 

The Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) said:  O mother of Haritha!  There are many paradises, not one and your son is in the highest one.

 

On this, that steadfast woman said:  Now I will be patient.

 

And why not?  When one gains the complete certitude that one’s friend is in paradise, then what can be more pleasing to a Muslim?  There is no place other than paradise where all kinds of bounties are there for all eternity.

 

When this is the lot of all those who are in paradise, then what can one say about the Leader of the Youth of Paradise? 

 

The delight and gladness of the lovers of the Prophet’s Family on this, no matter how great, will always be insufficient….

 

Now, to the supporters of Yazeed, the Khawareej, who celebrate on the 10^th of Muharram that the army of Yazeed was victorious and the Prophets’ Family was disgraced, we tell them that the time for celebrations has passed and you should grieve for the rest of your life as to his present state.  Who knows in what pit of ignominy that wretch is?  And what else he is facing there?

 

Thus, it wasn’t acceptable to the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) that sultanate should remain in His Family as, by the will of Allah Most High, that era was not to be the rightful caliphate but a tyrannic monarchy…….

 [Excerpted from Maqasid Ul Islam, Vol. 5]