SHAFAQNA – There has been a longstanding debates among Muslims around the concept of martyrdom and whether or not Imam Hussain intended to confront Yazid’s army on the plain of Karbala.
This of course begs the question of the Imam’s intent when he left Mecca for Kufa – was Imam Hussain on a military collusion course with Yazid or was he instead looking to formulate a reform through popular consensus?
Imam Hussain we must recall for example sent Muslim ibn Aqeel as his emissary to Kufa, not his military general.
And then of course there is the letter Imam Hussain wrote to his brother Muhammad Hanafiyyah in which he explained the three objectives of his stand:
- To reform his grandfather’s nation
- Enjoining Good and Forbidding Evil
- Revival of the traditions of the Holy Prophet (S.A.W.) and Imam Ali (A.S).
When he reached Mecca he wrote a letter to the people of Basra; “I invite you towards the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of the Holy Prophet because indeed Sunnah has been mutilated and hereby is revived. Whoever will accept my words, I will guide him towards the straight path”. (Tarikh-i-Tibri vol.7, pg.240)