Why did Imam Husayn (as) NOT Pay Heed to Eminent Sahaba?

Objection Three: Why did Imam Husayn (as) not pay Heed to the words of the Eminent Sahaba not to go Iraq, a land wherein he was ultimately slain?

Reply One:

It was the words of Holy Prophet (s) which prevented him The way Prophet (s) had foretold that Allah will bring about an agreement between two sects of the Muslims through Imam Hassan (as). Similarly (as we mentioned earlier) the Prophet (s) had told him that he would have to travel to Iraq and be martyred on the path of truth. Imam Husayn (as) was aware of these words of the Prophet (s) so how could he have accepted the advice of others proving the words of Holy Prophet (s) false? When the Prophet (s) had instructed him to proceed in this manner, then after the order of the Prophet (s) the advice of the Sahaba becomes irrelevant, no Sahaba is entitled to express a different opinion. At the time of the peace treaty of Hudaibiya, Umar opposed the decision of the Prophet (s), yet the Prophet (s) gave no consideration to Umar’s objections, likewise in this instance the order of the Prophet (s) was one that placed a specific duty on Imam Husayn (as). That is why Imam Husayn (as) deemed the advice of the Sahaba to be irrelevant, the words of the Prophet (s) made their advice null and void.

Reply Two:

The Prophet (s) deemed the martyrdom of Imam Husayn (as) so important for Islam that he(s) instructed his companions to go and aid Imam Husayn (as) if they are alive by that time. We had already cited this Hadeeth in the previous chapter from several esteemed works:

“I heard Rasulullah (s) say ‘Verily my son [Husayn] will be killed in a land called Kerbala, whoever amongst you is alive at that time must go and help him”.

Bearing this Hadeeth in mind, how could Imam Husayn (as) ignore theses words, when the Prophet (s) had stressed such great importance on them ? That’s why right from the beginning till the end of the tragedy of Karbala we see that Imam Husayn (as) kept showing his satisfaction whenever he found the predictions made by Holy Prophet (s) becoming true even when He(as) was being slaughtered, He(as) showed his satisfaction that the prediction of Prophet (s) was being confirmed. We shall evidence this from the following esteemed Sunni works:

1. Kanz ul Ummal, Volume 7 page 11

2. Al Bidayah wal Nihayah (urdu), Volume 8 page 1083. Nafees Acadmy Karachi

Kanz ul Ummal:

“Muhammad bin Umer bin Husayn narrates that we were with Husayn(as) at Karbala and when He(as) saw Shimer zil Joshan he said: “Allah and His Prophet had told truth. Prophet (s) had said: ‘I see a dog with white spots on its body putting his mouth into the blood of my Ahlubait and licking it’. Verily this statement of Holy Prophet (s) turned out so true”.

Reply Three:

If the above reply is not sufficient to destroy the Nasibi objection on Imam Husayn’s stance then we would like to present the fact that a renowned Sunni historian Ibn Athir Jazri has written that even after the death of Muawiyah, Imam Husayn (as) didn’t give bayah to Yazid and moved to Makkah from Madina. It was in Makkah where he received letters from the people of Kufa therefore he started preparations for the journey but some people like Muhammad bin Hanafia, Ibn Umer and Ibn Abbas suggested him not to go Iraq but Imam Husayn (as) replied: “I have seen Holy Prophet (s) in a dream and I will definitely do what has been instructed by Prophet(s)”. Hence Imam Husayn (as) left for Iraq. (Usdal Ghaba, Volume 3 page 27). Scholar Dyar Bakri has written same thing in Tareekh Kamees, Volume 2 page 332.

We can read same text in many other books. For example in histories of Tabari and Kamil we read:

“Husayn(as) expressed the following reason for not accepting their suggestions: “I have seen Holy Prophet (s) in a dream and He(s) has instructed my such a thing which I cannot refuse whether it is goes in my favor or not”. People asked him about that instruction of Holy Prophet (s) to which Husayn(as) replied: “I haven’t told this dream to anyone yet and I will not tell it to anyone until I meet my lord”.

1. Tareekh Tabari, Volume 6 page 219

2. Tareekh Kamil, Volume 4 page 17

Reply Four:

The extreme honor of Baitullah was one of the reasons which made Imam Husayn (as) to leave Makkah. Imam Husayn (as) was also aware of another prediction by Holy Prophet (s) about a person who will commit severe bloodshed Makkah and will abandon the honor offered to Baitullah / Kabah . Therefore by deeming the prediction of Prophet (s) true, Imam Husayn (as) left Makkah so that He(as) would not become the reason of attacking the house of Allah(swt). When some people suggested him not to leave Makkah, He replied:

“Prophet (s) had said that there will be a frog in Makkah which will abandon and destroy its honor. Hence I don’t want to become that frog”

1. Tareekh Tabari, Volume 6 page 217

2. Tareekh Kamil, Volume 4 page 16

Similarly Imam Husayn (as) used to say:

“By Allah! I will prefer to be murdered a step outside Makkah than to be murdered inside Makkah even its one step inside Makkah”.

1. Tareekh Tabari, Volume 6 page 27

2. Tareekh Kamil, Volume 4 page 16