The Journey to Karbala: The Sermon at Mecca

After the death of Mu'awiyah in Rajab 60 A.H., Yazid attempted to exact
allegiance from Imam Husayn (a.s.) in order to secure undisputed
possession of the Caliphate. The Imam was the rightful successor to the
Holy Prophet (s.a.w.) and could never have given bay'at to a man as
corrupt as Yazid. The Imam left Madinah with his family, and headed
towards Makkah. While in Makkah, the Imam was informed that Yazid had sent
soldiers to assassinate him. In order to avoid bloodshed and preserve the
sanctity of the Haram of Makkah, the Imam left Makkah for Kufah, on the
8th of Dhu al-Hijjah. Dhu al-Hijjah being the month of Hajj, Makkah was
filled with pilgrims, and the Imam delivered the following sermon at Mina,
before his departure. [Moderator]
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O people, take lesson from the counsel God gave to His friends when He
rebuked the rabbis by saying: "Why do the scholars and rabbis not forbid
their sinful talk and consumption of what is unlawful? Truly what they
have done is evil." (5:63)

And God says: "Cursed by the tongue of David and Jesus, son of Mary, are
those among the Children of Israel who disbelieved on account of their
rebellion and transgression. They did not prevent each other from
committing vile and corrupt acts; surely what they did was abominable!"
(5:78-79)

God reproached them because they saw with their own eyes the oppressors
committing vile and corrupt acts, but did not stop them, out of love for
the favours they received from them as well as fear of persecution and
injury. However, God says: "Fear not men, but fear Me." (5:44) And He
says: "The believing men and women are friends and protectors to each
other; they enjoin the good and forbid the evil (they perform the prayer,
and pay the alms, and obey God and His messenger. They - upon them God
shall have mercy; God is Almighty, All wise)." (9:71)

God mentions the duty of enjoining the good and forbidding the evil (al
amr bi al-ma'ruf wa al-nahy 'an al-munkar) before all other duties,
because He knows that if it is performed and is established in the society
all other duties, the easy and the difficult, will also become
established. The reason for this is that al-amr bi al-ma'ruf wa al-nahy
'an al-munkar means summoning people to Islam, as well as resistance
against injustice, opposing and struggling against oppressors, and
endeavouring to ensure that public wealth and income derived from war are
distributed in accordance with the just laws of Islam, and that taxes are
collected, levied, and expended in due and proper form.

O scholars, who are celebrated and enjoy good repute on account of your
learning! You have achieved a good name in society because of your good
will. It is on account of God that men venerate you and stand in awe of
you, so that even the powerful fear you and the weak honour you, and those
who are not subject to you and over whom you hold no authority grant you
favours they deny themselves. When the people do not receive their due,
they seek your intercession, and you walk in the street with the majesty
of kings and princes. Have you not earned all this respect and prestige
because of the people's hopes that you will implement God's laws, even
though in most instances you have failed to do so?

You have taken lightly your duties as leaders. You have neglected the
rights of the oppressed and the lowly, but have assiduously pursued what
you regard as your personal rights. You have not spent your money or
risked your life for the sake of the One Who gave you life, nor have you
fought against any group or tribe for the sake of God. Nevertheless, you
desire - and regard it as your due - that He should grant you paradise,
the company of the Prophet, and security from His chastisement in the
Hereafter. You have such expectations of God, I fear that the full weight
of His wrath will descend upon you, for although it is by His might and
glory that you have achieved high rank, you show no respect to those who
truly know God, while you yourself enjoy respect among God's creatures on
His account.

(I am also afraid for you for another reason: ) you see the covenant
enacted with God [1] being violated and trampled underfoot, yet you show
no anxiety. When it comes to the covenant enacted with your fathers, you
become greatly disturbed and anxious if they are violated in part, but the
pledges you have given to the Most Noble Messenger [2] are a matter of
complete indifference to you.

The blind, the dumb, and the chronically ill everywhere lack protection in
towns and no mercy is shown them. But you neither behave in accordance
with your function and rank, nor you support or pay any regard to those
who do. You purchase your safety from the oppressive ruling powers with
flattery, cajolery, and compromise.

All these activities have been forbidden to you by God, and He has,
moreover, commanded you to forbid each other to engage in them, but you
pay no attention. The calamity that has befallen you is greater than what
has befallen others, for the true rank and degree of ulama has been taken
away from you. The administration of the country and the issuing of
decrees and ordinances should actually be trusted to religious scholars
who are guardians of God's ordinances concerning what is permitted and
what is forbidden. But your position has been usurped from you, for no
other reason than that you have abandoned the truth (al-haqq), and have
disagreed about the nature of the Sunnah, despite the existence of clear
proofs.

Had you the forbearance to endure adversities and hardships for the sake
of God, then all proposed regulations (God's affairs) would be brought to
you for your approval and for you to issue; authority would lie in your
hands. But you allowed the oppressors to take away your functions and
God's affairs (i.e. government) to fall into their hands, so that they
administer them by resorting to ambiguities and make arbitrariness and the
satisfaction of lust their consistent practice. What enabled them to gain
control of government was your fleeing in panic from (inevitable) death
and your love of life, which shall in all certainty depart from you. As a
consequence of that mentality, you have delivered the powerless masses
into the clutches of the oppressors. While some cringe like slaves under
the yoke of the oppressors, and others have been reduced to destitution in
regard to their livelihood, the rulers run the affairs of the government
in accordance with their whims, earning ignominy and disgrace for
themselves with their licentiousness, following evil counselors and
showing impudence toward God. One of their appointed spokesmen mounts the
pulpit (minbar) in each city. The country is defenseless before them,
and their hands grab freely whatever they want of it. The people are
their slaves and are powerless to defend themselves. One of the governors
is a dictator by nature, malevolent and rancorous; another represses his
wretched subjects ruthlessly; and still another refuses in his absolutism
to recognize either God or the Day of Resurrection! It is not strange -
how can one think it strange - that society is in the clutches of a
cunning oppressor whose tax collectors are oppressors and whose governors
feel no compassion or mercy toward the believers under their rule.

It is God who will judge concerning what is at dispute among us and
deliver a decisive verdict concerning all that occurs among us.

O God! You know that everything we did was not prompted by rivalry for
political power, nor for such a search for wealth and abundance; rather it
was done to demonstrate to men the shining principles and values of Your
religion, to reform the affairs of Your land, to protect and secure the
indisputable rights of Your oppressed servants, and to act in accordance
with the duties You have established and the norms, laws, and ordinances
You have decreed.

So (O scholars of religion!) You are to help us reach this goal, win back
our rights from those powers who have considered it acceptable to wrong
you and who have attempted to put out the light kindled by your Prophet.
God suffices us - upon Him do we rely, to Him do we turn, and to Him shall
we return.

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