Imam Husayn (a) - Life and Legacy

286 Pages·2022·7.022 MB·English

by  Sayyid Ali al-Hakim - Imam Husayn (a) - Life and Legacy

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SAYYID ALI
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Life and Legacy
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When we study the history of the Holy Household of the Messenger of
(s) we find that they stood with absolute devotion and determina*'* ’' I
tection of God’s message. They stood against any attempt to misri
teachings of the Holy Quran and the tradition of the Holy Prop!
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The members of this Holy Household devoted themselves to tty
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of this divine message. They dedicated themselves to the prqr$
true teachings. They sacrificed everything they had, even theic’^ M
pursuit of this mission. Ri
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The stance of Imam Hussain (a) is the clearest example of the.1
hold’s great sacrifices. He gave everything he had, including his >
the sake of reforming the nation of his grandfather and correct
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of the nation after its deviance. In this book, we will study
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acteristics and achievements of this great man and his movement. F y.
We will look at Imam Hussain’s (a) life and death. We will study the’ stance
that he took and how the remainder of the Holy Household (a) contributed
to that stance. We will examine the great triumph that his stance achieved de­
spite the tragedy.
Sayyid All Al-Hakeem is an esteemed Muslim scholar, lecturer, and researcher re­
siding in Dubai, UAE. A graduate of the Islamic seminaries of Qum, he completed his
Ph D equivalent in Islamic Jurisprudence and a Master's degree in Islamic Thought
from the Islamic University of Lebanon. He serves as a resident scholar in the Imam
Hassan Mosque, Dubai. He is also the Chair of the Religious Committee and tire reli­
gious supervisor of die Charitable Deeds Committee of the Ja’afariya Endowment
Charitable Council of Dubai.
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ISmBiN 1 191 7I8ll1iu9m43 3m9i3 i7i 0m1ini 90000
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FOUNDATION
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mam ussain
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ife and egacy
SAYYID ALI AL-HAKEEM
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the ainstay
FOUNDATION
/Xuthor: Sayyid Ali Al-Hakeem
Translated and Edited by The Mainstay Foundation
© 2019 The Mainstay Foundation
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this work covered by the copyright may be repro­
duced or used in any form or by any means - graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including
photocopying, recording, taping, web distribution, information storage and retrival systems,
or in any other manner - without the written permission of the Mainstay Foundation.
Printed in the United States.
ISBN: 978-1943393701
To our guide. To our hope. To our salvation.
To our Prophet (s).
C
ontents
Contents........................................ vii
About the Author......................... ix
Translator’s Preface....................... xi
Introduction.......................... ....1
Nurture.................................. ....7
Questions.............................. ..17
The Master of Martyrs....... ..43
Honor.................................... ..51
Brother Imams.................... ..65
A Call to Life....................... ..83
The Audacity of the Crime ..95
Safeguarding a Nation....... 105
Revolution............................ 119
Lady Zaynab ........................ 135
Imam Sajjad......................... 145
The Abbasids....................... 155
Legacy of Karbala............... 167
Triumph................................ 187
Let the Weepers Weep...... 219
Referenced Works......................... 275
vii
A A
bout the uthor
Sayyid Ali Al-Hakeem is an esteemed Muslim scholar, lec­
turer, and researcher residing in Dubai, UAE. Sayyid Al-Ha­
keem spent ten years studying at the Islamic seminaries of
Qum, Iran. There, he completed his Advanced Seminars (a
Ph.D. equivalent in Islamic seminaries) in Islamic Jurispru­
dence and Thought. He also received a Master’s degree in
Islamic Thought from the Islamic University of Lebanon.
Sayyid Al-Hakeem has dedicated the past twenty-two years
of his life to service of the Muslim community in different
capacities. He serves as a resident scholar in the Imam Has­
san Mosque, Dubai. He is the Chair of the Religious Com­
mittee and the religious supervisor of the Charitable Deeds
Committee of the Ja'afariya Endowment Charitable Council
of Dubai.
ix
T ’ P
ranslator s reface
The task of translating Sayyid Ali Al-Hakeem’s book was
gratifying and enlightening. The book delivered precious
nuggets of knowledge and polished pearls of wisdom in a
style that is conversational and pleasant. This book is our at­
tempt to pass these nuggets and pearls on to you in a style
that is similarly conversational and pleasant. We thank the
Sayyid for allowing us to benefit from this endeavor. We wish
for him a life filled with scholarly attainment, in hopes that
he will continue to pass along his treasures.
Here, we must humbly admit some of our biggest limitations.
First, we must admit the great difficulty that comes with the
attempting to translate the Holy Quran. Muslim scholars
have pondered on the meanings of the holy text for centuries,
and the meanings of its verses only grow deeper as time
passes. The process of translation always begs us to find pre­
cise meanings for the passages that we translate. But when
we encounter the majesty of the Holy Quran, we find our­
selves incapable of understanding, let alone translating, its
true and deep meanings. We turned to the works of transla­
tors who have attempted to do this before. Although no
translation can do justice to the Holy Quran, we found that
xi
Imam Hussain (a)
the translation of Ali Quli Qarai to be the most proper in
understanding when compared to the understanding of the
text as derived by our grand scholars. As such, we decided to
rely on Qarai’s translations throughout this book, with some
adaptations that allowed us to weave the verses more
properly with the rest of the work.
A second great limitation came with translation of the narra­
tions of the Grand Prophet Muhammad (s) and his Holy
Household. Their words are ever so deep and ever so pow­
erful. We attempted to convey these passages to the reader in
a tone that is understandable without deviating from the es­
sence of the words of these immaculate personalities. We
pray that we were successful in this endeavor.
Finally, we want to take this opportunity to thank you for
your support. As students of Islam and as translators of this
text, our greatest purpose is to please God by passing along
these teachings to others. By picking up this book, you’ve lent
your crucial support in this endeavor. We hope that you will
continue your support throughout the rest of this book, and
we ask that you keep us in prayers whenever you pick it up.
The Editorial and Translation Team,
The Mainstay Foundation
Xli
I
ntroduction
In the Name of Cod, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merdfttl
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Indeed Allah chose Adam and Noah, and the progeny of
Abraham and the progeny of Imran above all the nations;
some of them an descendants of the others, and Allah is all­
hearing, all-knowing.'
God Almighty sent the Holy Prophet Muhammad (s) as a
mercy to all creation and the final messenger to humanity.
The Holy Prophet (s) was promised that the message he de­
livered would be safeguarded and would remain until the Day
of Judgment. This is to the contrary of the history of all other
pervious messages which were at some point distorted by in­
dividuals who wanted to safeguard their own interests and
ambitions.
God promised that the message of Islam would not be dis­
torted like the pervious messages. Yet, the Muslim nation was
1 The Holy Quran, 3:33-34.
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