Section 1: Muharrum, Q1 - What is the basis for the Shia account of Karbala?

We Shias recently commemorated the martydom of Imam Hussain (as), the grandson of the Holy Prophet, on the 10th of Muharrum - Ashura. And just yesterday we commemorated the 'Chelum' of that sacrifice (the 40th day after the 10th).

Every year in the months of Muharrum and Safar, Shias and other Muslims across the globe commemorate this great sacrifice. I have met a few Muslims over the years who have never even heard of this great tragedy in Karbala and we are often asked as to why we mourn in these months - what is the reason for such grief and lamentation?

In very brief detail, the corrupt ruler of the Islamic kingdom in 680 AD, Yazid ibn Muawiya, demanded the allegiance of Imam Hussain (as). He knew that his rule would not be vindicated without his backing. When Imam Hussain (as) refused and left Madina to avoid further trouble he was led to the land of Karbala where he faced a 30,000-strong army. Imam Hussain (as) along with his loyal companions and family members were brutally murdered on the 10th of Muharrum. The women-folk and children of his camp along with his son (the only male survivor) Imam Zainul-Abideen (as) were then marched to Damascus, Syria to the court of Yazid and imprisoned there before eventually being released. Every year, we Shias commemorate this great tragedy.

You can read into the tragedy of Karbala in a lot more detail in plenty of websites and books because the events that took place have been extremely well documented in the years that followed the tragedy. Numerous Sunni books have detailed the events that took place in great detail. The main source of the events come from the Shia historian Abu Mikhnaf who had written about the events of Karbala (Maqtal al-Husayn) within a hundred years - a remarkable achievement at a time when narrations of the Holy Prophet were being recorded several hundred years after his death. It has also been translated into English.

His work has been deemed reliable enough to be used by the great Sunni historians Tabari and Baladhuri. Tabari has a entire volume dedicated to the caliphate of Yazid ibn Muawiya (volume 19) in his book The History of the Prophets and Kings, where he discusses the murder of Imam Hussan (as) and Yazid's role from Abu Mikhnaf's works.

Outside the Muslim world, the tragedy of Karbala has also been narrated by Western historians such as Edward Gibbon, who in his book The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, states: 

"In a distant age and climate the tragic scene of the death of Hosein will awaken the sympathy of the coldest reader." (Volume 5, pg 417). 

Another historian, Reynold A. Nicholson, English Orientalist wrote in his book A Literary History of the Arabs: 

"Husayn fell, pierced by an arrow, and his brave followers were cut down beside him to the last man. Muhammadan tradition, which with rare exceptions is uniformly hostile to the Umayyad dynasty, regards Husayn as a martyr and Yazid as his murderer." (pg 197)

There are no doubts about the tragedy that took place in Karbala in 680 AD it has been narrated by Muslims (Shia & Sunni) and non-Muslims alike. As followers of the Holy Prophet, it is only right that we commemorate such a tragic event every year. What upsets me the most is that the entire Muslim world (Shia and non-Shia) do not commemorate such a sacrifice that saved Islam. Without it, the Islam we know today (of any shape or form) would have been entirely corrupted and unrecognisable from the Islam brought to us by the Holy Prophet.

I will go on to discuss and clarify some of the events and practices that Shias carry out in commemorating this tragedy. Whatever your views may be on the practices of Shias during the months of Muharrum and Safar, the tragedy of Karbala needs to be widely acknowledged across the Muslim world. The Holy Prophet brought this great religion to mankind and a mere 50 years after his death, his grandson was being killed by so-called Muslims, by those who claimed to follow the Holy Prophet. The most important question for non-Shias and those who do not respect this sacrifice is why did it happen?