Nurat Maqbool
Seeing the atrocities of war around one can draw hope from the Battle of Karbala. It is not merely a moment in history, but it carries within its depths profound and timeless lessons.
After the battle of Karbala, when the prisoners were brought before Yazid, Hazrat Zainab (as) was asked, “Look what Allah did to you?” She replied, “Ma ra’aytu illa Jamila (I saw nothing but beauty of God).”
She spoke these words while standing in Yazid’s court, referring to the battle of Karbala. What everyone saw as bloodshed, cruelty, foul play, brutality, why would she refer to it as ‘nothing but beauty’?
This stems from deep wisdom – two sides to a story: what we see and the truth. What we see is what our eyes and our mind can grasp. The truth is the bigger picture, the larger plan– what Allah has decreed. Look at life like Lady Zainab (as). When people tell you what God has done to you, say, “I see something good in that.”
Another lesson is to tell apart people’s schemes from the divine design. She could clearly see what Yazid did and what Allah ordained. Yazid tried to silence them by spilling innocent blood, but Allah raised those very voices by giving them eternal life and everlasting names.
In the battlefield, when Imam Hussain (as) asked the rebelling Muslims if anyone would join his army, no one from Yazid’s army came forward.
When the Imam (as) returned to his tent, his wife told him, “when you called out to the Muslims, little Ali Asghar (as) flipped from his cradle onto the ground. He responded to your call.”
A six-month-old infant of the Prophet’s (PBUH) clan responded when men of his time stood with injustice.
In every war where children are killed unjustly and heartlessly, their leader is that six-month-old infant, who was the youngest shaheed.
No doubt, the greatest message of Karbala was complete submission to the will of Allah. If we look at Islamic history, Sufi saints performed great miracles in their lifetime. Imam Hussain (as) was their leader; he too had the power to perform miracles in the heart of the battlefield. He was capable of defeating the Army of Yazid single-handedly with his sword, Zulfikar. But instead, he chose to surrender to what Allah has written for him. He chose martyrdom.
When we accept our destiny or what befalls us in life, we are no longer angry or bitter. We find peace.
Karbala taught us that Muslims are of two types: one willing to do anything to stay in power, another will give their head but not their rectitude. There are Muslims who sport a beard, offer Namaz five times a day yet harbour nifaaq (hypocrisy) in their hearts. These are the munafiqs, and the greatest harm ever done to Islam was done by them.
Today when the world is afraid of Allahu Akbar, it’s because that resonates with the Takbir the army of Yazid cried out as they struck down the Imam (as). It’s not Allahu Akbar of Bilal’s (ra) prayer call.
Karbala was a message to all innocent souls who would come after, who would be cornered, killed or persecuted in the most horrible way. The blood of innocents never goes to waste. Oppressors will perish sooner or later. Only their names will live in history books. The legacy of innocents endures.
At Karbala, what appeared to be a vanquishment was actually an ascendancy. On that day of Ashura, Yazid died, Hussain (as) lives on.
Nurat Maqbool is a writer based in Kashmir. Her fiction has appeared in Adda—where she was longlisted for the Commonwealth Short Story Prize—and in Juggernaut Books, Sultan’s Seal, and elsewhere.
