Objections : The Shi’a of Imam Ali a.s invited Imam Hussain(as)"by writing letters and requesting that he come to Kufa so that they can recognise him as their Imam.
Our Reply:
There are few words in this sentence, highlighted.
1- Shia of Imam Ali a.s. This is the first word. The definition of this word is not something tough to find. Therefore, to say all people of Kufa were Shia of Imam Ali a.s is out of logic. In the history of Islam up till that time, there was not any city with majority of Shia of Imam Ali (a.s.), especially Kufa suffered harsh treatment for 20 long years by Muawiyah's illegitimate brother Zeyad and then his son Ubedullah Ibn Zeyad. Shia of Imam Ali a.s were persecuted, killed and were forced to live under oppression. Therefore yes, those weak shias of Imam Ali a.s did write to their Imam when Muawiyah died and ray of hope emerged. And yes they were the only few who believed in Imamat and called upon there Imam. They were not the opportunistic and there faith is clearly visible from the contents of their letters. Due to the activity of these shia of Imam Ali a.s, other inhabitants of Kufa, common muslims who believed in Imam Ali a.s not as Imam but the fourth Caliph along with first three found opportunity in throwing the tyrant umayyad oppression and joined in calling upon Imam Hussain( a.s) for help not as Imam but as the son of the fourth caliph, grandson of Holy Prophet (s.a.w )and leader of youths of paradise (Abdullah Ibn Zubair was not that influential at that time as compare to Imam Hussain a.s even to common muslim of those era. Plus he himself was in hidings in Makkah and even tried to stopped Imam Hussain a.s from rising against Yazid).
Now lets see the content of the letters and see;
Letter written by minority shias of Imam Ali (a.s)
“We do not have any leader [who could lead us in war] therefore please come to us so that through you, we can gather to aid the truth [Haq]. And Nauman bin Bashir is in Dar ul-Amara, we neither attend Friday prayers nor the Eid prayers with him. When we get the news that you are coming, we will make him expel him and send him to Syria”.
This letter was sent through Abdulah bin Hamdani and Abdullah bin Daal and this was the first letter to be written by the minority Shia to Imam Hussain [as] which he received in Makka on the 10th of Ramadhan.
Letter written by other than Imam Ali's (a.s) shia
“Fields are flourishing again and trees are bearing fruits and ponds are flowing. Thus, you can come whenever you want towards an army, that is prepared for you”
This letter had seven signatories namely Shabath bin Rib’I, Hajar bin al-Jabar, Yazid bin Haritth, Yazid bin Raweem, Azrah bin Qays, Umro bin al-Hajaj al-Zubaydi, Muhamad bin Umari Tamimi.
See Tarikh Tabari, Volume 6 page 197.
Just compare the content of these letters written initially with the above one. The earlier letters contained the beliefs of the senders, cited the injustice of Muawiya and his descendant, the admission of Hussain’s right of Imamate, whilst the above cited letter made reference to nothing save material acquisition. In every society, there exist a segment of opportunists who always fly with the direction of wind.
So those were these common muslims of kufa, who did not show up. Letters were written by both, but shia of Imam Ali a.s were either killed or imprisoned or few managed to joined Imam Hussain a.s in Karabala. The common muslim were again made quite or even forced to join and assist syrian Army. Therefore the name of Yazid's army commander was Omar Bin Saad Bin Abi Waqas (very respected Sunni sahaba's son) and not some Ibn Ashtar.
Also look at the letter written to yazid( l.a) at that time and by whom,
“Muslim bin Aqeel has come to Kufa and the Shia have given the oath of allegiance to him on behalf of al Hussain bin Ali. If you have any need of Kufah then send a strong man there who will carry out your orders and act in the same way as you would against your enemy. Al Nauman bin Bashir is a weak man or he is acting like a weak man”
History of al Tabari, Volume 19 page 30
Those who wrote this letter were:
Abdullah bin Muslim bin Saeed Hadharmi
Ammarah bin Uqbah
Umar bin Saad bin Abi Waqas
In Short all the types of people wrote letters( Sunnis and Shias alike) to Imam Hussain(a.s), to fulfill their various objectives and only true followers (Shias) of Imam Hussain supported him. So dont blame Shias of Ali but blame the people of Kufa in not supporting Imam Hussain(a.s).
One more thing which I want to add here is, well people of Kufa did not support Imam(a.s) but then who were the murderers of Imam and his family and friends, and what were their beliefs and why do we not come together to curse such people.(Yazid,Shimr, Umar-e-Saad etc.)
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