Imam al-Husayn's (a) Sermon in Mina: Difference between revisions

'''Imām al-Ḥusayn's (a) Sermon in Minā''' is a fiery and critical [[khutba]] (sermon) by [[Imam al-Husayn (a)]] in [[58]]/678, two years before [[Mu'awiya b. Abi Sufyan]]'s death, against the deviations of the [[Umayyad]] government from the right path. The significance of such a sermon in [[Mina]] during the [[hajj]] period was because of its disclosures against Mu'awiya's government. The sermon was delivered to [[Sahaba]] and [[Tabi'un]] and some scholars take it to be evidence that Imam al-Husayn (a) already had plan for his [[Uprising of Imam al-Husayn (a)|uprising]]. The first part of Imam al-Husayn's (a) sermon in Mina was cited by [[Sulaym b. Qays al-Hilali]] in his book, and the second, and the third parts were cited by [[Hasan b. Shu'ba al-Harrani]] in ''[[Tuhaf al-'uqul]]'' and [['Allama al-Majlisi]] in ''[[Bihar al-anwar]]''.

Here are some headlines of [[Imam al-Husayn (a)|Imam al-Husayn's (a)]] sermon in [[Mina]]:

At the end of the sermon, Imam al-Husayn (a) says: "O God! You know that everything we did was not prompted by the competition for the power, nor for a search for the worthless wealth of this world; 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, traditions and ordinances You have decreed."

Since the sermon consisted of three independent parts, many scholars of [[hadith]] and history have only cited part of it that they were concerned with. Some have only cited one sentence or just referred to the content of the sermon; for example:

3. [[Ahmad b. 'Ali al-Tabrisi]] (d. 588 A.H./ 1192) refers to the motivation of this sermon as being the injustice of [[Mu'awiya b. Abi Sufyan]] and cites a short summary of its content. The sermon was delivered two years before Mu'awiya's death in [[Mina]] and the audience was over one thousand religious characters of the time.

Some scholars believe that the sermon cited in ''Tuhaf al-'uqul'' is a different sermon that was delivered by [[Imam al-Husayn (a)]] in another year. The evidence for this view is taken to be the content of the two sermons and their different audiences.

[[Imam al-Husayn (a)]] delivered the sermon in [[58]] A.H/678, two years before [[Mu'awiya]]'s death, in [[Mina]]. Mu'awiya had escalated his pressures on [[Shi'a|Shi'as]] and oppressed his political opponents. In order to uncover Imam al-Husayn (a)'s motivation for delivering the sermon and the circumstances under which it was delivered, [[Sulaym b. Qays al-Hilali|Sulaym b. Qays]] refers to the consequences of four official letters of Mu'awiya to his agents and staff.

In the third letter, Mu'awiya told people to find whoever showed a little advocacy of Imam 'Ali (a) and his household, remove them from the book of salaries and allowances, and cut their shares from the treasury ([[bayt al-mal]]). And in the fourth letter, he told people to put advocates of Imam 'Ali (a) under a lot of pressure and destroy their houses.

According to Muhammad Sadiq Najmi, what is important about the sermon, besides its content, is its time, location and audience: prominent Muslim figures, elite men and women from [[Banu Hashim]], about 200 people from [[Ansar]] and [[Muhajirun]] who were the [[companions of the Prophet (s)]], and about 800 people from [[Sahaba]]'s children (and people who had met the Sahaba), that is, [[Tabi'un]].

== References ==

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* [[Mina]]

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[[fa:خطبه امام حسین در منا]]