Martyrdom: Arise and Bear Witness
byDr. Ali Shariati
Translated and Published by:
Ali Asghar GhassemyThe Ministry of Islamic GuidanceTehran, Islamic Republic of IranReproduced with permission by theAhlul Bayt Digital Islamic Library Projectteam
Translator's Preface
In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate
It is still too early to make a thorough study to be able to judge the Islamic Revolution of Iran for it requires a study of all of the aspects which were effective in its foundation, rise, developmentand victory.The first point which attracts the attention of anyone who is going to study this uniqueRevolution is that its ideology is essentially based on the ideology of Islam and, in particular,that found in Shi'ism.The principles of Shi'ite ideology as Imam Husayn ('a) (the third Shi'ite Imam who wasmartyred) says is that life is nothing other than faith (or idea,
aqidah)
and jihad (inner and outer spiritual and religious struggle).Shi'ite ideology cannot be explained in a few words, but jihad which exists in Shi'ite ideology, isa battle which has martyrdom as one of its goals. Martyrdom, in this school of thought, means a purposeful, aware and willing selection.A great deal has been said and written about martyrdom over the ages, but no one has explainedit, interpreted it and made its meaning so clear as Ali Shariati, whose thoughts, ideas, views, books, writings and lectures were some of the important factors in the foundation, risedevelopment and victory of the Islamic Revolution of Iran.We have endeavoured to present as accurate a translation as is possible of
Martyrdom: Arise and Bear Witness.
We ask the reader to forgive us any transgressions which may appear and wewelcome any suggestions for future printings.Wassalam.A.A. Ghassemy
Editor's Preface
To return to Karbala is to return to martyrdom and those who arose and bore witness, borewitness to their covenant with God, agreed to on that sacred day long ago - so long ago that itforms part of the collective unconscious - the day when God said, "Am I not thy Lord?" and weanswered, "
Yea, we do bear witness
." (The Quran 7:172). On that sacred day we committedourselves as human beings responsible to God, passively responsible for the protection of theearth, for safe guarding all of God's creation and His creatures, actively responsible for theridding of all of that which destroys God's creation and His creatures.In this activated capacity, we have a solemn duty to fight oppression and injustice with whatever means are available to us. Some are able to fight with the sword, others with the Word but our beloved Imam Husayn ('a) found a third way. He fought for the Truth and what he believed inwith his life - he offered martyrdom as the alternative and God accepted it.On the plains of Karbala near the ancient city of Babylon in 680 A.D. Imam Husayn ('a) and hisfamily and his companions were martyred by Yazid.Imam Husayn ('a), the third Shiite Imam, son of Hazrat Ali and Fatima and thereby, grandson of the Prophet of Islam, is known as the king of martyrs,
shah-e
shahidan
for it was he whosacrificed his life by bearing witness to Islam.Imam Husayn ('a) was about 56 years old when the Ummayyid Caliph, Mu'awiyyah died. He had been Imam for ten years (since the murder of his brother , Imam Hasan who had been killed byMu'awiyyah.)Imam Husayn ('a) lived under the most difficult outward conditions of suppression and persecution. Religious laws had lost most of their credit as Shariati tells us. The laws of theUmmayyid government had gained complete control. Mu'awiyyah made use of every possiblemeans to obliterate the name
of
Ali and the family
of
the Prophet. He wanted to strengthen hisson, Yazid's position. Thus Imam Husayn ('a) had to endure these difficulties from Mu'awiyyah.When he died and his son Yazid assumed the Caliphate, Imam Husayn ('a) underwent evengreater hardship.He realized that he must leave Medina for Mecca as Yazid ordered the governor of Medina toforce Imam Husayn ('a) to give his allegiance to him. To give allegiance in the Islamic traditionwas vital for the continued existence of a government. Without the allegiance of the strongestexistent forces, a government would not stay in power for long. To withhold one's allegiance wasconsidered to be a crime and brought disgrace and dishonor. Following the example of theProphet, people believed that allegiance, when given by free will and not through force, carriedauthority and weight.
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Martyrdom; Arise and Bear Witness - Ali Shariati
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