Author: Dr Laeeq Ahmed

 

The Thought of Husayn (R.A.)

The thought of Husayn (R.A.) rests on a single foundational principle: that truth itself is power, while Yazīdiyyat is the delusion that power itself constitutes truth. The accursed Yazīd corrupted politics, wealth, and morality alike. Imām Husayn (R.A.), by contrast, breathed new life to justice, piety, and self-sacrifice. Yazīd preserved his throne yet died in history. Imām Husayn (R.A.) lost his head yet attained eternal life. Every person in this world who stands with truth and against falsehood subscribes, knowingly or not, to the thought of Imam Husayn (R.A.). Those, however, whose hearts and minds have been corroded by worldly attachment, by the nafs and Satan, and by vain desire, to the point that they descend into tyranny, oppression, and the violation of rights, are the followers of Yazīd.

The Promotion of the Thought of Husayn (R.A.)

The Sufis of the Ummah of the Exalted Prophet (ﷺ) made the essence of the thought of Husayn (R.A.) as their guiding light. Through their monasteries (khānqāhs), the Sufis spread the message of peace, humanity, and truthfulness, a message whose foundation was laid by the grandson of the Exalted Prophet (ﷺ) upon the scorching plains of Karbalā. This community of the sincere and the God-fearing planned, in an atmosphere of peace and through the very tone and manner of Husayn (R.A.), to free hearts and minds from prejudice, hatred, and every form of moral corruption. And when they stepped onto the battlefield itself, they shattered the malicious designs of their enemies through the sword of Husayn (R.A.) and the onslaught of truth.

Yazīd was, is, and will forever remain a symbol of barbarity, tyranny, and betrayal. Imam Husayn (R.A.), by contrast, proved himself to be the very embodiment of truth, humanity, patience, and trustworthiness. The true lesson of Karbalā lies in the transformation of what victory and defeat actually mean. Here, the oppressor, despite all his bloodshed, was utterly erased, while the oppressed, through his devotion to truth, remained alive and radiant. Yazīd had brought about political, economic, religious, and moral corruption in society, and to erase that corruption, the family of the Exalted Prophet (ﷺ) offered the sacrifice of their lives. It was with this same thought of Husayn that the Sufis taught the equality instead of worshiping the political power. The role of the Sufi masters in promoting the thought of Imam Husayn (R.A.) has continued to transmit this eternal truth from generation to generation. Let us turn to the windows of history to understand how the knights of the field of Tasawwuf adopted the way of the knights of the battlefield of Karbalā, and through their words and deeds, promoted and propagated the thought of Imam Husayn (R.A.).

The Character of the Sufis, Adorned with the Thought of Husayn (R.A.)

In the history of Islam, after the noble community of the companions (R.A.), the role played by the successors (Tābi’īn) and  successors of successors (Tabā’ al-Tābi’īn), the scholars and spiritual masters, the jurists, the scholars of Hadīth, and the people of Sufism, in preserving the Divine message and transmitting it to new generations, has been of the most vital importance. The just system, the rejection of tyranny, and the restoration of human dignity, whose banner Imam Husayn (R.A.) raised upon the battlefield of Karbalā, were carried by the Sufis from the khānqāhs to the most marginalised sections of society. These sanctified souls offered not only spiritual training, but also presented the economic and political system of Islam as a shield against the tyranny of monarchical rule.

The Thoughts of Imām Husayn (R.A.) and Dātā ‘Alī Hujwīrī (R.A.)

Hazrat Sayyid ‘Alī ibn ‘Uthmān Hujwīrī, known as Dātā Ganj Bakhsh (R.A.) (d. 465 AH), is, both by lineage and by intellectual conviction, a beloved descendent of the household of the Ahal Al-Bayt and a great standard-bearer of the thought of Imam Husayn (R.A.). His chain of descent reaches Imām Husayn (R.A.) through eight generations, and the influence of this lineage is visible throughout his life, his piety, and his propagation of religion. The just system and the supremacy of truth that Imām Husayn (R.A.) demonstrated practically upon the battlefield of Karbalā were given lasting form in the Indian Subcontinent through Dātā Ganj Bakhsh’s (R.A.) scholarly writings, including famous book Kashf al-Maḥjūb, and through his own practical conduct. Every aspect of his discourse exudes the flowers of Divine pleasure and the reform of belief and action, and this fragrance is, in truth, the very scent of the garden of Imam Husayn (R.A.), which dispelled the influence of monarchical rule and lit, within hearts, the candle of passionate love for the Exalted Prophet (ﷺ), reverence and love for the Ahal Al-Bayt al-Aṭhār, and the freedom of faith. Just as Imām Husayn (R.A.) gave preference to the preservation of principle over the trappings of outward power, so too Sayyid ‘Alī Hujwīrī (R.A.) made self-respect, humility, and noble character, rather than the conventional cloaks and mere outward symbols of the Sufis, the very foundation of Sufism. He counsels mystics to avoid the company of the worldly person, one whose heart has been filled with attachment to the material world, and this is, in truth, a reflection of that very independence of Imam Husayn (R.A.) which refuses to bow before any tyrant or material power.

The Thoughts of Imām Husayn (R.A.) and Imām Ghazālī (R.A.) (d. 505 AH)

Ḥujjat al-Islām Imām Abū Ḥāmid Muḥammad al-Ghazālī’s (R.A.) scholarly and reformist movement is, in essence, the intellectual continuation of this very thought of Imam Husayn (R.A), whose purpose was to harmonise the outward spirit of Sharī’at with inward purity and moral values. The purification of the lower self (nafs) and the moral revolution that Imām Ghazālī (R.A.) emphasised in his masterpiece, Iḥyā’ ‘Ulūm al-Dīn, has its source in that very Husaynīyyat which prefers the sacrifice of life for the sake of truth over bowing before falsehood. For Imām Ghazālī (R.A.), religion is not merely a matter of juristic hairsplitting; rather, it is the very title of that inward purity which cleanses the human being of the influences of monarchical rule and Yazīdiyyat and raises him to the lofty station of servitude to the Sustainer. In the face of the dry rational dominance of Greek philosophy, he lit the candle of that “passionate love for the Divine” and “steadfastness” which was the distinguishing mark of Imam Husayn (R.A). Imām Ghazālī’s (R.A.) position regarding the killers of Imām Husayn (R.A.) and regarding Yazīd is grounded in the very perfection of his piety and justice. In condemning Yazīd’s conduct, he made clear that the killing of Imām Husayn (R.A.) was an act of pure and unmitigated tyranny, one that made a wicked attempt to pour poison into the very throat of intellectual freedom. In contrast to the modern-day apologists for Yazīd, Imām Ghazālī (R.A.) declared the battle of Karbalā to be not a political conflict but the eternal standard of truth and falsehood. The reality is that the “counsel of Ghazālī” is, in truth, that very scholarly elaboration of the “philosophy of Husayn” which teaches the Ummah to speak the word of truth before a tyrannical ruler and to maintain balance between Sharī’at and Sufism.

The Thoughts of Imām Husayn (R.A.) and Shaykh Abdul Qadir Jilani (R.A.) (d. 561 AH)

Honourable ‘Abd al-Qādir Jīlānī’s (R.A.) lineage reaches, on his father’s side, the grandson of the Prophet the Caliph of Islam Sayyidunā Hazrat Imām Hasan (R.A.), and on his mother’s side, Sayyid al-Shuhadā’ Imām ‘Ālī Maqām Hazrat Imām Husayn (R.A.), making him both a Hasanī and a Husaynī Sayyid. He undertook the complete spiritual training of the Ummah, reviving within it the thought of Husayn both intellectually and in its practical dimension. In the light of the blessed example of Imām Husayn (R.A.), he made the supremacy of truth and the purification of the lower self (nafs) his mission. He built a scholarly stronghold from which intellectual resistance was generated against false doctrines and tyrannical rulers. Historians say that Shaykh ‘Abd al-Qādir Jīlānī (R.A.), through seminaries (madrasahs) and monasteries (khānqāhs), led a comprehensive reformist movement that dispelled the influence of monarchical rule and revived the freedom of faith, which is precisely the very spirit of Imam Husayn (R.A.).[1]

One of the fundamental dimensions of the thought of Imam Husayn (R.A.) is independence from worldly need and the speaking of the word of truth before a tyrannical ruler. When the caliphs and sultans of the time appeared before Shaykh ‘Abd al-Qādir Jīlānī (R.A.) in their full worldly grandeur and pomp, his conduct toward them was that of a compassionate counsellor, yet an exceedingly courageous reformer. Imām al-Shaṭnawfī writes in Bahjat al-Asrār that when Caliph al-Mustanjid Billāh presented him with sacks of gold coins, Honourable ‘Abd al-Qādir Jīlānī (R.A.) squeezed them in his hand and made the blood of the oppressed drip from them. This episode is, in truth, a symbol of the very thought of Imam Husayn (R.A.) that spirituality can never be nourished by the wealth of tyranny.[2]

The seminary (madrasah) that Shaykh ‘Abd al-Qādir Jīlānī (R.A.) founded in Baghdad was, alongside being a centre of jurisprudence and Hadīth, the very first stepping stone toward the eventual victories of Ḥiṭṭīn and Bayt al-Maqdis (Jerusalem). The scholars trained at this madrasah reformed the beliefs of the common people, and when the time came, they themselves became warriors of freedom who confronted falsehood directly on the battlefield. The chapter of Sultan Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn al-Ayyūbī’s Islamic conquests is a radiant page of world history, yet very few people are aware of its inward causes. The reality is that the army which raised the banner of victory in the battle for Bayt al-Maqdis was, in its majority, composed of the trained students and disciples of the madrasah of Shaykh ‘Abd al-Qādir Jīlānī (R.A.). These rank-breaking warriors were not merely possessed of military skill; they had reached such a degree of nightly devotion and piety that it seemed as though an entire khānqāh had descended onto the field of battle. Historical evidence confirms that more than half of the Ayyubi’s army consisted of graduates of the madrasah of Ghawth al-A’ẓam, while the remaining ranks included those trained at Imām Ghazālī’s Madrasah al-Niẓāmiyyah. Furthermore, the Sultan’s trusted confidant and chief advisor, Imām Ibn Qudāmah al-Maqdisī al-Ḥanbalī, was himself an eminent jurist and scholar of Hadīth, a direct student and spiritual deputy of Honourable Ghawth-e-Pāk (R.A.). Alongside him, his brother-in-law, Imām ‘Abd al-Ghanī al-Maqdisī al-Ḥanbalī, was likewise connected to that same spiritual and scholarly lineage.

According to contemporary historians, Nūr al-Dīn Zangī maintained close ties with the masters of the Qādirī order and implemented the reformist charter brought by Ghawth al-A’ẓam (R.A.) throughout his realm. The conquest of Bayt al-Maqdis was not merely a military success; it was the victory of this very thought of Imam Husayn (R.A.), which rejected expedient compromise and taught the Ummah to stand firm for the sake of truth. Shaykh ‘Abd al-Qādir Jīlānī (R.A.) granted the Ummah that self-respecting spiritual-excellence (faqr-e-ghayūr) which, after centuries of stolen freedom, restored that freedom once again as the destiny of Muslims.[3]

His blessed writings, including Al-Fatḥ al-Rabbānī, Futūḥ al-Ghayb, and Sirr al-Asrār Sharīf, are all a prelude to the teachings of truth, and they are the very wellspring of the knowledge and recognition (ma’rifat) of Honourable Imam Husayn (R.A.).

The Thoughts of Honourable Husayn (R.A.) and Honourable Mu’īn al-Dīn Chishtī (R.A.) (d. 633 AH)

Among the earliest standard bearers of the thought of Imam Husayn (R.A.) upon the soil of Indo-Pak Subcontinent, the blessed name of Hazrat Khwājah Mu’īn al-Dīn Chishtī Ajmerī (R.A.) stands at the very forefront. When he arrived in Ajmer in 1166 CE, the society there was bound in chains of class division and the practice of untouchability. Following the example of Imām ‘Ālī Maqām (R.A.), he embraced the oppressed classes and introduced them to the just system of Islam. The capture of Rāy Pithaurā and the end of his tyrannical rule, brought about through his prayer, was, in essence, the practical interpretation of that very principle of Imam Husayn (R.A.): “Truth has arrived, and falsehood has vanished.”

The Thoughts of Imam Husayn (R.A.) and Hazrat Bahā’ al-Dīn Zakariyyā Multānī (R.A.) (d. 661 AH)

In the region of Multan and Sindh, Hazrat Bahā’ al-Dīn Zakariyyā Multānī (R.A.) not only uprooted misguided sects such as the Qarāmiṭah but also laid the foundation of a prosperous Islamic society through agriculture, trade, and the construction of canals. His political insight likewise carried the discernment of Imam Husayn (R.A.). When the Mongols laid siege to Multan, he paid a substantial sum from his own pocket to prevent the shedding of human blood. He proved that a true friend of Allah becomes a shield for the protection of the lives and property of the people when the moment demands it.

The Thoughts of Imam Husayn (R.A.) and Baba Farīd al-Dīn Ganj Shakar (R.A.) (d. 664 AH)

The great elder of the Chishtī order, Baba Farīd al-Dīn Ganj Shakar (R.A.), made Pakpattan (Ajodhan) the centre of the spiritual beneficence of Imam Husayn (R.A.). His life was the very model of that spiritual excellence (faqr) of Imam Husayn (R.A.) which rejects material grandeur and glory with contempt. When Sultan Nāṣir al-Dīn Maḥmūd offered him a land grant and cash, he refused it, proving that the Sufi is not a flatterer of monarchical power but a herald of truth. Through his character and his love of humanity, the great tribes of Punjab took refuge in the just system of Islam, which was itself a continuation of the very fragrance of the thought of Imam Husayn (R.A.).

The Thoughts of Imam Husayn (R.A.) and Mawlānā Rūmī (R.A.) (d. 672 AH)

In the Sufi thought of Mawlānā Jalāl al-Dīn Rūmī (R.A.), the battle of Karbalā is a great allegory for the journey of the spirit and a metaphor for the continuous struggle against the evil self (nafs ammārah). For Rūmī, the cloak of the mystic (dervish) is, in essence, a collection of those very noble lineages that spring from the threshold of the Imāms of the Ahal Al-Bayt. Mawlānā Rūmī (R.A.) emphasises this reality that whoever is connected to his thought and message cannot be independent of the example of Imam Hassan (R.A.) and Imam Husayn (R.A.).

Mawlānā Rūmī (R.A.) regards the station of love as the highest ascent of passionate love and the ultimate destination. In his view, the true lover is one who, freed from the fear of death, dances upon the field of annihilation, for the martyr never fears death; rather, he is the seeker of eternal life. In the Dīwān-e-Shams-e-Tabrīzī, he shakes the people of formal religiosity and piety, declaring that if they remain confined within the walls of mere outward worship and expedient compromise, they will never grasp the reality of Karbalā, where truth is brought to life through the offering of one’s own life. Mawlānā Rūmī (R.A.) says:

کاین شھیدان ز مرگ نشکیبند

عاشقانند برفنا بودن

ششہ می گیر و روز عاشورا

تو نتانی بہ کربلا بودن

“These martyrs are not troubled by death, for they are lovers of being annihilated. Come to your senses and understand that on the day of judgement Ashura, it is not within everyone’s capacity to truly become a man of Karbalā.”

The Thoughts of Husayn (R.A.) and Hazrat Niẓām al-Dīn Awliyā’ (R.A.) (d. 725 AH)

Hazrat Niẓām al-Dīn Awliyā’ (R.A.), settled in Delhi, spread a network for the propagation of Islam that brought spiritual benefit to humanity from Bengal to the Deccan. The intellectual insight of his successor, Hazrat Naṣīr al-Dīn Chirāgh-e-Dehlī (R.A.), was such that when a minister of state asked him about worship, he replied that the minister’s worship lay in fulfilling the needs of the needy. That is, alongside adherence to obligatory duties and acts of worship, fulfilling the needs of the needy is itself a great act of worship, for service to the creation of Allah Almighty is the very spirit of the purified Divine Islamic law (sharī’at) and the means of attaining Divine pleasure. This is precisely the thought that Imām Husayn (R.A.) taught: that religion is not merely the rosary and supplication, but the safeguarding of human rights and the fulfilment of social responsibility.

The Thoughts of Husayn (R.A.) and Sultan-ul-Arifeen Sultan Bahoo (R.A.) (d. 1102 AH)

Sultan-ul-Arifeen Sultan Bahoo (R.A.) belongs to the Awān tribe, who are the helpers, supporters, and devoted servants of the Sādāt. In the teachings of Sultan Bahoo (R.A.), the blessed person of Imām ‘Ālī Maqām Honourable Husayn ibn ‘Alī (R.A.) is the very standard against which the truthfulness of knowledge and action is measured. In his view, religion means standing firm for the sake of truth and offering the sacrifice of one’s own life. He expresses this profound philosophy in his spiritual poetry, declaring that if religion had resided in mere outward knowledge, the radiant head of Imām Husayn (R.A.) would never have been raised upon a spear. In his view, the sacrifice of Imām Husayn (R.A.) in the presence of eighteen thousand scholars proves that true knowledge is that which grants the courage to give up everything for the pleasure of Allah. Sultan-ul-Arifeen Sultan Bahoo (R.A.) says:

جے کر دین علم وچ ہوندا تاں سر نیزے کیوں چڑھدے ھو ُ

اٹھارہ ہزار جو عالم آہا اوہ اگے حسینؑ دے مردے ھو ُ

جے کجھ ملاحظہ سرور(ﷺ) دا کردے تاں خیمے تمبو کیوں سڑدے ھو

جیکر مندے بیعت رسولی تاں پانی کیوں بند کردے ھو

پر صادق دین تنہاں دے باھو ُؒ جو سر قربانی کردے ھو

“Had Divine Religion (Deen) been in knowledge, why would the heads have been hanged high on spears, Hoo

Eighteen thousand scholars were there; they would have laid down their lives for Hussain (R.A.), Hoo

Had they had any respect for the Exalted Prophet (ﷺ), they would not have burnt camps, Hoo

Had they accepted the pledge to the Apostle (ﷺ), water would not have been refused, Hoo

Only those were truthful in their faith Bahoo, who sacrificed their heads, Hoo.”

Honourable Sultan Bahoo (R.A.) holds these corrupt scholars (‘ulamā’-e-sū‘) to account throughout his poetry (Abyāt), those who attached themselves to the Yazīdī courts and made religion a means of their own livelihood and worldly privilege. His allusions clearly point toward those scholars who abandoned their adherence to the family (‘itrat) of the Prophet (ﷺ) out of greed for wealth and material gain. He says that knowledge employed merely to please kings and rulers can never become a spring of goodness; rather, it gives birth only to sectarianism and hatred. He compares such scholars to curdled milk from which no butter can ever be extracted.

پَڑھ پَڑھ عِلم مَلوک رَجھاون کیا ہویا اُس پَڑھیاں ھو

ہرگِز مکھن مُول نہ آوے پھَٹے دُودھ دے کَڑھیاں ھو

“Some seek knowledge to satisfy the rulers, what is the use of this scholarship – Hoo,

Butter can’t be acquired out of milk turned sour – Hoo”

He further says that the true object of these worldly scholars is not the recognition (ma’rifat) of Allah Almighty but rather fees and offerings.

جِتھے ویکھن چنگا چوکھا اُتھے پڑھن کلام سوائی ھو

“Whenever they see good foods prolong their sermon and recite more – Hoo”

In the view of Sultan Bahoo (R.A.), love and reverence for the noble Sādāt is an inseparable part of faith and the sole path to attaining the recognition (ma’rifat) of Allah Almighty. He writes explicitly in his book Nūr al-Hudā that an enemy of the Sādāt is, in truth, an enemy of the noble Prophet (ﷺ) and of Allah Almighty, while a friend of the Sādāt is destined for Paradise and a true follower of the Prophetic Sunnah. In his view, whoever denies the family of the Prophet (ﷺ) and the descendants of Honourable ‘Alī (R.A.) and Honourable Fāṭimah (R.A.) may spend his entire life shattering his head against the stone of spiritual exercise (faqr), yet he will never attain the recognition of Allah Almighty. Sultan Bahoo (R.A.) writes in Nūr al-Hudā:

دشمنِ سادات دشمنِ مصطفٰیٰؐ

ہر کہ دشمن مصطفٰیٰؐ دشمن خدا

“The enemy of the Sādāt is the enemy of Exalted Prophet (ﷺ), and the enemy of Exalted Prophet (ﷺ) is the enemy of Allah Almighty.”

دشمنِ سیّد بود اہل از بلشت

دوست دارِ سیّداں اہل از بہشت

“The enemy of the Sādāt belongs to Hell, and the friend of the Sādāt belongs to Paradise.”

At another point he writes:

دشمنِ سیّد بود اہل از خبیث

دوست دارِ سیّد اں اہل از حدیث

“The enemy of the Sādāt is wicked, and the friend of the Sādāt is a follower of the Sunnah.”

Sultan-ul-Arifeen Sultan Bahoo (R.A.) declares the noble Sādāt to be the inheritors of the honour and distinction bestowed upon them by the Divine court, and he describes enmity toward them as nothing other than the worship of one’s own vain desire. His entire life and his entire body of poetry testify that he regarded the Sādāt as the very illumination of the Exalted Prophet (ﷺ) and the coolness of the eyes of Honourable Sayyidah Fāṭimah (R.A.) and Honourable ‘Alī (R.A.). His deep attachment to the thought of Imam Husayn (R.A.) is evident in these verses:

دوست دارم سیّداں نورِ نبیؐ

نور دیدۂ فاطمہ حضرت علی

“I hold love for the Sādāt, for they are the illumination of the Prophet (ﷺ), and the very light of the eyes of Honourable ‘Alī (R.A.) and Honourable Fāṭimah al-Zahrā’ (R.A.).”

سیّداں را عزّت و شرف از خدا

دشمنِ سیّد بود اہل از ہوا

“Honour and distinction have been bestowed upon the Sādāt by the Divine court; only one given over to vain desire, that is, lacking in true faith, can be an enemy of the Sādāt.”

In contrast to the Yazīdī scholars, Honourable Sultan Bahoo (R.A.), walking in the footsteps of Imām Husayn (R.A.), propagated this universal awareness of truth, sincerity, and sacrifice, an awareness that can never be held captive by expedience or material greed.

In summary, Sultan Bahoo authored approximately one hundred and forty works, and a study of all those that survive and are available today makes it clear, as plain as daylight, that he truly fulfilled his duty in promoting the thought of Imam Husayn (R.A.).

The Thoughts of Imam Husayn (R.A.) and Shāh ‘Abd al-Laṭīf Bhiṭṭā’ī (R.A.) (d. 1165 AH)

In the Sufi poetry of Shāh ‘Abd al-Laṭīf Bhiṭṭā’ī (R.A.), the incident of Karbalā reflects the eternal clash between truth and falsehood and the philosophy of submission to the Divine will. Shāh devoted an entire chapter (sur), named ” the battlefield” (Kaiḍāro), to the courage and steadfastness of the martyrs of Karbalā and Imām Husayn (R.A.). In his view, the new moon of Muḥarram al-Ḥarām brings to the princes of the Sādāt the message of welcoming that great trial whose outcome had already been decided, from the Day of Pre-eternity. Shāh describes the resolve of these princes thus:

ڏٺو محرَّم ماھ، ٿئو سنڪو شھزادن ۾،

ڄاڻي ھيـڪ ﷲُ، پاڻ وڻنديون جو ڪري

“When the month of Muḥarram arrived, restlessness stirred within the hearts of the princes, and they knew that whatever Allah Almighty wills, that alone shall come to pass.”

In his view, this battlefield was, in truth, a field of passionate love, where the lions of the Sādāt, despite hunger, thirst, and the betrayal of the people of Kūfah, placed the pleasure of Allah above all else. Shāh says that Muḥarram returns each year, but those chieftains of Madīnah never returned, for whose Makkah and Madīnah remain in mourning to this very day. In “Sur Kaiḍāro,” Shāh ‘Abd al-Laṭīf Bhiṭṭā’ī (R.A.) describes, with tremendous force, the courage of the Sādāt and their unmatched valour before the Yazīdī army. In his view, the arrival of the Ahal Al-Bayt upon the battlefield of Karbalā was like lions emerging from their den to challenge falsehood. When the Sādāt pitched their tents at Karbalā, they did not turn their backs upon seeing the gleam of swords; rather, they accepted the unalterable decree of destiny with a smile. Shāh depicts this scene thus:

ڪربلا جي پڙ ۾، مرڪي اُڀا مير

وڙهي ويرن سامھان، تکا ھنيائون تير

ھئي ايءَ تقدير، اصل امامن سين

“On the battlefield of Karbalā, those devoted to truth stood with smiling courage. They fought firmly against their enemies and loosed swift arrows. This very destiny had been bound to the Imāms from the very beginning.”

Hazrat Makhdūm Jahāniyān (R.A.) and Shaykh Rukn al-Dīn (R.A.)

Hazrat Shaykh Rukn al-Dīn’s (R.A.) barefoot journey into the court of Sultan Muḥammad ibn Tughlaq, undertaken to save the people of Multan from his wrath, recalls precisely that audacious courage which was the very hallmark of Karbalā. Similarly, Hazrat Makhdūm Jahāniyān’s (R.A.) act of handing Fīrūz Shāh Tughlaq a list of the people’s needs stands as proof that the Sufis always represented the interests of the common people before kings, compelling political power to be used in the service of humanity.

The Thoughts of Imam Husayn (R.A.) and Allama Muhammad Iqbal (R.A.) (d. 1357 AH)

The foundational axis of Ḥakīm al-Ummat Allama Muhammad Iqbal’s (R.A.) thought is movement, fervour, and continuous evolution. In Iqbal’s view, the perfection of human life lies in becoming the hand and arm of the Creator in the fulfilment of cosmic purposes, and this is possible only when the human being takes his stand against falsehood for the revival of the universal values of truth and righteousness. In Iqbal’s view, the true spirit of Islam lies hidden in the performance of “Rasm-e-Shabīrī,” (the way of Imam Husayn) an eternal way of life. Iqbal does not describe the battle of Karbalā as any mere political or family conflict; for him, it has become the title of the eternal contest between reason and passionate love. In his view, Imām Husayn (R.A.) is the “Imām of lovers,” who fulfilled the demands of Divine passionate love in contrast to expedient and self-interested reason. While reason remains preoccupied with its own benefit and survival, passionate love creates new life through its trials and sacrifices. Iqbal says that the entire edifice of Islam is built upon this very passionate love of Imam Husayn (R.A.), which separated truth from falsehood for all eternity.

عقل می گوید کہ خود را پیش کن

عشق گوید امتحان خویش کن

آن امامِ عاشقان پور بتول

سرو آزادے ز بستانِ رسول

سرخ رو عشق غیور از خون او

شوخی این مصرع از مضمون او

“Reason says: secure yourself first. But passionate love says: put yourself to the test. That Imām of lovers, the precious son of Batūl, was the free and upright cypress of the garden of the Messenger (ﷺ). Self-respecting passionate love was made radiant by his blood, and the very vivacity of this verse springs from his own theme.”

In Iqbal’s view, the station of Shabīr is the detailed fulfilment of that very condensed dream once seen by Hazrat Ibrāhīm (A.S.) and Hazrat Ismā’īl (A.S.), the dream which the Glorious Qur’an described as the “supreme sacrifice” (dhabḥ-e-‘aẓīm). Imām Husayn (R.A.) nourished, with his own blood, that very tree of Islam which had been withered by the poison of monarchical rule and tyranny. In Iqbal’s view, Imām Husayn (R.A.) was the guardian of those values of the Rightly Guided Caliphate whose connection with the Glorious Qur’an had been severed. The call (takbir) of Imām Husayn (R.A.) not only awakened the slumbering Ummah of that age but also opened, for all the world to come, a new chapter of freedom and liberty.

سر ابراہیم و اسمعیل بود

یعنی آن اجمال را تفصیل بود

اللہ اللہ بائے بسم اللہ پدر

معنی ذبحِ عظیم آمد پسر

در میان امت آں کیواں جناب

ہمچو حرفِ قل ھو اللہ در کتاب

“He was the manifestation of the secret of Hazrat Ibrāhīm (A.S.) and Hazrat Ismā’īl (A.S.); that is to say, the reality contained in summary form was revealed through him in full detail. Glory be to Allah! The father was, as it were, the Bā of Bismillāh, and the son became the complete embodiment of the meaning of the supreme sacrifice. Among the Ummah, that exalted personality stood like the verse Qul Huwa Allāh within the Glorious Qur’an itself.”

For Iqbal, spiritual-excellence (faqr) has many degrees, but it is “Faqr-e-Shabīrī” that is the very elixir capable of transforming dust into gold within the human being. He invites the Muslims of the present age to step out of the inactivity and into the field of action, declaring this to be the very secret of eternal life. The mention of Imām Husayn (R.A.) in Iqbal’s poetry serves to instil that firm resolve which never bows before any Pharaoh. His message is this: if the Ummah wishes to restore its lost credibility, it must once again bring freshness and vitality to the atmosphere of Kūfah and Shām through the blood of Husayn (R.A.).

اک فقر ہے شبیری، اس فقر میں ہے میری

میراثِ مسلمانی، سرمایہء شبیری

نکل کر خانقاہوں سے ادا کر رسمِ شبیری

کہ فقرِ خانقاہی ہے فقط اندوہ و دلگیری

Conclusion

The lives, the deeds, and the teachings of the eminent Sufis were, without any doubt, the practical promotion of the thought of Imam Husayn (R.A.), and they continue to teach the human being of today that same courage, bravery, truthfulness, and fearlessness which Sayyid al-Shuhadā’, Sayyidunā Imām Husayn (R.A.) once taught the world. We pray in the court of Allah Almighty that He makes us true followers of Husayn. Āmīn.

This article was originally published in Urdu in the Monthly Mirrat ul Arifeen International Magazine.

To cite the original article:

Ahmed, Laeeq. “The Role of the Sufis in Promoting the Thought of Imām Husayn”. Mirrat-ul-Arifeen International, June 2026. Available at https://www.mirrat.com/article/121/1767

References:

[1] Hākadhā Zahar Jīl Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn wa Hākadhā ‘Ādat al-Quds, Urdu translation: How the Generation of Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn Ayyūbī Was Prepared.

[2] Imām Abū al-Ḥasan al-Shaṭnawfī, Bahjat al-Asrār, p. 171.

[3] Tārīkh-e-Da’wat o ‘Azīmat, Volume One, Account of Shaykh ‘Abd al-Qādir Jīlānī (R.A.).