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Some Instances of Loyalty in the Supplication: Ziyarat Al-Warith
By: Ayatullah Shaykh Muhammad Mahdi al-Asifi, Najaf, Iraq
Three aspects of loyalty are portrayed in this supplication
1- Salutation: that is “Peace be on you, O heir to Adam, God’s chosen one.”
2- Testimony: that is “I bear witness that you are the pious and devout Imam”
3- Stand: that is “My heart is in submission to your heart and my actions follow yours.
In the following passages we will discuss these three aspects of loyalty which appear in this supplication.
First Aspect: Salutation
This is the first manifestation of loyalty which has three parts:
First: Peace be on you, O heir to Adam, God’s chosen one!
Second: Peace be on you, O son of Muhammad, the chosen one!
Third: Peace be on you, O God’s avenger, the son of God’s avenger!
Among the elements of loyalty are salutation and submission i.e, not disputing and differing with the leadership, both in the mind and in behaviour. By submission we mean practical obedience and compliance. However, this obedience stems from internal harmony and love for the leader and not from coercion. The relationship of the community with its leaders is that of firmly rooted submission that is visible in behaviour.
This relationship is exhibited at the end of the formal prayer in the form of salutation: “Peace and God’s mercy and blessings be on you, O Prophet.” The fruit reaped by the servant when he soars toward God in prayer is obedience and love for the [God-appointed] leaders. Islam has prescribed the word ‘peace’ as the faithfuls’ salutation for one another. This general greeting: ‘Peace be on us and on God’s righteous servants’ is the closing part on which the worshippers finish their prayers.
The importance given to spreading peace arises from the emphasis that is laid on the type of relationship that should exist between Muslims. This relationship is established on the basis of eschewing discord and disagreement among Muslims; removing hatred, malice and ill-will from minds; establishing love and fellow feeling in hearts and cooperation and concord in action.
Second Aspect: Testimony
Testimony is a declaration of trust, faith and loyalty, and such a testimony must be coupled with submission so that they complement one another.
In this supplication, testimony appears in three parts:
1. Testifying to the message and movement of Husayn (as): “I bear witness that you established the prayer, paid the zakat, enjoined what is good and forbade the bad and obeyed God and His messenger (S) till you died”
To establish the prayer is not just to perform it, because the latter is only a personal duty stemming from individual obligation, whereas the former carries a message in the life of the believers. Establishing the prayer means to firmly establish worship and the relationship with God in people’s lives. It also involves urging the people to keep up prayer for God’s sake by openly declaring this obligation that has been enjoined on them.
“You enjoined the good and forbade the bad”: When Husayn (as) revolted against Yazid he was not after kingship, power or position, rather, he sought to establish good deeds and uproot evil i.e. establish loyalty to God and destroy taghut.
On the day of Ashura, Husayn (as) addressed the people saying: “Do you not see that truth is not acted upon and falsehood is not being forbidden? Let the believer desire to meet God. [As for me] I consider death to be nothing but a source of bliss and living with oppressors only a vexation.”1
At the station of Al-Baydah, Husayn addressed al-Hurr’s companions in these words: “O you people! The Messenger of God (S) has said: Whoever watches an unjust ruler who violates what God declares sacrosanct, breaks His covenant, contradicts the tradition of the Messenger of God (S) and rules the people in a way characterized by sin and transgression, and, does not oppose him by word or deed, God has the right to make him share his doom. Certainly, these people [Yazid and co.] have sworn obedience to Satan, leaving aside obedience to the Merciful; they have engaged in corruption openly and suspended the legal punishments; they have monopolized the treasury and they have permitted what God prohibited and disallowed what He permitted.”2
Thus Husayn (as) was not after power and wealth, but he saw that a despot was spreading corruption in the land, wreaking havoc, making permissible what God forbade and transgressing His limits. So he rose up against Yazid in Karbala, with his faithful group which welcomed his call for bidding the good, forbidding the bad, reinstituting what is right, and extirpating what is wrong.
2. Testifying to the fact that the Imam was immaculate both internally and in his behaviour. God has exclusively endowed the Ahl al-Bayt (as) with this purity. The Most High says: "Indeed God desires to repel all impurity from you, O people of the Household, and purify you with a thorough purification."3
In addition, testifying that this virtuousness was passed on from father to son and God Most High destined this purity to be preserved within this noble line throughout the eras of ignorance that came to pass in human history Over the different ages God Most High has chosen this blessed line for the office of Imamate in the life of man. "Indeed God chose Adam and Noah, and the progeny of Abraham and the progeny of Imran above all nations. Some of them are descendants of others, and God is All-hearing, All-knowing."4
Let us look at this section of the supplication of Ziyarat al-Warith: “I bear witness that you were a light in noble loins and pure wombs. The era of ignorance did not soil you by its impurities nor did it clothe you in its garments of darkness.”
I do not want to pass on without pointing to this beautiful expression of purity of this house; the result of the fecundation brought about by noble loins and purified wombs: loins of men who were above worldly things that people scramble for; and wombs of women who were chaste and free from the scum of civilizations of the ages of ignorance seen by man.
3- Testifying to the position which was taken by Husayn (as) with regard to what the nation was experiencing; the leadership role assigned to him by God in the form of Imamate and guardianship over the Muslims; and the fact that God had commissioned him to guide the community. Coupled with this, was the position of his offspring in leading and guiding the Muslims towards God Almighty.
We also read in it: “I bear witness that you are among the pillars of religion and the pivots of believers. I bear witness that you are the pious, the obedient, the chaste, the guided and the guide. I bear witness that the Imams from your offspring are the epitome of piety, the milestones of guidance, the stronghold and proof over the people of the world.”
Third Aspect: Stand
This is the stage for asserting loyalty, which comes after submission and testimony. Here stand pertains to both faith and action. Faith is eloquently described through these words: “I believe in you and in your return, I have firm faith in the rules of my religion, and my heart is submissive to your hearts”, in the supplication of Ziyarat al-Warith. The practical part of this stand consists in deference and obedience to them: “And my actions follow yours.”
A compelling indication of the sincerity of one’s stand is one’s submission to the Imams with respect to the rules of religion and the final deeds of one’s life. Nothing is as dear as the religious rules by which one worships God Almighty and the last acts in life, for acts done in the beginning or middle parts of one’s lifetime can be compensated for by repentance, soul searching and correction, unlike those done at the closing part. One’s last deeds determine one’s fate.
The best proof of having trust in the Imams (as) and being sincerely loyal to them is for one to receive from them the rules of religion and take inspiration from them for what one does at the end of one’s life. That unrestricted submission as described above is of the highest type because it is untainted by the least resistance or misgiving in the heart, that is the submission of the heart to the heart: “and my heart is in submission to your hearts.” This is when the hearts get into contact and mutual understanding.
Similarly, one’s stand as regards to action is described thus: “And my actions follow your actions.” This represents complete obedience and submission to the commands of God.
Therefore, the stand means complete faith, unrestricted submission and absolute trust, followed by total commitment and obedience with regard to action. In a special ziyarah of Imam Husayn (as) on the day of Arafat, the following section occurs: “I am at peace with the one who is at peace with you, at war with the one who is at war with you, hostile to the one who is hostile to you and friend to the one who is friend to you. [In this way shall I remain] till the day of Resurrection.”
In the special Ziyarat al-Arba’in prayer we read: “I bear witness that I believe in you and your return, I have firm faith in the rules of my religion and will have till the final call of death, my heart is submissive to your hearts, my actions follow your actions and my support for you is ready till the time God grants permission [for action]. So I am fully on your side and not on the side of your enemy. God’s blessings be on you, both your souls and bodies, on the present and the absent ones among you”.
This is a declaration of total readiness for support, after which comes this beautiful rendition of loyalty: “With you! With you! with your enemy, never!” By repeating togetherness: ‘With you, with you’, the covenant of loyalty is emphasized just as it is through affirming and negating i.e. expressing loyalty to the Imams and repudiating their enemies: ‘With your enemy, never!’
Similarly, the supplication on the first of Rajab conveys this expression of loyalty to the one who stood up in Karbala on the day of Ashura’ inviting mankind to God, to strive against the forces that were rebellious towards Him and break their arrogance and direct them to serve God alone. It reads: “At your service, O inviter towards God! If my body did not respond to you when you sought help [on the day of Ashura] or my tongue when you called for support, surely my heart responds to you”.
The best response indeed is that of the heart. We have missed the chance to respond to the call of the caller to God in Karbala physically, but our hearts, which God has filled with loyalty to Him and His friends (the Imams) (as), will ever comply with the Imam (as). We shall always respond to his call to fight the oppressors and break their power and strength; to bring the people over to the service of God, establish His law and uphold the divine limits in human life; and free mankind from the axis of the rebellious (taghut) and direct them towards loyalty to Almighty God.
Repudiation: The Other Face Of Loyalty
After this, comes repudiation, which is the other face of loyalty, for there can be no loyalty without repudiation: they are two faces of the same issue, two parts of a single reality, and any stand is made up of these two.
One’s promise of loyalty is fulfilled through his repudiation because a declaration of loyalty alone does not cost one much. Most of the troubles that one may suffer come as a result of repudiation. It is only too easy for one to live with all in a friendly and peaceful environment by respecting the feelings and sensibilities of everybody. One can play a double game and guard against collusion with all. One can smile at everybody in order to gain their acceptance. Such a person can live in peace and comfort, earn the love and sympathy of all and live free from problems and inconveniences.
However, he cannot be part of the circle of those loyal to God, His messengers, His friends and the believers; he cannot join this obedient family which pledges its loyalty to God, His messenger (S) and His friends; he cannot have a stand; he cannot love, hate or resent sincerely; and in his political and social relationships, he cannot go beyond mere formality. Without loyalty there can be no sincerity in relations or stand, and no sincerity is possible without repudiation. But repudiation entails many demands on one’s social relations with family and society, and on one’s comfort, well-being and stability.
The price of being loyal is to be able to repudiate, and the price for repudiation is to accept difficulties, inconveniences and troubles. These are equations God has established by virtue of His inexorable norms that govern human life. Abu Ja’far al-Baqir (as) is reported to have said: “There are ten things which help enter paradise when one meets God:
1- To bear witness that there is no deity except God
2- To bear witness that Muhammad (S) is the Messenger of God
3- To affirm whatever comes from God
4- To establish the prayer
5- To pay the alms (zakat)
6- To fast in the month of Ramadan
7- To perform the pilgrimage to the House
8- To be loyal to God’s friends
9- To repudiate God’s enemies
10- To avoid all intoxicants.”5
The Prophet (S) wrote to the bishop of Najran, “I summon you to worship God and to shun the worship of His servants; I invite you to loyalty to God instead of His servants. If you reject this then you must pay the tribute and if you reject this, then know that I am declaring war on you”6 Therefore, the boundary between Islam and unbelief is the declaration of loyalty and repudiation.
The Messenger of God (S) said: “Surely the strongest bond of faith is to love or hate for the sake of God, to be loyal to God’s friends and to be hostile to His enemies.”7
Imam al-Rida (as) said: “It has been reported that God communicated to a devout among the Children of Israel whose heart was entertaining a thought, saying: As for your devotion to Me you are taking pride in Me and as for your asceticism, it is a deferment of comfort. Now have you befriended my friend and shown enmity to my enemy?”8It is related that someone came to the Commander of the Faithful and said: ‘O Commander of the Faithful! I love you and also love so-and-so’, and he mentioned one of his enemies. He answered: “Now you are one-eyed: either become blind or have complete sight.”9
A one-eyed man’s sight is weak for he can only see with one eye. One’s loyalty is similar to this when he does not repudiate the enemy or cannot dare to do it because he wants to be accepted by everybody. Such people do not remain one-eyed with half-sight for ever; either God guides them so that they have full sight or they lose that half sight and become blind, thereby completely losing their loyalty. It was said to Imam al-Sadiq (as) that “so-and-so person is loyal to you but finds it difficult to repudiate your enemy” to which he replied “Never! He lies who claims to love us but does not repudiate our enemy!”10
The questioner in this narration set his question precisely: there was no doubt that the person about whom the question was put was loyal but he was unable to repudiate, and this inability rendered his loyalty weak and shaky. He did not have enough courage to declare his stand and establish or sever relationships in an open and decisive manner. Therefore, the Imam (as) replied that true loyalty can in no way be separated from repudiation as its consequence, and whoever is weak in repudiation must be weak in loyalty as well.
In al-A’mash’s narration, Imam Sadiq (as) is reported to have said: “To love God’s friends (the Imams) is obligatory, loyalty to them is obligatory and to repudiate their enemies is also obligatory. To repudiate the perfidious, (al-Nakithun), the unjust (al-qasitun) and the renegades (al-mariqun) is obligatory. To repudiate the idols (al-ansab) and the divination arrows (al-azlam), who are leaders in deviation and injustice is obligatory. [It is obligatory to repudiate] all these people, the first of them and the last.”11
From Abu Muhammad al-Hasan al-Askari (as), from his forefathers (as): one day the Messenger of God (S) said to a companion of his: “O servant of God! Love for God’s sake and hate for His sake, give your loyalty for His sake and be hostile for His sake, for you will not earn His friendship except that way. No one will taste faith, even though he might have performed abundant prayers and fasts, except that way. Nowadays, most of the people’s fraternity is based on the world: they love or hate one another for its sake. This will not avail them anything in the sight of God.”
The man said to him: “How do I know that my loyalty and hostility are for the sake of God, the Mighty and Sublime? And who is God’s friend to whom I must be loyal, and who is His enemy against whom I must be hostile?”
Then the Messenger of God,(S) pointed to Ali (as) and said: ‘Do you see him?’ ‘Yes’, the man replied. Then he said: “The friend of this man is a friend to God so befriend him, and his enemy is God’s enemy, so be hostile to him. Be a partisan to this man even if he killed your father and your son, and show enmity to his enemy even if he was your father and your son.”12
A more emphatic version of this issue has been related in the famous hadith of al-Ghadir where the Messenger of God (S) said: ‘For whomsoever I am master and authority (mawla) Ali is master and authority. O God! Befriend his friends and be enemy to his enemies and help his helpers and forsake those who forsake him.”
The hadith of al-Ghadir is one of the most explicit narrations which describe the deep connotations of loyalty (wilayah) and bring out its positive dimensions i.e. being loyal and its negative dimension i.e. repudiating its antithesis. Al-Allamah al-Amini opens his impressive work Al-Ghadir with a hadith from the Messenger of God (S) which pertains to this topic and we will like to close our discussion on loyalty and repudiation with it.
The Messenger of God (S) said: “Whoever is pleased to live the way I live, die the way I die and dwell in the garden of Eden which is made known by my Lord, let him be loyal to Ali after me and also be loyal to his friends and let him believe in the Imams after me, for they are my family. They have been created out of my stuff and endowed with understanding and knowledge. Woe unto those of my nation who belie their merit, who violate my kinship with respect to them. May God not extend my intercession to such violators.”
After this long discussion on repudiation we shall return to our talk on Ziyarat al-Warith to study the repudiations and curses that appear in it.
The Groups That Are Cursed In Ziyarat Al-Warith
In this supplication three groups of people have been cursed and repudiated: “May God curse the people who killed you. May God curse the people who oppressed you. May God curse the people who hear about this and are pleased with it.”
The first group consists of those who were directly responsible for killing Husayn (as): “May God curse a people who saddled and bridled [their animals],and prepared and traveled in order to kill you, O my master, O Abu Abdullah!”13
The second group comprises all those who oppressed Husayn (as) and acted unjustly toward him, who facilitated the tragedy, supported and paid allegiance to his enemy and openly opposed him. This group includes all those who made preparations to fight Husayn (as) or facilitated it, abandoned him, supported his adversaries, contributed in their equipment, assisted the tyrant in fighting him, and all the followers of these people.
Different wordings of repudiation and curse on this group are found in both general and special prayers on visiting (ziyarat) Imam Husayn’s tomb in Karbala (as). In the specific Ziyarat-e-Ashura we read: “May God curse the people who killed you. May God curse those who prepared the ground for them by facilitating the means for fighting you; I turn to God and to you and repudiate them and their adherents and followers.”
In the general Ziyarat-e-Ashura also we have: “I turn to God and His messenger (S) in repudiation of those who laid down the foundations for injustice and oppression against you and the people of the Household, built their unjust system on it and continued on the path of their injustice and oppression against you and your adherents. I denounce them, taking recourse to God and to you.”
In the second special Ziyarat-e-Ashura which is narrated in Al-Mazar al-Qadim, we read: “May God curse the people who laid down the foundations of injustice against you, prepared the ground for oppressing, molesting and harming you, and perpetrated the same in your houses and among your adherents. I turn to God the Mighty and Sublime and to you, and repudiate them and their adherents and followers.”
This group was large, for it included all those who contributed in fighting Husayn (as) or facilitated the war against him, prepared for it, pledged allegiance to the tyrant for fighting him, mobilized and assisted in any other way in the campaign along with their adherents and followers.
The third group consisted of those that heard about the tragedy and approved of it. The issue of this group demands pondering. Who are those people who heard about this incident and approved of it? For sure, they were not those who participated in the battle or in oppressing the victims directly, otherwise they would have been classified among the first two groups, then there would have been no need for mentioning a third.
Therefore, this group definitely included those who heard Husayn’s (as) call for help but did not help him, choosing their well-being instead of supporting the Lord of the Martyrs (as) in the battle of Al-Taff. They are those who abandoned him on the day of Ashura. Certainly, this group approved of what happened on the day of Ashura, because had they not been pleased with it, this betrayal of the grandson of the Messenger of God (as) would not have been possible.
Their failure to join Husayn (as) and support him, and their preference for this world over the next concealed their approval of Yazid’s actions, otherwise, such glaring negligence and opting for personal peace invariably leads to an approval of injustice. In other texts this group is described as having betrayed Abu Abdillah Husayn (as) and preferred their well-being to supporting him. In the second general ziyarah we read: “May God’s curse be on the people who killed you, the people who opposed you, the people who denied your leadership, the people who supported your enemies, and the people who witnessed this but did not martyr themselves [in your defence].” The relevant part of this ziyarah is ‘and the people who witnessed this but did not martyr themselves.”
In the seventh general ziyarah, this passage appears: “I bear witness that your killers are in the fire. It is part of my duty to God to profess the repudiation of those who killed you, those who fought you, those who rallied support against you, those who mobilized people against you and those who heard your voice but did not help you.” The relevant part is ‘and those who heard your voice but did not help you.’
The following passage appears in the ziyarah of the Night of Qadr (destiny) and the nights before the two festivals [of the 1st of Shawwal and the l0th of Dhu al-Hijjah]: “I bear witness that those who opposed and fought you, those who abandoned you and those who killed you are cursed on the tongue of the Unlettered Prophet (S).”
It is obvious from this text that the three accursed groups are: the group which fought Husayn (as), the group which helped and supported the first, the group which forsook Husayn (as) and neither answered his call nor helped him. Indeed the battle of Al-Taff was a real one that had ideological, political and cultural dimensions and as such, it required real stances in terms of loyalty and repudiation, both before and now. It does not accept a position of reluctance and indifference today just as it rejected that in the past; it deems such an attitude to be no better than the hostile stand.
What Conflicts of Civilization Do To Man
Ideological conflicts group people into two, one affirming a given direction and the other negating it. This dichotomy and divergence later continues for ages, and the more deep-seated in people’s conscience such a question is, the wider and more pronounced the resultant ideological effects become.
The battle of Al-Taff is among the foremost of such conflicts by virtue of a number of factors;
1- The political and ideological confrontation of civilization that took place on that battlefield.
2- The unmistakable cultural and ethical dissimilarity between the two camps. The status of Husayn, the son of the Messenger of God’s daughter (as) and Lord of the youths of paradise is known to all Muslims, just as Yazid ibn Muawiya, the son of the liver-eating woman [Yazid’s grandmother chewed the liver of Hamza, her arch-enemy, when he fell in the battle of Uhud] and a descendant of the tree which is cursed in the Qur’an is known to all. No one from that date till today has ever doubted the true nature of the two contending parties and no one doubts who among them was calling towards God and who was inviting towards hell.
3- The painful tragedy which befell the grandson of God’s Messenger (S) and his family and companions in Karbala on the day of Ashura.
These and other factors make the question of Al-Taff a distinct historical event which has inevitable significance. It classifies the people into two distinct groups; a conformist group which is a member, supporter and loyal to Imam Husayn, and another one which is hostile and in opposition. No one is allowed to stand on the fence watching the battle without its dust affecting him. So there has to be a clear stand and an act of loyalty and an act of repudiation. No one conversant with the circumstances of this battle will confuse truth with falsehood.
The First Day of Separation
We said before that this conflict classified men, with respect to loyalty and repudiation, into two distinct groups, right from the year 61 A.H till today, and this distinction will continue for a long time to come.
The Holy Qur’an calls this conflict separation, and that is what separates the people into distinct groups with respect to loyalty and repudiation. The first day of separation in Islamic history is the day of Badr. The Most High says: "On the Day of separation, the day when the two armies met…"14
It is thus designated because it was the first day in which the Muslims met the polytheists in a decisive military encounter which grouped the people into two distinct parties based on the question of loyalty and repudiation. It was the first armed confrontation between monotheism and polytheism in the history of Islam, on the result of which depended the destiny of mankind and the direction to be taken by human civilization. It is true that the people who fought on the side of the Messenger of God at Badr were three hundred or a little more and the Quraysh army which fought him were a thousand or a little more but that confrontation had more profound and far reaching consequences than what appears from the history of the valley of Badr in the second year after Hegira. Behind the Quraysh polytheists who fought in Badr stood an extensive front of the polytheists of the Arabian Peninsula and even beyond.
The intensity of events in the wake of that encounter is proof of this fact. With his small group, the Messenger of God (S) faced that large front of polytheism and God Almighty gave him victory over it. Had God not made that group victorious on the day of Badr, He would not have been worshipped and no one on earth would have mentioned His name.Therefore, the day of Badr has separated mankind into two distinct groups based on their loyalties: one group of three hundred and thirteen fighters and another consisting of the wide front of polytheism with all its vast powers. Surely, it was the first day of separation in Islam’s history.
A simplistic look at the battle field of Badr in the second Hegira year will only see these two fighting forces, but on scrutiny will find two entities, two civilizations, two ideologies locked in a fierce struggle for existence. The contest was not over a few articles of trade carried by Quraysh merchants as the historical reports apparently suggest. These two camps represent vast frontlines of people throughout history; they are not limited, they extend to endless periods. The day of Badr is not only the day of separation which grouped the people in the year 2 A.H. on the basis of loyalty and repudiation, but it will remain as the day of separation for all periods of Islamic history.
The Second Day of Separation15
Just as the day of Badr is the first day of separation in the history of Islam, the day of Ashura is the second. In this unequal but decisive battle Husayn (as) and a small band consisting of his family and companions stood on one side of the line. On the other was Ibn Ziyad at the head of a large army and behind him was Yazid with his vast power, great wealth, army and capabilities. Also in their support were all those loyal to Yazid, all those who were benefiting from him, all those who deviated because of him, all those who fought on his side, including those who stood on the fence in the political field and preferred their well-being and watched from a distance while the conflict went on, and, all the followers of those people.
Therefore, for the day of Ashura the quality of separation was quite obvious: it had grouped the people into two distinguishable groups based on loyalty, repudiation, ethics, thought, inclination and ideology. That day still remains a means of separation in the history of Islam. It divides the people on the basis of loyalty and repudiation to the present day and forever.
Notes:
1. Abu Nu’aym’s Hilyat al-Awliya 2: 39.
2. Tarikh al-Tabari, 6: 229.
3. Qur’an Ch: 33, Vs: 33.
4. Qur’an Ch: 3, Vs: 33- 34.
5. Al-Saduq’s Al-Khisal 2: 52; Bihar al-Anwar 27: 53.
6. Al-Ahmadi al-Mayaniji’s Makatib al-Rasul: 120.
7. Al-Barqi’s Al-Mahasin: 165; Bihar al-Anwar 27: 52.
8. Fiqh al-Rida 51; Bihar al-Anwar 27: 52.
9. Bihar al-Anwar 27: 58.
10. Bihar al-Anwar 27: 58.
11. Al-Khisal 2: 153-154; Bihar al-Anwar 27: 52.
12. Tafsir al-Imam al-Askari . 18; Ma’ani al-Akhbar 113; Uyun al-Akhbar 161;Ilal al-Sharaya’ 58; all quoted in Bihar al-Anwar 27: 54.
13. It is taken from the general Ziyarat al-Warith and the special Ziyarat Ashura with slight differences.
14. Qur’an Ch: 8, Vs: 41.
15. From another direction, Siffin could be considered the Second day of Separation in Islam and Ashura could be the third.
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