Karbala, the Manifistation of Fiqh in Imam’s Behavior

Hajj and jihad are Jurisprudential (Fiqhi) issues such as fasting and praying. When in the words of infallible imams (A.S) these four issues of Fiqh and worship are connected to the central axis of Welaya, that axis will also be based on the rule of Fiqh.

Ijtihad International Network. From the perspective that all aspects of life are structured through Fiqh (jurisprudence), and all the ups and downs (of life) are categorized in a specific geometry based on WAJIB, MOSTAHAB, MOBAH, MAKROOH and HARAM (five different level of acts in jurisprudence from obligatory to forbidden). Is it possible for the Imam of the community who should contrive these principles to people, to have any position in the society but Fiqhi?!

As a matter of fact, It can be said from such a  perspective that in Dhihajja of 60 AH, when Imam Hussain (a) puts Hajj unfinished and moves from Arafat to Kufa, the pilgrimage of all those who stayed in Arafat and Mina and shaved their head and finished the rituals would be doubted! They should also be asked a Fiqhi question of, whether it is obligatory to accompany the “Imam of the time”!? When the Imam leaves the Hajj unfinished, in that time and place, can any Hajj be performed completely!? When the infallibles tie all the obligatory rules to the Imamate, how is it that those people who only believe in imamate in their ID cart (they do not believe in it in heart) go to Tawaf while the Prophet’s son -whose commands are obligatory to be obeyed- goes to Karbala? I think when we arrive at the “belief in Imamate” we must be “helper of Imamate” in the correct sense of the word, and this is based on the jurisprudential belief that it is obligatory to obey Imam. Imam surely for a larger task leaves the pilgrimage of Hajj. Definitely, preference here is not the answer to the question that the mere preference cannot bring the Imam to Karbala in that way, and brings about that red incident that divides history after itself, which is either Hussaini or the empty of reality! Who can define the war of Sayyid al-Shohada (the Master of Martyrs) with the army of Yazid under a non-jihad concept? Who can consider the bloodshed in Karbala to be HARAM (juridically not allowed) and HALAL(juridically allowed)? Who can imagine what is meant by promoting virtue and preventing vice that Imam considers his will is non-juridical concept? Is it ever possible that the authority of Allah can go out of the divine legal system?! That some people do not want to see Karbala from the point of view of jurisprudence?

As a matter of fact, if we think deeply, we will see that the entire process of Imam, moving from Medina and not making allegiance to the Governor of Yazid to Mecca and the  unfinished Hajj, and until Karbala and Jihad, all have juridical structures. And Imam exactly on the same principle organizes his confrontation with Kufa army as well as the organizational manner of his own army. In such a way that in his army neither Haram nor Makrooh deed was done. And Beyond that scarification, freedom and manliness was manifested in there. The scholars from jurisprudents (Fuqaha) and jurisprudents Inshallah will study the angles of the story and present the truth of the jurisprudence of Karbala in order to have an approach to Karbala based on Islamic rules and jurisprudence as well as knowing it as a religious task. And this “right path” will always remain open.

The article was written by Hamza Vagheii / Editor-in-Chief of the Ijtihad International Network.