 Peace be upon you all. Welcome to our show on Imam Hussain TV discussing the different facets of the Battle of Karbala on the day of Ashura. Today's episode we'll be looking at the very important topic of the companions of Imam Hussain. Imam's companions as we know were very few in number but the weight they carried as moral figures and as seekers of justice and as figures of history is huge. There are several aspects to the discussion and we'll be looking at this from different angles discussing the people that were present on the day of Karbala and the different traits they showed as low people to the Imam. Joining us in our discussion today we have Said Ali Nawab at Ibrim Ansari to provide some poetry and add to the discussion. Said now we're going to start with maybe going backwards a bit before the Battle of Karbala. The issue of Kufa. Now we know Muslim bin Aqeel, Imam's cousin and messenger, went to Kufa to give the message, to draw up a crowd to revolution against Yazid and we know several people joined Muslim bin Aqeel at this time. And there's that moment where he's got thousands of followers and then by the end of prayer he's lost many of his followers. Can you explain that situation and why was it that there were people that were so loyal to begin with and became this low in the end? Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Raheem. Alhamdulillah ar-Rabbi al-Alamin wa salallahu ala Muhammadin wa alia al-Tahirin. First of all, I would like to pay my sorrowful condolences for the arrival of the holy month of Muharram. And as we are commemorating Imam Hussain alaihi salam and his family and his loyal companions, inshallah this will be a good start for us to take lessons so we can implement in our lives. When we speak about the companions of Imam Hussain alaihi salam, we speak about a group of individuals who gave everything they had for the sake of the banner of Islam. And specifically when we come to speak about Muslim bin Aqeel and what happened in the city of Kufa prior to the arrival of Muslim, thousands of letters were signed and sent to Imam Hussain alaihi salam whilst the Imam was in Medina, requesting from the Imam to come to Kufa because the people of Kufa represented a good variety of the Shia, the followers of Ahli al Bayt alaihi salam. Because the base of the Khilafah of Amir al-Mu'mineen alaihi salam and Ahli al Bayt alaihi salam lived for a good period in Kufa so there were many followers of Ahli al Bayt alaihi salam and very good companions of the Holy Prophet and Amir al-Mu'mineen lived in Kufa. Hence many of the letters came from Kufa. So the Imam decided to send Muslim bin Aqeel to get a gist of the reality because the reality could be much different than what it was actually apparent to the Imam. So Muslim bin Aqeel arrived and they welcomed him. They did several gatherings to introduce Muslim bin Aqeel to the heads and the people of Kufa, those who had signed the letters and sent for the Imam to come. As you said, the sign and the agreement was that they all meet in the Masjid of Kufa to accompany Muslim and Muslim would start the procedure to march towards the Qasr al-Khilafah. You asked me why did the event of Kufa happen and why did so many people at the beginning pay allegiance to Muslim and eventually pay allegiance to Imam Hussain alaihi salam. Because looking from this side, it's baffling sometimes. This is, yes. At the beginning, Obeidullah Ibn Ziyad had not sent his spies around to tell people the army of Shah was heading towards Kufa and sometimes they used violence and fear to scare people off, especially the women and the children. Because the men, they were not set. They gave their final oath and their final word to Muslim bin Aqeel and they said, we are with you whether it's life or death. So here, Obeidullah Ibn Ziyad being a very clever person because he was placed as a ruler on Basra and he had held Basra very tightly, very strongly. So before he entered Kufa, he appeared to be as if it's Imam Hussain alaihi salam entering Kufa. So people came because he had covered his face and people came around him and they started chanting, welcome O son of the holy prophet, we are with you, welcome, you have glorified our city, until they noticed that he stood by the gates of the Qasr al-Imara and he opened his mask. It was then that they noticed that whatever has been sent to them is not a normal person. So it was a tactic from that day onwards that the army of Bani Umayya specifically headed by Obeidullah Ibn Ziyad started using a tactic to buy the souls of the men, gradually. Those who are known to be worldly people, they paid big amounts of gold to buy over and that took days until Muslim entered Kufa and some know they sent their women, the women that used to work as spies with Bani Umayya in Kufa to go sit around gathering, sit down with women and children and scare them, scare-mongering, telling them this is thousands of strong, fierce men are coming from Sham and anyone to be known to be paying allegiance to Imam Hussain, peace be upon Hussain Ibn Ali, rather, peace be upon him, they will kill their men, they will take them as hostages, they will demolish their houses. So you can imagine the amount of things they were saying in order for the women to actually believe that this is happening to an extent that they can go to the men, to their husbands, to their fathers, to the sons and actually convince them that this is the reality and for the men to believe and actually leave. So this was one of the things that they used the tactic to actually implement the strategy to be able to enter fear into the lives and the souls of the women and the children and once the men see the women and the children are scared, before anything had happened they would say, okay, now nothing's happened and our families are already scared. So what's going to happen if actually something does happen? So there were several factors. There were several factors which meant that people couldn't actually own up to go to Muslim and say, okay, I'm not going to leave you. So they actually took the opportunity to come to the Muslim and pray behind Muslim as a sign of cowardness and then gradually a man would take the hand of his brother or a father would take the hand of his son and gradually... Literally behind his back, while he's praying. Ibrahim, just bring us to the modern day. We have this example of people who apparently were loyal to the Imam but when it came pushed to shove, as we say, they walked away when it really mattered. In the modern day, you as a student as well, how can we in the modern day take lessons from this? The idea of it's very easy to give lip service to the Imam. What are the moments where we have to almost show that loyalty in the modern day because we are living a thousand years later? You see, generally it's, as you said, speaking and saying something even speaking of the shahada of saying, La ilaha illallah Muhammadun Rasulullah believing in that Ali on Waliyaullah and believing in the status of Ahlul Bayt is all said very easily. However, if there is no love attached to that, then it is nothing. An easy example we can take, for example, is Iblis alihil a'a on Allah. He said, La ilaha illallah. He prayed to Allah. He believed in a day of judgment. However, there was no love connected to his aqida and he allowed himself to think highly of himself, which is why when Allah swt ordered him to prostrate to Adam, he said, you created him from mud and you created me from fire. So he saw that he had a higher status. So one thing is to stay humble. Another thing is to actually build the connection of love. Allow your soul and your heart to make a connection towards a specific individual. The ways we can do that are many and say it can possibly enlighten us on all of these things. But for example, establishing our prayer constantly, it will build a connection, constantly remembering the Ahlul Bayt, remembering Allah swt and another thing, a beautiful thing about the month of Muharram is every student, every student, every person that works, make time to attend Majlis. The reason being is this, psychologically it's proven. The moment emotion is added to a belief, you build a connection to it. The moment we attend the Majlis and we drop one tear for the love of Imam Hussein, we build that love and we build that connection. Absolutely, faith plus action, as we say. We'll fast forward now to actually the night of Ashura and a very important moment and I think a very beautiful moment. The moment where the camp of Imam Hussein are resigned to knowing that tomorrow is going to be the battle. They ask for that one more night in prayer from the opposition army and there's that moment where Imam speaks to his companions and paraphrasing says to them that this is my issue. You guys can go home and it shows the nature of the Imam where he then switches off the light or dims the candle so that no one is embarrassed. So Sayyidna, can you tell us about when he turned the candle back on and the light back on? Did anybody leave and who were they? Why did they leave and what does it say about the people that actually stayed behind for the battle? Again, this is a very good question and many believe that when the Imam, alaihi salam, spoke to his companions on the night of Ashura that was the first time that the Imam told them about the honest opinion of those who are standing on the other side of the field and what they intend to do. But rather the Imam from the first day, from the first moments that he came out in Medina and all during the way to Mecca, from Mecca he gave many sermons. He continuously reminded people that where I am going, where I am heading, I will be killed. Imam, alaihi salam, in Medina told them and he said that I am heading towards Shahada. Hence speaking to his brother, Muhammad Ibn Al-Halafiyyah, when he questioned him, why are you going? You are going to be killed. These people are intending to kill you. And the Imam said, insha'Allah alaihi alaihi qateela. Allah wants to see me dead in this manner. And Muhammad Ibn Al-Halafiyyah says, why are you taking the women then? So everyone around the Imam, surrounding the Imam, they saw this scenario. They knew that the Imam is going to be killed. Hence many people decided there and then. And there are many narrations that said that the Imam, alaihi salam, when he moved out of Medina, arriving at Mecca and going towards Karbala, there was more than 600 individuals who did it. Wow. But it was then, every time Imam stopped in one of the stations during the route from Mecca to Karbala, he used to sometimes receive sad news or bad news and people then used to also depart from the camp of Mecca. Like filtering out, yeah. Until Imam arriving the night of Ashura, narrations say that some people did leave, but many stayed. But also there are narrations to say that people joined the camp of Imam Hussain, alaihi salam, on the 9th of Muharram, the afternoon of the 9th of Muharram, from the camp of Umar bin Sa'a. On the afternoon? On the afternoon of the 9th. Narrations say that a number between 25 and 35 individual soldiers from the camp of Umar bin Sa'a joined Imam Hussain, alaihi salam, repenting. And there are narrations to say other than those 25 to 35, on the night of Ashura, in the darkness of the night, there were army individuals who left the camp of Umar bin Sa'a and joined Imam Hussain, alaihi salam. Yes. But that is to take the different narrations into concept where some say the companions were 72, some narrations say they were 100 and some say they were 160. Given take, there were individuals who did actually leave, but I would come and say that those who made it until the night of Ashura, those were the loyal companions. And there was only a few individuals who left for realizing that, that's it, that's the last point. And if I don't leave now, because as brother Ibrahim said, if there is no love connected to your movement, then there is, you would leave easily, you would drift away easily. So those who were remained on the night of Ashura, those who really had the love of Imam Hussain and they really knew. And Imam Hussain, alaihi salam, on the day of Ashura, he showed them their positions. Because he knew that there is no one else is going to leave. And these are going to stay and remain with him. So then he showed them, now that you've remained loyal to me and you have the love that it needs, then I will show you your positions in the heavens. Whereas if he showed them before, it wouldn't have been a true, they would have gone just for that, absolutely, it's beautiful. As per the format of the show, in the true spirit of the culture of mourning, the tragedy of Karbala, we're going to have some poetry recited by brother Ibrahim. And the poetry recited is going to be on the topic of the show as well, as much as possible. So please, brother Ibrahim, recite your poetry for us. So as Imam Hussain, alaihi salam, said, I have never known companions like you. A poem written by my cousin Basm Al-Ansari. I have never known companions like you. Hussain said proudly, giving them their Jew. They have stemmed from every corner and race. Together, they gathered in Karbala, their place, to help Hussain, they rushed eagerly in pace, leaving behind family, wealth, and life's glue. Habib was their elder and role model for all. He was a sign of love and standing tall, 41 companions who were hard to uphold. Young and old together, they made the best crew. Embravery and loyalty learned from John. Like everyone, he was allowed to be gone, but they proved they outmatched their peers in brawn. The magic of Hussain made their souls renew. One by one, they faced the enemy steadily, seeking permission from Hussain readily. Like fragrant flowers, they fell, Hedeli, the Ansar during Ashura had the best view. The Ansar during Ashura had the best view. We wish we were with you. Subhanallah, beautiful poetry. To continue the discussion, and we'll go with the narration that Ibrahim started with, where Imam says there's no companions like you. Now, this is a very, when you think about it, a very heavy statement to make, because Imam's possibly, and maybe you can shed light, comparing himself to every holy person that God sent that out of Moses, Jesus, even his grandfather. Is Imam saying that his companions are better than the companions of all these other prophets, or is he just talking about his own context at this time? Hussain. The Imam, when he says, As-haban khair wa awfa min as-habi, Imam's knowledge is the knowledge of Rasulullah. Yes. And when he says, It doesn't mean that for this time and space, I don't know, or I have not come to recognize. The Imam's knowledge covers from the beginning of time until the end of time. So when he comes to say, It means from the beginning when Allah, created Prophet Adam until the last soul remaining on the face of this earth, which is the soul of Imam, Imam Al-Mahdi, Aja-Allah, Faraj Al-Sharif, before he came back, Imam is saying, I do not know, I do not recognize any other more lawful companions than my companions. Now you can translate or interpret the saying of the Imam, however, you may like. And there are certainly viewers watching us that are not of the followers of Ahlul Bayt, when they hear the statement, they would come and question that you, Shia, you give a position to Ahlul Bayt specifically, Imam Hussain more than the rest of the prophets. And I will come and confirm that. We, the Shia, the believers of Ahlul Bayt, our belief is that the Imams of Ahlul Bayt, they are in status and in position greater than the rest of the prophets, apart from Rasulullah, So here, the holy prophets and the messengers from beginning of time until the holy messenger of Islam, they came, they had companions, they had very noble companions that stood with them, fought with them, sacrificed their lives for the sake of those messengers. The companions of Rasulullah, the companions of Amir al-Mu'minin, Hawari, they were known to be very close companions, where Amir al-Mu'minin, used to share secrets of Imam Hussain with them because he knew that these people would be able to understand and comprehend the hearts could take it. The hearts could take, the containers are loathful individuals. But then Imam Hussain, came and gave that very strong statement. I have never known companions better than my companions. Now come and sit down and analyze this statement, what it entails. So Amir al-Mu'minin, like Hajar ibn Adi, Meitham i'tammar, Khumeil ibn Ziyad who used to go out in the desert with them. He used to go out individually, sit down with them and for hours and hours speak to them with things that Amir al-Mu'minin did not share with any other companion. But Imam Hussain, alaihi salam, had companions that at the time of Imam Hussain owed loyalty and strength to the events of Karbala. Maybe I would say maybe if there were other individuals of other companions of prophets and messengers, they wouldn't have been able to understand and stand steadfast with the leader. Absolutely. As we get towards the end of the show, Ibrahim we can list all the companions that we want and if we put the family of Imam aside and I think everyone can answer this question in a way and I think all of our viewers can too, who know the story we all, and in different phases of our life, have a connection with certain companions of the Imam in your life it could be currently the same as before. Which companion do you resonate with the most on the day of Ashura? Out of the companions of Imam Hussain, alaihi salam it's very hard to actually separate them. It's honestly very hard because each one of them took a specific stance. For example, when you come to John and Imam Hussain set him free he said to him, I am free when I am with you and through the Shahada I will become free. This is not an easy statement to make. You've got the example of Borair on the ground of Karbala and he's looking at Habib and he says to him I will seek Habihada and looking at Imam Hussain that take care of Imam Hussain while he's about to to pass away. However I feel like one companion that was made to stand out even by Imam Sajad through the way that he buried the bodies when we go to Karbala we realize that Habib was given his separate grave because of the great status that Habib held. Habib he comes and Imam Hussain comes to him and he sees him crying and then Imam Hussain would say to him, did you remember your family? Because we need to understand Habib's status was he was the leader of a tribe of a massive tribe. Imam Hussain said to him, did you remember your family? Did you remember your status? Why is it that you cried? Do you want to go back? You can go back he said to him, no. That woman standing by that tent is what is making me cry shouting that is there no supporter for us and this stance that they took honestly because each one of them took a very similar stance I literally cannot choose between them but the fact that Habib was given by the Imam a separate grave saying that to as a final point and very quickly we know that the Imam's companions were from several different backgrounds even religious backgrounds, let alone ethnicities can you explain not where they came from as such because we know they were Arabs they were from Persia, they were from everywhere across the Arabian Peninsula but what is the message of this because the verse that just came to my mind right now is in Surah Hojarat where Allah says to us we are from different nations and tribes to get to know one another Islam is a religion how does this one moment where Imam's got so many different varieties of ages and nationalities in his camp, what does it tell us about the spirit of Islam in a social sense? One answer we can give to this question is to say to those who claim that this the way they put it or this dispute was between two families of two tribes, between Bani Omega and between Bani Hashim and this in Karbala shows that this is not something between two families and they argued over power or they fought over power and position and throne, it's something much bigger because if it was then many different happenings and occurrences did occur from the time of the Holy Prophet until the time of Imam Hussain where two tribes or two clans they fought each other over power but we don't see the Holy Prophet or Amir al-Mumineen or Imam Hussain getting involved but when it comes and the banner of Islam is in danger and the fact that Rasulullah sallallahu alaihi wa sallam the grandfather of Imam Hussain when he came out and said, O people of the world my message is for you all that the message of Islam is for the whole of the nations for the whole of the universe for the whole of the inhabitants of this world Rasulullah did not say O Muslims, I am here to propagate or the inhabitants of the Arabian peninsula I am here to guide you from darkness to the light no, Rasulullah his message was to the whole world so Imam Hussain alaihi sallam and the variety of his companions coming from different parts of the world or different parts of the Islamic world shows that this is an Islamic issue this is the issue between righteous and falsehood so it doesn't have anything to do with Bani Umayyan Bani Hashan fighting over something no, this is a message that Imam Hussain through this one just to show who is a Christian and I have someone who is a Turk and I have someone who is from Africa they all for the sake of the banner of Islam are coming here to sacrifice and you have individuals who claim that they are from Arabia Bani Umayyan and they are the core of the Arabs and Islam was started in their land and they themselves are fighting the message of Islam irony so from the farthest points of Arabia have come to sacrifice their lives for the sake of the message that Bani Umayyan should be the ones who are defending it but unfortunately it didn't happen very beautiful point to end with we would like to thank our viewers for watching this episode an absolutely fascinating topic on the companions and something we can discuss forever and ever and ever there are several personalities to look at one thing that comes to my mind is that a very famous poet was asked about who his favourite companion is as I asked as well and he said they are all Hussein because each one of them showed what Imam Hussein was as per the format of the show we are going to end with in the spirit of mourning the Imam a eulogy by brother Ibrahim to close us so please brother Ibrahim a poem written by brother Noori Sardar of course we are not the companions of Imam Hussein but we can become servants of Imam Hussein Inshallah my beloved Hussein year after year since birth I was raised in his name and taught this by my mother taught that the service of Hussein service like no other O my Lord he raised me in the love of Hussein O my Lord put me with the servants of Hussein O my Lord I beg you by all the tears that flow down my cheeks seal my mouth don't let me speak unless for Hussein I speak let me serve his banner, his name and the dust under his feet only when I'm serving Hussein bring me my death to meet O my Lord take my life when I'm serving Hussein O my Lord put me with the servants of Hussein hearts do not know what love is until they fall in love with him hearts yearn for him like a father resentful by an orphan crying for him washes away all the past lies and sin and Hussein's love asks me what can I be not what have I been O my Lord put me with the lovers of Hussein O my Lord put me with the servants of Hussein if you ever find my eyes dry then for Hussein make them wet if you ever find my eyes dry then for Hussein make them wet and let my hands witness to you that for him I strike my chest let me mourn him day and night both in this life and in the next when I will for him it's as if with Hussein I have met O my Lord let my tears flow only for Hussein O my Lord put me with the servants of Hussein Allah Muhammad Muhammad