 Almighty God states in the Holy Qur'an Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Raheem وَمَنْ قُتِلَ مَظْلُوْمَنْ فَقَدْ جَعَلْنَا لِوَلِيِّهِ صُلْطَانَةَ فَلَا يُسْرِفْ فِي الْقَتْلِ إِنَّهُ كَانَ مَنْصُورَةَ The one who is killed unjustly, then we have given his heirs or his guardians power authority to seek retribution therefore let him not slay others excessively for he is supported My respected brothers and sisters illuminate your hearts and minds with a very loud salawat As we begin our exploration into the first general visit of Imam al-Hussein alaihi salam we are introduced to the concept of revenge divine revenge revenge is a very powerful driving force in our lives sometimes you have wars sparked because of revenge sometimes entire communities are ruined because of vengeance and revenge sometimes families are ruined relationships are ruined because of revenge it's a driving it's a powerful driving force in our lives we all know that feeling when you feel as if you have been oppressed you feel you've been wronged you feel others have committed an act of injustice against you that feeling of revenge we've all experienced it it's powerful the energy that it generates in you it says if sometimes you feel like destroying the whole world because of this feeling of revenge and vengeance that you get now the greatest act of injustice that occurred in the history of humanity was the killing of Imam al-Hussein alaihi salam his blood was spilled unjustly this was the greatest act of injustice the greatest act of oppression that was done in the history of humankind what we see in the opening passage of this first general Ziyara the Imam al-Hussein alaihi salam in mafatiha al-jinan as we explained last night there are several about seven general visitations to the Imam alaihi salam in these nights we are exploring the first Ziyara to uncover its meanings to delve into the depths of this amazing Ziyara that has been passed down to us by Imam al-Sadiq peace be upon him in the first passage opening passage of this Ziyara we are introduced to a common theme that not only do you find in this Ziyara but in other Ziyaras of Imam al-Hussein alaihi salam and this theme is the idea of vengeance that the death of Imam al-Hussein alaihi salam will be avenged the divine vengeance from those who killed Imam al-Hussein alaihi salam unjustly now there are several questions here that are worth analyzing number one who is the one who will seek the vengeance from the killers of Imam al-Hussein number two how will revenge be sought for the death of Imam al-Hussein through which means and from who because we know obviously that the killers of Imam al-Hussein alaihi salam perished 13 centuries ago so if anyone is going to seek revenge from the killers of Imam al-Hussein how is that possible when they have died 1,300 years ago and finally we will examine the difference between divine revenge or let's call it social revenge as well and personal revenge what is the difference between these two and how is it necessary for us as human beings to protect ourselves from personal revenge in the opening passage of the Ziyara before the idea of vengeance is mentioned we see two introductory phrases the Ziyara of Imam al-Hussein alaihi salam starts by this phrase peace be upon you oh proof of god and the son of his proof the highest status that the imams of Ahlul Bayt peace be upon them carried was that they were the proofs of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala on this earth through them Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is testing the humanity Allah created us for what purpose isn't it to test us Allah is testing us through the Ahlul Bayt peace be upon them because in order for you to have a valid test you need the proofs right when you go to school or college and you're given an exam doesn't the professor give you the proof before that either in his lectures or in the books or in the extra readings the proof has to be somewhere if you go to a class and there's no way for you to find the answer and the proof then that's not a fair test a fair test is one in which you're given the opportunity to search for the truth Allah has created us human beings to try us and test us and he has sent the proofs and the signs with the prophets and the successors to the prophets so al-Imam al-Hussein al-Salam is the proof of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala because through him Allah sends the proofs to humanity this is the highest position that he carried as an Imam and all the prophets of God now those who killed al-Imam al-Hussein al-Salam they actually transgressed against the proof of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala Allah has created you to test you and he sent you the proofs is there a crime greater and worse than messing with the very proof of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala then killing the very proof of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala so this introductory phrase demonstrates to us the magnitude of this crime because it's preparing us for the vengeance when you have a huge crime that's committed then people expect vengeance justice necessitates that there is an act of revenge taken from the perpetrators the following statement says peace be upon you you know when someone from your family members let's say god forbid your father your brother is killed in the arabic language this person is described as being a when you lose someone someone is unjustly killed that is your because he's been killed and he belongs to you he belongs to your family or he belongs to your tribe this phrase describes the imam as being the of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala because he belongs to Allah and if you belong to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala Allah will take it upon himself to seek the vengeance from your killers because when someone is killed from your family isn't it your obligation to seek vengeance to seek retribution from the one who unjustly killed let's say your father or brother that is your obligation as a family member you need to defend the one who was killed from your family and imam el hussein belongs to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala therefore he has taken it upon himself to seek the vengeance from the killers of imam el hussein and this is a lesson for us if you die in the way of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala it's as if you symbolically become a part of god's family and he takes it upon himself to defend you and to seek revenge from those who killed you and he will take it upon himself to seek vengeance from those who killed him then we are introduced to the idea of vengeance peace be upon you oh vengence of god and the son of his vengeance Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala reveals in the holy quran that whoever is unjustly killed woman we have given his heirs let's say a father is killed Allah has given authority and power to his children to his sons for example to seek retribution Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has given this right if someone unjustly willingly knowingly kills one of your family members you have a right to go to the judge and ask the judge for this person to be punished for the death sentence to be passed on to this murderer because he knowingly and deliberately committed an act of murder and justice must be served now when it comes to Imam al-Husayn alayhi as-salam who is the one who see who will seek his vengeance Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala the ziyarah says as-salamu alaika yathar Allah you're the vengeance of God so Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is the one who will seek the vengeance now why Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala number one he died in the way of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala so Allah subhanahu will take care of that number two the blood of Imam al-Husayn alayhi as-salam is so valuable is so sacred only God can seek the vengeance for it only God can do justice to it because we cannot come close to grasp the greatness of Imam al-Husayn's blood the sanctity and the value of his blood only Allah can grasp that and number three so many groups were involved in the killing of Imam al-Husayn alayhi as-salam so many factors were at play only God can do justice to them we can't some say well al-mukhtar killed many of the killers of Imam al-Husayn didn't he seek revenge no only Allah knows how many people were involved throughout history that caused the bloodshed in Karbala and besides al-mukhtar couldn't you know seek revenge from all the killers of Imam al-Husayn he tried to seek revenge from some of them but not all of them Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is the only one who's capable of seeking this revenge no one else in history can do that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is the only one who knows exactly what happened who was responsible for what and how to seek the revenge therefore Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will seek the revenge from the killers of Imam al-Husayn alayhi as-salam and he will avenge his blood this also applies to all the imams of Ahlul Bayt in one of these applications that we recite and honoring lady Fatima to the Zahra as-salamu alayhi alayhi it says Allahumma kun al-taalib laha mimman zalamaha was taqaffa bi haqqaha oh Allah you be the one who will seek revenge from those who oppressed Fatima and those who took her right lightly they denied her right and then it says wa kun illahumma tha'ira bidami awladiha oh Allah you be the one who will avenge the blood of the imams from her progeny now when we speak about divine revenge Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala seeking revenge what does it mean for God to seek revenge one of the names of Allah is al-Muntaqim in Arabic the Avenger the one who seeks vengeance as we know vengeance is it starts with a feeling we've all experienced that feeling right it's this feeling where you want to harm someone because that person harmed you it's this powerful feeling that we experience it's this hatred that we have toward someone whom we think oppressed us Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is above feelings Allah does not experience these feelings that you and I do so what does it mean for Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to seek vengeance besides Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala doesn't have any personal feelings with anyone with us human beings it gets personal i have this personal hatred vendetta against someone and i want to seek vengeance but Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is above personal vengeance so when we have the holy Quran speaking about Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala seeking revenge in many parts of the Quran Allah speaks about revenge what does that mean in Quranic literature vengeance means the establishing of God's justice when Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala establishes justice that is one way of us understanding his revenge let me give you an example you have a criminal in society who commits a crime he commits an act of homicide an act of murder now what does our law do our law enforcement agencies they take this criminal and they imprison this criminal he's sentenced to a life you know sentenced in prison to a life term in prison now when this criminal is sentenced to a prison to a sentence a life sentence this in itself is a type of social vengeance we can say that our society has sought revenge from this criminal and he's being punished for that crime so the meaning of vengeance when it comes to Allah's actions means justice we have to implement justice this criminal must be met with justice and when we implement justice and take this criminal and throw him into prison this is an act of vengeance it's called social vengeance it's not personal it's not that we have a personal hatred with this person in fact the judge or the police they don't even know this criminal they have nothing personal against him but justice must be served and this is how we come to understand the revenge of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala only seeks revenge when he established the clear signs and the proofs and those evil ones knowingly deliberately stubbornly reject the signs of Allah for example the Holy Quran tells us about the people of Musa A.S Allah sent them all those clear signs and one verse Allah says nine signs Musa was equipped with and he took to the people of the Fura'un but they rejected all those signs knowingly they were certain that Musa was truthful they yet they rejected all those signs what happens next? Allah says we took our revenge from them from the people of the Pharaoh how did Allah seek revenge? Allah caused them to drown in the waters Allah established justice he punished them and this is divine revenge this is divine vengeance so Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is the one who will seek the vengeance for the death of the Imam of Hussain A.S now the important question here is how will Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala seek the vengeance we know Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala based on his wisdom he simply doesn't you know seek vengeance directly usually he doesn't Allah can if he wants to but Allah usually uses means Allah can say be and it is but Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala usually uses means in this life in order to seek vengeance how will Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala avenge the death of the Imam of Hussain A.S when narration tells us that on the day of Ashuwa when Imam Hussain A.S was killed in that brutal way the angels of the skies could not restrain themselves they broke into this severe warning in weeping upon seeing what happened to the beloved of Rasulullah A.S and the angels could not help it they said oh Allah how can you let the killers of Hussain get away with such a huge crime how can you allow that when will you seek revenge from them Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala revealed to them Allah created an image from them you remove the curtain from their eyes and they saw this image Allah says to the angels look what do you see they saw nine imams from the progeny of Imam Hussain A.S and one of them was Qaim standing Qaim in Arabic means standing Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala told the angels you see that Qaim one the one was standing the last of them the 12th or the ninth from the project Imam Hussain they said yes we see him Allah says I shall seek revenge from the killers of Hussain using the sky and I will seek the vengeance and I will avenge the death of Imam Hussain A.S therefore Imam Al-Madee A.S is the one who will seek the vengeance from the killers of Imam Hussain A.S now Imam Al-Madee has two rights in seeking the vengeance number one he is the heir of Imam Al-Hussain according to Islamic law the heirs have the authority to seek vengeance grandfather of Imam Al-Madee the only one he is from Allah we have the right we have the personal right to seek revenge because his grandfather was killed because Imam Al-Hussain is the representative of God he is the leader for humanity representative of God therefore he will seek like a president such as the killed government taking upon itself its responsibility to seek justice and retribution because Imam Al-Madee has the right to seek the vengeance from two ways the personal right resides for example to act with the man the of you are familiar with this phrase and it is extremely recommended that you should always stop the case and pray to Allah to have the most important prayers is to ask Allah to give you with the honor we offer each other condolences and we offer condolences to take this prayer and we will participate in seeking that for the blood of Imam Hussain does not have the slogan or the motto of the companions of Imam Al-Madee's words you are the one that we will seek the vengeance for the blood of Imam Hussain arms that were amputated from Ab El-Fadl Al-Abbas for which of for which of those or do we seek revenge for what happened for Zaynab alayhi salam being harassed by the enemies being paraded from one city to another city or for those orphans who were separated from from their fathers on such a night al-Imam Al-Hussain alayhi salam had to leave one of his orphans back in the city of Medina on such a night remember that scene in which al-Imam Al-Hussain alayhi salam when he wanted to depart the city of Medina and head towards Karbala he called for his brother Ab El-Fadl Al-Abbas the horses ready we have to move on we have to go to Mecca and from Mecca to Karbala the women and the children who stayed behind they came to farewell al-Imam Al-Hussain al-Wida one of those girls one of those orphans who stayed behind was Fatima one of the daughters of al-Imam Al-Hussain Fatima Al-Aleela she was ill she was sick Imam al-Hussain alayhi salam told um Salama I want you to take care of her we can't take her with us the journey is too long and she's too ill to join us Fatima al-Aleela she sees her father Hussain along with her uncle Ab El-Fadl Al-Abbas she sees her brother Abdullah al-Razi all of them leaving her she crawls towards her father Hussain and she tells him oh my father where are you going why are you leaving me behind he told her there's a treacherous journey ahead of us a long journey and you're sick you cannot join us you're too weak to be with us stay with um Salama then if we settle on the land of Karbala if we get there successfully and nothing happens to us then I may send Abbas to come and pick you up she tells him oh father Hussain then at least keep Abdullah al-Razi keep him with me so at least I have someone to see consolation in someone to remind me of you don't leave me all alone over here without any of my siblings the Imam told her oh Fatima he's too young he's too young he breastfeeds how can I separate between him and his mother they farewell Fatima and they go on their way to Karbala on the second day of Muharram the caravan of Imam al-Hussain alayhi salam reaches the land of Karbala they reach an area al-Hussain realizes that the horse is no longer moving the Imam would tell the horse move let's go on towards Kufa but the horse refused it stayed in that land Imam al-Hussain realized that something is not right over here Zaynab alayhi salam was standing close to Imam al-Hussain she tells him my dear brother I feel something heavy in my chest something very heavy in my heart what's happening I feel this sadness this sorrow this depression in this land what is the name of this land al-Imam al-Hussain asked his companions he gathered them he told them my dear companions what is the name of this land one of the companions came forward he says oh Aba Abdullah one name for this land is Al Ghadria the Imam says is there another name he was looking for that name which he heard from Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa ala because the Imam alayhi salam would constantly hear this name umsalama she narrates one day when Hussain and Hussain were little children the Prophet went into his room and he told umsalama I want you to make sure no one disturbs me the Prophet wanted to worship wanted to rest make sure no one comes into my room to disturb me umsalama says I saw Hussain running towards the room of his grandfather I held Hussain I told him no your grandfather is resting and then suddenly he ran out of my hands and he went inside the room of Rasulullah she says I went close to the room of Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa ala you know what umsalama says she says I saw Hussain sitting on the stomach of the Prophet the Prophet was laying down and then Hussain was sitting on the chest on the stomach of the Holy Prophet and I heard the Prophet wailing and weeping I went inside I told him Ya Rasulullah why are you wailing and weeping Sunni historians and scholars have narrated this event brothers and sisters umsalama says Ya Rasulullah why are you crying what happened don't you love Hussain he told her umsalama just now jibra'il descended upon me and he told me ya Muhammad do you love your grandson Hussain I said yes I love him so much then he told me oh Muhammad know that your grandson Hussain will be massacred on the plains of Karbala do you want to see the soil of Karbala Ya Rasulullah Musnad Ahmad he narrates this he said yes I want to see it jibra'il he gets a handful of the soil of Karbala and he shows it to the Prophet the Prophet takes the soil he puts it in a small container and he gives it to umsalama he tells her umsalama whenever you see this turning into red whenever it becomes you know like blood red realized that my grandson has been killed and indeed on the day of ashura umsalama when she looked at this small jar container she saw the blood turning into red and she saw the dust turning into red she realized that Imam al Hussain had been killed so Imam al Hussain was looking for this word which he had heard from the Prophet the word of Karbala then one of the companions he came and he stood up and he says oh Aba Abdullah the name of this land is Karbala al Imam al Hussain alayhi salam he broke into tears he said Allahumma inni a'udu beka minal karbi wal bala oh Allah I seek refuge in you because the meaning of the word Karbala it's a combination of two words of trials and tragedies and tribulations oh Allah protect us from the tragedies and the tribulations then he told his man he told the companions oh my companions here we shall settle let's camp out here my dear companions this is where we shall settle my dear companions it is in this land that our men shall be massacred and killed it is in this land that the children shall be orphaned and it is this land which the woman shall be taken as prisoners of war Zainab could not take it she broke into tears and Imam al Hussain came down from his horse and he told her oh Zainab you have to be patient and then he showed her he told her Zainab do you see that low-lying area this is the place that I shall be massacred then he takes her to the river of Furato believers and he tells her oh Zainab in this area your brother Abel Fazl al Abbas he shall be struck with an iron rod his hands will be amputated and this is the area that he shall be killed brothers and sisters raise your hands in dua with broken hearts and tears Allah has promised that he will forgive us our sins everyone together recite this holy verse five times together so Allah answers our prayers anyone who's in distress anyone who's sick that you know this is the moment of dua brothers and sisters raise your hand in dua everyone together Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem O Allah O Allah O Allah hates the reappearance of our master Imam al Mahdi O Allah make us amongst his sincere followers and dedicated servants O Allah grant us the ziyara of Imam al Hussain O Allah grant us the shafa'a of Imam al Hussain Muhammed and the people of Muhammed