A conqueror and his conquest, the victor and his spoils, the winners and the vanquished, are the usual class distinctions of a society in the aftermath of a battle. Done civilly by drawing up a treaty such as Versailles or carried out in a brutal orthodox manner, the goal of military aggression remains unchanged – plunder, subjugation, prestige and power.
War and a civilised society seem to be at cross-purposes. Can these ideological differences ever be reconciled? One would think not.
In waaz today, Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin RA, spoke about the conquest of Misr; known previously as Al-Qibt; romanised as Egypt for those who couldn’t articulate it. Imam Moiz AS sent Qaid-Johar to conquer it. With him was an army that spanned the horizon, and an opulent display of wealth. Imam AS personally spent hours with Qaid-Johar, guiding him on strategy and various options of action, with conviction that he was the man for this herculean task, and rightly so.
The people of Misr were in a state of hysterical panic when they saw the magnificent army. However, four of them including a Husaini man suggested that they ask for a peace treaty. Qaid-Johar willingly obliged and signed the treaty, stating that, “Imam AS has sent me to save, not slay. You are Muslims and the Abbasid protection is now weak. The French and Romans are just biding their time to gobble you up.”
With all the military strength at hand, non-aggression was chosen. Although some miscreants tore up the letter of truce, took up arms and started plundering their own city, Qaid-Johar renewed his pledge to his amnesty for the people of Misr. Shops were reopened and peace was established with just 400 soldiers patrolling the streets. Misr was conquered.
A conquest was also made by the apparently defeated family of Imam Husain AS, as they were subjected to unrelenting torture and marched captive, all the way from Karbala to Shaam. This army marched with no ammunition, soldiers or grandeur. Their only recourse was grief, lamentation and tears on those they had to leave behind, slain on the hot sands of Karbala.
As they were marched from town to town, in that desolate state, Muslims stood shocked to learn about what had transpired on their prophet’s family. There were no instant means of communication in those times, but this sorrowful news spread like wild- fire, and save but a few said that, “Yazid was a kafir.”
When Syedna Taher Saifuddin RA embarked on his historical Haj journey through various towns, many inhabitants proudly proclaimed, even after so many years, that their ancestors had stood in aid to the qafila – caravan of Imam Husain AS when it had passed by.
Undoubtedly a conquest over hearts, unfettered by time or place. A victory that will resonate every time a tear is shed over Imam Husain AS and his Ahle-Bait and companions.
May Allah keep us victorious, forever indebted to this sorrow, and our Maula TUS, who has guided us unwaveringly to it, through hardships and trying times till the day of reckoning. Ameen
