Karbala: A "Bloody" Consipracy and the Secrets Behind It

Status and principles of Tarikh, and importance of history in Islam

The status and principles of Tarikh (Islamic History)

This discussion has become quite lenghty, whereas it was only intended as an example of how the enemies of Islam have distorted so many historical narrations with their poisonous propaganda. In fact, many a time one shall find an extremely weak narration being given more prominence and and being more well known than all other narrations on the topic, despite their chains of narrations being stronger and their being closer to the demands of the Shariah and logic.

The reason for this is that man is prone to remember and accept that which is oft-quoted, without much consideration to it authenticity. Even if one were later to be shown a more reliable narration, he would brush it off as fabricated, merely on the basis that it conflicts with what he has already been taught.

However it should never be felt due to the lies and poison hidden within historical narrations, the entore subject of Islamic history has now been rendered useless and without any purpose. This is not at all the case. Islamic history plays a vital role in understanding many aspects of Islam, and it serves as a unique tool to cultivate the awe of Islam in one's heart, to create awareness within one, of the plots of Iblis and his armies, and teaches one the modus operandi of the enemies of Islam.

Understanding the status of Islamic History, its level of authenticity and the manner in which ot shpuld be utilized, is essential if one desires re-opening the pages of history and delving deep into the episode of Karbala. Thus before proceeding to the discussion regarding the era of Hadhrat Mu'awiyah (radhiyallahu anhu) and the reason for his selecting Yazid as his vicegerent. It would seem appropriate to shed some light on the principles on the study of Islamic history.

For this, the article of Hadhrat Mufti Muhammad Shafee' Uthmani Saheb (rahimahullah), which was intended as a forward to a book Hadhrat has compiled at the end of his life, in refutation to the many who were relying upon historical narrations in pasding judgement and leveling criticism against the illustrious Sahaba (ridhwanallahu anhum) and those that came after them.

Hadhrat Mufti Shaafi' Saheb (rahimahullah) writes in the forward to his book The Rank of the Sahaba:

'It has been explained above that it is not correct to judge the noble Sahaba (radhiyallahu anhum), their personalities and to stipulate their ranks, based only on historical narrations. This is because they hold a special position in the light of the Qur'an and Sunnah because of their being the medium between Rasulullah (sallallaahu alayhi wasallam) and the Ummah. History does not have such a rank, based on which this status can be lowered or increased. The meaning of this can never be understood to be that the science of history is totally unreliable and useless (the need and importance of it in Islam will be clarified later), but the reality is that belief and reliance has various stages.

In Islam, the level of belief and reliance that is placed on the Qur'aan and Mutawatir Ahadith, that level of belief has not been placed upon the general Ahadith. The rank of the statement of the Sahaba (radhiyallahu anhum) is not that of the Hadith of Rasulullah (sallallaahu alayhi wasallam). Similarily, the rank of the belief and reliance on historical narrations is not the same as that of the Qur'aan, Sunnah or the statements of the Sahaba (radhiyallahu anhum) proven through an aurhentic chain of narration.

If a Hadith is found to be in (apparent) contradiction to the text of the Qur'aan, then it will be compulsory to interpret it (make ta'wil) and if the interpretation is not understood then it compulsory to leave that Hadith out. Similarily, if a historical narration contradicts anything proven in the Qur'aan and the Sunnah, then it will be left out or it will be compulsory to interpret it, no matter how reliable and dependable that narration is in historical terms.