The Story of Imam Hussain 🕋 | Battle of Karbala | FULL DOCUMENTARY | Imam Hussain (a.s.) | Muharram Special In English
"The Story of Hussain" is a complete historical documentary about the Battle of Karbala, the tragic event that changed the course of Islamic history. This film covers the journey of Imam Hussain (a.s.), his stand for justice, the events leading to the battle, and the everlasting legacy of his sacrifice.
00:00Hussain is a man whose story has transcended generations and borders for over 1300 years.
00:06Hussain's selfless pursuit for moral justice in the face of brutal oppression has inspired hope for millions.
00:14The Battle of Karbala, where Hussain and his 72 loyal companions bravely stood against an army of thousands,
00:21forever changed the course of history.
00:30Hussain was born in 626 AD in the city of Medina to the noble family of the Prophet Muhammad.
00:41He was raised by a family renowned for their honesty, compassion and justice.
00:49He was revered and celebrated by people from different walks of life.
00:55Every lover of truth and every lover of justice loved Hussain .
01:01And this, no doubt, began way back while they were in the holy city of Medina.
01:09The values that he adopted as a child were the values that he learned as he grew up.
01:13And he grew up in the holiest of houses. He grew up with his grandfather, the Prophet.
01:18As a young child, Hussain witnessed his grandfather's struggle to establish a morally just and compassionate society.
01:28They embraced a very sincere life, a very humble life.
01:33They prioritised charity, giving and working to improve the societies they were in.
01:39Arabian society was plagued by violence and corruption.
01:44Muhammad's rise and the advent of Islam eradicated much of this injustice.
01:50And the people had widely adopted a moral way of living.
01:56In 632 AD, the Prophet Muhammad passed away, devastating a young Hussain.
02:05What followed after would impact Hussain in ways he could not yet comprehend.
02:10Shortly after the Prophet's death, the leadership of the newly formed nation fell into dispute.
02:17Divisions amongst the people emerged, and a violent power struggle fractured the nation for over 30 years,
02:24which led to a lengthy civil war between Hussain's father, Ali ibn Abi Talib, and Muawiyah.
02:31Muawiyah, who was originally from a tribe or clan which had in the early years opposed the Prophet's message and Islam,
02:40took power, started off in his power base in Syria, in Damascus.
02:45Ali ibn Abi Talib was assassinated, and Muawiyah assumed full control.
02:52Choosing to avoid further conflict, Hussain's elder brother, Hasan, made a treaty with Muawiyah,
02:59which would prevent Muawiyah from passing on rule to his son, amongst other things.
03:05These clauses of the truce were basically violated, and the ultimate expression of that violation
03:11was the actual assassination of Hasan himself, around 10 years after that.
03:17Having violated the treaty, Muawiyah allowed his son Yazid to take over the power.
03:24Yazid was widely regarded as a tyrannical and cruel narcissist who wanted to rule with an iron fist.
03:32Yazid sought the allegiance of Hussain to cement his claim to power and gain credibility.
03:39One of the needs, one can say, of an oppressive regime is the need for legitimacy.
03:44And the important sources of that legitimacy has to come from prominent members of the society
03:51who are respected for their high morals to support them.
03:58Having witnessed years of injustice and the steady moral decay of his society,
04:05Hussain knew he had to draw a line with Yazid to prevent the total collapse of the nation
04:11to the hands of a despotic tyrant. Hussain refused to pledge allegiance to Yazid.
04:19In one sense he was very divisive, but usually when people fight for justice they are divisive.
04:26Usually it divides the community, those in favour of what is right and those who are not.
04:31And so in his very divisiveness he was really making a stand that separated the good from the bad,
04:38the just from the unjust.
04:40Fundamentally Hussain is not interested in the fight, he's not interested in taking to battle,
04:47but rather he's interested in making people aware of what's actually going on in the world,
04:53how things have changed since the demise of the Prophet.
04:57Not being able to get an endorsement from Hussain, Yazid threatened to assassinate Hussain.
05:05Wanting to avoid violence, Hussain left his home and travelled to the city of Mecca.
05:11Here Hussain sought to rally the people and delivered a passionate sermon,
05:16rebuking the community leaders who had failed to stand against Yazid, saying
05:22You have taken lightly your duties as leaders.
05:26You have neglected the rights of the oppressed and the lowly,
05:30but have assiduously pursued what you regard as your personal rights.
05:37His moral justice was quite a simple issue.
05:40It was that we must be willing to take a stand and even die for what is right,
05:45that there can be no compromise.
05:47And I think it's that refusal to compromise and he was made a number of offers by the people in power
05:54to compromise, to turn back, to try a different route.
05:58This refusal to compromise even in the face of great personal danger,
06:03that for me is the key to the morality, the ethics of his justice.
06:08Most leaders, they will remain in their comfort zones and send their people to go and do their work.
06:15They will call for justice, but they will not be on the ground or in the field to promote justice.
06:22Imam al-Hussain did not do that.
06:25Imam al-Hussain led from front.
06:30Hussain had received hundreds of letters from the residents in the city of Kufa, present-day Iraq,
06:36pledging their support in the struggle against Yazid.
06:40As the threat of violence increased, Hussain departed from Makkah, along with his family and loyal companions,
06:47and began the long journey towards Kufa.
06:51When Yazid became aware of Hussain's intention, he dispatched a brutal governor to quash the dissent,
06:59but Hussain persisted with his movement eastward.
07:04As Hussain got closer to Kufa, he was intercepted by a battalion of Yazid's army, led by a commander called Hur.
07:14Hussain, his family and companions were prevented from going any further,
07:19and were forced to stop in a dry desert land known as Karbala.
07:25Hur and his entourage of horses came.
07:29His horses and his soldiers were thirsty.
07:33Hussain offered them water.
07:36He did not say, these people are here to monitor me, and to make life difficult for me, and to block my way.
07:46He gave them water.
07:48Hussain's selfless act of kindness was to be met in turn with a cruel response by Yazid's army,
07:55who proceeded to surround Hussain's camp and cut off the water supply.
08:01Hussain, his family and small army of around 72 were left thirsty for three days in the blistering heat.
08:11Hussain said something which rings very true for the human condition.
08:15He said, human beings are slaves to the world.
08:20As long as our situation is fine, we have food, we have water, we have money, we have the basics,
08:28people will profess their beliefs, they will profess their religion on their tongues.
08:34But when people are tested, when people are tried, very few people remain who are sincere and devoted.
08:43On the eve of Ashura, Abba Abdullah guarded all his companions.
08:50And he asked for the candle to be switched off.
08:56So it was put off.
08:58And he said to his companions, I am the target, you are not the target.
09:04Why don't you go and no blame on you.
09:08Each and every one of them stood up and pledged their allegiance to Abba Abdullah, Hussain.
09:17As the sun dawned on what is known as the day of Ashura, Hussain and his brave army of 72 prepared to make their final stand of honour and dignity against an army of thousands.
09:34In a remarkable turn of events, Hur defected from Yazid's army, realising that he had made a terrible mistake and pledged to fight alongside Hussain.
09:46Unafraid and fuelled by belief in something greater, Hussain's companions fought relentlessly till their very end.
09:56Each of these members of his family went out one by one, often reciting extraordinary poetry and dying one by one in front of Al Hussain.
10:05And all of them, as they went out to fight, claiming the reason why they were doing this.
10:10That it wasn't just because they liked him, but because they believed in his cause.
10:15In the heat of battle, and despite witnessing the horrific killing of his close friends, Hussain would be heard praying for his enemies, hoping they'd cease partaking in this atrocity.
10:28One after the other, Hussain's closest family members were slain in battle as they fought heroically.
10:38With each member of his family killed in front of him, including his beloved sons, nephews and brother, Hussain would rush valiantly into the battlefield to aid them in their last moments.
10:52None were spared. Not even Hussain's six-month-old baby, Ali Asuka.
11:01Imam Al Hussain carried this young boy, placed him on his chest, and he walked to the battlefield.
11:09He looked at the camp of the enemies. He called out,
11:12Am I the target or this infant? Why don't you give him water?
11:17And this created a consternation in the opposing army.
11:22And when the leader, Omar Ibn Issaad, saw that, he called out for them to silence Hussain's argument, meaning to kill that child.
11:32So, one very evil soldier, whose name was Horimala, you know, took a three-pointed arrow and fired at the child and ripped the child's neck apart in the arms of the father.
11:46He was now completely alone. Everyone else was gone except for the woman in the tents, and they were being threatened.
11:56And I think that in the end, it was his utter exhaustion from fighting almost single-handedly that helped to hasten his end, and the fact that he was now surrounded by a superior number.
12:09And, up until the last breath he had, in the midst of all of this, he never lost hope.
12:16Some of the reports from the soldiers fighting against Hussain, when they saw him pass by in front of them, on his horse, fighting them, they said they never saw a person who had lost so much.
12:32You know, his dear ones killed in front of him, facing insurmountable odds, covered with blood, but at the same time being so peaceful and so glorious.
12:43Carrying his lifeless infant alone, Hussain returned to his camp to bid a final farewell to the women and children of his family.
12:53Unbroken and unafraid, Hussain charged valiantly for the final time towards the enemy, and fought majestically, till eventually he fell from his horse.
13:06They started attacking him left and right, arrows on his shoulders, arrows on his forehead, arrows on his back, until Abu Abdullah fell down.
13:16He was kicked left and right, and eventually Shimmer sat on his chest.
13:23Covered in bloody wounds, thirsty from the dry desert heat, and with no one left to help him, Hussain was mercilessly beheaded.
13:35After the killing of Hussain, those who'd been killed were beheaded, the tents of their women were burnt, the women were taken as prisoners.
14:02The texts tell us that the women and the children were transported in a very brutal manner to the various leaders of the time, first of all to Kufa and then to Damascus, where they were humiliated and interrogated.
14:15But, of course, it is the Lady Zainab, who cannot be separated from her brother, who keeps all of this alive and begins to retell the tale.
14:24And so, it's a terrible time and it's the beginning of something absolutely wonderful.
14:30Following the tragic killing of Hussain, his sister Zainab carried the flag of Hussain's mission and became the moral support for the women and children who had been taken captive.
14:42Famously, when asked how she perceived what had transpired, she replied eloquently,
14:49I saw nothing but beauty.
14:54She makes these two famous protests against the citizens of Kufa and then against Yazid.
15:00And she is famous that not only does she denounce his leadership and indict him as a person, but she also in those moments begins the story of Karbala and ensures at that moment that the story will never be forgotten and that the lessons of Karbala will never be forgotten.
15:20Zainab's fiery speech in the courtyards of Yazid sent shockwaves across the nation as word spread of how Hussain and his small army were martyred in Karbala.
15:33Realising his grave miscalculation, Yazid freed Hussain's family.
15:39Zainab, alongside Hussain's last remaining son, Ali Zainul Abedin, began to tell people of what happened in Karbala.
15:49This triggered a series of uprisings which eventually led to Yazid's rule being dismantled.
15:56For a number of people, the commemoration of Hussain is also about this quest for justice and goodness in the world.
16:04And so the recounting of the story of what happened is then connected with accounts of oppression, of tragedy and of brutality in the world that we have and a hope and desire for something better.
16:19The story of Hussain has been remembered through generations every year as a source of empowerment in the fight for moral justice.
16:28How Hussain and his army of 72 were victorious against a tyrannical enemy through sacrificing their lives.
16:371300 years later, millions of people from all backgrounds flocked to pay tribute to Hussain at his shrine in Iraq.
16:49Every time we stand up to fight and we are prepared to sacrifice everything for truth, we are like Hussain.
16:55The reason why people can aspire to be like Hussain is because he transcends religious borders and political borders.
17:03Justice is a human thing. All human beings, even non-religious human beings, are bound by justice.
17:08The revolution continues. We have to create now a Hussain society, which is a society of justice and a society of brave people who are not afraid of fighting for truth.
17:38Justice is a human being, and氏 is a human being, and the love is in escapees with a human being.
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