Our Responsibility and Mission:
You should know that we have a serious responsibility in this regard, especially in the present times. One cannot serve the people with a distorted version of the truth, neither was it possible in the past. It was unproductive also in the past, but its harm was lesser. Its harm is much greater in this era. Our greatest responsibility is to see what distortions have occurred in our history; to see what distortions have occurred in the presentation of our eminent figures and personalities, and what misinterpretations have occurred in the Qur'an. There has been no textual corruption in the Qur'an. It means that not a single word has been added to it nor a word has been deleted from it. However, the danger of distortion of the meanings of the Qur'an is as serious as any textual corruption. What is meant by distortion of meanings of the Qur'an? It means interpreting the Qur'an in a wrong and misleading manner. Such a thing should not be permitted to take place. We should see what kind of distortions have taken place in our history in historical episodes such as the historic event of 'Ashura, which must always remain a source of lesson and education for us, being a document of moral and social training and education. We should combat such distortions.
The Duty of the 'Ulama and the People:
What is the duty of the 'ulama' of the Ummah in this regard and the duty of the common people, the masses?
I want to make a general remark concerning the responsibility of the ulama'. The deviation of an 'alim lies in always confronting passively the weak points and shortcomings of the people. Spiritual, moral and social weak points are a kind of sickness. In bodily illness the sick person is usually conscious of his illness and he himself seeks his own treatment. But in spiritual illnesses that which makes things difficult is that the sick person does not know that he is sick. On the contrary he considers his illness a sign of health. He even has a liking for his illness. It is not the case that individuals are conscious of their weak points and accept them as such; rather they consider them as their strong points! It is the 'alim who understands the weak points of his community
When an 'alim is faced with a weak point of the community he has two alternatives before him:
1) He may struggle against these weak points, and such a person is called a reformer (muslih). A reformer is one who fights against the weak points of the people. The people usually do not like him.
2) He may consider it a difficult and formidable task to combat the weak points of the people. He may conclude that there is not only no reward to be obtained in fighting the people's weak points, but there are also disadvantages. Accordingly, he exploits their weakness. It is here that he becomes an instance of 'the vicious scholar' (faqih fajir) who according to the Noble Prophet (s) is one of the three hazards and pestilences of the faith.
I will not discuss other problems here but will confine myself to the issue of the event of 'Ashura. The common people have two weak points in relation to the mourning ceremonies held for Imam Husayn (a). One of them is that - to the extent I have come across in my own experience (and I have not yet encountered any exception) - usually those who arrange and organize the mourning gatherings (majalis), whether they are held in mosques or at homes, want the majalis to draw good attendance. They are satisfied if there is a substantial crowd and are unhappy if the attendance is sparse. This is a weak point. These sessions are not held to draw crowds. Our purpose is not to hold a parade or a march past. The purpose is to become acquainted with the truths and to fight against distortions. This ia a weak point which the speaker has to reckon with. Should he fight this weak point or should he exploit it like Taj Nayshaburi? Should he wish to combat this weak point it would not be compatible with the objectives of the organizers and holders of the majlis as well as with the wishes of the audience who like to get together and love tumult and fanfare. Should he want to exploit this weak point then all that may bother him is how to draw larger crowds. It is here that an 'alim stands at a crossroad: now that these people are fools and have such a weak point, should I exploit it, or should I struggle against it and go after the truth?
Another weak point present in the mourning gatherings - which is mostly from the people's side and has fortunately become lesser - is that profuse and loud weeping is regarded as the criterion of their success. After all the speaker on the minbar must relate the sorrowful accounts of the tragic events. While these accounts are related, the people are expected not merely to shed tears: the mere shedding of tears is not acceptable; the majlis must be rocked with cries of mourning. I do not say that the majlis should not be rocked with mourning; what I say is that this must not be the objective. If tears are shed as a result of listening to facts and the majlis is rocked with mourning by descriptions of real history without false and fabricated narratives, without distortion, without conjuring companions for Imam Husayn that did not exist in history and who are unknown to Imam Husayn himself (as they were nonexistent), without attributing such children to Imam Husayn as did not exist, without carving out enemies for Imam Husayn that basically had not existed - that is very good indeed. But when reality and truth are absent, should we go on making war against Imam Husayn by fabricating falsehoods and lies?
This is a weak point of the common people. What is to be done? Should it be exploited? Should we exploit it for our interests and take them for a ride? Should we, like Taj Nayshaburi, say that as the people are stupid, we should make use of their stupidity? No! Our greatest responsibility and the 'ulama's biggest duty is to struggle against the weak points of society. That is why that the Noble Prophet (s) said: -
When heresies and fabrications appear in my Ummah, the 'alim must declare what he knows, otherwise he will be cursed by God. 6
That is: when falsehoods and fabrications appear and when things become popular which are not part of the religion, things which the Prophet (s) has not prescribed, it is the duty of the learned to declare the truth even if the people do not like it. And may curse of God be upon him who hides the facts. The Noble Qur'an itself has declared in stronger terms:
Those who conceal what We have revealed of the clear signs and guidance, after We have made them clear for the people in the Book, God shall curse them and they will be cursed by all the cursers. (2:159)
It means, the learned who conceal the truths declared by Us, who know the facts but conceal them and refrain from expressing them, may the curse of God be upon them and the curse of everyone who curses. The duty of the 'ulama during the era of the last prophesy is to struggle against tahrif. Fortunately the means for such a task are also available and there are, and have been, persons among the 'ulama who combat such weak points. The book Lu' lu' wa marjan was written on this very topic of the event of 'Ashura and I have mentioned it earlier. It is by the marhum Hajji Nuri (may God be pleased with him) and its purpose is precisely to carry out a campaign in this regard, a most sacred duty which has been fulfilled by that great man, whose work is an instance of the first part of the above-mentioned hadith:
When heresies and fabrications appear in my Ummah, the 'alim must declare what he knows ...
It is the duty of the 'ulama to state in clear terms the facts relating to this case to the people even if they do not like it. It is the duty of the 'ulama to combat falsehoods. It is the duty of the 'ulama to expose the liars. The jurists (fuqaha) have made certain remarks concerning the issue of back-biting (ghibah). They say that there are certain exceptions where back-biting is permissible. Among cases relating to these exceptions is one where all the major 'u/ama have committed this kind of ghibah, considering it necessary and even obligatory. This is the case of jarh, where the standing of a narrator (rawi) is critically examined. Suppose a person narrates a tradition from the Prophet (s) or from one of the Imams (a). Is one to accept his statements immediately? No. One must investigate his background to see what kind of man he was, whether a truthful person or a liar. If you discover a weak point in the life of this person, a shortcoming, a defect, an instance of lying or misconduct, it is not only lawful for you but even obligatory (wajib) to discredit this person in your books. This is called jarh. Although it is ghibah and it amounts to casting disrepute on someone - which is in general not a lawful thing to do whether the subject is dead or alive - but in this case where the matter is that of distortion of the truth and its tahrif, one must discredit him and the liar must be exposed and discredited.
Someone may be a great scholar in a certain field, such as Mulla Husayn Kashifi, who was a very learned religious scholar. But his Rawdat al-shuhada is replete with lies. No one has been spared of his lies. Even Ibn Ziyad aud 'Umar ibn Sa'd are victims of his lies. He has written that Ibn Ziyad gave fifty camel-loads (kharwar) of gold to 'Umar ibn Sa'd so as to make him go to Karbala' to do what he did. (Anyone who hears such a story might think that if such is the case one cannot put much blame on 'Umar ibn Sa'd. There are many who would do such. a thing if given fifty camel-loads of gold.)
There is a general agreement about Mulla Darbandi that he was a good man. Even marhum Hajji Nuri, who criticizes his book, and with justification, says that he was a good man. This man was sincerely devoted to Imam Husayn (a) and it is said that whenever he heard Imam Husayn's name mentioned tears would come into eyes. He was also quite well-versed in fiqh and usul al-fiqh. He imagined himself to be a jurist (faqih) of the first rank. However; that was not the case. He was a jurist of second or at least third rank. He wrote a book named Khaza'in (lit. 'treasures') which is a complete course in fiqh and has been published. He was a contemporary of the author of the Jawahir (lit. 'jewels'). He asked the author of the Jawahir as to what title he had given to his book. He said, 'Jawahir.' As the title of his own book was Khaza'in, he said, "There are many of such jawahir in our khaza'in." However, the Jawahir has been reprinted ten times and there is no jurist who does not use it or can do without it. The Khaza'in was printed only once and thereafter no one went after it. Although it has a thousand pages, it is not worth more than the paper used to print it. This man, in spite of being a scholar, wrote the Asrar al-shahadah in which he has totally distorted the event of Karbala, altering it and twisting it out of shape, making it ineffective and inconsequent. His book is full of lies. Now should we keep our silence about him because he was a scholar, a pious man and devoted to Imam Husayn? Should not Hajji Nuri give his opinion abut his Asrar al-shahadah? Of course, he must be subjected to jarh and this is the duty of an 'alim.
We beseech God, the Blessed and the Exalted, to lead our hearts towards the truth, to forgive us the sins which we have committed through tahrif and otherwise, to grant us the ability to carry out successfully the duty and mission that we have in this field.
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1 Al-Tabrisi, al-Ihtijaj, vol.2, p.457.
2 Al-Majlisi, Bihar al-anwar, vol. 7, p. 225; al-Jami' al-saghir, vol. 1, p. 3.
3 AI-Jami' al-saghir, vol. 1, p. 4.
4 Bihar al-anwar, vol. 45, p. 61; A'lam al-wara, p. 246; ash-Shaykh al-Mufid, al-Irshad, p. 242.
5 In the late Ayati (r), may God have mercy upon him, we have lost an invaluable asset. Five or six years ago this great man gave a lecture on the method of tabligh in one of the monthly sessions of a religious association. It was published in the second volume of Guftar-e mah. There he raised this very issue. He said, "What is this absurd notion that we attribute sickness to Imam Zayn al-Abidin? We have given such an appellation to the Imam that anyone who hears it imagines that the Imam was sick all his life." Then he related an episode that had occurred recently He said, "Some time ago I read an article in one of the periodicals where the author had complained about the plight of the government and government employees, stating that most of the government servants and officials were either incompetent or corrupt. They were either competent and corrupt, or honest and incompetent." He had cited verbatim the words of the author; who had written, "Most of the government officials are either of the type of Shimr or that of Imam Zayn al-'Abidin-e Bimar; whereas we need persons who are competent like Hadrat Abbas." He meant that Shimr was corrupt and competent, whereas Imam Zayn al-'Abidin-e Bimar was pious but - na'udhubillah - incompetent, and that Hadrat Abbas was both pious and competent. See how an apparently small distortion leads to such a great deviation.
6 Safinat al-bihar, vol. 1, p. 63; Usul al-Kafi, vol. 1, p. 54.
