Imam Hussain (a.s.) must remain forever as the flag of Truth; the flag of Truth cannot be placed in the position of Falsehood and painted as such to present falsehood. That is why Imam Hussain (a.s.) stated: “Never to humiliation!” The movement by Imam Hussain (a.s.) was a movement of honor; that is, honor of Truth, honor of religion, honor of Imamate, and honor of the path the prophet (p.b.u.h.) had offered. Imam Hussain (a.s.) was a symbol of honor, and because he firmly withstood, he was also a symbol of dignity. This is the honor and dignity attributed to Imam Hussain. Some people might say something, but never stand for what they say and retreat; these people cannot take pride in what they say. Dignity belongs to those individuals, communities or nations who stand up for their principles and do not let the flag they had risen be damaged and put down by troubles. Imam Hussain (a.s.) firmly upheld this flag and stood until his loved ones were martyred and his dear household were held captives. Honor and dignity in the scale of a revolutionary movement are like that.
As I have mentioned before, many people visited Imam Hussain (as) and reproached him for his resistance. They were not bad or unimportant people; some of them were among the leading figures of Islam; but they misinterpreted [the situation] or were dominated by their worldly frailties. Thus, they sought to make Imam Hussain (a.s.) also dominated by those frailties. However, Imam Hussain (a.s.) resisted, was not dominated and all those who followed and accompanied him were winners in the spiritual and inner fight. The mother who sent her young child to this battlefield with pride and contentment; the young person who forsook the worldly pleasures of life and devoted himself to the battlefield of fighting; the elderly individuals like “Habib ibn Mazahir” and “Moslem ibn Usjeh” who forsook the comforts of their elderly ages and their comfortable house and tolerated difficulties; that brave commander who was an important person of the enemy’s army at first-- “Hurr ibn Yazid Riyahi”-- and abandoned his important position and joined Hussain ibn Ali (a.s.), they all won this spiritual, inner fight.
On that day, the people who won in the spiritual fight between virtues and vices and managed to make the army of reason triumph over the army of ignorance were not but a small group; nonetheless, their perseverance and endurance in resistance in that field of honor have caused thousands of people throughout history to learn a lesson and follow their example. If they did not triumph over their vices in their own self, the tree of virtue would have dried up in history; but they irrigated that tree, and you have seen many in your time that made their virtues win over their vices within their selves and made their worldly desires surmounted by correct religious and rational sentiments, insight and thinking.
March 29, 2002
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