STRAIGHTPATHMONTHLY December 2011
only ready to fight, but
to kill. Denied even water for the children, they
remained parched under the
burning sun and scorching sands, yet not one
faltered for a moment. Husain
marched with his little company, not to glory, not to
power of wealth, but to
a supreme sacrifice, and every member bravely
faced the greatest odds
without flinching."
Ignaz Goldziher (Hungarian orientalist): ".Weeping and
lamentation over
the evils and persecutions suffered by the 'Alid
family, and mourning for its
martyrs: these are things from which loyal
supporters of the cause cannot
cease. 'More touching than the tears of the Shi'is' has
even become an
Arabic proverb." (Introduction to Islamic Theology
and Law, Princeton, 1981, p.179)
Edward G. Brown (Professor at the University of
Cambridge): ".a reminder of
that blood-stained field of Karbala, where the
grandson of the Apostle of
God fell, at length, tortured by thirst, and surround
by the bodies of his
murdered kinsmen, has been at anytime since then,
sufficient to evoke, even
in the most lukewarm and the heedless, the deepest
emotion, the most
frantic grief, and an exaltation of spirit before which
pain, danger, and death
shrink to unconsidered trifles." (A Literary History
of Persia, London, 1919, p.227)
Sir William Muir (Scottish orientalist): "The tragedy of
Karbala decided not
only the fate of the Caliphate, but also of
Mohammadan kingdoms long after
the Caliphate had waned and disappeared." (Annals
of the Early Caliphate,
London, 1883, p.441-442)
"Though Imam Hussain gave his life years ago, but
his indestructible soul rules the hearts of people even
today."
Dr. Radha Krishnan
Mahatma Gandhi
"My faith is that the progress of Islam does not
depend on the use of sword by its believers, but the
result of the supreme sacrifice of Hussain (A.S.), the great
saint."
Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru
"Imam Hussain's (A.S.) sacrifice is for all groups
and communities, an example of the path of
rightousness."
Reynold Alleyne Nicholson
53
"Hussain (A.S.) fell, pierced by an arrow, and his
brave followers were cut down beside him to the last
man. Muhammadan tradition, which with rare
exceptions is uniformly hostile to the Umayyad dynasty,
regards Hussain (A.S.) as a martyr and Yazid as his
murderer."
[A Literary History of the Arabs, Cambridge, 1930, p197]
Rabindranath Tagore
"In order to keep alive justice and truth, instead of
an army or weapons, success can be achieved by
sacrificing lives, exactly what Imam Hussain (A.S.) did
Dr. Rajendra Prasad
"The sacrifice of Imam Hussain (A.S.) is not limited
to one country, or nation, but it is the hereditary state of
the brotherhood of all mankind."
Dr. Radha Krishnan
"Though Imam Hussain (A.S.) gave his life almost
1300 years ago, but his indestructible soul rules the
hearts of people even today."
Swami Shankaracharya
"It is Hussain's (A.S.) sacrifice that has kept Islam
alive or else in this world there would be no one left to
take Islam's name."
Mrs. Sarojini Naidu
"I congratulate Muslims that from among them,
Hussain (A.S.), a great human being ݅́