The Shia Killed Ali (‫ضى ال عنه‬

ّ ‫)ر‬, Hussain (‫ضى ال عنه‬

ّ ‫)ر‬, and Hussain’s
Grandson (‫ضى ال عنه‬ ّ ‫)ر‬

Introduction

The Shia comemmorate the Day of Ashura with great fanfare. What is strange is that
although they spend so much energy and passion in taking out parades of people who do
Matam, few Shia actually spend time to investigate what is the origin of the Shia rituals
of Matam. A simple investigation in the origins of this ritual will shock the Shia.

Christmas

It seems that there is an underlying theme in humans: they will follow the way of their
forefathers without taking even a few minutes to question these beliefs and practises. Just
like the Shia do not take the time and energy to investigate the rituals of Matam, the
Christians likewise celebrate Christmas with little investigation into the origins of this
religious holiday.

For the Christians, the most important day of the year is Christmas in which supposedly
they celebrate the birth of Jesus. Worldwide, hundreds of thousands of people celebrate
this religious holiday. The irony of Christmas is that its origins are actually pagan, and
completely antithetical to Jesus who deplored pagan practises.

Jesus was not born in the winter, and therefore, it is odd that Christians celebrate Jesus’s
birthday on December 25th. December was actually the time in which the pagans used to
celebrate the winter solstice. A solstice is either of the two times of the year when the sun
is at its greatest distance from the equator. It was a time of great importance for the
pagans, who attributed special powers to the sun. During the solstice, the pagans would
hold various celebrations, including Saturnalia, Yule, and the festival of Sol Invictus (the
“unconquered sun”).

The pagan populations of Europe did not want to abandon these celebrations; therefore,
the Christian Church decided to adopt these holidays instead of alienating these potential
converts. Saturnalia, which took place December 17-23, was modified and became the
“twelve days of Christmas.” Yule, which took place on December 25th, became
Christmas. In fact, “Yule” and “Yuletide” are the archaic terms for Christmas, and this is
the meaning of “Yule” in both the full Oxford English Dictionary and the Concise Oxford
Dictionary. In many foreign languages, people still use the word “Yule” as opposed to
Christmas. Another important pagan holiday held on December 25th was the festival of
Sol Invictus.

The underlying point is that the Christian Church decided to adopt various pagan
holidays which all were celebrated around the time of the winter solstice. And in fact,
these pagan holidays revolved around festivities that involved sexual lewdness, drunken
orgies, and gambling. This is the pagan and irreligious origin of Christmas.
Today, “good” Christians celebrate Christmas. But in ancient times, good Christians
deemed it as a reversion to paganism and condemned Christmas as heresy. In fact,
Origen–considered to be one of the early fathers of the Christian Church–condemned
celebrating the birthday of Jesus as a pagan concept. Christmas was in fact officially
banned by the church in 1647. Although this ban was later over-turned, various times in
history would religious Christians remind their bretheren that the holiday was of pagan–
and not Christian–origins. The Puritans of New England outlawed Christmas, and this
ban remained in effect from 1659-1681.

The ritual of decorating one’s house with a Christmas tree is also from pagan origins. The
pagan Romans would do this to celebrate the holiday of Saturnalia, again in honor of the
pagan god Saturn. Cutting down trees and decorating them is actually forbidden as pagan
in the Bible (Jeremiah, 10:2-4). Other Christmas rituals such as mistle-toe, logs, etc are
also from pagan origins.

Wikipedia Encyclopedia says

“ There was some dispute about the proper date of the birth of Christ and not everyone
agrees even to this day. It was not until A.D. 350, that December 25 was declared the
official date for celebrating Christmas by Pope Julius I. When the fathers of the church
decided to settle upon a date to celebrate the event, they wisely chose the day of the
winter solstice, since it coincided with some rival religions’ celebrations and the rebirth
of the sun (see Year of the Sun Calendar), symbolized by bon-fires and yule logs.
December 25 was a festival long before the conversion of the Germanic peoples to
Christianity, it seemed fitting that the time of their winter festival would also be the time
to celebrate the birth of Christ…

The popularity of Christmas can be better understood if it is viewed as a form of winter

celebration. Agricultural societies typically hold their most important festival in winter
since there is less need of farm work at this time.

The Romans had a winter celebration known as Saturnalia. This festival was originally
held on December 17 and honored Saturn, a god of agriculture. It recalled the “golden
age” when Saturn ruled. In imperial times, Saturnalia was extended to seven days
(December 17-23). Combined with festivals both before and after, the result was an
extended winter holiday season. Business was postponed and even slaves feasted. There
was drinking, gambling and singing naked. It was the “best of days,” according to the
poet Catullus.[7] With the coming of Christianity, Italy’s Saturnalian traditions were
attached to Advent (the forty days before Christmas). Around the 12th century, these
traditions transferred again to the “twelve days of Christmas” (i.e. Christmas to
Epiphany).[6]

Northern Europe was the last part to Christianize, and its pagan celebrations had a major
influence on Christmas. Scandinavians still call Christmas Jul (Yule), originally the name
of a twelve-day pre-Christian winter festival. Logs were lit to honor Thor, the god of
thunder, hence the “Yule log.” In Germany, the equivalent holiday is called
Mitwinternacht (mid-winter night). There are also twelve Rauhnächte (harsh or wild
nights).[8]

…In 274, Emperor Aurelian designated December 25 as the festival of Sol Invictus (the
“unconquered sun”). Aurelian may have chosen this date because the solstice was
considered the birthday of Mithras, a syncretic god of Persian origin. Mithras is often
identified with Sol Invictus, although Sol was originally a separate Syrian god…

In 245, the theologian Origen denounced the idea of celebrating the birthday of Jesus “as
if he were a king pharaoh.” Only sinners, not saints, celebrate their birthdays, Origen
contended…

During the Reformation, Protestants condemned Christmas celebration as “trappings of

popery” and the “rags of the Beast”. The Catholic Church responded by promoting the
festival in a more religiously oriented form. When a Puritan parliament triumphed over
the King Charles I of England (1644), Christmas was officially banned (1647)…

Various writers of the time condemn caroling as lewd, the dancing may have got out of
hand now and then (harking back to the traditions of Saturnalia and Yule).[6] “Misrule”
— drunkenness, promiscuity, gambling — was an important aspect of the festival. In
England, gifts were exchanged on New Year’s Day, and there was special Christmas ale.
[6]

[6] Murray, Alexander, “Medieval Christmas”, History Today, December 1986, 36 (12),
pp. 31 - 39.

[8] Reichmann, Ruth, “Christmas”.

source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas ”
The Shia Rituals of Ashura

It is strange that so many millions of Christians can be really so ignorant that they
celebrate something in the name of Jesus even though Jesus himself would condemn it as
pagan. If these Christians would simply reflect on history, they would find out how their
whole religion is based on the antithesis of the very man they claim to follow.

This irony of Christmas is paralled by the irony of Ashura, the Shia holiday. Firstly, the
Shia do not realize that it was the Shia themselves who were responsible for the death of
Hussain (‫ضى ال عنه‬ّ ‫)ر‬. Furthermore, the Shia of today don’t realize that the rituals that
they do during Ashura were invented by the very people who were responsible for the
murder of Hussain (‫ضى ال عنه‬ ّ ‫)ر‬. Ashura is probably the most important day of the year
for the Shia, much like Christmas is for the Christian. If the Shia minions actually
stopped to reflect on the origins of this Shia “holiday”, they would realize the baseness of
their entire religion which is based on the very antithesis of the very group (i.e. Ahlel
Bayt) that they claim to follow.

The Story of Karbala

During his Caliphate, Ali (‫ضى ال عنه‬ ّ ‫ )ر‬shifted the Caliphate from Medinah to Kufa in
Iraq. The Kuffans were staunch Partisans of Ali (Shia’t Ali). The Jew Abdullah Ibn Saba
found the Kuffans to be very receptive to his claims that Ali was divinely appointed by
Allah, and his followers became the Saba’ites. When the Shia’t Ali met the Shia’t
Muawiyyah on the battlefield, Muawiyyah (‫ضى ال عنه‬ ّ ‫ )ر‬convinced Ali (‫ضى ال عنه‬
ّ ‫ )ر‬to
hold a cease-fire and to use arbitration to decide who will be the Caliph. Ali (‫ضى ال عنه‬ّ ‫)ر‬
agreed to arbitration. This angered the Kuffan Saba’ites because they held the erroneous
belief that Ali had been divinely appointed by Allah, so they believed that Ali (‫ضى ال‬ ّ ‫ر‬
‫ )عنه‬was going against the will of Allah by agreeing to arbitration. In their minds, there
could be no negotiation on a matter that was decreed by Allah. Some of these Kuffan
Saba’ites rebelled against Ali (‫ضى ال عنه‬ّ ‫)ر‬, turning on him and calling him an apostate.
These people would be known as Kharajites, and they would eventually assasinate their
leader Ali (‫ضى ال عنه‬ّ ‫)ر‬, the same leader they had once claimed so much love for.

As for the remaining Kuffan Shias who did not become Kharajites, they would later join
the forces of Hasan (‫ضى ال عنه‬ّ ‫)ر‬. However, Hasan (‫ضى ال عنه‬ ّ ‫ )ر‬did not trust these Shia
as they were very disloyal. In his book al-Ihtijâj, the prominent Shia author Abu Mansur
at-Tabarsi has preserved the following remark of Hasan (‫ضى ال عنه‬ ّ ‫)ر‬:

“By Allah, I think Muawiyyah would be better for me than these people who claim that
they are my Shia.” [Abû Mansûr at-Tabarsî, al-Ihtijâj vol. 2 p. 290-291 , Mu’assasat al-
A‘lamî, Beirut 1989]

Distrusting his Shia, Hasan (‫ضى ال عنه‬ّ ‫ )ر‬made peace with Muawiyyah (‫ضى ال عنه‬ ّ ‫ )ر‬and
gave him the Caliphate, so long as Muawiyyah (‫ضى ال عنه‬ ّ ‫ )ر‬promised that Hussain (‫ضى‬ّ ‫ر‬
‫ )ال عنه‬would be made Caliph after Muawiyyah’s death (‫ضى ال عنه‬ ّ ‫)ر‬. Hussain’s Shia
protested at this, and Hasan (‫ضى ال عنه‬ّ ‫’)ر‬s reply is preserved in the most important of the
Shia books of Hadith, Al-Kafi:

“By Allah, I handed over power to him for no reason other than the fact that I could not
find any supporters. Had I found supporters I would have fought him day and night until
Allah decides between us. But I know the people of Kufa. I have experience of them. The
bad ones of them are no good to me. They have no loyalty, nor any integrity in word or
deed. They are in disagreement. They claim that their hearts are with us, but their swords
are drawn against us.” [Al-Kafi, vol. 8 p. 288]

After this reconciliation took place between Hasan (‫ضى ال عنه‬ ّ ‫ )ر‬and Muawiyyah (‫ضى ال‬ ّ ‫ر‬
‫)عنه‬, the Shia’t Ali remained in Kufa. After the death of Ali (‫ضى ال عنه‬
ّ ‫)ر‬, the ranks of the
Saba’ites and their sympathizers amongst the Shia’t Ali increased.

When Muawiyyah (‫ضى ال عنه‬ ّ ‫ )ر‬died, however, his son Yezid declared himself the new
Caliph, in violation of the agreement settled with Hasan (‫ضى ال عنه‬
ّ ‫ )ر‬which stated that
Hussain (‫ضى ال عنه‬
ّ ‫ )ر‬would be Caliph. This angered the Shias of Kufa. So it was that in
Ramadan 60 A.H. that the Kuffans sent letter after letter from Kufa to Mecca where
Hussain (‫ضى ال عنه‬
ّ ‫ )ر‬was staying after his flight from Medinah. The Kuffans assured
Hussain (‫ضى ال عنه‬
ّ ‫ )ر‬of their loyalty and allegiance to him; they had not accepted Yezid
as leader whom they resented. On certain days, there would be as many as 600 letters
accompanied by messengers describing the overwhelming support of Hussain (‫ضى ال‬ ّ ‫ر‬
‫ )عنه‬in Kufa.

Hussain (‫ضى ال عنه‬ ّ ‫ )ر‬decided to send his cousin Muslim Ibn Aqil (‫ضى ال عنه‬ ّ ‫ )ر‬to
investigate the situation in Kufa. Ibn Aqil (‫ضى ال عنه‬ ّ ‫ )ر‬arrived in Dhul Qada where he
stayed with Ibn Awsajah al-Asadi. The Kuffans met Ibn Aqil (‫ضى ال عنه‬ ّ ‫ )ر‬and pledged
the support of 12,000 Shia’t Ali of Kufa. They promised to fight with and to protect
Hussain (‫ضى ال عنه‬ ّ ‫ )ر‬with their lives and all they possessed. When the number who
pledged support rose to 18,000 Kufans, Ibn Aqil (‫ضى ال عنه‬ ّ ‫ )ر‬felt confident enough to
dispatch a messenger to Hussain (‫ضى ال عنه‬ ّ ‫ )ر‬informing him of the bayat (oath of
allegiance) of the Kuffans, and urged him to proceed from Mecca and relocate his base to
Kufa. So Hussain (‫ضى ال عنه‬ ّ ‫ )ر‬and his near ones began the trek to Kufa.

Rumors of what was happening in Kufa soon reached Yezid in Damascus. He dispatched
Ubaydullah ibn Ziyad with 17 men to find Muslim Ibn Aqil (‫ضى ال عنه‬ ّ ‫ )ر‬and kill him.
When Ubaydullah arrived in Kufa, Muslim Ibn Aqil (‫ضى ال عنه‬ ّ ‫ )ر‬called the Kuffans to
defend him. It was at this moment of need that the Shia of Kufa deserted Ibn Aqil (‫ضى‬ ّ ‫ر‬
‫)ال عنه‬, fearful of Ubaydullah’s threats. Muslim Ibn Aqil (‫ضى ال عنه‬ ّ ‫ )ر‬hid from
Ubaydullah in the house of an old woman. The old woman’s son, a part of the Shia’t Ali,
notified Ubaydullah of Ibn Aqil (‫ضى ال عنه‬ ّ ‫’)ر‬s location, hopeful that this act would
prevent Yezid from punishing Kufa. Based on this act of treachory, the Shia’t Ali left
Muslim Ibn Aqil (‫ضى ال عنه‬ ّ ‫ )ر‬to be captured by Ubaydullah.

Later that day–the Day of Arafah, the 9th of Dhul Hijjah–Muslim ibn Aqil (‫ضى ال عنه‬ ّ ‫)ر‬
was taken up to the highest ramparts of the fort. His last words before being executed
were:

“O Allah, You be the Judge between us and our people; they deceived us and deserted
us.”

The Shia of Kufa witnessed his execution, and not a single one of them went to the aid of
Hussain’s cousin. It is important to remember that only 17 men were with Ubaydullah,
whereas there were 18,000 Shia of Kufa who had pledged Bayat to Hussain (‫ضى ال عنه‬ ّ ‫)ر‬
in front of Muslim Ibn Aqil (‫ضى ال عنه‬ ّ ‫)ر‬. How could it be that 18,000 men could not stop
17 men from slaughtering the very man they had just pledged support to? Such was the
treachory of the Shia of Kufa.

Meanwhile, Hussain (‫ضى ال عنه‬ ّ ‫ )ر‬had dispatched a mesenger by the name of Qais ibn
Mushir to inform the Kuffans of Hussain (‫ضى ال عنه‬ ّ ‫’)ر‬s arrival. The messenger was
captured by Ubaydullah, who ordered him to mount the walls of the fort and publically
curse Hussain (‫ضى ال عنه‬
ّ ‫ )ر‬and his father. Instead, Qais ibn Mushir praised Ali (‫ضى ال‬
ّ ‫ر‬
‫ )عنه‬and Hussain (‫ضى ال عنه‬
ّ ‫)ر‬, telling the Shia of Kufa that Hussain (‫ضى ال عنه‬
ّ ‫ )ر‬was on
his way, and he exhorted them to defend him. Upon that, Qais ibn Mushir was executed.
Yet another representative of Hussain (‫ضى ال عنه‬
ّ ‫ )ر‬had been killed by 18 men who met
no ressistance from the 18,000 Shia of Kufa. A ratio of 1,000 Kufans to each of Yezid’s
men.

Yezid thereupon dispatched 4,000 soldiers to intercept Hussain (‫ضى ال عنه‬ ّ ‫)ر‬. These 4,000
soldiers were actually on their way to fight the Daylamites, but Yezid re-routed them to
Karbala. These 4,000 soldiers passed through Kufa. The Kuffans witnessed the departure
of this force from Kufa with their own eyes, full well knowing they were headed to
Karbala to intercept Hussain (‫ضى ال عنه‬ ّ ‫)ر‬. This would be the Kuffans’ last chance to
honor the oaths of allegiance to Hussain (‫ضى ال عنه‬ ّ ‫ )ر‬which they had taken upon the
hands of his cousin Muslim ibn Aqil (‫ضى ال عنه‬ ّ ‫)ر‬. This was the final opportunity to rush
to the side of the grandson of the Prophet and protect the Ahlel Bayt. It was after all the
invitations and assurances of support from the Shia of Kufa that encouraged Hussain (
‫ضى ال عنه‬ّ ‫ )ر‬to abandon the safety of Mecca for Kufa. But once again faithfulness,
courage and commitment was found lacking in the Shia of Kufa. Only a handful emerged
to join Hussain (‫ضى ال عنه‬ّ ‫ )ر‬at Karbala. Hussain (‫ضى ال عنه‬
ّ ‫ )ر‬would comment:

“Our Shia have deserted us.”

The Shia of Kufa outnumbered Yezid’s men 18,000 to 4,000. Actually, the number was
greater than 18,000; 18,000 was simply the number of men who had pledged Bayat (oath
of allegiance) to protect Hussain (‫ضى ال عنه‬
ّ ‫)ر‬. Had they wanted to, the Shia of Kufa
could have defeated Yezid’s men and protected Hussain (‫ضى ال عنه‬ ّ ‫)ر‬. But instead, they
did nothing but watch from afar with cowardice. The Shia of today will eulogize this day
and talk about how 71 men fought against 4,000 of Yezid’s troops. Where did the other
18,000 go?

Al-Tawwabun (The Penitents)

Four years after the massacre of Karbala, the Shia of Kufa attempted to make ammends
for their desertion of Hussain (‫ضى ال عنه‬ ّ ‫)ر‬. They called themselves the Al-Tawwabun,
which translates to “the Penitents.” This group went to Karbala to comemmorate Hussain
(‫ضى ال عنه‬ّ ‫)ر‬, and here it was that they began Matam, with loud mourning, lamenting, and
self-flagellation. These Tawwabun hit themselves to punish themselves for the cowardice
that they had shown that led to their Imam’s death just four years earlier. This is the
origin of the Shia ritual of Matam. It is altogether amusing how the Shia never really
wonder where this barbaric custom started from or why it started in the first place. Little
do they know that it is a testament to this day of how they killed their own Imam, and
how their whole religion is centered around a false commitment to the Ahlel Bayt.

One More Act of Shia Treachoury

Karbala was not to be the last act of treason by the Shia against the Ahlel Bayt. Sixty year
later, the grandson of Hussain (‫ضى ال عنه‬ّ ‫)ر‬, namely Zayd ibn Ali ibn Hussain (‫ضى ال‬ ّ ‫ر‬
‫)عنه‬, led an uprising against the Umayyad ruler Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik. Zayd (‫ضى ال‬ ّ ‫ر‬
‫ )عنه‬recieved the Bayat (oath of allegiance) of over 40,000 men, of which 15,000 were
from the same Kufa that deserted his grandfather. Just before the battle started, all but a
few hundred men deserted Zayd (‫ضى ال عنه‬ ّ ‫ )ر‬en masse. On the departure of the
defectors, Zayd (‫ضى ال عنه‬
ّ ‫ )ر‬remarked:

“I am afraid they have done unto me as they did to Hussain (‫ضى ال عنه‬
ّ ‫)ر‬.”

Zayd (‫ضى ال عنه‬ّ ‫ )ر‬and his little army fought bravely and attained martyrdom. Thus, on
Wednesday the 1st of Safar 122 AH, another member of the Ahlel Bayt fell victim to the
treachery of the Shia of Kufa.

Conclusion

To this day, the Shia still commemorate Ashura by doing Matam (self-flagellation). This
ritual was passed down the generations by the Al-Tawwabun (the Penitents) showing us
that the Shia of today originate from the same Shia of Kufa who betrayed Hussain (‫ضى‬ ّ ‫ر‬
‫)ال عنه‬. The very reason that the Shia beat themselves is to punish themselves for this
betrayal of the Ahlel Bayt.

The Shia betrayed Ali (‫ضى ال عنه‬ ّ ‫)ر‬, Hasan (‫ضى ال عنه‬ّ ‫)ر‬, Hussain (‫ضى ال عنه‬ّ ‫)ر‬, and Zayd
ibn Ali ibn Hussain (‫ضى ال عنه‬ ّ ‫)ر‬. The irony is not lost that the Shia claim to be lovers of
the Ahlel Bayt and yet historically they have betrayed them and lead to the deaths of Ali (
‫ضى ال عنه‬ّ ‫)ر‬, Hussain (‫ضى ال عنه‬ّ ‫)ر‬, and Hussain’s grandson (‫ضى ال عنه‬ ّ ‫)ر‬.

A Shia Killed Sayyiduna Hussain

The fact that the Shia of Kufa are the ones who abandoned Sayyiduna Hussain has
already been discussed earlier. What the Shia propagandists will reply to this is that
“sure, the Shia are the ones who didn’t defend Sayyiduna Hussain but it was the Sunnis
who actually killed him!”

However, this is not true at all. The man who killed Sayyiduna Hussain (i.e. gave the
death-blow) was a man by the name of Shimr bin Thil-Jawshan and he was a Shia, as
recorded in both Sunni and Shia books. Shimr was part of the Shia, and then he betrayed
Sayyiduna Hussain and joined Yazid’s men, giving Sayyiduna Hussain the death-blow.

To provide a solid proof of this fact (i.e. that Shimr was a Shia), we refer to the esteemed
and classical Shia scholar, Al-Qummi. Al-Qummi, author of the famous book
“Mafaatihul-Jinaan”, writes in his book: “I say, Shimr was in the forces of Ameer al-
Mu’mineen on the Day of Siffin.” (Al-Qummi, “Safinatun-Najaat”, vol.4, p. 492,
Chapter Sheen Followed by Meem)