Karbala Iraq, 1932

The Passion of Imam Husayn

A Passion Play by Ustadh Ali Ataie

Play Excerpt and Interview

Ustadh Ali Ataie in the center of the photo with students from Zaytuna College taking part in a dress reading of the Passion Play of Imam Hussayn at the Zaytuna College library

On the 9th night of Muharram (November 2nd) Ummah Wide was invited to a reading of Ustadh Ali Ataie’s passion play, The Passion Narrative of Imam Husayn b. Ali: A Rendering of the Dialogical Aspect of Ta’ziyyah in Sunni Imagination at Zaytuna College in Berkeley, California. Performed as a dress reading by students from Zaytuna, the play was a powerful call to intra-Muslim understanding and remembrance of Imam Husayn and the events that took place leading to his martyrdom in 61 AH/ 680 CE. As Ustadh Ali Ataie says in his introduction to the play,

“The oft-repeated statement “Every day is ‘Aashurah and every land is Karbala” captures succinctly the metamorphic and cosmic significance of Imam Husayn’s (al-Mazlum) stand against corruption and tyranny.”

The reading of the play and the scholarship behind it from Ustadh Ali Ataie are yet more reason’s to celebrate the continuing development of Zaytuna College, which is truly living into its call to be the first of its kind, as an Islamic liberal arts college bridging Islamic and western traditions.

Read on for an excerpt of the play followed by a short interview with Ustadh Ali Ataie.

The Passion Narrative of Imam Husayn b. Ali: A Rendering of the Dialogical Aspect of Ta’ziyyah in Sunni Imagination by Ali Ataie (An Excerpt)

(Footnotes appear at the end of the excerpt)

Shah ast Husayn, badshah ast Husayn Din ast Husayn, din panah ast Husayn, Sar daad na daad dast dar daste Yazid, Haqqa ke binaae la ilaaha ast Husayn

Husayn is King, Husayn is Emperor Husayn is true religion, Husayn is the hope of religion He gave his head and not his hand into the hand of Yazid Husayn is the reality of which negation of deities is built upon. (1)

—Muinuddin Chishti (d. 1230 CE/625 h)

Foreword:

The oft-repeated statement “Every day is ‘Aashurah and every land is Karbala” captures succinctly the metamorphic and cosmic significance of Imam Husayn’s (al-Mazlum) stand against corruption and tyranny. His struggle is seen as transcendent and transhistorical; a reminder for the human consciousness that unless one is willing to suffer and die for the sake of his/her principles or beliefs, one has not really lived. Many in the Shi’a community understand the ta’ziyyah to function in exactly such a way, yet theological and/or jurisprudential concerns have severely limited Sunni experience of the passion narrative of the Ahl al-Bayt.

This rendering of the dialogical aspect of the ta’ziyyah serves as an exploration into Sunni imagination; it is a fictional dialogue which employs scripture and sound narrations to communicate the undeniable and indispensable truth that a sincere heart annihilated in God’s love will transform other hearts and as a result, transform the world.

Setting: The desert of Karbala, ‘Iraq; 9 Muharram 680 CE/61 hijri.

Husayn: O Most Merciful of those who show mercy (2), I have left my city for Your sake; simply because Your noble Apostle ﷺ, peace and blessings of God be upon him and his family, once uttered,

“The greatest struggle (jihad) is a word of truth in the face of a tyrant.” (3)

I know not what will become of me, but have placed my trust in You, and only You. If torture and death await me; if I must endure to witness the murder of my sons, the sons of my brother, or my loyal companions; if I must go to You knowing that the women of my house will be led into slavery and defilement, I can only reply as my grandfather, peace and blessings of God be upon him and his family, did on the difficult day of Ta’if, “as long as You are not angry with me, I care not (fa laa obaali). I only seek Your Blessed Countenance (wajh) and good Pleasure (ridwaan)” (4).

(Several tears emerge from the eyes of the blessed Imam and fall upon his thick beard as he turns slightly away from his sister in order to veil his grief. Nonetheless, Lady Zaynab notices the state of Husayn)

Zaynab: O son of God’s Apostle! (Ya ibna Rasulillah!) I have always known you to be quite formidable in the face of danger and tribulation. What makes you now waver? If it is the Will of the Knower of all that we are slain in this land; if the scratching of the Pen (qalam) heard by our grandfather upon the Preserved Tablet (lawh mahfudh) (5) reads “Husayn and his beloved ones are slain in Karbala,” why do you now weep? The pens have now been lifted and the scrolls have dried (6).

Husayn: O my dear sister! It is not our lot which causes my eyes to flow with tears; God, the Transcendent and Exalted, says in His Book, “Do not say about those who are slain for the sake of God, ‘They are dead.’ Nay! They are alive, but you do not perceive” (7). And in another verse … “They are with their Lord receiving substance” (8). I swear by God that the musk of Firdaws (9) fills my lungs with longing for the Beatific Vision (Ru’ya) of my Lord! We are submitted to His Will and bask in His obedience.

(The blessed Imam points his right hand towards the army of Yazid)

Husayn: But do you see these men? Do you realize who they are? These are men who claim to be upon the religion of our grandfather; men who worship the Lord of Muhammad five times in a day and night, and in their witnessing send blessings of peace upon God’s Apostle and the people of his house (10). Yet these same men, these demonically deceived men, have resolved upon the slaying of the family of God’s Apostle. Woe unto them! Alas for the wombs that bore them! O Zaynab! I weep for them; our enemies who face eternal chastisement yet claim to love the Apostle of God (11).

(The sun sets signaling the beginning of the Day of ‘Aashurah and the Imam watches the army of Yazid pray Maghrib in groups from a short distance away. The faint cries of thirsty children including an infant son and beloved of Husayn, ‘Ali Asghar, can he heard coming from the tents of the women who also tend to the ill and distraught ‘Ali b. Husayn (Zain al ‘Abideen). Several hours later, while the blessed Imam sits alone lamenting the cruel death of his deputy Muslim b. ‘Aqeel and praying to his Lord, he is approached by nearly a dozen of Yazid’s soldiers who emerge from the darkness of the desert; amongst them are the governor of Kufah, Ubaydullah b. Ziyad, and two army generals, ‘Umar b. S’ad, and Hurr alTamimi. A certain Shimr b. Dhu alJawshan also watches from a distance).

Ibn Ziyad: O Husayn! You have not done well; what insolence you show by coming out against the Caliph of the Muslim community. This is treason on your part and surely you will be slain. Repent to God and pledge your alliance to the Commander of the Faithful, Yazid, and he may show mercy!

Husayn: By Him who holds my soul in His Hand (wallathee nafsi bi-yadihi) (12), the actions of the so called Caliph do not warrant the mercy of the Lord of Lords. O son of Ziyad! Haven’t you heard the Speech of God, the Sublime and Exalted,

“God only wants to remove all stains from you O People of the House, and render you pure and spotless?”(13)

We are the People of the House. Haven’t you heard the Apostle of God say that he left behind two weighty entities (al-thaqalayn), and that if we hold fast to them we will never go astray? “The Book of God and the People of my House!” (14) We are the People of his House.

Ibn Ziyad: You?

Husayn: Indeed. Haven’t you heard the Speech of God, the Sublime and Exalted,

“Say (O Muhammad): No reward do I ask of you for this except that you love the family.” (15)

Ibn Ziyad: Of course.

Husayn: We are the family. Therefore, woe to you O son of Ziyad! How have you demonstrated your love today for the People of the House? O you who has come out with swords and arrows to massacre the one who was held by the Master of the children of Adam (16) while standing upon his pulpit! (17) It is I, O son of Ziyad! It is I, Husayn; the son of al-Zahra, the daughter of your Lord’s beloved. How would my mother view your actions? Would they anger her? (18) Do not be deceived this day by your strength in numbers or weaponry. The flood of sin and evil has reached the gate of your city, so embark upon the Ark! For it is now as it was in the days of Noah, peace be upon him (19). Your salvation depends upon your love for me and my family, O son of Ziyad, what will make you realize?

Footnotes:

1. All translations of primary sources in this work are mine unless otherwise indicated.
2. Ya Arham al-Raahimeen: A very common and highly eloquent way of directly addressing the Divine (using the vocative particle followed by the superlative) found in the prophetic invocations.
3. Afdhalu jihaadi man qaala kalimata haqqin ‘enda sultanin jaa’ir (Abu Dawood, Tirmidhi, Ibn Maajah).
4. The following is the exquisite supplication of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ in its entirety: “O God, unto thee do I complain of my weakness, of my helplessness, and of my lowliness before men. O Most Merciful of the merciful, Thou art Lord of the weak. And Thou art my Lord. Into whose hands wilt Thou entrust me? Unto some far off stranger who will illtreat me? Or unto a foe whom Thou hast empowered against me? I care not, so Thou be not wroth with me. But Thy favouring help – that were for me the broader way and the wider scope! I take refuge in the Light of Thy Countenance whereby all darknesses are illuminated and the things of this world and the next are rightly beset me. Yet is it Thine to reproach until Thou art well pleased. There is no power and no might except through Thee” (translated by Martin Lings [Abu Bakr alSiraaj, d. 2005 CE]). Martin Lings, Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources. (Rochester: Inner Traditions, 1983), 98-99.
5. This is a reference to the Blessed Night Journey and Ascension ( Laylatul Isra wal Mi’raaj) of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ which occurred in the year 2 before hijra , 27th Rajab 621 CE.
6. Lady Zaynab is quoting the end of a famous hadith narrated by ‘Abdullah b. ‘Abbas on the authority of Tirmidhi and Ahmad (rufi’atil aqlaamu wa jaffatissuhuf).
7. Qur’an 2:154.
8. Qur’an 3:169.
9. Firdaws : The highest rank in Paradise where the felicitous (sa’eed ) enjoys the a-modal(b-ilaa kayf) Ru’ya of God; this is termed visio beatifica (Beatific Vision) by Aquinas.
10. All Muslims recite the Salawaat Ibrahimiyya during their five canonical prayers in which blessings are invoked upon the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ and his Family (Allahumma salli ‘ala Muhammad, wa ‘ala aali Muhammad, kama sallaita ‘ala Ibrahim wa ‘ala aali Ibrahim. Innaka hamidun majeed).
11. This is based on an actual tradition in which Imam Husayn confided to his sister that he grieved for the state of his enemies, thus echoing the magnanimous supplication of his grandfather ﷺ who looked towards the heavens during the Battle of Uhud with blood flowing from wounds sustained to his blessed face and uttered, “O God guide my people! For they do not know” (Allahumma ihdi qawmi, fa-innahum laa y’alamoon). One cannot help but to notice a parallel between the Prophet’s prayer at Uhud and Christ’s supplication from the cross: Πά τερ ἄ φες αὐ τοῖ ς οὐ† γὰ ρ οἴ δασιν τί ποιοῦ σιν (“Father forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing,” Luke 23:34), although many textual critics of the New Testament, Metzger amongst them, maintain this statement to be a later addition to Luke’s Gospel.
12. A common form of oath taken from the prophetic utterances.
13. Qur’an 33:33.
14. This hadith known as hadith al thaqalayn is upon the authority of Imams Muslim, Ahmad, and Tirmidhi and is multiply-attested (mutawatir) according to both Sunni and Shi’a scholars. Allamah Tabatabai says in his “Imamate and the Twelve Imams,” “(this hadith) is one of the most strongly established hadiths, and has been transmitted through many chains of transmission and in different versions.” Inni taarikun fikum al-thaqalayn: kitabulllah hablun mamdoodun min alsamaa’i ill-al-ard; wa ‘itratiy ahlu baytiy.
15. Qur’an 42:23.
16. Based on the hadith “I am the Master of the children of Adam, and I do not boast” (Ana sayyidu waladi Adam, wa laa fakhr).
17. Drawn by the voice of his grandfather delivering the Friday sermon, Imam Husayn once wandered into the Prophet’s mosque as an infant whereupon he was lifted up by the Prophet who completed the sermon while holding his grandson in his arms.
18. Imam Husayn is indirectly referring to the hadith of al-Haakim, “Fatimah is a piece of my flesh. Whoever angers her, angers me. And whoever angers me, angers God” (Fatima bidh’atu minni, fa man aghdhaba-ha aghdhaba-ni, wa man aghdhaba-ni, wa faq agdhaballah).
19. Imam Husayn is referring here to the famous hadith of Imam Ahmad b. Hanbal: “The similitude of my family is like the Ark of Noah; whoever embarks upon it is saved, and whoever rejects it is doomed” (Mathalu ahli baytiy kamathali safeenati Nuh; man rakibaha faqad najaa, wa man takhallafa ‘anha faqad halak ). There is also an intentional indirect reference here on my part to the eschatological statements attributed to Jesus Christ concerning the days of the Son of Man (Greek: ὁ† υἱὸ ς τοῦ† νθρώ που; translit. from Syriac: Barenash ) being analogous to “the days of Noah” (Matt, 24:37; Luke 17:26).

The Passion Play in Sunni Tradition and Building Intra-Muslim Unity

An Interview with

Ustadh Ali Ataie

Ummah Wide: Can you talk about the origins of this play and why you decided to write it?

Ustadh Ali Ataie: I took a class as a second year doctoral student called “Karbala: Islam and Liberation” at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley and the instructor gave us a choice whether to write a final research paper or some sort of art project. After reading several ta’zaiyat (passion plays) written by Shi’a scholars, even some written by British colonial officers (!), I decided that it was time to look at the passion of Imam Husayn through the lens of a Sunni, who make up 85–90% of Muslims.

What are the sources you use for the play? You mentioned at the reading at Zaytuna that Shia Ulema (religious scholars) have read it, what was their reaction?

My sources are mainly Sunni (exegeses, hadith, and scholarly works), although at times I reference Shi’a sources as well. The Shi’a ‘ulema were very pleased with the play, and at least one of them thought that I was a Shi’i who was attempting to refute Sunni positions in a artful yet polemical way.

You recently held the first public reading of the play with students at Zaytuna College over two years after you first wrote it. Can you talk about the role the Zaytuna students played in encouraging you to produce this play?

One student in particular was instrumental. Her name is Zainab Syed, and she is the only Shi’i at Zaytuna College as far as I know. She came to my office hours one day and we began talking about Sunni — Shi’a differences; she is actually a student in my freshman creedal theology class. I told her about the play then emailed it to her. She loved it. She took it to the Dean of Student life, Imam Bilal Ansari and asked if we could have a public reading of it in the Zaytuna Library. Imam Dawood agreed.

After the reading you mentioned that you have taken part in literally hundreds of interfaith dialogues between Muslims and different religious groups, but you have only taken part in a handful of intra-Muslim dialogues. Can you talk about the importance of creating intra-Muslim dialogue spaces and how do you see this play as creating intra-Muslim understanding?

It is crucially important; although we should not intend of solving the issues. This only leads to more animosity and polemics. Our intentions should be to inform and to come together as an Ummah on broad-based principles. One of these principles is the love of the Prophet’s family. All Muslims love the Ahl al-Bayt (the Prophets family) and this should be the focus of Sunni/Shi’a intra-religious dialogue. Also, with all of the sectarian violence that is being attributed to Islam by the media, people of all walks of life want to know what the deal is with Sunni and Shias. I believe this play will open the hearts and minds (God Willing!) of all Muslims and bring them together in a spirit of love and brotherhood.

You mentioned at the play this idea of the Husseini archetype throughout history, can you talk more about this idea and the importance of Imam Hussein as an example for all Muslims?

A Husayni Archetype is anyone who stands up for justice by selfless service of humanity. Malcolm X, MLK Jr., Medgar Evers, Rachel Corrie, Nelson Mandela, and Ghandi are just a few that come to mind. Often times these people are killed by tyrants and oppressors because they want to make people aware of societal inequalities or civic oppression.

Imam Husayn’s stand against tyranny is one the greatest examples of selfless courage in history. He is a symbol for the subaltern, the weak, oppressed, the down-trodden, and the marginalized.

As someone who grew up as a Christian, I remember the passion plays of my youth as being some of my clearest memories from the church I grew up in. As a scholar yourself, clearly you could write a paper or an article about these topics, why did you decide to instead create this piece of theatre?

For that reason you just mentioned; academic papers may or may not touch the heart, but works of art, such as passion plays, tend to leave impressions on those who experience them. This is what I wanted — for people to EXPERIENCE what Imam Husayn and his family and companions had to endure. Aristotle said that the best speakers have three elements:

1. logos (an intellectual element)
2. ethos (sound character or temperament
3. pathos (are able to communicate emotion to their audiences).

I decided on a play in order to get my ideas conveyed to as many people as possible.

Seeing this play was a powerful experience for me as a sunni who unfortunately has not been exposed to a passion play as a Muslim before. What are your plans with the play going forward?

We plan on reading it every year at Zaytuna during Muharram, God Willing. The readers and I joke around that in a few years we will preforming at the Greek Theater at UC Berkeley. With God all things are possible.

The view from the top of the Greek Theatre on the University of California—Berkeley campus

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