Hussein Hallaj: dissent within Islam and the birth of mysticism (part I)

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by Shaheryar Ali

I am He whom I love, and He whom I love is I.
We are two spirits dwelling in one body.
If thou seest me, thou seest Him
And if thou seest Him thou seest us both

Mansur Al-Hallaj

Two Hussein’s are important in the search of any attempt to reconstruct [or reconcile as is the more academic fashion these days] ideas of “liberation” and “freedom” within Islam. First who was killed on banks of river Euphrates by the armies of the emerging Moslem Empire on the orders of the Caliph , “the commander of the faithful”, the one who was grandson of the Muhammad (pbuh), the prophet of Islam. The second Hussein was a Persian , who was killed , crucified like Jesus on the banks of river Tigris, on orders of the “Council of Mullahs”, the charges similar too, apostasy and blasphemy. The Empire was Abbasid, not Roman, but there were mullahs, stones, cross and blood. Later just like the son of a Man became the Son of the Lord, Hussein became the great Sufi and saint. Some Sufis were amongst those who killed him, but who cares for historical accuracy!

Why two Husseins are important for development of a radical libertarian discourse in Islam because, they were the voices of dissent against the two phenomenal distortions that emerged in Islam: the Empire and the Church.

Hussein (AS) the son of Fatima (RA) died on sands of Kerbala resisting the confiscation of the right of the Moslems to elect freely their leader, to resist the emergence of the Empire, preserve its tribal egalitarian nature against an emergent trade economy, from Yazeed to Bush “free market” needs conquest and oppression! For the market to become “Free”, “Man” has to become a slave. The sons of Hashim thought otherwise. When the grandfather of Hussein (AS) elevated a “Negro” on the roof of Kaa’ba , the bourgoies of Mecca , conquered but pardoned, in anger and disgust commented to Abbas: “Look how your nephew has humiliated the nobels of Quresh by putting this “crooked nose” negro on our heads”.

The generous Nephew (pbuh) just smiled and told his uncle: “this was what I wanted”

The Quresh were the Kings. The republic comprising the blacks, slaves, poor and visionaries had to end. Hussein (AS) had to die helpless, calling for support, a cry that was not for dwellers of Kufa but for generations to come as Iqbal would identify later:

“Your blood [o Hussein] has created a garden [of liberation] and you have for eternity stopped the tyranny”.

Centuries later a film “The Blood of Hussein” would be made and that would make a dictator unhappy.

The Empire is built with iron and blood but it needs a toxin to control the minds. Islam was resisting this toxin. When religion merges with an Empire, it forms a Church. One after another, the Imams were asked to join the empire. Imam Malik was asked by king to give consent so that his “fiqah” be made the “only law of land”. The great scholar, aware of the responsibility of an intellectual, said NO and replied “the Iraqis are pious and rigorous too , mine is not the only one”. He was beaten, his shoulders were dislocated when he insisted to issue fatawa independent of state’s opinion.

The Iraqi , Abu Hanifa was too subversive to be allowed to live and was given a choice “Be the Pope or Die”. Taught by the sons of Hashim, he chose death. His students became the Pope and thus a Church emerged.

But then destiny called upon the second Hussein, who shouted : “I am the Truth“.

The people of Baghdad and Iraq had traditionally despised the conversion of Caliphate into Persian style Kingdom. Their loyalties were always towards the revolutionaries who wanted to overthrow the Abbasid kingdom. They were supporters of the Alvi claims. For this reason Baghdad was governed with an iron hand, a network of spies and heavy taxation so that they could not rise to help the Alavite cause.

On the religious side reaction was twofold: the Mullahs who compiled Islamic Law under the Abbasids [later known as the Shariat] , made a firm alliance with the kings and added to violence by issuing “apostasy Fatwa” against any movement that challenged the Abbasid kingdom. Sufis, philosophers, revolutionaries, all got their share of fatwas from Mullahs.

When Mullahs and the Shariah sided strongly with the Empire, the house of Muhammad (pbuh) came under increasing persecution. The masses strongly resented that, especially since the majority of the Moslems for the first time in history of Islam were NOT Arabs but the people of Persia and central Asia, who had a rich background in philosophy and metaphysics. These minorities felt a sense of discrimination by Arabs. The flame of new “conversion” meant that their religious zeal was immense and loss of national pride and humiliation at the hands of Arabs meant they could identify with “Muhammed” who showed no sign of national prejudice and was very fond of Persians and their descendants, whose piety was beyond question, whose nobility and descent appealed to the “Royalism” of Persians.

The Result was the birth of Mysticism that attacked the“Mullah-Shariah” centered Islam. Muhammed (pbuh) and Ali (ra) became central to all religious activities. Essence was given priority over the Form, and an unmatched humanism emerged which received a tremendous mass appeal.

The Sufis mocked the King and the Priest - his sermon, his insistence on Law and the ritual. Thus a movement was born.

to be continued..

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