Stand for the Truth, Even If It Is Bitter

One sentence was passed down, unchanged, from a dying father to his son, across eight generations of Imams. In his final hours at Karbala, Imam Husayn, peace be upon him, returned to his tent to speak with his son and successor, Imam Sajjad, giving him exactly what his own father had given him: "My son, stand for the Truth, even if it is bitter." The session traces that sentence back to Imam Ali's parting words to Imam Hasan, and forward through every Imam after Husayn, to the instruction given to Imam al-Mahdi — the will every believer today inherits. It then turns to how that instruction gets subverted. A well-known verse commands believers to obey God, the Messenger, and "those in authority among you" — and history is full of people who stopped reading at that clause, using it to justify obeying whoever held power. The verse's own condition, that obedience only applies when authority answers to God, is usually left out. The session traces this to Kufa, where a call to rise up for Imam Husayn was undercut by a respected local voice urging caution, at the cost of two lives. How do you tell a leader who deserves obedience from one who has merely seized it? What the evening covers The will passed down eight generations. From Imam Ali to Imam Hasan, to Imam Husayn, to Imam Sajjad, and onward to Imam al-Mahdi. The verse people stop reading too early. Qur'an 4:59 on obeying "those in authority," and the condition most quoters leave out. Kufa's cost of caution. A call to rise up, undercut by hesitation, and what it cost the believers who answered it. Imam Husayn's final stand. His refusal to choose between salvation and humiliation.

In this session

Sermon: Stand for the Truth, Even If It Is Bitter

Read