Grand Ayatollah Shirazi: Abandoning Imam al-Hussain is Haram

The daily scholarly meeting of Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Sadegh al-Hosseini al-Shirazi was held on Friday, the 21st of Dhul Hajjah. In this session, like the previous meetings, the Marja answered the questions of the attendees about various jurisprudence issues.

On the difference between dispatching Muslim bin Aqeel to Kufa and allowing the Companions to leave Karbala on the Eve of Ashura, Grand Ayatollah Shirazi said: With regard to sending the Honourable Muslim bin Aqeel to Kufa, he was actually the representative and ambassador of Sayyed al-Shuhada and his Holiness had ordered him to go to Kufa and fulfil the mission he had in any way possible.

His Eminence continued: But on the Eve of Ashura, when the Imam allowed his companions to leave, it was because he said, “I lifted my oath of allegiance”, but it was definitely not permissible to leave Karbala and abandon the Imam, which was haram. That’s because his Holiness did not say that it is permissible for you to go, but rather said that I lifted my allegiance from you and if you go, I have no complaint against you.

The Marja also emphasized: Based on other statements of Sayyed al-Shuhada and other narrations and hadith that stress the obligation to defend the Infallible Imam, we can conclude that it was not permissible to leave Karbala, and if the companions of Imam al-Hussain had left Karbala and abandoned the Imam, they would have committed haram, and those who left the scene of Karbala definitely committed haram.