The Prophet in the Quran

that when Husain had almost reached Karbala, he received the news that his representative, Muslim ibn Aqil, had been killed by the Umayyad ruler and that, out of fear, the Kufans had withdrawn their allegiance to Husain. At this point Husain decided to go back to Makkah. According to authentic historical records, the Umayyad army in Kufa did not let him turn back. They wanted to kill him. According to Tabari and other historians, Husain said to the Umayyad governor: “O Umar, accept one of three conditions: Either allow me to go back to where I came from; or if this is not acceptable to you, then take me to Yazid (the caliph) and I will place my hand on his hand and let him decide about me; and if even this is not acceptable, then let me go to the heathen Turks so that I may perform jihad against them until I am martyred.” (Al-Bidayah wa al-Nihayah, Vol. 8, p. 183) The truth is that, justifying what was a self-made political jihad in the name of Husain ibn Ali had nothing to do with the actual example set by Husain, and resulted in a distorted version of his true character and actions. Only from authentic historical records may the real picture of Husain be pieced together. Status Quoism One very important principle of the Prophet’s policy was status-quoism, that is, accepting the prevailing situation. However, the status-quoism of the Prophet did not simply mean to accept the extant sets of circumstances for all time. It meant rather carving out a path for oneself by adopting a non-­confrontational policy within the existing set-up. Far from leading to a state of inertia, this was a planned course of action. The Prophet of Islam followed this principle in his life at Makkah as well as at Madinah. This is one of the reasons for his achieving such great success­-within the short period of 23 years - as had never been achieved by anyone throughout the entire course of human history. The great benefit of such status quoism is that, by adopting this policy, one is instantly able to avail of opportunities for carrying out one’s projects. One is in a position to utilize one’s energies fully in one’s mission without wasting one iota of effort. By avoiding unnecessary clash and confrontation, one is able to devote oneself to constructive activity to the fullest extent. The mission of the prophet of Islam was to establish monotheism (Tawheed). When he received his prophethood, the situation in Makkah was that 360 idols were in position inside the Kabah. The presence of these idols in the house of monotheism went totally against his mission. But the Prophet completely refrained from any practical confrontation with the worshippers of these idols and devoted himself to the propagation of monotheism in theory. That is, he adopted the principle of status-quoism in the matter of the Kabah. The benefit deriving from this policy was the opportunity to communicate the message of monotheism for a period of thirteen years. During these thirteen years he was highly successful in that he managed to bring the 200 most worthy individuals of Makkah within his fold. It was these people, who, by giving their full support to the Prophet, brought the history of Islam into existence.