the reason for the small number of hadiths of imam Hussain peace be upon him

The companions of Imam Hussain (peace be upon him), although the best of companions, as he himself said on the night of Ashura:

“For I do not know of any companions more loyal and better than my companions, nor any family more righteous and closer than my family. May Allah reward you on my behalf.”

However, these great men were companions of martyrdom, not of narration. This group joined the son of the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) to support him, and some of them, like Zuhair and Hur, were initially opponents of him. Others, like Habib and Muslim ibn Awsaja, came from Kufa to join him, but they were not previously with him to learn from his knowledge.

The Imams (peace be upon them) had companions who would come to them for knowledge and hadith, then return, and through them, the knowledge of the Imams (peace be upon them) would reach the Shia.

This tradition began in the later period of Imam Sajjad (peace be upon him) and started to decline during the time of Imam al-Jawad (peace be upon him). As the Shia neared the era of occultation, the barriers increased, making access to the Imams (peace be upon them) more difficult and less frequent, as Imam al-Hadi and Imam al-Askari (peace be upon them) were almost constantly under surveillance in Samarra.

During this time, the books of hadith narrators, written during the era of Imam al-Baqir and Imam al-Sadiq (peace be upon them), became the refuge and reference for the Shia, and scholars and traditionists were busy compiling and refining these hadiths, which the Shia utilized.

This is why the number of narrators of hadith from Imam al-Hadi and Imam al-Askari (peace be upon them) is much fewer compared to previous Imams, and from that time, the issue of deputyship arose, with the Shia maintaining a connection with the Imam through Uthman ibn Sa’id and his son Muhammad.

The kind of Taqiyya (precautionary dissimulation) that existed during the time of these two Imams (peace be upon them) made it difficult for narrators and traditionists to easily access them. This Taqiyya was even more intense during the era of Imam Hussain (peace be upon him), and the pressure on the Shia during that period was greater than at any other time.

The Shia were suffering under the oppression of Muawiya and his agents, who would eliminate them wherever they were found. They lived their lives in extreme fear and secrecy, which is the reason why the spread of hadith from Imam al-Mujtaba and Imam al-Hussain (peace be upon them) among the Shia was minimal.

The reason for the Sunnis’ neglect of Imam Hussain (peace be upon him)
After the establishment of these conditions, Muawiya and his agents appointed jurists for the people, from whom they were to learn the knowledge of the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) and the religion of Allah. These included figures like Abdullah ibn Zubayr—one of the fiercest Nawasib (haters of Imam Ali) and enemies of the Commander of the Faithful (peace be upon him)—as well as Abdullah ibn Umar and Amr ibn al-As. These three hypocrites became the leaders of the Sunni community. Their canonical books of hadith are filled with the narrations of these three, along with Abu Hurayra and Anas ibn Malik. In this context, it is appropriate to quote a hadith from Ibn Kathir al-Dimashqi.

In his commentary on the verse “And fulfill the covenant of Allah when you have covenanted,” he says:

“Imam Ahmad said, Isma’il narrated to us, narrated to us from Sakhr ibn Juwayriya, from Nafi’, who said: When the people removed Yazid ibn Muawiya from power, Ibn Umar gathered his sons and relatives, testified, and said: After this, we have pledged allegiance to this man on the basis of Allah and His Messenger. And I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) say: ‘Indeed, on the Day of Resurrection, a banner will be raised for the traitor, and it will be said: This is the betrayal of so-and-so.

And one of the greatest betrayals—except for associating partners with Allah—is that a man pledges allegiance to another man on the basis of Allah and His Messenger, and then breaks that pledge. So, do not let any of you remove Yazid, and do not let any of you be excessive in this matter, lest there be enmity between me and him.'”

According to this narration, Abdullah ibn Umar gathered his children and relatives—at the time when the people removed Yazid from the caliphate—and said: “Do not join the people in this matter, and whoever does so, I will sever ties with him, because we have pledged allegiance to Yazid, and fulfilling the promise is obligatory, and one of the worst betrayals is to break that allegiance.”

Why did the people depose Yazid?
Because he killed the son of the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family), took his family captive, insulted all sacred things, and considered forbidden things as permissible. For this reason, the people considered him a disbeliever, and allegiance to such a disbeliever is not respected; rather, they considered jihad against him more necessary than jihad against polytheists.

In such a situation, Abdullah ibn Umar says: “Fulfilling this allegiance—which is like allegiance to Allah and His Messenger—is obligatory, and breaking this allegiance is one of the greatest sins, and whoever participates in deposing Yazid, I will sever ties with him!!”

Such a person became a mufti and leader of the Muslims! He pledged allegiance to Yazid (may Allah curse him) and considered breaking that allegiance to be one of the greatest sins! Yet this same Ibn Umar did not pledge allegiance to the Commander of the Faithful (peace be upon him) after the killing of Uthman, and he sided with Abdullah ibn Zubayr, Amr ibn al-As, and Marwan in opposition to the Commander of the Faithful (peace be upon him). This group drew their swords against the Commander of the Faithful (peace be upon him) and his supporters, and perhaps for this reason, they became the leaders of the Sunni community.

They closed the door of Ali (peace be upon him)—the gate to the city of the Prophet’s knowledge—and opened the door to his enemies. They abandoned his two sons, did not support them, and did not seek knowledge and hadith from them.

Therefore, the people during the lifetime of these two great figures had nothing to do with them and sided with their enemies, did not benefit from their knowledge, and did not take the hadiths of the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) from his two sons. As a result, the Sunnis, to this day, have distanced themselves from the Ahl al-Bayt of the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) and have taken their religion from their enemies.

This is how the ummah has treated the Prophet’s (peace be upon him and his family) legacy and pure family. Despite all the recommendations and emphasis the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) made regarding them, the people separated the Prophet’s family from the Quran, just as they opposed the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) during his lifetime, refused to bring him pen and ink when he requested it, and said: “The Book of Allah is sufficient for us.”

The conclusion is that the ummah acted contrary to the Prophet’s (peace be upon him and his family) will, did not take their knowledge from the Imams (peace be upon them), and not only did they precede them but also made their enemies their leaders, obeyed their orders, and filled their canonical books with the hadiths of their enemies.

Moreover, in order to gain closeness to the enemies, they killed Hussain ibn Ali (peace be upon them) in such a manner, and the Shia, out of fear of the enemies, could not associate with Imam Hussain (peace be upon him) or learn the religion of Allah from him.

This is the reason why the hadiths from that oppressed Imam are few, and the people did not benefit from his knowledge.