Was Hazrat Husayn a Rebel (Baghi)?

Question

Zayd says: since Hazrat Imam Husayn ﵁ was an Arab and not a resident of Kufa, and had arrived there merely as a guest, traveller, and invitee — when Yazid's officials, such as the city governor Ibn Ziyad, al-Khawli, and others, compelled him to give allegiance to Yazid and showed him the decree, Hazrat Sayyidina Imam Husayn ﵁ said: “I am but an invited guest; let me go to my own land.” Was it, at such a time, necessary for Hazrat Imam Husayn to obey the command of the ruler of the time, or not?

Answer

In this matter Hazrat Imam Husayn ﵁ was a mujtahid. Since he considered allegiance to Yazid impermissible, it would not have been correct for him to give it. Yazid had no right to compel him to give allegiance contrary to his ijtihad; rather, in such a situation, he ought to have relinquished the caliphate and left the choice to the Muslims to accept as caliph whomever they…

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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