72 DESTINY DISRUPTED
continuing possibility of miracle was the principle he embodied. He and
his band chose death as symbolic refusal to disavow this possibility, and, in
the final analysis, to Shi'i, a miracle did occur at Karbala, the miracle of
Hussein's martyrdom.
To this day, Shi'i around the world commemorate the anniversary of
Hussein's death with a day of cathartic mourning. They gather in "lamen-
tation houses" to recount the story of the martyrdom, a religious narrative
that casts Hussein in the role of a redemptive figure on an apocalyptic
scale. By his martyrdom, Hussein has gained a place next to God and
earned the privilege of interceding for sinners. Those who embrace him
and believe in him will be saved and go to heaven, no matter what trans-
gressions may foul their record. Hussein gave Shi'i this back door to the
miracle they had hoped for all along. Believing in Hussein could not get
you gold or high office or luck in love, but it could get you into heaven:
that was the miracle.
And now for the political story that unfolded after Mu'awiya took power.
The Umayyad ascension may have ended the birth oflslam as a religious
event, but it launched the evolution of Islam as a civilization and a po-
litical empire. In the annals of conventional Western history, the
Umayyads marked the beginning of Muslim greatness. They put Islam
on the map by kicking off a golden age that lasted long after they them-
selves had fallen.
Whatever his shortcomings as a saint, Mu'awiya possessed tremendous
political skill. The very qualities that helped him defeat the tormented Ali
made him a successful monarch, and his reign institutionalized practices
and procedures that would hold an Islamic empire together for centuries.
This is all very ironic because, let us not forget, when Mohammed's
prophetic career began, the Umayyads were a leading dan among the rich
elite of Mecca. When Mohammed as Messenger denounced the malefac-
tors of great wealth who ignored the poor and exploited the widows and
orphans, the Umayyads were some of the main people he was talking
about. When Mohammed still lived in Mecca, the Umayyads outdid each
other in harassing his followers. They helped plot the assassination of Mo-
hammed before the Hijra and led some of the forces that tried to extin-
guish the Umma in its cradle after the Muslims moved to Medina.