He was so truthful that even his greatest enemy, Muawiya, admitted this to his followers. This is how it happened. Imam Husayn (a.s.) wrote a strong-worded letter to Muawiya. In this letter the Imam described the bad things that Muawiya was do- ing. When Muawiya read the letter he was very angry. His ad- visers told him to write a similar letter in reply to the Imam. Muawiya said, “If I write a strong worded letter it shall have no effect because it will be full of lies only. If I want to be truthful, then I can find no fault in his letter.” (Meaning that everything the Imam said was true.) On the Day of Ashura, Imam (a.s.) gave a long talk to the Army of Yazid in which he gave a brief report about himself, his family, and the reason for which he came to Karbala. He asked the soldiers of Yazid to correct him if there was any kind of falsity in his claims. No one came forward to say that the Imam was not saying the truth. Such was a truthful character of this Imam. The only reason that the enemies of Islam were giving for wanting to kill him was that he was refusing to sur- render himself to Yazid. In short, Imam Husayn (a.s.) was the very picture of Hazrat Muhammad (s.a.w.w.) and Imam Ali (a.s.). The world today re- members him with respect and honour. Even Non-Muslims have nothing but good words to say about this noble person. The English Christian historian Gibbon pays his respect to the Imam in the following words: “In a distant age and climate, the tragic sense of death of Husayn will awaken the sympathy of the coldest reader.” The character of Imam was so pure and his intention to be sacrificed in the way of Islam was so much part of this pure character that even those who have no connection with Islam cannot help but note this greatness of Imam. For says Charles Dickens the great 19th Century English Novelist, “If Husayn fought to quench his worldly desires (as alleged by certain Christian critics) then I do not understand why his sisters, wives, and children accompanied him. It stands to reason therefore that he sacrificed purely for Islam.”