The Imam marched on. He was followed by many people. Some of them seeking the positions and other gains they would attain if he were to be successful.

But the Imam was well aware of their motives, that is why he stood up and gave a sermon in which he told them about the inevitable fate and said: “It is better for me to receive death which I shall surely meet. I can see my limbs turn by wild beasts of the desert between Nawawis and Karbala".

Why did he say that?

To let everybody who followed him for the sake of this world learn that he was seeking to serve the message and not looking to become a king…That like his father he was not thinking about any rule, nor did he have any personal ambitions, and that he only wished to establish the right and do away with the wrong.

The Imam continued to march forward for he was determined to continue his revolution until the very end. He was not, as some of those who recite the Ashoura commemorations claim, confused, and did not know where to go or what to do. He knew from the beginning that what he was engaged in is a revolution that will end up with his martyrdom, since the Islamic reality needed a shock as big as his martyrdom and the tragedy he was about to face.

But why did the people of Kufa who were (between 18 and thirty thousands) pledged their loyalty to the Imam drew back of their promises. One of the elements that led to this development was that Ubaidallah bin Ziad arrested the leaders of the revolution. When the masses are left without a leadership that plans the steps and leads the march, any party, whether ruling or not, can manipulate them, since the role of the masses is usually emotional and responds to various forms of intimidation and promise for rewards (the carrot and the stick approach).

They loved the Imam and Ahl-el-Beit, and they were angered by the social and political reality, but it seems that the lack of leadership that guides and warns them, coupled by the fact that their identification was emotional, made Ibn Ziad succeed in freezing their emotional state when he came carrying the whip in one hand and the money in the other.

This is what we should learn in our contemporary life. If we want, as Muslim and believers who refuse any tyranny or oppression, to remain faithful to our Islamic belief, our life should be a continuous revolution that seeks change. The followers may be many or few, but in all cases the revolution should continue. This is the duty of every Muslim who believes in Allah, The Most Exalted. If this is our goal in life, then our life should be one of continues struggle to establish the right and do away with the wrong.

We should therefore study the two phenomena that led to the back away of the masses: The faithful leadership and the nation's awareness.

One cannot underestimate the significance of the role of leadership in Islam. The following Ayah: O Messenger! deliver what has been revealed to you from your Lord; and if you do it not, then you have not delivered His message, implies that the leadership is very important, to the extent that neglecting it is equivalent not conveying the Message. It is as if Allah is telling His Messenger that if you leave this life without appointing a qualified and faithful leader, it would be as if you have not conveyed the message, because leadership is about the way the message acts in life. If it is to be immune from deviation, there should be a leadership that ensures the following of the straight path. It was said in our traditions that Islam was built on five pillars, Prayers, Fasting, Pilgrimage, Zakat and Wilayah, which non was emphasized more than it.

Why? Because the Wilayah represents the leadership that protects from deviation and committing mistakes. Therefore, the nation should search for a trustworthy leadership in every stage of its life, since it carries the thought of the nation, the belief and the line it adopts. It is the leadership that can stay put on the nation's goals on the levels of thought and practice.

Imam Ali (a.s.) said: "The rule of God cannot be established except by those who do not compliment… or follow their ambitions" those who do not think leadership is a privilege to boast about, but a responsibility understood in the same way the Imam did when he said to Ibn Abbas that this shoe should by Allah have been “more valuable than ruling over you but for the fact that through it I can establish the right and do away with the wrong".

Therefore, to lead a nation is to make it reach its gaols in both worlds. It is the movement of the nation in life. Therefore, we believe that the true leadership is for the religious scholars and the jurists who acquired the knowledge of the Message and who live the sufferings of the nation and are well aware of its causes and problems.