"... and I am not taking up arms in order to make merry, or be ecstatic over what I possess. I am not making mischief, nor exercising oppression. But, I am ready to fight for the sole goal of seeking reform of the Ummah of my grandfather, the Prophet of almighty Allah (swt). I want to enjoin good and forbid evil and guide the affairs of the people as my grandfather, and my father, Ali bin Abi Talib(as) were doing."
Why did the Imam (as) insisted on uprising?
Without Imam Hussain's revolt, the Islam represented by the Ummayads with all their deviations, oppression and corruption, was going to be accepted in the minds of mankind till the present time as the original Islam revealed to the Prophet (pbuh).
Imam Hussain (as), the second son of Imam Ali (as), and the grandson of the holy Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W.), was a pure page of the book of Islam, and a vivid translation of its goals and concepts. That is why he was the first who responded to the call of faith in his time. In order to honor his commitments to the Shar'ia, he had no other way before him other than that of uprising. Without his uprising, there would not have occured any reforms. The Imam (as) explained the reasons of his uprising saying:
"... and I am not taking up arms in order to make merry, or be ecstatic over what I possess. I am not making mischief, nor exercising oppression. But, I am ready to fight for the sole goal of seeking reform of the Ummah of my grandfather, the Prophet of almighty Allah (swt). I want to enjoin good and forbid evil and guide the affairs of the people as my grandfather, and my father, Ali bin Abi Talib(as) were doing."
These are the basic justifications which gave Imam Husain (as) and his followers the right to start their uprising. An uprising which still echoes in the minds of people today. It is the revolution that immortalized Islam and inspired the revolutionaries throughout the ages, to defend Islam and fight heroically in the battle of sacred jihad against the unjust and the oppressors.