the Salam and immediately said, اَنْتِ حُرَّۃٌ لِوَجْہِ اللہِ   - “You are free for the sake of Allah.”

A person sitting nearby was surprised and said, “She is a slave, she came to you, she only offered Salam, and you have set her free—what is the reason behind this?” Now, listen to the response of Sayyidunā Imam Ḥusain رَضِىَ اللّٰهُ عَـنْهُ! He replied:

Allah Almighty says in the holy Quran:

وَ اِذَا حُیِّیْتُمْ بِتَحِیَّةٍ فَحَیُّوْا بِاَحْسَنَ مِنْهَاۤ اَوْ رُدُّوْهَاؕ-اِنَّ اللّٰهَ كَانَ عَلٰى كُلِّ شَیْءٍ حَسِیْبًا(۸۶)

And when you are greeted with a greeting ˹of peace˺, then reply with a better greeting or say the same. Indeed, Allah takes account of everything.^[1]

“In this verse, Allah has commanded us, ‘When you are greeted with a greeting ˹of peace˺, then reply with a better greeting.’ The way in which she offered the greeting was so beautiful that it was my duty to respond in an even better manner. However, a 'better response' was not possible merely through words, so I chose to set her free.”^[2]

سُـبْحٰـنَ الـلّٰــه ! What a great status Sayyidunā Imam Ḥusain رَضِىَ اللّٰهُ عَـنْهُ holds! Look at the perfection of his insight into the Holy Quran! It is from his scholarly prowess that he would recite Quranic verses in every situation; he would advise through Quranic verses. Now, let us reflect: how many verses do we remember? In our daily affairs, how often do we recall a verse? There are more than 6,000 verses in the Holy Quran; we should all contemplate how many of these 6,000+ verses we actually act upon.

This is a difficult ask. When the verses are not even memorized, and their translation and commentary are unknown, how will we act upon them? We are Muslims. For a Muslim, the most important book is the Quran; there can