Bismillah.
عَالِمُ الْغَيْبِ فَلَا يُظْهِرُ عَلَىٰ غَيْبِهِ أَحَدًا إِلَّا مَنِ ارْتَضَىٰ مِن رَّسُولٍ
Knower of the Unseen, He does not disclose His [knowledge of the] Unseen to anyone, except to an apostle He approves of.
(Sūrat al-Jinn, No. 72, Āyāt 26-27)
These two verses in Sūrat al-Jinn initially affirm that the knowledge of the unseen (‘ilm al-ghayb) belongs exclusively to Allah ‘azza wajall. This concept is echoed in several other Quranic passages, such as 6:59, 16:77, and 27:65. However, the second of these two verses introduces an important exception: Allah may disclose aspects of the unseen to whomever He chooses from among His messengers. This is consistent with the broader Quranic understanding, as wahy (revelation) itself is a form of hidden knowledge granted to prophets by divine will.
In his Tafsīr al-Mīzān, ‘Allāmah Tabātabā’ī reconciles this apparent contradiction by explaining that Almighty Allah possesses knowledge of the unseen in an original and independent sense, whereas others—such as prophets—receive it only through His disclosure and teaching. ‘Allāmah further emphasizes that the exception granted to the messengers is not necessarily exclusive. According to Shī‘ī teachings and narrations, the Imams ‘alayhimus-salām may also be recipients of divinely granted knowledge of the unseen. While they do not attain this knowledge independently, it is bestowed upon them as part of their divine role in guiding the ummah.
One aspect of the Shī‘ī belief in an Imam’s hidden knowledge (ʿilm al-ghayb) is that Imam al-Husayn ‘alayhis-salām could clearly foresee the tragic outcome of his uprising—that he and his companions would be martyred in Karbala. Far beyond a general claim, there is substantial and specific evidence indicating that the Imam was intimately aware of his fate:
1. Prophetic foretelling and inherited knowledge
Long before the tragedy, numerous narrations foretold the significance of Karbala and Imam al- Husayn’s martyrdom. One such report describes how the Prophet (s) was informed by Jibra’īl of al-Husayn’s martyrdom at his birth. Other accounts speak of the Mushaf of Fātimah (a), a text said to contain revelations regarding future calamities affecting the Prophet’s family. This text was in the care of the Imams, which means Imam al-Husayn (a) would have been aware of its contents. In yet another narration, Imam Ali clearly said to him: By the One in whose hand is my soul, the Banū Umayyah will shed your blood, but they will never remove you from your religion, nor will they cause you to forget the remembrance of your Lord.
2. Firsthand assertions on the journey to Karbala
Various accounts detail how, during his journey from Madinah to Makkah and onward to Karbala, Imam al-Husayn (a) spoke with certainty about his fate. In a conversation with Umm Salamah, he said: O my mother … I will be killed without doubt; there is no escape from it. By Allah, I know the very day on which I will be killed, and I know the one who will kill me, and I know the spot in which I will be buried. I also know who among my family, my relatives, and my followers will be killed.
Naturally, this raises a compelling question: Why did Imam al-Husayn (a) proceed with an uprising that he knew would end in his demise? Was this not a case of casting oneself into destruction, seemingly contradicting the Quranic injunction against self-destruction: Do not cast yourselves with your own hands into destruction (Q 2:195)? The answer is that despite his foreknowledge of the outcome, Imam al-Husayn (a) was under a sharʿī obligation to revolt against blatant evil. His stand was not about success in worldly terms but about fulfilling the duty of nahy ‘an almunkar—enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong—even at the cost of his life. His sacrifice preserved the integrity of Islam and illuminated the path for future generations.
May Allah grant us a deeper appreciation of the profound status of the Imams (a), and may we draw closer to them through following their guidance in our lives.
Resources: ‘Allāmah Tabātabā’ī, Tafsīr al-Mīzān; Āyatullāh Sa’ādat Parvar, Fūrugh-e Shahādat.