In The Name Of Allah,
The Most Compassionate, The Merciful

The Tragedy of Kerbala: Imam Hussain's Martyrdom

O Allah! Send your blessings to the head of
your Messengers and the
Last of your Prophets Muhammad (saw), and his pure and cleansed
progeny.

Content:

- The Journey, Martrydom and other events(in 12 parts)

- References

The Journey, the Martrydom and other events

Part I.

Al Husayn, the blessings of God be on him, set out from Mecca
to Iraq on the day of Muslim's (attempted) rising in
Kufa, that is the day of Tarwiya, after staying in
Mecca for the rest of Shaban, the month of Ramadhan, Shawwal and
Dhu al Qada and eight days of Dhu- al-Hijja in the year 60 A.H.
(680). During his stay in Mecca, peace be on him, a number of
Hijazis and Basrans had gathered around him, joining themselves
to his household and his retainers (mawali).

When he determined on journeying to Iraq, he made the
circumbulation of the (sacred) House and the ritual running
between al-Safa and al-Marwa. Then he left the state of
consecration (for the pilgrimage) (after) he had performed the
lesser pilgrimage (umra) because he was not able to
perform the greater pilgrimage (hajj). Through fear of
being apprehended in Mecca, and being taken to Yazid b. Muawiya,
he, peace be on him, had set out early with his House, his sons
and those of his Shia who had joined him.

[As it has been reported to us:]

News of Muslim's (capture and death) had not yet reached him
because

(it had only happened) on the day he set out.

[It is reported that al-Farazdaq, the poet, said:]

I made the pilgrimage with my mother in the year 60 A.H.
(680). I was driving her camel when I entered the sanctuary.
(There) I met al-Husayn b. Ali, peace be on them, leaving Mecca
accompanied by (some men carrying) swords and shields.

"Whose caravan is this?" I asked.

"Al-Husayn b. Ali's, peace be on them," was the
reply. So I went up

and greeted him.

"May God grant you your request and (fulfil) your hope in
what you want, by my father and mother, son of the Apostle of
God," I said to him. "But what is making you hurry away
from the pilgrimage?"

"If I did not hurry away, I would be apprehended,"
he replied. Then he asked me: "Who are you?"

"An Arab," I answered and he did not question me
(about myself) any further.

"Tell me about the people you have left behind you,"
he asked.

"You have asked a good (question)," I answered.
"The hearts of the people are with you but their swords are
against you. The decision comes from Heaven and God does what he
wishes."

"You have spoken truly of the affair belonging to
God," he replied.

"Every day He (is involved) in (every) matter" (LV,
29) If fate sends down what we like and are pleased with, we
praise God for His blessings. He is the One from Whom help should
be sought in order to give thanks to Him. However, although fate
may frustrate (our) hopes, yet He does not destroy (the souls of)
those whose intention is the truth and whose hearts are
pious."

"True, God brings you what you wish for (ultimately) and
guards you against what you are threatened by," I said. Then
I asked him about matters concerning vows and pilgrimage rites.
He told me about them and then moved his mount off, saying
farewell, and so we parted.

When al-Husayn b. Ali, peace be on them, left Mecca, Yahya b.
Said b. al-'As met him with a group (of men). They had been sent
to him by 'Amr b. Said.

"Come back from where you are going," they ordered.
But he refused (to obey) them and continued. The two groups came
to blows and hit at each other with whips. However al-Husayn and
his followers resisted fiercely. Al-Husayn continued until he got
to al- Tanim. There he met a camel-train which had come from
Yemen. He hired from its people (additional) camels for himself
and his followers to ride.

Then he said to the owners (of the camels): "Whoever (of
you) wants to come with us to Iraq, we will pay his hire and
enjoy his company and whoever wants to leave some way along the
road we will pay his hire for the distance he has
travelled."

Some of the people went with him but others refused. Abd Allah
b. Jafar sent his sons, Awn and Muhammad, after him, and he wrote
a letter to him which he gave to them. In it, he said:

I ask you before God (to return) if you have set out when
you see my letter. For I am very concerned because the
direction in which you are heading will have within it your
destruction, and the extirpation of your House. If you are
destroyed today, the light of the land will be extinguished;
for you are the (standard) of those who are rightly-guided
and the hope of the believers.

Do not hurry on your journey as I am following this letter.

Greetings.

Abd Allah, then went to 'Amr b. Sad and asked him to write to
al-Husayn (offering him) a guarantee of security, and (promising)
to favour him, so that he would return from where he was going.
Amr b. Said wrote a letter in which he offered him favour and a
guarantee of security for himself. He dispatched it with his
brother Yahya b. Said. Yahya b. Said went after him (as did) Abd
Allah after dispatching his sons. The two handed ('Amr's) letter
to him and strove (to persuade) him to return.

"I have seen the Apostle of God, may God bless him and
his family, in my sleep," answered (al-Husayn), "and he
ordered me (to do) what I am carrying out."

"What was that vision?" they both asked.

"I have not told anyone of it," he answered,
"and I am not going to tell anyone until I meet my Lord, the
Mighty and Exalted."

When 'Abd Allah b. Ja'far despaired of (persuading) him, he
told his sons, Awn and Muhammad, to stay with him, to go with him
and to struggle on behalf of him. He returned with Yahya b. Sa'id
to Mecca.

Al Husayn, peace be on him, pressed on swiftly and directly
towards Iraq until he reached Dhat' Irq.

When Ubayd Allah b. Ziyad had learnt of the journey of al-
Husayn, peace be on him, from Mecca to Kufa, he had sent al-
Husayn b. Numayr, the commander of the bodyguard (shurta), to
station himself at al-Qadisiyya and to set up a (protective) link
of cavalry between the area of al-Qadisiyya to Khaffan and the
area of al-Qadisiyya to al-Qutqutaniyya. He informed the men that
al- Husayn was heading for Iraq.

When al-Husayn, peace be on him, reached al-Hajiz (a hill
above) Batn al-Rumma, he sent Qays b. Mushir al Saydawi -
some say it was his brother-in-nurture, Abd Allah b. Yuqtur
to Kufa. For he, peace be upon him, had not yet learnt the
news of (the fate of) Ibn 'Aqil. He sent a letter with him:

In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate From
al-Husayn b. Ali To his brother believers and Muslims,
Greetings to you, I praise God before you, other than Whom
there is no deity. Muslim b. Aqil's letter came to me,
informing me of your sound judgement and the agreement of
your leaders to support us, and to seek our rights. I have
asked God to make your actions good and reward you with the
greatest reward. I set out to you from Mecca on 8th of Dhu
al-Hijja, the Day of Tarwiya. When my messenger reaches you,
be urgent and purposeful in your affiars, for I am coming to
you within the (next few) days.

Greeting and the mercy and blessings of God.

Muslim had written to al-Husayn seventeen days before he was
killed and the Kufans had written to him: "Here you have a
hundred thousand swords. Do not delay."

Qays b. Mushir went towards Kufa with the letter. However,
when he reached al-Qadisiyya, al-Husayn b. Numayr apprehended him
and sent him to Ubayd Allah b. Ziyad.

"Go up on the pulpit," Ubayd Allah b. Ziyad ordered
him, "and curse the liar, al-Husayn b. Ali, peace be on
him"

Qays went up on the pulpit and praised and glorified God. Then
he said:

People, this man, al-Husayn b. 'Ali the best of God's
creatures, the son of Fatima, the daughter of the Apostle, may
God bless him and his family and grant them peace, (is nearby). I
am his messenger to you. Answer him. Then he cursed Ubayd Allah
b. Ziyad and his father and prayed for forgiveness for Ali b. Abi
Talib and blessed him. 'Ubayd Allah ordered him to be thrown from
the top of the palace. They threw him and he was smashed to
pieces.

[It is (also) reported:]

He fell on the ground in chains and his bones were crushed and
there only remained to him his last breath. A man called 'Abd al-
Malik b. 'Umayr al-Lakhmi came to him and cut his throat. When he
was told that that had been a shameful (thing to do) and he was
blamed for it, he said: "I wanted to relieve him (of his
suffering)."

Part II

(While this had been going on) al-Husayn, peace be on him, had
left Hajiz in the direction of Kufa until he came to one of the
watering (places) of the Arabs. There there was 'Abd Allah b.
Muti al-'Adawli, who was staying there. When he saw al-Husayn,
peace be on him, he got up and said to him: "(May I ransom)
my father and mother for you, son of the Apostle of God, what has
brought you (here)?" He brought him (forward) and helped him
to dismount.

"It is a result of the death of Muawiya as you would
know," replied al Husayn, peace be on him. "The Iraqis
have written to me urging me to (come to) them"

"I remind you, son of the Apostle of God, (of God) and
the sacredness of Islam, lest it be violated. I adjure you before
God (to think) about the sacredness of Quraysh. I adjure you
before God (to think) about the sacredness of the Arabs. By God,
if you seek that which is in the hands of Banu Umayya, they will
kill you. If they kill you, they will never fear anyone after
you. Then it will be the sacredness of Islam which is violated,
and the sacredness of Quraysh and the sacredness of the Arabs.
Don't do it! Don't go to Kufa! Don't expose yourself to Banu
Umayya!"

Al-Husayn, peace be on him, insisted on continuing his
journey. (In the meantime) 'Ubayd Allah b. Ziyad had ordered (the
area) which was between Waqisa and the roads to Syria and Basra
to be occupied (so that) they should not let anyone enter, nor
anyone leave (Kufa).

However, al-Husayn, peace be on him, went on without knowing
anything (of that) until he met some Arabs. He asked them (about
the situation) and they told him: "No, by God, we don't know
(anything about it) except that we cannot get into or out of
(Kufa)."

He continued on his journey.

[A group of Fazara and Bajila reported (the following
account). They said:]

We were with Zuhayr b. al-Qayn al-Bajah when we came from
Mecca. (Although) we were travelling alongside al Husayn, peace
be on him, there was nothing more hateful to us than that we
should stop with him at a halting place. (Yet) when al-Husayn,
peace be on him, travelled and halted, we could not avoid halting
with him. Al-Husayn halted at the side (of the road) and we
halted at the (other) side (of the road). While we were sitting,
eating our food, a messenger of al- Husayn, peace be on him,
approached, greeted us and entered (our camp).

"Zuhayr b. al-Qayn," he said, "Abu 'Abd Allah
al-Husayn, peace be on him, has sent me to you (to ask) you to
come to him."

Each man of us threw away what was in his hands (i.e. threw up
his hands in horror); it was (as surprising) as if birds had
alighted on our heads.

"Glory be to God," (Zuhayr's) wife said to him,
"did the son of the Messenger of God send for you? Then
aren't you going to him? If you went to him, you would hear what
he had to say. Then you could leave him (if you wanted to)."

Zuhayr b. al-Qayn went (across) to him. It was not long before
he returned to announce that he was heading east. He ordered his
tent (to be struck) and (called for) his luggage, mounts and
equipment. His tent was pulled down and taken to al-Husayn, peace
be on him, then he said to his wife: "You are divorced, go
back to your family, for I do not want anything to befall you
except good."

Then he said to his companions:

Whoever wants to follow me (may do so), otherwise he is at
the end of his covenant with me (i.e. released from obedience