Karbala & Ashura by: Ali Hussain Jalali

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KARBALA

ASHURA

Followed by

Ziyrah of shr and

Ziyrah of Writh

By:

Ali Hussain Jalali


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Karbala & Ashura:Followed by

Ziyarah of Ashura and Ziyara of WarithAuthor: Ali Hussain Jalali

Publisher: Ansariyan Publications

QumFirst Edition 1423-1381

Negheen Press Quantity: 2000

Number of Pages: 176 Size: 143X205

ISBN: 964-438-374-5

ALL RIGHTS RECORDED AND RESERVED FOR THE PUBLISHER

Ansariyan Publications

P.O. Box 187

22 Shohada St., Qum

Islamic Republic of Iran

Tel: ++89 251 7741744 Fax: 7742647

Email:[email protected]

Jalli, Ali Hussain,

Karbal & Ashura: followed by Ziyrah of shr and Ziyrah of Writh/ by Ali Hussain Jalali.-

Qum: Ansariyan, 2002.

175 p

ISBN: 964-438-374-5

1. Hussayn ibn Ali, Imam III, 625 680.

2. Tragedy of Karbala. I. Title.

297. 9524 BP41.4.
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]


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IN THE NAME OF

ALLAH,THE BENEFICENT, THE

MERCIFUL


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.

()

Indeed I do not seedeath [for freedom]

as but happiness,

and living with

unjust people as

nothing but grief.

Imam Husayn

61/680 CE


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TABLE OF CONTENTS

PUBLISHERS WORD ......................................9

PREFACE .......................................................11

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND .....................11

IMM USAYN .......................................... 13

THE TEXT ................................................ 15

BEFORE KARBAL ....................................... 17

YAZD DEMANDS ALLEGIANCE ............... 17

THE IMM ENTERS MECCA ...................... 21

THE JOURNEY OF MUSLIM IBN AQL..... 25

MUSLIM STANDS ..................................... 28

HNI IBN URWAH................................... 30


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6

MUSLIM MEETS IBN ZIYD ...................... 35

MUSLIMS SONS...................................... 38

THE IMMS JOURNEY TO KARBAL ........ 44

STOPS ON THE IMMS JOURNEY............ 45

TANM................................................ 45

SAFAH ................................................. 46

DHT AL-IRQ....................................... 46

HAJIR .................................................. 47

KHUZYMIYYAH .................................. 48

ZARUD ................................................. 48

THALABIYYAH.................................... 50

SHUQQ .............................................. 50

ZUBALAH ............................................ 51

BAN AL-AQABAH ............................... 51

SHIRF ................................................ 52

BAYDHAH ............................................ 55

RUHAYMAH ......................................... 55

ADHIB AL-HAJANAT ............................ 56

QAR BANI MAQATIL ........................... 57


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NAYNAWA ........................................... 59

AT KARBAL ................................................ 61

ARRIVAL IN KARBAL ............................ 61

EVENTS OF KARBAL............................. 62

THE SEVENTH OF MUARRAM ................. 67

THE EIGHTH OF MUARRAM ................... 68

SHIMRS TRICK....................................... 70

THE NIGHT OF THE NINTH ..................... 71

THE IMMS CAMP ON THE NINTH .......... 73

THE NIGHT BEFORE THE TENTH ............. 75

THE DAY OF THE TENTH ......................... 78

THE FIRST ATTACK ................................. 86

THE RIGHT FLANK ..................................88

THE LEFT FLANK ................................... 90

AT NOON ................................................. 92

THE PRAYER ........................................... 93

THE REMAINING COMPANIONS .............. 96

THE IMMS SON, ALI AL-AKBAR ............ 98

THE IMMS NEPHEW, QSIM................ 100


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8

THE IMMS BROTHER, ABBS.............. 102

AFTER KARBAL ......................................... 111

THE NIGHT OF THE TENTH .................... 111

IN KFAH ............................................... 115

THE PRISONERS MEET IBN ZIYD .......... 119

ABDULLAH AL-AZDI ............................. 122

MUKHTR IN PRISON ............................ 124

THE JOURNEY TO DAMASCUS ............... 125

ARRIVAL IN DAMASCUS ........................ 126

THE PRISONERS MEET YAZD ............... 128

LATER... ................................................ 136

THE ZIYRAH OF IMM USAYN .................. 139

THE ZIYRAH OF SHR.................... 139

THE ZIYRAH OF WRITH ...................... 151

IMM USAYNS JOURNEY TO KARBAL...... 171

ABOUT THE MAP .........................................172

CHRONOLOGY OF THE LIFE OF IMMUSAYN ....................................................... 175

BIBLIOGRAPHY ........................................... 177


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PUBLISHERS WORD

This book holds a brief yet documented

narrative of events that took place in Mednah,Mecca, Karbal, Kfah, and Syria, and began inRajab, 60 A.H. (680 CE) and ended in Muarram 61.These events represented the ever greatestrevolution against tyranny and oppressionarevolution led by Imm usayn, son of Imm Ali ibnAbi Tlib and Lady Fimah az -Zahra, and grandsonof Prophet Mohammad, peace be upon them all.

The Ansariyan Publications, as being alwaysasked by the gentle readers to publish a bookrelating the whole story of Imm usayns revolutionand martyrdom, is pleased to introduce this work ofMr. Ali usayn Jalli who looked into the mostconsiderable reference books dealing with the eventsof the battle of Karbal and chose the most

important chapters of this tragic saga in a simple,comprehensive way.

As a matter of fact, the book was first published,in a form of a pamphlet, by The Open School,Chicago, but because of its opulent material, theAnsariyan Publications has thought proper torepublish it in this semblance.

Hence, the pamphlet has been reprinted in anew form, and the famous Ziyrahs (etiquettes of the


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pilgrimage to the holy shrines of the prophets andsaints) of shr and Writh were added at the endof the book.

Finally, we pray to God to guide all of us tofollow the path of Imm usayn with pure intents soas to gain the pleasures of this life and the life tocome, Inshallah.

Ansariyan PublicationsQum, 2002


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PREFACE

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

Muarram is the first month of the Islmiccalendar, during which Muslims commemorate themartyrdom of Imm usayn, grandson of the ProphetMuammad. usayn was born on the 3rd of Shabn,in the fourth year of Hijrah (625 CE). Hisgrandfather, Muammad, named him usayn, whichmeans one of beautiful character.

The Holy Qurn refers to the ProphetMuammad, his daughter Fimah, her husband Ali,and their two sons asan and usayn, in the Verse,Indeed, Allh wants to take away pollution fromyou, O, People of the House, and purify you [by aspecial kind of] purification.1

The Prophet indicated many times that thepeople of his House were the most qualified forleadership. Referring to asan and usayn, he said,These two are my sons. They are two Imms(leaders).

During the lifetime of the Prophet, Ab Sufyn,

his family, and other influential families of Mecca

1The Holy Qurn; Sura of Ahzab 33:33.


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tried to stop the Prophet in any way they could. Theyeven attempted to murder him, but they failed.Later, after the Prophets death, Ab Sufyns son

Muwiyah claimed to be the leader of the IslmicNation. Ali, the cousin of the Prophet and the trueleader of Muslims after the Prophets death,defended the Islmic Nation against Muwiyah whoformed an alliance with the Byzantine Empire andwaged war from his capital, Damascus. Although Alichallenged Muwiyah to settle their dispute

one-on-one rather than with armies, Muwiyahalways refused. Eventually, Ali was murderedduring his prayers.

To attempt justice and peace, Imm asan, thetrue leader of Muslims after Alis death, signed apeace treaty with Muwiyah on the 5th of Jumda I,in the year 41 Hijrah (661 CE). The following is atranslation of the original treaty:

In the name of God, the Most Kind, the MostMerciful. The following shows how asan Ibn 1 AliIbn Ab Tlib made peace with Muwiyah Ibn AbSufyn. He made peace with him on the conditionthat he takes over the command of the Muslims, rulethem according to the Book of God and the traditionof His Prophet; that Muwiyah would n ot pledge the

Caliphate to anyone; that the people would havepeace wherever they live in the land of God, whetherin Syria, the Yemen, Iraq or the ijz; that Aliscompanions and his followers, their persons, theirmoney, their wives, and their children would be safewherever they were; that Muwiyah pledges thisbefore God; that he would harbor no evil or harmful

schemes, whether in secret or in the open, towards

1Ibn means son of.


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There can be no doubt that the Imm knew that if hehad paid allegiance to a drunkard who was notqualified for leadership, the Islmic Nation would

have fallen apart. That is why the Imm made it veryclear to everyone that his mission was to save thepure principles of Islam and fight against the evilpeople who try to destroy its purity.

The Imms acute awareness of the political andsocial situation at that time is clear from his manysayings to the people and his sermons. Many times

people tried to convince the Imm not to go toKfah, but he always refused, even though he knewhe would be killed. Also, on several occasions whenthe Imms camp was faced with a militaryconfrontation, Imm usayn refused the requests ofhis people to initiate a battle and kill the enemy. TheImm refused and chose to avoid bloodshed by anymeans possible. Furthermore, the Imm repeatedlyinsisted upon his followers to leave and save theirown lives.

So, we can see that the Imm was not beingmanipulated by forces out of his control. As a matterof fact, he was conscious of every decision he madeand he always thought carefully before making anydecision, because his main concern was to preserve

the pure spirituality of the Islmic Nation. In short,the Imm knew that the people did not fullyunderstand how evil Yazd was, and he knew thatthe only way to awaken the people was by showingthem how far Yazd would go to stay in power thathe would even spill the blood of the grandson ofProphet Muammad.

In fact, the martyrdom of Imm usayn markedthe beginning of the end of the Umayyad dynasty.


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Preface 15

THE TEXT

The following text is a free translation of

portions of authentic historical documents intoEnglish, focusing primarily on English languageequivalence of the subject, in meaning, rather thanliteral translation. The translation consists mainly ofselections of text from Maqtal al-usayn, by AbdulRazzq al-Muqarram, but also includes portions ofal-Amli by Shaykh Ab Jafar al-Sadq, andMazrt Ahl al-Bayt. Al-Muqarrams work, Maqtalal-usayn, was compiled from a variety of sources. Itwas chosen for translation because the authorincludes extensive references to his sources. Fortranslation, the Hans Wehr Dictionary of ModernWritten Arabic was consulted, and the Library ofCongress System was used for transliteration ofArabic words.

The texts have been rearranged to conform toaccurate chronological order and have thereforebeen divided into three sections: Before Karbal, AtKarbal, and After Karbal. The only break in theorder of events is chapter six, Muslims sons.Although they were captured after the massacre ofKarbal, I feel it is appropriate to place them with

the chapter of their father. Also, all references in theoriginal to the Arabic words Ahl al-Bayt (literallypeople of the house) has been translated as Peopleof the House of the Prophet, or, the ProphetsHouse. The word Shia (literally, followers,referring to followers of the Prophets House) hasbeen translated as the Followers, as a collectivename for the group. For consistency, all references

to the Holy Qurn are detailed in a footnote bymentioning the Chapter (Sra) number and Verse(yah) number. Sayyid Muammad usayn Jalli was


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consulted for accurate English translations of theoriginal Arabic text. The map, by asan usayn Jalli,is included to improve geographical understanding

of the movement of Imm usayn, as well as probableroutes of the Umayyad Army between Karbal,Kfah, Damascus, and Mednah.

Ali H. Jalli

Chicago, 1994


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BEFORE KARBAL

YAZD DEMANDS ALLEGIANCE

Yazd, in order to assure his kingship, neededthe submission of his political rivals. He ordered thegovernor of Mednah to take the allegiances of Immusayn (grandson of Prophet Muammad andspiritual leader of the community) and Ibn az-Zubayr1 (a political rival of Yazd) right away, and ifthey refuse, to kill them. It was late in the night, butthe governor immediately sent a deputy to call them.He found them in Masjid al-Nabi, the masjid of theProphet and the center of the city. Ibn az-Zubayrbecame suspicious of the governors messengercoming at such a time.

Imm usayn immediately said, This must haveto do with the death of Muwiyah, and the governormust want us to pay allegiance to his son Yazdbefore anyone knows about it.

This became apparent to Ibn az-Zubayr when hewent to meet the governor. But, when Imm usaynwent, he went well armed, with thirty of his best

1Abdullah ibn az-Zubayr (624-692 CE) led a rebellion against

the Umayyad dynasty and was killed in a fighting against the

Umayyad army sent by Abdul -Melik ibn Marwn.


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followers, on horseback. Imm usayn told them towait at the door, and when they hear an argument,come in, otherwise, stay outside the door. As soon as

he came inside, the governor told him straight out,You have to pay allegiance to Yazd.

Imm usayn replied, A person like me shouldnot pay allegiance secretly. If you want, you can callall the people, in public, and ask everyone, and uswith them, to have one voice.

The governor accepted, but his secretary Marwnwarned him, If he leaves you and does not payallegiance now, you will not have power over himagain. Put him in prison until he pays allegiance, orkill him.

Imm usayn said, Whoever of you kills me willbe sinful and untruthful. Then, to the governor, hesaid, O governor! We are the People of theProphets House, and we are descendants of theProphet. Yazd is a drunkard who kills peoplewithout reason, and a person like me does not payallegiance to a person like him. However, let us meetin the morning and let us see, you and us, who ismost eligible for leadership.

Then, the governor said some harsh words, in a

loud voice, and when the thirty guards heard thenoise, nineteen of them broke the door, came in,took Imm usayn, and all thirty of the Immsguards rode off together with the Imm.

Marwn turned to the governor and said, You did not obey me, and you will not have power overthe Imm again.

Governor Wald said, Go and blame someoneelse, Marwn. You want me to kill Imm usaynbecause he refuses to pay allegiance? And you think


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Before Karbal 19

this is an easy thing to do, to get away with the bloodof usayn?

The Imm immediately went to visit the grave ofhis grandfather and continued praying untilmorning. During the night, governor Wald sentdeputies to Imm usayns house. They could notfind him, and they thought that he left the city. Inthe morning, the governors deputy found the Immat the grave of his grandfather. He came to Immusayn, advising him to pay allegiance because it was

better for his life.Imm usayn said, If Muslims pay allegiance to

Yazd, say goodbye to Islam.

The next night, Imm usayn went to the graveof his grandfather again and recited a few chaptersof the Holy Qurn. Then he said, O Lord! This isthe grave of Your Prophet Muammad, and I am theson of his daughter, and You know best what ishappening to me. I do not want anything but topromote the right and prevent the wrong. I ask Youby the right of this grave, that you choose for mewhat pleases You.

Then he cried and fell asleep. He had a dreamthat his grandfather Prophet Muammad foretold

what is going to happen in the future. When he wokeup in the morning, he went to his family, hisbrothers, al-Araf and Muammad Ibn al -anafiyyah,as well as Umm Salamah, and other lady members ofhis family. They were upset about his refusal topay allegiance to Yazd and his decision to leaveMednah for Mecca.

His argument to Umm Salamah was, If I do notleave now, eventually they are going to kill me. Ishould not give them excuses at this time.


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hoping. He said, O Lord! Save me from the unjustpeople!1

He chose to take the main route to Mecca. Sometried to convince him to take a less-traveled route, soit would not be so easy for the governor to find him.

Imm usayn refused, saying, I am not going todeviate from the common road, and God doeswhatever He decides.

THE IMM ENTERS MECCA

Imm usayn settled at the house of Abbs Ibn Abdul Mualib. The people of Mecca visited himand pilgrims visiting the city for the upcoming Hajjseason also visited him. Ibn az-Zubayr also visitedthe Imm, but he was jealous that the Imm wasattracting all the attention. Occasionally, Immusayn went to visit the grave of his grandmotherKhadjah, and prayed there. Before he left Mecca, hesent messages to the leaders of the city of Barah,Mlik Ibn Musma al-Bakri, al-Anaf Ibn Qays,al-Mundhir Ibn Jard, Masd Ibn Amr, Qays Ibnal-Haytham, and Amr ibn Ubayd Ibn Muammar.

Imm usayns letter read Indeed, God has

chosen Muammad from among His creation for Hisprophethood, then He took him to Himself. God hasadvised His Creatures through His Prophet. We arehis family, his followers, and heirs, and we deservehis succession more than anyone else. People choseme for this and I have accepted that, and I have sentmy deputy to you with this book, and I call you to

observe the book of God and the tradition of His

1The Holy Qurn; Sura of al-Qassass 28:21.


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Prophet, because his tradition has been denied andinnovation has been revived. If you listen, I willguide you to the right path.

Al-Mundhir Ibn Jard immediately turned inthe messenger to the authorities because he thoughtthe messenger was a spy of Ibn Ziyd, posing as theImms messenger in order to trap Imm usaynsfollowers. When the messenger was turned in,al-Mundhir realized that he was truly the Immsmessenger but it was too late, and Ibn Ziyd ordered

him to be hung that same night. Al-Anaf Ibn Qaysreplied to the Imm, saying, Be patient. Indeed, thepromise of God is truth, and hinted that now is notthe right time to stand up to Yazd.

Masd Ibn Amr gathered the tribes of Tamm,Hamdarah, and Sad and asked Bani Tamm, Whatdo you think of me?

They answered, You are the backbone of ourtribe, you are the head, and the honorable one.

He said, I have gathered you for consultation onan important matter.

They asked, What can we do?

He said, Muwiyah is dead, and you know what

Muwiyah has done and he appointed his son Yazdas his successor. He isa drunkard and a womanizer,and has been appointed as the leader for Muslimswithout the consent or knowledge of the people. Iswear by the name of God that I wish to fight inJihad against him. And, this is usayn, son of Ali,grandson of the Prophet of God, with a clear lineage,and firm knowledge, and excellent character, and heis most fit for this matter.


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I am going to go and get my armor and battlegear, and whoever wants to do whatever he wants, itis up to him.

Ban Hamdarah replied, We do what you do,we help you by our swords, and protect you by ourbodies!

Ban mir also said similar things, but the tribeof Bani Sad replied, Let us think about it, and wewill get back to you with a response.

So, Masd Ibn Amr wrote to Imm usaynsaying, You come and I am going to be your helper.All of our necks are in your obedience.

When Imm usayn read the reply, he said, MayGod protect you on the Day of Judgment.

Later, Masd gathered his army but, as theywere on their way to meet the Imm at Karbal, the

news reached them that Imm usayn was killed.Masd was very upset that he was not able to helpthe Imm in time.

One man in the city had ten children, and whenthe Imms messenger came with the message, hegathered his children and said, I am going to helpImm usayn. Whoever wants to help me is

welcome. Two of his sons, Abdullh andUbaydullah, accepted. The three of them joined theImm in Mecca and stayed with him until they werekilled with him at Karbal.

While the Imm was in Mecca, the people ofKfah sent letters inviting him, individually and ingroups, all asking the Imm to come to Kfah. They

stated that they were rejecting the governor ofKfah, an-Numn Ibn Bashr. The letters of


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invitation continued. In one day, he received sixhundred letters.

They insisted, but he never replied to any ofthem. The last letter that came to him was fromShibth Ibn Rabi, ajjj Ibn Abjar, Yazd Ibnal-Hrith, Azra Ibn Qays, Amr Ibn al -ajjj, andMuammad Ibn Umayr Ibn Utrib. Their letter said, Indeed, people are waiting for you. They have nochoice but you, O son of the Messenger of God!Hurry! Hurry! The land is green, the fruits are ripe,

and if you arrive, you arrive to an army totally loyalto you.

The Imm received two sacs of letters, 12,000 inall, and wrote one letter in response to all of them.He gave replies to the last two messengers of Kfah,saying:

In the name of God, the Most Kind, the MostMerciful. From usayn Ibn Ali, to the group ofMuslims and believers: Indeed, Hni and Sad cameto me carrying your letters and they are the lastmessengers that came from you. I understand everyepisode you have mentioned, and the arguments ofmost of you, We have no leader, come to us, andmay God guide us through you to the truth.

Therefore, I send to you my brother and cousin; atrustworthy one from my family, and I commandedhim to write to me about your situation and yourdecision. If he writes to me the decision of most ofthe people and the intelligent ones among you, asyou have written to me and I have read your letters,then I will come to you as soon as possible. Indeed, aleader should follow the Qurn and be just to the

people. He should believe in truth and strain himselffor the sake of God. Peace.


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Imms letter to them, bis Ibn Shabb al-Shkiristood up and said, I am not talking on behalf ofthese people and I do not know what they have in

mind and I do not deceive you. I swear by God I tellyou what I believe and what I will do, I will be therewhenever you call me and I fight for you against yourenemy, and I shall use my sword for you, until Ireach my Lord, and I do not need anything butnearness to God.

abb Ibn Muhir stood and said, You said

what is in your heart briefly, and I swear by God thatI say the same thing.

Sad Ibn Abdullh al-anafi stood and saidsimilar things and then people paid allegiance toMuslim, and they were counted as 18,000, and inanother report 25,000, and in Shibis report,40,000. Then, Muslim wrote a letter to the Imm and

sent it with bis Ibn Shabb al-Shkiri, explainingthe situation and the intense desire of the people forhis arrival. In his letter he said, A leader does notlie to his people. The people of Kfah, so far, havepaid allegiance to me, 18,000 of them, so depart forKfah as you receive my letter.

This happened twenty-seven nights before

Muslims death. The Kufans wrote to the Imm,Continue on your way. You have 100,000 swordshere. Please do not hesitate to come as soon aspossible.

Meanwhile, those who were allied with theUmayyads, such as Umar Ibn Sad Ibn Abi Waqqswrote to Yazd telling him of the movement ofMuslim and the people of Kfah and pointing outthat his present governor, an-Numn Ibn Bashr isnot fit to stand against them. Yazd consulted his


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Christian chief advisor, Sirjawn. He advised Yazd toreplace the governor with Ubaydullah Ibn Ziyd whowas a known bastard. Marjnah 1is his mother and he

is called Ibn Ziyd even though the identity of hisfather is not known. Sirjawn reminded Yazd thathis father, Muwiyah adopted Ibn Ziyd and trainedhim in the military, and added that it wasMuwiyahs wish to use Ibn Ziyd. Then, he gaveYazd a letter sealed by Muwiyah, predicting theimportance of Ibn Ziyd in difficult situations. Yazd

immediately opened the letter and implemented hisfathers plan.

Ubaydullah Ibn Ziyd was in Barah, not farfrom Kfah. Yazd wrote to him, Go to Kfah,capture Muslim Ibn Aql, and see what isappropriate to imprison him, send him to exile, orkill him.

Ibn Ziyd went with five hundred people fromBarah and he did not delay or stop for any reason.Some of his people got sick on the way, and he leftthem to die in the desert. When he arrived in al-Qdisiyyah, his servant, Mahrn, fell behind, and IbnZiyd left him to die.

Before he reached the city, Ibn Ziyd dressed up

like Imm usayn so that, when he passed throughthe guards and the people, they would think that hewas the Imm. They came to him and said, O,grandson of the Prophet of God, but he did notreply at all. When he reached Kfah from the Najafentrance, people came to him welcoming him withone voice, but he did not reply and continued

1 Marjana, Ubaidullah ibn Ziyds mother, was such a notorious

prostitute that everybody all over the Islmic State had heard of her

name.


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immediately towards Qar al-lmrah, the castle ofthe governor. When he knocked on the door, thegovernor an-Numn did not open. Instead, he went

up to the roof and said, O Son of the Messenger ofGod! I am not going to welcome you in this castle!

Ibn Ziyd said, Open the door, your night willbe too long.

When someone heard him and realized that itwas a trick, he said, O people! I swear by the Kabah

that this is Ibn Ziyd, not Imm usayn! The people all ran away to their houses, and in

the morning Ibn Ziyd announced a meeting inMasjid al-Kfah, and made a speech warning themand encouraging the enemies of the Prophets Houseby giving bribes.

He said, Anyone who helps the enemy of the

governor and does not report that to us will behanged in front of his own house!

MUSLIM STANDS

Ibn Ziyd immediately went hunting afterMuslim. When Muslim heard about the speech of Ibn

Ziyd and his threat, he decided to find a new placeto stay. That night, he secretly left the house ofMukhtr and went to the house of Hni Ibn Urwahwho was Sheikh of the tribe of Murd. He had 4,000cavalry and 8,000 infantry, not including their otherallies, which would be 30,000 all together. At thattime, a man named Shark Ibn Abdullh al-Awarwas also visiting Hni. Ibn Ziyd and he were both

from Barah, so when Shark became sick Ibn Ziydcame to visit.


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Shark told Muslim that this was the perfecttime to kill Ibn Ziyd. While they were talking, IbnZiyd came in. Muslim hid. Shark was nervous and

said something to signify to Muslim to come and killIbn Ziyd.

Ibn Ziyd looked at Hni and said, It seems yourcousin (Shark) is hallucinating.

Hni replied, He has been talking nonsense fora while, ever since he got sick. He does not know

what he is saying.After Ibn Ziyd left, Shark asked Muslim, Why

did you not come to kill him?

Muslim replied, For two reasons: First, I heardthe Hadith of the Prophet saying, Innal mn qaydul-fatk (a believer does not assassinate anybody bydeception), and second, Hnis wife took my hand

and made me swear to God not to kill him, cryingand begging me not to.

When Hni heard that, he said, Y wailh! Shehas killed me, killed herself, and killed everybody bywhat she has done!

Shark died after three days of his sickness. IbnZiyd honored him at his funeral. Later, when Ibn

Ziyd realized that Shark was helping to hideMuslim, he wanted to exhume his body, but he didnot because it was buried near the grave of one of hisown relatives.

Meanwhile, the Followers were secretlycontacting Muslim in Hnis house. Finally, Ibn Ziydhired a slave named Maqil and gave him 3,000

Dinars to report on the Followers.Maqil disguised himself as a person from Syria

and said he was the slave of a tribe of Followers


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called Dhul-Kil and God has given him guidance toconvert, and when he heard that there was someonefollowing Imm usayn, he came to help. He said he

had money to give to the representative of the Imm.

Maqil went to the masjid and infiltrated thepeople who were devoted to prayer. He saw IbnAwsajah al-Asadi and got close to him. He told himthat he had money for the Imm and he did not knowwhat to do with it. So, Ibn Awsajah prayed for himand led him to Muslim Ibn Aql. Muslim gave it to

Abi Thumlah al-Saidi who was in charge of money.Everyday, this Maqil came to Muslim in Hnishouse and reported to Ibn Ziyd all the activities ofthe Followers.

HNI IBN URWAH

When Ibn Ziyd was sure of Muslims residencein Hnis house, he sent spies to watch the activitiesoutside and inside the house and see who comes andwho does not. Then, he sent some people to Hni,saying, The governor missed you and he askedabout your health and we have told him that you arean old man and cannot come, but he said he wantedto see you. They insisted that Hni would visit the

governor. He refused, but they insisted and finallysucceeded. When he arrived in the castle, Ibn Ziydsaid to him, A traitor comes on his feet!

Shuray al-Qai sat by his side as Ibn Ziyd saidto Hni, You have brought Muslim Ibn Aql to yourhouse! You have gathered arms for him!

Hni denied. When the argument became heated,Ibn Ziyd called Maqil. Then Hni said to Ibn Ziyd,You know I know your father, and I would like you


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to be honored, I would like to advise you. You andyour people should leave this city and go to Shm(Syria) because now we have someone who is more

deserving to be obeyed than you and your friends.

Ibn Ziyd said, You are not going to leave meuntil you bring him to me.

Hni said, If he was under my feet, I would notlift my feet for you.

Ibn Ziyd threatened him with death, and Hni

replied, That would be a declaration of war. Ibn Ziyd took his sword and cut Hnis nose

with it, then ordered the guards to take him down tothe dungeon.

Amr Ibn ajjj, Hnis brother in law, heard thatHni was killed. He and a group of his tribe went andsurrounded the castle. Ibn Ziyd ordered Shuray

al-Qai to announce that Hni is alive and not dead.When he did that, they left, but he never told themthat Hni was in the dungeon. When Shuray went tothe dungeon to see Hni, Hni said to him, Ten ofmy people would take me away from this.

Shuray did not even let Hni know that hispeople actually did come, but they were tricked.

Instead, he told Hni not to worry and everythingwill be fine.

When Muslim heard the news about Hni he leftHnis house and called his followers. They gathered,and there were 4,000 in all. They chanted the sloganof the Muslims at the battle of Badr during the timeof the Prophet. Muslim divided them into four

groups and they marched towards the castle. IbnZiyd had only thirty people. He locked all the doorsand told Shuray al-Qai to deceive the people.


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Shuray went to the roof of the castle andannounced, O people of Kfah! Do not killyourselves. An army of reinforcements is coming

from the capital Damascus!

One by one they left, and the four thousandshrank to three hundred, then to thirty, then whenMuslim started praying the Esh Evening- Prayer,there were only three people behind him. When hefinished praying, there was no one left. He walkedaround the streets of Kfah, not knowing were to go.

When Ibn Ziyd realized that his trick worked,he sent his spies to look from the high towers of thecastle to check the reaction of the people. When henoticed that not many people were around, heordered soldiers to see if any of the people left wererebellious. Then he tied torches to ropes and lowered

them from the roof of the castle over the wall of themasjid to see if there was anybody hiding there.

When they could not find anyone, Ibn Ziydannounced that anyone who gives shelter to Muslimwould be killed, and he ordered his soldiers tosearch all the houses and capture Muslim. Then, heordered guards at the entrance of the city to catch all

of those who were on Muslims side. Meanwhile, Mukhtr Ibn Ubaydullah al-Thaqafi

was in his village, Khatwniyyah. Ibn Ziyd orderedeveryone to denounce Imm usayn and carry thewhite flag of surrender, and everyone did, includingMukhtr, but Ibn Ziyd ordered to imprison Mukhtr


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and Amr Ibn al-Hrith, and hit them with his sword.They remained in prison until the day of Ashura.1

Muslim walked alone in the streets of Kfah inthe neighborhood of Kindah. After some time, hebecame tired and stood in the middle of the street.The owner of one of the houses there was a womancalled awah who had a son named Bill. She waslooking for her son to come home but she sawMuslim standing in the street. She did not recognizehim at first, but when she realized that he was

Muslim Ibn Aql, she gave him shelter, fed him, andkept him in a different room than her sons. Whenher son came home and saw his mother going to theother room, he asked her what was going on, and sherefused to tell him. He kept insisting until, aftermaking him promise to keep it secret, she told him.

But, in the morning, her son Bill went and told

Ibn Ziyd where Muslim was. Ibn al-Ashath camewith seventy soldiers to capture Muslim at dawnwhile he was praying. When he heard horsesgalloping, Muslim knew that he was discovered. Hefinished his prayer and said to awah, You havedone what you should do, may the Messenger of Godintercede for you. Yesterday, I dreamed that myuncle Ali, Leader of the Faithful, told me: You will

be with me tomorrow.

The soldiers got off their horses and came in,but Muslim went to them, fought them, and forcedthem out of the house. He fought bravely, pushingall of the soldiers back into the street and killingforty-one of them. He fought with the strength of a

1Day of shr is the tenth of Muarram, celebrated as a day of

mourning (the anniversary of the martyrdom of Imam

Hussayn.)


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man that knows it is his last fight. He cut, hit, andpushed soldiers out of his way. Some of them, hegrabbed by their hands and threw them onto the

rooftops. With more than half of his troops dead andthe rest injured, the leader sent a message to IbnZiyd requesting more troops.

Ibn Ziyd responded, What? I sent you out toget one man, not an army!

The leader replied, Do you think you want me

to catch a grocery boy of Kfah? You want me tocapture a sword of the People of Muammad!

Muslim fought one-on-one and hit Bukayr twice.Bukayrs sword hit Muslim on his mouth and cut hisupper lip. Muslim hit him on his head and neck andkilled him. They realized that they could not get himone by one, so they went on the rooftops and hit himwith stones. Then, they set reeds on fire and threwthem at him.

He said:

Iswear I am not going to die except as a freeman!

Though death is a bad thing,

Everyone faces difficulty some day.Hot and cold would mix one day.

His soul would return to him, and bepermanent.

I am afraid that I would be lied to, ordeceived.

He became weak from his wounds and loss ofblood and he leaned against a wall. They continuedshooting arrows and throwing rocks until he said,


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Why do you throw rocks on me and we are thefamily of the Prophets? We are not unbelievers!

Ibn al-Ashath, the chief of the army, came closeto him and said, Do not kill yourself, you are undermy protection.

Muslim answered, I am not going to becaptured as long as I have power. No! That will neverhappen!

Muslim attacked him and the chief ran away.

Once he retreated away from Muslim, the chief gavethe order and the soldiers all attacked at once fromall sides. Someone hit Muslim from behind. Hefought and retreated backwards until he fell into acovered pit that they dug as a trap for him. After hefell into the pit, they took his sword from his handand captured him. When they took his sword awayfrom him, he cried.

MUSLIM MEETS IBN ZIYD

They brought him to Ibn Ziyd and when Muslimsaw water he asked for some. Bhili said to him, Youare not going to taste this water until you taste thefire of Hell.

Muslim said, Who Are You? You are the onewho deserves the fire! And sat at the wall of thecastle. Later, a woman named Umrah gave him abowl of water. Whenever Muslim tried to drink, thebowl became filled with his own pouring blood. Afterthe third time trying to drink the water, all of histeeth fell into the bowl. He gave up and put the bowl

down. Then, the guards took him inside and orderedhim to say Salaam Alaykum to the new governor,Ibn Ziyd. Muslim replied, Shut up! He is your


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governor. I say Salaam to whoever follows thetruth!

Ibn Ziyd laughed and said, If you say SalaamAlaykum or not, you are going to die anyway.

Muslim said, If you kill me, there have beenbetter people than me killed by worse people thanyou.

Ibn Ziyd said, You have rebelled against yourleader, you have divided Muslims and have created

disorder.Muslim said, Indeed, Muwiyah and his son

Yazd have divided Muslims and created disorder.And your father is the beginning of disorder! I wishto reach martyrdom at the hands of the worst personin the world.

Then Muslim asked someone in the court to

write a will for him. He looked at the people andrecognized Umar Ibn Sad 1 and asked if he wouldcarry his will but Umar refused. Ibn Ziyd order edhim to take it because he wanted to find out forhimself what Muslim would write.

Muslim went to Umar and said, First pay theloan I took when I came to Kfah, six hundred

Dirhams. Second, take my body from Ibn Ziyd andgive it an Islmic burial. Third, write to Imm usaynand tell him what happened to me.

Umar Ibn Sad immediately went to Ibn Ziydand revealed it to him. Ibn Ziyd said to Umar IbnSad, The trustworthy one never betrays you butsometimes you trust a liar.

1Both Umar and Muslim were from Medina


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Then, he came to Muslim and said, You came topeople and divided them.

Muslim replied, No! Never! I did not come forthat, but people of this city claim that your fatherhas killed their best people and we came to bringjustice and to implement the Qurn.

Ibn Ziyd said, That is not your business, wewere giving them justice.

Muslim said, God knows that you are not

truthful and you kill people without justice. Then Ibn Ziyd cursed Imm Ali and Imm

usayn, and Muslim said, You and your fatherdeserve that more than anyone else. Ibn Ziydordered a man from Syria to take Muslim to the roof,cut his head off, and throw his body down into thestreet. He took him to the roof while Muslim was

saying, Subhnallh!1

O God, judge between us andthese people who betrayed us, deceived us, anddenied us.Then he turned his face to Mednah andsaid, Asslamu ela al-usayn.2 The Syrian killedhim and dropped his head and his body to theground.

When he killed Muslim, he saw a strange and

horrifying vision. After he killed Muslim, the mancame to Ibn Ziyd, afraid, and said, When I killedhim I saw a man pointing to me, and it scared me.

Ibn Ziyd waved him away and ordered Hni tobe taken to the market. They tied Hni up and tookhim, and no one helped him. Hni struggled andmanaged to untie the ropes. He got out of the ropes,picked up a stick, and fought with it, but the guards

1Subhanallah Praise be to God- is an expression of surprise.2Salaam peace- be upon Hussayn.


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lunged at him all at once and killed him with theirswords.

Ibn Ziyd ordered the bodies of both Muslim andHni to be dragged up and down the streets of Kfah,and then hung upside down in a place calledKunnsah. He sent their heads to Yazd who hungthem at the city wall of Damascus, his capital.

With the heads, Ibn Ziyd sent a letter to Yazd,Thank God that the leader of the faithful (Amir ul-

Muminin)

1

was successful. We captured Muslim inthe house of Hni. I scattered spies around themuntil I found them. I cut off their heads and sentthem to you by two people who are reliable, and theLeader of the faithful can ask them about thedetails.

Yazd replied to Ibn Ziyd, You did what a wiseman has to do, you spoke the truth, as I believed inyou. I asked the two messengers the details and Ihave heard that usayn Ibn Ali has gone towardsIraq. Keep your eyes open and kill people whom youare suspicious of. Do not wait for any proof. usaynis the problem. Either you fight him or you send himto me.

MUSLIMS SONS

Two of Muslims sons were in Kfah. Al-Sadq(d. 381/991 CE) narrates in his book, al- Amali, byhis chain of Isnd from an old man of Kfah, whosaid, When the Imm was killed, two of Muslims

1 This title, which means the leader of the faithful ones,

though Prophet Mohammad said it to Imam Ali exclusively,

was used to every one to come to power in the Islmic State.


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children, Muammad and Ibrahim, were captured.Ibn Ziyd put them in jail and ordered to give them ahard time. The two kids fasted all day and every

night they were given one loaf of bread and water.They stayed that way for about a year. One night,they talked with each other and decided to tell thejailer about their identity so he might make it easyfor them. That night, the youngest one asked theman, Do you know who Muammad was?

He said, Of course I know Muammad. He is the

Prophet of God.

Do you know Jafar Ibn Abi Tlib?

Of course, I know him. He is known asDhul-Janayn1-the one with two wings. -

Do you know Ali Ibn Abi Tlib?

Of course I know him, He is the cousin of the

Prophet.

Then he said, O Guard! We are children of theProphet. We are the children of Muslim Ibn Aqland you are being so hard on us.

The old man collapsed at their feet and said, O,the family of the Prophet! The door of the prison will

be open for you. Go wherever you want to go.

1 Prophet Mohammad honored Jafar Ibn Abi Tlib with the

title of Dhul-Janahayn (the one with two wings) after he had

been martyred in the batt le of Muta and lost his two hands

there. Hence, as Prophet Mohammad foretold, God will giveJafar two wings instead of his two cut off hands in Paradise.

With these two wings, Jafar will fly in Paradise anywhere he

likes.


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He gave them water and bread and showed themthe way and advised them not to move in thedaytime and go only in the night.

One night, after they escaped, they ended up atthe door of an old woman. They said, O, old woman!We are strangers here and we do not know the way,would you let us with you for one night and in theday we will leave?

She sheltered them and when she asked them

who they were they said, We are the family of theProphet and we ran away from the prison of IbnZiyd.

She said, I have a son-in-law who was on theside of Ibn Ziyd in Karbal and I am afraid that hewould catch you.

She brought them food and water and they

collapsed and fell asleep. During the night, theson-in-law came home unexpectedly. She asked himWhat brought you here at this time?

He said, I am searching for two prisoners whoran away from Ibn Ziyds prison, and Ibn Ziyd hasannounced 1,000 Dirhams for the head of each ofthem. I am tired and I could not find them.

She warned him, That is not the right thing todo with the family of the Prophet.

He said, You seem to be taking sides, and youseem to know where they are. Let us take you to IbnZiyd!

She answered, What would the governor wantwith me?

He said, You have to open the door and give meshelter until I find these people.


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She opened it and fed him. During the night heheard the childrens snoring and he searched thehouse until he found them.

The younger one asked, Who are you?

He said, I am the owner of the house. Who areyou?

The younger one said to the older one, Get up,it seems that we are trapped!

Again the man insisted, Who are you?

They answered, If we tell you the truth, will youleave us alone?

He said, Of course. You are in my house and theclemency of the Messenger of God is for you.

After they told him everything, the man said,You are indeed trapped, I praise God that He gave

me success to capture you!

He tied them with ropes and in the morning hecalled his black slave, Fulay and asked him to takethe two kids and kill them. While the man watched,the slave took them near the bank of the river to killthem.

One of the kids said to him, We see that youhave the color of Bill, the caller to prayer of theProphet, our grandfather.

Fulay asked, Are you of the family of theProphet Muammad? What brought you here?

When they explained their story to him, hebecame very upset. Then, he fell to his knees, kissed

their feet, and said, I am not going to do what thisman says!


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He threw his sword far away, jumped into theriver, and swam across to the other bank.

Then, he stood up and said, I am not your slaveanymore!

After that, the man became upset that he lost hisslave. He took the kids back to his home, called hisson, and said to him, I have collected the wealth ofthe world for you. Take these two kids to the riverand kill them and bring back their heads.

While the son was taking them to the river, oneof the kids asked him, Are you not afraid of the Dayof Judgment? We are the family of the Prophet. Whydoes your father want to kill us?

When the son realized that they were telling thetruth, he did exactly as the slave did, and ran awayswimming across to the other bank. When the man

saw this, he said, I have to kill you myself. The kids asked him, Why do you not sell us in

the street and use the money for yourself withoutmaking the Prophet your enemy on the Day ofJudgment?

He said, The governor, Ibn Ziyd, would giveme 2,000 pieces and you two will not sell for 2,000!

The kids asked, Why do you not take us alive toIbn Ziyd? Let him decide what to do with us. Whydo you not have some mercy on us?

He said, I have no mercy for you in my heart.

They asked if they could pray for a few minutes.He laughed and said, Go pray as much as you like!

Prayer will not help you!


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They prayed four units, then raised their facestowards heaven, and said, O, God! The best Judge!Judge between us and this man by truth.

When they were done, he chopped off the headof the older one first. The younger one hugged hisdead brothers body. The man said, Do not cry, I amgoing to let you join him soon, and then killed him.He dropped the bodies in the river and took theheads to Ibn Ziyd.

Ibn Ziyd was sitting on his throne. When herecognized the heads, he asked, How did you getthem?

After the man explained the whole story, IbnZiyd said, So, they were your guests and you didnot respect the rights of guests in your own home?

Then Ibn Ziyd said, God is indeed the best

judge, and you deserve to be killed in the same spotwhere you killed them. Why did you not bring themto me?

He ordered someone to take him to the samespot and kill him. While the guards took him downthe streets of Kfah, children followed behind him,yelling at him and telling everyone that he is the

killer of the People of the House of the Prophet.According to Mazrt Ahl ul-Bayt, page 93,

Their grave site is near al-Musayyab, on the way toBaghdad. Their names are Muammad and Ibrahim.Apparently, their bodies were taken out of the riverand buried immediately by some kind Muslims.


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THE IMMS JOURNEY TO KARBAL

While in Mecca, Imm usayn received the newsthat Yazd had sent Umar Ibn Sad Ibn al -As asdelegate of the caliph to the Hajj pilgrims and thatamong his duties was to kill Imm usayn, on thespot, wherever he finds him. Because of this, theImm decided to leave Mecca before the pilgrimage

season. Before he left, he gave a sermon:

In the name of God. All Praises to God... Deathis written on the children of Adam as a necklace isdesigned for the neck of a girl. I see myself to be tornby beasts between Karbal and Nawwis. WhateverCod likes, we will do. We are patient with His test.We are not going to deviate from the teachings of the

Messenger of God. Whoever wishes to come with us,he may. I am going to leave tomorrow morning.

He left Mecca on the 8th of Dhul-ijjah, 60 ofHijrah (680 CE). With him were his family, hisfollowers from the ijz area, Barah, and Kfah.Many dignitaries of Mecca tried to change his mind.His cousin Abdullh Ibn Abbs asked him to wait,

and warned him, You might be killed, and thepeople of Iraq are not reliable. At least go someother place, such as Yemen, where your father hadfollowers.

The Imm replied, O my cousin! I know thatyou are sincere, but I have decided on this journey.

Ibn Abbs said, Then, do not take your

children and your family, I am afraid if you takethem, they may see you die.


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reply but his wife, Dilham, told him to go to theImm and see what he wants. Zuhayr went to himand immediately came back to his people with a

happy face. He ordered to take his camp closer to theImms camp and told his wife, Go join your family, I do not want any of you to be harmed in any waybecause of me.

Then, he faced his people again and said,Whoever wants to help the grandson of theMessenger of God should come with me. Otherwise,

Goodbye!He revealed a conversation he had with Salmn

al-Farsi long ago. He said, We went with Salmn inBalanjar. Salmn told me When you reach Immusayn and are able to help him and fight on his side,you should be more than happy to.

His wife said, Whatever you decide, I go withyour decision. Please remember me on the Day ofJudgment with Imm usayns grandfather.

Also at this stop, the news of the murder ofMuslim and Hni Ibn Urwah reached the Imm. TheImm was deeply upset and many times said, Godbless them. He and other people cried with the sadnews, the ladies wailed, and the whole camp was in

mourning.

Then, two of his companions stood and said, Ograndson of the Prophet of God! Please change yourdecision and do not go to Kfah.

Others disagreed and said, We have to continueand die the same way as Muslim and Hni died forthe cause.

The Imm listened to each conversation andlooked deeply into their faces and then said, There


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ZUBALAHThere was still no reply from his thirdmessenger to Kfah, Qays Ibn Mashar al-aydwi,but here, at Zubalah, the news reached the Imm thatAbdullh Ibn Yaqar, his second messenger toKfah, was killed.

When he was captured he was sent to Ibn Ziyd,

and Ibn Ziyd ordered him to go to the pulpit andcurse the liar son of liars. Abdullh showed hiswillingness to do so, but when he went up he said,O, people! I am the messenger of usayn son ofFimah, to help him against son of Marjnah! (IbnZiyd)

Ibn Ziyd ordered him to be toppled from the

top of the castle. He fell and broke most of his bones,but he was still able to talk. A man name d Lakhmi,one of Ibn Ziyds soldiers, came and cut off hishead. When the people in the street asked him whyhe did that, he said, To put him out of his misery.

After this news, the Imm announced, Anyonewho has joined this caravan for any purpose other

than dying for this cause should leave now. Andpeople left him except for those who chose to stay,his family, and his companions.

BAN AL AQABAH

Here the Imm announced, I am going to bekilled and I saw in a dream that dogs are going to eat

my flesh and the worst of those dogs will be analbino dog.


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horses water except for the last animal. Theinexperienced rider of this last camel came to theImm, not knowing how to water his animal, and

Imm usayn told him, Anikh al-Rawiyah.

In the Hijazi Arabic dialect, it means loosen theropes around the camels neck (so it can drink), butin the Kufi Arabic dialect it means loosen the neckof the water bag. So, the soldier loosened the knotaround the water bag and the water spilled out.

Then, Imm usayn did it himself and showedthe soldier how to loosen the ropes and let the cameldrink. Then, after all of the army and their animalswere finished drinking, the Imm stood and said, Idid not come here until all of your letters came tome, and the letters say that you do not have anyleader and that you need me to help teach youguidance. If that is still your demand, give me

something that shows that you are truthful in yourpromises, and if you do not like me, I will return towhere I came from.

The soldiers were silent. No one spoke a word.Then, ajjj Ibn Masrq made the call to prayer forthe Dhuhr Noon- Prayer. The Imm said to urr,You are the chief of your army. You go and pray

with your own people.urr replied, No. We pray with your prayer.

and urr, with all of his troops, prayed with theImm.

When the Imm finished the prayer, he stoodand said, O people! Fear God and find the truth andfollow it. We are the members of the House of the

Prophet. We deserve trust more than those who doinjustice. If you do not like us or you ignore ourrights or you have changed your minds from


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The Imm replied, Indeed, the Umayyads calledour most honorable kin bad names, and I waspatient. Then, they took my wealth, and I was

patient. And they sought my blood and I ran away.Indeed, by God, they are going to kill me. Then, Godwill humiliate them, making them the mosthumiliated nation in the world.

ADHIB AL HAJANAT

Here, four people from Kfah met the Imm. TheImm asked them about the situation of the peopleand they told him, The dignitaries were bought bybribes. As for the common people, their hearts arewith you, but their swords are against you.

They told him how Qays Ibn Mashar al-aydwiwas killed. Then, the Imm recited, Among thebelievers are men who are true to whatever covenantthey made with God. Some of then have fulfilled[their covenant], some of them are waiting [to doso], and have not made any changes [in thereligion].1

Taramma Ibn Uday al-Tay said to the Imm, Isaw people before leaving Kfah and asked what thecommotion was. They said that they were being

recruited and sent to fight against the Imm. I urgeyou, by God, not to go to them. I do not see anyonewith you. I request you to come with us to ourmountain called Aja. We were able to isolateourselves from the kings of Ghassn and imyar. Ifyou stay with us for ten days, I guarantee you that20,060 of my tribe, the Tays would follow you anddo whatever you order.

1The Holy Qurn; Sura of al-Ahzab 33:23.


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The Imm replied, O! Aging and gray hair cameto me soon.

When they sat, the Imm said, Your people havewritten to me and asked my help and invited me tocome to them. Now, it appears that it is not the case.You have sins in your life. Do you wish to erase themby repentance?

Jufi said, What is that, O son of the Messengerof God!

The Imm replied, You help the son of thedaughter of the Prophet and fight by his side.

Jufi said, Indeed, I know that whoever followsyou will be happy in the Hereafter, but what can I doto help? I saw no one in Kfah who would help you,and I do not like to die. Therefore, I give you myhorses as gifts to you. This horse of mine, which is

called Malhaqah, is the best horse to give victory tome, and I was not willing to give it to anybody in mylife.

The Imm replied, If you are not willing to fightwith us, we do not need your horses and we do notneed you. Then, the Imm quoted, And I am notone who takes the support of people who are

astray.1

The Imm said to Jufi I do not take those who

are astray as helpers. Now I will advise you as youhave advised me. If you are able to avoid our call andnot watch us die, do so. Indeed, whoever hears usand does not help us will go to hell.

1The Holy Qurn; Sura of al-Kahf 18:51.


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AT KARBAL

ARRIVAL IN KARBAL

At Karbal, urr and his army blocked thecaravan of Imm usayn from going any farther. urrsaid, This is near the river and you cannot gofarther.

The horses of the Imms group stopped, and

Imm usayn asked Zuhayr, What is the name ofthis place

Zuhayr answered, Taf.

The Imm asked, Is there any other name forthis place?

Zuhayr said, It is also called Karbal.

The Imms eyes watered and he said, O, God! Iseek refuge with God from Karb (grief) and Bala(tribulation). Here is the place in which we will setour camp; here is the place where our blood will beshed. Here is the place where our graves will be. Thisis what my grandfather has told me.


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under his leadership as they were during his fathersrule. His son, Yazd, honors people. He makes themrich! He has increased your salaries by a hundred

times, and he has ordered me to increase them evenmore if you go to fight his enemy usayn. Listen tohim and obey him.

He immediately distributed money among thesoldiers and then went to Nukhaylah. He campedthere, and ordered Ibn Namr al-Tammi and ajjjIbn Abjar and Shimr Ibn Dhil-Jawshan and Shibth

Ibn Rabi to go and join Umar Ibn Sad. Shibth (oneof those who wrote letters inviting the Imm)announced that he was sick.

Ibn Ziyd called him and told him, You want toplay a double trick. If we succeed, you will tell us youwere sick and could not help us. To usayns peopleyou will say you helped them. Come here so I can see

for myself. My people tell me you are not sick. When Ibn Ziyd saw him, he did not see any sign

of sickness and ordered him to go immediately. Afterthat, He ordered five hundred troops under theleadership of Zijr Ibn Qays at the gate of Kfah toprevent other people from leaving and helping theImm.

However some were able to go. One of them wasAmir Ibn Abi Salamah al-Dalani who crossed thegateway. When they tried to stop him, he fought withthem and was able to reach Karbal and fight toprotect Imm usayn.

By this time, Shimr left for Karbal with 4,000troops, Yazd Ibn Rikb with 2,000, Hoayn Ibn

Numayr with 4,000, Shibth Ibn Rabi with 1,000,Kalb Ibn Talha with 3,000, ajjj Ibn Abjar with1,000, Madhair Ibn Rahinah with 3,000, and Nar


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Ibn arshah with 2,000 fighters. By the 6th day ofthe month of Muarram, there were 20,000 troopsunder the leadership of Umar Ibn Sad, and Ibn

Ziyd kept sending more troops until the total was30,000 soldiers.

On the day of the 6th, Ibn Ziyd wrote to UmarIbn Sad, I would like to know your news everymorning and every night until you finish usayn.

Umar immediately redistributed his army

around the Euphrates to block the Imms camp fromaccess to water. The Imm could not bear to hear thechildren crying. They were not close enough to theriver to drink, but the camp was close enough to seeand smell the water. The Imm realized that thecamp might even be close enough to have waterunderground. He used one of the tent poles and ahammer to dig a well, hammering the tent pole

deeper and deeper until water sprang from the pipe.But, after some time, the water stopped.

Ibn Ziyd wrote to Umar Ibn Sad, I heard thatusayn is digging a well. He and his followers drankfrom that well. The moment you receive my letter,prevent them from digging any wells and make it asdifficult as possible for them! He sent five hundred

of his own troops to deliver the message and toguard the Euphrates.

THE SEVENTH OF MUARRAM

The Imm and his followers were totally cut offfrom water and their throats burned from thirst. At

this point the Imm asked Abbs to bring somewater for the women and children. Abbs and twentyothers each took a water skin and, during the night,


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Umar said, I am afraid my village will beconfiscated.

The Imm said, I will give you a better villagefrom my property in the Hijz area.

Umar said, I have children and I am afraid IbnZiyd is going to kill them.

The Imm, knowing that his excuses were fake,said to Umar, God is going to order someone to killyou in your bed and you will not get even a handful

of the wheat of Iraq.

Umar said sarcastically, Barley is enough forme.

Umar Ibn Sad sent a letter to Ibn Ziyd and init he claimed, The Imm agrees to return back to theplace he came from or any other place in the armycamp and be like one of the individual Muslims or

come to the leader of the faithful Yazd and put hishand in his hand so they can see what they do toeach other. He added, That is the best solution foryou and for the whole nation.

Ibn Ziyd gathered his council and said, This isnot a bad idea.

Shimr interrupted him, No! This cannot be! Ifyou do not get him now, you will not be able to gethim again! He is weak now and you are now strong!

Ibn Ziyd immediately wrote to Umar Ibn SadIndeed, I did not send you to usayn as a mediat ornor to give him promises. Look! If usayn and hisfollowers accept my rule, take them alive and sendthem to me. If they do not, attack them, kill them,and cut off their hands, feet, noses and other parts.If usayn is killed, march the horses on his c hest andhis back. I do not think that would hurt him after


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death! If you do so, you have your reward with us. Ifyou do not, you must immediately resign and ShimrIbn Dhil-Jawshan will be your replacement as the

leader of the Army. I have ordered him to d o so.

Shimr brought the letter to Umar Ibn Sad whoread it and said, You are responsible for this! Wehave planned for a solution and you destroyed it!Indeed, by God, usayn is not going to submit.Indeed, the soul of his father is between his chest.

Shimr said, Tell me, are you going to obey yourleader or not?

Umar said, I am going to do it, and I will notlet you have that honor. You take leadership of theinfantry.

SHIMRS TRICK

Shimr had a distant relation to Abbs on hismothers side. He wanted to divide Imm usaynsfamily. Shimr went near the Imms camp and yelledin a loud voice, Where are the children of oursister?

Abbs and his brothers did not answer when

they heard him yelling. The Imm asked, Why doyou not answer him? He is your relative.

So, Abbs and his brothers went out and said,What do you want? What is the matter with you?

He said, O children of my sister! You haveclemency. Do not kill yourselves With usayn. Cometo the obedience of the leader of the faithful Yazd.

Abbs said, God curse you and your clemency!You give us clemency and you do not give clemencyto the grandson of the Prophet of God? And you are


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asking us to enter the obedience of the cursed peopleand those who are children of cursed people?

Then, Abbs left him and came back to thetents.

When Abbs got back, Zuhayr went to him andsaid, I would like to tell you a story. When yourfather wanted to marry, he went to his brother Aqlto choose for him a woman of a brave tribe. Hewanted to have a brave child and your father wanted

you for this day to help your brother. Abbs replied, Are you trying to encourage me?

Today, of all days! God knows what I am going to dotoday! To help my brother! My Imm!

Then, abb Ibn Muhir al-Asadi askedpermission from the Imm to go talk to his tribe,Ban Asad. The Imm gave him permission. He went

and they recognized him. He asked them to comeand help the Imm. Ninety of them went to join him,but one of the other tribes went and told the news toUmar Ibn Sad. Umar sent four hundred men tostop the ninety from reaching the Imms camp. Theyfought and struggled to reach the Imm. Some werekilled, others returned to their tribe, and only abbmade it back to the Imms camp.

THE NIGHT OF THE NINTH

Thursday, the night of the ninth of Muarram,Umar ordered his entire army to attack the Immscamp at once. The Imm was sitting, then said to hisbrother Abbs, Go to them and see what they are

up to.


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Abbs went with twenty followers. Among them were Zuhayr and abb. They asked the army, andthe army replied that the order of the governor came

that they must obey him and his rule, or fight. Abbs went back to the Imm and told him.

Meanwhile, his people were preaching to thearmy of Umar. abb Ibn Muhir said, Indeed, byGod, you are the worst people. Who are you going tokill? The children of your Prophet? Those who spendall of their time in worshipping God?

The head of the army said, You just want toshow yourself as a good person.

Zuhayr said, God has made people different. Donot help the unjust people in killing the righteouspeople.

The head of the army said, But, Zuhayr, you are

not a Follower!Zuhayr said, Do you not see I am with them

now? Is this not enough for you to see that I am aFollower? God knows that I did not invite him and Idid not write him a letter and I did not promise himanything, but when I saw him and recognized himand knew who his enemy was, I decided to be on his

side.Abbs came from the Imm with a message,

Leave us alone for one night. Delay the fight for onenight so that we can pray to our Lord and recite theHoly Qurn.

Umar hesitated to do it but some of his armysaid, We should let them. Even if they were

non-Muslims, we would have let them.

Umar knew that he would not have the supportof his army if he ordered to attack immediately, so


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he answered, I know that if I give him this, they willbe stronger tomorrow. However, I will let them delaythe war one night.

THE IMMS CAMP ON THE NINTH

The Imm gathered all of his followers and gavea sermon. He praised God and then said, I praiseGod that He has given us the Prophet and He hastaught us the Qurn and religion. He has given us

ears and eyes and hearts, and he has not made usidol-worshippers. Indeed, I do not know anyfollowers better than my followers nor any familybetter than my family. May God reward you all.Indeed, my grandfather has told me that I will be inIraq and I will be killed and the time has come.Indeed, I think tomorrow will be the decisive daywith these people. I have allowed you all to leave mealone and go on your own way. During this night,any one of you may take your horses and camels andleave. Any of you may take one of my family andleave and you may scatter in the cities and villages.Indeed, I am the one they want. When they get me,they will not go after anyone else.

After this sermon, his brothers and children and

relatives said, We will never leave you! We do notwant to live after you are gone and we do not want tosee that day!

The Imm turned his face to the children ofAql and said, It is enough for you that your fatherwas killed, you go.

They said, By which face will we face otherpeople and say to them, we left our master, the bestof our family, and we did not help him when he


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needed our help? Indeed, we are here to sacrificeourselves for you. Life after you is the worst life.

Ibn Awsajah said, If we leave you alone, whatwould be our answer to God? I swear by God, I willnot leave them until I hit them in their chests withmy spear and fight them with my sword, and if I donot have a sword, I will throw rocks on them until Idie with you!

Sad Ibn Abdullh said, We are not going to leave

you until we prove that we have honored theMessenger of God by honoring you. By God, If I dieand come back to life, and if I am burned and comeback to life again seventy times, I will not leave youuntil I die for you.

Zuhayr Ibn al-Qayn said, I wish to be killed inyour way and come back to life and be killed 1000times to protect you!

After others said similar things, the Imm said,Jazakumullah Khayra (may God reward you well),and then said, I amgoing to be killed tomorrow andall of you will be killed and no one among you willremain except my son Ali al-Sajjad.

When they heard that Ali al-Sajjad would

survive the massacre, they all screamed in one voice,All Praises to God! Praise God who has honored usto help you and honored us to die with you!

Then, after the people became quiet, the Immsaid calmly, The good news is heaven.


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It is reported that on this night, thirty-twopeople joined the Imms camp when they saw thatthe Imm and his followers were reading the Holy

Qurn and praying and devoting themselves to God.

The Imm recited a poem:

O life! How many friends you have in themorning,

That you leave in the evening.

Some are dead, some are alone, and no one isreplaced.

Everything is up to God.

Only He remains forever.

When the Imms son Ali al-Sajjad heard hisfather reciting this poem twice, he realized that therewas no hope for peace with the army.

When Zaynab heard the poem, she cried andsaid, Today my mother and my father and brotherdied.

The Imm immediately faced her and tried tocomfort her, saying, O sister! Be patient. You knowthat everyone dies. People on the earth die, people inthe heavens die, no mortal remains forever.

Then, he said to his sister and his daughters andthe women of the camp , When I die, do not tearyour clothes, do not harm your faces, or speak anynonsense. And he told them to follow Ali al-Sajjadas their leader.

Then, he ordered all of his followers to attach

their tents to each other, so they can face the enemyin only one direction. He also said to dig a trenchbehind the tents and ordered to make a fire in it


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when the attack starts, so the horses of the enemycannot attack from behind.

Later in the night the Imm went to scout thearea. Nafi followed him. The Imm asked him, Whydid you come after me?

He said, I was worried that they might attackyou in the darkness.

The Imm said, I came to make sure there areno hidden assassins around here.

Then he took Nfis hand and said, Nafi, thereis only one soul and one life. We are going to dietomorrow. Look, there is nobody between these twohills here, why do you not run away?

Nafi fell down to the feet of the Imm andasked, Why do you not want me to stay with you atthis moment? By God! I am not going to leave you

until I die here with you!

Then, the Imm went to the tent of Zaynab. Nafifollowed him and overheard the conversationbetween them. Zaynab asked him, Have you talkedto your followers? Are you sure they are going toremain loyal to you?

Imm usayn said, I have tested them, I foundno one among them but the bravest of their tribes.Each of them wants to die for this cause like aninfant who wants milk from his mother. When Nafiheard that, he cried and went and told abb what heheard.

abb said, Indeed, by God, we do not want todo anything without his permission. If we did notneed his permission I would have been the first todie!


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Nafi said, I see all of the women are in onevoice with him.

abb called all of the men together and toldthem what Nafi told him. All replied in the sameway, that each of them wants to be first to be killed,but they do not want to act without the Immspermission, and they assured abb that they wouldnot do anything contrary to the Imms decision.abb suggested that they all go to the women andexpress their attitude. When all went to the tent and

expressed themselves, all of the women started towail and cry.

Just before dawn, the Imm started to get sleepy. When he woke up, he said, I saw my grandfather inmy dream and he said: You are the martyr of thisnation and tomorrow you will be with me.

THE DAY OF THE TENTH

Imm Baqir says that on this day, the followersof Imm usayn should offer condolences saying,May Almighty God reward you on the massacre ofImm usayn and make us all demanding his waywith the Mahdi.

Imm Kadhim never smiled during these tendays.

At dawn on this day; the tenth of Muarram,Imm usayn prayed the Fajr Dawn- Prayer, thengave a sermon and said, God has permitted us tofight on this day. We have to be brave and fight.

Then, he divided his small camp of eighty-twopeople, on horses and on foot. He made Zuhayr Ibnal-Qayn in charge of the right flank and abb Ibn


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Muhir in charge of the left flank, while he and hisfamily faced the front, and Abbs carried the flag.

Umar Ibn Sad came with 30,000 troops,divided by quarters, they surrounded the camp.When Shimr saw the fire in the trench, he yelled, O,usayn! You hurried to the fire before the Day ofJudgment!

The Imm did not recognize him, and asked,Who is this? It might be Shimr Ibn dhil-Jawshan.

His followers told him that it was Shimr, and theImm said, You are the one who deserves the fire.

Ibn Awsajah wanted to shoot Shimr with anarrow, but the Imm stopped him and said, I do notwant to start the fight.

Then, the Imm raised his hand to the sky andsaid O God, You are my trust in all difficulties, my

hope in all distress, You make every weakness intostrength, when there is no friend and when enemiesare many. You are the Protector and the Only Hope.

Then, he asked for his horse, got on it, andyelled very loud so everyone could hear him, Opeople! Listen to me. Do not hurry to fight until I tellyou my situation. If you accept it and become just in

your decision, it would be better for you. If youreject it and do not accept and do not want to bejust, then do what you want, I do not want you to bein doubt, and God is the Protector.

When the women heard him, they started cryingand yelling. The Imm asked his brother Abbs andhis son Ali al-Sajjad to comfort them. Then, he said:

Praises to God and the Messenger of God, andall His angels. O, people! Fear God and be afraid ofthis world. No one would live in this world forever.


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abb Ibn Muhir said, Indeed, by God, heknows what he is saying and he is truthful.

The Imm said, Are you in doubt about what Iam saying that I am the son of the daughter of yourProphet? Indeed, by God, there is no one in the Eastor the West who is the son of the daughter of yourProphet but me. Alas, do you want to kill me becauseI have killed any of your people? Have I killedanyone from you? Have I confiscated any of yourwealth or killed any of your people?

The soldiers did not reply.

The Imm then named Shibth, ajjj, Qays, andZayd Ibn Hrith and said, Did you not write to mesaying: Come to our land, all of the land is green andall the people are waiting for you?

They answered, No. We did not.

The Imm said, Indeed, by God, you did.

He turned to the rest of the troops and said, O,people! If you do not like me, then let me leave tosome other place.

Qays Ibn al-Ashath said, Why do you not obeythe rule of your cousins (the Umayyads)? Indeed,

they do not show you but what you wish for and theywill not harm you.

The Imm replied, You are their brother.Indeed, by God, I am not going to give my hand toyou in humiliation and I am not going to submit toyou like a slave. O people! I made my point clear toyou and God is the Witness.

Then, a group of them advanced suddenlytowards the Imms camp. Ibn Hawzah said threetimes, Who is usayn?


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Shimr said, God is going to kill you and yourfriends within the hour.

Zuhayr responded, Death for His cause is thebest.

The Imm sent someone to bring Zuhayr back.Then, Burayr Ibn Khuthayr asked permission fromthe Imm to go next and warn the army of the evils ofkilling those who do not deserve it. He was a very oldman. He went near the army and said, O people!

God has sent Muammad as a warner and a bringerof good news and a caller to God. Here is the waterof the Euphrates. Pigs and dogs drink from it but thePeople of the House of the Prophet are not allowedto?

The troops answered, Do not talk too much.usayn has to die of thirst and he is not going to getany water.

Burayr replied, The People of the House of theProphet are here with you! What are you trying todo?

They said, We want to take them to thegovernor Ibn Ziyd and he will decide to do whateverhe wants.

Burayr said, If you forgot your letters and yourpromises, then let him go back wherever he wants.

Some of them said, We do not know what youare talking about. When they tried to shoot arrowsat him, he came back to Imm usayn.

The Imm went out to them a second time,carrying a Qurn, and said, O, people! Between youand me are this Qurn and the tradition of mygrandfather.


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He asked them again, What do you want fromme?

They said, We want you to obey Ibn Ziyd, thegovernor.

The Imm expressed his anger, and thenanswered, Woe unto you! You asked us to come tohelp you and we came. When we came to you, youturned your swords against us. Now, you are callingus to go and obey those who are against the Holy

Qurn; those who change the truth; those who areinstruments of Satan; those who are trying toextinguish the tradition of the Prophet.

Woe unto you! How could you turn against usand help them? Indeed, by God, this is betrayal andone of your old characteristics. You are the worstfruits. Indeed, the son of the bastard has given metwo choices: fighting or humiliation. Humiliation isnot possible for God and his Messengers nor wouldthe believers allow that to happen, so I have nochoice but to fight with this family, few in number,and with no helpers. But, you have to remember youwill not remain honorable after this.

Then, the Imm turned his hands to heaven andsaid, O God! Prevent the rain from these people and

put them under the sovereignty of someone fromThaqf who would show them what kind ofhumiliation they have brought to us.

Then he said to Umar, You think you are goingto get the governorship of Ray. I tell you are notgoing to get that, but your head will be a foot ball forthe children of Kfah.

When urr al-Riyahi heard the Imms speech,he went to Umar Ibn Sad and asked, Are youserious in fighting this man?


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Umar answered, Yes. I am going to fight untiltheir heads and hands are cut off.

urr said What is wrong with what he p roposesto you?

Umar said, If it was up to me, I would haveaccepted, but your governor refuses anycompromise.

Then, urr left him alone and went back to hisposition in the army. Qurrah was next to urr. urr

turned his face to Qurrah and asked him, Did youwater your horse today?

He replied, No.

urr asked him, Would you like to water himtoday? And left him. Qurrah thought that he wasgoing to water his horse.

When urr came closer to the camp of the Imm,another soldier asked, Are you trying to fightagainst Imm usayn?

urr kept silent. Muhajir said, I am puzzled. Ithought you were the bravest person of Kfah. Now Isee you hesitating. What is this hesitation for?

urr answered, I see myself between heaven and

hell. I have to choose one over the other. Indeed, byGod, I am not going to choose anything but heaven,even if I am set on fire! And he immediately rushedtowards Imm usayn. He reversed his spear and hisshield and lowered his head riding towards theImm. As he came closer, he slowed down and whenhe reached the Imm, he said, O God! I repent toyou for what I have brought: misery to the hearts ofthe children of your Prophet. O, Aba Abdullh(Imm usayn)! I am repenting. Is it accepted?


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Imm usayn said, Indeed, God acceptsrepentance.

Then, he said to the Imm, When I left Kfah, Iheard someone saying: urr, you are going to heaven.And I did not know what he meant. Now I know.

He joined the Imm with a Turkish slave, thenasked the Imms permission to go and talk to thearmy of Umar. The Imm agreed.

urr went and yelled to them and said, O,

people of Kfah! You have called the Imm invitedhim to join you, then why have you gathered againsthim from every place? Why do you prevent him fromleaving in the land of God and prevent him fromdrinking the water of the Euphrates, which everynation; Jews, Christians, and Zoroastrians drinkfrom? Even pigs and dogs drink from it freely, butyou prevent the House of the Prophet from drinkingthe water?

Then, the army shot at him with arrows and hecame back to the camp of the Imm.

THE FIRST ATTACK

Umar Ibn Said came forward, shot one arrow atthe camp of the Imm, and said, Bear witness withthe governor that I was the first to shoot an arrow!

The army began and their arrows fell like rain.The Imm said to his people, Get up to death

Karbala & Ashura by: Ali Hussain Jalali

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Transcript of Karbala & Ashura by: Ali Hussain Jalali