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Imam Husain – may Allah be pleased with him – leaves for Karbala

It is mentioned that Imam Husain – may Allah be pleased with him – left Mecca Shareef with his family on the 3rd of Zil-Hajj 60 A.H. While travelling, he also met people like Basheer bin Ghalib Asadi, Farquz, the famous poet, and many others who were coming from Kufa. Imam Husain – may Allah be pleased with him – then asked about the condition in Kufa and they informed him that the people were governed by the sword of Yazeed but that many people’s hearts were with him.

Imam Husain – may Allah be pleased with him – also asked Farzuq about Imam Muslim – may Allah be pleased with him -. The poet informed him that he had seen the blessed body of Imam Muslim – may Allah be pleased with him – hanging in a corner of the city. Imam Husain – may Allah be pleased with him – gave thanks that he had rather seen the body of his blessed cousin hanging that him bowing his head to Yazeed. When Imam Husain – may Allah be pleased with him – asked Farzuq about the children of Imam Muslim – may Allah be pleased with him –, he was informed that they were killed and their blessed bodies thrown into the river.

When Imam Husain – may Allah be pleased with him – heard this news, he entered his tent and carried the young daughter of Imam Muslim – may Allah be pleased with him – in his hands. He showed immense love and affection for the little girl and this young girl began to understand that something terrible had happened. Imam Husain – may Allah be pleased with him – continued to console her and other members of his blessed family also did the same.

First point

In several reports, it is mentioned that when the news of the martyrdom of Imam Husain – may Allah be pleased with him – reached Yazeed, he also began to shed crocodile tears. Some imbeciles give an explanation that Yazeed was saddened by this incident and he did not want to actually kill Imam Husain – may Allah be pleased with him –. However, all of this was merely a show. It was the same when the brothers of Nabi Yusuf ‘Alayhis Salaam cried in front of their father at the disappearance of their brother. There was no sincerity in this action of theirs.

In like manner, this show of sadness and grief which is displayed by the Shia is exactly the same. If Yazeed had been sincere, the moment he was informed about the death of Imam Muslim – may Allah be pleased with him –, this imbecile should have immediately informed his people that they had performed a terrible crime and it should not be repeated with Imam Husain – may Allah be pleased with him –. This imbecile did not do that.

In fact, in Tafseer Mazhari, Nabraas, Ruhul Ma’ani and various other books, it is mentioned that when the blessed head of Imam Husain – may Allah be pleased with him – was placed in front of Yazeed, he actually tapped the blessed head and said, “Where are my elders today, if only they could see that I have taken revenge for the Battle of Badr.” Astaghfirullah!

Second point

Some imbeciles make the point that when it concerned issues pertaining to Khilafah and government, the Ashaab were at the forefront, but when it was time to be martyred, it was only the Ahle Bayt that were martyred and were at the forefront.

Our first answer is that when the Holy Holy Qur’an explains that those who have passed away in the Path of Allah Almighty cannot be called “dead,” this was in reference to the blessed Ashaab and their immense sacrifice in the path of Islam.

Another important point to bear in mind is that from the moment Imam Husain – may Allah be pleased with him – left Madina Shareef, nothing was mentioned about fighting. When a person leaves home to fight someone, he does not take his wives, his children, his sisters, his nieces and his nephews. He will not even take a small child who is still breast-feeding. These people have no idea what is the difference between murder and Jihad. Imam Husain – may Allah be pleased with him – and the majority of his family were murdered or a better word is “martyred.” They did not go to fight anyone.

People who make objections of this nature are people who have a secret hatred for the blessed Ashaab. When the blessed Ashaab, who were still living at that time, saw Imam Husain – may Allah be pleased with him – carrying a Holy Qur’an with him on his journey, they understood that he was not going to fight but to spread the message of truth. They also knew the law of Shari’ah of someone who takes such sacred items with them on a journey, and if such itemss are misused and disrespected in any way, the person carrying them would be answerable.

Again bear in mind that Imam Husain – may Allah be pleased with him – was accompanied by his four wives, his two female concubines, Sayyidah Fiddah and Sayyidah Shereen, his sister, Sayyidah Zaynab, and his daughter, Sayyidah Sakeenah – may Allah be pleased with him –.

Another important point to remember is that the total number of people martyred in Karbala from the side of Imam Husain – may Allah be pleased with him – was seventy two, while the actually number of the Ahle Bayt were only twenty one! They were the three sons of Aqeel, two sons of Zainab, four sons of Imam Hasan, two of them being ‘Umar and Abu Bakr – may Allah be pleased with them –.

The people of Hell, the Shia never take the names of these martyrs or else their true evil would be revealed. Imagine taking the name of Abu Bakr and ‘Umar and then saying that these were the names of two sons of Imam Hasan – may Allah be pleased with him – who were martyred in Karbala. This would certainly be a great blow to the corrupt beliefs of the Shia. However, Imam Hasan – may Allah be pleased with him – and Imam Husain – may Allah be pleased with him – made that sure that such names existed in their family because they knew that certain corrupt people would appear later in history who would revile these names. There were also the six sons of ‘Ali among them, one whose name was Uthman bin ‘Ali, and five sons of Imam Husain – may Allah be pleased with them –.

Now we ask the question, who were the fifty one other people who were martyred in Karbala? These were certainly the blessed Ashaab and the children of the Ashaab who travelled with the great Imam – may Allah be pleased with him – as a mark of precaution in case anything happened.

Again, the great Imam – may Allah be pleased with him – was not going with the purpose of fighting anyone. He was merely going to propagate the truth of Islam. If Imam Husain – may Allah be pleased with him – had actually made the announcement that he was going to fight, thousands of people in Madina Shareef and Mecca Shareef would have joined him. Such was the esteem in which this blessed family was held in the eyes of the blessed Ashaab and the children of the Ashaab. But again, no such announcement was made by the great Imam – may Allah be pleased with him –.

We know that as Imam Husain – may Allah be pleased with him – travelled, people kept informing him that the situation in Kufa was not stable, but he kept to his mission and continued to turn these people away after making Du’a for them.

When Imam Husain – may Allah be pleased with him – heard of the martyrdom of Imam Muslim – may Allah be pleased with him – he was extremely saddened but kept insisting on going forward.

A place called Haajiz

There was a small area on the road to Kufa. When he reached this spot, Imam Husain – may Allah be pleased with him – sent one of his companions, Qais bin Mas-har – may Allah be pleased with him -, to go further and see what was happening.

However, the situation such was that this person was captured and taken in the court of Ibn Ziyad. Ibn Ziyad then gave him a choice of either climbing on the roof of the fort and to publicly insult Imam Husain – may Allah be pleased with him – and he would be spared or be killed.

However, when Qais bin Mas-har – may Allah be pleased with him – reached the top of the roof, he publicly announced to people, “O people listen to me carefully! Ibn Ziyad is a symbol of filth and dirt and Imam Husain is a symbol of purity and cleanliness. Ibn Ziyad is a centre of sin and transgression and Imam Husain will be tower of Nur on the Day of Judgement. Ibn Ziyad is a representative of falsehood and lies and Imam Husain is a flag of truth.

“I even consider it a personal insult to compare Imam Husain with Yazeed and ibn Ziyad, but I have to compare lies with truth. One is a person who openly consumes alcohol in sacred places and one is a true Mujaahid, a grandson of the Holy Prophet – may Allah send peace and blessings upon him –. What is the comparison of the evil of Yazeed and the nobility of Imam Husain who was carried on the blessed shoulders of the Holy Prophet – may Allah send peace and blessings upon him –? Yazeed and ibn Ziyad are the symbols of oppression and tyranny while Imam Husain is a symbol of patience and the greatness of Sayyiduna Rasoolullah – may Allah send peace and blessings upon him –. After all, Sayyiduna Rasoolullah – may Allah send peace and blessings upon him – had clearly stated that, ‘I am from Husain and Husain is from me.’”

As he was coming down from the roof of this fort, this brave soul of Islam was martyred. How fortunate for him that even in the face of death he did not divert from speaking the truth.

The great Imam meets Hur on the road

Before reaching the area of Karbala, Hur bin Yazeed Riyaahi approached Imam Husain – may Allah be pleased with him – with a force of nearly a thousand men. Hur then said to the great Imam, “I have been instructed to capture you.”

The great Imam asked, “Explain to me the reason for this.”

Hur replied, “We are merely soldiers, we only obey what we are told. We have no interest in what the crime might be and we also have no knowledge of any crime.”

Imam Husain – may Allah be pleased with him – then showed him the hundreds of correspondences which he had received from the people of Kufa and he made it clear that he had not come on his own but was called by these people.

Hur said, “I have no idea of these things. Please go to another place and I will submit my report that I had seen a caravan from a distance and then it had disappeared.”

Imam Husain – may Allah be pleased with him – replied, “I am not someone that will run and neither am I the son of someone who will run. I am certainly not a coward that will run when I hear the word death.”

Hur then requested the great Imam to lead the Salaah and joined him as well.

Imam Husain – may Allah be pleased with him – mentioned that these were strange people who were drawing out their swords for him and at the same time, insisting on reading Salaah behind him. However, this one Salaah was going to change the destiny of Hur. One can say that from being Hur, he became “Harr” or “someone who had been freed from the shackles of Hell.”

Hur then turned to Imam Husain – may Allah be pleased with him – and declared, “Even though to side with you at this moment is to invite calamity and to embrace you at this moment is to embrace death, yet, I also know inside me that in the grave, I will not be asked about the grandfather of Yazeed but will certainly be questioned about your grandfather.” He then pledged his allegiance to Imam Husain – may Allah be pleased with him –.

Imam Husain – may Allah be pleased with him – then blessed him and also mentioned to him that when people come to visit his grave, they will also remember to visit the grave of Hur as well. Imam Husain – may Allah be pleased with him – again informed him, “Think carefully about your decision. You are leaving those who drink water and joining those who have no water. You are leaving those who have food to join those who have no food. You are leaving those who are fully armed to join those who hardly have any weapons.”

When Hur heard these words, he replied, “What you have said is correct. However, I also know that I am leaving the people of darkness to join the people of Nur. I am leaving the people of Yazeed to join the people of Mustafa – may Allah send peace and blessings upon him –. I am leaving the people of Hell to join the people of Jannah. I am leaving the people of falsehood and joining the people of truth. I am leaving the people of Satan and joining the people of Rahman.”