Ashura

The Battle and Its Related Events
جنگ و وقایع مربوط به آن

part:1

The narrator says that Ibn Ziyad called his companions for fighting against Husayn (a.s.) and they accepted. Though he held them in a low esteem they carried out his order. He offered Umar Ibn Sa’ad the command of the army, which he accepted blindly. Umar bin Sa’ad left Kufa with four thousand riding soldiers for fighting against the Imam (a.s.).

Ibn Ziyad sent many armed groups to support him till their number became twenty thousand on the night of the 6th Muharram of 61 A.H. Ibn Sa’ad surrounded Husayn (a.s.), putting him in an extremely difficult situation. He cut off water supply from him, his families, and his companions. They all suffered a terrible thirst.

Then Imam (a.s.) stood up, leaned on his sword and proclaimed in a loud voice: I administer an oath on you. Do you know me? They said: “Yes! You are the son of the holy Prophet.”

Husayn: “I administer the oath of Allah. Tell me, do you know that the Prophet of Allah is my grandfather?” They replied: “By Allah, yes.” He then asked: “I administer the oath of Allah to you. Do you know that my mother Fatima is the daughter of Muhammad?” They said: “Yes.” He said: “I administer the oath of Allah to you. Do you know that my father is Ali Ibn Abi Talib?” They replied: “By Allah, yes.” He said: “I administer oath of Allah to you. Do you know that my grandmother is Khadija, daughter of Khuwailid1, the first Muslim lady of the nation?”

They said: “Yes.” He said: “I administer oath of Allah to you. Do you know that Hamza2, Chief of the martyrs, is the uncle of my father?”

They replied: “It is true.”

Husayn (a.s.) said: “I administer the oath of Allah to you. Do you know that Ja’far3, who can fly in Paradise, is my uncle?” They said: “By Allah, yes.” Husayn (a.s.) then said: “I administer oath of Allah to you. Did this sword, which I have unsheathed and which is now in my hand, belong to the holy Prophet (S)?”

They said: “Yes.” Husayn then said: “I administer the oath of Allah to you. Is this turban which is now on my head, the turban of the holy Prophet (S)?” They replied: “By Allah, yes it is.”

Husayn (a.s.) then said: “I administer oath of Allah to you. Do you know that Ali (a.s.) was the first man who accepted Islam, his knowledge was deeper than that of everyone else, and his patience and tolerance was higher than that of anyone else, and that he is the Master of every Muslim man and woman?”

They replied: “By Allah, yes.”

Husayn (a.s.) then asked: “How do you al- low yourself to shed my blood when on the Last Day, my father (a.s.) will be the master of Kauthar Pool, who will drive away people from that Pool, as camels are hushed away from water, and that the flag of Praise (Liwaul Hamd) will be in the hands of my father on the Day of Judgment?”

They replied: “We know all of this, and yet we will not leave you until you taste death in thirst.”

When the women heard the speech of the Imam they wept and wailed and lamented, slapped their faces and their voices arose.

Imam (a.s.) sent his brother Abbas4 and his son Ali5 towards them and said: “Make them quiet. By my life, how much wailing they would have in the future!”

The narrator says: Umar Ibn Sa’ad received a letter from Ibn Ziyad. He had ordered Umar to start fighting immediately and had warned him for any delay. It made Ibn Sa?ad and his army to launch an attack on Husayn (a.s.).

Shimr Ibn Ziljushan (may Allah curse him)6 rushed ahead and cried: “Where are my nephews Abdullah7, Ja’far8, Abbas, and Uthman.9″

Husayn (a.s.) said to the sons of Ummul Banin: “Though he is a fasiq and evil-doer, give him a response.”

The sons of Ummul Banin replied: “What do you want?”

Shimr said: “O’ sons of my sister! You are under protection (amnesty). Do not get killed with your brother Husayn, and come to the service of Yazeed bin Muawiyah, the Amirul Momineen!”

Abbas Ibn Ali (a.s.) shouted in response: “May your hands be cut! May your offer of amnesty be cursed! O? enemy of Allah! Are you asking us to leave our brother and master Husayn Ibn Fatima (a.s.), and to come under the command of the rejected, the cursed, and sons of those con- demned by Allah?”

Shimr returned angrily to his army