According to reports, Imam Husain left Mecca during the Hajj period while he performed only the lesser Hajj (Umra), but could not perform the greater pilgrimage (Hajj) due to information of Yazid’s armies planning to attack him while in Mecca. So, Imam Husain together with members of his family and companions left for Iraq.
It is pertinent to mention that Muslim Ibn Aqīl had written to Imam Husain seventeen days before he was killed and that the Kufans had written to him: “Here you have a hundred thousand swords. Do not delay”. Imam Husain has set forth to Kufa in response to their numerous letters and the pledge of allegiance to him.
At a point, the Caravan of Imam Husain was intersected by the Yazid’s army (1000 horsemen) under the command of a famous commander; Hurr Ibn Yazid to arrest the move of Imam Husain and divert the course towards Kufa or Damascus. When they reached the caravan of Imam, both the men and the animals were dying of thirst, having exhausted the store of water they had. The Holy Imam ordered the whole of the stored water to be placed at the disposal of the enemy army. Hurr was a good man and he secretly told Imam to find his way without the knowledge of his men.
What happened in Karbala?
Imam Husain moved up as suggested by Hurr until they reached a place near the Euphrates, he asked for the name and he was told that it was Karbala. Imam Husain, according to most sources reached Karbala on the second day of Muharram, 61 A.H and he therefore ordered the caravan to stop, as he has arrived at the desired destination. Tents were pitched at the bank of the Euphrates for the caravan of the Holy Imam.
On the third day of Muharram, another four thousand horsemen were sent by Ubaydullah under the command of Umar Ibn Sa‘d ibn Abī Waqqāṣ. Meanwhile, according to reliable historical reports, between the third to the sixth day of Muharram, a total number of twenty thousand men (including horsemen and foot soldiers) were sent to Karbala to fight Imam Husain if he refused to pledge allegiance to Yazid[1]. Meanwhile, at different points in time, several numbers of soldiers were also sent to fight Imam Husain until the total number of men on the tenth of Muharram was estimated to be thirty thousand.
On the seventh day of Muharram, another directive came from Ubaydullah to prevent Imam Husain’s caravan from getting access to water. Five hundred horsemen under the command of ‘Amr Ibn al-Ḥajjāj were selected to guard and occupy the path to the water. Due to the serious thirst experienced in the camp of Imam Husain, he, therefore, ordered his brother, Abbas and sent 30 horsemen with 20-foot soldiers with him to fill leather water pouches with water and return to the camp. In this attack, no one got hurt from the companions of Imam Husain (a.s) but some of the troops of Umar b. Sa’d got killed. Likewise, Abbas went again on the day of Ashura to bring water, but when he filled a leather water pouch, on the way back to the tents, they shot his leather water pouch and he was killed.
In the evening of the ninth day of Muharram, the enemy ‘s forces under the command of ‘Umar b. Sa’d advanced towards the camp of Imam Husain, but he through his brother, Abbas requested for a respite of a night from Umar to communicate with his Lord and it was reluctantly granted. Imam Husain thereafter addressed the members of his family and companions and he set them free, as the enemies are only after him. However, none of the close family relatives and sincere companions deserted him. It is reported that only those who accompanied him from Mecca with the hope of making their own fortune began to desert him when the lamp was put off.
On the tenth day of Muharram, after the Morning Prayer, Imam Husain organized the lines of his soldiers (32 horsemen and 40-foot soldiers) according to a popular report. And his brother, Abbas was chosen as his standard bearer. They positioned themselves with the tents at the rear. He ordered (the) firewood and cane which was behind the tents to be left in a ditch which had been dug there and to be set on fire, fearing that they would attack them from the rear.
One of the events of the morning of Ashura was that Hurr Ibn Yazid al-Riyahi, the commander of Yazid’s army abandoned the army of ‘Umar b. Sa’d and joined the camp of Imam Husain. He sought a pardon from Imam Husain for stopping him in Karbala and for the wrong he had done to the Imam. He was received warmly by the Imam and he was the first person to fight against the enemy until he was martyred.
On this very day, the companions of Imam Husain one after the other fought bravely with the enemy until they were killed. Imam Husain, therefore, prayed for them and took their bodies into the tent. After the martyrdom of all the companions of Imam Husain (a.s), other than Banu Hashim, in the morning and the afternoon of Ashura, the members of his family came forth and asked to go to the battlefield, and the first person to go to battle was Ali al-Akbar (a.s). Other relatives of Imam Husain (a.s) went to the battle and they were martyred one by one. After the martyrdom of his family members, Imam Husain (a.s) himself went to the and after displaying a high level of bravery; he had severe wounds on his head and body.
When Imam Husain stood alone in the field surrounded by the enemies, he was called by his sister, Zainab and he went into the tent, he found his baby son, Ali Asghar dying of thirst in his cradle and the poor mother whose milk had dried up due to hunger and thirst for three consecutive days could not help the baby with even a drop of milk. Imam took out the baby while raising him in his arm and he addressed the enemies thus:
“O people! If (in your opinion) Husain is guilty of any sin or crime, this innocent babe has done nothing to hurt any one of you. It does not even speak and has not even uttered anything against you or your leader at Damascus. He is dying of thirst. He had neither milk nor water for the last three days. Would you quench his thirst with a few drops of water…”
Umar Ibn Sa’d ordered a stone-hearted brute named Harmala to quench the thirst of the baby with a shot of a three-pronged arrow and which got stuck into the tiny neck of the innocent babe. This was how Ali Asghar (a six months babe) was martyred but Imam could not return the dead body to his mother, who was waiting anxiously for him.
Imam Husain faced the enemies and fought vigorously, bleeding from innumerable wounds from head to foot, gave his last call to humanity around him, inviting them to join him in the way of the Lord, saying:
Is there any defender to repulse the enemy from approaching the tents of the family of the Holy Prophet? Is there any helper that will help us for Allah’s sake
Imam Husain after being wounded severally lied helplessly on the floor and several men were deputed by the commander to cut off the head of Imam Husain but none dared to cut off his holy head, but Shimr, the stone-hearted brute committed the heinous crime.
The commander of the Devil’s force was not satisfied with this, he ordered 10 volunteers from the army of Kufa (in line with Ubaydullah’s directive) to trample over the body of Imam Husain (a.s) with their horses. The head of Imam Husain was sent to Ubaydullah while the heads of seventy-two martyrs of Karbala were to Kufa.
Immediately after the martyrdom of Imam Husain, the army of enemies attacked the tents of Imam Husain and took anything they could find as booties. The remaining members of the Prophet’s household including Sayidah Zaynab were taken as prisoners of war. (Inna lillahi wa inna ilaehi raji’una)
In conclusion, on the tenth day of Muharram (i.e. Ashura), year 61 A.H, Imam Husain together with seventy-two other members of his family and companions was mercilessly martyred by the Yazid armies in Karbala. Thus, the day is marked and commemorated annually among Shia Muslims as a day of tragedy and mourning.
On the contrary, the Yazid armies and consequently the Umayyad dynasty became happy over the victory and the day was therefore celebrated as a day of joy and triumph. The Umayyad started to mark Ashura as a day of joy and festivity from that year Imam Husain was killed until the present day. Consequently, the day is marked annually by Sunni Muslims as a day of joy and festivity.
FOOTNOTE:
[1] . The twenty thousand men are: One thousand men led by Hurr, four thousand men led by Sa’d Ibn Abi Waqqas, four thousand men led by Shimr, two thousand men led by Yazid Ibn Rikab, four thousand by Haseen Ibn Tameem; three thousand men by Fulān al-Maāzin; and two thousand by Nasr Ibn Fulān.
