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The
Journey of Imam Husain - Part 1
Taken from Kitab-al Irshad by Shaykh
Al-Mufid
Al Husyan, the
blessings of God be on him, set out from Mecca to Iraq on the day of
Muslim's (attempted) rising in Kufa, that is the day of Tarwiya, after
staying in Mecca for the rest of Shaban, the month of Rmadhan, Shawwal
and Dhu al Qada and eight days of Dhu- al-Hijja in the year 60 A.H.
(680). During his stay in Mecca, peace be on him, a number of Hijazis
and Basrans had gathered around him, joining themselves to his household
and his retainers (mawali).
When he determined on
journeying to Iraq, he made the circumbulation of the (sacred) House and
the ritual running between al-Safa and al-Marwa. Then he left the state
of consecration (for the pilgrimage) (after) he had performed the lesser
pilgrimage (umra) because he was not able to perform the greater
pilgrimage (hajj). Through fear of being apprehended in Mecca, and being
taken to Yazid b. Muiawiya, he, peace be on him, had set out early with
his House, his sons and those of his Shia who had joined him.
[As it has been
reported to us:]
News of Muslim's
(capture and death) had not yet reached him because (it had only
happened) on the day he set out.
[It is reported that
al-Farazdaq, the poet, said:]
I made the pilgrimage
with my mother in the year 60 A.H. (680). I was driving her camel when I
entered the sanctuary. (There) I met al- Husayn b. Ali, peace be on
them, leaving Mecca accompanied by (some men carrying) swords and
shields.
"Whose caravan is
this?" I asked.
"Al-Husayn b. Ali's,
peace be on them," was the reply. So I went up and greeted him.
"May God grant you your
request and (fulfil) your hope in what you want, by my father and
mother, son of the Apostle of God," I said to him. "But what is making
you hurry away from the pilgrimage?"
"If I did not hurry
away, I would be apprehended," he replied. Then he asked me: "Who are
you?"
"An Arab," I answered
and he did not question me (about myself) any further.
"Tell me about the
people you have left behind you," he asked.
"You have asked a good
(question)," I answered. "The hearts of the people are with you but
their swords are against you. The decision comes from Heaven and God
does what he wishes."
"You have spoken truly
of the affair belonging to God," he replied.
"Every day He (is
involved) in (every) matter" (LV, 29) If fate sends down what we like
and are pleased with, we praise God for His blessings. He is the One
from Whom help should be sought in order to give thanks to Him. However,
although fate may frustrate (our) hopes, yet He does not destroy (the
souls of) those whose intention is the truth and whose hearts are
pious."
"True, God brings you
what you wish for (ultimately) and guards you against what you are
threatened by," I said. Then I asked him about matters concerning vows
and pilgrimage rites. He told me about them and then moved his mount
off, saying farewell, and so we parted.
When al-Husayn b. Ali,
peace be on them, left Mecca, Yahya b. Said b. al-'As met him with a
group (of men). They had been sent to him by 'Amr b. Said.
"Come back from where
you are going," they ordered. But he refused (to obey) them and
continued. The two groups came to blows and hit at each other with
whips. However al-Husayn and his followers resisted fiercely. Al-Husayn
continued until he got to al- Tanim. There he met a camel-train which
had come from Yemen. He hired from its people (additional) camels for
himself and his followers to ride.
Then he said to the
owners (of the camels): "Whoever (of you) wants to come with us to Iraq,
we will pay his hire and enjoy his company and whoever wants to leave
some way along the road we will pay his hire for the distance he has
travelled."
Some of the people went
with him but others refused. Abd Allah b. Jafar sent his sons, Awn and
Muhammad, after him, and he wrote a letter to him which he gave to them.
In it, he said:
I ask you before God (to return) if you have set out when you
see my letter. For I am very concerned because the direction in
which you are heading will have within it your destruction, and
the extirpation of your House. If you are destroyed today, the
light of the land will be extinguished; for you are the (standard)
of those who are rightly-guided and the hope of the believers.
Do not hurry on your journey as I am following this letter.
Greetings.
Abd Allah, then went to
'Amr b. Sad and asked him to write to al-Husayn (offering him) a
guarantee of security, and (promising) to favour him, so that he would
return from where he was going. Amr b. Said wrote a letter in which he
offered him favour and a guarantee of security for himself. He
dispatched it with his brother Yahya b. Said. Yahya b. Said went after
him (as did) Abd Allah after dispatching his sons. The two handed ('Amr's)
letter to him and strove (to persuade) him to return.
"I have seen the
Apostle of God, may God bless him and his family, in my sleep," answered
(al-Husayn), "and he ordered me (to do) what I am carrying out."
"What was that vision?"
they both asked.
"I have not told anyone
of it," he answered, "and I am not going to tell anyone until I meet my
Lord, the Mighty and Exalted."
When 'Abd Allah b.
Ja'far despaired of (persuading) him, he told his sons, Awn and
Muhammad, to stay with him, to go with him and to struggle on behalf of
him. He returned with Yahya b. Sa'id to Mecca.
Al Husayn, peace be on
him, pressed on swiftly and directly towards Iraq until he reached Dhat'
Irq.
When Ubayd Allah b.
Ziyad had learnt of the journey of al- Husayn, peace be on him, from
Mecca to Kufa, he had sent al- Husayn b. Numayr, the commander of the
bodyguard (shurta), to station himself at al-Qadisiyya and to set up a
(protective) link of cavalry between the area of al-Qadisiyya to Khaffan
and the area of al-Qadisiyya to al-Qutqutaniyya. He informed the men
that al- Husayn was heading for Iraq.
When al-Husayn, peace
be on him, reached al-Hajiz (a hill above) Batn al-Rumma, he sent Qays
b. Mushir al Saydawi - some say it was his brother-in-nurture, Abd Allah
b. Yuqtur to Kufa. For he, peace be upon him, had not yet learnt the
news of (the fate of) Ibn 'Aqil. He sent a letter with him:
In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate
From al-Husayn b. Ali
To his brother believers and Muslims,
Greetings to you, I praise God before you, other than Whom
there is no deity. Muslim b. Aqil's letter came to me, informing
me of your sound judgement and the agreement of your leaders
to support us, and to seek our rights. I have asked God to make
your actions good and reward you with the greatest reward. I
set out to you from Mecca on 8th of Dhu al-Hijja, the Day of
Tarwiya. When my messenger reaches you, be urgent and
purposeful in your affiars, for I am coming to you within the
(next few) days.
Greeting and the mercy and blessings of God.
Muslim had written to
al-Husayn seventeen days before he was killed and the Kufans had written
to him: "Here you have a hundred thousand swords. Do not delay."
Qays b. Mushir went
towards Kufa with the letter. However, when he reached al-Qadisiyya,
al-Husayn b. Numayr apprehended him and sent him to Ubayd Allah b.
Ziyad.
"Go up on the pulpit,"
Ubayd Allah b. Ziyad ordered him, "and curse the liar, al-Husayn b. Ali,
peace be on him"
Qays went up on the
pulpit and praised and glorified God. Then he said:
People, this man, al-Husayn b. 'Ali the best of God's
creatures, the son of Fatima, the daughter of the Apostle,
may God bless him and his family and grant them peace,
(is nearby). I am his messenger to you. Answer him.
Then he cursed Ubayd
Allah b. Ziyad and his father and prayed for forgiveness for Ali b. Abi
Talib and blessed him. 'Ubayd Allah ordered him to be thrown from the
top of the palace. They threw him and he was smashed to pieces.
[It is (also)
reported:]
He fell on the ground
in chains and his bones were crushed and there only remained to him his
last breath. A man called 'Abd al- Malik b. 'Umayr al-Lakhmi came to him
and cut his throat. When he was told that that had been a shameful
(thing to do) and he was blamed for it, he said: "I wanted to relieve
him (of his suffering)." |