The month of Muharram, the first in the lunar or Islamic calendar, marking the occurance of the greatest tragedy ever that haunts the history of mankind, in which men fell to the greatest depths of inhumanity, is half-over. The battle of Karbala, on the day of Ashurah, 10th of Muharram, between the caravan of Husain, son of Ali and Fatimah, grandson of Abu Talib(paternal) and Prophet Muhammad(maternal), and the 900,000 strong army of Yazid, son of Muawiyyah, son of Abu Sufyan, lasted about a day in which the friends and family of Husain were mercilessly butchered after three days of hunger and thirst in the desert of Karbala for not pleading allegiance to Yazid and standing up for the safeguard of their religion.
This event marks the greatest example of state-terrorism ever. History was written with blood as not even a six month old child, Ali Asghar, was spared and was “slaughtered from ear to ear”, with a three-pronged arrow used for hunting horses and elephants, right in his father Husain’s arms.
Husain arrived in Karbala on the second of Muharram, 61 A.H. with his family and friends. On the fourth of Muharram, Yazid’s troops began to arrive and by the seventh of Muharram, the supply of water to the Husaini camp was cut off.
On the tenth of Muharram, Husain was attacked and the battle ensued. One by one, all of Husain’s relatives and friends were martyred. Husain fought until the time of Asr prayers then put his sword Zulfiqar back into it’s sheath. He was attacked with all sorts of weapons including arrows, spears, stones, swords, etc. When he fell from his horse, he didn’t touch the ground but was elevated in mid-air by the arrows sticking out of his body. Husain was beheaded with a blunt sword in the state of “sajda” (bowing to Allah) by Shimr, after four days of hunger and thirst, but not until Yazid’s 900,000 strong army had been reduced to just 80,000!
Husain’s shrine in Karbala
But the Yazidi forces did not stop at that. The bodies of the small Husaini army of 72 men were trampled by running horses over them and torn to pieces. The head-cloths of the women were snatched and all the tents burned. Children rushing out of those tents and trying to find a place to hide were also trodden with horses and killed mercilessly. Husain’s youngest daughter, Sakinah, was brutally slapped and her earrings torn off her ears by Shimr, who had also beheaded her father. The women were bound by ropes on their arms and between them children were bound by their necks. Husain’s only remaining son, Ali Zain-ul-Abideen, who was unconscious with sickness and therefore did not take part in the fight, was bound with steel chains and a stone neck brace stretching from one hand to another and weighing more than a 100 kg. The heads of all men were cut off and raised on spears. Husain had buried Ali Asghar near his tents but even Ali Asghar’s grave was dug up and his little head cut and put on a spear! All the prisoners were then dragged to Syria on foot.
This event in Karbala marks the biggest act of terrorism in the 1400 year history of Islam ever, when not even the Prophet’s family was spared by hypocrites posing as Muslims and staining the peace-promoting religion’s name red with his own blood.
But apart from this, the event marks the demonstration of the epitome of sacrifice for one’s beliefs as Husain and his followers did not bow in the face of death and the deaths of their loved ones. All were prepared to sacrifice their lives for their cause i.e. the safeguard of the teachings of Islam and the revelation of the real face of truth and falsehood. Not even when a dagger was being run over his throat did Husain deviate off his stand and ask for mercy. Similar was the spirit of his sister Zainab and the rest of the women, who went to Syria from Karbala, facing many hardships on the way but never giving up.
The prisoners were kept in a dark dungeon where women from the surrounding areas used to come to listen to the same tale from Sakinah everyday, that of her father’s martyrdom in Karbala and the events that followed suit. When Sakinah died in the dungeon a year later, the women coerced their men into an uprising against Yazid that forced him to release the members of the Prophet’s family.
Inside view of Sakinah’s shrine in Syria
Zainab led them to Karbala where they mourned their martyrs for a long time, then finally returning to grief-stricken neighborhood in the Prophet’s city of Madinah.
Inside view of Zainab’s shrine in Damascus, Syria
At the time of leaving, there had been more than 60 men and 245 children in the caravan. At their return, only one man and five children remained.
Most Commented
[...] now become “worship”. Can you fall to any lower depths than this? (Actually, yes, see The Grestest Sacrifice Ever) Who the hell are Zardari and Benazir to claim that politics is worship? Worship of whom or what? [...]
[...] More about Karbala here. [...]
[...] More about Karbala here. [...]
[...] More about Karbala here. [...]