9th of Rajab, 60 AH, is the date of birth of Hazrat Ali Asghar (A.S.), the youngest son of Imam Husain (A.S.), the younger grandson of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W.W.). Born ‘Ali’ from Bibi Umm-e-Rubab (S.A.), he was the youngest of Imam Husain’s (A.S.) three sons, all named Ali, and six daughters, all named Fatimah. He was given the title Asghar to differentiate him from his brothers, who were given the titles Zain-ul-Abideen (oldest son and fourth Imam) and Akbar. Apart from Ali Asghar (A.S.), Bibi Umm-e-Rubab had a daughter Sakinah (S.A.). Both children went to Karbala with Imam Husain (A.S.) and never returned to Madinah. Six month old Ali Asghar (A.S.) was put to sleep by a three pronged arrow in Karbala while four year old Sakinah went to sleep in the dungeon in Damascus.
Courtesy: Syed Awn Husain Rizvi
It is a day of joy, the birth of the youngest martyr of Karbala, but what happy moments can be narrated from such a short life, put to an abrupt end in such an inhuman way! The accounts of his martyrdom overshadow all other aspects of his life as such barbaric behavior had never been seen before, that too from Muslims towards their own Prophet’s (S.A.W.W.) family! So here I go with the brief description of his martyrdom.
Asghar (A.S.) was six months old when the caravan of Imam Husain (A.S.) arrived in Karbala on the second of Muharram, 61 AH. Note here, it’s caravan, not army, because there were more women and children present than the men. History tells that there were more than 240 children present but only around five returned to Madinah alive.
Husain’s camp was forced to move away from the river on the 4th of Muharram by Yazid’s (L.A.) army and on the 7th, water supply to the camp was cut off. Children were seen running from tent to tent, crying ‘Al-At’ash’, begging for water to satiate their thirsts.
Sakinah (S.A.) narrates:
“[on the 10th of Muharram, the day of Ashurah] I was running from tent to tent, begging for water, with all the children running after me in the hopes that if I found water, they would be able to drink some too. I couldn’t find water anywhere, so I decided to go to Aunt Zainab’s (S.A.) [Imam Husain's youngest sister, elder of two] tent. When I reached there and I went in, I couldn’t muster the strength to ask for water as I saw her holding my younger brother, Asghar (A.S.), who was squirming with thirst and crying. My aunt tried to calm him by standing up, holding him close, sitting down, walking but nothing seemed to ease his suffering. My mother looked on, painfully. I did not ask for water, neither did the other children, when we realized that there wasn’t even enough for a six month old.”
When all men in Imam Husain’s (A.S.) caravan had been killed, he brought out Asghar (A.S.) in front of Yazid’s (L.A.) army and asked for water for the thirsty child. Husain (A.S.) told the Yazidis (L.A.) that if they thought he was going to drink water instead of his son, he will put him on the burning ground and walk away.
Even after Imam Husain (A.S.) did this, nobody from Yazid’s (L.A.) army moved. Imam Husain (A.S.) picked up Ali Asghar (A.S.) and told him to fulfill his legacy. Asghar (A.S.) then swept his dry tongue over his drier lips.
On watching this, men in the ranks of Yazid’s (L.A.) army started sobbing. Umar, son of, Saad, son of the father of Waqaas (Umar-ibne-Saad-ibne-Abi-Waqaas) (L.A.), the commander of the Yazidi forces, felt the tables turning and ordered Hurmala (L.A.), a famous archer, marksman and hunter, to silence Husain.
Hurmula (L.A.) put a three pronged arrow, used for killing horses and elephants, in his bow and took aim at Asghar (A.S.). The arrow hit its target and pierced Husain’s (A.S.) arm through Asghar (A.S.).
Someone asked Imam Muhammad Baqar (A.S.), “Where did the arrow hit Asghar?”
Imam (A.S.) replied, crying, “It hit him such that he was slaughtered from ear to ear!”
How Imam Husain (A.S.) took Asghar’s (A.S.) body back to his camp to face his mother, Bibi Umm-e-Rubab (S.A.), and how she held her infant son’s dead body while his father dug his grave is not in my power to write. But one thing that she said upon looking at her son’s body is:
Are children of this age also slaughtered in Arab?
The exact word she used is Nahar which is used for the process of striking at a camel’s neck with a sword in order to bring it down. Translation to English has reduced it’s severity.
The Yazidi (L.A.) army did not stop at this. After Imam Husain (A.S.) had been martyred, the tents of the women burned, their veils and headcloths snatched away, Sakinah’s earrings ripped off her ears, bodies of the Husaini men trampled by running horses over them, along with the many children trying to find a place to hide, the heads of the martyrs were cut off and put on spears.
When Umar, son of Saad, (L.A.) counted the heads, he said that one was missing. It was announced that Husain had been seen burying something behind the tents. So, Ali Asghar’s (A.S.) grave was dug up, his body pulled out and a six month old head was cut off and raised on a spike, right in front of his arrested, helpless mother.
چھہ ماہ کا وہ ننّھا مجاہد علی اصغر
جو سن میں تو چھوٹا تھا مگر عزم میں اکبر
اِک تیرِ ستم جس کے لگا حلق پہ آکر
جو بزمِ شہا دت میں ہے عباس کا ہمسر
علامہ سیّد ضمیر اختر نقوی
Today was an occasion of happiness, but I couldn’t find anything to write instead of the events of martyrdom, and this was only a summary. Please forgive me if I have made you cry, and appreciate the immense patience and desire of sacrifice of Imam Husain, and his family and friends, in Karbala that they went through the harshest test of Will ever by Allah and shined through it without a single speck of complain.
Question to Zakir Naik and his followers:
Dismissing Imam Husain’s Magnificent Sacrifice in Karbala as a mere political battle with Yazid, how do you explain the motivation behind the slaughter of an infant? What was his sin? Was he a threat to Yazid’s throne? Is Yazid worthy of being called Razi Allah Ta’ala after this?
Women will stop giving birth forty years before the day of Judgement as Allah will not inflict His wrath on his creation with innocent children alive. Keeping this in mind, do you think that Allah will be happy and ‘Raazi’ with Yazid for the slaughter of Asghar?
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