The
Martyrdom of Imam Husain رضي الله عنه
Left alone Imam Husain رضي الله عنه attacked the enemies so valiantly although
none of his companions remained alive to observe the magnificence of his attacks.
Amr bin Sad and Shimr were, saying to each other, "I have never seen such
a brave and courageous man." The sum and substance of this tragic and soul
withering tale is that Imam Husain رضي الله عنه
received forty five wounds from arrows on his body but continued to face the
enemy the entire time. According to another tradition, there were thirty-three
wounds from spears and forty-three sword wounds in addition to those of the
arrows. In the beginning, he was fighting on horseback but when the horse was killed,
he began to fight on foot. None of his enemies wanted to kill Imam Husain رضي الله عنه with his own hands, rather all of them
avoided and evaded him. At last, Shimr took six soldiers and attacked him. As a
consequence, Imam Husain's left hand was chopped off and fell to the ground.
Imam Husain رضي الله عنه wanted to attack them
in response but his right hand was also so injured that he could not lift up
the sword. Sanan bin Anas Nakhi speared him from behind and it passed through
his abdomen. This spear wound caused him to fall to the ground. Sanan drew out
the spear and with it Imam Husain's soul also was drawn out. Inna lillahi wa
inna ilaihi rajiun (To Allah do we belong and to Him is our return).
Then Shimr himself or at his
instance somebody else severed Imam Husain's head from his body and in
compliance with Obaidullah bin Zeyad's order, twelve horsemen were chosen. They
had his sacred trampled [corrupted text in scan] and they returned to the tent
and arrested his family. When Shimr saw Zain al-Abedeen, the child, he wanted
to kill him but Amr bin Sad prevented him from doing so. Imam Husain's head and
his family were sent to Obaidullah bin Zeyad in Kufa. Considerable propaganda
was made of them in Kufa. Ibn Zeyad called for the convening of his court and
Imam Husain's head was presented to him on a platter. Seeing it, he uttered
some impertinent remarks and then on the third day, he gave Shimr a division of
soldiers and under his supervision, he sent the captives and the sacred head to
Yazid in Damascus. When Ali bin Husain (Zain al-Abedeen) and all the women
reached Yazid and when he saw Imam Husain's head, he burst into tears in the
open court. He abused Obaidullah bin Zeyad and said that he had never order
Summayya's son to kill Husain bin Ali رضي الله عنه.
Then addressing Shimr and the Iraqis he said that since he was always pleased
with obedience, why did they kill Husain bin Ali رضي
الله عنه. Shimr and his associates expected that Yazid would reward and
honor them but he gave them nothing. On the contrary, he expressed his
displeasure and ordered them to leave. Then he said to the courtiers: Husain's
mother was better than mine, his grandfather the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم is better than the other Prophets and is
the chief of all of Adam's descendents. However, there was a quarrel between
his father Ali رضي الله عنه and my father Muawiya
رضي الله عنه. Similarly, we also fell out. Ali رضي الله عنه and Husain رضي
الله عنه both used to say "Let he whose father and grand father was
better be the Caliph." But they did not consider the verse of the Qur'ân:
"O Allah! Possessor of the
kingdom, You give the kingdom to whom you will, and You take the kingdom from
whom you will." (3:26)
Finally, it is known as to whom
Allah has favored.
Then, having released the captives,
he kept them in his palace as honored guests. When the women went into the
palace, they found that all the women there were crying just as Imam Husain's
sisters were crying for their brothers and relatives. After a few days of royal
hospitality, the ruined caravan left for Madinah.
Yazid provided them with all kinds
of financial assistance and promised Ali bin Husain (Imam Zain al-Abedeen) to
give him any type of assistance whenever he contacted him.
Obaidullah
bin Zeyad's Frustration
Obaidullah bin Zeyad hoped that
after the killing of Husain رضي الله عنه
he would be honored. But Yazid, after the incident of Karbala, appointed Silam
bin Zeyad the governor of Khorasan, he also put under him some provinces that
had been attached with Basra, and sent him to Kufa, and gave him a letter
written to Obaidullah bin Zeyad asking him to assign to Silam six thousands
soldiers of Silam's choice. Obaidullah took this as a negative sign and began
to express sorrow at Imam Husain's loss, saying if he had been living, Yazid
would have needed him and not have reduced his rank and status but now when
Yazid became safe he started to take territory and soldiers from under his
control. When Silam took command of the Kufan army, he asked the chiefs how
many of them wanted to accompany him to Khorasan. Each of them expressed his
desire to go with him. At night Obaidullah bin Zeyad sent his messenger to the
chiefs of the army and asked why they preferred Silam to him. They replied that
with him they had to stain their hands with the blood of the family of the
Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم while with Silam they
would be getting a chance to declare 'jihad' against the Turks and the Mongols.
The next day Silam along with six thousand selected soldiers, left Kufa and
went to Khorasan. Obaidullah bin Zeyad after the incident of Karbala, received
nothing in reward but shame and sorrow.
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