MURDER OF HUSAIN IBN ALI
Abdullah Ibn Wahb Ibn Zam‘ah related on the authority of Umm Salamah who narrated that the Messenger of Allah (Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him) one day slept and then woke up, disturbed. He slept again and woke up but less disturbed. He then slept again and woke while holding a handful of red sand which he twisted in his hand. I said, “O Messenger of Allah, what is this sand?” He said, “(Angel) Gabriel told me: This (meaning Husain, the Prophet’s grandson) would be killed in the land of Iraq. Then I said to Gabriel: Show me the sand from the land in which he would be killed. And this is the sand’.”
Abdullah Ibn Abbas (May Allah be pleased with him) narrated that Al-Husain (the Prophet’s grandson) was sitting in the bosom of the Prophet (Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him) when Gabriel asked him, “Do you love him?” The Messenger of Allah (Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him) responded, “How should I not love him while he is the fruit of my heart?!” It was then that Gabriel said, “But your followers will kill him. Should I show you the place of his grave?” He then took a handful of red dust.
Ummul-Fadl Bint Al-Harithi narrated that she came to the Messenger of Allah (Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him) and told him, “O Messenger of Allah, I had a terrible dream last night.” The Prophet (Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him) asked, “What is it?” She said, “I saw it in my dream that a part of your body was cut off and put in my lap.” The Prophet (Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him) said, “You have seen something good. That is Fatimah! If Allah wills, she will have a baby boy that will be put in your lap (as his wet-nurse).” Later, Fatimah had Husain and he was put in my lap as prophesied by the Messenger of Allah (Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him). One day, I entered upon the Prophet (Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him) and put Husain on his lap. Then I turned around and saw the tears rolling down from the Prophet’s eyes. I said, “O Messenger of Allah, may my father and mother be sacrificed upon you! What happened?” He said, “Gabriel came to me and informed me that my followers would kill this son of mine.” I said, “Is that so?” He said, “Yes, and he even brought me the red dust of the place in which he would be killed.”
She also narrated that she came to the Messenger of Allah (Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him) and told him, “I saw in my dream that in my house or my room a part of your body.” The Prophet (Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him) said, “Allah willing, Fatimah will give birth to a baby boy that you will nurse.” As it turned out, Fatimah had Husain and he was given to me to nurse and I nursed him along with Qutham. One day, I brought him to Allah’s Messenger (Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him). He took him and placed him on his chest and the boy urinated. His lower garment was wetted by the urine and then rapped the boy’s shoulders. The Messenger of Allah (Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him) then said, “You have hurt my son, may Allah reform you!” Or he said, “May Allah have mercy upon you!” I then asked him to give me his garment so that I could wash it but he said, “It is only a baby girl’s urine that is washed off. As for a baby boy’s, water is only sprinkled on it.”
Ibn ‘Abbas (May Allah be pleased with him) narrated that he saw the Messenger of Allah (Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him) in a dream, dusty and disheveled and holding a bottle of blood. He said, “May my father and mother be sacrificed on you, O Messenger of Allah! What is this?” He said, “This is the blood of Husain and his companions. I have been collecting it all day.” Ibn ‘Abbas continued, “We enumerated that day and we found that he was killed on that day. May Allah be pleased with him.”
Qatadah said, “Al-Husain was killed on Friday, the Ashoora’ day, in the Year 61 A.H. He was aged fiftyfour years, six months and fifteen days.”
The reason for killing Husain was that the people of Iraq wrote a letter to him, requesting him to come to them so that they could pledge allegiance to him as the caliph. He received many letters in this regard from the general public and from his cousin, Muslim Ibn Aqeel. When ‘Ubaidullah Ibn Ziyad, whom Yazeed Ibn Mu‘awiyah appointed as the governor of Iraq knew about this letter, he sent for Muslim Ibn Aqeel and had him beheaded. He then threw his body from atop of his palace to the public square. This caused commotion and disunity among people.
Meanwhile, Husian who had mobilized an army from Hejaz in preparation for marching to Iraq did not know what had happened to Muslim Ibn Aqeel. So, he set out in the company of about three hundred strong convoy, comprising members of his household and his followers. Some of the Prophet’s companions such as Abu Sa‘eed Al-Khudri, Jabir Ibn Abdullah, Ibn Abbas and Ibn Umar warned Husain against going to Iraq but he did not listen to them.
Abdullah Ibn Umar offered Husain the best advice on this matter. He tried in vain to convince him that he would not achieve his goal but Husain rejected the advice.
Ash-Sha‘bi said: Ibn Umar came to Al-Madinah and he was informed that Husain Ibn Ali had left for Iraq. He caught up with him after a journey of about two or three nights. He asked him, “Where are you going?” Husain said, “Iraq.” And there were books and scrolls with him. Ibn Umar advised, “Do not go to these people.” Husain then showed him the books and scrolls and said, “These are their books and scrolls containing their messages and pledges of allegiance.” Thereupon Ibn Umar said to him, “Allah gave His Prophet Muhammad (Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him) to choose between the wealth of this world and that of the Hereafter, and he chose that of the Hereafter and did not want that of this world. And you are of the blood of the Messenger of Allah (Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him). By Allah! None of you will ever attain this (position of worldly authority). For, Allah has not diverted away from you but for what is better for you. So, go back.” But Husain refused and repeated, “These are their books and scrolls containing their messages and pledges of allegiance.” It was then that Ibn Umar hugged him and said, “I wish you Allah’s protection as a victim of murder.” In actuality, the understanding of Abdullah Ibn Umar that none of the members of the Prophet’s household had never assumed – and will never assume – the absolute and independent political authority and complete control was correct and accurate. Uthman Ibn Affan and Ali had also made the similar statement that none of the members of the Prophet’s household will ever attain absolute political authority.
As for the Fatimid caliphs that once controlled Egypt, most scholars are of the opinion that they are just pretenders (and not descendants of the Prophet (Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him)). Ali was a member of the Prophet’s household, yet he never enjoyed complete authority as his three predecessors had done. Neither did his control cover all parts of the Muslim lands. In addition to this, things were made difficult for him.
As for his son Hasan, when he came with the army of his father and he and the people of Sham reached an agreement and truce and he saw that it would be in the interest of all to forgo authority, he relinquished it for the sake of Allah, and in order to preserve the blood of the Muslims. May Allah reward him with good and be pleased with him.
When Ibn Umar advised Husain against going to Iraq and his advice was rejected, he hugged him and bade him farewell saying, “I wish you Allah’s protection as a victim of murder.” What Ibn Umar had expected to happen did occur. For, when Husain mounted his ride and continued with his journey to Iraq, Ubaidullah Ibn Ziyad sent a detachment of four thousand men to accost him under the leadership of Amr bin Sa‘d Ibn Abi Waqqas, who had asked Ubaidullah to excuse him but the latter refused to do so. The two groups met each other at a place called Karbala. Then Husain and those who were with him sought refuge at a place where reeds were grown. And they stayed behind it.
The two groups faced each other and Husain asked members of the other group to grant him one of the three things: to allow him to go back to where he came from, to be sent to one of the warfronts where he could fight in the way of Allah and get martyred or to be left to go to Yazeed Ibn Mu‘awiyah and surrender himself to him to take whatever decision he wished regarding him. They refused to grant him any of the three options and they told him that they could only take him to Ubaidullah who could then decide to do whatever he wanted with him.
Husain flatly rejected the idea of meeting Ubaidullah and, as a result, fighting ensued between him and Ubaidullah’s troops which culminated in his being killed – may Allah have mercy upon him. The soldiers then brought Husain’s head to Ubaidullah who started scratching the former’s incisors with a rod he was holding. Anas Ibn Malik was present there; and he said rather disgustingly, “You this! Take off your rod. On many occasions, I had seen the Messenger of Allah (Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him) kissing these incisors!”
Ubaidullah then commanded that members of Husain’s family and the remnants of those who were with him be sent to Yazeed in Syria. There was also a report that he sent with them Husain’s head that was put in front of Yazeed.
People composed many eulogies on Husain and the eulogy mentioned by Al-Hakim An-Naisaboori, who has some Shiism in him, is one of the best. The meaning of the eulogy goes thus:
They brought your head, O son of Muhammad’s daughter, drenched in his own blood;
By killing you, O son of Muhammad’s daughter, it is as if they had publicly and intentionally killed a Messenger!
They killed you thirstily without having any consideration for the Qur’an or its meaning;
They are glorifying Allah for your being killed while murdering you, they have murdered glorification of Allah and proclamation of His oneness.
The event of Harrah that also occurred during the time of Yazeed
Ayyoob Ibn Basheer Al-Mu‘awi narrated that the Messenger of Allah (Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him) went out in one of his journeys. When he arrived at the Harrah of Zuharah, he halted and made Istirja‘. This troubled those who were with him; for they thought that the Istirja‘ had to do with their journey. Umar Ibn Al-Khattab said, “O Messenger of Allah, what did you see?” The Prophet (Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him) answered, “It has nothing to do with this journey of yours.” His Companions then said, “Then what is the matter, O Messenger of Allah?” The Prophet (Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him) answered, “The best ones from among my Companions will be killed in this Harrah.” This is a Mursal report.
Regarding the following Verse: “And if the enemy had entered from all sides (of the city), and they had been exhorted to Al-Fitnah (i.e. to renegade from Islam to polytheism), they would surely have committed it.” (Soorah Al-Ahzab 33:14)
Ibn Abbas said, “The interpretation of this Verse only came to light exactly sixty years (after Hijrah).” He then said, quoting a part of the Verse, “They would surely have committed it.”
Abu Dharr narrated: “The Messenger of Allah (Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him) asked me, ‘O Abu Dharr, what will you do when you see people killing one another so much so that there is lot of bloodshed?’ I said, ‘Allah and His Messenger know best.’ He then said, ‘You should sit down in your house and shut your door.’ I said, ‘What if I am not left alone?’ The Prophet (Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him) said, ‘Then join the ones you belong to and stay with them.’ I said, ‘Should I take up my weapon?’ He said, ‘Then you will be involved in what they are doing. But if you fear that that you might be terrified by the clinging of the sword, then cover your face with the edge of your garment so that the killer to bear the burden of his sin and that of yours’.”
The cause of the battle of Harrah is that a delegation from Al-Madinah went to Yazeed in Damascus who honored them and gave them generous gifts. He gave their leader, Abdullah Ibn Hanzalah close to a hundred thousand Dirhams. When members of this delegation returned to their people, they informed them of religious violations that Yazeed used to commit such as consumption of alcohol and immoralities that such violations led to, the greatest of which is delaying prayers until their times expired as a result of drunkenness. They, therefore, resolved to stop recognizing him as the commander of the faithful, and an announcement to that effect was promptly made near the Prophet’s pulpit.
When Yazeed heard what the people of Al-Madinah had done, he sent a detachment of fighters under the commandership of a man called Muslim Ibn ‘Uqbah – the righteous predecessors call him “Musrif” Ibn ‘Uqbah – to quell the rebellion. When he arrived at Al-Madinah with his troops, he launched a ferocious attack on the city for three days during which he killed lots of people that hardly any of its residents was able to escape. Some scholars from among the righteous predecessors claim that about a thousand virgins were raped during the invasion.
Imam Malik said, “During the war of Harrah, seven hundred men from among the memorizers of the Qur’an were killed.” The narrator from him said, “I thought he said that three of them were Companions of the Prophet (Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him).” This took place during the caliphate of Yazeed.
Laith said, “The war of Harrah took place on the 26th (or 27th) of Dhul-Hijjah, Year 63 A.H.”
Musrif Ibn ‘Uqbah then went to Makkah with the intention of killing Abdullah Ibn Zubair who had escaped from pledging allegiance to Yazeed. It was at this time that Yazeed died and Ibn Zubair was becoming more powerful in his control of Hejaz. He then seized Iraq and Egypt.
After the death of Yazeed, pledge of allegiance was given to his son Mu‘awiyah Ibn Yazeed. He was a righteous man but he did not rule for long. He ruled only for forty or twenty days, according to some reports. May Allah have mercy upon him. Marwan Ibn Hakam then seized Syria and ruled it for nine months and died. He was succeeded by his son, Abdul-Malik who faced a stiff challenge from Amr Ibn Sa‘eed Ibn Al-Ashdaq who was the governor of Al-Madinah during the caliphate of Mu‘awiyah, his son Yazeed and Marwan Ibn Hakam. After the death of Marwan, Amr Ibn Sa‘eed claimed the latter had made a will that he should assume the caliphate after him. So he made things difficult for Abdul-Malik that he had to wage a war against him until he killed him in the Year 70 A.H. or 69 A.H. according to some narrations.
The reign of Abdul-Malik continued until he was finally able to defeat Ibn Zubair in the Year 73 A.H. Abdullah Ibn Zubair was killed in Makkah by Hajjaj Ibn Yoosuf Ath-Thaqafi with the command of Abdul-Malik after a long siege in which the Ka‘bah was struck with ballista just because Ibn Zubair was taking shelter in the Sacred Mosque. Hajjaj carried on his siege and attack on the mosque until he finally killed Ibn Zubair.
After the murder of Ibn Zubair, Abdul-Malik entrusted the caliphate to his four sons after him: AlWaleed, Sulaiman, Yazeed and Hisham, in that order.
Abu Hurairah narrated that the Messenger of Allah (Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him) said, “Seek refuge with Allah from the (occurrences of) the beginning of year seventy (A.H.) and from leadership of youngsters.”
The Prophet (Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him) also said, “This world will not come to an end before the appearance of a wicked son of a wicked one.”
Abu Hurairah also narrated that the Messenger of Allah (Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him) said, “The (average) age of my followers is between sixty and seventy years.”
Muhammad Ibn Yazeed Ibn Abi Ziyad Ath-Thaqafi said: Qais Ibn Kharashah and Ka‘b marched together until they arrived at Siffeen. Ka‘b Al-Ahbar halted and spoke about many Muslims who were killed there.
He also mentioned that the incidence was mentioned in the Torah.
Muhammad Ibn Yazeed also reported from Qais Ibn Kharashah that he pledged allegiance to the Messenger of Allah (Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him) that he would always say the truth. The Messenger of Allah(Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him) then told him, “Qais, perhaps, you will live long and reach a time when you will be under the control of a ruler you will not be able to say the truth in their presence.” Qais replied, “By Allah! I will not pledge allegiance to you on something except that I fulfill it.” Thereupon the Prophet (Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him) said, “Then no human being can harm you.”
So Qais lived till the time of Ubaidullah Ibn Ziyad Ibn Abi Sufyan who held something against him and summoned him. When he was brought to him he said, “Are you the one claiming that no human being can harm you?” Qais answered in the affirmative. Ubaidullah then said, “Today, you will know that you are a liar!” He then called for the tormentor. (Before the arrival of the tormentor, Qais slanted and died!)
By Ibn Katheer
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