Imam Husain (AS) on his way to Karbala

Compiled By: Syed Ali Shahbaz
Imam Husain (AS) left Mecca and at Tan\'im he met a caravan which carried luxury goods and royal robes and gowns. It was a destined for Damascus for the tyrant Yazid Ibn Mu\'awiyah from his governor at Yemen.
The Imam ordered that all the cargo of the caravan be taken and given to the poor people. He said, \"Who is to have this luxury while poor people starve?\" Then, he announced to the people and to the workers on the caravan, \"Whoever wants to come with us, is welcome, and whoever wants his wages, we will give him his pay, and whoever wants to leave is free to leave.\" The Imam and his followers took none of the silk robes and royal gowns woven with gold thread. Those who wanted their pay received their portion and the rest was immediately given to poor people.
At the place called Safah, the Imam met a person on the way to Mecca for the Hajj pilgrimage. The man came closer and asked, \"Whose caravan is this?\" And he was informed that it was the caravan of Imam Husain (AS). He was the famous Arabic poet Farazdaq and he warmly greeted the grandson of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA). The Imam asked him of the attitude of the Kufa, and he answered, \"Their hearts are with you, but their swords are with the Omayyads. Imam said, \"You spoke the truth, and everything is up to God. He does what He wishes, and we ask help only from Him.\"
At the place called Dhat al-Irq, Imam Husain (AS) halted and set up camp, and here he met Bishr Ibn Ghalib. The Imam wrote a letter to his cousin Muslim Ibn Aqil and gave it to Qays Ibn Mashar al-Saydawi to take to Kufa and deliver it to him. In it he wrote, \"O people of Kufa! I have received the letter of Muslim Ibn Aqil stating that you have gathered to help us and ask for our rights. I ask Almighty God to reward you for this action. For this reason, I left Mecca on Thursday the 8th of Dhul-Hijjah. When my messenger arrives, be united until I reach Kufa in a few days.\"
When Qays Ibn Mashar al-Saydawi reached al-Qadisiyyah, Ibn Ziyad\'s forces captured him. When they tried to search him, he tore the letter apart. He was brought to the governor\'s castle in Kufa, where he was asked by Ibn Ziyad to go on the pulpit and curse Imam Husain, Imam Hasan and the Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali (peace upon them). Qays went on the pulpit and sent the blessings of God upon Imam Ali, Imam Hasan, and Imam Husain (peace upon them). Qays instead cursed Ibn Ziyad and his father and the Ommayads. Ibn Ziyad ordered for him to be thrown from the top of the castle. He fell and was martyred.
The next stop for Imam Husain (AS) was Zaroud. Here Zuhayr Ibn al-Qayn al-Bajali had also camped and was coming from the opposite direction. He did not like the Imam and did not want to set camp near him, but, because there was water at Zaroud, he had no other choice. At mealtime, a messenger of the Imam came to him and said that the grandson of the Prophet wanted to meet him. Zuhayr hesitated to reply but his wife, Dilham, told him to go to the Imam and see what he wants. Zuhayr went to him and immediately came back to his people with a happy face. He ordered to take his camp closer to the Imam\'s camp and told his wife, \"Go join your family, I do not want any of you to be harmed in any way because of me.\" Then, he faced his people again and said, \"Whoever wants to help the grandson of the Messenger of God should come with me. Otherwise, goodbye!\" Zuhayr revealed a conversation he had several years ago with the Prophet\'s famous Iranian companion, Salman Farsi. He said, \"We went with Salman in Balanjar. Salman told me \'When you reach Imam Husain (AS) and are able to help him and fight on his side, you should be more than happy to.\" His wife said, \"Whatever you decide, I go with your decision. Please remember me on the Day of Judgment with Imam Husain\'s grandfather.\" Also at Zaroud the news of the murder of the martyrdom in Kufa of Muslim Ibn Aqil and Hani Ibn Urwah reached the Imam. The Imam was deeply upset and many times said, \"God bless them.\" He and other people cried with the sad news, the ladies wailed, and the whole camp was in mourning.
At the next halting place called Tha\'labiyya, someone came and asked Imam Husan (AS), about the ayah of the holy Qur\'an where God says: \'The day when we shall call all people by their leader.\'
The Imam replied, \"A leader who calls to guidance and people obey his call and a leader who calls to misguidance and others follow him. One leads to heaven and the other leads to hell.\"
At Zubalah, the news reached the Imam that Abdullah Ibn Yaqtar, his second messenger to Kufa, was martyred. When he was captured he was sent to Ibn Ziyad, and Ibn Ziyad ordered him to go to the pulpit and curse the Prophet\'s Ahl al-Bayt. Abdullah showed his willingness to do so, but when he went up he said, \"O, people! I am the messenger of Husain, the son of Fatemah, to help him against Ibn Ziyad the son of the (base woman) Marjanah. Ibn Ziyad ordered him to be toppled from the top of the castle. He fell and broke most of his bones, but he was still able to talk. A man named Lakhmi, one of Ibn Ziyad\'s soldiers, came and cut off his head. After this news, the Imam announced, \"Anyone who has joined this caravan for any purpose other than dying for this cause should leave now.\" And people left him except for those who chose to stay, his family, and his companions.
Imam Husain (AS) continuing his journey towards Iraq halted at a place called Shiraf, and asked his companions to store more water than is normally needed for the rest of the journey. Suddenly one of his companions said \"Allahu Akbar,\" at what appeared to him palm trees in the far distance.
The people around him said it is impossible for palm trees to be in such a waterless tract. When they looked carefully, they saw spears and horses. The Imam set up camp at a place called Dhu-Hasm where there was shelter from any attack. At noon, Horr ar-Riyahi, with 1,000 soldiers, appeared in front of the Imam, carrying a message from Yazid’s governor of Kufa, Obaidollah Ibn Ziyad, ordering him to prevent the Imam from returning to Medina or capture him and bring him to Kufa. When the Imam saw that the army of Horr was thirsty, he asked his followers to give water to them and their horses. They gave water to all of them and all of their horses. When all the army and their animals were finished drinking, the Imam stood and said, \"I did not come here until all of your letters came to me, and the letters say that you do not have any leader and that you need me to help teach you guidance. If that is still your demand, give me something that shows that you are truthful in your promises, and if you do not like me, I will return to where I came from.\"
The soldiers were silent. No one spoke a word. Then, Hajjaj Ibn Masraq made the call to prayer for the Zohr or Noon- Prayer. The Imam said to Horr, \"You are the chief of your army. You go and pray with your own people.\" Horr replied, \"No. We pray behind you\", and Horr, with all of his troops, prayed behind the Imam. When the Imam finished the prayer, he stood and said, \"O people! Fear God and find the truth and follow it. We are the members of the House of the Prophet. We deserve trust more than those who do injustice. If you do not like us or you ignore our rights or you have changed your minds from whatever you have written to us before, then I will leave you.\"
The Imam then showed Horr the sack of letters written by the people of Kufa inviting him to Iraq. Horr said that his task was to bring the Imam to Ibn Ziyad in Kufa. The Imam said, \"Death is before that.\" He turned and told his followers to get ready to ride their horses, but Horr stopped them from going. Then, the Imam said, \"May your mother sit in mourning for you, what do you want from us?\" Horr replied, \"If anyone beside you had said those words to me, l would have replied in the same manner to him, but I cannot do that to you, because you are the Prophet’s grandson, and your mother is Hazrat Fatema Zahra (SA). However, take a route that does not reach Kufa nor goes to Medina, until I write to Ibn Ziyad and see what his orders are. May God relieve me from this catastrophe.\"
The Imam\'s caravan continued with Horr\'s army following behind. At a place called Bayzah, the Imam gave a sermon to the army of Horr: \"O people! The Messenger of God said, \'Whoever sees an unjust governor who changes the forbidden to allowed and who breaks his promise, who is against the tradition of the Prophets, who acts unjustly and does not do anything against it in action or in words, God will enter him where the unjust person enters.\' Indeed, these people follow Satan and have left the obedience of God. They spread mischief, they abandon all rules, they misuse wealth, and they make the illegal legal and the legal illegal. I deserve this leadership more than anyone else. Your letters came to me and your deputies came to me offering allegiance to me, saying that you will not betray me and that if I lead you, you will succeed. I am Husain, son of Ali and Fatemah, the daughter of the Messenger of God. My soul is with your soul, my family is with your family, and I am one of you. If you do not do so and change your promise and your allegiance to me, that would not be a surprise to me. You have done so before to my father, my brother, and my cousin (Muslim Ibn Aqil). If you do that, you have missed your chance and you have lost your share and whoever breaks his promise he breaks it against himself. Peace be upon you.\"
The next stop was Ninevah, where Horr received a message from Ibn Ziyad asking him not to let the Imam camp anywhere, but in the desert where there is no water and no fortification. The Imam said, \"Then, let us go to Nineveh or Ghazariyyah. Zuhayr said, \"There is a village here on the Euphrates and has a fort and the Euphrates crosses it. Let us go there. It\'s called Aqr. The Imam said, \"I seek refuge with God from Aqr.\" Then, the Imam asked Horr to let him go a little bit further. Horr agreed and the Imam\'s caravan went with Horr\'s troops following behind until they reached Karbala. At this place the horses of the Imam\'s group stopped, and the Imam asked Zuhayr, \"What is the name of this place\" Zuhayr said, \"It is also called Karbala. The Imam\'s eyes watered and he said, \"O, God! I seek refuge with God from Karb (that is grief) and Bala (that is tribulation). Here is the place in which we will set our camp; here is the place where our blood will be shed. Here is the place where our graves will be. This is what my grandfather has told me.\"