Event 1
The narrator says, “The people of Kufa heard the news of the dignified arrival of Imam Husayn (a.s.) in Mecca and his denial to give allegiance to Yazeed.15 Many people gathered in the house of Sulaiman Ibn Surad Khozaei.”16 Sulaiman stood up, gave a sermon and at the end of his speech said: "Oh Shias! You know that Muawiyah has died and is getting the recompense of his deeds. He has nominated his son, Yazeed, on the throne of kingdom." Here is Husayn (a.s.) who has refused to confirm him, and he has migrated to Mecca, due to the rebellious Ommayides. You are the followers of him and his father. Today he needs your help. So think over. If you can fight with him against his enemy, then inform him. Otherwise if you are lazy, disunited, and fearful then do not capture him in deception and complacency.
Then they wrote the following letter to Imam Husayn (a.s.) and dispatched it:
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful Submitted respectfully to Imam Husayn Ibn Ali Amirul Momineen (a.s.), from Sulaiman Ibn Surad Khozaei, Musayyab Ibn Najbah17, Rafah Ibn Shaddad18, Habib Ibn Mozahir19, and Abdullah Ibn Vail20 and his other Shias (followers):
Peace of Allah be upon you. Praise is for Allah Who defeated the enemy of you and your father, i.e. one who was selfish, arrogant and jealous oppressor, who forcibly snatched the right of this Ummah, and deprived them from their rights; one who became sovereign without the consent of the community, who killed the good people and kept the evil ones and mischief-mongers alive and handed over the public treasury to the rebels and dictators, and thus we wish that he would have been driven away from the mercy of Allah, like the people of Thamnjd. Now we do not have any leader except you. So please come to us, so that Allah may gather us for truth through you. Here, Noman Ibn Bashir21 (the governor) has remained alone in the government palace, and we are not on his side in Friday pray and other ceremonies.
If we come to know that you are coming toward us, we shall drive him out to Syria (Sham)22. Blessings and greetings to you inadvance, O son of the holy Prophet, and may Allah have mercy on you and on your father, and there is no strength and might except that of Allah, the High and the Great. They sent this letter.
After two days, the people dispatched through another group 150 letters, which were signed by one, two, three, or four persons… all of them requested the arrival of the Imam to Kufa. The Imam delayed response and did not reply to those letters. Then once he got 600 letters. Letters came constantly, and exceeded to 12000 letters. The latest Kufian couriers were Hani Ibn Hani as Sabiee,23 and Saeed Ibn Abdullah al- Hanafi24, who brought the following letter and it, was the last letter from the people of Kufa:
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful To Husayn son of Amir ul-Momineen Ali (a.s.) from his Shias, and the Shias of Amir ul-Momineen (a.s.)
Now, all people are waiting for you, and they have none other than you, in their mind, for leadership. So please hurry. Make haste, Oh son of the holy Prophet. The gardens and field are green and full of fruits.
The ground is full of grass and trees with sprouting branches and leaves. When your intention accrues, do come here so that you may lead the army which is ready.
Salutation on you and your father in advance.
Husayn (a.s.) asked Hani and Saeed, "Whose letter is this?"
They replied: Shabas Ibn Rabaee25, Hajar Ibn Abjar26, Yazeed Ibn Harith27, Yazeed Ibn Raveem, Urwah Ibn Qais28, Umar Ibn Hajjaj29, and Muhammad Ibn Amir Ibn Atarad30.
It is narrated that, at that time, Imam got up and prayed between Rukn and Maqam, and wished good affairs from Allah. Then he called Muslim Ibn Aqil31 and acquainted him with the situation. He sent the reply to Kufa through him, wherein he had mentioned his intention to go to Kufa.
The text of the letter was: “I am dispatching my cousin Muslim Ibn Aqil to you, so that he may convey to me your opinion and views.”
Muslim went with the Imam’s letter and reached Kufa. As the people knew about the Imam’s letter and his program, they were pleased with the arrival of Muslim. They invited Muslim to stay in the house of Mukhtar Ibn Abi Ubaidah Thaqafi32, and the Shias began to come to that place. When the people gathered around Muslim, he read the Imam’s letter. 18000 persons paid allegiance to him. Abdullah Ibn Muslim al-Bahili, Ammarah Ibn Walid, and Umar Ibn Sa’ad33 wrote a letter to Yazeed, informing him about Muslim Ibn Aqil and the situation in Kufa. They advised him to dismiss Noman Ibn Bashir and replace him by someone else.
Yazeed wrote to Ubaidullah Ibn Ziyad34, the Governor of Basra35, "We gave you the governorship of Kufa (in addition to Basra)." He informed him about Muslim Ibn Aqil’s affair, and ordered that he should be arrested and killed. Ubaidullah prepared to move towards Kufa.
Husayn (a.s.) wrote a letter to the nobles of Basra, and sent it through one of his friends, Sulaiman Abarzin36, and invited them to assist him. He reminded them of their responsibility to obey the Imam.
This group included Yazeed Ibn Masood Nahsali and Munzir Ibn Jarood Abdi.37 Yazeed Ibn Masood gathered Bani Tamim, Bani Hanzala, and Bani Sa’ad and told them, "O Bani Tamim! How do you find my character, condition, and family, and nobility among you?" They said, "Well, very good! You are the pillar and head of every excellence, the center of nobility, and in the forefront of eminence." He said, "I have called you for obtaining your opinion and assistance in my affairs." They replied, "By Allah! We will do our best to express our view. Tell us, so that we may know."
He said: "Certainly Allah has dragged Muawiyah into disgrace and destruction, and has removed his mark. It was he who opened the floodgates of sin and oppression, and it was he who laid the foundation of tyranny. He imposed the allegiance of his son on the people by force, and imagined that he had established him firmly state. Woe unto what he intended. He made an effort and failed. He called for advice and did not get support. Now his son, Yazeed, the drunkard and he who heads every evil and sin, claims to be the caliph of Muslims, and wants to be their ruler without their consent and approval. This is, while he does not know the path of truth, because of his being weak in knowledge and tolerance. I believe that war and fight against Yazeed is more urgent than war against polytheists."And here is Husayn Ibn Ali, son of the dear daughter of the holy Prophet (S), who enjoys nobility, dignity,and wisdom. His distinction is beyond the ability of the pen to write, and the tongue to speak. He is an ocean of know- ledge, which has no shore. He is the suitable person for the post of caliphate. He enjoys a brilliant record, an age full of experience, a glorious background, and honorable kinship. He is very affectionate to the youngsters and kind to the elders. How nice it would be if people had a leader like him, and if he had become the Imam of the Ummah. Allah has made his plea incumbent and his sermon very audible.
Do not run away from the Divine Radiance, and do not grope in dark- ness of falsehood. It was Sakhr Ibn Qais38 who brought on you the dis- grace of not participating in Jamal war. Today you may clean that blot by rising help to the son of the holy Prophet (S). By Allah anyone who refrains from helping him, Allah has prepared humiliation and shortage for him and his family. And now behold! I am the one who has worn the dress of war and have put on the armor. Now the one who is not martyred will die, and the one, who flees, will certainly meet death.
May Allah have mercy on you. Give me a good response. Banu Hanzala said, We always have been the arrows of your bow, and the horsemen of your family. If you come out for a fight along with us you will be victorious and conqueror. If you see difficulties, again we will be with you, and will help you with our swords and will protect you at the cost of our lives. So rise up for whatever you wish.
The Banu Sa’ad got up to speak and said, "O Aba (father of) Khalid: The most inappropriate deed, in our eyes, is to oppose you and to disobey your command and opinion. If Sakhr Ibn Qais has ordered us to give up war he has eulogized us, and our honor, and pride has remained intact as before. Please permit us to consult one another so that we may convey to you the outcome.”
Thereafter Banu Amer Ibn Tamim spoke, “O, Aba Khalid! We are sons of your father, and your confederates. If you become angry then we do not like to remain happy and silent. If you march we shall not sit at home. Every command of yours is right. So call us up so that we may respond, and give order to us so that we may obey. Issue order whenever you wish. It is only up to you.”He said, "O Banu Sa’ad! If you will obey the command, then Allah will not deprive you from power and the sword. It will always remain in your hand." Thereafter, a letter was written accordingly (unanimously) to the Imam (a.s.):
Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem I have been honored by your graceful letter and I have come to know about its contents; wherein you have summoned me, and have invited me that I should profit from your obedience and become fortunate by helping your honor. The Almighty Allah never keeps the world without the one who does well and who guides towards salvation. You are Allah’s perfect Sign for the entire creation and His Trust on earth.
Yes, you are the fruitful branches of the Prophetic Olive tree, which was planted by the holy Prophet (S).
The highflying bird acquires its graceful flying through your holy hand. I have made Bani Tamim subservient to you, and they are your total and perfect followers. They are rushing to you for obeying you, just as a thirsty camel rushes towards water. I hand over to you the obedience of Bani Sa’ad and have washed away the internal dirt from their souls so thoroughly that it shines nicely before every eye to observe.
After reading this letter Imam Husayn (a.s.) said: May Allah protect you on the Frightful day (Hereafter), and gratify you on the Day of terrible thirst.
Ibn Masood Nahsali had just made preparations to move towards Imam Husayn (a.s.) when he got the news of Hazrat’s martyrdom. As he could not get the opportunity of helping the Imam, he got restless.
Munzir Ibn Jarood handed over the message of Imam Husayn (a.s.) and the messenger to Ubaidullah Ibn Ziyad because he feared that he could be a spy of Ubaidullah and Bahriya, daughter of Munzir, was wife of Ubaidullah. Ubaidullah hanged the messenger, and gave a speech warn- ing the people against revolting and fanning troublesome news. The next morning Ubaidullah assigned his brother Uthman Ibn Ziyad in his office in Basra, and he himself rushed to Kufa. Spending that evening near Kufa, he entered the city at night. People imagined that Husayn (a.s.) had arrived. So they became happy and rushed to greet him. But on seeing Ibn Ziyad they dispersed. Ibn Ziyad went to the Government House. He stayed there overnight. Next morn- ing he went to the mosque and through his speech warned people against disobeying the ruler, and promised rewards for obedience.
When Muslim Ibn Aqil got this news he feared identification. So got out of Mukhtar’s house and went to the house of Hani bin Urwah. Hani gave him a good welcome. Shias began to meet him at the house of Hani. Ibn Ziyad planted his spies over them. When Ibn Ziyad came to know that Muslim was in Hani’s house, he summoned Muhammad Ibn Ash’ath39, Asma Ibn Kharja40, and Amr bin Hajjaj and asked,
"What is the matter? Why is Hani not coming to meet me?" They said, "We do not know. It is said that he is ill." He said: "I have heard that he has now recovered and that he sits at the door of his house. If we know that he is not well we may go to see him. Go to him and remind him not to ignore our due right. Since he is a noble Arab, I do not like that he should be charged with corruption."
They went to Hani, stayed there with him and asked him: "What happened, why not you go to see the Amir (Ibn Ziyad)? He has re- membered you saying, If I know that he is ill. I may go to see him." Hani said: Illness prevented me.
They said, “He has heard that you have recovered and that you sit at the door of your house in the evening. The ruler will not tolerate this drawback and disloyalty, especially from someone like you. You are a nobleman of your community. We ask under oath to get up, take a ride and come along with us to him.” Hani put on his dress and rode on his animal. On reaching the palace, Hani was fearful and said to Hassan bin Asma Ibn Khariji, “O my nephew! By Allah, I fear this man. What do you think?” He said: “O uncle! Do not be afraid. I do not feel worry about you.” (Hassan did not know what was going on behind the curtain and why Ibn Ziyad had sent him to Hani). Hani went to Ubaidullah along with othercompanions.
Seeing Hani, Ubaidullah said: Dishonesty has dragged him to you (it is an Arabic proverb). Then he looked at Qazi Shureih41 who was sitting by his side, pointed towards Hani and recited the following couplets of poet of Madi Karb Zubedi42.
I desired life for him, and he wanted death for me.
This is meant by the excuse of your friend. Hani said: What has happened to the Amir?
Ibn Ziyad said, “Shut up, O Hani! What is going in your house against Amir-ul- Momineen and the Muslims? You brought Muslim Ibn Aqil in your premises, and you are gathering fighters and arms for him there?” Hani said: I have done nothing. Ibn Ziyad: Call my servant, Ma’qqal.
This Ma’qqal was a spy of Ibn Ziyad who knew many secret of Hani’s house. Ma’qqal came and stood near Ibn Ziyad. When Hani saw Ma’qqal, he understood that he was Ibn Ziyad’s spy, said, "By God! Neither I had called him to my house nor did I invite him to rise in revolt. But he took shelter in my house. I felt ashamed in refusing shelter. This sheltering made me responsible for him. I gave him protection. Now since you have known this matter let me go and relieve him from my house so that he may go wherever he likes and that my responsibility is over." Ibn Ziyad said: "No, by Allah. You cannot leave here until you hand over Muslim to me."
Hani: "No, by Allah. I will never do such a shameless thing. I cannot hand over my guest to you so that you kill him." Ibn Ziyad: "By Allah, you must deliver him." Hani: "I will never do so."
We will continue
- Freedom Fighters Ng
From the book “Al-Lohoof ala Qatla al-Tofuf” written by Sayyid Ibn Tawus, translated by Asar Husayn S.H Rizvi