‘Sukoon,’ the only word strong enough to describe the emotion on entering Karbalah. Walking on arid pavements, where once only sand lay, wearing five layers of woolens in the night, when centuries ago one had to make do with robes, and passing through dim lit streets, where once the starlight lit the land- Karbalah, the land of Hussein, the land where Shiites crave to visit, the land where centuries ago, bloodshed brought about the emergence of a stronger belief in Islam.
Maulana Hussein, son of Imam Ali was performing Haj when he received numerous letters from the distressed people of Kufa asking him to save them from the wrath of the Yazid. The Yazid, the 2nd Caliph of the Umayyad Caliphate, was driven by might, power, and arrogance to kill Maulana Hussein whose influence was spreading at a fast and powerful pace across the Islamic world. He therefore threatened the people of Kufa, urging them to call Maulana Hussein to the city, where he and his troops had planned an attack.
Maulana Hussein, along with his family and followers, started undertaking their journey to Kufa to attend to the people in need. Foreseeing his martyrdom, Imam Hussein requested his family and seventy two army men to stay back in Mecca. Even so, they vouched to stay by his side. In the midst of their journey they encountered a small troop belonging to the Yazid. The troops led by Hur’Aleh Salam were extremely exhausted and thirsty and begged for water to Maulana Hussein. Maulana Hussein gave the troops every ounce of water they possessed, despite them being the enemy. Hussein, then asked what this land they had stopped on was known as and that’s when he was greeted with the response- Karbalah. Revelation dawned upon him, this was the holy land of Karbalah, the land where his grandfather Prophet Mohammed had told him he would breathe his last. Maulana Hussein stopped along with his family and decided to set up tents along the river Euphrates, waiting for the enemy to attack. It was the month of Moharram, and this very month is mourned to this day by Shiites all over the world.
It was three days before the epic battle of Karbalah, that the Yazid and his army starved Maulana Hussein’s family of food and water. When Maulana Hussein begged a member of the army to spare his six month old baby Aliazgar of this inhumane act, the soldier pierced the baby’s neck with an arrow, proving that no one would be spared.
The afternoon of the 9th of Moharram, was when the Yazid’s army was preparing for attack. However Imam Hussein asked them for one last night of prayers and meditation, and they agreed. On the 10th day of Moharram, the battle began. It is on this day that sermons are held by Shiite Maulanas’, all over the globe re-counting the horrific events of the day. The first death of the Ah le-Baith (Imam Hussein’s family) began with Hussein’s brother Abbas-E-Alamdaar. Imam Hussein’s young daughter Sakina could not bear the thirst anymore, and approached her uncle Abbas for help. He instantly climbed on his horse, and started riding towards the river Euphrates from where the army had pushed them away. Guards hid behind bushes ensuring that none of the Ah le-Baith would approach the river for water. Abbas-E-Alamdaar, holding a water container in his hands approached the river and started to collect water in his container. He suddenly felt a sharp arrow pierce through his left hand, he took the water container in the right hand and continued to collect water, an arrow then pierced the right hand as well. Determined to collect water for his thirsty niece, Abbas-E-Alamdaar picked the water container in his mouth, the guards seeing this, pierced an arrow straight through his mouth leading to his death. The first death of the day had happened, and Maulana Hussein’s brother was no more.
Amongst the people who fought the battle, Imam Hussein’s son Ali Akbar, and nephew Abdullah fought with as much strength and power they could muster, but were eventually killed. The afternoon’s scorching sun bore down on the family, and amongst the men of the family, Maulana Hussein was the only one remaining to fight. Commanding the battle all this time, he knew his time of death had arrived. He appointed his ailing son Ali-Zainul Abaideen to carry on the Imam’s lineage which exists to this day. The Yazid had chosen his right hand man Shimr to kill Imam Hussein since he was the only man in the army who dared to commit such a crime. The enemy was thirsty and their thirst lay in the Imam’s blood. In a matter of seconds, the Yazid achieved what he wanted, but had unknowingly created such a strong belief in Imam Hussein, that Shiites all across the world beat their chests in mourning through the month of Mohharam. Shimr beheaded Imam Hussein without an ounce of remorse, and he along with his army paraded all over Iraq with the head of Maulana Hussain on his spear. It was at the moment of Imam Hussein’s death that all hell broke loose. Tents were put on fire, woman and children were beaten, bodies were walked over, and captives were taken whose eventual fate was death and death alone. Among the women, Zainab, the sister of Imam Hussein mourned, having to witness the massacre of her sons, nephews’ and her own brother, in the bloodiest way of barbaric killing.
The army travelled with the head of Imam Hussein from Iraq, through Damascus, all the way to Egypt. It is for this reason that the head of Imam Hussein is buried in Egypt, while the body lies in Iraq. When one undertakes a pilgrimage to Karbalah, one visits the mausoleums of Imam Hussein, Abbas-E-Alamdar, the land where the tents were put up, the hill from where Zainab stood and watched her brother’s death, and the graves of various other family members and companions who died in the battle.
The mausoleums of Imam Hussein and Abbas-E-Alamdar are connected through a common pathway. The domes are large and golden and stand as magnanimous structures bound by 5 layers of tight security. Followers are seen camping out nights outside the mausoleums to gain blessings and have their prayers answered. One can even see believers in penance crawling to the mausoleums, walking with bare feet on the gravel laden path, or even fasting for days before entering the doors of the Imam’s shrine. The interiors of both the mausoleums are grand, and flaunt Turkish carpets, numerous chandeliers, and several precious stones forming designs. The crowd inside each mausoleum is overwhelming, and people’s personal photographs and currency of various countries fill up the walls of the graves signifying various mannats. The grave, enclosed by a silver and golden jali, has been funded by the Dawoodi Bohra head priest Dr. Syedna Mohammad Burhanuddin Saheb along with the Turkish government. Within the shrine of Imam Hussein, also lies the grave of the 72 army men who fought for Imam Hussein in the battle of Karbalah. His sons Aliazgar, and Ali Akbar, lie next to his grave, and are enclosed within the same jali.
The spiritual journey to Karbalah, walking on the same ground where the Prophet’s family shed their blood, takes you into a world where the power of the Almighty seems so near and so approachable. Even though one hears these stories every year in the month of Moharram, the passion, and emotion these stories evoke is one which is indescribable. To write about the power and martyrdom of Hussein, and bring in the same sense of passion through words, is impossible. No words are powerful enough, no translations are good enough, and no explanations are complete enough to define the love Imam Hussein has spread, and the belief he has mustered in every Shiite worldwide. Here I sit and write about the story unfolded centuries ago, while the sensation of the battle happening yesterday does not seem to fade.
ZAHRA AMIRUDDIN-3742
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