المجالس العاشورية في المآتم الحسينية

His hair was disheveled, and he was in a state of panic. I asked him about his condition, and he said, "Today, my son Hussein (peace be upon him) and his family were killed. I buried them, and I have just finished burying them."

She said: "So I rose and entered the house, almost unable to comprehend, and I looked and there was the soil of Husayn that Gabriel brought from Karbala, saying: 'When this soil turns into blood, your son has been killed.' The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) gave it to me and said: 'Place this soil in a vial or a bottle and keep it with you. When it turns into fresh blood, Husayn has been killed.' I now saw the vial, and it had turned into fresh blood, boiling."

He said: Umm Salama took some of that blood and smeared it on her face, making that day a day of mourning and lamentation for Hussein (peace be upon him). The riders came with the news of his death on that very day.

Ibn Abbas, in a narration by Said ibn Jubair about him, said: When the following night came, I saw the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) in my dream, disheveled and dust-covered. I mentioned this to him and asked about his condition, to which he replied: "Do you not know that I have just finished burying Hussein and his companions?"

Al-Allama Al-Majlisi, may mercy be upon him, mentioned in some books of merits about Ahmad bin Ja'far Al-Qatifi, with the chain of transmission from Ammar that Ibn Abbas saw the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) in a dream one day at noon. The Prophet appeared disheveled and dusty, holding a vial containing blood. Ibn Abbas asked, "O Messenger of Allah, what is this blood?" The Prophet replied, "It is the blood of Hussain, which I have been collecting since today." The date was noted, and it was found that Hussain was killed on that day.

Al-Sharif al-Radi, may mercy be upon him, said:

In the second gathering, on the night of the eleventh, events and incidents after the killing of Al-Hussein (peace be upon him), his body was plundered, desecrated, and the tents were burned.

The narrator recounts what happened after the killing of Imam Al-Hussein (peace be upon him): Then they came to plunder Al-Hussein (peace be upon him); his shirt was taken by Ishaq bin Hawiyah al-Hadrami, who wore it and then developed leprosy, causing his hair to fall out. It is reported that the shirt bore a hundred and some odd marks, including stabs and wounds.

Imam Al-Sadiq (peace be upon him) stated: Al-Hussein (peace be upon him) received thirty-three stabs and forty-four strikes.

And in a narration from Imam Al-Sadiq (peace be upon him), he said: Al-Hussein (peace be upon him) sustained over seventy stabs and over seventy sword strikes.

And in a narration from Al-Baqir (peace be upon him), it is said that he was found with three hundred and some twenty wounds.

It is also narrated that some say it was more, even reaching a thousand and nine hundred wounds, and there were arrows in...

His armor is like thorns on a hedgehog's skin. (1)

Al-Hajj Hashim Al-Ka'abi, may he rest in peace, says:

Mr. Haydar Al-Hilli, may he rest in peace, says:

The narrator said: His trousers were taken by Jarir bin Ka'b Al-Taimi, and it was reported that he became paralyzed in his legs. His turban was taken by Akhnas bin Mirthad bin Alqama Al-Hadrami, and it was said: Jabir bin Yazid Al-Audi wore it and became deranged, and in another narration by Al-Sayyid: he became leprous. His armor was taken by Malik bin Bashir Al-Kindi, and he became deranged.

The esteemed Sayyid Ibn Tawus, may mercy be upon him, said: Al-Aswad bin Khalid inflicted upon him and took his ring from Jadal bin Suwayl lem of the Kalbi tribe. He cut off his finger (peace be upon him) along with the ring.

This meant to seriously take the chosen one, only his hands and feet, and leave him to writhe in his blood until he perished, curse him.

It is narrated that a man with neither hands nor feet, who was also blind, would say, "Lord, save me from the fire." He was asked, "You have no punishment left, yet you still ask for salvation from the fire?" He replied, "I was among those who killed Hussein (peace be upon him) in Karbala. After he was killed, I saw him wearing a good pair of trousers and a fine waist ribbon after the people had stripped him. I wanted to take the ribbon, but he raised his right hand and placed it over the ribbon, and I couldn't take it. So I cut off his right hand, then attempted to take the ribbon again, and he raised his left hand and placed it over the ribbon."

After I had cut off his left arm and was about to remove the waistband, I heard a rumbling sound, which frightened me and made me stop. God cast sleep upon me, and I slept among the dead. In my dream, it was as if Muhammad (peace be upon him) came with Ali and Fatimah. They took the head of Hussein, and Fatimah kissed it. Then she said, "O my son, they have killed you, may God kill them. Who did this to you?" It was as if he replied, "Shimer killed me, and this man—pointing at me—cut off my hands." Then Fatimah said to me, "May God cut off your hands and feet, blind your sight, and cast you into the fire." When I awoke, I found myself blind, with my hands and feet having fallen off. The only part of her curse yet unfulfilled was the fire.

Sayyid Ibn Tawus, may mercy be upon him, stated: "A cloak belonging to him (peace be upon him) was taken by Qais ibn Al-Ash'ath, and his short armor was taken by Umar ibn Sa'ad. When Umar ibn Sa'ad was killed, Al-Mukhtar gifted it to Abu Amra, his killer. His sword was taken by Jami' ibn Al-Khalq Al-Azdi, and it is said that a man from the Banu Tamim tribe called Al-Aswad ibn Hanzala took it. According to Ibn Sa'ad's narration, the sword was taken by Al-Qalafas Al-Nahshali. Muhammad ibn Zakariya added that it later came into the possession of the daughter of Habib ibn Budayl. The stolen sword is not Dhu al-Fiqar, as that sword is set aside and preserved among other treasures of prophecy and imamate."

He said: A maid came from the direction of the tent of Al-Hussein (peace be upon him). A man said to her, "O servant of God, your master has been killed." The maid hurried to my mistress while I was crying, and they rose up facing me and screamed. Then people rushed to loot the houses of the family of the Messenger, the delight of Zahra, the Pure, until they started taking the shawl off a woman's back. The daughters of the Messenger (peace be upon him and his family) and his women came out, assisting one another in weeping and lamenting the loss of protectors and loved ones.

For example, Al-Hajj Hassan Al Qaim (may God have mercy on him) says:

Hamid ibn Muslim narrated, "I saw a woman from Banu Bakr ibn Wa'il who was with her husband among the companions of Umar ibn Sa'd. When she saw the people storming into the tents of the women of Hussein (peace be upon him) and stripping them, she took a sword and approached the tent, saying, 'O people of Bakr ibn Wa'il, will the daughters of the Messenger of God be stripped? There is no judgment except that of God. O avengers of the Messenger of God!' Her husband took her and returned her to their camp."

And the revered Mr. Muhammad Hussein Al-Qazwini, may mercy be upon him, says:

It is reported in some accounts from Abu Mikhnaf that he said: When the cries of the women rose, Ibn Saad shouted: “Woe unto you! Set fire to their tents and burn them along with those inside!” A man from them said: “Woe to you, Ibn Saad! Was it not enough for you to have killed Hussein (peace be upon him), his family, and his supporters, that you now want to burn his children and women? It is as if you desire God to cause the earth to swallow us.” Then they rushed to plunder the noble women.

Mr. Ibn Tawoos, may mercy be upon him, said: "Then they took the women out of the tent and set it on fire. They emerged hurried, barefoot, crying, walking as captives."

They insisted, saying, "By God, you must take us to where Hussein was killed." When the women saw the slain, they cried out and beat their faces. I swear, I can never forget Zainab, the daughter of Ali, as she lamented for Hussein and called out in a sorrowful voice with a heart full of grief: "Oh Muhammad! May the King of Heaven bless you. Here lies Hussein, covered in blood, his limbs severed, and your daughters are captives. To God is the complaint, and to Muhammad the Chosen One, and to Ali the Pleasing, and to Hamza, the Master of Martyrs. Oh Muhammad! Here lies Hussein in the open air, the wind blowing over him, killed by the sons of evildoers. Oh, what grief and anguish! Today, the protector of the Messenger of God has died. Oh companions of Muhammad! Here are the descendants of the Chosen One being led away as captives."

In some narrations, it is said that she (peace be upon her) exclaimed: "O Muhammad! Your daughters are captives, your progeny slaughtered, and the east wind throws dust onto them. Here lies Hussein, decapitated from the back, stripped of his turban and cloak. My father is one whose camp was plundered on a Monday. My father is one whose tent cords were cut. My father is one who is neither absent to be hoped for nor wounded to be treated. My father is the one for whom souls would be sacrificed. My father, who was anguished until he passed. My father, who was thirsty until he departed. My father, whose beard dripped with blood. My father, the grandson of the Messenger of the Lord of the heavens. My father, who is the son of the Prophet of guidance. My father, Muhammad the Chosen. My father, Khadijah the Great. My father, Ali the Satisfied. My father, Fatima al-Zahra, the Lady of women. My father is the one for whom the sun was returned so that he could pray."

Then she wept, and by God, every friend and enemy wept. The revered Sheikh Saleh al-Kuwaz, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

Mr. Ibn Tawus, may mercy be upon him, narrated that: Sakinah embraced the body of Hussain (peace be upon him), and several Bedouins gathered to pull her away from him. Umar ibn Sa'ad then called out to his troops: "Who will volunteer to trample the back of Hussain with horses?" Ten men volunteered, including Ishaq ibn Hawiya, who took Hussain's shirt, Akhnas ibn Marthad, Hakim ibn Tufayl al-Sanbasi, Amr ibn Subaih al-Saydawi, Rajaa ibn Munqadh al-Abdi, Salim ibn Khaysaymah al-Ju'fi, Wahab ibn Na'am, Saleh ibn Wahab al-Ju'fi, Hani ibn Thabit al-Hadrami, and Usayd ibn Malik. They trampled Hussain's body with their horses' hooves until they crushed his back and chest. Indeed, to God we belong, and to Him we shall return.

The narrator said: "And those ten men came until they stood before Ibn Ziyad, and Asid ibn Malik, one of the ten, said:"

Ibn Ziyad asked: "Who are you?" They replied: "We are those who trampled with our horses upon the backs of Husayn until..."

He roasted them with his chest, so he ordered a modest reward for them.

Abu Amr al-Zahid said: We looked into these ten individuals and found them all to be children of adultery. Al-Mukhtar captured them, tightly bound their hands and feet with iron shackles, and had horses trample over them until they perished.

"May Allah have mercy on Al-Shafahin (the poet), for he says:"

The Third Gathering, from the eve of the eleventh night, the steed of Imam Hussein (peace be upon him) and the theft of the women’s belongings, and the confrontation of the tribe with Imam Zain al-Abidin (peace be upon him).

The author of "Al-Manaqib," Muhammad ibn Abi Talib, states: Imam Hussein (peace be upon him) was martyred on the day of Ashura, the tenth of Muharram, in the sixty-first year of the Hijra, at the age of fifty-four years, six months, and a half. The horse of Imam Hussein (peace be upon him) came forward, having been chased away from their midst.

He was not taken, so we placed his mane on the blood of Al-Hussein (peace be upon him), and then he began to run towards the women's tent, neighing and striking his head on the ground at the tent until he died.

Some narrators report that the horse approached, circling around him (peace be upon him) and smearing its mane with his blood. Ibn Saad cried out, “Stop the horse, for it is one of the fine horses belonging to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family).” The horse was surrounded by other horses, yet it defended itself with its hooves, killing forty men and ten horses. Ibn Saad then instructed, “Leave it be, let us see what it does.” When the horse felt secure from pursuit, it approached Hussain (peace be upon him), rubbing its mane with his blood, sniffing him, and neighing loudly. Abu Ja'far al-Baqir (peace be upon him) said that it cried out: "An injustice, an injustice, from a nation that killed the son of its Prophet's daughter." It then turned towards the encampment with that neigh. When the women saw the horse coming in disgrace with its saddle twisted, they emerged from their tents, with their hair uncovered, slapping their cheeks, their faces unveiled, crying out in lamentation, defeated after their resolve, rushing towards the place where Hussain (peace be upon him) had fallen.

In the narrative of "Al-Manaqib" by Muhammad ibn Abi Talib, it is stated: When the sisters of Husayn, his daughters, and his family saw that the horse had no rider, they raised their voices in weeping and wailing. Umm Kulthum put her hand on her head and cried out: "O Muhammad! O grandfather! O prophet! O Abu al-Qasim! O ‘Ali! O Ja‘far! O Hamza! O Hasan! This is Husayn lying in the open, felled in Karbala, his head severed from the back, stripped of his turban and cloak." Then she fainted.

Then the enemies of God—may God curse them—approached until they surrounded the tent, and with them was Shimr. He said, "Enter and seize their garments." So the people, may God curse them, came in and took what was in the tent until they reached...

They took the earring from the ear of Umm Kulthum, the sister of Hussein (peace be upon him), and pierced her ear. Women were also stripped of their garments until they were overpowered, and Qais, the son of Al-Ash’ath, may God curse him, took Hussein's (peace be upon him) robe, and was thereafter called Qais the Robe-bearer. A man from the Bani Awad, known as Al-Aswad, took Na'liyyah, and then people gathered to seize ornaments, clothes, and camels, leading to the looting of these items.

Al-‘Allamah al-Majlisi, may Allah have mercy on him, said: I saw in some books that Fatima al-Sughra said: I was standing at the entrance of the tent, watching my father and his companions lying slaughtered like sacrifices on the sands, with horses roaming over their bodies. I was pondering what would happen to us at the hands of the Umayyads after my father's death. Would they kill us or capture us? Suddenly, a man on horseback galloped towards the women with the point of his spear, causing them to hide and cling to each other for support. He took from them what they had of veils and bracelets, while they cried out: "O my grandfather! O my father! O Ali! O for the lack of supporters! O Hasan! Is there no protector to shield us? Is there no defender to fend for us?" She said: My heart leapt, and my body trembled. I began to look around nervously at my aunt Umm Kulthum, fearing he would come towards me.

As I was in this state, he approached me, and I fled in panic, thinking I would escape him. But he pursued me, and in my fear of him, suddenly I felt the butt of the spear between my shoulders, and I fell on my face. He tore my earrings and my veil and left my cheek bleeding, my head exposed to the scorching sun, before retreating to the tents, leaving me unconscious. Then I found my aunt beside me, crying, saying: "Get up, let's go. I do not know what has happened to the girls and your sick brother."

So I stood up and said: "Aunt, is there a cloth with which I can cover my head from prying eyes?" She said: "Dear girl, your aunt is like you," and I saw her head uncovered, her back bruised from the beating. We returned to the tent only to find it had been looted, and my brother Ali ibn Al-Husayn was prostrate, unable to sit due to extreme hunger, thirst, and illness. We cried for him, and he cried for us.

To the late Sheikh Muhammad Al-Nimr, may mercy be upon him, as he said:

Shaykh Al-Mufid, may mercy be upon him, said: Humayd ibn Muslim reported: We reached Ali ibn al-Husayn (peace be upon him), and he was lying stretched out on a bed, suffering from a severe illness, with a group of people around him.

The people said to him, "Shall we kill this sick one?" I replied, "Glory be to God! Do you kill children? This is merely a child, and there is nothing wrong with him," and I persisted until I drove them away from him.

In the selection from Al-Tabari's account, it states: Ali ibn Al-Hussein the Younger witnessed the events with his father at Karbala when he was twenty-three years old. He was ill and lying in bed. When Al-Hussein (peace be upon him) was killed, Shamir ibn Dhi al-Jawshan said: "Kill this one." One of his men responded: "Glory be to God! Should we kill a young, sick man who didn't fight?" Then Umar bin Sa'ad came and said: "Do not harm these women or this sick person."

Mr. Jaafar Al-Hilli, may he rest in peace, says about that:

When Umar ibn Sa'ad arrived, the women cried out and wept in his face. He instructed his men, "None of you shall enter the homes of these women, and do not threaten this sick young man." The women asked him to return what had been taken from them so they could cover themselves. He replied, "Whoever has taken anything of their belongings should return it." However, by God, not a single person returned anything. He then appointed guards at the tents of the women and Ali ibn al-Husayn (peace be upon him), with a group from those who were with him, and ordered, "Watch them so no one escapes and no harm comes to them."

May Allah greatly reward you, believers, and may He offer you solace for the affliction of Imam Hussain (peace be upon him). What must have been the condition of Zainab and the other women of Hussain (peace be upon him) and the family members in such a tragedy?

Tonight is the greatest night that passed over the daughters of the Messenger of God (peace be upon him and his family), as they saw after that proud glory their men fallen on the plains of Karbala. They were left without protection, beaten, crying, lamenting without anyone to hear their cries, while in the hands of the enemies. The honorable Shaykh Salih Al-Kawaz, may mercy be upon him, eloquently expressed this in his words:

On the eleventh day, the first assembly of the captives' departure from Karbala and their passing by the slain

Muhammad bin Abi Talib, may God have mercy on him, said: Then Umar bin Sa'd was pleased with the head of Husayn (peace be upon him) on Ashura day, accompanied by Khuli bin Yazid al-Asbahir, and Humayd bin Muslim, to go to Ibn...

Ziyad then ordered the remaining heads of his household and companions to be severed and sent them with Shimr bin Dhil-Jawshan to Kufa. Ibn Sa'd stayed there for the day and until the next afternoon, during which he gathered his dead, prayed over them, and buried them. He left Hussein (peace be upon him) and his companions unburied in the open. When they departed for Kufa, the people of al-Ghadiriyah from the Banu Asad tribe came, prayed over them, and buried them. Ibn Shahrasub said, "Most of them had known graves, and they saw white birds."

Mr. Muhsin al-Amin, may God's mercy be upon him, mentioned in "Lawaj al-Ashjan": "Then he (Ibn Sa'd) called out to the people to depart, and he headed towards Kufa. He took with him the women of Husayn (peace be upon him), his daughters, sisters, and the children who were with them, among whom was Ali ibn Husayn (peace be upon them) who was suffering from illness, and Hasan ibn Hasan al-Muthanna. Some narrations indicate that al-Baqir (peace be upon him) was with them as well. They were driven like captives from the Turks and Romans.

The women said, 'By the right of God, pass us by the resting place of Husayn (peace be upon him).' So they were taken by the slain Husayn (peace be upon him) and his companions. When the women saw the dead, they cried out and struck their faces. The narrator said, 'By God, I will never forget Zainab, daughter of Ali, lamenting over Husayn (peace be upon him) and crying out with a sorrowful voice and a grieving heart: O Muhammad! May the King of the heavens bless you. This is your Husayn, covered in blood, with limbs severed, and your daughters are captives. To God is the complaint, and to Muhammad al-Mustafa, and to Ali al-Murtaza, and to Fatima al-Zahra, and to Hamza, the master of the martyrs. O Muhammad! This is your Husayn, thrown down on the plain, the winds blowing upon him, killed by the sons of prostitutes. O sorrow, O grief for you, O Abu Abdullah. Today, the grandfather of the Messenger of God is dead. O companions of Muhammad! These are the progeny of al-Mustafa being driven as captives.'"

In some narratives, it is mentioned that she (peace be upon her) said: "O Muhammad! Your daughters are captives, and your progeny are slain, the morning wind blows over them. And here is Husayn with his head severed from the back, his turban and cloak taken. May my father be sacrificed for him whose camp was plundered on Monday. May my father be sacrificed for him whose tent is torn apart."