Liberal Arts Forum

Abdullah ibn ‘Umar and Abdullah ibn ‘Abbas try to stop Imam Husain from leaving Makkah for Kufah due to danger to his life from Yazid’s army.

• Imam Husain refuses to listen to any calls to halt his journey to Kufah and to fight against the oppression of Yazid.
• Farzdaq, the famous Arab poet meets Imam Husain and told him about Kufans “their hearts are with you but their swords cannot be flags in your support”.
• Abdullah bin Jaffar (cousin) sent his two sons Aun and Muhammad to desist Imam Husain from going to Kufa and come to Medina where he will be safe from Yazid’s forces. Imam Husain refused to go to Medina and continues his journey to Kufa.
• Things start to go bad in Kufa. Qais, the messenger of Imam Husain was intercepted and killed by Yazid’s army led by Governor Obeidullah ibn Ziyad.
• Imam Husain’s messenger Muslim Bin ‘Aqil was also arrested by the Governor Obeidullah ibn Ziyad and killed along with other leaders supporting Imam Husain in Kufa.

After Amir Mu’awiya (r) death, Yazid ascends the throne in Damascus and forces bay’ah (pledge) on people.

• Imam Husain and Abdullah ibn Zubair leave Medina for Makkah to avoid Yazid’s governor.
• Imam Husain starts to receive many letters of support from Kufa (Iraq). Kufans said they will support Imam Husain for caliphate over Yazid.
• Leading members of Kufans agree to bring Imam Husain to Kufa and to fight Yazid and his supporters.
• Imam Husain dispatches Muslim bin ‘Aqil (his cousin) as a messenger to find out more about conditions in Kufa.

Muslim bin ‘Aqil arrives in Kufa and within first few days over 10,000 people pledge allegiance for Imam Husain on the hands of Muslim.

People from Basra also support Imam Husain over Yazid.

Imam Husain receives letters of allegiance to fight against Yazid’s tyrannical rule from Kufa and Basra. Muslim bin ‘Aqil’s letter gives an account of overwhelming support from Kufans.

Imam Husain decides to leave for Kufah so he could wage a struggle against Yazid’s rule for caliphate.

Prophet Muhammad (s)

13 years in Makkah
10 years in Medina (d. 623 AD)

Abu Bakr Siddiq (r) first caliph

Omar ibn alKhattab (r) second caliph (martyred)

Othman ibn alffan (r) third caliph (martyred)

Ali ibn Abi Talib (r) fourth caliph (martyred) 661 AD

Hasan ibn Ali abandons his claim to caliphate to make peace amongst Muslims.

Muawiya ibn Abi Sufyan (r) becomes the caliph

On the death of Mu’awiya (r), Yazid inherits caliphate from his father.

Abdullah bin Zubair (r) and Husain bin Ali (r) refused allegiance to Yazid.

680 AD – MARTYRDOM OF HUSAIN IBN ALI (r) AT THE PLAINS OF KARBALA (IRAQ) by Yazid’s forces.

details of Karbala next post…

“When I was in the desert,” said Mulla Nasruddin one day, “I caused an entire tribe of horrible and bloodthirsty bedouins to run.“

“How did you do it?” asked a person.

“Easy.

I just ran, and they ran after me.”