The
Battle of Karbala took place on Muharram 10, in the year 61 of the Islamic calendar
[2] (October 10, 680)
[7][8] in Karbala, in present day Iraq. The battle was between a small group of supporters and relatives of Muhammad's grandson Husain ibn Ali, and a much larger military detachment from the forces of
Yazid I, the
Umayyad caliph,
whom Husain had refused to recognise as caliph. Husain and all his
supporters were killed, including Husain's six months old infant son,
and the women and children taken as prisoners. The dead are regarded as
martyrs by Muslims, and the battle has a central place in
Shi'ah history and tradition, and has frequently been recounted in Shi'ah
Islamic literature.
The Battle of Karbala is commemorated during an annual 10-day period
held every Muharram by the Shi'ah as well as many Sunnis, culminating on
its tenth day,
Ashura.
[9]
Muawiya I died on
Rajab 22, 60 AH (680 CE). In violation of Islamic tradition and his own written agreement with Hasan ibn Ali,
[citation needed] Muawiya I appointed his son Yazid as his successor, converting the
Caliphate into a dynasty. Few notables of the Islamic community were crucial to lending some legitimacy to this conversion of
Caliphate into a dynasty,
[15][16] even people like Said ibn Uthman
[15] and Al Ahnaf ibn Qays
[17] denounced his Caliphate.
[18]
Husain ibn Ali was the most significant threat to this dynastic rule,
since he was the only living grandson of the prophet Muhammad. Yazid
instructed his Governor
Walid in
Medina
to force Husain ibn Ali to pledge allegiance to Yazid. Husain refused
it and uttered his famous words that "Anyone akin to me will never
accept anyone akin to Yazid as a ruler." Husain departed
Medina
on Rajab 28, 60 AH (680 CE), two days after Walid's attempt to force
him to submit to Yazid I's rule. He stayed in Mecca from the beginnings
of the
Sha'ban and all of
Ramadan,
Shawwal, as well as
Dhu al-Qi'dah.
It is mainly during his stay in Mecca that he received many letters from
Kufa assuring him their support and asking him to come over there and guide them. He answered their calls and sent
Muslim ibn Aqeel, his cousin, to Kufa as his representative in an attempt to consider the exact situation and public opinion.
Husain's representative to Kufa, Muslim ibn Aqeel was welcomed by the
people of Kufa, and most of them swore allegiance to him. After this
initial observation, Muslim ibn Aqeel wrote to Husain Ibn Ali that the
situation in Kufa was favorable. However, after the arrival of the new
Governor of Kufa,
Ubayd-Allah ibn Ziyad, the scenario changed. Muslim ibn Aqeel and his host,
Hani ibn Urwa, were executed on
Dhu al-Hijjah
9, 60AH (September 10, 680 CE) without any considerable resistance of
the people. This shifted the loyalties of the people of Kufa, in favor
of Yazid against Husain ibn Ali.
[19]
Husain ibn Ali also realized a deep conspiracy that Yazid had appointed
`Amr ibn Sa`ad ibn al As as the head of an army, ordering him to take
charge of the pilgrimage caravans and to kill al Husain ibn Ali wherever
he could find him during
Hajj,
[20][21]
and hence decided to leave Mecca on 08th Dhu al-Hijjah 60 AH (12
September 680 AD), just a day before Hajj and was contented with
Umrah, due to his concern about potential violation of the sanctity of the
Kaaba.
[22][23]
He delivered a famous sermon in Kaaba highlighting his reasons to leave
that he didn't want the sanctity of Kaaba to be violated, since his
opponents had crossed any norm of decency and were willing to violate
all tenets of Islam.
When Husain ibn Ali was making his mind to leave for Kufa,
Abd-Allah ibn Abbas and
Abdullah ibn Zubayr
held a meeting with him and advised him not to move to Iraq, or, if he
was determined to move, not to take women and children with him in this
dangerous journey. Husain ibn Ali, however, had resolved to go ahead
with his plan. He gave a speech to people the day before his departure
and said:
"... The death is a certainty for mankind, just like the trace of
necklace on the neck of young girls. And I am enamored of my ancestors
like eagerness of Jacob to Joseph ... Everyone, who is going to devote his blood for our sake and is prepared to meet Allah, must depart with us..."[24]
