THE STORY OF KARBALA - PART 3
HUSAYN AT THE PLAIN OF KARBALA

KARABAL NOW: Karbala, the city, lies 55 miles southwest of Baghdad, in Iraq. Karbala is also the capital of the so called muhafizah, or a governate, of the same name. Visitors travel by road from Baghdad to Karbala. Karbala, the muhafizah, is 22,000 sq. miles in area, extending from the banks of the river Euphrates in the east to the Saudi Arabian border in the west. It is a flat region with some date plantation in the east.
KARBALA THEN: In those days, Karbala was a collection of small villages, among them were: Naynawah, Ghazariyya, Saqiyya and Mariyya. The largest village used to be Ghazariyya. There were many tribes who lived there, the largest one was Banu Asad.

Husayn and his caravan arrived at this place on the 2nd of Muharram in the year 61 A.H. (Oct 2, 680 A.D.). He purchased the land off the owners, a tribe by the name of Banu Asad, and then made a gift of it back to them with three promises:
(1)  that after the battle and eventual killing of his companions (and himself, of course) the Banu Asad would come and bury them.
(2)  that they would leave the gravesites alone and not cultivate that land, and,
(3)   that when pilgrims would come to visit the garve, they would be hospitable to them and keep the visitors as their guests for three days.
Husayn's arrival at Karbala on the 2nd of  Muharram (and other details of the next few days' events) in the 61st year of Hijra is reported by the following listed historians:

SUNNI HISTORIANS:
1.   AbulFida in his Tareekh
2.   Ibn  Atheer in his Tarikh Kamil
3.   Tabari in his monumental History, see vol XIX, translated into English by I.K.a.Howard, published by the State University of New York, Albany, 1990
4.    Sh. Abdul Haq Muhaddith Dehlavi in Sirrus-Shahadatayn
SHI'A HISTORIANS:
5.    Hisham bin Muhammad al-Kalbi
6.    Y'aqoobi in his Tarikh Ibn Wadhih
7.    Sh. Mufeed in his Kitab al-Irshad, translated into English by I.K.A. Howard, Muhammadi Trust, London, 1981
8.   Shaher Ashoob in his MANAQIB
MAQTAL LITERATURE:
9.    Abul Faraj Isfahani's MAQAATIL AT-TALIBIYEEN (Sunni)
10.  Mulla Wa'iz Kahifi's Raudhat As-Shuhada   (Sunni)
11.   Allama  Qazwini's  RIADHUL QUDS
12.  Muqarram in his MAQTAL (a 20th century publication)

While Husayn was on his way from Makkah to Koofa, he was met by Hurr and his cavalry brigade of 1000 at a place called  ZU HASM. There was an exchange between Hurr and Husayn. Hurr had said that he was not out looking for violence, his orders were to stop Husayn from entering Koofa. So, Hurr and his cavalry brigade followed Husayn keeping a reasonable distance.  When Husayn arrived at Karbala and camped at a  subsidiary canal of the river Eupherates called ALQAMA, Hurr and his troops also camped nearby, but not so close to Husayn's camp.  
The next day (3rd of Muharram)  Umar bin Sa'd arrived from Koofa with 4000 troops with orders from Ibn Ziyad either to exact Husayn's B'ayat or fight and have him killed.

During the reign of the second Khaleefa Umar, an army led by S.ad Ibn Abi Waqqas, a senior Companion of the Prophet, conquered Iran. This army was ordered to stay close to Iran for security reasons. The Arab troops moved back to the town of Basra, but its damp climate did not suite the Arabs. Eventually, a new garri-son town was established further north, which came to be known as Koofa. As was normal according to the tribal custom, the command of this army passed to the son Umar Ibn S.ad Ibn Abi Waqqas, after the father. Although, the actual contingent of this army had gone through a number of major changes during Ali's reign. It was this same army, with some minor changes, that was sent to Karbala by Ibn Ziyad. Umar arrived with at least 4,000 troops at Karbala, on the 3rd day of Muhar-ram.

The first thing Umar bin S'ad did was to start negotiations with Husayn for his surrender to Yazeed's will.  Yazeed on the other hand, was getting impatient with this delay. He kept pressuring Ibn Ziyad, his governor in Koofa to bring the matter to a quick conclusion.  Ibn Ziyad was so full of hatred against the family of the Prophet (pbh) that he did not really need any prodding to do the job. He sent another commander named Shameer bin Zil-Jawshan with the orders that if Umar feels any res-traint in dealing with Husayn, Shameer should depose him  and take charge to end the matter quickly and effectively.  Umar got the message. He did not want to lose his command neither the accompanying awards.

Shameer joined Umar's 4000 well armed cavalrymen with his brigade of 4000-6000 infantry. In the next two days, several other commanders sent from Koofa by Ibn Ziyad as well as those sent directly by Yazeed from Syria, joined the Umayyad contingent at Karbala. Ibn Ziyad made a general announcement in Koofa that all able-bodied men should come out and join the army of the 'Khaleefa of Muslims', Yazeed, to fight the 'rebel', Husayn. Anyone staying behind would be arrested and executed. Many of them were so poor that they did not have any arms of their own so they just collected rocks and carried bags full to Karbala with them to fight with. Among the famous names were: Qays Ibn Ash'ath with a brigade of fully armed cavalry (6000 riders), we have already mentioned Hurr Ibn Yazeed Riyahee with another cavalry brigade and Ibn Numayr with 2000 archers. From Syria the most famous fighter was Azraq Shami and his four sons. The banks of the river Euphrates were guarded by a huge contingent under the command of Amr Ibn Hajjaj; in which there were hundreds of cavalrymen, archers, swordsmen and lancers. All of them were renowned soldiers. The total Umayyad presence at Karbala is reported to be at least 30,000 and may have been as much as 120,000.

The first confrontation occurred when Umar asked Husayn to move his camps away from water.  Abbas, Husayn's half-brother, tried to put up a resistance, considering that they needed water as much as the Umayyad troops, and they arrived there first. Also, in Husayn's camp were women and children. Husayn restrained Abbas and had to move his camp several miles away from water.

On the seventh day of Muharram, the banks of Euphrates and those of all subsidiary canals were taken over by the Umayyad troops and water was denied to Husayn and his camp.  Husayn's companions showed great restraint as well as courage.  A number of sorties were made during the nights which followed, for acquiring water.  Some were successful and some were not.  Security was being tightened every minute, so that no water could reach Husayn's camp.

On the ninth of Muharram a final ultimatum was delivered to Husayn from Umar bin S'ad.  Husayn asked for a day's respite, which was granted after some debate among Umar's high command.
The decisive battle finally took place on the 10th of Muharram, the day of Ashoora, in which each and every male member in Husayn's small entourage was martyred fighting in the battlefield or protecting others.
We will give details of some of those individual battles in the coming days, inshallah.
The first man who made a formal visitation to Karbala to pay homage to Husayn and his companions was the respected Companion of the Prophet (pbh), Jabir Ibn cAbdullah Ansari, within a few months of the occurrence of the tragedy of karbala.

The first visitation en masse, was done by the four thousand penitents (tawwaboon) led by Sulayman Ibn Surad, in the year 65 A.H. The shrine became a place of pilgrimage soon afterwards. At the same time, the oppressive rulers became wary of it, because it symbolized protest against tyranny and oppression.
The Abbasi ruler Mutawakkil was first in a long line of such despots who destroyed the shrine. Mutawakkil had it demolished and levelled the ground in the year 236 A.H./850 A.D. He prohibited the pilgrimage to Karbala under threat of heavy penalties. Many pilgrims were actually executed, who persisted.

Sometime after this, a green and shady tree grew on the grave of Husayn. The Addasid ruler, Haroon Ar-Rashid, had it felled.

There are reports of a large chamber with a dome, in or about the year 366 A.H./977 A.D. This means that sometime in between, the tomb was rebuilt.

A terrorist named Dhabba Ibn Muhammad Al-Asadi of Ayn At-Tamr, attacked the shrine and destroyed it in 369 A.H/  980 A.D. A punitive expedition was sent to cAyn At-Tamr, but Dhabba had already fled into the far off areas of the desert.

Hasan Ibn Fadhal, who died in the year 414 A.H./1024 A.D., built a perimeter wall around the city.  The Saljooq Sultan Maalik Shah, is reported to have visited both Karbala and Najaf, when he came to Baghdad, in the year 479 A.H./1086 A.D.

The Ilkhan rulers (descendants of Changez Khan) of the 8th century of Hijra/14th century A.D., visited the shrine and gave lavish gifts. They are also credited with bringing water to the district by digging a canal, which is now known as the Nahr-e-Husayniyyah.

The famous traveller, Ibn Batoota, describes the shrine having chandeliers, gold and silver lamps and many other decorative objects. He also mentions a thriving school in the premises. The circumference of the town, at this time, is reported to be 2,400 paces. Ibn Batootah visited Karbala in the year 727 A.H./1326 A.D.

The Safawi King, Shah Isma'eel of Iran, is also reported to have visited  the tomb. Sultan Sulayman visited Karbala and Najaf in the year 941 A.H./1535 A.D., and had the canal repaired. He also planted orchards round the shrine. Nadir Shah visited the shrine in 1156 A.H./1743 A.D. About the same time, Radhiyyah Sultan Begam, a daughter of Shah Husayn, presented 20,000 Nadiris (gold coins) to the shrine for improvements.

The founder of the Qachar dynasty of Iran, Agha Muhammad Khan, presented the gold covering for the dome and the minarets, about the end of the 12th century Hijra/18th century A.D.

Beginning in the second half of the 18th century, there ensued an armed struggle between the rising movement of Wahhabism and the Turkish Ottoman rulers. The caravans of the pilgrims proceeding towards Karbala, in the desert became an easy and frequent target for plunder, looting and massacre, for the Wahhabis, to make the Ottoman Turks uncomfortable. In Zilhijja of 1215 Hijra/April 1801 A.D., 12,000 Wahhabis under the command of Shaykh Saud, entered Karbala. They looted the town, killed over 3,000 inhabitants (mostly women, children and older men) and made off with not only the personal belongings of the citizens and stocks in the shops, but the gold covering plates and other valuables from the shrine, which had been presented by various people over the centuries. The shrine was destroyed yet again.  However, Muslims all over the world were disgusted at this act of wanton looting and massacre. Contributions poured in for rebuilding, not only from Muslim governments but from wealthy individuals too.

On the 16th of January 1991, US Air Force bombers attacked the country of Iraq, under the code-name Desert Storm, with United Nation's approval. The campaign lasted some six weeks during which several thousand bombing sorties were flown. In all these raids, under strict orders from the US high command, the bomber and fighter pilots carefully avoided damaging the shrines both at Karbala as well as Najaf. However, soon after a cease-fire was declared, an uprising against the oppressive rule of Saddam Hussein erupted in Iraq.

During the skirmishes great damage was done to the shrines at Karbala by the infamous Republican Guards of Saddam Hussein. Who could tell that in our life-times, the shrines would be destroyed, not by an external enemy but, by a local butcher. The pathos that is apparent from the ruins of the shrines cannot be expressed in words. The pictures speak for themselves. The story of the great sacrifice of Husayn and his Companions was revived once again in the memories of the faithful devotees by this latest destruction of the shrines at Karbala.


Before this latest destruction, Karbala was a thriving cosmopolitan town of about 150,000 inhabitants. People from Iran, Syria, India, Pakistan and East African countries had travelled to Karbala and settled down, over the centuries. They still speak their own languages and are actually identifiable with their original nationalities.

No one knows how long it will be before normal life will be resumed once again, in the city of Karbala. For, all utilities have been destroyed. There is no water supply nor is there any electricity. People are dying, mostly children, of hunger and disease.

In spite of all this, there is no doubt in this author's mind that the pilgrims would continue to flock to the shrines at Karbala. Because, it was not the splendor of the golden dome and the crystal chandeliers that attracted them to Karbala. The pilgrims came to pay homage to Husayn and his companions for the great sacrifice they made and the legacy of protest against oppression and tyranny they left for all mankind to follow, and they will continue to do so.

Thank you for reading.

sincerely,

Syed-Mohsin Naquvi