The tragedy of Karbala

⋞ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ 6- ᴛʜᴇ ᴇᴠᴇ ᴏꜰ ᴀꜱʜᴜʀᴀ≽

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The say of Tasu'a

On the afternoon of Thursday, Muharram 9 ,61 /, 680, Shimr bin Dhi l-Jawshan reached 'Umar bin Saad with the order'Ubayd Allah b. Ziyad had given him and gave him the order. 'Umar bin Saad told Shimr, "I will take this myself."

Shimr (who was from the same tribe as Umm-ul-Baneen {Mother of Abass}) and also according to a report, 'Abd Allah bin Abi l-Mahal, the nephew of Umm al-Banin had previously taken a safe-conduct from Ibn Ziyad for the sons of Umm al-Banin. 'Abd Allah bin Abi l-Mahal sent the safe-conduct to Karbala by his servant, Kizman or 'Irfan. After entering Karbala, he read the safe-conduct to the sons of Umm al-Banin, but they rejected it. It is mentioned in another report that Shimr himself brought the safe-conduct to Karbala and took it to and his brothers Abdullah Jafar and Uthman. But all of them rejected it; as, reported that their conversation was so that Shimr said, "O you, my nephews! You are safe." They answered, "May God curse you and your safe-conduct! You give us safe-conduct while the grandson of the Prophet (s) is not safe?!"

In the evening, 'Umar bin Saad shouted that, "O the army of God! Get on your horses and give the good news!" So, the horsemen got on their horses and moved towards the camp of Imam (a).

When Imam (a) was informed, told his brother Abbas (a):

"See if you can convince them postpone the war until tomorrow and give us tonight to worship and pray to God and make . God knows how much I love prayer and reciting the Quran."

Abbas (a) went to the enemy and informed them of the request of Imam (a) and asked them for the night. Ibn Saad agreed. On the day of 9th Muharram, the tents of Imam al-Husain (a), his family and companions were besieged.

Habib stayed behind. He began advising the enemy army:

By Allah, tomorrow, Allah will regard you as bad people! How will you meet Him while you are going to kill Imam Husayn and his family? Don't you know that they're the Prophet's grandsons? Don't you know that they pray to Allah after midnight and remember Him very much?

An enemy person called Uzrah said:

Habib, you're praising yourself!

Zuhayr answered:

Allah has praised and guided him. Uzrah I advise you to fear Allah!

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Eve of Ashura

On the eve of Ashura, Imam Hussain (a) gave his companions a chance to save their lives and leave:

The Imam commenced his speech thus: "I thank Allah to the best of my ability and praise Him during the time of weal and woe. A Lord! I thank You because You have honored us by means of Prophet hood taught us the Qur'an, made us comprehend the religion and its commandments, granted us eyes, ears and hearts; kept us free from the pollution of polytheism and then enabled us to thank You for Your blessings. It is a fact that I am not aware of any companions more faithful and honest than my companions and any relatives more righteous and kind than my relatives. May Allah grant all of you a good reward. I think that the day of our fighting with this army has arrived. I permit all of you to go away. So, you may all go in peace of mind for I lift up my allegiance from you. Now that the darkness of night has covered you, take a horse and go."

At that time, first the Ahl al-Bayt (a) and then each of the companions of Imam al-Husayn (a) spoke and declared his loyalty and insisted on sacrificing his soul for defending Imam (a). Historical sources and have reported some of these speeches