Ali Al-Asghar, Imam Hussain's Son
WHY WAS THIS INFANT SLAUGHTERED WHILE IN HIS FATHER'S ARMS?
A father asking for drops of water for his infant child but they pour the baby's own blood while he was in his father's arms.
Imam Hussain was summoned by a call from his sister Zainab to his camp. When he went into the tent, he found his 6 month old baby son, Ali Al-Asghar, dying of thirst in his cradle.
His poor mother Al-Rabab, whose milk had dried up by the continuous thirst and hunger, could not feed the baby with even a drop of milk. The mother showed the baby to Hussain and asked if he could quench the baby’s thirst by getting some water for him, from the enemies.
Hussain took the baby to the battlefield by shielding him from the scorching sun with his robe and raised him up in his arms to enable everyone in the enemy’s forces to see him, and said:
“O People! If, in your opinion, Hussain is guilty of any sin or crime, then this innocent baby has done nothing to hurt any one of you. He does not even speak, and has not even uttered anything against you or your Leader in Damascus. He is dying of thirst. He has had neither milk nor water for the last three days.”
“Which of you will quench his thirst by a few drops of water?”
There was no reply from the enemies, all dumb struck, as to what they could possibly say in response.
Upon receiving no reply Hussain again said: “If you suspect that I demand water for myself, by using the name of this baby, then I will leave him here, so you can give him a few drops of water.” So Hussain places his 6 month year old infant on to the hot blazing sands Karbala. Again seeing no response from the enemy forces, he picks up the baby Ali Al-Asghar.
It is reported that the address of Hussain and the scene, with the thirsty innocent baby in his hands, was so touching, so tragic and so heart-rending that even the stone hearted men in the enemy’s army could not help weeping and disagreeing with Yazid stance and his Deputy ‘Ubayd Allah son of Ziyad’, Governor of Kufa, who had gathered them there against such innocent individuals.
‘Umar son of Saad’, fearing a revolt within his forces, orders a heartless brute named Hurmula to end the speech of Hussain. This senseless monster shoots a three pronged arrow from his bow which ends up rupturing through the tiny neck of the innocent baby Ali Al-Asghar and lodges itself into the arm of Hussain.
The thirsty child Ali Al-Asghar dies instantly. Blood gushes out of his neck, but instead of it splashing onto Hussain’s hands, every drop of it ascends to the sky. Ali Al-Asghar died in his father’s arms with parched lips.
Hussain walked back to the camp weeping with Ali Al-Asghar in his arms. At the door, he waited for a moment and then turned back; this he did seven times as if he was building up his strength to face the mother of the baby who had handed him over with such great hopes of him been given some water, but they had instead, brutally murdered him.
Al-Rabaab looked at her husband’s face covered in blood and cried out “What have they done to my son, did they even give him a drop of water before they killed him?” Hussain responded “I pleaded with them to give him water, but instead they drenched him with his own blood.”
Al-Rabaab said: “Please bury Ali Al-Asghar with your own hands.” Hussain sat down to bury his baby son in the burning sands of the desert, by digging a tiny grave. After that, he looked up and said: “O’ Almighty God, bear witness that I have done my duty to the last.”
Does not even this one single sacrifice suffice to touch every human heart?
Can we not call this sacrifice alone, one of the greatest sacrifices of all time?
God alone knows the degree of patience and the strength which Hussain was endowed with to bear the series of such unbearable calamities, culminating in his own butchering.
His poor mother Al-Rabab, whose milk had dried up by the continuous thirst and hunger, could not feed the baby with even a drop of milk. The mother showed the baby to Hussain and asked if he could quench the baby’s thirst by getting some water for him, from the enemies.
Hussain took the baby to the battlefield by shielding him from the scorching sun with his robe and raised him up in his arms to enable everyone in the enemy’s forces to see him, and said:
“O People! If, in your opinion, Hussain is guilty of any sin or crime, then this innocent baby has done nothing to hurt any one of you. He does not even speak, and has not even uttered anything against you or your Leader in Damascus. He is dying of thirst. He has had neither milk nor water for the last three days.”
“Which of you will quench his thirst by a few drops of water?”
There was no reply from the enemies, all dumb struck, as to what they could possibly say in response.
Upon receiving no reply Hussain again said: “If you suspect that I demand water for myself, by using the name of this baby, then I will leave him here, so you can give him a few drops of water.” So Hussain places his 6 month year old infant on to the hot blazing sands Karbala. Again seeing no response from the enemy forces, he picks up the baby Ali Al-Asghar.
It is reported that the address of Hussain and the scene, with the thirsty innocent baby in his hands, was so touching, so tragic and so heart-rending that even the stone hearted men in the enemy’s army could not help weeping and disagreeing with Yazid stance and his Deputy ‘Ubayd Allah son of Ziyad’, Governor of Kufa, who had gathered them there against such innocent individuals.
‘Umar son of Saad’, fearing a revolt within his forces, orders a heartless brute named Hurmula to end the speech of Hussain. This senseless monster shoots a three pronged arrow from his bow which ends up rupturing through the tiny neck of the innocent baby Ali Al-Asghar and lodges itself into the arm of Hussain.
The thirsty child Ali Al-Asghar dies instantly. Blood gushes out of his neck, but instead of it splashing onto Hussain’s hands, every drop of it ascends to the sky. Ali Al-Asghar died in his father’s arms with parched lips.
Hussain walked back to the camp weeping with Ali Al-Asghar in his arms. At the door, he waited for a moment and then turned back; this he did seven times as if he was building up his strength to face the mother of the baby who had handed him over with such great hopes of him been given some water, but they had instead, brutally murdered him.
Al-Rabaab looked at her husband’s face covered in blood and cried out “What have they done to my son, did they even give him a drop of water before they killed him?” Hussain responded “I pleaded with them to give him water, but instead they drenched him with his own blood.”
Al-Rabaab said: “Please bury Ali Al-Asghar with your own hands.” Hussain sat down to bury his baby son in the burning sands of the desert, by digging a tiny grave. After that, he looked up and said: “O’ Almighty God, bear witness that I have done my duty to the last.”
Does not even this one single sacrifice suffice to touch every human heart?
Can we not call this sacrifice alone, one of the greatest sacrifices of all time?
God alone knows the degree of patience and the strength which Hussain was endowed with to bear the series of such unbearable calamities, culminating in his own butchering.