Glimpse of the Tenth Day

Women in Karbala Part.1

Imam Hussain

The Askew Horses

Hussain was the man who sacrificed everything in less than half a day on Friday, the 10th of October 680 AD (10th of Muharram 61 AH), on the hot desert sands of Karbala in Iraq.
Hussain and 72 of his family members, friends and followers, including his 6 month old son, Ali Al-Asghar, were butchered under the most gruesome circumstances.

These include among others His brother Abbas, his young 18 year old son Ali Al-Akbar & his 4 year old daughter Rouqayyiah, who died whilst in prison in Damascus.

The martyrs were beheaded & their heads were put on spears, and not even the infant Ali Al-Asghar’s head was spared. The enemies, however, did not stop there, as the corpses were trampled upon and crushed under the hooves of their horses and left unburied. The women and children were held captives and tortured while being led on an exhaustive journey from Karbala to Damascus to be paraded and later imprisoned.

The only male survivor of the atrocity of that day was Ali the son of Hussain, who was bedridden due to his severe illness. Again, the enemies showed him no mercy and instead chained him & made him walk the grueling journey whilst repeatedly beating him.

The 6 month old baby, Ali Al-Asghar, was without food and water for 3 days before he was slaughtered, thirsty in his father's arms. His tender throat was ruptured by a three-pronged arrow, whilst his father pleaded with the enemy to give his innocent child some water.

Lady Zainab, who was with her brother Hussain, also played a vital role, in the aftermath of the bloody slaughter of Hussain and his supporters, by informing people of the truth.

The brutal and oppressive ruler; Yazid son of Mu'awiya son of Abu Sufiyan and his grossly oversized army of thousands of men, committed these atrocious crimes against this small number of individuals, which included the old and frail alongside women and children.

Hussain was determined to defend the thirsty womenfolk and children from the killer army’s onslaught, rather than being forced to submit into giving his oath of allegiance to a criminal and oppressive regime. He was committed to upholding the principles of truth and justice, even if he was the last man standing.

Edward Gibbon (1737-1794) considered the greatest British historian of his time. Wrote “In a distant age and climate the tragic scene of the death of Hussein will awaken the sympathy of the coldest reader." [The Decline and fall of the Roman Empire, London, 1911, volume 5, pp. 391-2]

Hussain, his family and companions sacrificed everything they had in their struggle against tyranny and oppression in order to uphold the human values of truth, justice and liberty of thought, word and deed. Their struggle was aimed at the ultimate goal of awakening human beings of all times and all places to uplift the human spirit beyond short-sighted materialistic pursuits, and establish a just and equitable order in society.

In the history of humanity, Hussain, the martyr of Karbala, wrote one of the most brilliant chapters; a chapter which to this day; after more than fourteen centuries, echoes in the minds and hearts of people everywhere.