The Prophet and all the family of Imam Husain (a.

The Prophet and all the family of Imam Husain (a.s) are pictured as shar­ing the same sentiments as Husain. We read that at the time of this tragedy a general lamentation was raised in Paradise by all Prophets, by the father, mother and brother of Imam Husain (a.s), for the great suffering in store for him, his thirst, complete abandonment by all except for a small group of his friends and relatives.

The journey which he made from Mecca was indeed the Via Dolorosa with the Mask of the Prophet as the guardian of sorrows, intense suffering and heroism. Suffering and the agonies of expected death are for the devotees of Husain not sentiments of cowardice and fear. They are rather sentiments of abso­lute courage and victorious struggle against the powers of evil and darkness.

Imam Husain (a.s) wrote a letter to his relatives of the Hashimite clan calling them to share in his great conquest in these words: “He of you who joins us would be martyred, but he who remains behind shall not attain to conquest”. We shall return again to this theme later. But let us now follow our martyr to the final act of his great tragic drama.

From Mecca to Karbala As Imam Husain (a.s) and his small entourage proceeded towards Kufa in Iraq, the certainty of the futility of discussion became increasingly apparent to all. He sent another messenger to the people who invited him to come and assume leader­ship, and with them to fight against the rule of Yazid which was not yet recognized by many Muslims. The messenger was discovered on the road taking him to Ibn Ziyad who ordered him to curse ‘Ali and his family or be killed.

He went up on the roof of the palace and instead blessed ‘Ali and his family and cursed Yazid and Ibn Ziyad and called the people to the support of Imam Husain (a.s). He was thrown down and killed. Muslims also waged a valiant fight against the soldiers of Ibn Ziyad and came close to victory until some notables from the palace balconies threatened the people with the Syrian armies and everybody left Muslims at the last moment.

He roamed the streets aimlessly and in the end, was betrayed by the son of a woman who gave him shelter and treacherously put to death. Through threats and bribery of the people, Ibn Ziyad gained full control of the situation just before Imam Husain (a.s) arrived in Karbala.