So Ibn Ziyad sent first an army under the leadership of Hurr...

So Ibn Ziyad sent first an army under the leadership of Hurr Ibn Ziyad ar‑Riyahi who was ordered to compel Imam Husain (a.s) to give allegi­ance to Yazid and bring him alive to Ibn Ziyad. Thus, Imam Husain (a.s) was sure of what was to come.

He, therefore, gathered his followers and relatives and asked them to flee for their lives and leave him alone as he was the only one wanted: “Behold the night has come, take ad­vantage of it as you would a camel for you and let every one of you take the hand of one of my family and scatter throughout the land. For they want me alone and if they take hold of me they would not seek to harm any of you”. When before he hesitated and thought of going back, the sons of Muslims said: “No by God!

we shall not go back until we either avenge the blood of our father or suffer his fate.” Husayn answered: “There is no good in life after you.” (3) This was the last real chance for him to be saved from death and he refused it. His followers and relatives, likewise, all in one voice cried out that they would not abandon him, but would rather die with him or live with him. The tendency by later writers has been to deny any such hesitation on the part of Imam Husain (a.s) and his followers.

This, however, is a thing unnecessary, for whatever we say of Husain, he was a man who, like all men, loved life and wished to avoid suffering and death. The real test is rather whether even when later ‘Umar Ibn Sa’d and his generals urged him to accept the Caliphate of Yazid and submit to Ibn Ziyad, he would have really given up his struggle. This he did not do and it is in this that his greatness lies and that his opposi­tion could be truly called a revolution.

During the last days of his life when death was imminent, and even to the last moment, he sought rather to save his opponents from committing such a grievous sin against the grandson of the Prophet, his family and pious followers. Imam Husain (a.s) reached the spot of Karbala on the second of Muharram 61 A.H. Later traditions record the story that when his horse reached the spot it refused to move any further. Imam Husain (a.s) asked what the place was called and people answered “Naynawa”.

He asked again whether it was known by any other name. He was told that it was also known as al‑Ghadiriyya. Is there any other name by which it was known? he asked. This time the answer came: “Karbala”. He then remarked: “We are from God and to Him, we return.