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Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books The Hidden Truth about Karbala Chapter 25: Persecution after Karbala Yazid and his infamous army achieved their object of eliminating what they found as the biggest obstacle to their oppression and tyranny by slaying at Karbala Imam Husayn (a.s.) and the small group of his companions. If it were a struggle for power, the persecution should have stopped after Karbala.

The fact that the persecution and atrocities continued against the women, children and Imam Zainul Aabidin (a.s.), and Imam Muhammad al-Baqir the fifth Imam, who were the surviving male members in Imam Husayn’s (S) family, proves that the battle of Karbala was a struggle for power.

The further fact that over the past thirteen centuries, whosoever was found to have any affection or even sympathy with the Ahlul Bayt (a.s.), particularly Imam Ali (a.s.) and Imam Husayn (a.s.) were and are being persecuted even today, only proves that it is the principles and philosophy underlying the battle of Karbala that are sought to be wiped out. Ibn Sa’d sent the severed heads to the governor ibn Ziyad in Kufa with an advanced party.

He himself remained with the remaining army in Karbala until the afternoon of the eleventh of Muharram. During his stay, he arranged to recover the corpses of his dead soldiers. He performed the Prayer of the Dead over and buried them.

However, the beheaded and trampled bodies of the martyrs were left lying in the battlefield, unwashed, unshrouded and unburied.[^1] Suffice it to say that the severed heads of some of the martyrs were carried on lances, while the heads of some others were hung on the necks of horses. Yazid’s men forcibly snatched the ornaments and jewels from the women and children. The noble women were deprived of their veils and head coverings and made to travel on the bare backs of camels.

The camels themselves were prodded into a fast trot, so that the wretched soldiers might collect their rewards at the earliest. Several children died due to slipping and falling from camels. The children were tied to bare backs of camels to prevent them from falling down on the way. They suffered severe injuries due to the friction of camel hide and the tight ropes tied to their legs.

Imam Zainul Aabidin (a.s.) was chained, handcuffed, and made to walk barefooted all the way from Karbala to Damascus.