She ran into the arms of Umme Salmah.

She ran into the arms of Umme Salmah.”O grand-mother!” she cried, pointing at the cup, “As I lifted the cup to my mouth, I saw Ali Asghar's reflection in the water. I saw him spread out his little arms towards me. And then I heard him speak. He was saying, 'Al atash, Ya Ukhti Fatimah.” (I am thirsty, O my sister Fatimaah!!) This was the night of 9th Muharram, Shab al-Ashura!! Hazrat Muslim Imam Husayn's caravan left Madina on 28th Rajab, 60 A.H. and reached Mecca on the fourth of Shabaan.

Imam had not yet made up his mind on where to go. For the time being he decided to stay in Mecca at least until the month of Dhul-Hajj and perform the pilgrimage. The people of Kufa in Iraq heard of what had happened in Madina. Kufa was an important Shiah centre. The Shiahs there had long suffered under Muawiya. They feared even greater sufferings under Yazid. They felt that slowly Islam would be totally destroyed by the greed for power and glory of these two men.

They were anxious to preserve the teachings of the Holy Prophet. They needed an Imam who would teach the tafseer of the Holy quraan and relate to them the true sayings, ahaadees, of the Holy Prophet. They a held a meeting in the house of Sulayman bin Surad and decided to write a letter to Imam Husayn inviting him. In this letter they wrote: “We invite you to come to Kufa as we have no Imam to guide us.

Through you Allah will unite us on the path of truth.” A messenger took the letter to Mecca and gave it to Imam Husayn. A few days later the people of Kufa sent an emissary, a special messenger, to Imam to persuade him to go to Kufa. His name was Qais ibn Musheer as-Saydawi. There followed hundreds of other letters and many special emissaries from the people of Kufa to Imam Husayn. The Governor in Kufa was a man called Nu'amaan bin Basheer.

Although he was a follower of Muawiya and Yazid, he was not by nature a cruel man. The people of Kufa believed that Imam would be safe in Kufa. When Imam Husayn received so many petitions and messages from Kufa he decided to send Hazrat Muslim as his emissary to Kufa to study the situation there and report to Imam. Imam would go only if there would be no danger to the people of Kufa or to Imam or any of his companions or family.

He wrote a letter to the people of Kufa and gave it to Hazrat Muslim. In this letter Imam said, “I am sending my cousin and one of the most trusted ones from my family, Muslim ibn Aqeel, to report to me about your affairs.