When Imaam Hussain received so many petitions and messages...

When Imaam Hussain 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 Imaam. Imaam would go only if there would be no danger to the people of Kufa or to Imaam 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 Imaam said, "I am sending my cousin and one of the most trusted ones from my family, Muslim ibne Aqeel, to report to me about your affairs. If his report agrees with what you have writ_ten I will soon be with you. You must be clear of the fact that the Imaam is only one who follows the book of Allah, and serves Allah in all matters and affairs with justice, honesty and truth." Who was Muslim ibne Aqeel? He was the son of Aqeel ibne Abu Taalib. He was a famous warrior.

He married Ruqayya binti Ali, Imaam's sister through another mother. We know of his four children. Abdullah aged about 15 years, Muhammad who was about ten years old, Ibraheem who was eight and young Ruqayya who was just five or six. All these children had travelled with their parents and were in Mecca. As Hazrat Muslim was preparing for the journey, Imaam Hussain went to him and said: "Muslim, the whole world knows that you are one of the bravest warriors.

It is just possible that seeing you in Kufa some people may think that our intention is to fight Yezid. Take your two sons Muhammad and Ibraheem with you. When they see you with such young children, they will know that our intentions are peaceful. Hazrat Muslim and his two sons said good-bye to all and left Mecca. Their journey through the desert in the heat of summer was very difficult. They arrived in Kufa towards the end of Dhul Qaad. They were received extremely well by the people of Kufa.

Very soon more than eighteen thousand people appeared before Hazrat Muslim and pledged their allegiance to Imaam Hussain as their Imaam. Hazrat Muslim reported to Imaam Hussain that most of the people in Kufa were ready to receive him as their Imaam and advised that Imaam should proceed to Kufa. Amongst the people of Kufa there were many spies employed by Yezid to report to him direct.

When Yezid heard from them of the invitations to Imaam Hussain and the arrival in Kufa of Hazrat Muslim he was filled with fury. He sent a message to his Governor in Basrah, Ubaydullah ibne Ziyad, to go to Kufa and take over the position of Nu'amaan ibne Basheer.