Marwan Hakam (who advised Walid...

Marwan Hakam (who advised Walid, the then governor of Medina, not to let Imam Husein (as) leave without extracting the oath of allegiance there and then from him, as called for by Yazeed), a bitter enemy of the Ahlal-bayt, and a staunch supporter of the Umayyads (he was an Umayyad himself) is under attack from the people of Medina; Marwan sends all the womenfolk in his household to Imam Zainul Abideen (as) for protection (notice the irony in the circumstances); Imam Zainul Abideen (as) willingly and humbly accepts all people who ask for his protection, including his enemies (some reports say a total of about four hundred women, whilst other reports say about four thousand women, took refuge in Imam Zainul Abideen's (as) house/farms).

Marwan himself runs from Medina at night to avoid being lynched by the people; Yazeed's supporters are told to leave Medina for their own safety; outside Medina, Marwan Hakam meets Muslim Aqaba and his army, and Marwan advises Muslim Aqaba that although a revolt is in progress in Medina, the defence is non-existent, and so it is a good opportunity to mount an attack now.

Muslim Aqaba and his army proceed to Medina; on entering the city outskirts, menfolk come out to fight them but stand no chance against the might of Muslim Aqaba; a number of Medinites are killed.

Muslim Aqaba moves into Medina city on 28 Zilhaj 63 AH; people take refuge in the Prophet's Mosque, for all knew that at the Prophet's grave and in the courtyard of the Prophet's Mosque, there is no harassment and everybody is protected; but Muslim Aqaba knows no sanctity of the Prophet's Mosque and the Prophet's grave; he orders his soldiers into the mosque and they kill the people therein.

The Prophet's grave and the Prophet's Mosque are abused to the extreme, with drinking, rape, human and animal foulings, bloodshed; dogs were put on the Mimbar and fouled it; this continued for three days and nights; simultaneously, there is a rampage in the city for three days and nights; the army is given complete freedom to loot, pillage, rape and kill (reports show that about one thousand illegitimate children were born as a result of rape in three days); the whole city was affected (except for Imam Zainul Abideen's (as) household).

After the rampage, Muslim Aqaba asks for allegiance from the people of Medina (except for Imam Zainul Abideen's (as) household) to be transferred back to Yazeed; nobody amongst the common populace dare refuse.