After consultations with his family and companions...

After consultations with his family and companions, he decided to leave Medina and move to the Holy City of Mecca. Why did he leave Medina when he had 'home advantage'? This is because he did not want to put his friends in Medina in the danger of being killed. Secondly, although Yazid may be defeated, history would look upon the battle in Medina between Yazid and Husayn as a battle for Khilafat.

Even if Yazid were to be killed, the injustice, oppression and un-Islamic way of life which Muawiya and Yazid promoted would not die. Imam Husayn's promise and mission was to destroy the way of life that these two evil men had started, to destroy Islam. By staying in Medina and fighting with Yazid he would have not achieved this. This is why he decided to leave Medina.

On 28th Rajab 60 A.H., Imam Husayn’s caravan left Medina with his family, his sisters, Bibi Zainab and Bibi Kulthoom, his brother ‘Abbas, a few other relatives and a number of faithful companions. On 4th Shabaan, Husayn's caravan reached Mecca. Imam had not yet made up his mind on where to go from here. For the time being he decided to stay in Mecca at least until the month of Dhul-Hajj and to perform the duty of Hajj.

To keep the sanctity and grace of the Holy Ka’aba, the bloodshed of any human life had been prohibited by the Holy Prophet. But did Yazid care about the Holy Prophet's sayings? While in Mecca, Imam Husayn received many letters and messages from the people of Kufa persuading him to go to Kufa. Imam decided to send Hazrat Muslim Ibn Aqeel, his cousin, to Kufa to study the situation there and report to Imam.

As Hazrat Muslim was preparing for the journey, Imam Husayn 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 Yazid. Take your two sons, Mohamed and Ibrahim with you. When they see you with your young children, they will know that our intentions are peaceful”. Hazrat Muslim and his two young sons left Mecca.

They arrived in Kufa towards the end of Dhul-Qaad. They were received well by the people of Kufa. Thousands of people appeared before Hazrat Muslim. They pledged their allegiance to Imam Husayn as their Imam. They wanted him to teach them the contents of the Holy Qur’an and true sayings and traditions of the Holy Prophet. People of Kufa had long suffered under Muawiya and they feared even greater suffering under Yazid.