Whereas I saw my father...

Whereas I saw my father, my brother, my uncle, and seventeen members of my family killed around me . . . so how can my grief and sorrow end?" It is reported that Imam Zayn al-Abidin alayhis-salam cried and wept so much for Imam Husayn alayhis-salam that it was feared that he would loose his eyesight.

Every time he was given water to drink, he wept such that his tears poured into the water cup, and when he was asked about this, he replied "how can I not to when my father was denied the water that was absolutely free for the beasts and wild animals".

Ahl-ul-Bayt and Ashura The Ma'soom Imams alayhum-as-salam annually held Azadari or mourning programs commemorating the day of Ashura, and in fact the Imams of the Ahl-ul-Bayt alayhum-as-salam encouraged others to continue to hold such programs to commemorate the martyrdom of Imam Husayn alayhis-salam in various forms and styles of remembrance be it those which are obligatory, or those that are Mustahab or permissible, for this day is like no other day.

There has been many hadith from them in this respect; in one narration Imam Sadiq alayhis-salam is asked as to why the day of Ashura became the day of sorrow and grief, lamentation and weeping, rather than the day when Rasulollah salla-llahu-alayhi-wa-aalih died, or the day when Fatima-al-Zahra alayhas-salam died, or the day when Amir-ul-Mu'minin36 alayhis-salam was killed, or when Imam Hasan alayhis-salam was killed by poisoning?

Imam Sadiq alayhis-salam replied, “Truly the day of al-Husayn is the day of the greatest catastrophe, since As-hab al-Kissa (people of the cloak) alayhum-as-salam who were the most honourable of creation in the sight of Allah were five, and when Rasulollah salla-llahu-alayhi-wa-aalih died, Imam Ali, Fatima al-Zahra, Hasan and Husayn alayhum-as-salam remained, and the people sought solace and comfort in them, and when Fatima al-Zahra alayhas-salam died, people sought consolation and comfort in Amir-ul-Mu'minin, Hasan and Husayn alayhum-as-salam, and when Amir-ul-Mu'minin alayhissalam died people sought solace and comfort in Hasan and Husayn alayhum-as-salam, and when Hasan alayhis-salam died people could find 36 Amir-ul-Mu’minin, meaning the Commander of the Faithful, is the title that was exclusively awarded to Imam Ali alayhis-salam by Rasulollah salla-llahu-alayhi-wa-aalih.