Imam Hussain -asws knew it very well that most of them were...

Imam Hussain -asws knew it very well that most of them were hypocrites and only wanted to reinstate their lost scholarships which Muawiyah -la used to give them, as his informers and allies against Imam Ali -asws , but Yazid -la had stopped. But as an Apostolic Imam, Imam Hussain -asws had to fulfil the Divine mission of removing the masks of hypocrites and reveal their devious schemes and seeds of contention which were planted at ‘Saqifa’-where the first Muslim caliph was elected.

Imam Hussain -asws reached Karbala on the 3rd of Moharram, a place which is approximately seventy kilometres from Kufa, a desert near the banks of river Euphrates. Yazid -la ’s army under the command of Ibne Saad -la encircled Imam Hussain -asws and his companions from all sides and stopped their water supply from the river. Imam Hussain -asws exhausted all means to avert the war, even at the expense of living under intolerable thirst and famished conditions.

The sufferers were as young as Hazrat Ali Asghar -asws who was only six months of age. On the eve of 10th of Moharram, the army of Yazid -la tried to attack Imam Hussain -asws but Imam Hussain -asws gave them another opportunity to rethink their stance and tried to stop them from killing the grandson of Prophet -saww , the last surviving among the ‘people of Kisa’.

There was indeed an effect, as that night saved Hurr bin Riyahi, his slave and son from plunging deep into the hottest zone of Hell, as they deserted Yazid -la ’s army by recognising the just and Divine position of Imam Hussain -asws .On the tenth day of Muharram of the year 61/680, the impatient army of Yazid -la , which was lured into getting worldly gains, attacked Imam Hussain -asws ’s camps. One by one all Hashmiad -asws and companions of Imam Hussain -asws were martyred.

They were just 72 or 110 in number but had killed thousands of Yazid’s -la soldiers, who were desperate to live to get their worldly rewards and thus ran away from the battle. Imam Hussain -asws kept on bringing back the bodies of his dear ones as afternoon approached. Imam Hussain -asws ’s final sacrifice was his 6-month-old child, Master Ali Asghar -asws , who was martyred with a three-headed arrow while held in the arms of Imam Hussain -asws .