Muharram 10: ’Ashura: Commemorating Imam Hussain- The Prince of Martyrs

In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

The following is a slightly abridged translation of the entry on Imam
Husayn ’alayhisalam from the Urdu translation of Mawlana Jami’s
Shawahid al Nabuwwah, pages 303-9, by Bashir Hussain Nazim [Mahal
Publishers, Delhi, 1989].

Hazrat Mawlana Nuruddin Abdur Rahman Jami writes:


1. He is the third Imam and the Father of the Imams. His agnomen [kunya]
is Abu Abdullah and his titles are Shahîd [martyr] and Sayyid
[master]. His birth took place on Sunday, 4th Sha’ban al Mubarak, 4
AH in Madina the Illuminated. His period of gestation [time in the
womb] was only 6 months.

His pure lordship, the Prophet sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam named him
Husayn. His beauty was such that when he sat in the dark the radiance
from his forehead and cheeks would light up both near and afar. He
resembled the Prophet sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam in appearance from
the chest to his feet and resembled Imam Hassan from his chest to his
head. His lordship sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam remarked that ’Husayn
is from me and I am from Husayn. Whoever keeps Husayn as a friend you
also be friends with him because Husayn is a son from amongst my
sons.’

2. The Hasanayn wrestle:

One day Hazrat Imam Hassan and Imam Husayn began to wrestle. The
Prophet sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam said to Imam Hassan, ’O Hassan!
Grab Husayn!’ The Lady Fatima said, ’ O Messenger of Allah! You tell
the older one to grab the younger?’ His lordship sal Allahu alayhi wa
sallam answered, ’But Gabriel too is telling Husayn to grab Hassan!’

3. The dream of Umm al Hârith

It is narrated from Hazrat Umm al Hârith (may Allah be pleased with
her!) that I (Umm al Hârith) went into the presence of the Prophet
and said that I have seen a dream which has frightened me. The
Prophet said, ’What did you see?’ I replied, ’I saw that a piece of
flesh was cut from your body and placed in my lap.’ The Prophet sal
Allahu alayhi wa sallam said, ’Soon Fatima will bring a boy who will
be in your lap.’ Shortly after this Hazrat Imam Husayn was born.

4. Imam Husayn in the eyes of the Prophet (sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam)

One day the Prophet had placed Imam Husayn alayhisalam on his right
shoulder and his son Hazrat Ibrahim alayhisalam on his left shoulder
when Gabriel came and said, ’Allah Almighty will not let them both
remain with you together. He will call one of them back [to Himself].
Now you can choose whichever one of these two you like.’ His lordship
sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam replied, ’If Husayn goes then Fatima, Ali
and myself will be hurt and if Ibrahim dies my soul will feel the
greater sorrow. Therefore I prefer my own sorrow.’ Three days after
this event transpired Hazrat Ibrahim alayhisalam passed away.

Whenever Imam Husayn alayhisalam would come into the presence of the
Prophet, his lordship sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam would kiss his brow
and bid him welcome and say, ’I sacrificed my son Ibrahim for him!’

5. Hazrat Umm Salma and the dust of Karbala

Hazrat Umm Salma (may Allah be pleased with her) narrates that one
night his lordship alayhisalam went out of the house and came back
after quite a long time. I noticed that his hair was dishevelled and
full of dust and enquired, ’O’ Messenger of Allah! In what state am I
seeing you today?’ The Prophet alayhisalam answered, ’Tonight they
[angels] took me to such a place which is in Iraq and which is called
Karbala. This is the place where Husayn will be martyred. There I
witnessed my children and I picked up some of their blood from the
ground which is in my hand’. His lordship then opened his hand and
said, ’Hold this! Keep it safe.’ I took it and looked at it and it
was red earth. Then I placed it in a bottle and fastened its top very
firmly. When Hazrat Husayn bin ’Ali journeyed to Iraq I took out this
bottle every day and looked at it. The earth in it remained as it
was. When I looked at it on the day of Ashura it had turned to fresh
blood. I understood that people had martyred Hazrat Husayn .I wept a
great deal but for fear of the enemies I stopped short of wailing.
When the news of his martyrdom came it was on that very same day
[that I had seen the blood in the bottle].

His martyrdom happened on the Day of Ashura in the year 41 AH. At
that time his age was 57.

6. The news of the martyrdom of Husayn alayhisalam

Hazrat Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) narrates that one day
the Messenger sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam was with Gabriel
alayhisalam when suddenly Husayn came and joined them. Gabriel
alayhisalam asked: ’Who is this?’ His lordship replied, ’This is my
son.’ Saying this the Prophet sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam placed
Husayn in his lap. Gabriel remarked, ’He will be martyred very
shortly.’ The Prophet sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam asked, ’Who will
marty him?’ Gabriel answered, ’Your nation [ummah]. If you say so I
will also tell you the place where he will be martyred.’

Afterwards Gabriel alayhisalam indicated towards Karbala and gripped
some red earth and showed it to the Prophet sal Allahu alayhi wa
sallam and said that this is the earth from the place of Husayn’s
martyrdom.

It is narrated from Hazrat Sayyidina Imam Zayn al ’Abidin alayhisalam
that when we set off towards Kufa that there was no place where we
rested or stopped that Imam Husayn alayihsalam didn’t mention Hazrat
Yahya ibn Zakariyya alayhisalam [John the Baptist].

Sa’îd ibn Jubayr narrates from Hazrat Abdullah ibn Abbas (may Allah
be pleased with them all) that the Prophet sal Allahu alayhi wa
sallam received revelation [wahy] that We destroyed seventy thousand
people in return for the murder of John the Baptist and we will
destroy double the amount for the murder of your (grand) son.

It is proved with strong evidences that no one from amongst the
murderers of Imam Husayn alayhisalam or their helpers remained who
was not disgraced before his death. All of them were either murdered
or fell into great calamities.

7. The outcome for the murderers of Husayn alayhisalam

A trustworthy narrator says that when the heads of Ubaydullah ibn
Ziyad and his comrades were brought to the mosque in Kufa and were
placed there. I too went there. I heard people saying, ’It has come!
It has come!’ At last a snake appeared and sat between their heads.
Then it went up the nose of Ubaydullah ibn Ziyad and then after a
while it came out and went away until it disappeared from our eyes.
Again people started saying, ’It has come! It has come!’ and the same
snake appeared again and did exactly as it had done before.

Shimr bin Ziljawshan found some gold from amongst the provisions of
Imam Husayn alayhisalam which he gave some of it to his daughter. His
daughter gave it to a goldsmith in order to have some ornaments made
from it. When the goldsmith placed that gold in the fire it
disappeared into it! When Shimr heard about this he summoned the
goldsmith and gave him the remainder of the gold and told him to
place it in the fire in front of me. When the goldsmith did so it too
disappeared into the fire. Likewise there is a narration that the
tyrants slaughtered some camels belonging to Imam Husayn which had
survived and made kebabs out of them. They tasted so bitter that none
of them was able to eat the meat.

8. Sorrow expressed at the martyrdom of Imam Husayn alayhisalam

A trustworthy narrator says that I asked a person from the tribe of
Tayy who came to us if he had heard the jinn mourning Imam Husayn
alayisalam with elegies [noha]? He said, ’Yes. But do not ask
everyone from this tribe about it because they will all begin to tell
you things about this matter.’ I replied, ’I feel it is best only to
ask you as you yourself have heard it from them.’ He said, ’I have
heard them say this:

The Prophet kissed his forehead—he whose cheeks are radiant and
shining
His fathers and forefathers are elevated and belong to the noblest of
families!’

9. Events in Madina relating to the martyrdom of Imam Husayn

When some wretched people expressed joy at the martyrdom of Imam
Husayn alayhisalam during the khutba [Friday sermon] the following
verses were heard that night in Madina although no one could be seen
reciting them:

O’ ye who have killed Husayn out of ignorance
Glad tidings are given thee about a disgraceful punishment


The creatures of the heavens whether prophets or angels
Are, all of them, wishing you naught but ill

And may you be cursed by the tongue of Solomon son of David
And by Jesus who is the bringer of the Gospels!


One of the holy warriors [ghazi] who was in the land of Byzantium
[Rûm] narrates that I saw the following couplet written in a
synagogue:

Do those people who martyred Imam Husayn still
Expect intercession from his Ancestor on the Day of Reckoning?

When I asked who wrote this couplet the people of the synagogue said
that they did not know.


10. Imam Husayn’s head atop a spear

Hazrat Zayd ibn Arqam (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that
when Ibn Ziyad ordered that the blessed head of Imam Husayn
alayhisalam be placed atop a spear and paraded through the streets of
Kufa, I was standing near the window of my house. When the Imam’s
blessed head passed by me I heard the following voice coming from it:

Or, do you think that the Fellows of the Cave and the Inscription
were of Our wonderful signs? (Qur’an 18: 09)

The hairs at the back of my neck stood up at this and I shouted
out, ’By God! This head is that of the grandson of the Prophet sal
Allahu alayhi wa sallam and such a voice emanating from it is a
wonder indeed!’

11. The heavens rain blood

Muammar and Zahri (Allah have mercy on them both!) were sitting in
the gathering of Abd al Malik ibn Marwan when Walid asked, ’Who
amongst you can tell me the state of the stones in Bayt al Maqdis
[Jerusalem] on the day Husayn was martyred?’

Imam Zahri said: ’I have been informed that on that day whichever
stone was lifted fresh blood was found beneath it.’

It is narrated from another person that when Imam Husayn alayhisalam
was martyred it began to rain blood from the sky and every thing of
ours became covered in blood and also the sky appeared covered in
blood for many days afterwards.

[End of translation]

To finish off I would like to translate arguably the most famous marsiya [elegy] of all, from the Persian of Khwaja Gharib Nawaz Muinuddin Hassan Chishti. Gharib Nawaz wrote this immortal quatrain:

Shah ast Hussain, badshah ast Hussain
Deen ast, deen-panah ast Hussain
Sar daad, na daad dast dar dast-i Yazeed
Haqqa keh bina-ye ’La ilaha’ ast Hussain

Hussain is the King, the Great King is Hussain
He is the Religion, the protector of the Religion is Hussain.
He gave his head but he didn’t give his hand in the hand of Yazeed
The truth is the foundation of "There is no god but Allah" is Hussain!