Will you give information about Hz. Husayn (r.a.)?

Dear Brother / Sister,

Husayn is the grandson of the Prophet (pbuh) born of his daughter Hz. Fatima. He is the second son of Hz. Ali and Hz. Fatima. He was born on the fifth of the month of Shaban in the fourth year of the Migration.

The Prophet himself named him. When Hz. Husayn was born, Jibril came and said, "O Muhammad! Your Lord sends his greetings. He wants you to give your grandson the name of Harun's son."

The Prophet asked, "O Jibril! What is the name of Harun's son?"

Jibril said, "Shabir".

The Prophet said, "My language is Arabic."

Jibril said, "Then, name him its equivalent in Arabic, Husayn." (Diyar Bakri, al-Khamis, 1,471).

Hz. Husayn resembled the Prophet (pbuh) a lot. Hz. Ali said, "The body of Hasan resembled the Messenger of Allah from his chest to his head. The body of Husayn resembled the Messenger of Allah from that part below." (Ahmad b. Hanbal Musnad, 1, 108)

Hz. Prophet (pbuh) loved Hz. Hasan and Hz. Husayn very much. He said,

"O Allah! I love them. You love them too." (Tirmidhi Sunan V, 661);

"Hasan and Husayn are my basils that I smell in this world." (Ahmad b. Hanbal, Musnad, II, 288);

"He who loves Hasan and Husayn loves me; he who nurtures grudge against them nurtures grudge against me." (Ahmad b. Hanbal, Musnad, II, 288)

The Prophet (pbuh) accompanied Hz. Hasan and Hz. Husayn so that they would play as they wished and played with them as if he was a child. When Hz. Husayn wanted the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) to be a camel, he would bow down and allow them to ascend to his back. Then, he would say, "Can there be a better camel than this?"

Once, the Prophet was sitting in the place where dead bodies were placed. Hz. Hasan and Hz. Husayn started to wrestle. The Prophet smiled and said, “Come on, Hasan! Catch Husayn!” He supported Hz. Hasan. Hz. Ali said, “O Messenger of Allah! I think you should support Husayn because Hasan is older.” The Prophet (pbuh) said, “Look! Jibril is supporting Husayn by saying, ’Come on, Husayn! Go for it!" (Dhahabi, Siyar Alamun-Nubala, 111, p. 190-191)

Hz. Husayn, who was one of the grandchildren of the Prophet (pbuh), spent his childhood with the Prophet. Hz. Husayn, who was educated by the Messenger of Allah and who grew up with belief, became a martyr. Hz. Husayn, who realized that no decree other than the decree of Allah and His Messenger could be valid in man’s life, did not tend to the people who overshadowed this truth; on the contrary, he resisted them heroically.

Muawiya died in Damascus in the middle of the month of Rajab in 60 H. After the death of Muawiya, the people of Damascus paid allegiance to Muawiya b. Abu Sufyan’s son Yazid.

Yazid's coming into power was in the form of sultanate. Yazid knew it very well that many Companions, primarily Hz. Husayn, would not accept his coming into power like that and that he would get strong reactions. He acted very quickly so as not to lose the caliphate. He sent a letter to Walid b. Utba b. Abi Sufyan, the governor of Madinah.

He wrote the following in his letter: "When you receive my letter, find Husayn b. Ali and Abdullah b. Zubayr; make them pay allegiance to me. If they reject to pay allegiance, kill them and send their heads to me. Do the same thing to those who reject to pay allegiance as you will do to Husayn b. Ali and Abdullah b. Zubayr."

It is also written in resources that Yazid wanted the governor of Madinah to make Hz. Husayn and the notables of the Companions pay allegiance and not to act slowly and tolerantly regarding the issue in the letter he wrote.

After Yazid's coming into power, the people of Kufa sent letters after letters to Hz. Husayn, invited him to Kufa and stated that they would declare him the Caliph if he came to Kufa. They said they could not perform Friday prayers because they did not have an amir/imam.

Hz. Husayn went to Makkah from Madinah and started to correspond with the people of Kufa. He sent Muslim b. Aqil, his cousin, to Kufa to find out about the state of the people of Kufa. Muslim wrote a letter to Hz. Husayn stating that the situation in Kufa was good and that the people were ready to pay allegiance to him. After this news, Hz. Husayn decided to go to Kufa and started preparations.

While Hz. Husayn was preparing for the journey to Kufa, Abdullah Ibn Abbas asked him insistently to give up this journey. Similarly, Abdullah Ibn Umar and Imam Sha’bi, one of the notables of Tabiun scholars, asked Hz. Husayn not to go to Kufa emphasizing that the people of Iraq could not be trusted. However, Hz. Husayn was determined to go to Kufa.

When Yazid heard that Hz. Husayn headed toward Kufa, he changed the governor of Kufa and gave the duty of the governorship of Kufa to Ubaydullah Ibn Ziyad, who was also the governor of Basra.

When Ubaydullah b. Ziyad became the governor of Kufa, the first thing he did was to kill Muslim b. Aqil brutally.

Yazid gave the following order to Ubaydullah b. Ziyad, the governor of Kufa, about Hz. Husayn:

"You continue acting as I want. You fulfilled my order in a skilled and wise way. You attacked like a persistent and determined hero. You completed this task without needing anybody else to help you. According to the news I received, Husayn b. Ali left Makkah and is coming toward you. Send your spies immediately. Place guards on the ways. Do your best about this issue. Do not fight anybody unless they fight you. Write to me about what happens every day."

The news that Hz. Husayn received on the way to Kufa was not very good. When he received the news that Muslim b. Aqil was martyred, it was not possible to return. Many people on the way told him not to go to Kufa and to return immediately.

Despite those adverse conditions, Hz. Husayn continued proceeding to Kufa in a determined way. Meanwhile, traps were set against him. Due to the adverse conditions, Hz. Husayn said to the people who were with him, "Those who wish can return. I do not want to force you to come with me." However, nobody left him. (Dhahabi, A'lamun-Nubala, 111, 201-202)

Hz. Husayn confronted a cavalry unit of one thousand soldiers under the command of Hurr b. Yazid at-Tamimi. Hurr b. Yazid acted in accordance with the order of Ubaydullah b. Ziyad. He drove Hz. Husayn toward Karbala as Ubaydullah ordered him.

Ubaydullah b. Ziyad realized that the situation was very serious. Umar b. Sa'd, who was appointed as the governor of Marw, was preparing in Kufa.  However, Ubaydullah wanted to use Umar b. Sa'd against Hz. Husayn. He sent him an order and told him to go to Karbala with his army. Umar b. Sa'd did not want to confront Hz. Husayn. When Ibn Ziyad found out about it, he said, "If you do not go to confront him, I will dismiss you from the duty of the governorship of Marw, demolish your house and kill you." (Dhahabi, ibid)

The situation was getting worse. Hz. Husayn made the following offers to Umar b. Sa’d in order to ease the situation and prevent blood from being shed: "O Umar! Accept one of my three offers:

Let me go to the boundaries to make jihad. Or, let me go to Yazid to talk to him. Or, allow me to return to Madinah." (Dhahabi, A'lamun-Nubala, 111, 208-209) However, Ibn Ziyad did not accept any of these offers and did not want to allow Hz. Husayn to leave.

Umar b. Sa'd did not make any attacks against Hz. Husayn. Days passed like that. Ubaydullah b. Ziyad gave his last order. He wrote the following to Umar b. Sa'd:

"I did not send you there so that you would spend days with Husayn, wish his safety and survival and be his intercessor. Tell them to accept my decree at once. If they surrender to you, send him and the people around him to me. If they do not accept, walk against them because he is a rebel."

After this order, attacks on Hz. Husayn started. A few mujahids around Hz. Husayn, women and children from Ahl al-Bayt resisted against the army consisting of thousands of soldiers. They were martyred one by one. Hz. Husayn fought heroically as the last man and was martyred as a result of thirty-three spear wounds and thirty-four sword wounds.

Seventy-two people from the relatives of Hz. Husayn were martyred in Karbala. They virtually wanted to eliminate the whole Ahl al-Bayt. Eighty-eight people from Kufa also died.

Hz. Husayn was martyred on Muharram 10, in 61 H. When he was martyred, he was fifty-seven years old.

The martyrdom of Hz. Husayn affected Umar b. Sa'd and Yazid deeply and saddened them. However, this sadness was of no use. It was Yazid who caused the martyrdom of Hz. Husayn.

Şâmil İA

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