The Aftermath of the Battle of Karbala

When the dust settled, bodies were amputated, and women and children were chained and taken captives on the tenth of Muharram in the year 61 of the Prophet’s Hijrah, it was the beginning of a new phase of jihad, revolution, consciousness, and a change in the course of history for Muslims. It was the time to reap the fruits of the battle of Karbala.

The heroes of the continuous jihad in the line of Karbala and its approach were different from the heroes of the Karbala battle, so Zainab, peace be upon her, appeared as a brilliant character in leading the convoy of captivity under the directives of the imam of her time, Imam al-Sajjad, peace be upon him, who imposed the legal mandate to preserve the line of Imamate that his position is like that of his grandfather, the Commander of the Faithful. He is the one who steered the course of the events after the battle.

The families of the martyrs, widowed women, and orphaned children embodied the vocabulary of the completion of the Muhammadan jihad scene, which allowed history to be written again with the ink of rebellious tears, the rebellious cry of pain, and the positions of challenge and confrontation in the palaces of the Caliphate, the mosques of Muslims, their markets, homes, and meeting squares. The journey of captivity was integral to the History of the Blessed Hussaini Renaissance.

The Manifestations of Divine Wrath Upon the Killing of Imam al-Hussain, Peace Be Upon Him

Soon after the battle of Karbala, the divine wrath of the killing of the master of the martyrs, peace be upon him, was manifested in the mirrors of the worlds of existences in various astonishing cosmic expressions.

This wrath has appeared on the earth and in the heavens, in plants and animals, in the sea and on land, and some people knew the reason for the events of Karbala in some places, and others were ignorant of them. It has been elaborated among Muslims, rather they have unanimously agreed on the origin of these cosmic events, and many historians have stipulated some of them, including the sky raining foul blood, and that no stone was raised in Bait Al-Maqdis except that blood was found beneath it, the blackness of the sky and its weeping, and other facts that any Muslim cannot deny.

The Looting of the Hussaini Camp

After the killing of Imam al-Hussain, peace be upon him, by looting him and crushing his pure body with horses’ hooves, the enemies of Allah and His Messenger were not satisfied with the encroachment of that. Still, they went beyond that and attacked the camp to loot what was in it, attacked the women of the Prophet’s family, and took whatever jewelry they were wearing in such a vicious manner that had not been seen before. All this was by a direct order from Umar ibn Sa’d, who said to his soldiers: “You see these tents, go loot them.” The first initiator of looting was Shimr ibn Dhi al-Jawshan. So the soldiers entered and began to rob the women and children, to the point they robbed Lady Umm Kulthum’s earing and perforated her ear. After dividing the loot amongst themselves, they tore down the tents with their swords and set them on fire. Then the daughter of the Commander of the Faithful, peace be upon her, came out and said: “O Ibn Sa’d! Allah will be the judge between us, and Allah will deprive you of the intersession of our grandfather and will not quench your thirst from his pool, for what you did to us, and ordered the killing of the grandson of the prophet, and did not show mercy on his children, and did not show compassion to his women”….Ibn Sa’d did not even turn or look at her.

It has been narrated on the authority of Imam al-Ridha, peace be upon him, that he said: “Muharram is a month in which the people of the pre-Islamic era forbade fighting, yet our blood was shed in it, our women were attacked, women and children were taken captives, fire was let in our tents, and our belongings were looted.”

Attempt to Kill Imam Zayn al-Abidin, Peace Be Upon Him

Imam Zayn al-Abidin, Ali ibn al-Hussain, peace be upon him, was present in Karbala with his father, and he was sick. It is not mentioned in the historical sources how long this disease lasted, but what can be learned from some historical references is that he, peace be upon him, was still sick, emaciated, and weak even in Syria.

Al-Shimr ibn Dhi al-Jawshan entered the tent where Imam Zain al-Abidin, peace be upon him, was lying on a bed. Shimr said: “Kill this one!” One of his companions said, “Glory be to Allah! Would you kill a young, sick man who cannot fight?!!”

Lady Zainab bint Ali, peace be upon him, came out to him and said: “By God, he will not be killed until I am killed first! So leave him alone.”

It must be noted that his illness was a way for them not to kill him as it seemed like he was about to die. Still, it was not the main reason for them not to kill him. Rather, the great sacrifice stance of his aunt Zainab kept him safe. She attached herself to him and said to Shimr: “You have shed enough of our blood! By Allah, I will not leave him. If you kill him, then kill me with him!” She repeated this great sacrificial stance in several cases throughout her journey.

Burning of the Tents

After Shimr ibn Dhi al-Jushan failed to kill Imam Zayn al-Abidin, peace be upon him. The soldiers took the women out of the tent and set it on fire. The women ran out barefoot, robbed, and cried. It appears that the tent where the women and children were all with Imam Zain al-Abidin, peace be upon him, was the last of the tents that were burned after they were expelled from it.

Sayeeda Zainab, peace be upon her, came out calling in a sad voice and a gloomy heart: “O Muhammad, may peace be upon you. This is Hussain in the open! Sanded with blood! Limps severed! And your daughters are captives! To Allah, we complain and to Muhammad, Ali, Fatimah, and Hamza master of martyrs.”

“Wa Muhammadah! And this is Hussain in the open! The wind of land breeze blew over him! They were murdered by the children of prostitutes! My sad! My grief is over your Abu Abdullah! Today my grandfather Muhammad died! O companions of Muhammad! These are the offspring of al-Mustafa. They are being forcefully taken and driven as slaves!“

The Head of Imam al-Hussain (a) and the Heads of the Martyrs

The incident of carrying the head of the grandson of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah’s prayers and peace be upon him and his family, and all other pure heads is another of the terrible crimes that Karbala witnessed, and this crime revealed another veil of the malice of the Umayyad regime!

From that day, Umar ibn Sa’d, on the day of Ashura, dispatched the head of Imam al-Hussain, peace be upon him, with Khawli ibn Yazid al-Asbahi, to Ubaydullah ibn Ziyad. Then he ordered the heads of the remaining martyrs, except for the head of a-Hur al-Riyahi, (whose clan prevented him from cutting his head) and released them with Shimr ibn Dhi al-Jawshan, Qais ibn al-Ash’ath, and Amr bin al-Hajjaj, to be brought to Ibn Ziad.

The tribes, including Kinda, Huzan, Banu Tamim, and Banu Asad, competed to carry the heads of the martyrs.

The Pure Bodies

The body of Imam al-Hussain, peace be upon him, remained with the bodies of the other martyrs from his family and companions, peace be upon him, in the open, not buried, under the heat of the son and winds blowing on it. The damned Umar bin Sa’d had buried the dead of his army and prayed over them and left the body of Imam al-Hussain, peace be upon him, and the bodies of his supporters.

The Last Hours of Ashura

The women of Imam al-Hussain, peace be upon him, and his daughters and children gathered in the captivity of the enemies, preoccupied with sadness, worries, and crying, and the end of that day passed on them while they were in the heartless grief and bereavement, and they spent that night without their protectors and men, strangers in their stay and travels. And the soldiers were treating them aggressively so they may draw closeness to the renegade Umar ibn Sa’d, to the heretic Ubaydullah ibn Ziyad, and to the infidel Yazid ibn Muawiyah, the head of atheism and stubbornness.

The Holy Head in the House of Khawli Al-Asbahi

Khawli ibn Yazid al-Asbahi hurried to carry the holy head of Imam al-Hussain to Ubaydullah ibn Ziyad, and he stopped at a house on the road called al-Hanana. When he arrived at the palace of Kufa, he found the door closed. So he went home and put the head of the imam in a container. He went to his wife al-Nawar, daughter of Malik bin Akrab. She asked him about the news, and he replied and was overwhelmed with happiness: “I have brought you the wealth of a lifetime. This is the head of Al-Hussain with you in the house.” She went crazy and said: “Woe to you! People bring gold and silver; you brought the head of the son of the Messenger of God. May God’s prayers and peace be upon him! I will not remain with you in the same house, so be glad, for your opponent tomorrow is his grandfather, Muhammad al-Mustafa!”

It was narrated that she helped with his killing on the day al-Mukhtar took revenge on the killers of the master of martyrs, peace be upon him.

The Departure of the Rest of the Hussaini Chariots From Karbala to Kufa

Ibn Sa’d stayed the rest of his day and the second day until the afternoon. He traveled towards Kufa with those who left the family of Imam al-Hussain, peace be upon him, and carried his women on camels without cover! Their faces were revealed to the enemy, and they were driven as they drive the captives of Turks and Romans.

Ibn Sa’d, may God curse him, ordered that they pass them by the fighters to see their brothers and sons and bid them farewell. So they took them to the battlefield of Karbala, and when the women looked at the dead, they shouted and struck their faces out of grief.

The historical sources did not mention the details of what happened to the Hussaini caravan on the road from Karbala to Kufa.

Askar Ibn Sa’d and the rest of the Hussaini caravan reached the outskirts of Kufa on the eleventh day at night. They spent the night in a station place on the road very close to or on the outskirts of Kufa. Their entry to Kufa was on the day of the twelfth of Muharram.

The Institute of the Master of the Martyrs of the Hussaini Minbar