The Battle of Karbala took place on
Muharram 10, 61 AH (October 9 or 10, 680 CE in
Karbala, in present day
Iraq. On one side were supporters and relatives of
Muhammad's grandson
Husayn ibn Ali; on the other side was a military detachment from the forces of
Yazid I, the
Umayyad caliph. Husayn ibn Ali's group consisted of notable members of Muhammad's close relatives, around 72 men, of which some were either very old or very young. Husayn and some members of his group were accompanied by some of the women and children from their families. On the opposite side, the armed forces of
Yazid I were led by
Umar ibn Sa'ad and contained at least 40,000 men. Shia traditions state that Husayn ibn Ali's group killed over 20% of the enemy before being defeated. Husayn himself killed 900 soldiers, despite the fact that he was thirsty and hungry for 3 days. It is stated that he died to resurrect Islam. The battle field was a desert region located beside one of the branches of the
Euphrates River. The battle resulted in the military defeat of Husayn ibn Ali's group, the death of almost all of his men, and the captivity of all women and children. The Battle of Karbala is one of the most significant battles in the history of
Shia Muslims. This battle also had significant effects on formation of subsequent revolts against the
Umayyad dynasty
The battle of Husayn ibn Ali is commemorated during an annual 10-day period held every
Muharram, culminating on its tenth day,
AshuraThe rule of the third Caliph
Uthman concluded with a violent uprising especially against his close aides and cousins Marwan and Muawiya, both from the Ummayad clan. Uthman was killed and for many days rebels seized and occupied the city of
Medina. Under the overwhelming pressure from the entire
Ummah,
Ali ibn Abi Talib took the caliphate. His immediate steps was to bring law and order which included the removing of notorious and illegal regional governors, most of whom were close relatives of
Uthman. Muawiya who had already entrenched himself in Syria refused the allegiance to the rightful caliph. Muawiya's rebellion marked the first major strife in the mostly united Muslim community. This split resulted in three battles: the
Camel, the
Seffin, and the
Nahrawan. Muawiya planned and financed a
Kharijite to assassinate Ali ibn Abi Talib. In order to exonerate himself from that blame, he suggested that the plot included his own assassination, which he obviously escaped unscathed.
Umayyad dynasty appearsHasan ibn Ali succeeded his father and started a military campaign against Muawiya I, but the insincerity of many tribes from Kufa became apparent and Muawiya bribed his way into many of the tribal leaders around Hasan ibn Ali to leave his army in disarray. Hasan ibn Ali eventually signed a conditional peace treaty with Muawiya I after receiving a promise that when Muawiya died, a
Shura (a council of nobles to appoint the next caliph) would be held to find his successor. Based on the peace treaty, Hasan ibn Ali ceded power to Muawiya.
Caliphate turns into monarchyMuawiya violated every single clause of the treaty which he signed with Hasan Ibn Ali. Most blatantly he tried to ensure that his son,
Yazid I, would be planted as the next King, another major deviation from the general Islamic norms (Muawiya's rule marks the end of the islamic caliphate, even in
sunni traditions and he is regarded as a usurper). Muawiya required all of his supporters to swear allegiance to Yazid before his death. By doing so, he disregarded the peace treaty with Hasan ibn Ali to hold
Shura. When Muawiya died, some major Muslims such as
Abdullah ibn Umar,
Abdullah ibn Zubayr as well as
Husayn ibn Ali refused to recognize Yazid I as the next caliph. This was the perfect opportunity for any parties opposing
Umayyad to begin struggling for power.
Kufa's opposition to DamascusKufa, a garrison town in what is now Iraq, had been Ali's capital, and there were still many people in Kufa claiming they are still supporters of Ali. Husayn ibn Ali received many letters from the Kufans expressing their offer of support if he claimed the caliphate. They were also trying to restore Kufa's power against
Damascus, the Umayyad capital.
Particulars of the event
The route of Husayn ibn Ali from Medina to Karbala is mentioned in various history books
Medina Yazid, the new ruler, feared that Husayn would revolt. Therefore he sent a letter to Walid ibn Utbah, governor of
Medina, and ordered him to take allegiance from Husayn or to kill him if he refrains. Walid consulted
Marwan ibn al-Hakam and he advised Walid to kill Husayn since he will never accept
Bay'ah with Yazid, but Walid did not accept this advice since he did not want to kill Husayn. Walid held a meeting with Husayn to convince him of Bay'ah with
Yazid I but was refused. The day after, Marwan asked Husayn for Bay'ah. Husayn replied:
"... Say farewell to Islam while the
Ummah is afflicted by a ruler such as Yazid. Since I have heard of my grandfather, prophet of God, who was saying: The
Caliphate is forbidden for
Abu Sufyan's descendants
Husayn departed Medina on
Sha'ban 3, 60 AH (May 9, 680 CE) to perform the Hajj ritual.
[12] More authentic reports tell us that Husayn bin Ali actually left Medina on the 28th day of Rajab in the 60th year of Hijra.
Mecca Husayn ibn Ali stayed in Mecca from the beginnings of the
Sha'ban and all of the
Ramadan,
Shawwal, as well as
Dhu al-Qi'dah. When many letters came from
Kufa assuring
Husayn ibn Ali of Kufan support, he answered their calls and sent
Muslim ibn Aqeel, his cousin, to Kufa as his representative in an attempt to consider their last situation and opinions.
Abd-Allah ibn Abbas and
Abdullah ibn Zubayr held a meeting with
Husayn ibn Ali in Mecca to advise him to refuse to travel to Iraq. In another meeting,
Abdullah ibn Umar asked him to reconcile with the strayed people and to prevent war. But he warned
Abdullah ibn Umar not to stop supporting him. Meanwhile
Husayn ibn Ali corresponded with nobles of
Basrah and asked them to support him. Major tribes of
Basrah gathered and got ready for fight against
Yazid I and informed
Husayn ibn Ali. At the same time Ubayd-Allah
ibn Ziyad, governor of
Basrah, executed one of the messengers of
Husayn ibn Ali and then addressed people and warned them to avoid insurgency.
Ibn Ziyad, governor of Basra and Kufa, left Basra toward Kufa next day, leaving his brother as deputy governor of Basra.
Basrah rebels’ army never reached
Husayn ibn Ali and they became aware of his martyrdom midway of Kufa. Considerable military units under
Umar ibn Sa'ad entered Mecca to confront or attack
Husayn ibn Ali on
Tarwiyah day Husayn ibn Ali gave a speech to people the day before his departure and said:
"... The death is a certainty for mankind, just like the trace of necklace on the neck of young girls. And I am enamoured of my ancestors like eagerness of
Jacob to
Joseph ... Everyone, who is going to devote his blood for ours sake and is prepared to meet Allah, must depart with us
He also willed before his journey his half-brother
Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah. Muhammad ibn Hanafiyyah was preventing him from going to
Kufa knowing hypocrisy and insincerity of its people even with Ali. But Husayn departed toward
Kufa to avoid the battle inside the holy city of
Mecca.
Husayn ibn Ali left
Mecca toward
Kufa with his family members plus some supporters on
Dhu al-Hijjah 3 or 8, 60AH (September 4 or 9 September 680 CE). Husayn's representative to
Kufa,
Muslim ibn Aqeel were welcomed by the people of Kufa, and most of them swore allegiance to him. But he and his host,
Hani ibn Urwa were executed by the new governor of the Kufa,
Ubayd-Allah ibn Ziyad on
Dhu al-Hijjah 9, 60AH (September 10, 680 CE) without any considerable resistance of the people. And almost all the Kufan supporters of Husayn turned into his enemies.
Toward KufaHusayn ibn Ali came across with a convoy in the Tan'im station carrying some gifts from the governor of
Yemen for
Yazid I. He confiscated all of their consignments and made the cameleers free to select between making a new contract with him and being paid for the amount of the way they had traveled so far. Some cameleers accompanied him.
[15] He met with Boshr ibn Ghalib in the Zat-Erq station who was coming from Iraq and asked about his opinions about Iraq political situation. Boshr replied: "I left the hearts which are adherents of yours and the swords which are adherents of the Umayyad!” And Husayn confirmed his analysis and news.
Zuhair ibn Qayn left Mecca toward his town at the same time but was trying to be away from convoy of
Husayn ibn Ali due to the political disputes he had with
Ali ibn Abi Talib before. After a while and passing away some stations, Zuhayr forced to camp near Husayn's camp caused by some limitations. At this time Husayn sent a messenger toward Zuhayr and called him for a meeting. Zuhayr's wife encouraged him to visit offspring of the Prophet. Zuhayr visited Husayn. After the meeting Zuhayr ordered to move his tent to Husayn's camp and asked his wife to leave him and told her: "I have decided to accompany Husayn in order to sacrifice myself for him and to shield him by my soul." The word came about the death of
Muslim ibn Aqeel in Zobalah station. This news caused a great sorrow in the convoy. A group of fellow travelers left Husayn alone after that and only his family members and loyal followers remained with him. Husayn continued to advance toward Kufa even after receiving news of the loss of Kufan support. Now, nowhere is safe for him and for his family. Husayn sent Qais ibn Musahhar al-Saydavi as messenger toward nobles of Kufa, such as Solayman ibn Sorad al-khozaei. He was captured in the vicinity of Kufa but managed to tear the letter to pieces to hide names of its recipients.
Ibn Ziyad forced him to reveal the names or publicly curse Husayn and his father and brother upon pain of death. He accepted the latter but cursed ibn Ziyad instead and encouraged people to join Husayn ibn Ali. Ibn Ziyad ordered his execution by dropping him from the top of the palace afterward.
