In the aftermath of the tragic battle of Karbala, came the night of tenth of Moharram the Shaam e Ghareebaan. That night, the sky was red like blood. It was the hardest night for the family of the Prophet. In the emptiness of the desert, they faced...
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The night of calamity passed away and when Sun rose on the morning of 11th Muharram it was dark red and the ladies of Imam Husain household were made captives. They are made to wait in hot Sun while the enemy's spent the rest of the day making preparations for their departure. The ladies were very sad and upon passing through the dead bodies of the martyrs, they could not control themselves. Imam Zain-ul-Abideen (a.s.) also turned pale and starting crying. Sayeda Zanabia upon seeing Imam zain-ul-Abideen in such a sad state said "Ali Zain-ul-Abideen, it's just starting of your jihad. You are the only male member with us, we have a long way". It's beyond imagination what the plight of captives was. They were not permitted to weep over their dear ones. The guards, who were deputed to accompany them, were ready with the lashes and they mercilessly used them, not sparing even young children. The ladies of prophet Muhammad requested the Yazidi forces to put the heads of the martyrs in front so that they uncovered heads could not be seen
Amr bin saad had told his officers for the conference with them as to what the next step they should take. As a result of these consultations, it was decided that the family of Imam Husayn should be led as captives, through Kufa and Damascus, to the court of Yazid. Amr bin Saad, in consultation with some of the generals of his army, decided to march ahead, to convey to Yazid the news of what had transpired at Karbala and obtain the rewards which were promised. They felt that Yazid would be very pleased with them if they did their utmost to humiliate and subject the family of Imam Husayn (a.s) to the worst indignities and insults.
Shimr and Khooli were asked to accompany the caravan of captives and to ensure that they were conducted to Damascus with the utmost dispatch.
The Ladies of Imam Husayn's household were made captives and tied with ropes and Imam Zainul Abideen (a.s) was made to walk barefoot on the hot desert sand, with hands and feet clasped together in iron and wearing a barbed iron collar, inspite of his suffering from high fever. The head of martyrs were carried on spears at the head of the procession. The Ladies were put on camel-back without any saddles and the ropes were tied in such a way that they linked the hands of the ladies with the necks of the young children.
According to the scheduled plan, this caravan marched on rapidly towards Kufa. The plight of the captives was such that, if any child fell from the camel-back, the rope that tied it and the hand of some lady became so tight, resulting in her toppling over from the camel-back. within a few hours with rapid marches, the caravan reached the outskirts of Kufa. When Sayeda Zainab and Kulsum saw the walls of Kufa, they were reminded of the period when they had stayed in this city for full four years, during the time of their father who was, at that period, the ruler of the Islamic countries. At that time all the ladies of Kufa were vying with one another to secure the favour of Sayeda Zaynab and Kulsum, to invites them to their homes, to secure their blessings for their children. On every auspicious occasion, they used to be invited with respect. Now Sayeda Zainab and Kulsum wondered what treatment they would get in Kufa. Caravan reached the court of Ubaidullah Ibn Ziyad on the 12th Muharram 61 Hijra. Ubaidullah Ibn Ziyad, the governor of Kufa ordered the streets to be decorated, while there was a huge crowd on the streets of Kufa to have a glimpse of the captives when the caravan reached the main bazaar, it stopped for some time. It was almost noon and the sun was blazing. The children of the Prophet's house, who had not had water during their march from Kerbala to Kufa, were feeling extremely thirsty, not to talk of the hunger they were suffering. During the halt, the soldiers of Yazid, who were accompanying them, were having water and food which they were carrying with them. Sakina was repeatedly asking her aunt Sayeda Zainab for water, but Sayeda Zainab knew that it was useless to request the soldiers for water as she recollected the heartlessness of these soldiers, who had, till the end denied even a drop of water to each member of her family.
Seeing the plight of Sayeda Sakina, a lady who was standing in her balcony, rushed down from her house with a cup of water. Breaking the cordon which had been formed by the soldiers, she went to Sayada Sakina and offered her the cool water she had in her hands, but before giving her the water she said "I request you to pray Allah that He may protect my children from a fate such as befallen you and the members of your family. Pray to ALLAH that my children may not be subjected to such miseries and tortures as you are suffering today."
Sayada Sakina compiled with the request of the lady, but the words of this lady recalled to her the harsh reality of her miserable plight. For sometimes she held the cup of water without drinking because she could not control her tears.
Sayeda Zainab was wondering who the lady was. She thought that she could recollect the face of this lady, though two decades had elapsed since her leaving Kufa. With a little effort, she recalled that this lady was Umme Habiba, who had been visiting her so often when she was staying in Kufa and had always shown affection for her.
Sayeda Zainab turned to her and said "Umme Habiba, I am thankful to you for your kind gesture to Sakina. May Allah give you the reward for the kindness you have extended to the bereaved family of the Prophet."
Umme Habiba looked surprisingly at her as if she could not recognize Sayeda Zainab. Sayeda Zainab had covered her face with her hair because her veil had been snatched away. Umme Habiba, not recognizing her, exclaimed in surprise, "Lady, I do not understand why you are referring to the Prophet's family. I know Imam Husayn and his sisters, Zainab and Kulsum, who are in Madina. What have you captives got to do with my ladies, whom I had the honour to serve and meet, whom I am always remembering in my prayers and whom I am longing to meet again?"
Sayeda Zainab could see the Umme Habiba had not been able to recognize her. She brushed aside her hair from her face and said, "Umme Habiba, I am Zainab whom you are referring to and here is my sister Kulsum. We are the grand daughters of the Prophet, the same Zainab and Kulsum whom you want to meet. My brother Husayn and, nephews and sons were killed in Kerbala by the soldiers of Yazid. If you will look ahead, you will see the head of your Imam raised on a spear." When Umme Habiba heard Sayeda Zainab say this, she flung herself down at her feet and cried, "My lady, accept my sincerest apologies for what I have said. I could not recognize you. What have the people, professing the religion of Islam, done to you! I could not even imagine that they could subject you to such tortures." Umme Habiba was crying bitterly.
The guards who were accompanying the captives saw this and rushed towards Umme Habiba and ordered the caravan to proceed further immediately.
Wending its way through the narrow streets of Kufa, the captives reached the court of Ubaidullah Ibn Ziyad. The Governor was seated on a throne and the captives were asked to march into his presence.
When Sayeda Zainab( a.s)and Umme Kulsum(a.s) were brought before Ubaidullah Ibn Ziyad, he ordered Imam Husayn's (a.s) head to be placed on a tray and put at his feet. He asked Shimr to identify each member of Imam Husayn's family. He even mockingly remarked that he thought some slave girls had been brought before him instead of the granddaughters of the Prophet.
Indeed, Allah is the guardian of those who believe. He takes them out of darkness into light. (Surah al-Baqarah, 2: 257)
Sayada Zainab, who was trying to control herself all along and silently suffering the insults that were being hurled at her, suddenly addressed Ubaidullah Ibn Ziyad and said"O son of Ziyad, we are the granddaughters of MUHAMMAD(S.W.A.S) whom you acknowledge as your Prophet. you and your men along with Yazid have, for the sake of worldly gains, subjected us to the worst kind of ill-treatment. Today you are gloating over your success and thinking that you can insult and humiliate us because there is nobody to protest against the treatment you are meeting on us.
But O tyrant, let me warn you that very soon the wrath of Allah will descend you and those who are with you. Very soon you will be punished and others who have ruthlessly killed my brother and all the members of our family without the least justification, simply because they refused to accept Yazid, whose stooge you are, as the spiritual leader of the Muslims, who has flouted all principles of Islam, trampled under foot all ethical concepts and reduced all human beings to an abject state."Ubaidullah Ibn Ziyad was stunned by this bold address of Sayada Zainab and there was complete silence in the crowd. Some of the people realized their mistake and started crying with shame. Ubaidullah Ibn Ziyad ordered the captives to be taken to the prison and told Shimr and Khooli ( who were the leaders of caravan) to make preparations to take the captives to Syria (Damascus) before they had a chance to speak out in public again.
