CONTENTS _____________________ Translator's Foreword • Chapter One Imam Husayn in Medina Last Will and Testament of Mu‘awiyah Yazid's Letter to Walid Consultation with Marwan Dispatching a Messenger Imam Husayn with Walid Imam Husayn at the Mosque of Medina Ibn Hanafiyyah's Appeal to Imam Husayn Imam Husayn Departs Medina • Chapter Two Imam Husayn in Mecca Imam Husayn on the Way to Mecca Meeting with ‘Abdallah b. Muti‘ ‘Adawi Imam Husayn in Mecca Letters from the People of Kufah Imam Husayn's Reply Muslim b. ‘Aqil Sets Out for Kufah Muslim Writes a Letter to Imam Husayn Imam Husayn Replies to Muslim b. ‘Aqil • Chapter Three Arrival of Muslim b. ‘Aqil in Kufah Shia Ithnasheri Community of Middlesex http://www.sicm.org.uk 2 Abu Mikhnaf Muslim b. ‘Aqil Arrives in Kufah People of Kufah Pledge Allegiance Nu‘man b. Bashir's Message Yazid being Apprised of the Situation of Kufah Yazid Consults Sarjun Imam Husayn Writes to the People of Basrah Address by ‘Ubaydallah b. Ziyad Ibn Ziyad Enters Kufah Address of ‘Ubaydallah b. Ziyad in Kufah Muslim Moves from the House of Mukhtar to Hani Ma‘qil the Spy Plan to Kill Ibn Ziyad Ma‘qil Visits Muslim b. ‘Aqil Ibn Ziyad Inquiring about Hani Hani Summoned by Ibn Ziyad Address of Ibn Ziyad after Striking Hani Muslim b. ‘Aqil Launches Attack Muslim b. ‘Aqil Abandoned Ibn Ziyad's Situation Address by Ibn Ziyad after Abandonment of Muslim Ibn Ziyad in the Morning Muhammad b. Ash‘ath's Campaign to Kill Muslim Muslim b. ‘Aqil Comes Out Offer of Security Muslim b. ‘Aqil Apprehended Last Will and Testament of Muslim to Ibn Ash‘ath Muslim at the Door of Palace Last Will and Testament of Muslim to ‘Umar b. Sa‘d Muslim and Ibn Ziyad Martyrdom of Muslim b. ‘Aqil Shia Ithnasheri Community of Middlesex http://www.sicm.org.uk Reconstructing the Episode of Kerbala 3 Martyrdom of Hani b. ‘Urwah Heads of Muslim and Hani Sent to Yazid Departure of Imam Husayn from Mecca Meeting of Ibn Zubayr with Imam Husayn Ibn ‘Abbas with Imam Husayn Second Conversation of Ibn ‘Abbas with Imam Husayn ‘Umar b. ‘Abd al-Rahman Talks with Imam Husayn Ibn Zubayr's Last Conversation with Imam Husayn Encounter with ‘Amr b. Sa‘id • Chapter Four Stations Crossed on the Route Tan‘im Sifah Hajir Watering Place Meeting of Zuhayr b. Qayn with Imam Husayn Zarud Tha‘labiyyah Zubalah Batn al-‘Aqabah Sharaf Bidah ‘Udhayb Hijanat Qasr Bani Maqatil Ninawa • Chapter Five Arrival of the Army of Ibn Sa‘d Shia Ithnasheri Community of Middlesex http://www.sicm.org.uk 4 Abu Mikhnaf Letter of ‘Umar b. Sa‘d to Ibn Ziyad Response of Ibn Ziyad to ‘Umar b. Sa‘d's Letter Imam Husayn and His Followers Denied Water Meeting of Ibn Sa‘d with Husayn Second Letter of ‘Umar b. Sa‘d to Ibn Ziyad Second Letter of Ibn Ziyad to ‘Umar b. Sa‘d Shimr Arrives with the Letter of ‘Umar b. Sa‘d Guarantee of Security Offered to ‘Abbas and His Brothers • Chapter Six ‘Umar b. Sa‘d Marches Towards Imam Husayn • Chapter Seven Events on the Eve of ‘Ashura Sermon of Imam Husayn Response of the Hashimites Response of the Companions Imam Husayn on the Eve of ‘Ashura Imam Husayn and His Followers on the Eve of ‘Ashura • Chapter Eight Morning of ‘Ashura Sermon of Imam Husayn Sermon of Zuhayr b. Qayn Hurr Repents • Chapter Nine The Battle Begins First Attack Shia Ithnasheri Community of Middlesex http://www.sicm.org.uk Reconstructing the Episode of Kerbala 5 Miracle Mutual Imprecation and Martyrdom of Burary Martyrdom of ‘Amr b. Qarazah General Battle Second Attack Martyrdom of Muslim b. ‘Awsajah Third Attack and Martyrdom of ‘Abdallah b. ‘Umayr Attacks by Husayn's Followers Fourth Attack Intermission for Midday (Zuhr) Prayers Martyrdom of Habib b. Muzahir Martyrdom of Hurr b. Yazid Riyahi Midday Prayer (Zuhr) and Martyrdom of Sa‘id b. ‘Abdallah Hanafi Martyrdom of Zuhayr b. Qayn Martyrdom of Nafi‘ b. Hilal Jamali Martyrdom of Two Ghifar Brothers Martyrdom of the Two Youths of Jabir Martyrdom of Hanzalah b. As‘ad Shibami Martyrdom of Shawdhab & ‘Abis b. Abi Shabib Shakiri Martyrdom of Abu Sha‘tha Martyrdom of Four People Martyrdom of Suwayd b. Khath‘ami Martyrdom of ‘Ali b. al-Husayn al-Akbar Martyrdom of Qasim b. Hasan Martyrdom of ‘Abbas b. ‘Ali and His Brothers Martyrdom of ‘Abdallah b. Husayn Matyrdom of Sons of ‘Abdallah b. Ja‘far Martyrdom of the Progeny of ‘Aqil Martyrdom of Sons of Hasan b. ‘Ali Shia Ithnasheri Community of Middlesex http://www.sicm.org.uk 6 Abu Mikhnaf • Chapter Ten Martyrdom of Imam Husayn Shia Ithnasheri Community of Middlesex http://www.sicm.org.uk Reconstructing the Episode of Kerbala 7 TRANSLATOR’S FOREWORD ___________________________________ The first historian to systematically collect the reports dealing with the events of Kerbala was named Abu Mikhnaf [Lut b. Yahya b. Sa‘id b. Mikhnaf b. Salim al-Azdi al-Ghamidi al- Kufi] (d. 157 A.H.) in a work titled Kitab Maqtal al- Husayn. His father was a companion of Imam ‘Ali (a). Abu Mikhnaf was a trusted and a reliable historian whose tradition-reports were relied upon by many historians— Shi‘ah and Sunni—including Muhammad b. ‘Amr Waqidi (d. 207 A.H.), Tabari (d. 310 A.H.), Ibn Qutaybah (d. 322 A.H.), Mas‘udi (d. 345 A.H.), Mufid (d. 413 A.H.), Shahrastani (d. 548 A.H.), Khatib Khwarazmi (d. 568 A.H.), Ibn Athir (d. 630 A.H.), Sibt b. Jawzi (d. 654 A.H.), and others. Abu Mikhnaf’s original work on Imam Husayn (a) seems to have been lost and that which has reached us has been transmitted through his student, Hisham b. al-Kalbi (d. 204 A.H.), who preserved most of his teacher’s work and provides a detailed version of Abu Mikhnaf’s account. The present translation work relies on his reports to reconstruct Abu Mikhnaf’s original work titled Kitab Maqtal al- Husayn. Ibn Nadim in al-Fihrist enumerates 22 monographs composed by Abu Mikhnaf and Najashi lists 28 titles. Most of his works deal with the Shi‘ah and the events unfolding in Kufah. Thus, there is no work dealing with Banu Umayyah, Shia Ithnasheri Community of Middlesex http://www.sicm.org.uk 8 Abu Mikhnaf Banu Marwan, uprising of Muslim Khurasani or the Abbasids. Some of the titles of his works are: Kitab al-Saqifah Kitab al-Riddah Kitab al-Shura Kitab al-Jamal Kitab al-Siffin Kitab Maqtal al-Hasan Kitab Maqtal al-Husayn Sirat al-Husayn Kitab Khutbah al-Zahra Kitab Akhbar al-Mukhtar It is indisputable that Abu Mikhnaf was a profound scholar and man of integrity. For instance, an eminent scholar of works on rijal, Najashi, writes, “[Abu Mikhnaf] was a preeminent scholar in Kufah.” Ayatullah Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr and Allamah Sharaf al-Din both agree with this assessment. Finally, I end on a word of caution. There is a popular work that is widely circulated in Qum, Najaf and Lebanon under the title Maqtal al-Husayn and attributed to Abu Mikhnaf.1 This work is most certainly a forgery and 1Maqtal al-Husayn or Maqtal Abi Mikhnaf (Qum: al-Sharif al-Radi, 1990); Maqtal al-Husayn (Tehran: al-A‘lami, n.d.); Maqtal al- Husayn (Najaf: al-Haydariyyah, n.d.); Maqtal al-Husayn (Beirut: Mu'assat al-Wafa', 1984); Maqtal al-Husayn (Kuwait: Maktabat al- Alfayn, 1987), Maqtal al-Husayn (Beirut, 1971) Shia Ithnasheri Community of Middlesex http://www.sicm.org.uk Reconstructing the Episode of Kerbala 9 should not be trusted by scholars and majalis reciters.2 Some of the serious problems of Maqtal al-Husayn include: 1. A major flaw in the chain of transmission (isnad), which has Abu Mikhnaf transmitting on the authority of Abu al- Mundhir Hisham, who in turn transmitted on the authority of Muhammad b. Sa’ib al-Kalbi.3 This is impossible, since Abu Mikhnaf was Hisham’s teacher! 2. Reports transmitted by Abu Mikhnaf on the authority of Kulayni,4 who died in 329 A.H.; whereas Abu Mikhnaf died in 157 A.H.(cid:190) an impossibility. 3. Its account that Yazid sent his first letter to the governor Walid on 10 Sha‘ban.5 There is unanimity in the sources that this was done in the month of Rajab, and Imam Husayn (a) arrived in Mecca on 3 Sha‘ban 60 A.H. 4. A cited report that when Imam Husayn received news of the martyrdom of Muslim b ‘Aqil and Hani b. ‘Urwah on his way to Kufah, he gathered everyone and instructed them to prepare for a return journey to Medina! Upon arrival in Medina, they visited the grave of the Prophet (S) and wept profusely at the site. Shortly thereafter, 2 For a detailed analysis on hagiographical literature and distortions (tahrif) that have crept into the reports dealing with Kerbala, see the work of Ayatullah Murtada Mutahhari, Hemaseh-ye Husayni or ‘Ashura: Misrepresentations and Distortions, tr. Ali Quli Qara'i (London, 1999). 3Maqtal al-Husayn (Qum: al-Sharif al-Radi, 1990), p. 5. 4 Ibid., p. 12. 5 Ibid., p. 17. Shia Ithnasheri Community of Middlesex http://www.sicm.org.uk 10 Abu Mikhnaf they resume their journey towards Kufah!6 There is no such report in any historical account. 5. Its record that Imam Husayn (a) arrived in Kerbala on 10 Muharram 61 A.H.7 I wish to convey my deep appreciation and gratitude to Al-Hajj Mushtaq Kurji for sponsoring this work and for strongly encouraging me to undertake its translation. Without his support and encouragement, this work would not have materialized. I fondly remember the perfect kindness and hospitality he and his family have extended to me during my stay at their residence in Muharram 1420 A.H. I pray that the reader will find this work useful, and that it will help us reconstruct an authentic and authoritative account of the events surrounding the episode of Kerbala - free of myths and hagiography. I have made every effort to render a faithful translation to English from Arabic, and earnestly hope that the reader will overlook any shortcomings that may have crept into this work. Wa bi-l-laahi-t-tawfiq, Hamid Mavani Montreal 6 Ibid., p 61. 7 Ibid., p. 78. Shia Ithnasheri Community of Middlesex http://www.sicm.org.uk