The Battle of Karbala was a
military engagement that took place on 10 Muharram, 61 A.H.(October 10,
680) in Karbala (present day Iraq)
between a small group of supporters and relatives of Muhammad
Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam's grandson, Maula Hussain ibn Ali, and a larger
military detachment from the forces of Yazid I,
the Umayyad caliph.
The battle is often marked as the event that separated Sunni and Shi'a Islam.
The Battle of Karbala is particularly central
to Shi'a Muslim belief. In Shi'a Islam, the martyrdom of Maula Hussain is mourned by
an annual commemoration, called Ashurah. They represent the battle as one
between good and evil, light and darkness with evil winning. Yazid becomes the
epitome of evil. Yazid is by no means an heroic figure among Sunnis, who regard
his appointment as caliph as irregular and generally see him as a secular
ruler. Karbala itself, some Shi'a say, will eventually be raised to paradise as
the dwelling place of prophets and saints.
He battle was a defining moment in Islamic
history. It has been described as “indescribably tragic” and as “casting its
shadow over all subsequent Muslim history” (Bennett 1998, 149). Shi'a believe
that, with the exception of one Imam (inspired leader of the community, male
descendant of Muhammad Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam), all were martyred.
Subsequently, what has been called the “Karbala paradigm” emerged. This refers
to a profound “sense of sectarian uniqueness, of group loyalty, faith in the
leadership, readiness for sacrifice” and to the view that somehow Shi'a history
“went awry at the source” (Ahmed 2002, 56-57). The Battle of Karbala is viewed
differently by Sunni and Shi'a. Both regard it as deeply tragic but for Shi'a
it marks the definitive point of departure from Sunni Islam, although history
has seen many efforts to re-unite these two main strands of Islam.
Background
and summary
After the death of Muhammad
Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, there was dissension within the Muslim
community as to who should succeed him. Most of the community eventually
accepted the rule of the caliph Abu Bakr and
then of the caliphs Umar al-Khattab and Umar ibn al-Khattab. However, there were always
those who felt that Maula Ali ibn Abi Talib, Muhammad Sallallahu Alaihi
Wasallam's cousin and son-in-law was the better choice. A few years later, when
the caliph Uthman was killed by dissident rebels, Maula Ali became the next caliph.
However, he was challenged by a faction affiliated with Uthman and the
community fell into the First Islamic civil war. Maula Ali was assassinated and power
was eventually grasped by his opponent Muawiya I.
Muawiya tried to ensure that his son, Yazid,
would be accepted as the next caliph. Contrary to previous processes for
choosing a caliph, Muawiya required all his supporters to pledge their
allegiance to Yazid I before his own death. This was also controversial
because Yazid was perceived as a hedonistic sinner by some of the Muslim
community. Meanwhile, Maula Hussain, the son of Maula Ali, was seen as the embodiment of
the virtues and qualities impressed by Muhammad Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam and
the Qur'an. Upon ascension to the throne, Yazid wrote a letter to the governor
of Medina, asking him to demand allegiance from his rival Hussain or to
threaten him with death.
Gathering his supporters, Hussain set out
from Medina with about one hundred friends and family members. He is said to
have received letters from the Muslims from the garrison town of Kufa saying
that they would support him if he claimed the caliphate. On his journey, Hussain
was intercepted by a force from Yazid's army. The Battle of Karbala ensued, in
which Hussain and all of his men were killed, and his remaining family taken
prisoner.
This version of events attempts to relate
matters as documented by scholars.
Account
of the battle
A military dispatch sent by Yazid surrounded
the family and supporters of Hussain ibn Ali. A battle ensued which ended with Hussain
and his entire force falling as casualties. Because of the centrality of
martyrdom to Shi'a Islam and the questions of authority
in Sunni and
Shi'a Islam, many of the details attributed to the event are disputed.
According to Shi'a historians, Muhammad
Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam had charged Ali ibn Abi Talib—and, after him, Ali's sons
Hasan and Hussain—with the duty to lead the Muslim community. However, their
claim to power was usurped by others. When Muawiya I died, there was again an
opportunity for the proper authority to be established.
Yazid I,
the new ruler, feared that Maula Hussain would try to reassert his claims. Therefore
he sent an emissary to Hussain demanding his pledge of allegiance, his bay'ah. Maula Hussain
believed that he had a duty to refuse to do so, and wanted to flee from Medina
to Mecca before
he could be seized.
When letters came from Kufa assuring him of
Kufan support, Maula Hussain set out to raise his banner and stake his claim. On his
way towards Kufa, word came to Maula Hussain that Yazid had sent a new governor,
Ubayd-Allah ibn Ziyad, with an army, and that the Kufans had surrendered rather
than fight.
Nevertheless, Maula Hussain continued to advance
toward Kufa after receiving news of the loss of Kufan support. The Shi'a belief
is that he did so in the spirit of self-sacrifice and martyrdom, knowing that
he would die and that his death would demonstrate the evil of Yazid's worldly
rule.
He and his family and his supporters—a mere
72 men—finally pitched camp at Karbala, close to the city of Kufa in
present-day Iraq.
Yazid's governor, Ibn Ziyad, is said by the
Shi'a to have sent a huge force against Hussain. They surrounded his camp and
then opened negotiations with Maula Hussain.
The leader of the force, Umar ibn Sa'ad,
finally agreed to Maula Hussain's proposal that the siege be lifted so that Maula Hussain,
his family, and his companions could leave Iraq. He sent word to his superiors,
asking them to ratify the offer. The governor, Ibn Ziyad, liked the proposal,
but another Umayyad grandee, Shimr ibn Dhil-Jawshan, vetoed it. Umar ibn Sa'ad
was commanded to destroy Maula Hussain's rebellion or face death himself.
On the seventh day of the month of Muharram,
Ibn Sa'ad moved his troops closer to Maula Hussain's camp, cutting it off from
the Euphrates River. The camp now had no supply of water and, they
hoped, would be forced to surrender from thirst.
Choice between life and death
On the ninth day of Muharram, the camp had
exhausted its water stores and could choose only between surrender and death. Maula Hussain
asked Ibn Sa'ad for yet another delay, until the next morning. Again, Ibn Sa'ad
granted his request.
Maula Hussain then told his men that he did not
intend to surrender, but to fight. Since they were so heavily outnumbered, all
of them were sure to die. He told them that if they wished to flee the camp in
the middle of the night, rather than face certain death, they were free to do
so. None of Maula Hussain's men wished to defect.
Day
of the battle
The next day, Maula Hussain's followers went to the
front lines and one by one, addressed those whom they knew who were part of the
enemy forces, asking them to lay down their arms. Maula Hussain himself addressed the
enemy troops. The Shi'a say that his speech was so affecting that one of
Yazid's generals, named Hurr, abandoned Yazid's army and joined Maula Hussain's small
force.
Ibn Sa'ad feared that this might be the first
of many defections, therefore hastened to start the battle.
One by one, men loyal to Maula Hussain men such as
Hurr, Habib ibn Mazahir, Muslim ibn Ausaja, and Zohair-e-Qain, many of whom
were once close companions of Ali ibn Abu Talib, laid down their lives. Other
casualties included Abbas, the half-brother and flag-bearer of Maula Hussain, Ali
Akbar, son of Hussain, Qasim, son of Hasan ibn Ali and nephew of Maula Hussain, and
Aun and Muhammad Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, the sons of Zainab bint Ali.
The women and children were said to have
huddled in tents, waiting for the battle to end. Maula Hussain's son Imam Ali ibn Hussain
was with them, because he is said to have been too ill to fight.
Maula Hussain had his infant son Ali Asghar, who
was six months old and close to death from lack of water, in his arms when he
marched out to face Yazid's army. He asked for water for the child. But Hurmala
ibn Kahil, on orders of Umar ibn Sa'ad, shot an arrow at the child, who died in
the arms of his father.
Maula Hussain buried his son and again went out to
face the army. He is said to have demonstrated extreme courage and bravery,
forcing the enemy into a temporary retreat. Eventually, however, Maula Hussain's
force dwindled. He was attacked and eventually killed by a man named Shimr ibn
Dhil-Jawshan, one of Umar ibn Sa'ad's commanders, who approached Maula Hussain and
beheaded him.
The next day, the women and children were
loaded on camels and taken to Yazid's court in Damascus via Kufa.
The Shi'a say that the captives were humiliated and harried, so that fatigue,
hunger, and thirst were added to their grief at the death of Maula Hussain and his
men. Yazid believed that by doing so, he could humiliate and ridicule them to
the point where Maula Hussain's followers would lose all public support.
However, during the journey from Karbala to
Kufa, and from Kufa to Damascus, Maula Hussain's sister Zainab bint Ali and son Ali
ibn Hussain gave various speeches that vilified Yazid and told the Muslim world
of the various atrocities committed in Karbala. After being brought to Yazid's
court, Zainab gave a famous speech in which she denounced Yazid's claim to the
caliphate and eulogized Maula Hussain's uprising.
The prisoners were held in Damascus for a
year, during which Maula Hussain's daughter, Sakina bint Maula Hussain, is believed to have
passed away due to grief and sorrow. The people of Damascus began to frequent
the prison, and Zaynab and Ali ibn Maula Hussain used that as an opportunity to
further propagate the message of Maula Hussain and explain to the people the reason
for Maula Hussain's uprising. As public opinion against Yazid began to foment
in Syria and
parts of Iraq, Yazid ordered their release and return to Medina, where they
continued to tell the world of Maula Hussain's cause and Yazid's atrocities. The
Shi'a commemoration of Ashurah thus began and has persisted to this day.
