Returning of Ahle Bait (God bless them) to Karabla

Book:  A review on the story of Imam Hussein’s (God bless him) martyrdom

Writer:  Ayatullah Professor Hussein Ansarian

One of the piteous and heart rending events was Returning of Ahle Bait (God bless them) from Shaam to Karbala and from Karbala to Medina that has been narrated by Sheik Mofid,[1] Syed Ibn Tavoos,[2] Allame Majlesy[3] and Sheikh Abas-e-Qomi[4] thus:

When they wanted to return Ahle Bait (God bless them), Yazid said to Imam Sajjad (God bless him) “tell me whatever you want, I will definitely accomplish three of your wishes.” Imam Sajjad (God bless him) said “first let me visit my father head. Second, command to return us whatever they have pillaged from us. Third, if you want to kill me so appoint a trustworthy agent to convey Ahle Bait (God bless them) to Medina so that the women can easily and comfortably return there.”

Yazid said “visiting your father isn’t possible for you. Second, I don’t want to kill you, you have to return Ahle Bait (God bless them) to Medina by yourself. Third, I will pay money to you many times more than what have been pillaged. Imam Sajjad (God bless him) said “we don’t want any worldly property from you, there was a cloth among those pillaged things which was fabricated by my mother sainthood Fatima’s (God bless her) hands and also there were her necklace, scarf and her skirt.[5]

Yazid ordered to return all of those pillaged things, then said to Imam Sajjad (God bless him) “I you want you can stay in Shaam. Imam Sajjad (God bless him) answered “we want to return and mourn for Hussein (God bless her).” They gave a house to Ahle Bait (God bless them), all the men and women who were from Hashemi and Qoreish tribes were put up black clothes and participated in the mourning ceremony of Imam Hussein (God bless him) which was held by Ahle Bait (God bless them) in Shaam. This mourning ceremony lasted for seven days and nights.

On eighth day, Yazid called Ahle Bait (God bless them) and said to them “if you want to stay, you can, or if you want to go, you can go. What’s your opinion?” they answered “we want to come back to our ancestor Medina.” Then Yazid called Noman-Ibn-Basheer who was one of the companions of Holy prophet (God bless him) and ordered him to return Ahle Bait (God bless them) to Medina and ordered him to make suitable arrangements for their journey as they want.

When Ahle Bait (God bless them) returned from Shaam and became near to a two way path that one of them went to Medina and the other one went to Iraq, they said to Noman-Ibn-Basheer “ convey us from the way of Karbala.” Noman-Ibn-Basheer accepted. It’s acceptable that they arrived to Iraq from Shaam in the first forty days after the tragedy of Karbala, because Shaam and Iraq had a same border.

Their arrival to Karbala was simultaneous with the arrival of Jabir and some other people who had come to Karbala in order to visit the tomb of Imam Hussein’s (God bless him). The voices of mourning and wailing rose.[6] All people put on black clothes and arrived themselves to there, they hit to their heads and chests and hurt to their faces.

Ahle Bait (God bless them) were saying “we have lost the life and soul and spirit and a basil branch and the olive here. We have lost a bright and shiny moon here that deviants’ people used to be guided from his lights. It was here that they obstructed between Abbas (God bless him) and the water in that hard day. It was here that they martyred our six month old baby by a hostility arrow. It was here that they weren’t compassionate to our six month old baby. It was here that Shemr cut off the throat of Imam Hussein (God bless him) by his sword. It was here that Imam Hussein’s (God bless him) face was soiled. It was here that they tore and burnt or tents and apportioned our property as booty among the traitor people.”

When sainthood Zaynab (God bless her) saw the holy tomb of Imam Hussein (God bless him) on the day of Arbaeen, she cried and moaned so extremely that she fainted. The women of Ahle Bait (God bless them) poured water on her face till she recovered; Ome Kulsume (God bless her) disheveled her hairs and hurt to her face and cried with a loud voice.

Sakina (God bless her) shouted “O Mohammad (peace be upon him)! O our honorable ancestor! The things which happened for your household are really difficult for you, they pillaged the clothes of your descendants after killing them, they injured their bodies, and they pulled them on the ground and beheaded them.”

When Imam Sajjad (God bless him) saw this condition of Ahle Bait (God bless them), he ordered to leave there after three days. Sainthood Sakina (God bless her) called the women of Ahle Bait (God bless them) to farewell from holy tomb of Imam Hussein (God bless him) and she herself embraced the holy tomb of Imam Hussein (God bless him) and cried loudly and said “O Karbala! We put a body in you that his cerecloth was his clothes but they brought his clothes.”

It has been narrated in Maalio-al-Sebtein that: sainthood Robab (God bless him) asked for Imam Sajjad’s (God bless him) permission to stay in Karbala to mourn for Imam Hussein (God bless him). Imam Sajjad (God bless him) enjoined Bani Asad to preserve her. She used to came to the women of Bani Asad in nights and went to the holy tomb of Imam Hussein (God bless him), and sat under the hot sun and cried and didn’t let them build a sunshade for her.[7]

Imam Sadegh (God bless him) said “she stayed and cried near the holy tomb of Imam Hussein (God bless him) for one year, the women of Bani Asad tribe and their bondmaids cried with her too, she cried so much that the tears of her eyes dried.”