The Tragedy Of Moharrum

By 3 eerzadah Motamiya Sajjadah Nashin SaAs s JAfcAtfy Sunl Editiw. Copies Copy Bight Reserved. Printed at the Amarsinhji P. Prew AJimedobod. by Nurkhan Amirkhan Vakil. Price 0-12-0, Foreword Father of light and life thou God Supreme Oh, teach me what is good teach me thyself Thomson, he name of Moharrum is familiar to every ear. It is the sacred season of the deepest grief and of true self denial and is held in revered commemor ation of the Imam Hussain the grandson of the Prophet, who fell a victim to the cruelty of his enemies on the fatal field of Kerbala. The aim of the following pages is to give a brief account of Moharrum as trans mitted to us by traditional chronicles. In undertaking to sketch an idea of the meaning of this season of great grief, I am by no means insensible to the difficulties of the task on which I enter. The subject is intricate and entails much controversy, however, at the instance of friends anxious for the propagation of the knowledge of Moharrum, I venture to place this little book before the public with the hope that it may tend to remove incorrect ideas on the most tragic event in the history of Islam, and help to draw their sympathy to it. I am only too conscious of the faults and oversights in the book much of which has been written in hours of scanty leisure. That its imperfections are not greater than they are, I owe to the kind ness of Nawabzadah Abdul Karim Khan Saheb M. A. Oxon . Barrister-at-Law who has very kindly helped me to revise the manuscript, at the sacrifice of his most valuable time, Fir Sahebs Khanqah. i 11 th March 1918 M, K. Peerzadah. L. NearSuiafc. Sajjadah Naibio, THE CHAPTER I Cod sent His singers upon Garth With songs of sadnessand of mirth That they might teach the hearts of men And bring them back to Heaven again. Longfellow. fn 680 A. D. on the death of Amir Muawi yah, Yazid his son ascended the Gadi. He had himself installed at Damascus in the month of Shaban in the sixty first year of the Hijirah. Born in the twenty sixth year of the Hijirah, he was five and thirty years of age, when he succeeded his father. Finding himself in power he confirmed all his fathers officers in their several ap pointments. Valid-bin-Ottibah as Governor After the four great Caliphs of the Prophet Muhammed, Amir Muawiyah became the head of Mosleme power and held the supremacy till his death, lie was the Prophet brother in law. of Medina Noaman-bin-Bashir of Kufa Obaidullah-bin-Ziyad of Bussorah and Ab dullah Omar of Mecca. But as they des pised him for his vices and held his character in the greatest abhorrence, the cities of Mecca and Medina and certain other cities of Babylonia refused to place themselves under his sway, though Syria, Persia and other adjacent countries duly acknowledged him as their head. Al though looking forward to an undisputed possession of the Khilafat, he was not, however, without great misgivings of opposition from Imam Hussain, t the second son of Ali, and Abdullah the son of Zubair. J In order to make his way clear he wrote the following letter to Valid the Governor of Madina. Pontificial thron. f Imam Hussain was the second son of Hazrat Ali the cousin and 4th Caliph and Bibi Fatimab, the illustrious daughter of Ifuhammed the Prophet. Imam means the leader of the faithful. J Abdullah bin Zubair bin Aw warn bin Khoweylid bin Assad bin Abdul Uzzx bin Kossay one of the great grand fathers of theProphet, He was thus related to the Prophet. In the name of the most merciful God-from Yazid, emperor of the faithful, to Valid the son of Ottibah. Muawiyah was one of the servants of God, who made him Caliph, extended his dominions, and strengthened his arm. He lived his appointed time and was drawn to his mercy. He lived beloved and died pure and innocent, Farewell Capture and hold Hussain and Abdullah the son of Zubair without compunction or delay...