Question:

I am interested in knowing what exactly happened in the battle of Karbalaa’?

Fatwa:

All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

Al-Husayn Ibn Ali, may Allah be pleased with him, was martyred in Karbalaa' on the tenth of Muharram when he was 56 years old. The main reason was that he refused to pledge allegiance to Yazeed Ibn Mu’aawiyah after his father Mu’aawiyah, may Allah be pleased with him, chose him as the Caliph and people acknowledged him for a Caliph.

Al-Husayn Ibn Ali, may Allah be pleased with him, was one of four who refused to acknowledge Yazeed Ibn Mu’aawiyah for Caliphate. The other three were Abdullah Ibn Umar, Abdullah Ibn az-Zubayr and Abdur Rahmaan Ibn Abi Bakr, may Allah be pleased with them.

Yazeed sent an order to al-Waleed Ibn Utba, the ruler of Madeenah to take a pledge to him (Yazeed). In the meantime, messages came from Iraq asking al-Husayn, may Allah be pleased with him, to come and to stay with the people there. He took his whole family and when he reached Karbala’a, close to Koofah, Abdullah Ibn Zeyaad’s army attacked and killed him and many members of his family. Indeed, Allah honored al-Husayn may Allah be pleased with him, and his family with martyrdom by these people.

Although al-Husayn’s killing was an event which saddened and depressed all Muslims, these are no Islamic rules related to it. Some people believe wrongly that the day of his martyrdom should be celebrated by showing great sorrow, beating oneself … etc. All this has nothing to do with Shariah. In fact, it is nothing but innovations in Islam which are forbidden.

Muslims lived many sad events before the murder of Al Husayn, the most important being the death of Prophet Muhammad the death of Caliph Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him, and the murder of the three other Caliphs, may Allah be pleased with them. If Muslims had to have some special rituals to show sadness and sorrow on the anniversary of these occasions, they would spend most of their lives in mourning. Such remembrances have nothing to do with the true religion.

In fact, it is so far from the guidance and conduct of the Prophet .  The Prophet lost seventy of his companions, Allah be pleased with them, among whom was his uncle Hamzah, may Allah be pleased with him, in Uhud and a similar number in Bi’ir Ma’oonah and he did not make from any of the two days a yearly occasion to mourn or show sadness and grief.

Allah Knows best.

Fatwa answered by: The Fatwa Center at Islamweb