Part 7 -
Hussain's Sermon
At forenoon of the tenth of
Muharram when the heat of the sun started scorching the earth,
Hussain, his household and companions began to feel the severity
of thirst. The enemy was adamant not to give them access to the
water of the River Euphrates out of Jahili'ite enmities and
Badri'ite grudges. Therefore, Aba Abdillah Al-Hussain, feeling the
strain of thirst, mounted his horse and opened the leaves of Al-Qur'an
over his head and stood in front of the belligerent camp and
shouted;
"The Book of Allah and the Sunna (tradition) of my
grandfather, the Messenger of Allah (S) are the arbiters between
you and me".
He then made them bear witness on his pure soul
and that he was wearing the coat of arms of the Prophet (S), his
buckler and his turban.
They said that his statement was true. He then asked them what made them decide on fighting him. Their answer was that it was out of obedience to the Emir Obaidullah bin Ziyad. He then delivered with this sermon:
"May grief and
evil befall you, You wretched bunch! You distressfully called upon
us to come to your rescue and when we responded fully, you
unsheathed your swords against us and pushed us unto the fire which
we set alight for our enemy as well as yours. You, therefore,
played into the hands of your enemy against your masters (the
friends of God). Without justice, the enemy administered amongst
you and without hope you placed in them. Woe unto you! You abandon
us while the sword is still blemished, oneself is collected, and
the mind is yet to be made up. Yet, you rushed like the creeping
bird and fell over yourselves like butterflies crowding on a
flower; then you wrecked it; to hell with you! Oh you slaves of
the bondmaid! Ahzab outlanders, forsakers of the Book [of Allah],
distorters of facts, bunch of evil, blow of Satan, extinguishers
of norms! Woe unto you! Have you chosen to support those, and let
us down? Yes, by the Almighty this emanates from an old intrinsic
treachery, fed to your origins and handed down to you; therefore,
you are like a malignant fruit - distressing to look at and
sickening when eaten."
"The bastard
and the son of a bastard has left us but two choices, either
resorting to the sword or capitulating. How preposterous!
Humiliation is not our cup of tea! Allah shall never let this
happen to us; so shall His Messenger, the believers, and chaste
and pure laps and proud souls. For the sake of these values we
would rather die in an hour and not submit to the ignoble. Hence
my march leading this family albeit meagre in number and deserted
by would-be supporters."
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Hussain thundered: "0, wretches you |
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