The Tragedy Of Karbala - 10/10
And now it's gotten to the point where tonight, Imam Husayn is watching his six-month old 'Ali Asghar dying of thirst. And I ask my fathers in the audience, what would you do? What extent would you go to just to bring a glass of water to your child who is dying of thirst? If if on the way home, your daughter says to you that, Baba, I am thirsty, baba, I am thirsty, baba, I am thirsty, your first thought is at the first sight of water, we pull in, we grab a bottle, we give it to her and we drive. We can't stand at the thought of our child becoming thirsty.
Imam Husayn is watching his six month old 'Ali Asghar withering away. There is no water. There is no thirst. There is no water at all. The reports say that on Shabe Ashur, Imam Husayn would go from tent, to tent, to tent to make sure that everybody is okay, settled in. The reports say that from one tent, he could hear the sound of a woman crying. And Imam Husayn enters that tent, and he sees Rabab sitting there by the cradle of 'Ali Asghar, crying.
And Imam Husayn says, Rabab, is everything okay? She says, Mawla, everybody has somebody to sacrifice for your mission. I don't have anybody. I have a four year old, Sakina. I have a six month old, Ali Asgar. Meaning, even Rabab, for a moment couldn't think that even my Ali Asgar might be Shahid on the day of Ashura. But Rabab, I would argue that perhaps your sacrifice is the greatest. That you left your Sakinah in the Zindan of Sham, in the prison of Sham, and you left your 'Ali Asghar buried in the plains of Karbala.
Imam Husayn, now a desperate father looking for a drop of water anywhere, says, I have no other option but to ask these mal'uni, enemies, these animals, maybe they might have an inch of a heart left to come and give my six month old 'Ali Asghar. When he brought 'Ali Asghar into the battlefield. I don't know about any of you. I have never heard anywhere that 'Ali Asghar walked into the battlefield wailing his arms, crying, screaming, anxious, moving about. When your child is hungry, when your six month old infant is hungry, you can hear that he is hungry. He makes it very known that he is hungry. When he is thirsty, he makes it very known that he is thirsty. He is crying, he is wailing, he is moving his head. It is very obvious.
But nowhere, anywhere that I see that 'Ali Asghar was making all these movements. In fact, Imam Husayn brought 'Ali Asghar when he was calm, when he was still in the arms of Imam Husayn. When you take a fish out of water, the fish out of water goes through several stages. When you bring the fish out of water, the first thing the fish does out of the lack of water, it goes from his belly to his back. From his belly to his back. When he knows that water is not coming, he stops doing that. And his tail goes left, his tail goes right, his tail goes left, his tail goes right. The last stage of the fish, who perhaps has little hope of going back in the water, is that the fish is still, but the fish's mouth opens. The fish opens his mouth, closes his mouth, opens his mouth, closes his mouth. When Imam Husayn brought 'Ali Asghar inside the battlefield, he brought him. 'Ali Asghar's mouth was opening, 'Ali Asghar's mouth was closed!
Imam Husayn says, look, this is my six month old child. He lifts him up and says, I need water for him. If you think I will drink water, take him from me. Just give my boy water. Just give my son water.
Mukhtar! Mukhtar arrests Hurmala after the event of Karbala. Put Hurmala to trial. Say: Hurmala, you had a very active role on the day of Asura. Yes, I did, Mukhtar. Tell me, Hurmala, what you did. Mukhtar. I shot seven arrows. Four of them hit, and three missed my target. Tell me, Hurmala, about the four that hit your target. He says, the first one I hit, Abdullah Ibn Hasan, the son of Imam Mujtaba, who came running out of the tent when he saw his uncle about to die. To sacrifice the boy, I hit him with the arrow. What about the second arrow Hurmala? The second arrow was that arrow that struck Abu 'l-Fadhl in the eye.
That report day that wen Abbas fell from the horse, he fell on that eye, on that arrow that was inside the eye. We sometimes wonder how is it that that arrow came out? One report says that he didn't want the arrow inside the eye before Husayn arrived. So my Mawla Abbas put the arrow between his knees and took the arrow out. That arrow was shot by me, Mukhtar. Tell me about the third arrow. Mukhtar, I will tell you. I dipped that arrow in poison and I shot it at the chest of Imam Husayn when he fell, on Asre Ashur. Bibi Zaynab says, I stood there in Till Zaynabiyah, there was the army surrounding Husayn, I couldn't see my brother's face, but all I could see were his legs going left, going right, going left, going right. That poison was from my sword!
Tell me about the fourth arrow. He says, Mukhtar, what do I tell you? Husayn brought his 'Ali Asghar. There was chaos inside of our army. Umar Ibn Sa'ad says Hurmala, you are my best archer. Quench the young boy's thirst. I picked up an arrow, a three prong arrow, that I use on animals. And I targeted a small neck, this big. And I shot the arrow so hard, it went through one side, came out... It went through one side, came out the other, it pinned his neck to his father's arm!
I saw Husayn take his son, take the blood from the neck, spread on his face, ya Rabab, I am drinking water for our 'Ali Asghar! The first time, perhaps we see Imam Husayn a little bit confused. Every other Shahid, he was determined, he knew what to do and how to do it. But this was a six month old. And that was a mother waiting for her six month old to come back.
And now Imam Husayn is carrying 'Ali Asghar. He walks towards the Khaima. He stops. He walks back. He stops. How do I tell the mother of a six month old child that he went for water and he got an arrow on his neck instead? Finally, Imam Husayn goes and tells Rabab. Rabab and Imam Husayn lament for their child. But that moment, Imam Husayn, look, when a child is lost in our community, when a child is lost in our community, we come rescue that father and say, look, you stand to one side. We will bury your child for you. We will shovel the guns. We will lay the coffin. You stay where you are. With my madhloom Husayn, took out his Dhu 'l-Fiqar, dug the grave, and buried 'Ali Asghar!
