Role of Children & Youth In The Battle of Karbala

The first category, children less than 10 years, you know. Six-month-old baby, Husayn is taking them. Second group, above 10, so you've got 11, you've got 13, you've got 11s. Example of 11, Abdallah, the son of Imam al-Hasan, who was Abdallah? When they shot Aba Abdillah. Left, right, arrow from behind, arrow on his forehead. Husayn was trying to remove one arrow this side. He was trying to remove here another arrow this side. Aba Abdillah was trying to remove another arrow, fled of arrows. Aba Abdillah fell down, isn't it? When he fell down, they thought they were not sure whether he was alive or dead.

So what they did, they said, Let us go and attack Zaynab. Because they knew about Aba Abdillah loved Zaynab so much. So they did that to determine whether Aba Abdillah was alive or dead. You know what happened? Imam Husayn was on his back, so he tried rising from his back, then he fell on an arrow. Abdallah, eleven years old boy, when Aba Abdillah fell down, he rushed to the body of Aba Abdillah, said, I will not allow you to kill uncle until I die. He fell next to the body.

You know what they did to Abdullah? They shot his right-hand. They shot his right-hand. Young boy. Our children today, they are smart, they are clever, they can achieve more if we take the best of them, if we take care of them with the values of Husayn, alayhi-salam.

Thirteen, there are different narrations. Some said Shah Qasim was 13. There are narrations like that, by the way. But even if he was not 13, he would not be that old. He was young. He was teenager. But Qasim, alayhi as-salam, was the leader of the sons of Imam Hasan Al-Mujtaba. This is the camp of Aba Abdillah. Eleven. Another 11 who? Umar Ibn Janada Al-Ansari, young boy, they have just slaughtered and beheaded his father. The mother went, removed the armor and the clothes of the father, and she gave the boy of 11 years, wear it. The boy wore the clothes. She said, Go to Husayn and ask for permission to go. Young boy, 11, he rushed to Aba Abdillah.

When he got to Aba, Aba Abdillah, look at him. He said, No, man, you are too young. I have not even finished sorting out the body of your father, and you are coming? Stay behind and look after your mother. He said, No, my mother said I should come. But what is fascinating is what? When this young boy went out, he said, Amiri Husayn wa ni'ma al-Amir. Sururun, Fu'adun, Basheerun, Nadheer. Ali and Fatimah walidah, hal ta'lamu laho min nadheer?

When the young boy, eleven years old, some of you are more than eleven, I have got a case to make tonight from the camp of Aba Abdillah, to inspire myself and to inspire you, to rise and stand, and improve your level of Iman and love for Allah and love for Ahl al-Bayt, and spend your time serving the cause of Allah and the cause of Ahl al-Bayt, alayhum as-salam. This young boy, when he went out, he said, My master, my master is Husayn. He said, Husayn is the comfort and the apple of my heart and eyes. He said, If you don't know Husayn, Ali and Fatimah are his parents. He said, Oh, enemies. Can you show me somebody like Husayn? 11 years!

Now let's go forward. The next tabaqa, the next level. Nineteen years, Ja'far Ibn Ali. And then you've got 21 years, Uthman Ibn Ali. Then you've got 27, Ali Ibn Al-Husayn. You know what? Majority of the companions of Aba Abdillah were youth.

Today, some of the youth don't want to serve the cause of Aba Abdillah. They are too much busy with social media. You know, youth is a blessed personality. Youthfulness is a stage which is full of blessing. As we mentioned the other night. A youth is someone who has got power to be creative, power to be productive, and power to bring positive change. I promise you, if you do not make good use of youthfulness when you grow above youthfulness, you may not be able to replace what you missed at this stage.

We are here mentioning the name of Aba Abdillah, because of the majority of the youth who were in the camp of Aba Abdillah, alayhi as-salam. And those youth stood side-by-side with Husayn, alayhi as-salam, but no, not only young children and not only youth. There were elders, wazee, as they said in Swahili. Elders like our fathers sitting on the chair behind, although there are some youth also who are sitting on the chair. Our mothers, the first of them was what?

Anas Ibn Haris Al-Kahili, very old man. And the other one is Muslim Ibn Awsajah, very old man. Habib ibn Mudahir Al-Asadi. Very old man. Can you see the composition of Aba Abdillah's camp? Every single person was there. Young, old, youth, they were all there. That is why Husayn achieved what he achieved.