The Prophet Muhammad A simple Guide to his Life
The Policy of the Prophet
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Albidayah wa al-Nihayah
(Part VIII) describes this
incident in great detail. From this we learn that
when Husain had almost reached Karbala, he
received the news that his representative, Muslim
ibn Aqil, had been killed by the Umayyad ruler and
that, out of fear, the Kufans had withdrawn their
allegiance to Husain. At this point Husain decided
to go back to Makkah.
According to authentic historical records, the
Umayyad army in Kufa did not let him turn back.
They wanted to kill him. According to Tabari and
other historians, Husain said to the Umayyad
governor: “O Umar, accept one of three conditions:
Either allow me to go back to where I came from; or
if this is not acceptable to you, then take me to
Yazid (the caliph) and I will place my hand on his
hand and let him decide about me; and if even this
is not acceptable, then let me go to the heathen
Turks so that I may perform
jihad
against them until
I am martyred.” The truth is that, justifying what
was a self-made political
jihad
in the name of
Husain ibn Ali had nothing to do with the actual
example set by Husain, and resulted in a distorted
version of his true character and actions. Only from
