Abbas showed his loyalty to Hussain at the Battle of Karbala. After succeeding his father Muawiya ibn Abu Sufyan as Caliph, Yazid ibn Muawiyah required Hussain to pledge allegiance to him, but Hussain refused to do so, saying, I am the grandson of the messenger of Allah, and Yazid is a drunkard, womanizer who is unfit for leadership. A person like me does not pay allegiance to a person like him. In 60 AH (680 CE), Hussain left Medina with a small group of his companions and family to travel to Kufa. The people of Kufa invited Hussain to teach them about Islam. Initially he sent sending his cousin, Muslim, to make his decision after the advice of his cousin. But by the time Hussain arrived near Kufa, his cousin had been killed. On the way, Hussain and his group were intercepted. They were forced into a detour and arrived in Karbala on the 2nd of Muharram, 61 AH. Husayns camp was surrounded and cut off from the Euphrates river. The camp ran out of water on the 7th of Muharram. The Euphrates river was occupied by Yazids Army to prevent the camp of Hussain from getting water. Shias believe that Abbas, because of his skill and bravery, could have attacked Yazids army, occupied the river, and retrieved water for the camp alone. However, Abbas was not allowed to fight. He was only allowed to get water. Thus, he went to the river to get water for Hussains 4 year old daughter Sakina bint Hussain.[9] Sakina was very attached to Abbas, who was her uncle. To her, Abbas was the only hope for getting water. Abbas could not see her thirsty and crying Al-Atash (the thirst).[6] When Abbas entered the battlefield, he only had a spear, and a bag for water in his hands. He was also given the authority to hold the standard (liwa) in the battle. Once he had made it to the river, he started filling the bag with water. Shias emphasize that Abbass loyalty to Husayn was so great, that Abbas did not drink any water because he could not bear the thought that Sakina was thirsty despite being severely thirsty himself. The essence of this event was to illustrate that Abbas conquered the Euphrates river, held it with his mighty hands, yet still did not drink. They claim that until this very day the water from Euphrates river circles the grave of Abbas. After gathering the water, Abbas rode back towards the camp. On his way back, he was struck from behind, and one of his arms was amputated. Then, he was stuck from behind again, amputating his other arm. Abbas was now carrying the water-bag in his mouth. The army of Yazid ibn Muawiyah started shooting arrows at him. One arrow hit the bag and water poured out of it. At that moment, Abbas lost all hope. One of Yazids men hit his head with a mace and Abbas fell off his horse without the support of his arms. As he was falling, he called, Ya Akkha (Oh brother!) he was actually calling for his brother, Husayn. According to Shia tradition, Abbas fell first onto his face before he let the standard fall. youtube/watch?v=RaC2bwp4rag
Posted on: Mon, 11 Nov 2013 05:07:36 +0000
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