From Makkah to Karbala | The Review of Religions
Amir Mu’awiyah (ra) passed away at the age of 70. When Yazid ascends the throne, he wrote to all the governors to take the pledge of allegiance (Bai’at) from all their subordinates. Al-Walid bin Utbah, the governor of Madinah, was tasked with obtaining the pledge of allegiance from Abdullah bin Umar (ra) , Abdullah bin Zubair (ra) and Husain bin Ali (ra) . All three refuse to pledge allegiance. Abdullah bin Zubair (ra) and Husain bin Ali (ra) leave Madinah for Makkah along with their families.
Meanwhile, the people of Kufa wished for Husain (ra) to become the Caliph and sent letters to him in Makkah urging him to come to Kufa. When he received a considerable number of these letters, Husain (ra) sent his cousin, Muslim bin Aqil bin Abu Talib to go to Kufa and assess the situation. Upon his arrival in Kufa, more than 10,000 people came to see him and all of them pledged allegiance to Husain bin Ali (ra). They also tell him that if Imam Husain (ra) personally comes, there would be thousands more ready to join his ranks. Seeing the willingness of the Kufans, Muslim bin Aqil wrote to Husain (ra) in Makkah, informing him of the situation and advised him to come to Kufa.
The governor of Kufa, Nu’man bin Bashir did not take any action against Muslim bin Aqil. When Yazid learnt of this, he immediately dismissed Nu’man bin Bashir from office and appointed Ubaidullah bin Ziyad, the governor of Basra, to take over in Kufa and to crush the uprising by force, including the arrest and detention of Muslim bin Aqil. But before Ubaidullah had left for Kufa, Husain’s (ra) emissary, a man named Sulayman, came to Basra to seek support for his cause. Ubaidullah arrested him and gathered the people of Basra. Ubaidullah issued an ultimatum to all the people of Basra saying that anyone who pledges allegiance to Husain bin Ali (ra) or does not recant from their pledge, would be put to death. He then killed the emissary of Husain (ra) in front of the entire gathering.
When Ubaidullah arrived with his army in Kufa, he set about looking for Muslim bin Aqil, who was staying with a man named Hani bin Urwa. He was arrested and questioned. Muslim bin Aqil called on the supporters who had pledged allegiance to Husain (ra) to help him release Hani. Only 4,000 people responded to his call but many of their family members dissuaded them from joining the rally cry. As a result, this army withered down to only 500 men. Muslim bin Aqil laid down his arms and was taken to Ubaidullah. The next day, Ubaidullah ordered for both of them to be hanged on the rooftop for everyone to see.
Unaware of any of these events, Husain (ra) made preparations to leave Makkah for Kufa. Yazid issued orders to Ubaidullah to prevent Husain (ra) from reaching Kufa. Abdullah bin Umar (ra), Abdullah bin Abba (ra) and Abdullah bin Zubair (ra) all tried to stop him. They said that the Kufans were not to be trusted since both Hazrat Ali (ra) and Hazrat Hasan (ra) were let down by them. However, Husain (ra) responded that since he had given his word to the Kufans, he would not go back on his word.
