Martyrs of Karbala

TEHRAN (IQNA) – Those who were martyred in the Battle of Karbala were different in various ways. Some had been among the companions of the Holy Prophet (PBUH), had seen the Ghazawat, seen the childhood of Imam Hussein (AS) and heard for themselves what the Holy Prophet (PBUH) said about Imam Hussein (AS).

It can be said that there were seven groups among the companions of Imam Hussein (AS) who were martyred in his movement.

The first group were those who were martyred before Imam Hussein (AS) arrived in Karbala. Among them was Suleiman bin Zarrin who was martyred in Basra. He was a messenger who was arrested and killed by Ubaidulllah ibn Ziyad.  Maytham Tammar was another one, killed in Kufa. There were also Muslim ibn Aqil, Qais ibn Musahir and Abdullah ibn Yaqtar.     

The second group were those martyred when they came under a hail of arrows in the morning of Ashura. The day of Ashura began with the shooting of arrows, with Omar Saad being the first one to shoot. As a result, 52 of Imam Hussein’s (AS) companions were martyred.

The third group were those martyred in one-on-one combats. Some of them, such as those from Basra, went to the battle in a group. Some of them were surrounded by the enemy forces and Hazrat Abbas (AS) went to save them, and when they returned, they were martyred of their wounds. The last one-on-one combat was that in which Habib ibn Mazaher Assadi was martyred.

Another group were those martyred when Imam (AS) was saying prayers at noon. Imam (AS) had sent Hazrat Abbas (AS) to ask the enemy to stop the battle for prayers. He then said two Ra’kats of prayer during which two of his companions were martyred by the enemy’s arrows. So they were martyrs of prayers.

The fifth group were martyred after the prayer. The eleven companions went to the battleground and were martyred one after another. One of them was Zuhayr ibn Al-Qayn who had joined Imam Hussein’s (AS) companions on the way to Karbala.

Then there were members of Bani Hashem (clan), namely Imam’s (AS) family members. They included the children of Aqil, children of Imam Hassan (AS), brothers of Imam Hussein (Hazrat Abbas, Jafar, Othman and Abdullah). After them, Imam Hussein (AS) was martyred and a number of others were martyred afterward.

The last one martyred in Karbala was Hafhaf bin Muhnad rasibi Basri who arrived there when the enemy forces were rejoicing and he realized that Imam Hussein (AS) had been martyred. He drew out his sword and started fighting the enemy until he achieved martyrdom.