On the evening of Ashura, after Imam Husayn and his companions were martyred, the Umayyad army looted the tents of the Prophet’s family and set them on fire. The bodies of the martyrs were stripped of their belongings and their heads were severed. And the survivors, including women, children, and the ailing Imam Zayn al-Abidin, were taken captive.
Leaving Karbala
The head of Imam Husayn was dispatched to Kufa on the very day of Ashura with Khawli ibn Yazeed Asbahi and Hameed ibn Muslim Azdi.
The heads of other martyrs were sent separately with Shimr ibn Ziljawshan, Qays ibn Ash’as, Amr ibn Hajjaj and Uzrah ibn Qays.
The surviving family, however, remained in Karbala until the following day (or, according to some reports, until the 12th of Muharram), as Umar ibn Sa’d buried the bodies of his own soldiers, while the bodies of Imam Husayn and his companions lay unburied in the desert.
The Head at Khawli’s House
By the time Khawli reached Kufa, night had fallen and the governor’s palace was closed. He took the head to his home and hid it under a laundry drum.
When his wife asked what he had brought, Khawli replied, “I have brought abundant wealth for you. This is the head of Husayn.”
Upon hearing this, his wife cursed him and refused to remain with him.
At daybreak, Khawli took the head to Ibn Ziyad.
The Captives Arrive in Kufa
As the caravan approached Kufa on unsaddled camels, Ubaydullah ibn Ziyad ordered that the severed head of Imam Husayn be brought before them. They lined up the heads of the martyrs upon spears and dragged the captives behind them until they entered Kufa. They were then paraded through the streets and markets before being brought into the city.
How Kufa Was Prepared
Kufa was a city that knew Imam Ali and his family well, as it had been the capital of Imam’s caliphate just two decades earlier. Among its residents were also those who loved Imam Ali and his family, and who had hoped to support Imam Husayn before Ibn Ziyad’s crackdown made that impossible.
Fearing any potential backlash or upheaval, Ibn Ziyad deployed thousands of soldiers throughout Kufa and issued a decree banning citizens from carrying any weapons, swords, or even walking sticks.
Kufa’s Response to the Captives
When the captives were brought in, the people of Kufa began wailing and lamenting upon their state.
Seeing this, Imam Zayn al-Abidin addressed the crowd with words that exposed their deception and betrayal. He said:
“You weep and lament for us, then who killed us (except you)?”
Sayyida Zaynab, followed by Umm Kulthum and Imam Zayn al-Abidin, delivered powerful sermons in which they confronted the Kufans with their broken promises and exposed the injustice that had been committed against the family of the Prophet.
Historical reports state that the sermons moved the people so deeply that they started weeping and wailing aloud.
In the Court of Ibn Ziyad
The head of Imam Husayn was then presented before Ubaydullah ibn Ziyad in a public assembly at his court, where he arrogantly struck the Imam’s lips and teeth with his cane.
Several people openly objected to this desecration, including the companion of the Prophet, Anas ibn Malik, who reminded Ibn Ziyad that he had seen the Messenger of Allah kiss those very lips. Zayd ibn Arqam and Abdullah ibn Afeef Azdi were also among the people who rebuked him.
When the captives were brought into the court, Ibn Ziyad mockingly claimed that Allah had humiliated the family of the Prophet. Sayyida Zaynab rejected his claim, declaring that Allah had, in fact, honoured them through His Messenger and that true disgrace belonged only to the wicked.
When Ibn Ziyad pressed further and asked what she had seen of how Allah had dealt with her family, she replied with the words that have echoed throughout history: “I saw nothing but beauty.”
Stay in Kufa
Following these events, the captives were held under guard in a house in the south of the Grand Mosque of Kufa, while the head of Imam Husayn continued to be paraded in the streets of Kufa to assert Umayyad dominance, squash any revolutionary spirit, and terrorize the population into submission.
When it was brought back to the royal palace, Ibn Ziyad ordered it to be taken to Yazid ibn Mu’awiyah in Damascus, together with the heads of other martyrs.
Sources Consulted
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