Monday, July 14, 2008

9th Rajab - Birthday of Hazrat Ali Asghar(A) - The Greatest Martyr of Karbala

Hazrat Ali Asghar was the youngest child of imam Hussain(A).He was born only a few weeks before imam left Madina. His mother’s name was Rubab(A), daughter of Imra’u'l Qais who was the chief of the tribe of Kinda. Rubaab had two children, Sakina(A) and Ali Asghar(A) She and her two children accompanied imam to karbala. The fact that imam took with him a newly born baby further demonstrates the prestige of H. Ali Asghar(A). At karbala, Asghar was only six months old. From the seventh Muharram there was no water in imam’s camp. Asghar was in great pain because of thirst. On Ashura day, after Ali Akber had been martyred, imam Hussain was standing outside the camp. He was left all alone and he was preparing to go into the battlefield. Just then he heard a child cry. It was Ali Asghar, tormented by the pangs of hunger and thirst. Imam walked into Bibi Rubab’s tent. He lifted the child from the cradle. “Rubab,” he said, “I will take him to Yazeed’s army. Surely they can not possibly deny this little infant a few drops of water?” Rubab changed Ali Asghar’s clothes. She even tied a small turban on his head. Like any other mother she wanted her son to look at his best in front of strangers. Imam Hussain carried the child to the battle field. Walking up to Yazeed’s soldiers imam Hussain said, “This child has done you no harm. He is dying of thirst. I am asking for a few drops of water for him.”There was no response. imam said, “If you are afraid that when you bring Asghar any water I will drink it, look, I will put him on the ground and you can come yourself and give him water.” He put the child on the sands of karbala and moved a couple of steps back.You can imagine how hot the desert sand was. Asghar lay there not even wincing. He turned towards the enemy and stared at them. A murmur arose among the soldiers but no one came forward to give water to the baby. imam took Asghar in his arms and in a clear voice said, “Asghar, my son, show them how thirsty you are!” Asghar turned his head towards the soldiers. He smiled sweetly. Opened his mouth. Brought out his dry tongue and moved it over his lips. The ultimate sword had been unsheathed ! The soldiers were so moved by this that they could be heard sobbing. Still, they were very afraid of Yazeed and none dared come forward to give water to Ali Asghar. Umar Sa’ad was worried. It seemed that Asghar was emerging victorious in this confrontation against the might of yazid. He looked at Hurmala, a famous archer, and said, “Silence Hussain!” Then a terrible thing happened. Hurmala lifted his bow. Aimed an arrow at the child. The arrow flew across the hot desert. There was a hissing sound. Asghar smiled. He lifted his head and arched his neck!! No civilized mind can even imagine what happened next. The hissing sound stopped and Asghar lay still on his father’s arms. Imam Hussain looked down at Asghar’s neck, he saw the arrow, he saw the neck, he saw the smile and then he could see no more!!! Our imam began to feel faint. For a moment everything went dark. He could not see! There was a total silence over karbala, broken only by the sound of the gentle waves of Furaat. Even the enemy appeared stunned. Slowly Hussain turned round and now looked at the baby in his arms. The arrow had passed through the tender neck and lodged in imam Hussain’s shoulder. He looked at the sky, and prayed “Ya Allah, give me the courage in this most difficult moment of my life. No Prophet ever was subjected to a test as severe as this.” THUS THE YOUNGEST CHILD OF HUSSAIN(A) BECAME THE GREATEST MARTYR OF KARBALA Leave a Reply You must be logged in to post a comment. http://www.islamicdigest.net/v7core/2007/08/31/9th-rajab-birthday-of-hazrat-ali-asghara-the-greatest-martyr-of-karbala/