THE STORY OF KARBALA - PART 9/05

THE MARTYRDOM OF ABBAS

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At the door he paused for amoment, turned back and stopped. Then started back
to his tent. This happened seven times. All this time he kept saying:

'Indeed we are for Allah,
And to Him shall we return.
We have given in to His Will,
And we have submitted to His Command.'

As if he was hesitating to enter his tent. Perhaps he was collecting his
strengths to be able to face the mother of the baby who had been butchered in
his arms and blood was still dripping from the baby's neck.

This particular act of Husayn has become a rite of Ashoora. The menfolk
among the devotees of Husayn go out into deserted areas of the coutry in the
late morning on the day of Ashoora and after performing Salat, they re-enact
the seven times walking back and forth reciting the verses quoted above.
Husayn then reappeared from his tent with the Baby's remains in his arms.
He walked some distance away from his camp. Sat down and dug a shallow grave
with his sword. He buried the baby. Umayyad troops watched him while he did
all this. We shall see the significance of this one burial, later on.

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