THE STORY OF KARBALA - PART 1/06
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Ali was assassinated during prayers in the mosque of Koofa in Iraq in the 40th year of Hijra. Mu'awiyah was now free to do anything he wanted. Ali's followers in Koofa elected Hasan to become the Khaleefa. Hasan saw the dwindling support in his camp and decided that it was futile to fight Mu'awiyah. He was more concerned about safety and security of the remaining few of his followers.
He thought it prudent under the circumstances, to come to terms with Mu'awiyah. Together they signed a treaty. Hasan gave up any claim to temporal power but secured the promise that his followers will not be harassed or molested, and that the succession after Mu'awiyah will be left to general consensus among the Muslims. Mu'awiyah agreed in principle to these conditions. But, in practice he did what he wanted. Hasan died mysteriously of poisoning, in the 50th year of Hijra.
The Olympic torch relay that's supposed to symbolise peace and world unity is instead turning into a parade of protest across London.
While Mu'awiyah was busy paving the way for his own son Yazeed's succession to the throne of Damascus, the excesses by Uthman reached to such an extent that people from the provinces gathered in Madinah first, as delegations with genuine complaints, and then they turned into a lynching mob which eventually killed Uthman and then forced Ali to accept the position of Khaleefa. Husayn was now thirty-two years old. Iran was conquered by the Muslim armies during Umar's reign. At that time the family of the defeated king, Yazdigard, went into hiding. During Ali's reign they reappeared and were sent to cAli by his governor in the Eastern provinces. The daughters of the Iranian king, Yazdigard, were brought to Koofa and presented to Ali ibn Abi Talib. One of them known as Shahr Banoo, was later married to Husayn and bore him his eldest son Ali Zaynul Abideen. He was 24 years old at Karbala.
Ali ibn Abi Talib was a man of a different temperament and principles. He was the closest to the Prophet and his teachings. He immediately put radical reforms in action; he removed all those governors in the provinces who were appointed by Uthman and were reported to have oppressed the people unjustly and
plundering the treasury. This, obviously, hurt the Banu Umayya in general because, Uthman had distributed these lucrative positions to his clansmen.
Mu'awiyah refused to give up his post and accept Ali as Khaleefa. There was a battle at the banks of the river Euphrates in Iraq, which ended in utter confusion and without result, mainly because of the lack of wit among the people who were representing Ali during negotiations.