Al-Hurr b. Yazid al-Riyahi: Difference between revisions

  | Activities = Preventing Imam al-Husayn (a) from going to [[Kufa]] and from returning to [[Medina]], Repenting in the [[day of 'Ashura]] and joining Imam al-Husayn (a)

Al-Hurr b. Yazid b. al-Najiya b. al-Qa'nab b. 'Attab b. Harith b. 'Amr b. Hammam b. Bani Riyah b. Yarbu' b. Hanzala belongs to one of the branches of Tamim tribe.<ref>Ibn al-Kalbī, ''Jumhurat al-nasab'', vol. 1, p. 213-216.</ref> That is why he has been mentioned with different titles like al-Riyahi, al-Yarbu'i, al-Hanzali and al-Tamimi.<ref>Balādhurī, ''Ansāb al-ashrāf'', vol. 2, p. 472, 476, 489; Ṭabarī, ''Tārīkh al-umam wa l-mulūk'', vol. 5, p. 422.</ref> Both in pre-Islamic period and after it, his family were from the elite.<ref>Samāwī, ''Ibṣār al-ʿayn'', p. 203.</ref>

This assumption is more substantiated by considering the fact that al-Hurr had no pronounced political affiliation. None of historical sources have reported his faith or political stance during the tense situations of the year [[60]]/680 in [[Kufa]]; only al-Bal'ami, in a doubtful report, regards him as one of Shi'a who had hidden their faith.

Having noticed the departure of [[Imam al-Husayn (a)]] toward [[Kufa]], [[Ubayd Allah b. Ziyad]] summoned al-Hurr who was the head of his tribe in Kufa, appointed him as the commander for an army of nearly thousand soldiers, and dispatched them to stop Imam al-Husayn (a).

According to another report, 'Ubayd Allah dispatched [[Husayn b. Numayr al-Tamimi]] along an army of four thousand soldiers to [[Qadisiyya]] to watch over the region between Qadisiyya to Khaffan and Qutqutaniyya to La'la' and to control all travelers passing through these regions. Husayn b. Numayr dispatched al-Hurr and one thousand soldiers under his command, to confront Imam al-Husayn (a).

It has been narrated from al-Hurr that: "upon my departure from the palace of Ibn Ziyad to confront al-Husayn b. 'Ali (a), I heard a call from behind, repeating for three times: "O' al-Hurr! Glad tidings for paradise be for you." Al-Hurr continues: "I looked back but couldn't see anyone, and thought: By God this is not a glad tiding; how can it be glad tidings while I am on my way to a war with [[al-Husayn b. 'Ali (a)]]?" Al-Hurr kept this incident in mind and when he joined the camp of Imam al-Husayn (a), told this story to the Imam, Imam al-Husayn (a) said: "you have been directed to goodness and reward."<ref>Qummī, ''Nafs al-mahmūm'', p. 231.</ref>

When the Imam decided to continue his travel, al-Hurr stopped him from either heading toward Kufa or going back to [[Hijaz]], al-Hurr suggested Imam to take a third route, neither to Kufa nor to Hijaz, so that he can ask Ibn Ziyad for further instructions. Al-Hurr told the Imam: "I have not been ordered to battle against you, but I am ordered not to let you go and take you to Kufa; yet if you refuse, take a third route rather than Kufa and Hijaz, so that I write a letter to Ibn Ziyad. If you wish, you can also write to Yazid; that might help the situation end in peace. To me this seems better than getting involved in a battle against you."

[[Zuhayr b. Qayn]] told Imam al-Husayn (a): "by God I feel that after this, it turns even harder on us, O' son of Allah's Apostle! Now fighting this group (al-Hurr and his soldiers) is easier for us than fighting those who come after this group, I swear by my own life that there will come a group after this whom we can't stand against." The Imam replied: "you are right Zuhayr, but I won't be the one who starts the war."

Imam al-Husayn (a) moved with al-Hurr and reached Karbala, al-Hurr and his soldiers stood against Imam's caravan and stopped them from any further move. Al-Hurr said: "camp here, for the Euphrates, is close by." Imam asked: "What's the name of this land?" they replied: "Karbala..." Imam al-Husayn (a) came down from his horse. Al-Hurr and his soldiers camped nearby. Upon the settlement of Imam's caravan in Karbla, al-Hurr wrote to Ibn Ziyad and informed him about their situation.

Then al-Hurr distanced from 'Umar b. Sa'd and went to a corner of the army and little by little, got close to the other side. Muhajir b. Aws –a member in Umar's army- asked al-Hurr: "do you want to attack?" Al-Hurr did not reply and was shaking. Muhajir became suspicious and said: "by God I have never seen you in any war like this, if I was asked who the bravest man of Kufa was, certainly I wouldn't miss your name. Now, what is this state I see you in?". Al-Hurr said: "truly I see myself between paradise and hellfire; and by God, if I get torn apart and burned, I will not choose anything but paradise." Upon saying this, al-Hurr directed his horse toward the campsite of Imam al-Husayn (a).

It is reported that he went to the Imam showing his regret. He asked for forgiveness and said that he had never imagined the situation would end up in actual war. Imam al-Husayn (a) requested God's forgiveness for him and said: "You are hurr (a freeman) in this world and in the hereafter."<ref>Balādhurī, ''Ansāb al-ashrāf'', vol. 2, p. 475-476, 479;  Mufīd, ''al-Irshād'', vol. 2, p. 100-101.</ref> In another report, al-Hurr, while carrying his war shield upside-down, entered the campsite of Imam al-Husayn (a), he went to the Imam and said: "may I be your sacrifice O son of Allah's Apostle, I am the one who prevented you to go back (to your hometown) and I kept being with you so that you had to camp in this land, I had never imagined they would turn down your suggestions and get you caught in such a fate, by God if I'd known the situation would end up here, I would have never gotten involved in it. Now I repent to God from what I have done, would my repentance be accepted?"

The change that happened for this high ranking commander of Ibn Ziyad's army is so strange that some have suggested that al-Hurr might have heard a call from heaven or had an [[honest dream]]. Regardless of its accuracy, such assumption does not disvalue al-Hurr's difficult and critical decision. Some of his words before joining the camp of Imam al-Husayn (a) show his free choice in that decision, like this phrase: "truly I see myself between paradise and hellfire, and by God, if I get torn apart and burned, I will not choose anything but paradise."

After repentance, al-Hurr turned toward 'Ubayd Allah b. Ziyad's army and addressed them: "O people! Haven't the suggestions given by al-Husayn (a) prevented you from fighting with him?" they said: "tell your word to 'Umar b. Sa'd." Al-Hurr repeated the same question for 'Umar, he replied: "I am eager to fight al-Husayn (a) and if I had any other choice, I would do that." Then al-Hurr addressed the army: "O people of Kufa! may your mother grieve over you! Did you summon this good man to yourselves and said you would help him to fight his enemies, now he has come to you, you refrain from helping him, and have lined up against him and want to kill him? You have grabbed his soul, won't let him breathe, surrounded him from every angle and prevented him from going to the vast cities and lands of God, in such a way that he is like a captive in your hands, he cannot do anything positive for himself nor protect himself from harms, and you have prevented him and his family and children from drinking the water of the Euphrates, from which Jews and Christians and Magus drink and in which black pigs and dogs swim, to the point that he has lost his energy due to thirst; how badly you observe and respect the right of (Prophet) Muhammad (s) in his progeny! May God not quench your thirst on the day of thirst (judgement)." At this point, the archers in Umar's army throw arrows toward him and he retreated and stood in front of [[Imam al-Husayn (a)]].

Shortly after joining Imam's camp, al-Hurr went to the battlefield and after his word with 'Umar b. Sa'd and his army, attacked them while reciting [[Rajaz]], after several rounds of combat, he was martyred.<ref>Balādhurī, ''Ansāb al-ashrāf'', vol. 2, p. 476, 489; 494; 517;  Mufīd, ''al-Irshād'', vol. 2, p. 102-104; Ṭabarī, ''Tārīkh al-umam wa l-mulūk'', vol. 5, p. 428-429.</ref> He fought bravely and even though his horse was injured and was bleeding from forehead and ears, he kept reciting Rajaz and attacking the enemy on the same horse. He killed more than forty members of Umar's army. Then the infantry part of the army rushed to him at once and martyred him. It's been reported that two individuals killed him, Ayyub b. Musarrah and a horseman from Kufa.

According to some sources, al-Hurr's children, his brother and his slave, joined Imam al-Husayn's camp along al-Hurr and were martyred in the [[Battle of 'Ashura]].<ref>Khwārizmī, ''Maqtal al-Ḥusayn'', vol. 2, p. 13.</ref> However, these reports are not reliable since none of early sources have mentioned them.

 

According to [[Sayyid Muhsin al-Amin]],<ref>Amīn, ''Aʿyān al-Shīʿa'', vol. 1, p. 613.</ref> when some members of the tribe [[Banu Asad]] were burying the bodies of Karbala martyrs, some members of al-Hurr's tribe did not allow them to bury his body with the rest of the martyrs, and buried al-Hurr's body in a farther location, which was called Nawawis at the time.<ref>Ibn al-Kalbī, ''Jumhurat al-nasab'', vol. 1, p. 216.</ref> Therefore, his body was buried at a distance of around one league from the holy tomb of [[Imam al-Husayn (a)]].

During Qajar period, the Mother of Aqa Khan Mahallati financed the repair of al-Hurr's tomb, and built a castle-like courtyard around it, so that visitors can seek refuge in it against bandits. In [[1325]]/1907-8, Husayn Khan Shuja' al-Saltana repaired the tomb of al-Hurr, and in [[1330]]/1912, Sayyid 'Abd al-Husayn Kiliddar, repaired the balcony of the building.

Today, this shrine is located several kilometers far from Imam al-Husayn's Holy Shrine to the west, with a dome upon it, however, there are doubts regarding the authenticity of this place. Some believe al-Hurr had been buried along other martyrs, near the holy tomb of Imam al-Husayn (a), but Sayyid Muhsin al-Amin believes the reputation and public respect for this shrine is not baseless.