Captives of Karbala: Difference between revisions

- Decorating the city: Yazid gave his orders to decorate the city before the arrival of the captives. Sahl b. Sa'd al-Sa'idi is one of the narrators who reported that the city was decorated and people were happy when the captives entered the city.

- The day of arrival: according to historical reports, on the 1st of Safar the captives and the heads of martyrs of Karbala entered Damascus from Bab Tuma or Bab al-Sa'at. They were taken to Umayyad Mosque and were kept on a raised platform there.

- Report to Yazid: After that soldiers circled the captives in Damascus, they went to Yazid's court. Zahr b. Qays, in behalf of all the soldiers, reported what had happened in Karbala to Yazid.

- Arrival of captives to Yazid's court: After the report, Yazid ordered to decorate his palace and invited the elites of Damascus, then ordered to bring the captives into his palace. Reports denote that they brought the captives into the palace while they were tied to each other by ropes. At this moment Fatima bt. al-Husayn (a) said, “O Yazid! The daughters of the Prophet are captives!” The people and the household of Yazid cried by her saying.

- Yazid and the head of Imam al-Husayn (a): In the presence of the captives, Yazid had put the head of Imam al-Husayn (a) in a gold tub and was hitting it with his staff.  When Sukayna and Fatima, the daughters of Imam al-Husayn (a), saw that; they shouted crying in a way that the wives of Yazid and daughters of Mu'awiya cried along.

It is narrated form Imam al-Rida (a) that Yazid put the head of Imam al-Husayn (a) in a tub and put his food table on it and started eating and drinking beer at that table with his companions. Then they put the table of Chess on that tub and started playing it. Whenever he won, he drank a glass of beer and poured the rest of it on the ground near the tub in which was the head of Imam al-Husayn (a).

- Objections: Some people who were present there opposed to Yazid's behaviors, including Yahya b. Hakam, Marwan b. Hakam's brother, whom Yazid punched on the chest, and Abu Baraza al-Aslami, whom Yazid ordered to be taken out of the palace.

- Delivering sermons: After that Imam al-Sajjad (a) and lady Zaynab saw that the people of Damascus do not know anything about the real Islam and the high status of Ahl al-Bayt, they delivered sermons to inform people about the tyranny of Umayyad dynasty and enlighten them about the truth.

- Residence: According to historical and narrative sources, Ahl al-Bayt resided in two locations in Damascus. First: a roofless ruins, in which the story of lady Ruqayya took place. The captives were there for two days; however after the sermons of Imam al-Sajjad (a) and lady Zaynab the public opinion changed about Ahl al-Bayt and Yazid had to move them to a house near his palace.

- Duration: Most of historians said that captives stayed in Damascus for three days; however 'Ama al-Din Tabari said that they stayed there for 7 days. In another account, Sayyid b. Tawus said that they stayed for a month; nonetheless, he pointed that this report is not reliable.