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THE INNOCENT ORPHAN, SAYYADA SAKINA BINT AL-HUSAYN (SA)
Sayyida Sakina was born on 20 Rajab 56 A.H. in Madinah. She was the most
beloved daughter of The
King of Martyrs, Imam Husayn
(a.s.) and she in turn
loved her father and used to
sleep on his chest. Imam Husayn
(a.s.) used to say:
“A house without Sayyida Sakina
would not be worth living in!” She
loved all her brothers and
sisters specially her younger
brother Ali
al-Asghar who was about six
months old in Karbala.
Moreover, she had a special
relationship with her uncle,
Abbas ibn Ali (a.s.) and
he also loved his niece more
than his own children.
She was very religious, enjoyed reading the Glorious Qur’an, would pray
salaat (namaaz) regularly and
was always dressed-up in Islamic
attire including head-cover. She
was 5 years old in Karbala.
In Karbala, after 7 Muharram, Yazid (l.a.)’s army did not allow the water
inside Imam Husayn (a.s.)’s
camp. Sayyida Sakina shared
whatever water was left with
other children. As the days
passed, the desert heat made the
children uncomfortable without
water. On the Day of Ashura, when all the companions and the family members of
Hashmi youths had attained
martyrdom, Hazrat Abbas ibn Ali
(a.s.), the Commander of the
Imam (a.s.)’s band of warriors,
sought permission for Jihad.
Imam Husayn (a.s.) refused to
grant permission saying that he
was the Commander of Imam
(a.s.)’s army. In the meantime,
Sayyida Sakina, along with some
42 children, brought a dry
water-bag (mashk) and Imam
Husayn (a.s.) reluctantly
permitted Hazrat Abbas (a.s.)
only to get some water. Hazrat
Abbas (a.s.) courageously fought
his way and landed his horse in
the River
Euphrates. Neither
he nor his faithful horse drank
a drop of water. He
filled the water-bag with water
and was galloping towards the
camp when the treacherous enemy
cut-off both of his hands from
behind but he still held tight
the water-bag in his teeth but
the arrows of the enemy pierced
the water-bag and the water
flowed away. Hazrat Abbas (a.s.)
attained martyrdom. After that
time, she never asked for water
anymore!
After the martyrdom of Imam Husayn (a.s.), the
accursed Shimer slapped Sayyida
Sakina, forcibly snatched her
ear-rings tearing her ear lobes.
The barbaric Yazid (l.a.)’s army
looted the sacred household of
the Noble Messenger
(s.a.w.a.s.), and set the camps
on fire. The sacred ladies were
deprived of their head covers,
the children ran out of the
burning camps. Sayyida Sakina’s
clothes also caught fire, and
when one of the reporters tried
to extinguish the flames, she
warned the man not to touch her
as she was the member of the
sacred Ahlul Bayt (a.s.). She was running in the battlefield crying:
“Father! O Father, where are
you?” As the butchers of
Karbala, had already severed the
pious heads of the martyrs, the
bodies in the battle field were
unrecognizable.
As night fell, the “Sham-e-Ghareeban”
became sorrowful and painful. The
Sani-e-Zahra, Sayyida Zaynab
(s.a.) took charge of the
caravan and along with her
sister, Umme Kulsoom (s.a.),
they started counting the
children and could not find
Sayyida Sakina. They went in the
battle-field and searched her
and at last found her sleeping
on the trampled chest of Imam
Hussayn (a.s.). She woke her up
and Sayyida Zaynab (s.a.)
inquired as to how she
recognized her father? Sayyida
Sakina replied: “I was running
around in the battle-field and
calling my father, when a voice
came from this trampled body calling me towards him” During
the “Sham-e-Ghareeban”, the
widow of Hazrat Hurr, the
deflected commander of Yazid (l.a.) army, brought
some water and food into
AhlulBayt’s burnt down camp
site, Sayyida Zaynab (s.a.) gave
some water to Sayyida Sakina. She took the water towards the battle field for her martyred baby brother,
Hazrat Ali al-Asghar, who was
the youngest in the family!
The children at Karbala were in no way
connected to the “allegiance” to
Yazid (l.a.). In any humane and
civilized Muslim society, the
survivors of this catastrophic
carnage are pacified and offered
kind words of consolations. In
the tragedy of Karbala, the
so-called Muslims did not stay
even at the level of humanity!
It was the height of barbarism
and butchery, un-parallel in
human history.
On the 11 Muharram, the daughters of the Noble Messenger (s.a.w.a.s.)
were made captive, their hands
were tight behind their backs
and made to sit on the camels
without seats and routed through
the battlefield, where the
bodies of their loved ones were
scattered all over the
battle-field. Imagine the sorrow
and grief of the women who saw
their loved-ones un-buried
(against the dictates of Islamic
customs). The caravan proceeded
towards Kufa. In Kufa, the
markets were decorated in
celebration of the massacre at
Karbala and the procession of
Noble Messenger (s.a.w.a.s)’s
captive family! Sayyida Zaynab
(s.a.) was made to go through
the bazars without head-cover
while her mother, Lady of
Paradise, Sayyida Fatimah Zahra
(s.a.)’s funeral was taken out
at night and not seen by any
one! On the way from Kufa to
Damascus, at one point, Imam
Husayn (a.s.)’s head will not
move forward. On inquiry it was
found that Sayyida Sakina had
fallen from the camel and
Sayyida Zaynab (s.a.) walked
back and saw that she was
sitting in the lap of a sacred
lady in black attire concealing
her identity. When Sayyida
Zaynab (s.a.) tried to thank
her, she disclosed her identity;
she was the Lady of Paradise,
Sayyida Fatima Zahra (s.a.) who
was all along with the Holy
Caravan from Madinah.
The oppressive armed men, to cause pain and misery, hurriedly completed
the journey in two days, which
normally takes sixteen days!
The sacred members of Ahlul Bayt
(a.s.) were imprisoned in a
prison without roof when the
scorching sun light fell on them
while they were exposed to the
chill at night!
While in the court of Yazid (l.a.), he was desecrating Imam Husayn
(a.s.)’s head by hitting his
lips and teeth with a cane. At
one time, he wanted to test
Sayyida Sakina’s love for her
father. He (l.a.) challenged
Sayyida Sakina to call her
father’s head to come to her
lap. She responded and raised
her little hands and called her
father to come to her. Imam
Husayn (a.s.)’s head rose from
the big plate and flew in to the
waiting arms of Sayyida Sakina.
Sayyida Sakina used to sit at the gate of the
prison and witness that birds
were returning to their nests in
the evening. She would ask her
aunt Sayyida Zaynab (s.a.) as to
where those birds were going,
she would reply that they were
going to their homes. Sayyida
Sakina would ask her aunt as to
when they were going back to
Madinah? Unfortunately, it was
not destined that she will ever
return to Madinah!
In the prison, one night, she woke up from her sleep and cried
continuously. The family members
tried their best to pacify and
console her. She said: “O
dear aunt, where is my father? A
few minutes ago, I was with my
father and he kissed me and said
that “my dear Sakina you will
soon be with me” But where is my
father now?” When Sayyida
Sakina described her dream, all
the sacred ladies started to cry
and when this noise reached
Yazid (l.a.)’s quarters, he sent
the severed head of Imam Husayn
(a.s.) to the prison. As soon as
she received her father’s head,
she held it tight to herself and
cried even more and said to her
father: “Who
cutoff my father’s head? Who
martyred my father? Why we are
kept as captives?” With
these words of sorrow, she
suddenly became quiet. Everyone
thought that she might have
slept again, but alas! Sayyida
Sakina had gone into the eternal
sleep. Imam Sajjad (a.s.) dug a
grave in the prison and buried
her little sister in her torn
clothes as it was completely
attached to her flesh after the
burning of the camps on Ashura!
May Allah curse the oppressors of Ahlul Bayt
(a.s.). |
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