informing god and the prophet and amir al-muminin peace be upon them from the martyrdom of imam hossein peace be upon him

In an authentic narration from Sama’a, it is reported: “Gabriel brought the news of the martyrdom of Husayn (peace be upon him) to the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family), while he was in the house of Umm Salama. Then Husayn (peace be upon him) entered, and Gabriel said: ‘Your nation will kill this one.’

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) said: ‘Show me the soil of his resting place.’ So, Gabriel handed a handful of red soil to the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family), and as long as Umm Salama was alive, she kept that soil.

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) repeatedly foretold the martyrdom of Husayn (peace be upon him), and this was a well-known fact, similar to his prophecy regarding the martyrdom of Ammar, where he often stated:

‘The rebellious group will kill Ammar.’

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) said:

‘When the Commander of the Faithful (peace be upon him) passed by Karbala, his eyes filled with tears, and he said: Here, camels will kneel down, burdens will be laid down, and blood will be shed. Blessed are you, O land, for the blood of the faithful will rest in you.’

Nasr bin Muzahim narrates that Harithma bin Salim said: When Ali (peace be upon him) was heading to Siffin, we were accompanying him. When he reached Karbala, he prayed, then after the prayer, he took a handful of Karbala’s soil, smelled it, and said:

‘Oh, what a soil you are! A group will be resurrected from you who will enter Paradise without being held accountable.’

After returning from the journey, Harithma narrated this to his wife, who was a Shia, saying that the Commander of the Faithful (peace be upon him) took some soil from Karbala, smelled it, and said such and such. Harithma had reservations about the Commander of the Faithful (peace be upon him) and questioned how he could have knowledge of the unseen. His wife said: ‘O man, refrain from such talk. Whatever the Commander of the Faithful (peace be upon him) says is the truth.’

Harithma continues: When Ibn Ziyad sent the army of Kufa against Husayn (peace be upon him), I was among the army. When I reached Husayn (peace be upon him), I recognized the land where Ali (peace be upon him) had rested, the place where he had taken the soil, smelled it, and said those words. This journey did not appeal to me, so I went to Husayn (peace be upon him), greeted him, and narrated the story of the Commander of the Faithful (peace be upon him) to him.

Husayn (peace be upon him) asked: Are you with us or against us?

I replied: O son of the Messenger of God! I am neutral, neither with you nor against you. My family is in Kufa, and if I side with you, I fear that Ibn Ziyad will harm them.

Husayn (peace be upon him) said: Then leave quickly and do not witness our martyrdom. Whoever witnesses that day and does not support us, God will cast him into the fire.

Harithma said: So, I fled and did not witness the martyrdom of the Imam (peace be upon him).

Saeed bin Wahb narrates: I saw the Commander of the Faithful (peace be upon him) in Karbala pointing with his hand and saying: ‘It is here, and it is here.’

The narrator asked: What is happening here, O Commander of the Faithful (peace be upon him)?

He replied: ‘A group from the family of Muhammad (peace be upon them) will camp here. Woe to them from you, and woe to you from them! You will kill them, and for that reason, you will enter Hell.’

Nasr, in another narration, reports: When the Commander of the Faithful (peace be upon him) reached Karbala, he stopped and said:

‘It is a place of sorrow and calamity.’ Then he pointed to a place and said: ‘Here, the camels will kneel down, the burdens will be laid down, and in this place, their blood will be shed.’

These narrations have been quoted by Ibn Abi al-Hadid from the history of Nasr. Therefore, the matter of the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) and the Commander of the Faithful (peace be upon him) foretelling the martyrdom of Imam Husayn (peace be upon him) is well-established, similar to the Prophet’s prophecy about the martyrdom of Ammar at the hands of the rebellious group. Even Amr ibn al-As, before the events of Uthman’s murder and the Battle of Siffin, narrated this prophecy from the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family). Such reports, which were widely known among both friends and enemies, are among the signs of the prophethood of the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him and his family).

Shaykh Mufid narrates from Abdullah bin Sharik al-Amiri, who said: When Umar bin Sa’d would enter the mosque, the companions of the Commander of the Faithful (peace be upon him) would say: This is the killer of Husayn (peace be upon him), and this was before the tragedy of Karbala.

Those who are Muslims and believe in the prophethood of the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) should not be surprised by such things, which are signs of his prophethood.

The Commander of the Faithful (peace be upon him) often foretold the future, and this led to the misery of some enemies and extremists, and to the happiness of some followers and believers, as in the Holy Quran:

‘And We reveal in the Quran that which is a healing and a mercy for the believers, but it increases the wrongdoers only in loss.’ (Surah Al-Isra, Ayah 82.)