Onthe ninth day ofthe month thelastchallenge tochoose between
"allegiance or war" was made by the enemy to the Imam. The Imam
askedforadelayinordertoworshipovernightandbecamedetermined
to enter battle on the next day.
OnthetenthdayofMuharramoftheyear61/ 680 theImamlinedup
beforetheenemywithhissmallbandoffollowers,lessthanninetyper-
sonsconsistingofhiscompanions,thirtysomemembersofthe armyof
the enemy that joined him duringthe night and day of war, and his
Hashimitefamilyofchildren,brothers,nephews,andcousins.Thatday
they fought from morning until their final breath, and the Imam, the
youngHashimitesandthecompanionswereallmartyred.Amongthose
killedweretwochildrenofImamHasan,whowereonlythirteenandel-
even yearsold;andafive-year-oldchild andasuckling babyof Imam
Husayn.
Thearmyoftheenemy,afterendingthewar,plunderedthefamilyof
theImamandburnedhistents.Theydecapitatedthebodiesofthemar-
tyrs, denudedthemandleft themon the groundwithout burial. Then
theymovedthemembers ofthefamily, allofwhomwerehelplesswo-
menandgirls,alongtheheadsofthemartyrs,toKufa.Amongthepris-
oners there were three male members: a twenty-two year old son of
Imam Husayn who was very ill and unable to move, namely ‘Alībin
Husayn, the fourth Imam;his four year old son, Muhammadibn ‘Alī,
whobecamethefifthImam.TheenemytooktheprisonerstoKufaand
from there to Damascus before Yazid.