 We extend our condolences, our most heartfelt condolences upon the anniversary of the murder and off the tragedy of Karbala, the death of our dear holy third Imam, Imam al-Hussain, al-Islam, and of course we extend our condolences to our dear awaited saviour, may Allah hasten his reappearance. We thank you for joining us for another night here in the days of Ashram al-Harram on Verses of Love, where as we've explained many a time we are delivering to you verses of poetry but also simple lessons taken from this absolutely tragic episode that we must must take further than just tears. We combine the tears with the education, it solidifies our aqa'id that we can take forward in order to be amongst the best servants of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. The tears by themselves are great but they need to go to something more. And joined with me every night and insha'Allah for the remaining nights as well will be my dear brother al-Fadah. As-salamu alaykum. As-salam No, not at all. And we've dedicated these first five nights to the ladies and the children of Karbala. So we've covered Umm al-Beneen, we've covered Sayyid al-Zaynab, alayhi as-salam, we've covered Sayyid al-Ruqayy, alayhi as-salam. And tonight we go to another woman but a woman who had a role that isn't appreciated enough for if you like the tragedy and why which she's associated with, her name isn't said too often. And to be very clear, we're talking about the wife of Imam Hussain, the mother of Ali and al-Asghar, Abdullah al-Ravee. And this is of course Sayyid al-Rabab alayhi as-salam. And we really wanted to dedicate and look at her involvement and her attachment to the tragedy whilst also of course mentioning the tragedy of Ali and al-Asghar as well, insha'Allah. So I mean just following on from the theme, I think moving away just slightly from her stand, I think the fact that Imam Hussain al-Salam brought with him a six-month-old child signified his true intent when he left Medina. Because I think there was a very very nice saying from a non-Muslim actually. He said, if Hussain was after glory and the world and his desires and power then there was no reason for him to bring his women and children. Not only bring his women and children but his six-month-old child who had to endure the three days or four days or actually had endured weeks of traveling towards what Kufa and then Karbala and then on top of that three days without water as well. So it's a tragedy which really really hits the heart, and I think when we think about children one of the scary parts that again we disconnect from is traveling for kids in itself parents but okay we have to travel at this time because their nap time is here and then on top of that when they have no water and they start crying that cry is unbearable for parents. What cry is this etc etc and that whole journey in itself whilst was a struggle like no other Imam Hussain hearing the news of Muslim being killed and then having to go to Muslims child and saying to her I am now your father etc whilst dealing with all of these emotions and knowing what the end is he has a six-month-old that he still has to look after which makes it tough to fathom but similar to what you just touched upon there's a very subtle point here in that if we were to apply let's say Karbala and let's say the events of Ashura were to take place this afternoon okay so today and I use this as in terms of modern media coverage for example okay not so long ago in the UK we had the incident of baby pee if you remember this is a baby that was almost tortured by I think his parents thing was a male baby so tortured by his parents and it was all over the news all over the news at least for a month there was then cases going on after that with you know saying the council authorities didn't do enough etc etc now I ask this if Ashura were to take place this afternoon and there was enough media coverage there and they were to see that the ruler of the time i.e the main party in power of your country were to have killed a baby that's it news coverage like crazy expenses was one thing this is another outrage the other side is to then say well actually the ruler of the time kills the son of the opposing party's family and when you put that together it just does make you ponder Yazid Ibn Muawiyah may Allah judge him accordingly an individual that represented Islam in that sense right he he claimed that position and he had the audacity to not only oppose the truth but even if you'd say it wasn't the truth Astaghfirullah that Imam Hussain wasn't from the truth he's opposed a party and then killed the party's leader's son who's a baby and the uproar would just be outrageous if we were to apply it so that's just one thing I wanted to mention but to go to Omar Rabab and I think this is something that I really want to investigate today which is this Imam Hussain had the difficult task and nigh on impossible task of taking the baby out to the battlefield and receiving that arrow you know and we know the Messiah of the fit but we don't appreciate the willpower of Omar Rabab in this situation a mother so before all of this takes place a mother who's still feeding her child has to actually hand over their baby with the most likely foresight that this baby won't return and potentially she I don't know myself I don't know if she was told beforehand this is what's going to happen to out to your son and this is exactly how it's going to transpire I have no idea if that was the case but even if not she probably had a feeling that giving this baby there's going to be something that could happen there and that handover is so symbolic and really shouldn't be underestimated in the service of Omar Rabab at that moment for the cause and it really reminds me of Sayyid al-Fatima that when the knock on the door comes her life is secondary to that of not her husband but to the Imam of her time Sayyid al-Rabab in that moment her love of her son is secondary to that of the requirement of her Imam who happens to be her husband and this hidden service this service that's perhaps behind the scenes if we were to take the example of today in Majalis we have the fortunate role of being able to you know talk about the message in front of people and that comes you know with difficulties but of course people say oh you know the limelight whatever there are so many people serving behind the scenes as we know who do not get the credit that they deserve so when we then look to Omar Rabab and the service that she actually offered that was hidden that wasn't as obvious perhaps as Imam Hussain going out and I'm not undermining Imam Hussain's involvement that's what I'm saying we need to appreciate the service of Omar Rabab at this moment in that she's gone out and she's had to serve in such a hidden way but yet with such sincerity in order to actually be able to make that offering if you like to have that moment transpire and I think the application to what we have here is this your service to Aba Abdullah to the emma to the ladies of Ehl-e-Baita and thus for the service of Allah even if it's hidden do not underestimate it if anything it's more superior to that of those who gain potential exposure from the service but it must must and this is for everyone I say this most certain to myself first the sincerity that you must have when you serve in this way must be to that of Omar Imam Ali says sincerity is the criterion for worship sincerity is the criterion for worship without the sincere intention your worship may not be accepted your worship may even be a lot tougher it's if you use the analogy of revising for an exam if you're revising for the sake of revising it doesn't really soak in if you're revising you start to feel you're getting a reward and you're getting better at you know I can solve the equation now you get a sense of you know excitement that you want to serve and it's that sincerity in that revision that you're doing that I want to do it to get my a similarly the sincerity when you then prostrate to Allah the sincerity when you recite to the masses the sincerity when you pack the food the tabarak for the to give out after the mention if it's there the connection and the worship will transcend and we take inspiration from Sayyid al-Rababa so with that we then now think about that actual let go that Sayyid al-Rabab had to do that difficulty when you know that mother yes she has to give away but she now has to live with the absence of her child for those moments being unknown what's going to happen she then has to live with the return of that child and Imam Hussain chucking the blood into the air but I think what breaks a mother's heart the most is seeing a cradle bear not being able to hold their baby in their own hands the absence of holding your baby not being a parent but I can imagine it being absolutely heartbreaking yeah no I can totally I can totally actually relate as well because I've you know just had a had a young child and he's about the age of Abdullah al-Rabia would have would have been as well and just the thoughts of him in pain and it could be a minor cold or it could be you know it could be bumped his head or something a little cut that you know me me and me my partner will go like what's going on you just constantly want to be around but the fact that the desperation that you can't provide for your child is is especially from a woman's point of view as well because that's that's the reason why they created this is part of their nature to be able to feed their offspring and if they don't have that don't have that ability they feel like they're absolutely redundant not only that coupled with the you know the crippling son and the conditions of war and the fear of what's going to happen to her husband and the cousins and whatever it must have been what some some some sort of a mind frame to go through so you mentioned cradle as well as in the poet nor is that that and this poem which refers to say that a barb as well with her conversing with of the latter there i don't fear if from your cradle you depart you sleep in the deepest oceans of my heart but if for only a second from me each ocean in my heart would be torn apart my tongue wanted water but i ask you first from your eyes and the torture of your thirst you so with cries to cry your tongue i'd have my child oh my child oh my child missing your smile i told her saying to take each of his cries seems to me a painful his smile and from his thirst not a single tear i'll say great his eyes for tears to drink your eyes searching the kiss so that you're crying yet oh child your neck and arrow kisses is yet oh child your neck and arrow kisses it's it's that that notion of the arrow kissing that neck that really strikes it really it's quite subtle but it there's a deep deep meaning to it because obviously the neck is is probably the most fragile yeah it's a fragile part of of a of a baby's body and for that to be severed from one side to the other of course it's difficult to hear and difficult to probably bear as well at the same time and the the tragedy is is that you have a hibate on one side and the opposition on the other and this side and not it's not like they're not renowned for killing young infants either with our dear prince muhsin alayhi as-salam as well it's when it comes to haqq and batal ahl al-bayt alayhi as-salam gave everything regardless they gave everything and this side took everything merciless absolutely merciless but inshallah we will see the intercession of abdullahi in this life of the next there's a there's something very it's almost like strange that to use this word the word of marriage when it comes to karbala and usually people think has with qasim alayhi as-salam being a tradition but i want to take a different approach which is there are two significant kind of couples if you like in in karbala i feel the first that we always talk about is of course umal bideen imam alayhi as-salam creating a father and the children to serve imam al-hussain and a similar notion with that of imam al-hussain and his dear wife umr abab alayhi as-salam and one of the things that i feel we need to take away is this that moment where umr abab alayhi as-salam had to give over abdullahi al-radi and actually even partake in this journey to karbala there's a relationship there to look at which is that marriage between the two and by no means was this journey easy one of the toughest will ever see and that history will ever see how when that discussion took place between imam al-hussain and his dear wife how did they how did they ensure they were aligned that this was the trip they had to take that they had to uproot the family the extended family the friends if you want to call them the companions and take this journey how did they align that they had to then take their son as part of this offering to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala how did they align and i really believe it stems down to that marriage bond that they had and what was the actual bond between it and it's this we always talk about the submission to Allah and the service to Allah and if your marriage is bound by the gel of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and nothing else such decisions become so so easy and such marriages prosper to a level that cannot be understood and just appreciate it like we do now between the marriage that we see between of the exact one that we're talking about it's ensuring that any partnership and marriage and even family generally is founded on this submission to Allah because with that you just can't go wrong you align every single time if one person then falls out and says you know i do not want to align with this with this decision with this decision because you know it doesn't match with the flow of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala then they should they are right to say okay this is it i need to separate them everyone must be aligned towards Allah and i say this to those looking for spouses and those in relationships that whilst this is the somba 10 days don't neglect this message which is when finding a partner and when establishing your partnership and when you're nursing your partnership ensure it's all solely for Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala so practically speaking what is it it's things like waking up for fajr find a partner that you know will help you or that you'll compliment each other to make it happen find a partner that will say are you tired on the ninth night of ash of ashram haram let that tiredness be the case and offer it to Allah let that be your offering let's go together i'm going to drag you with me let's go even if it's for 30 minutes we're in the measures let's go let's ensure we avoid x y z locations and the husband and wife should be so aligned and these are the futah level what we need to be preparing is that if that soil is a such that it's embedded with the gel of Allah then when inshallah the 12th imam arrives and he says oh couple i need you as the husband to do this i need you as the wife to do this it's like easy job done we know what the service is you don't then have that conversation at that point to say you know i i'm not sure i want to do this oh but it's for Allah i'm not sure we don't want to get to that point and i think that's how potentially they got to this ability to offer this sacrifice how they managed to align on this decision and there's that very famous hadith from the prophet that said at many many weddings but i reiterate it for he says the beauty of a woman's faith must be given priority over the beauty of her face and of course the vice versa is the same the beauty of a man is the beauty of a man should be inferior to that of the beauty of their faith the faith is always the superior part and that's within family within relationships and even extends to friends because none of this would have been possible imam hasain didn't have those seven those companions which people say one will never see such strong companions again what was it that bound them together it was illustrated when the time of salah came and despite being in a battle people offer themselves as shields for the arrows so the congregation could pray and for me a very simple point to take for this is that it's umr abab imam hasain founded and had fostered that relationship on the service of Allah swt so inshallah we can do the same and of course that enabled imam hasain to then having taken this child from umr abab to walk into that battlefield and to take that offering to them and to take the offering to Allah swt and we know that he walks after the incident happens he walks between the tent and then he goes back seven times chucking that blood into the air and it doesn't come back to the earth almost asking Allah accept this from me if you don't accept anything else from me this should show my soul dedication to your cause yeah and that moment of imam hasain then having to return and to give the news and to show what it happens the heart the heart shudders yeah um just on on that point as well i mean the the the story of Abdullah al-Radia ensued as i think umr abab or actually lady zaynab because sayyid al-rabab was was shy because imam hasain had already had so many burdens and sayyid al-rabab didn't want to add another burden to her husband so she didn't want to say to him can we find some sort of water because at this point abalfal abbas had now gone and most of the companions all of them had gone and all of the all of the household had gone as well so at this point it's like it's now reaching desperation but she didn't want to add to the burden of imam so she had to consult with zaynab and say zaynab had to go to her brother and say look this is the situation could you at least plead with the army tell them look this is the situation i'm not here to fight anyone so he takes the child goes to the the enemies um and and shows it there's no weapons involved here and this time everyone's confused because they think that okay this is the final moment stuff because imam says now coming out to fight um but no he comes out with a six month old child a baby in his hand and he said if you are here to fight me then fine i'm i'm here and i will respond but this this the sin there is no sin of this young innocent child so all i ask is that you quench his thirst know what forget all of the companions forget all of the women and children just this six month please if you can a bit of just a drop of water will do and of course there were murmurings within the camp obviously what do they do split sides split sides some people were actually crying some people were thinking well we're here to kill a man but what sin the hazardous child have so at the time uh there was an order towards harm and harm a lot through a couple of arrows which were very effective um one of them was in the heart of imam hussain aleyhisselam the other one was in the right eye i believe of abil fatah al-abbas aleyhisselam but i think the one of the most shocking ones was the fact that he prepared an arrow not just any arrow but prepared an arrow which would kill cattle like a an animal the size of a horse or a cow or whatever so he prepared that kind of arrow to the throats of abdullah rabi and it was also said in in the narrations that when he looked he saw that there was a shine just below the arm of of imam hussain aleyhisselam and there was a shine in that throat and that's exactly where he directed the arrow when he hit the arrow imam hussain stayed very calm because he knew this was going to happen he knew that he wanted to show the world that i am not here to fight for greed or power or politics or money or wealth i'm here literally just to restore the teachings of my my grandfather and if it means the the demise of my six month child in front of everyone then so be it then so be it and when it happened the blood started to flow and it was also narrated as well that abdullah rabi he he as soon as the arrow hit he he would flap his hands they say like a young dove would would would flap flap their wings flap his hands for a couple of seconds and that's when his soul was taken and this is when the blood that was flowing and gushing from the neck of abdullah rabi it was thrown towards the air and none of it came back as the historians pointed out because all of it went towards the sky and this is when he said those lines that's it's please accept this sacrifice in the way of islam and the poem is is is actually related to a father and uh and a young son from noor sardari says he cries for what's indeed my child died he cries for what's indeed my child died he cries and throws his blood toward the sky this is the father who today watched his son massacred as a child in his two arms the tears of thousands of prophets in his eyes and the blood of muhammad stained on his palms feeling the arrow he waves his tiny arms and the voice of his father no longer comes the eyes of hussein blinded before his death watching as his young child an arrow arms watching as his young child an arrow arms he cries why does my child from me shy he cries and throws his blood toward the sky he cries and throws his blood toward the sky this is my child six months what was his sin it tortures me to see my child thirsty i forget my own thirst and only saw his upon the beloved the pangs of thirst would pray pray yet for all the pain i had seen his thirst soaked in blood i can't see my child this way with an arrow in his neck in my waist my beloved to death's hand i gave away my beloved to death's hand i gave away he cries lifeless why does in my hands lie he cries and throws his blood toward the sky every father overjoys with his son's birth and i wonder if my enemies have sons what father evil or good can bear the weight of knowing that his infant murdered becomes if me and my brothers were of Hashim's moons then our sons within our eyes were truly so losing a son matches the weight of the weight of happiness when a son comes of the weight of happiness when a son comes he cries and all fathers to his grief cries he cries and throws his blood toward the sky he cries and throws his blood to the sky to end just a hadith from imam al sadiq alayhi salam or holy sixth imam he says verily when abu abdillah husayn ibn ali died the seven heavens the seven earths everything within them everything between them everyone which circulates around them paradise hell and everything that our lord has created from among that which can be seen and that which and that which cannot be seen cried over him aka every single thing in the creation seen or not seen in this realm and not not in this realm upon the demise and murder of abu abdillah each of those creations cried over him and inshallah we end by asking for allah's intercession off umrabab and abdullahi ravi alayhim as-salam in this life and hereafter we ask allah for the intercession of imam al sadiq alayhim as-salam in this life and hereafter and we end with a few lines of poetry to reflect upon these tears that we offer to abu abdillah ashur az school of lessons husayn taught me defiance abbas taught me selflessness zayneb she taught me patience qasim taught me sacrifice death over life his preference leila gave alila kbar muhammad's last resemblance between the hands of husayn her taught me repentance abbas taught me insanity is but a lover's science ashur i was not a day it's timeless less it's brilliance it repeats daily in the heart always a beacon of guidance ashur i was not a day it's timeless less it's brilliance it repeats daily in the heart always a beacon of guidance always a beacon of guidance Allahumma salli ala muhammad alayhi muhammad and inshallah join us for tomorrow's show as-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullah wa barakat