Rafed English
site.site_name : Rafed English

Adapted from: "The Uprising of Ashura and Responses to Doubts" by: "‘Ali Asghar Ridwani"

The deplorable atrocity of Harrah, which blackened the pages of history, took place in the sixty-third year of the Islamic calendar during the reign of Yazid ibn Mu‘awiyah between the powerful armies of Sham and the people of Medina.

Harrah literally means a rocky and uneven terrain full of black stones passage through which is quite difficult. This well-known event acquired its name because the assault, which the government armies of Sham made on the ordinary people of Medina, began in a rocky eastern region of Medina.2

The event of Harrah is in all truth one of the most savage and horrible crimes of human history and the most appalling incident which occurred during the reign of Bani Umayyah. Ibn Mushkuwiyyah narrates, “The incident of Harrah is one of the most dreadful and formidable events of history.”3

Notes:

2. Ibn Qutaybah, ‘Uyun al-Akhbar, vol. 1, p. 238.

3. Tajarub al-Umam, vol. 2, p. 79.