On 23rd of the Islamic month of Zil-Hijjah in 61 AH, the two pre-teen sons of Muslim ibn Aqeel, were martyred in Kufa, Iraq, by the Godless Hareth ibn Urwah. There are two different accounts of the tragic martyrdom of 12-year old Mohammad and 10-year Ibrahim, whose shrine is the site of pilgrimage near the town of Musayyeb. According to one version, they accompanied Muslim, who was seant as emissary to the people of Kufa by his cousin, Imam Husain (AS), the grandson of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA).
Following the martyrdom of their father, who had entrusted them to the care of the dubious judge, Shurray, they tried to return to Medina, were caught, jailed, escaped from prison with the help of sympathizers, and again caught and mercilessly killed by the riverside on this day in 60 AH, with their heads taken as trophies to Obaidullah Ibn Ziyad, the tyrannical Omayyad governor.
The second version says the boys were with Imam Husain (AS) when he reached Karbala, were witness to history’s most heartrending tragedy, made captive along with the rest of the household of the Prophet, fell behind the caravan of captives as it departed for Damascus, imprisoned for several months in Kufa, escaped from prison, wondered unknowingly into the house of their executioner, treated kindly by his wife on learning of their identity, snatched by her husband, taken to the riverside, and cruelly beheaded this day in 61 AH, but instead of the expected reward for their heads, Hareth was killed on the orders of Ibn Ziyad.
