# Are the stories that Husayn's family was denied water at Karbala true?

*Which Karbala stories to doubt: the water, the details, and Yazid's role*

- URL: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/iabl5vis3rg/s/14/
- Date: 2020-10-16 · Kind: lesson · Transcript tier: machine · Recording: Karbala & it's precursors | Mufti Abu Layth (50:20–54:55)
- Status: general teaching
- Watch from the start of the segment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iaBL5ViS3Rg&t=3020s
- Recording page: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/iabl5vis3rg/

**Topics:** Karbala

**Summary (not a quotation; machine-made, unchecked):** Mufti Abu Layth doubts many details of the Karbala story, including the denial of water, and thinks Yazid did not want Husayn killed but was not troubled that it happened.

**Checked position (checked by two independent reviews, not by the channel):** Mufti Abu Layth says he is personally not convinced that Husayn's party and the babies were denied water.

**Evidence, his words at 51:38:** “there's a story they denied uh some of the babies water and they denied this I don't feel that that's uh personally I'm not convinced that that happened” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iaBL5ViS3Rg&t=3098s)

## Longer summary

Mufti Abu Layth says the burning of the camps makes sense to him, but that much of the precise detail of the martyrdom, such as what a particular arrow did, is probably not authentic. He says he is personally not convinced that Husayn's party and the babies were denied water, given how battles were then conducted, and thinks such stories may come more from Shia narrations. The tragedy itself, he says, is unquestionable, and he puts it down mainly to the men there fearing that letting Husayn go would come back to bite them. In his opinion Yazid would not have wanted Husayn killed, though he does not think he was bothered by it, and he dismisses as fabrications the claims that Yazid planned revenge for his ancestors and recited a poem denying revelation. He accepts the Sunni report that Yazid said he would never have done this had Husayn come to him, says he was ambivalent, and describes Yazid keeping the women in his palace for three days before sending them off by caravan.

## Sources and names cited

- Karbala
- Husayn ibn Ali
- Yazid ibn Mu'awiya
- Shia

## Transcript (machine tier, 50:20–54:55)

[49:42] but they don't actually attack any of the women or anything like this but they do burn the camps now why did they burn the camps is is something that historians weren't too sure about uh now it this seems to lend support to that that they say that some Sunni narrations also mention that and some historical some historical narrations mention that Hussein had the petitions with him so you know these things he had carried them in a sack that all these kind of letters that were signed by such and such tribes that please come we will

[50:19] give you our allegiance and this is why they weren't sure with so they they point was just burn everything um so that kind of makes a lot of sense to me they do uh there are a lot of stories about how the martyrdom occurs now I I do feel that that definitely a lot of the detail is probably not authentic okay so there's like very precise detail of you know particular arrow did a particular thing and this did this and you know all this kind of stuff and I don't think that was true

[50:58] um people say that they made Hussein and like starve of thirst or sorry like um they kind of kept him and everybody from water they made them denied them access to water denied the children access to water I to be honest I'm not convinced that's true because generally I think you see they they had a very weird approach to to battles I know it doesn't make sense to us today but they had a weird approach that they would allow certain certain things like they didn't think um and to me that

[51:38] doesn't make sense that they um like you know there's a story they denied uh some of the babies water and they denied this I don't feel that that's uh personally I'm not convinced that that happened and I think they that may be more so the Shia narrations and stuff like this but what did happen is the battle it was unquestionably a tragedy uh it was a great loss I feel it was very unfortunate um and I feel the reasons behind it were more so to do with uh the people there thinking

[52:16] that if Hussein if we let him go and this may come back to bite us in the rear so it's better to just kind of kill this off here and I in my understanding or in my opinion I don't think would have wanted to have killed Hussein I don't think he would have although I don't think he was that bothered by it happening either so there's there's that like some people feel that this was Yazid's you know his great plan

[52:54] to you know like he always wanted um he always wanted revenge from for his ancestors and you know there's a uh somebody there's a poem that they say Yazid said that he said they say Yazid said this poem that you know it's Hashim who have been playing around with the kingdom and so on there's never been any revelation and there's been nothing like basically the prophet and everything was a lie

[53:33] I don't buy any of that to be honest I think all of these are fabrications against uh Yazid or whatever just to add to the it's kind of to spice it all up I and I do feel that Yazid if Hussein was allowed to have gone to Yazid I don't think Yazid would have killed him um I I buy that because it's in in the Sunni narrations Yazid says that oh why when they when he finds out that he says that you know why did you do this if he came to me I would never have done this to him I can believe that that he wouldn't have although

[54:13] I do feel that he didn't really care that it happened so like I feel that he was ambivalent and you know I don't think he was upset over it or anything I don't really think he gave a damn damn but I don't think he would have gone to that extent to have done that either so there's narrations that he brought the women folk into his palace and kept them there for 3 days and then it is true that they do go to his palace and then he does set them off in a caravan and says look if you need anything but come on if you need anything we just killed all your family and if you need anything

[54:54] you know this this kind of thing but um so I that's my kind of take on the whole thing should we commemorate um this kind of death anniversary of um of of Hussein and I'm not I don't personally um do that I don't um to me it's not a you know this thing of commemorate like doing a matam this kind of um where you're mourning a like to have

## Cite

Mufti Abu Layth Archive, segment iaBL5ViS3Rg/s/14. https://muftiabulayth.org/r/iabl5vis3rg/s/14/

Not a fatwa: these answers were given to specific people at specific times. Ask a qualified scholar about your own situation.