THE FIRST DAY OF SAFAR

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On the first of Safar, AH 37, the battle of Siffin broke out. According to some narrations, on this day in AH 61, the head of Imam al-Husayn, the chief of martyrs, entered the city of Damascus, the capital of the Umayyad rulers, on spearheads after it had been carried to it from al-Kufah, Iraq. Therefore, the Umayyads betook that day as feast day. A poet says,

كانت مآتم بالعراق تعدهاأموية بالشام من أعيادها

In fact, on this day, the grievances of Imam al-Husayn’s adherents should be aroused.

According to some narrations, on the first, or the third, of Safar, Zayd ibn Ali ibn al-Husayn was martyred.