She was patient, storing her memories over the years, hoping that the night enveloping souls and hearts would be cleared of the clouds of error (1). It is the night of ignorance that has returned with Umayyad masks. The sun was obscured by the canopy, and the radiance of revelation was overshadowed by the Shura Council. Muawiyah breathed into Al-Lat and Al-Uzza the spirit of disbelief, waking them from their slumber to the beating drums of Siffin. Once the spears had served their purpose, the Qur’an was destroyed. Yazid polished the swords of Utbah, Shaybah, and Al-Walid, adjusting the mile of Badr (2).

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Mrs. Umm Salamah did not forget the bottle she still keeps, even though more than fifty years have passed since it entered her home. The echo of that day remains engraved in her memory. Half a century has passed, and she wishes that the day her husband, the Messenger of God (may God bless him and grant him peace), promised her would never come.

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Half a century ago, she wished for death rather than to witness that day, but now she is alive and thriving. She was destined to be the last remaining mother of the believers and to witness the killing of thousands of her righteous sons. She endured constant sadness over what the Muslims had become, seeing and hearing the atrocities committed by the Umayyads.

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It was destined for her to stay and hear about the calamities, wars, and Umayyad crimes of this black era, in which countless Muslims’ blood was shed. Many disappeared into the depths of prisons, their news unknown, and many companions and righteous people were killed in various ways. Members of the evil tree still ascended the pulpit of the Messenger of God, practicing the rule of ignorance and the policy of terrorism, killing, starvation, and displacement, spreading corruption on earth, and destroying crops and offspring (3). She received shocks and painful news, her heart breaking with sadness and grief.

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She did what she could to support the truth, preaching and advising the nation of Muhammad, but the Umayyads polluted all purity.

She burst into tears, wishing for death before witnessing the day she would lose the remaining descendants of the Messenger and her most beloved faithful children. Her heart beat hard as she looked at the bottle every day since Hussein bid her farewell and left for Iraq. Then she would close her eyes and thank God that the bottle had not changed its color. It had not turned into "bad blood" (4).

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This was her habit every day, but the story of that day haunted her memory, making her eyes well with tears until her strength failed. She became completely certain that one day she would wake up to find the dust in the bottle turned into blood, as her husband, the Messenger of God (may God bless him and grant him peace), who does not speak out of passion, had told her (5).

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She waits for the time of prayer, recalling the scenes of that night that troubled her life. She still remembers all its details as if she were in a dream she was trying to comprehend. Oh God, is it destined for her to be tested by this calamity that moves mountains? She still remembers Umm al-Fadl, the wife of Abbas bin Abdul Muttalib, when she entered upon the Messenger of God in fear and trepidation, saying:

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"O Messenger of God, I saw an unpleasant dream tonight..."

He (PBUH) said, "What is it?"

She replied, "It’s intense."

"And what is it?"

"I saw as if a piece of your body was cut off and placed in my lap."

The Messenger of God reassured her, saying that this dream was good news of a baby, telling her:

"You saw something good. Fatima, God willing, will give birth to a boy, and he will be in your lap" (6).

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Umm Salamah did not know that behind this good news lay a story with a sad impact on her life. She rejoiced about the child that the beloved of the Mustafa would give birth to and kept waiting. Days passed, and the new baby arrived. Umm al-Fadl placed him in her lap, as the Messenger of God had said. She then brought him to the Messenger of God to place him in his lap. He (may God bless him and grant him peace) was very happy with this baby. When Umm Salamah saw that, she rejoiced at his joy.

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But suddenly, something unexpected happened. Umm Salamah did not expect what happened to the Messenger of God and was astonished.

She saw the Messenger of God crying, tears streaming down his honorable face. Her heart ached at his crying, and she tried to calm herself, asking him:

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"O Prophet of God, may my father and mother be sacrificed for you. What is the matter with you?" He (PBUH) replied, "Gabriel (PBUH) came to me and told me that my nation will kill this son of mine after me in a land on the coast of the Euphrates called Karbala."

 

The news struck her like a thunderbolt, and she said in great astonishment: "This?!" "Yes, and he brought me some of its soil that was red..." "Who will kill him, O Messenger of God?" "A man called Yazid, may God curse him. As if I were looking at where he left and was buried there, and his head was severed. By God, no one looks at the head of my son Al-Hussein and rejoices except that God has disagreed between his heart and his tongue."

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The Messenger of God opened his hand and found soil in it. He presented it to Umm Salamah, who stood amazed as she took it from his honorable hand, looking at it carefully and contemplating it. It was nothing but dirt. Yes, dirt and nothing else. She did not want to ask him before he revealed the secret of this soil, out of respect and reverence for him.

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It was as if the Messenger of God noticed her astonishment and knew what was in her heart. Umm Salamah did not wait long before he said to her:

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"O Umm Salamah, if this soil turns into blood, know that my son has been killed."

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Umm Salamah was astonished when she heard and could not speak, but the Messenger of God smelled the soil and continued his speech:

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"This soil is a deposit with you. Woe to distress and affliction."

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Umm Salamah trembled at this news. She knew and believed that what the Prophet said was true and that he did not speak falsehood. So she put the soil in a bottle. She looked at it every day and said:

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"One day you will turn into blood for a great day."

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The angels descended to console the Messenger of God (may God’s prayers and peace be upon him) regarding his son, saying: "O Muhammad, your son will be given the same reward as Abel, and the burden of Cain will be borne by his killer." There was not an angel left in heaven who did not descend upon the Prophet (may God bless him and grant him peace) to console him with Hussein and inform him of the reward for what he will be given, and offer him his soil. And the Prophet said: "Oh God, let down whoever lets him down, kill whoever kills him, and do not grant him what he asks for." He (PBUH) came out to his companions and said:

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"Gabriel told me that this son of mine would be killed and that God’s wrath would intensify against whoever kills him" (7).

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Umm Salamah hid the bottle in her house, and days, months, and years passed. The Messenger of God died, and Fatima followed him, then Ali, then Al-Hassan. Her heart broke anew with the death of each one of them. The day came when Hussein came to bid her farewell on his journey to Iraq. She felt that there was no room left in her heart for another crack. She wished to prevent him from leaving, but... She choked on her words as he bid her farewell with his last words:

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"Peace be upon you, mother."

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She replied in a voice full of sorrow and grief:

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"Peace be upon you, my son, Abu Abdullah."

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As soon as Al-Hussein (peace be upon him) said goodbye to Umm Salamah and left, she felt that death was invading her heart. She remembered the bottle, took it out, and placed it within her reach. She looked at it every day, her heart beating hard. Whenever she saw it as it was, she thanked God, whispering to herself: "Praise be to God, my son, my beloved, and the apple of my eye are still alive." She smiled as she looked at the bottle that was still dust, but soon her heart beat and contracted as she remembered her great husband’s prophecy that this bottle would one day turn into blood, and that day was imminent. Her tears silently trickled down her cheeks.

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Calamities and tragedies struck her heart, and she endured hardships for the sake of the honorable call. The first calamity that befell her was the martyrdom of her husband, Abu Salamah, whose soul flowed into her hands as a result of his wound (8). She found someone to console her in her distress, relieve her sorrow, and console her for her calamity, as the Messenger of God, who preserved Abu Salamah in his descendants, married her. But the wound that healed quickly reopened with the death of the Messenger of God.

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She lost her values and her breadwinner, and her great stance in supporting Al-Zahra (peace be upon her) was a harsh blow to the authorities, as her giving was prohibited (9). Despite being the wife of the Prophet, she was prevented from giving, living a life of austerity and austerity and suffering. She expected this unjust treatment after they denied the Lady of the Women of the Worlds her inheritance and rights and usurped her husband’s right to the caliphate.

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Despite all this suffering, she found solace in the family of the Prophet, seeing the Messenger of God in them. But fate decreed that this believing woman would see nothing but sadness in her life, as if God wanted to double her reward for her patience and endurance after the calamities that struck her heart.

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She used patience and prayer to cope with what happened to her, complaining of her sadness to God. The month of Muharram came, and she looked at the bottle every day, her heart becoming anxious and beating more intensely day after day. On the tenth day, she saw what the Messenger of God had promised her... She imagined that she saw all the events of that day while looking at the dirty blood in the bottle.

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She watched the sun set with a redness that foreshadowed discontent on the earth. Overwhelmed with grief and sorrow as she looked at these heartbreaking scenes, even her tears could no longer help her due to the horror of the scene and the severity of the tragedy.

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References:

1. This hadith is famous in the sources of both groups on the authority of the Prophet (may God bless him and his family), with different wording and one content, and it is on the authority of Umm Salamah, in which he (may God bless him and his family) informs her of the killing of his grandson, Imam Hussein (peace be upon him), and gives her a vial containing dirt, and tells her that it will turn into blood when Imam Hussein was killed in Karbala. This hadith was narrated by major Shiite and Sunni scholars, including:

   • Al-Maqrizi, Imta’ Al-Asma’, vol. 12, p. 238

   • Ibn Saad, Al-Tabaqat Al-Kubra, vol. 10, p. 427

   • Al-Haythami, Majma’ al-Zawa’id, vol. 9, p. 192

   • Ibn Kathir, The Beginning and the End, Part 6

   • Al-Hakim Al-Naysaburi, Al-Mustadrak, vol. 4, p. 398

   • Al-Dhahabi, Siyar A`lam al-Nubala’, vol. 3, p. 315

   • Al-Dhahabi, History of Islam, vol. 5, p. 16

   • Al-Albani, Series of Authentic Hadiths, vol. 2, p. 465

   • Al-Tabarani, Al-Mu’jam Al-Kabir, vol. 23, p. 289

   • Ibn Abd Rabbuh Al-Andalusi, Al-Aqd Al-Farid, vol. 4, p. 383

   • Al-Hasakani, Shawahid Al-Tanzil, vol. 2, p. 73

   • Ahmed Ibn Abi Khaythamah, Al-Tarikh Al-Kabeer, p. 93

2. Al-Mufid, Al-Irshad, Part 2, pp. 130-131

3. Al-Majlisi, Bihar Al-Anwar, vol. 45, p. 89

4. Sheikh Al-Tusi, Al-Amali, p. 315

5. Al-Tabarani, Al-Mu’jam Al-Kabir, vol. 23, p. 289

6. Ibn Abd Rabbuh Al-Andalusi, Al-Aqd Al-Farid, vol. 4, p. 383

7. Al-Hasakani, Shawahid Al-Tanzil, vol. 2, p. 73

8. Ahmed Ibn Abi Khaythamah, Al-Tarikh Al-Kabeer, p. 93

9. Al-Mufid, Al-Irshad, Part 2, pp. 130-131