The Captivity Journey

The Stopping Places on the Way from Kufa to Sham

There are two roads that connect Kufa to Sham:

The Sultani road: This way is too long and has so many stops. As it is not possible for whoever takes this road, even if he walks fast, not to taking it’s curves and stopping at the resting places, to pass it in less than ten days. So, if we would accept that the Hussain convoy took this path, and if we would accept all what happened to them in the stopping places, then this path would have taken them a whole year as some of the historians might say. Some of the main stopping points are: Harran, Hassassah, Tekreet, Wadi Al-Nakhlah, Bersabad, Al-Moussel, Ayn Al-Wardeh, Qansareen, Maarrato Al-Noeman, Kafer Tab, Al-Sheirz, Al-Hamah (Hama), Humess and Balabak.

The straight path (the road of the Arab of Aqeel): This is a way that could be passed in one week since it is straight, and it is the road that the mail man takes.

Perhaps the enemies of Allah and his Messenger (P) did take the shortest path when taking the Hussain convoy from Kufa to Sham.

That it was only normal at that time for Yazeed, Bin Ziad and their soldiers, who were in charge of the Hussain convoy, to try to deliver the convoy in the fastest time possible. As Yazeed was anxious to feel the satisfaction by gloating at the progeny of the Prophet (R), and as for Bin Ziad, he was eager to show Yazeed how he carried his orders as he wanted. Also, the guards who were escorting the Hussain Convoy, they were eager the most to reach Sham to obtain the rewards.

It is important to point that the soldiers of Bin Ziad, when they left with Al-Hussain’s (Q) head from Kufa, they were afraid that the Arab tribes might get angry, so they used to spread among people that they are carrying the head of an outlaw.

There is another opinion that states that most likely they purposely went through the road that passes through the largest number of cities and villages, as the authority in such situation would use terror as a way to impose its respect, and this is supported by the idea of them carrying the heads from one city to another.