SHAFAQNA- Alkafeel: For the fourth year in row, the Sofra of Saint Ruqayyah (peace be upon her) spread along the square between the two holy shrines of Imam Al-Hussayn and his brother Aba Al-Fadl Al-Abbas (peace be upon both of them).
In an annual ritual that the people of Karbala and the visitors of Imam Al-Hussayn and his brother Aba Al-Fadl Al-Abbas (peace be upon both of them), are accustomed to perform in such night of the month of Safar as a consolation of Ahl Al-Bayt (peace be upon them) for what happened to them during such days in the ruin of the Levant [Kharibet Ash-Sham], on Sunday evening the 4th of Safar 1440 AH, Corresponding to the October 14, 2018, the longest “Sofra” [Table] was held in the name of the orphan of Imam Al-Hussayn; Lady Ruqayyah (peace be upon her), which died oppressed and aggrieved in the ruin of the Levant, embracing the decapitated head of her martyred father (peace be upon him).
The mourners, especially of women and children, gathered around this “Sofra” that was extended between the shrines of her father and uncle (peace be upon both of them). It was in the green color surrounded by thorns in a metaphor of the day of Ashura when this little girl had to walk on thorns, in addition to lightning the candles. These rituals were initiated by the recitation of verses of the Holy Quran by Haj Mustafa al-Sarraf, followed by the poem of Mohamad al-Fatemi about the Saint Ruqayyah (peace be upon her), then the Radoods Hameed al-Twayrjawi and Hameed al-Tamimi chanted elegies about such a day. These rituals were concluded by play to embody the martyrdom of Saint Ruqayyah (peace be upon her) in such day.
The narrations state that during the stay of Ahl Al-Bayt (peace be upon them) in kharibet Ash-Sham, one night Lady Ruqayyah (peace be upon her) was asleep and she suddenly woke up crying and started to look for her father everywhere. All the ladies tried to console her so she would stop crying but she didn’t get any peace and continued crying, “O my dear aunt where is my father a few minutes ago I was with my father and he kissed me and said to me that my dear Ruqayyah you will soon be with me. But where is my father now?”
When Lady Ruqayyah told her dream, all the ladies started to cry and now this noise of crying was heard by Yazid (the cursed) at his court. Yazid (Allah’s curse be on him) sent a servant to ask why they were crying. The servant was informed that Lady Ruqayyah (peace be upon her) missed her father and that is why she was crying.
They informed Yazid of the situation, and Yazid, for his sadistic pleasure, sent the severed head of Imam Al-Hussayn (peace be upon him) to the prison and when Lady Roqayyah received the head of her father she started to cry even more and held it very tight and asked her father, who cut off my father’s head, who martyred my father, why are we held as captives?
With these words of sorrow suddenly Lady Ruqayyah was quiet and there was a silence in the cell. Everyone thought that Ruqayyah had finally gone to sleep again but this was not a temporary sleep, Ruqayyah had now gone into a permanent sleep. Lady Zaynab (peace be upon her) called Zayn Al-‘Abideen, Imam Ali Ibn Al-Hussayn (peace be upon both of them) to check the status of Ruqayyah as they thought she had fallen unconscious. But the Imam (peace be upon him) told them that she had stopped breathing.
Lady Ruqayyah daughter of Al-Hussayn died then in the ruin of Damascus in the fifth of Safar 61 AH, and was buried in the place where she died and she was then only three or four years old. Her grave is located just a hundred meters from the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus.
Read more from Shafaqna:
The Muslim Foundation in New York is visited by the delegations of holy shrines of Karbala
Flags of the shrines of Imam al-Hussayn (P) and Aba al-Fadl al-Abbas (P) replaced from red to black