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Fatwa CenterThe day Al-Hussain ibn ‘Ali, may Allaah be pleased with them both, traveled from Makkah to Iraq
Question
I have heard one scholar from Ahlus-Sunnah Wal-Jamaa’ah say that the Tragedy of Karbalaa’ indeed took place in the month of Safar and not in Muharram. Also, it is a well-known fact that Al-Husain, son of ‘Ali, may Allaah be pleased with them both, left for Koofah from Makkah a day or two before the day of ‘Arafah, and that means he reached on the outskirts of Koofah in a record time of less than one month. And, according to all historical records, it is clear that the minimum time a person riding the fastest horse to reach Koofah from Makkah (950 miles) would be around two months. Is it possible that Al-Husain could have reached Koofah in less than a month, when he was traveling with all his family and his children, as well as his brothers and their families, and his helpers? Please reply with authentic Sunni sources.
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.
It is well-known for the scholars of Ahlus-Sunnah 
that Al-Husayn ibn 'Ali 
was killed on the day of 'Aashooraa', the 10th of Muharram. This is what many scholars have stated, like Al-Waaqidi, Abu Na'eem, Al-Fadhl ibn Dakeen, Ibn Abu Shaybah, Khaleefah ibn Khayyaat, Al-Bukhari (in At-Taareekh Al-Kabeer), Ibn 'Asaakir (in Taareekh Dimashq), Ibn 'Abdul-Barr and Al-Khateeb Al-Baghdaadi .
This is also the authoritative opinion of many late scholars like Ath-Thahabi, Ibn Katheer, Ibn Hajar and others . Some of them stated that Al-Husain ibn 'Ali was killed in the month of Safar; this is what Al-Waaqidi reported from Muhammad ibn Ka'b Al-Quradhi both, and then refuted this saying, “It is confirmed that he was killed on the day of 'Aashooraa' (the 10th of Muharram).” Al-Qurtubi
reported that there is a consensus on this and said, “The scholars agreed in a consensus that he was killed on the day of 'Aashooraa' (the 10th of Muharram) in the year 61 A.H.”
They stated that he travelled from Makkah to Iraq on the 8th of Muharram. Based on this, he travelled the distance in one month and two days and not in less than a month as stated by the questioner; this is a sufficient period of time for travelling this distance.
For more details on the view of Ahlus-Sunnah on the tragedy of Karbalaa', please refer to Fatwas 87406 and 84152.
Allaah Knows best.
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