On the second of Muharram, Imam Hussain's (a.s) caravan reached a place that was about forty miles from Kufa and three miles from the bank of the Euphrates. Here, Imam Hussain's horse stopped, and all efforts to goad him to go failed. Camels were brought in and they too did not move from their place. At last, Imam Hussain (a.s.) asked some villagers about the name of the place, and some said it was al-Jazeerah, some others said Nineveh, and others said the Land of Taff. Yet, another said it was known as as-Saqiya, but Imam Hussain (a.s.) kept on inquiring. An old man, who had seen over a hundred summers said, “This place, I heard from my elders, was called Karbala in ancient times and that every Prophet (S) who passed by this place was afflicted with severe grief.” Imam Hussain (a.s.) said, “Verily, Karbala is composed of two words Karb (sorrow) and Bala (affliction).”
In the old testament, Deuteronomy 1:19 says that the Prophet Moses (a.s.) lost his way and wandered for forty years around a place called ‘the Terrible Wilderness’ near Kadesh Barnea which later came to be known as Qadisiya. It was also the place foretold for sacrifice near the river Euphrates [Jeremiah 46, 9]. According to the Prophetic traditions, Noah’s ark was caught in a whirlpool and Jesus Christ suffered and cried at Karbala. Imam Hussain (a.s.) then ordered the tents to be pitched. Imam Hussain (a.s.) sent his men to call the residents of the village inhabited by the Banu Asad, who owned the lands where he had pitched his tents. He offered to pay 60,000 dirhams and purchase the land. The tribesmen remonstrated saying that the accursed land was fallow and never did anything grow in it, and therefore no useful purpose would be served in buying it. Imam Hussain (a.s.) replied, “This land will become fertile with my blood and the blood of my kin and companions, and people will soon inhabit it and my Shia (followers) will visit it as a place of pilgrimage. ”
Imam Hussain (a.s.) purchased the land for 60,000 dirhams and a purchase was made in the name of Ali al-Akbar bin al-Hussain ibn Ali ibn Abi Talib (a.s.). Imam Husayn (a.s.) asked Ali al-Akbar to immediately entrust the land back to the owners by declaring, “I donate this land back to you and make you its custodians so that you may keep the visitors of our graves as guests for three days.”
