How can the horse of Imam al-Husayn (a) be the horse of the Messenger of Allah (s), given the gap in time? And did the horse speak on ʿAshura?
In the Name of Allah, the All-beneficent, the All-merciful
And blessings and peace be upon the noblest of His creation, Muhammad, and his pure Family.
It has been reported in several sources that the horse on which Imam al-Husayn (a) traveled from Medina to Karbala, and with which he plunged into the throes of battle until he was martyred, was one of the horses of the Prophet (s), according to what we have seen in two places:
The first place: When Imam al-Husayn (a) departed from Medina, and as part of his preparations for the journey, he said: Bring me the horse of the Messenger of Allah (s), along with some of the Prophet's (s) personal belongings such as the sword and the armor. It is stated in Mawsuʿat al-Imam al-Husayn (a): “When he (a) made ready to ride from Medina to Mecca, he ordered that the horse of the Messenger of Allah (s) be brought.” Vol. 1, p. 369
The second place: At the killing of Imam al-Husayn (a), when it began smearing its forelock with the Imam's (a) blood. Some sources reported it in a way as though it is the narrator who mentions that it was one of the Prophet's (s) horses, as in Maqtal al-Husayn by Abu Mikhnaf: “When ʿUmar ibn Saʿd looked at al-Husayn's horse, he said: Woe to you! Bring it to me. It was one of the finest horses of the Messenger of Allah (s). So they rode in pursuit of it.” And some sources reported it on the tongue of ʿUmar ibn Saʿd (may Allah curse him), as in the Maqtal of Ibn al-Muqarram: “The horse came circling around him and smearing its forelock with his blood. Ibn Saʿd shouted: Seize the horse, for it is one of the finest horses of the Messenger of Allah (s)! The horsemen surrounded it, and it began kicking with its legs until it had killed forty men and ten horses.” P. 297
As for the wonder at how it could be one of the Prophet's (s) horses given the long period between them, here are some points:
The first point: Some sources have mentioned that it was indeed one of the Prophet's (s) horses, and that it passed to the Commander of the Faithful (a) and then to al-Husayn (a). Among what is stated in them: “When he (a) made ready to ride from Medina to Mecca, he ordered that the horse of the Messenger of Allah (s) called al-Murtajiz be brought, and he rode it. It is the horse concerning which Khuzayma ibn Thabit Dhu al-Shahadatayn bore witness. Its owner was a man of the Banu Murra; he (s) bought it in Medina for ten uqiyas, and the first campaign in which he (s) went out on it was the Battle of Uhud. It was one of the finest horses of the Messenger of Allah (s), according to what Ibn Qutayba narrated in al-Maʿarif. Then after him it passed to ʿAli ibn Abi Talib (a), and he rode it on the day of Siffin, according to what Nasr ibn Muzahim narrated in the book Siffin. Then after him it passed to his son al-Husayn (a), who rode it on the day of al-Taff.” Mawsuʿat al-Imam al-Husayn (a), vol. 1, p. 369
Accordingly, the very same horse had been with the Messenger of Allah (s). This is not strange from the biological point of view, in that the usual lifespans of horses in our time range from 25 to 50 years, and some horses have been recorded with lifespans exceeding sixty years, depending on their pedigree and the nature of their health. Given the historical data on the Prophet's purchase of it in the third year of the Hijra, and knowing that horses reach maturity at 4 to 5 years, it could have been 63 years old at the killing of Imam al-Husayn (a), which is possible.
The second point: The lifespans of horses in the past may have been much longer than now, which makes the matter more ordinary.
The third point: Even if we suppose that it is biologically impossible for a horse to reach this age, it is possible within the power of Allah the Exalted, and this is very clear—especially since some sources mention that this horse will appear at the Reappearance of Imam al-Hujjah (aj). If the report is authentic, there is nothing strange about it, for in Allah's hand are the keys of affairs.
The fourth point: Supposing that historical information is not available that the horse was the very one that was with the Prophet (s), this can be understood to mean that the horse of Imam al-Husayn (a)—which is called al-Maymun and al-Murtajiz, and is called Dhu al-Janah—was of the lineage of the Prophet's (s) horses, so it could be called his horse, as it was customary for some horses of pure lineages to be preserved. However, it is better to take the words in their apparent sense, namely that the horse itself was the Prophet's (s) horse.
The Speaking of al-Husayn's (a) Horse
As for the speaking of the horse on the day of al-Taff, when it headed for the camp of Imam al-Husayn (a) after the Imam—may my soul be his ransom—fell from its back: from the standpoint of possibility in principle (thubut) and feasibility, it is easy. Examples of this have come in the Noble Qurʾan, such as the speaking of the ant and the speaking of the bird, and Allah the Exalted has said: “The seven heavens glorify Him, and the earth [too], and whoever is in them. There is not a thing but celebrates His praise, but you do not understand their glorification. Indeed, He is all-forbearing, all-forgiving.” (Qurʾan 17:44). There is no doubt that the various animals have languages by which they communicate among themselves, but man does not know those languages, except one whom Allah the Exalted has taught, such as the Prophet Solomon (a). As for their speech becoming manifest to man in his own language, this too took place in the time of the Prophet (s) and his Ahl al-Bayt (a), by way of miracle and making the truth clear, in instances that there is no room to mention.
As for its actual occurrence, it has been reported in multiple sources that when it returned to the camp it was saying: “The injustice! The injustice! from a community that killed the son of its Prophet's daughter.” It appears that people did not hear these words at the time; rather, they are a report from the Household of Infallibility (a), and that for two reasons:
The first: The horse smeared its forelock with the Imam's blood so that the women in the camp would know that Imam al-Husayn (a) had been killed; and indeed this is what they understood upon its arrival, and this is what the maqtal books have reported. It made an outward symbolic gesture, together with its evident distress and its saddle being empty of the Imam, and from that the women learned of the Imam's martyrdom. This is also what is understood from the phrase of Ziyarat al-Nahiya al-Muqaddasa:
“Your horse sped off, bolting, heading for your tents, neighing and weeping. When the women saw your steed in disgrace, and beheld your saddle twisted upon it, they came out from their curtained chambers”.
The second: The statement that the horse spoke those words has been reported in several sources from Infallibles; that is, it was they who later informed people of what the horse was saying in its neighing and whinnying as it returned to the tents. Al-ʿAllama al-Majlisi transmitted in al-Bihar from the Commander of the Faithful (a): “He said: I remembered that he will be killed thirsty at the Taff of Karbala, until his horse bolts and neighs and says: The injustice! The injustice! against a community that killed the son of its Prophet's daughter.” Vol. 44, p. 266
And he transmitted in al-Bihar that Allah the Exalted informs the Prophet Moses (a) of the horse's words; and al-Muqarram transmitted in his Maqtal from Imam Abu Jaʿfar al-Baqir (a) that it was saying: “The injustice! The injustice! from a community that killed the son of its Prophet's daughter.” P. 283
Sayed Mahmoud Al-Mosawi