Friction on Water
Being constrained by Ubaidullah’s order Umar bin Sa’d posted 500 sepoys to guard the bank of the river. Water supply was stopped to Imam Husain (radiyallahu ‘anh) and his party (radiyallahu ‘anhum). As such, Imam Husain ordered his brother ‘Abbas bin Ali (radiyallahu ‘anh) to fetch water from the river under escort of thirty horsemen and twenty sepoys. Arriving at the bank, they were resisted by the guard commander Umar bin al-Hajjaj. A regular struggle ensued. Eventually, Hazrat Abbas (radiyallahu ‘anh) succeeded in getting twenty leather bags filled with water.