“on the day of Badr, the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, ordered them to engage in single combat when ‘Utbah ibn Rabī‘ah, Shaybah ibn Rabī‘ah, and al-Walīd ibn ‘Utbah stepped forward. The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, ‘Rise, Hamzah! Rise, ‘Ubaydah! Rise, ‘Alī!’” Thus, three men from Banū Hāshim went forward to face those three.

It is established in an authentic report that Allah’s words were revealed concerning them:

“These are two opposing parties who have disputed concerning their Lord”—and the rest of the verse.

The verse nevertheless has a general application.

Since al-Hasan and al-Husayn were the leaders of the young men of Paradise, yet had been born after the Hijrah, when Islam was strong, and had not experienced the harm and tribulation suffered by their righteous predecessors, Allah honored them with trials to raise their ranks. This reflected their honored standing with Him, not their insignificance in His sight, just as He honored Hamzah, ‘Alī, Ja‘far, ‘Umar, ‘Uthmān, and others with martyrdom.

In al-Musnad and elsewhere, Fātimah bint al-Husayn narrates from her father, al-Husayn, that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“No Muslim suffers a calamity and later remembers it—even long afterward—and again declares, ‘Indeed, we belong to Allah, and to Him we shall return,’ without Allah granting him a reward like the reward he received on the day it befell him.”

This hadith was narrated by al-Husayn, and from him by his daughter Fātimah, who witnessed his killing. Allah knew that the calamity that befell him would be remembered throughout the ages. Thus, when this calamity and others like it are remembered, what is prescribed is to say:

“Indeed, we belong to Allah, and to Him we