Day of the battle

On Muharram 10 called Ashura, Husayn ibn Ali prayed Morning Prayer with his companions. He appointed Zuhayr ibn Qayn to command the right flank, Habib ibn Muzahir to command the left flank and his half-brother Abbas ibn Ali as standard bearer of his army. There is controversy regarding gregorian date for the day of Ashura. October 10, is a calculated date through calculators. But, these calculators are not always correct. According to book Maqtally Hussain Muharram 9 is October 12, 680, so it appears that date was October 13, 680 A.D.

The companions of Husayn ibn Ali were 32 horsemen and 40 infantrymen.Husayn rode on his horse Zuljenah.

On the other side, Yazid had sent Shimir (his chief commander) to replace Umar ibn Saad ibn Yazid as the commander. He reorganized his army and by afternoon, he had come to know that Hurr along with his son had defected to Hussain's army.

Husain ibn Ali called the people around him to join him for the sake of Allah and to defend Muhammed's family. His speech affected Hurr ibn Yazid Al-Riyahi, the commander of the Tamim and Hamdan tribes who had stopped Husain from his journey. He abandoned ibn Sa'ad and galloped his horse to Husain's small force and told them.