Salam everyone. Tonight we commemorate the shahadat of Hazrat Abbas, also known as Qamar e Bani Hashim. Hazrat Abbas holds many titles such as Bab ul Hawaij and Bab ul Murad. These titles were given to him because of his bravery, courage, and loyalty. Imam Ali has said that Hazrat Abbas was born to serve and help Imam Hussain whenever he needed it the most, especially the Battle of Karbala. He became the Imam’s flag bearer and led his troops in the most chaotic of times, in which he guarded the Imam, protected the tents of the women of the Prophet’s household, cared for the children, and made a sacrifice to bring water to the thirsty camp of Imam Hussain (AS). Yazid’s troops stopped the water supply to the Imam’s camp. When the young children could no longer handle their thirst, Hazrat Abbas volunteered to bring them water, which was almost impossible to do. With his bravery, he turned away crowds of enemies and reached the Euphrates River. Despite being thirsty himself, Hazrat Abbas not once drank a droplet of water. He filled the mashk with water, but while he was making his way towards the Imam’s camp, the cowardly enemies attacked him from all sides. One of his hands was cut off when he was struck from behind. He then fought single-handedly with his left arm, which was also then cut by the Umayyad army. The enemies broke out upon him and shot arrows in his eye and at his chest, stabbing the mashk and causing the water flow on the ground. Some narrations say that when Imam Hussain reached Hazrat Abbas and saw him in that condition he said his back was broken because of how important Hazrat Abbas was towards the protections of the women and children in the camps. May all of us have the opportunity to be part of the azadars of Imam Hussain and his family and companions.