According to different historical accounts, between the 3rd and 13th Safar is the martyrdom anniversary of Bibi Ruqqayya bint-al-Hussain(as) - the 4-year old beloved daughter of Imam Hussain(as) who died in the prison of Damascus after the family of the Prophet Mohammad(s) was made prisoner after the events of Karbala and detained in the prison of Damascus. She is also known as Sakina bint-al-Hussain(as) in the Arab world (Some historians doubt this and say that Sakina(as) and Ruqqayya(as) are two different characters).
From the time when Imam Hussain(as) was martyred in the battle field, Sayeda Ruqqayya(as) forgot to smile. Kufa saw her as a little girl lost in thoughts. Quite often she would sit up at night. When asked if she wanted anything, she would say, "I just heard a baby cry? Is it Asghar? He must be calling out for me!"
Knowing that her weeping upset her mother, Bibi Ruqqayya(a) would cry silently and quickly wipe away her tears. In the prison in Damascus she would stare at the flock of birds flying to their nests at sunset and innocently ask Sayeda Zainab(a), "Will Ruqqayya ever be going home like those birds flying to their homes?"
Then one dreadful night Bibi Ruqqayya went to bed on the cold floor of the prison. For a long time she stared into the darkness! She might have been asleep for only a while when she woke up and said to her aunt Zainab “ amma I saw my father – he was calling me saying O Ruqqayya – O my child I have come to take you with me. Come to me my child” …… and Ruqqayya started crying.She cried and cried and then all of a sudden she went quiet. Her aunts thought she has slept and they left her in peace.
The time for the morning prayers came. Her mother called out: "Wake up, Ruqqayya! Wake up, it is time for prayers, my child!" There was only the painful silence! Our fourth Imam Zain-ul-Abideen(as) walked up to Ruqqayya(as) and caressed her and put his hand on her forehead. It was cold! He put his hand near the mouth and the nose. Bibi Ruqqayya(a.s.) had stopped breathing. In between sobs Imam Zain-ul-Abideen(a.s.) recited: "INNA LILLAHI WA INNA ILAYHI RAAJI'OON!".
All the ladies of ahlul-bait gathered around and started weeping.
Zainab(a) held the still child while Imam Zain-ul-Abideen (as) dug a grave in the cell. They tried to change her dress and put a proper kafan but her dress was so glued to her body with her blood that it would not come out without hurting her tender body. In tears they decided to bury her in her blood-soaked clothes.
As the grave was being filled up after the burial Hazrat Umm-e-Rubaab – her mother - let out a scream! How could anyone console Sayeda Rubaab(as)? What could they say? They huddled around her, and the prison walls began to shake with the cry: "Ya Ruqqayya (as), YA MAZLOOMAH!!" Sayeda Rubaab (as) put her cheek on Ruqqayya's grave and cried out: "Speak to me, Ruqqayya! Only a word, my child! Speak to me!! – I lost my little Asghar in Karbala and now you!!!