Husayn ibn Ali

Husayn ibn Ali
الْحُسَيْنُ بْنُ عَلِيٍّ
Calligraphic seal featuring Husayn's name, on display in the Hagia Sophia
3rd Shia Imam
In office
670–680
Preceded byHasan ibn Ali
Succeeded byAli al-Sajjad
Title
List
  • Sayyid al-Shuhada
    (Master of Martyrs)[1]
  • ash-Shahid[2]
    (the Martyr)
  • as-Sibt[2]
    (the Grandson)
  • Sayyidu Shababi Ahlil Jannah[2][3]
    (Leader of the Youth of Paradise)
  • ar-Rashid[2]
    (the Rightly Guided)
  • at-Tabi li Mardhatillah[2]
    (the Follower of God's Will)
  • al-Mubarak[2]
    (the Blessed)
  • at-Tayyib[2]
    (the Pure)
  • Sayyidush Shuhada[4][5]
    (Master of the Martyrs)
  • al-Wafī[2] (the Loyal)
Personal
Born10 January 626
(3 Sha'ban AH 4)[6]
Medina, Hejaz, Arabia (present-day KSA)
Died10 October 680(680-10-10) (aged 54)
(10 Muharram AH 61)
Cause of deathKilled at the Battle of Karbala
Resting placeImam Husayn Shrine, Karbala Governorate, Iraq
32°36′59″N 44°1′57″E / 32.61639°N 44.03250°E / 32.61639; 44.03250
ReligionIslam
Spouse
Children
Parents
Known for
Relatives
List
Monuments
Other names
OpponentYazid I

Husayn ibn Ali (Arabic: الحسين بن علي, romanizedal-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī; 10 January 626 – 10 October 680) was an Alid political and religious leader. The grandson of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and the son of Ali ibn Abi Talib and Muhammad's daughter Fatima, as well as a younger brother of Hasan ibn Ali,[9] Husayn is regarded as the third Imam in Shia Islam after his brother, Hasan, and before his son, Ali al-Sajjad. Being the grandson of the prophet, he is the member of the ahl al-bayt. He is also considered to be a member of the Ahl al-Kisa, and a participant in the event of the mubahala. Muhammad described him and his brother, Hasan, as the leaders of the youth of Paradise.[10][11]

During the caliphate of Ali, Husayn accompanied him in wars. After the assassination of Ali, he obeyed his brother in recognizing the Hasan–Mu'awiya treaty, despite it being suggested to do otherwise. In the nine-year period between Hasan's abdication in AH 41 (660 CE) and his death in AH 49 (669 CE), Hasan and Husayn retreated to Medina, trying to keep aloof from political involvement for or against Mu'awiya.[12][13] After the death of Hasan, when Iraqis turned to Husayn, concerning an uprising, Husayn instructed them to wait as long as Mu'awiya was alive due to Hasan's peace treaty with him.[12] Prior to his death, Mu'awiya appointed his son Yazid as his successor, contrary to the Hasan–Mu'awiya treaty.[11] When Mu'awiya died in 680, Yazid demanded that Husayn pledge allegiance to him. Husayn refused to do so. As a consequence, he left Medina, his hometown, to take refuge in Mecca in AH 60 (679 CE).[11][14] There, the people of Kufa sent letters to him, invited him to Kufa and asked him to be their Imam and pledged their allegiance to him.[11] On Husayn's way to Kufa with a retinue of about 72 men, his caravan was intercepted by a 1,000-strong army of the caliph at some distance from Kufa. He was forced to head north and encamp in the plain of Karbala on 2 October, where a larger Umayyad army of some 4,000 or 30,000 arrived soon afterwards.[15] Negotiations failed after the Umayyad governor Ubayd Allah ibn Ziyad refused Husayn safe passage without submitting to his authority, a condition declined by Husayn. Battle ensued on 10 October during which Husayn was martyred along with most of his relatives and companions, while his surviving family members were taken prisoner. The battle was followed by the Second Fitna, during which the Iraqis organized two separate campaigns to avenge the martyrdom of Husayn; the first one by the Tawwabin and the other one by Mukhtar al-Thaqafi and his supporters.

The Battle of Karbala galvanized the development of the pro-Alid[a] party (Shi'at Ali) into a unique religious sect with its own rituals and collective memory. It has a central place in the Shi'a history, tradition, and theology, and has frequently been recounted in Shi'a literature. For the Shi'a, Husayn's suffering and martyrdom became a symbol of sacrifice in the struggle for right against wrong, and for justice and truth against injustice and falsehood. It also provides the members of the Shi'a faith with a catalog of heroic norms. The battle is commemorated during an annual ten-day period during the Islamic month of Muharram by many Muslims especially Shi'a, culminating on tenth day of the month, known as the Day of Ashura. On this day, Shi'a Muslims mourn, hold public processions, organize religious gathering, beat their chests and in some cases self-flagellate. Sunni Muslims likewise regard the incident as a historical tragedy; Husayn and his companions are widely regarded as martyrs by both Sunni and Shi'a Muslims.

  1. ^ Nakash, Yitzhak (1 January 1993). "An Attempt To Trace the Origin of the Rituals of Āshurā¸". Die Welt des Islams. 33 (2): 161–181. doi:10.1163/157006093X00063. Archived from the original on 15 August 2016. Retrieved 19 July 2016.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h al-Qarashi, Baqir Shareef (2007). The life of Imam Husain. Qum: Ansariyan Publications. p. 58.
  3. ^ Tirmidhi, Vol. II, p. 221; تاريخ الخلفاء، ص189 [History of the Caliphs]
  4. ^ A Brief History of The Fourteen Infallibles. Qum: Ansariyan Publications. 2004. p. 95.
  5. ^ Kitab al-Irshad. p. 198.
  6. ^ Fığlâlı & Üzün 1998, p. 518.
  7. ^ Reyshahri, Mohammad, Imam Hussain's encyclopedia in the Quran, Sunnah and History, Dar Al-Hadith Research Center, vol. 1, pg. 215
  8. ^ S. Manzoor Rizvi (14 October 2014). The Sunshine Book. Lulu.com. ISBN 978-1312600942.
  9. ^ "Husayn ibn Ali". Encyclopædia Britannica. 6 October 2023. Archived from the original on 2 March 2020. Retrieved 10 October 2023. Al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī, (born January 626, Medina, Arabia [now in Saudi Arabia]—died October 10, 680, Karbalāʾ, Iraq), hero in Shiʿi Islam, grandson of the Prophet Muhammad through his daughter Fāṭima and son-in-law ʿAlī (the first Imam of the Shi'a and the fourth of the Sunni Rashidun caliphs).
  10. ^ Veccia Vaglieri 1971
  11. ^ a b c d Madelung 2004.
  12. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Jafri was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  13. ^ Madelung 1997, pp. 324–327
  14. ^ Dakake 2007, pp. 81–82.
  15. ^ Munson 1988, p. 23.
  16. ^ Donner 2010, p. 178.
  17. ^ Kennedy 2004, p. 89.


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