Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib ( ar, أبو عبد الله الحسين بن علي بن أبي طالب; 10 January 626 – 10 October 680) was a grandson of the Islamic prophet
Muhammad
Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 Common Era, CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Muhammad in Islam, Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet Divine inspiration, di ...
and a
son
A son is a male offspring; a boy or a man in relation to his parents. The female counterpart is a daughter. From a biological perspective, a son constitutes a first degree relative.
Social issues
In pre-industrial societies and some current c ...
of
Ali ibn Abi Talib
ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib ( ar, عَلِيّ بْن أَبِي طَالِب; 600 – 661 CE) was the last of four Rightly Guided Caliphs to rule Islam (r. 656 – 661) immediately after the death of Muhammad, and he was the first Shia Imam. ...
and Muhammad's daughter
Fatima
Fāṭima bint Muḥammad ( ar, فَاطِمَة ٱبْنَت مُحَمَّد}, 605/15–632 CE), commonly known as Fāṭima al-Zahrāʾ (), was the daughter of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and his wife Khadija. Fatima's husband was Ali, th ...
, as well as a younger brother of
Hasan ibn Ali
Hasan ibn Ali ( ar, الحسن بن علي, translit=Al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī; ) was a prominent early Islamic figure. He was the eldest son of Ali and Fatima and a grandson of the Prophets and messengers in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad. He ...
. He is claimed to be the third Imam of
Shia Islam
Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his successor (''khalīfa'') and the Imam (spiritual and political leader) after him, m ...
after his brother, Hasan, and before his son,
Ali ibn Husayn Zayn al-Abidin
ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥusayn Zayn al-ʿĀbidīn ( ar, علي بن الحسين زين العابدين), also known as al-Sajjād (, ) or simply as Zayn al-ʿĀbidīn (), , was an Imam in Shiʻi Islam after his father Husayn ibn Ali, his uncle Hasan ...
. Being a grandson of the prophet, he is a member of the
Ahl al-Bayt
Ahl al-Bayt ( ar, أَهْل ٱلْبَيْت, ) refers to the family of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, but the term has also been extended in Sunni Islam to apply to all descendants of the Banu Hashim (Muhammad's clan) and even to all Muslims. ...
. He is also considered to be a member of the
Ahl al-Kisa
Ahl al-Kisa ( ar, أَهْل ٱلْكِسَاء, ʾAhl al-Kisāʾ, lit=people of the cloak, '), also known as the Aal al-Aba (, ), are the Islamic prophet Muhammad, his daughter Fatima, his cousin and son-in-law Ali, and his two grandsons Ha ...
, and a participant in the
event of Mubahala
The Event of Mubahala () was a meeting between the Islamic prophet Muhammad and a Christian delegation from Najran (present-day Saudi Arabia), in the month of Dhu'l-Hijja, 10 AH (October 631, October 631–32, October 632–33), where Muhamm ...
. Muhammad described him and his brother, Hasan, as "the leaders of the youth of Paradise."
During the caliphate of Ali, Husayn accompanied him in wars. After the
assassination of Ali
Ali ibn Abi Talib, the fourth Rashidun Caliph and first Shia Imam, was assassinated on 26 January 661 by a Kharijite named Abd al-Rahman ibn 'Amr ibn Muljam al-Muradi at the Great Mosque of Kufa, located in present-day Iraq. Ali died fr ...
, he obeyed his brother in recognizing
Hasan–Muawiya treaty
The Hasan–Mu'awiya treaty was a political peace treaty signed in 661 between Caliph Hasan ibn Ali and Mu'awiya I () to bring the First Fitna (656–661) to a close. Under this treaty, Hasan ceded the caliphate to Mu'awiya on the condition tha ...
, in spite of 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
Mu'awiya I ( ar, معاوية بن أبي سفيان, Muʿāwiya ibn Abī Sufyān; –April 680) was the founder and first caliph of the Umayyad Caliphate, ruling from 661 until his death. He became caliph less than thirty years after the deat ...
.
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.
Prior to his death, Mu'awiya appointed his son
Yazid
Yazīd ( ar, يزيد, links=no, "increasing", "adding more") is an Arabic name and may refer to:
Given name
* Yazid I (647–683), second Umayyad Caliph upon succeeding his father Muawiyah
* Yazid II (687–724), Umayyad caliph
* Yazid III (701 ...
as his successor, contrary to the
Hasan–Muawiya treaty
The Hasan–Mu'awiya treaty was a political peace treaty signed in 661 between Caliph Hasan ibn Ali and Mu'awiya I () to bring the First Fitna (656–661) to a close. Under this treaty, Hasan ceded the caliphate to Mu'awiya on the condition tha ...
.
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
Medina,, ', "the radiant city"; or , ', (), "the city" officially Al Madinah Al Munawwarah (, , Turkish: Medine-i Münevvere) and also commonly simplified as Madīnah or Madinah (, ), is the Holiest sites in Islam, second-holiest city in Islam, ...
, his hometown, to take refuge in
Mecca
Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red ...
in AH 60 (679 CE). There, the people of
Kufa
Kufa ( ar, الْكُوفَة ), also spelled Kufah, is a city in Iraq, about south of Baghdad, and northeast of Najaf. It is located on the banks of the Euphrates River. The estimated population in 2003 was 110,000. Currently, Kufa and Najaf ...
sent letters to him, invited him to Kufa and asked him to be their Imam and pledged their allegiance to him.
On Husayn's way to Kufa with a retinue of about 70 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 4,000 arrived soon afterwards. Negotiations failed after the Umayyad governor
Ubayd Allah ibn Ziyad
ʿUbayd Allāh ibn Ziyād ( ar, عبيد الله بن زياد, ʿUbayd Allāh ibn Ziyād) was the Umayyad governor of Basra, Kufa and Khurasan during the reigns of caliphs Mu'awiya I and Yazid I, and the leading general of the Umayyad army unde ...
refused Husayn safe passage without submitting to his authority, a condition declined by Husayn. Battle ensued on 10 October during which Husayn was killed along with most of his relatives and companions, while his surviving family members were taken prisoner. The battle was followed by the
Second Fitna
The Second Fitna was a period of general political and military disorder and civil war in the Islamic community during the early Umayyad Caliphate., meaning trial or temptation) occurs in the Qur'an in the sense of test of faith of the believer ...
, during which the Iraqis organized two separate campaigns to avenge the death of Husayn; the first one by the
Tawwabin and the other one by
Mukhtar al-Thaqafi
Al-Mukhtar ibn Abi Ubayd al-Thaqafi ( ar, المختار بن أبي عبيد الثقفي, '; – 3 April 687) was a pro-Alid revolutionary based in Kufa, who led a rebellion against the Umayyad Caliphate in 685 and ruled over most of Iraq f ...
and his supporters.
The
Battle of Karbala
The Battle of Karbala ( ar, مَعْرَكَة كَرْبَلَاء) was fought on 10 October 680 (10 Muharram in the year 61 AH of the Islamic calendar) between the army of the second Umayyad Caliph Yazid I and a small army led by Husayn ...
galvanized the development of the pro-
Alid
The Alids are those who claim descent from the '' rāshidūn'' caliph and Imam ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib (656–661)—cousin, son-in-law, and companion of the Islamic prophet Muhammad—through all his wives. The main branches are the (inc ...
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
Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest Islamic schools and branches, branch of Islam. It holds that the Prophets and messengers in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad in Islam, Muhammad designated Ali, ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his S ...
history, tradition, and theology, and has frequently been recounted in
Shi'a literature. For the Shi'a, Husayn's suffering and death 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
Sunni Islam () is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word '' Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a disagr ...
likewise regard the incident as a historical tragedy; Husayn and his companions are widely regarded as
martyr
A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an externa ...
s by both Sunni and Shi'a Muslims.
Early life
According to majority of narrations, Husayn was born on the 5th of
Sha'ban
Shaʽban ( ar, شَعْبَان, ') is the eighth month of the Islamic calendar. It is called as the month of "separation", as the word means "to disperse" or "to separate" because the pagan Arabs used to disperse in search of water.
The fiftee ...
4 AH (10 January 626 CE) in
Medina
Medina,, ', "the radiant city"; or , ', (), "the city" officially Al Madinah Al Munawwarah (, , Turkish: Medine-i Münevvere) and also commonly simplified as Madīnah or Madinah (, ), is the Holiest sites in Islam, second-holiest city in Islam, ...
and was still a child when his grandfather,
Muhammad
Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 Common Era, CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Muhammad in Islam, Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet Divine inspiration, di ...
, died.
He was the younger son of
Ali
ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib ( ar, عَلِيّ بْن أَبِي طَالِب; 600 – 661 CE) was the last of four Rightly Guided Caliphs to rule Islam (r. 656 – 661) immediately after the death of Muhammad, and he was the first Shia Imam. ...
, the cousin of Muhammad, and
Fatima
Fāṭima bint Muḥammad ( ar, فَاطِمَة ٱبْنَت مُحَمَّد}, 605/15–632 CE), commonly known as Fāṭima al-Zahrāʾ (), was the daughter of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and his wife Khadija. Fatima's husband was Ali, th ...
, the daughter of Muhammad, both from the
Banu Hashim
)
, type = Qurayshi Arab clan
, image =
, alt =
, caption =
, nisba = al-Hashimi
, location = Mecca, Hejaz Middle East, North Africa, Horn of Africa
, descended = Hashim ibn Abd Manaf
, parent_tribe = Qu ...
clan of the
Quraysh
The Quraysh ( ar, قُرَيْشٌ) were a grouping of Arab clans that historically inhabited and controlled the city of Mecca and its Kaaba. The Islamic prophet Muhammad was born into the Hashim clan of the tribe. Despite this, many of the Qur ...
tribe. Both Hasan and Husayn were named by Muhammad, although Ali had other names such as "Harb" in mind. To celebrate Husayn's birth, Muhammad sacrificed a ram, and Fatima shaved his head and donated the same weight of his hair in silver as alms.
According to Islamic traditions, Husayn is mentioned in the Torah as "Shubayr" and in the Gospels as "Tab". Aaron, Moses' brother, gave the same names to his sons after learning the names God had chosen for Ali's children.
Husayn was brought up in the household of Muhammad at first. The family formed from the marriage of Ali and Fatima was praised many times by Muhammad. In events such as
Mubahala
The Event of Mubahala () was a meeting between the Islamic prophet Muhammad and a Christian delegation from Najran (present-day Saudi Arabia), in the month of Dhu'l-Hijja, 10 AH (October 631, October 631–32, October 632–33), where Muhamm ...
and the
hadith
Ḥadīth ( or ; ar, حديث, , , , , , , literally "talk" or "discourse") or Athar ( ar, أثر, , literally "remnant"/"effect") refers to what the majority of Muslims believe to be a record of the words, actions, and the silent approval ...
of the
Ahl al-Kisa
Ahl al-Kisa ( ar, أَهْل ٱلْكِسَاء, ʾAhl al-Kisāʾ, lit=people of the cloak, '), also known as the Aal al-Aba (, ), are the Islamic prophet Muhammad, his daughter Fatima, his cousin and son-in-law Ali, and his two grandsons Ha ...
, Muhammad referred to this family as the
ahl al-bayt
Ahl al-Bayt ( ar, أَهْل ٱلْبَيْت, ) refers to the family of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, but the term has also been extended in Sunni Islam to apply to all descendants of the Banu Hashim (Muhammad's clan) and even to all Muslims. ...
. In the Qur'an, in many cases, such as the
Verse of Purification
The Verse of Purification (Arabic:آية التطهير) refers to verse 33:33 of the Quran about the status of purity of the Ahl al-Bayt (). The last passage of this verse reads:
Muslims disagree as to who belongs to the Ahl al-Bayt and what ...
, the ahl al-bayt has been praised.
According to Madelung, there are numerous narrations showing Muhammad's love for Hasan and Husayn, such as carrying them on his shoulders, or putting them on his chest and kissing them on the belly. Madelung believes that some of these reports may imply a little preference of Muhammad for Hasan over Husayn, or pointing out that Hasan was more similar to his grandfather.
Other
Hadith
Ḥadīth ( or ; ar, حديث, , , , , , , literally "talk" or "discourse") or Athar ( ar, أثر, , literally "remnant"/"effect") refers to what the majority of Muslims believe to be a record of the words, actions, and the silent approval ...
s of this kind are: "whoever loves them loves me and whoever hates them hates me", and "al-Hasan and al-Husayn are the sayyids
asters
''Aster'' is a genus of perennial flowering plants in the family Asteraceae. Its circumscription has been narrowed, and it now encompasses around 170 species, all but one of which are restricted to Eurasia; many species formerly in ''Aster'' are ...
of the youth of Paradise". The recent one is used by Shia to prove the right of
Imamate
{{expand Arabic, date=April 2021
The term imamate or ''imamah'' ( ar, إمامة, ''imāmah'') means "leadership" and refers to the office of an ''imam'' or a state ruled by an ''imam''.
Theology
*Imamate, in Sunni doctrine the caliphate
:* Naqshb ...
for the descendants of Muhammad. is an epithet used by Shias to refer to each of Muhammad's grandsons.
It is also narrated that Muhammad took Ali, Fatima, Hasan and Husayn under his cloak and called them ahl al-bayt and stated that they are free from any sin and pollution.
Muhammad reported the Karbala incident on several occasions; For example, he gave a small bottle of soil to
Umm Salama
Hind bint Abi Umayya ( ar, هِنْد بِنْت أَبِي أُمَيَّة, Hind ʾibnat ʾAbī ʾUmayya, 580 or 596 – 680 or 683), better known as Umm Salama ( ar, أُمّ سَلَمَة, link=no) or Hind al-Makhzūmiyah ( ar, هِنْد ...
and told her that the soil inside the bottle would turn into blood after Husayn was killed.
Event of ''Mubahala''
![Panjtan](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dd/Panjtan.jpg)
In the year 10 AH (631–632) a
Christian
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
envoy from
Najran
Najran ( ar, نجران '), is a city in southwestern Saudi Arabia near the border with Yemen. It is the capital of Najran Province. Designated as a new town, Najran is one of the fastest-growing cities in the kingdom; its population has risen fr ...
(now in northern
Yemen
Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...
) came to Muhammad to argue which of the two parties erred in its doctrine concerning
Jesus
Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...
. After likening Jesus' miraculous birth to
Adam
Adam; el, Ἀδάμ, Adám; la, Adam is the name given in Genesis 1-5 to the first human. Beyond its use as the name of the first man, ''adam'' is also used in the Bible as a pronoun, individually as "a human" and in a collective sense as " ...
's creation —who was born to neither a mother nor a father— and when the Christians did not accept the Islamic doctrine about Jesus, Muhammad reportedly received a revelation instructing him to call them to Mubahala, where each party should ask God to destroy the false party and their families:
In Shia perspective, in the
verse of ''Mubahala'', the phrase "our sons" would refer to Hasan and Husayn, "our women" refers to Fatima, and "ourselves" refers to Ali. Most of the Sunni narrations quoted by
al-Tabari
( ar, أبو جعفر محمد بن جرير بن يزيد الطبري), more commonly known as al-Ṭabarī (), was a Muslim historian and scholar from Amol, Tabaristan. Among the most prominent figures of the Islamic Golden Age, al-Tabari ...
do not name the participants. Other Sunni historians mention Muhammad, Fatima, Hasan and Husayn as having participated in the Mubahala, and some agree with the Shia tradition that Ali was among them.
The verse "God wishes only to remove taint from you, people of the Household, and to make you utterly pure" is also attributed to this event, during which Ali, Fatima, Hasan and Husayn stood under Muhammad's cloak.
Thus the title, the Family of the Cloak, is related sometimes to the Event of Mubahala.
During the caliphate of Abu Bakr, Umar and Uthman
During the caliphate of Abu Bakr and Umar, Husayn was present at some events such as testifying about the story of Fadak. According to a narration, Husayn, while the second caliph, was sitting on the pulpit of Muhammad and giving a speech, objected to him for sitting on the pulpit of Muhammad, and Umar also stopped his sermon and came down from the pulpit.
During the time of Uthman, he defended
Abu Dharr al-Ghifari
Abu Dharr Al-Ghifari Al-Kinani (, '), also spelled Abu Tharr or Abu Zar, born Jundab ibn Junādah (), was the fourth or fifth person converting to Islam, and from the Muhajirun. He belonged to the Banu Ghifar, the Kinanah tribe. No date of birt ...
, who had preached against some of the actions of the tyrants and was to be exiled from Medina.
According to several narrations, Ali asked Hasan and Husayn to defend the third Caliph during the
Siege of Uthman
Uthman ibn Affan, the third Rashidun caliph, was assassinated at the end of a siege upon his house in 656. Initially a protest, the siege escalated following the death of a protester. The protesters-turned-rebels had demanded a new caliph, but U ...
and carry water to him. According to Vaglieri, when Hasan entered Uthman's house, Uthman was already assassinated.
Another report says that Uthman asked Ali's help. The latter send Husayn in response. Then Uthman asked Husayn if he was able to defend himself against rebels. Husayn demurred, so Uthman sent him back. It is also narrated that Uthman's cousin,
Marwan ibn Hakam
Marwan ibn al-Hakam ibn Abi al-As ibn Umayya ( ar, links=no, مروان بن الحكم بن أبي العاص بن أمية, Marwān ibn al-Ḥakam ibn Abī al-ʿĀṣ ibn Umayya), commonly known as MarwanI (623 or 626April/May 685), was the fo ...
, have said Husayn: "Leave us, your father incites the people against us, and you are here with us!" Haeri writes in the Encyclopedia of the Islamic World: According to some narrations, Husayn or Hasan were wounded in the case of defending Uthman.
During the caliphate of Ali and Hasan
During the Caliphate of Ali, Husayn, along with his brothers Hasan and
Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyya
Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib () also known as Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥanafīyya () (15 AH – 81 AH; AD 637 – 700) and surnamed Abū al-Qāsim. He was the third son of Ali ibn Abi Talib (the fourth rightly-guided caliph and the firs ...
, and his cousin,
Abdullah ibn Ja'far
ʿAbd Allāh ibn Jaʿfar ( ar, عبد الله بن جعفر; 699 or 702/704), was a companion and relative of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, a nephew of Ali and a half-brother of Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr. He was loyal to Ahl al-Bayt in spite of his ...
were among closest allies of Ali. He remained alongside him, accompanying him in the battlefields.
According to a report by
Tabari
( ar, أبو جعفر محمد بن جرير بن يزيد الطبري), more commonly known as al-Ṭabarī (), was a Muslim historian and scholar from Amol, Tabaristan. Among the most prominent figures of the Islamic Golden Age, al-Tabari i ...
, Husayn was among Ali's major supporters who were cursed in public by the order of
Mu'awiya
Mu'awiya I ( ar, معاوية بن أبي سفيان, Muʿāwiya ibn Abī Sufyān; –April 680) was the founder and first caliph of the Umayyad Caliphate, ruling from 661 until his death. He became caliph less than thirty years after the deat ...
.
After the
assassination of Ali
Ali ibn Abi Talib, the fourth Rashidun Caliph and first Shia Imam, was assassinated on 26 January 661 by a Kharijite named Abd al-Rahman ibn 'Amr ibn Muljam al-Muradi at the Great Mosque of Kufa, located in present-day Iraq. Ali died fr ...
people gave allegiance to Hasan. Mu'awiya who did not want go give allegiance to him, prepared to fight. To avoid the agonies of the civil war, Hasan signed a
treaty with Mu'awiya, according to which Mu'awiya would not name a successor during his reign, and let the Islamic community () choose his successor.
Madelung believes that Husayn did not recognize this treaty at first, but pressed by Hasan, accepted it. Later on when several Shia leaders suggested him to conduct a surprise attack on Mu'awiya's camp near Kufa, he refused, saying that as long as Mu'awiya was alive, he would abide by the terms of the peace treaty, however, after Mu'awiya's death, he will reconsider it. After signing the peace treaty, Mu'awiyah delivered a sermon in Kufa in which he declared that he had violated all the provisions of the treaty and also insulted Ali ibn Abi Talib. Husayn wanted to respond, but Hasan refused to do so, and Hasan delivered a sermon in response. Husayn adhered to the terms of the treaty even after Hassan's death. Husayn then left Kufa for Medina along with Hasan and Abdullah ibn Ja'far. He adhered to the terms of the treaty even after Hasan's death.
During the caliphate of Mu'awiya
According to the Shi'a, Husayn was the third
Imam
Imam (; ar, إمام '; plural: ') is an Islamic leadership position. For Sunni Muslims, Imam is most commonly used as the title of a worship leader of a mosque. In this context, imams may lead Islamic worship services, lead prayers, ser ...
for a period of ten years after the death of his brother Hasan in 670 AD. All of this time except the last six months coincided with the caliphate of Mu'awiya.
[Tabatabaei, (1979), p.196.]
In the nine-year period between Hasan's abdication in AH 41 (660 AD) and his death in AH 49 (669 AD), Hasan and Husayn retreated to Medina, trying to keep aloof from political involvement for or against Mu'awiya.
Sentiments in favor of the rule of Ahl al-Bayt occasionally emerged in the form of small groups, mostly from Kufa, visiting Hasan and Husayn asking them to be their leaders - a request to which they declined to respond.
When Hasan was poisoned, he refused to tell Husayn the name of his suspect, probably Mu'awiya, in fear of provoking bloodshed.
The burial of Hasan's body near that of Muhammad, was another problem which could have led to bloodshed, as Marwan ibn Hakam swore that he would not permit Hasan to be buried near Muhammad with
Abu Bakr
Abu Bakr Abdallah ibn Uthman Abi Quhafa (; – 23 August 634) was the senior companion and was, through his daughter Aisha, a father-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, as well as the first caliph of Islam. He is known with the honor ...
and
Umar
ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb ( ar, عمر بن الخطاب, also spelled Omar, ) was the second Rashidun caliph, ruling from August 634 until his assassination in 644. He succeeded Abu Bakr () as the second caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate o ...
, while Uthman was buried in the cemetery of
al-Baqi
''Jannat al-Baqīʿ'' ( ar, ٱلْبَقِيْع, "The Baqi'") is the oldest and the first Islamic cemetery of Medina in the Hejazi region of present-day Saudi Arabia. It is located to the southeast of the Prophet's Mosque, which contains the gr ...
.
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.
Meanwhile, Marwan reported to Mu'awiya the frequent visits of Shias to Husayn. Mu'awiya instructed Marwan not to clash with Husayn, in the same time he wrote a letter to Husayn in which he "mingled generous promises with the advice not
to provoke him." Later on, when Mu'awiya was taking allegiance for his son,
Yazid
Yazīd ( ar, يزيد, links=no, "increasing", "adding more") is an Arabic name and may refer to:
Given name
* Yazid I (647–683), second Umayyad Caliph upon succeeding his father Muawiyah
* Yazid II (687–724), Umayyad caliph
* Yazid III (701 ...
, Husayn was among the five prominent persons who did not give his allegiance,
as appointing a successor was in violation of Hasan's peace treaty with Mu'awiya.
Before his death in April 680, Mu'awiya cautioned Yazid that Husayn and
Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr
Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr ibn al-Awwam ( ar, عبد الله ابن الزبير ابن العوام, ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Zubayr ibn al-ʿAwwām; May 624 CE – October/November 692), was the leader of a caliphate based in Mecca that rivaled the ...
might challenge his rule and instructed him to defeat them if they did. Yazid was further advised to treat Husayn with caution and not to spill his blood, since he was the grandson of Muhammad.
Uprising
Refusal to give allegiance to Yazid
Immediately after Mu'awiya's death on 15th of
Rajab
Rajab ( ar, رَجَب) is the seventh month of the Islamic calendar. The lexical definition of the classical Arabic verb ''rajaba'' is "to respect" which could also mean "be awe or be in fear", of which Rajab is a derivative.
This month is re ...
60 AH (22 April 680 AD), Yazid charged the governor of Medina,
Walid ibn Utba ibn Abu Sufyan, to secure allegiance from Husayn with force if necessary. Yazid's goal was to take control of the situation in the city before the people became aware of Mu'awiya's death. Yazid's concern was especially about his two rivals in the caliphate; Husayn and
Abdullah ibn Zubayr
Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr ibn al-Awwam ( ar, عبد الله ابن الزبير ابن العوام, ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Zubayr ibn al-ʿAwwām; May 624 CE – October/November 692), was the leader of a caliphate based in Mecca that rivaled the ...
who had previously renounced allegiance.
Husayn answered the summons but declined to pledge allegiance in the secretive environment of the meeting, suggesting it should be done in public.
Marwan ibn Hakam told Walid to imprison or behead him, but due to Husayn's kinship with Muhammad, Walid was unwilling to take any action against him. A few days later, Husayn left for Mecca without acknowledging Yazid. He arrived in Mecca at the beginning of May 680, and stayed there until the beginning of September. He was accompanied by his wives, children and brothers, as well as Hasan's sons.
Invitations from Kufa
Husayn had considerable support in Kufa, which had been the caliphal capital during the reigns of his father and brother. The Kufans had fought the Umayyads and their Syrian allies during the First Fitna, the five-year civil war which had established the Umayyad Caliphate. They were dissatisfied with Hasan's abdication and strongly resented Umayyad rule. While in Mecca, Husayn received letters from pro-
Alids
The Alids are those who claim descent from the '' rāshidūn'' caliph and Imam ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib (656–661)—cousin, son-in-law, and companion of the Islamic prophet Muhammad—through all his wives. The main branches are the (inclu ...
in Kufa informing him that they were tired of the Umayyad rule, which they considered to be oppressive, and that they had no rightful leader. They asked him to lead them in revolt against Yazid, promising to remove the Umayyad governor if Husayn would consent to aid them. Husayn wrote back affirmatively that a rightful leader is the one who acts according to the
Qur'an
The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , sing. ...
and promised to lead them with the right guidance. Then he sent his cousin
Muslim ibn Aqil
Muslim ibn Aqil al-Hashimi ( ar, مُسْلِم ٱبْن عَقِيل ٱلْهَاشِمِيّ ') was the son of Aqil ibn Abi Talib and a member of the clan of Banu Hashim, thus, he is a cousin of Husayn ibn Ali. The people of Kufa called upon ...
to assess the situation in Kufa. Ibn Aqil attracted widespread support and informed Husayn of the situation, suggesting that he join them there. Yazid removed
Nu'man ibn Bashir al-Ansari
Nuʿmān ibn Bashīr al-Anṣārī () (c. 622–684) was a Companion of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. He was also a commander and statesman of the Umayyad Caliphate. A supporter of Mu'awiya ibn Abi Sufyan during the First Muslim Civil War, he was ...
as governor of Kufa due to his inaction, and installed
Ubayd Allah ibn Ziyad
ʿUbayd Allāh ibn Ziyād ( ar, عبيد الله بن زياد, ʿUbayd Allāh ibn Ziyād) was the Umayyad governor of Basra, Kufa and Khurasan during the reigns of caliphs Mu'awiya I and Yazid I, and the leading general of the Umayyad army unde ...
, then governor of
Basra
Basra ( ar, ٱلْبَصْرَة, al-Baṣrah) is an Iraqi city located on the Shatt al-Arab. It had an estimated population of 1.4 million in 2018. Basra is also Iraq's main port, although it does not have deep water access, which is hand ...
, in his place. As a result of Ibn Ziyad's suppression and political maneuvering, Ibn Aqil's following began to dissipate and he was forced to declare the revolt prematurely. It was defeated and Ibn Aqil was killed.
Husayn had also sent a messenger to Basra, another garrison town in Iraq, but the messenger could not attract any following and was quickly apprehended and executed.
Husayn was unaware of the change of political circumstances in Kufa and decided to depart.
Abd Allah ibn Abbas
ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbbās ( ar, عَبْد ٱللَّٰه ٱبْن عَبَّاس; c. 619 – 687 CE), also known as Ibn ʿAbbās, was one of the cousins of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. He is considered to be the greatest mufassir of the Qur'an ...
and Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr advised him not to move to Iraq, or, if he was determined, not to take women and children with him. Nevertheless, he offered Husayn support if he would stay in Mecca and lead the opposition to Yazid from there. Husayn refused this, citing his abhorrence of bloodshed in the sanctuary, and decided to go ahead with his plan.
Journey towards Kufa
Despite the advice of Muhammad Hanafi, Abdullah ibn Umar, and the constant insistence of Abdullah ibn Abbas in Mecca, Husayn did not back down from his decision to go to Kufa.
Ibn 'Abbas pointed out that the Kufis had left both Ali and Hassan alone, and suggested that Husayn go to Yemen instead of Kufa, or at least not take women and children with him if he were to go to Iraq.
Husayn insisted on his decision and wrote about his motives and goals in a famous letter or will that he gave to Mohammad Hanafiya:
“I did not go out for fun and selfishness and for corruption and oppression; Rather, my goal is to correct the corruptions that have occurred in the nation of my ancestors. I want to command the good and forbid the bad, and follow the tradition of my grandfather and the way of my father Ali ibn Abi Talib. So, whoever accepts this truth (and follows me) has accepted the way of God and whoever rejects (and does not follow me) I will walk (my way) with patience and perseverance so that God may be the judge between me and this nation and he is the best judge.”
Then, Husayn, who had not yet received the letters of the new events of Kufa, prepared to leave for Kufa on the 8th or 10th of Dhu al-Hijjah 60 AH / 10 or 12 September 680 AD. Instead of performing Hajj, he performed Umrah, and in the absence of the Governor of Mecca,
Amr ibn Sa'id ibn As, who was performing Hajj on the outskirts of the city, secretly left the city with his companions and family. Fifty men from Husayn's relatives and friends - who could fight if needed - accompanied Husayn, including women and children. He took the northerly route through the
Arabian Desert. On persuasion of Husayn's cousin
Abd Allah ibn Ja'far
ʿAbd Allāh ibn Jaʿfar ( ar, عبد الله بن جعفر; 699 or 702/704), was a companion and relative of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, a nephew of Ali and a half-brother of Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr. He was loyal to Ahl al-Bayt in spite of his ...
, the governor of Mecca
Amr ibn Sa'id
Abū Umayya ʿAmr ibn Saʿīd ibn al-ʿĀṣ al-Umawī ( ar, عمرو بن سعيد بن العاص بن أمية الأموي; died 689/90), better known as al-Ashdaq (), was a member of Banu Umayya, general and a contender for the caliphal throne ...
sent his brother and Ibn Ja'far after Husayn in order to assure him safety in Mecca and bring him back. Husayn refused to return, relating that Muhammad had ordered him in a dream to move forward irrespective of the consequences. Further on the way, he received the news of the execution of Ibn Aqil and the indifference of the people of Kufa.
He informed his followers of the situation and asked them to leave. Most of the people who had joined him on the way left, while his companions from Mecca decided to stay with him.
On the way, Husayn encountered various people. In response to Husayn's question about the situation in Iraq, the poet
Farzadaq explicitly told him that the hearts of the Iraqi people are with you, but their swords are in the service of the Umayyads. But Husayn's decision was unwavering, and in response to those who tried to dissuade him, he said that things were in God's hands and that God wanted the best for His servants and would not be hostile to anyone who was right. The news of the murder of
Muslim ibn Aqeel
Muslim ibn Aqil al-Hashimi ( ar, مُسْلِم ٱبْن عَقِيل ٱلْهَاشِمِيّ ') was the son of Aqil ibn Abi Talib and a member of the clan of Banu Hashim, thus, he is a cousin of Husayn ibn Ali. The people of Kufa called upo ...
and
Hani ibn Arwa was reported by some travellers, for the first time in Thalabiyah.
When Husayn reached the area of Zabalah, he found out that his messenger,
Qais ibn Mushar Sa'idawi - or his brother-in-law,
Abdullah ibn Yaqtar - who had been sent from Hejaz to Kufa to inform the people of Husayn's imminent arrival, was exposed and killed by falling from the roof of Kufa Palace. Upon hearing this, Husayn allowed his supporters to leave the caravan due to the depressing issues such as the betrayal of the Kufis. A number of those who had joined him on the way, parted away. But those who had come with Husayn from Hejaz did not leave him. The news from Kufa showed that the situation there had completely changed from what Muslim had reported. The political assessments made it clear to Husayn that going to Kufa was no longer apt.
In the area of Sharaf or Zuhsam, armies emerged from Kufa under the leadership of Hurr ibn Yazid. With the weather being hot there, Husayn ordered water to be given to them and then announced his motives to the army and said:
"You did not have an Imam and I became the means of uniting the ummah. Our family is more deserving of government than anyone else, and those in power do not deserve it and rule unjustly. If you support me, I will go to Kufa. But if you do not want me anymore, I will return to my first place."
Ibn Ziyad had stationed troops on the routes into Kufa. Husayn and his followers were intercepted by the vanguard of Yazid's army, about 1,000 men led by
Hurr ibn Yazid al-Tamimi, south of Kufa near
Qadisiyya. Husayn said to them:
I did not come to you until your letters were brought to me, and your messengers came to me saying, 'Come to us, for we have no imam.' ... Therefore, if you give me what you guaranteed in your covenants and sworn testimonies, I will come to your town. If you will not and are averse to my coming, I will leave you for the place from which I came to you.
He then showed them the letters he had received from the Kufans, including some in Hurr's force.
Hurr denied any knowledge of the letters and stated that Husayn must go with him to Ibn Ziyad, which Husayn refused to do. Hurr responded that he would not allow Husayn to either enter Kufa or go back to Medina, but that he was free to travel anywhere else he wished. Nevertheless, he did not prevent four Kufans from joining Husayn. Husayn's caravan started to move towards Qadisiyya, and Hurr followed them. At Naynawa, Hurr received orders from Ibn Ziyad to force Husayn's caravan to halt in a desolate place without fortifications or water. One of Husayn's companions suggested that they attack Hurr and move to the fortified village of al-Aqr. Husayn refused, stating that he did not want to start the hostilities.
According to Valiri, Hurr ordered his army to take Husayn and his companions to Ibn Ziad without fighting and intended to persuade Husayn to do so. But when he saw that Husayn was moving his caravan, he did not dare to follow it. However, Madlung and Bahramian write that when Husayn was ready to leave, Hurr blocked his way and said that if Husayn did not accept the order given by Ibn Ziad, Hurr would not allow him to go to Medina or Kufa. He suggested to Husayn to neither go to Kufa nor to Medina, rather write a letter to Yazid or Ibn Ziad and wait for their orders, hoping to avoid this difficult situation by receiving an answer. But Husayn did not heed to his advice and continued to Azad or Qadisiyah. Hurr informed Husayn that he was doing this for Husayn and that if there would be a war, Husayn would be killed. Husayn, however, was not afraid of death and stopped in an area called Karbala, on the outskirts of Kufa.
In one place, Husayn recited a sermon and said: "I do not see death except as martyrdom and living with the oppressors except as hardship." In another place, he explained the reason for his opposition to the government while recalling the bitterness of breaking the allegiance of the people of Kufa with his father and brother, saying, "These people have submitted to the obedience of Satan and have left the obedience of God the Merciful." On the way, he refused to accept the offer to go to the tribe of Tayy by pointing to his pact with Hur about not returning. Later, a messenger from Ibn Ziad came to Hur and without greeting Husayn, gave a letter to Hur in which Ibn Ziad had ordered him to not to stop in a place where Husayn can have easy access to water. With this letter, Obaidullah wanted to force Husayn to fight. Zuhair ibn Qayn suggested to Husayn to attack the small army of Hur and capture the fortified village of Akr. But Husayn did not accept; Because he did not want to start a war.
On 2 October 680 (2 Muharram 61 AH), Husayn arrived at
Karbala
Karbala or Kerbala ( ar, كَرْبَلَاء, Karbalāʾ , , also ;) is a city in central Iraq, located about southwest of Baghdad, and a few miles east of Lake Milh, also known as Razzaza Lake. Karbala is the capital of Karbala Governorat ...
, a desert plain north of Kufa, and set up camp.
![Khema-gah, Karbala](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3e/Khema-gah%2C_Karbala.JPG)
On the following day, a 4,000-strong Kufan army arrived under the command of
Umar ibn Sa'd
ʿUmar ibn Saʿd () ( fl. 620–686) was a son of Muhammad's companion, Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas. He was born in Medina and later moved to Kufa, which was founded by his father and stayed there until his death.
He took orders from Ubaydullah ibn Ziya ...
. He had been appointed governor of
Rayy
Shahr-e Ray ( fa, شهر ری, ) or simply Ray (Shar e Ray; ) is the capital of Ray County in Tehran Province, Iran. Formerly a distinct city, it has now been absorbed into the metropolitan area of Greater Tehran as the 20th district of municip ...
to suppress a local rebellion, but then recalled to confront Husayn. Initially, he was unwilling to fight Husayn, but complied following Ibn Ziyad's threat to revoke his governorship. After negotiations with Husayn, Ibn Sa'd wrote to Ibn Ziyad that Husayn was willing to return. Ibn Ziyad replied that Husayn must surrender or he should be subdued by force, and that to compel him, he and his companions should be denied access to the
Euphrates
The Euphrates () is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of Western Asia. Tigris–Euphrates river system, Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia ( ''the land between the rivers'') ...
river. Ibn Sa'd stationed 500 horsemen on the route leading to the river. Husayn and his companions remained without water for three days before a group of fifty men led by his half-brother
Abbas
Abbas may refer to:
People
* Abbas (name), list of people with the name, including:
**Abbas ibn Ali, Popularly known as Hazrat-e-Abbas (brother of Imam Hussayn)
**Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib, uncle of Muhammad
** Mahmoud Abbas (born 1935), Palest ...
was able to access the river. They could only fill twenty water-skins.
Husayn and Ibn Sa'd met during the night to negotiate a settlement; it was rumored that Husayn made three proposals: either he be allowed to return to Medina, submit to Yazid directly, or be sent to a border post where he would fight alongside the Muslim armies. According to Madelung, these reports are probably untrue as Husayn at this stage is unlikely to have considered submitting to Yazid. A ''
mawla
Mawlā ( ar, مَوْلَى, plural ''mawālī'' ()), is a polysemous Arabic word, whose meaning varied in different periods and contexts.A.J. Wensinck, Encyclopedia of Islam 2nd ed, Brill. "Mawlā", vol. 6, p. 874.
Before the Islamic prophet ...
'' of Husayn's wife later claimed that Husayn had suggested that he be allowed to leave, so that all parties could allow the fluid political situation to clarify. Ibn Sa'd sent the proposal, whatever it was, to Ibn Ziyad, who is reported to have accepted but then persuaded otherwise by
Shemr ibn Ziljawshan. Shemr argued that Husayn was in his domain and letting him go would be to demonstrate weakness. Ibn Ziyad then sent Shemr with orders to ask Husayn for his allegiance once more and to attack, kill and disfigure him if he was to refuse, as "a rebel, a seditious person, a brigand, an oppressor and he was to do no further harm after his death". If Ibn Sa'd was unwilling to carry out the attack, he was instructed to hand over command to Shemr. Ibn Sa'd cursed Shemr and accused him of foiling his attempts to reach a peaceful settlement but agreed to carry out the orders. He remarked that Husayn would not submit because there was "a proud soul in him".
The army advanced toward Husayn's camp on the evening of 9 October. Husayn sent Abbas to ask Ibn Sa'd to wait until the next morning, so that they could consider the matter. Ibn Sa'd agreed to this respite. Husayn told his men that they were all free to leave, with his family, under the cover of night, since their opponents only wanted him. Very few availed themselves of this opportunity. Defense arrangements were made: tents were brought together and tied to one another and a ditch was dug behind the tents and filled with wood ready to be set alight in case of attack. Husayn and his followers then spent the rest of the night praying.
Battle of Karbala
After the morning prayer on 10 October, both parties took up battle positions. Husayn appointed
Zuhayr ibn Qayn
Zuhayr ibn Al-Qayn Al-Bajalī ( ar, زُهَيْر ٱبْن ٱلْقَيْن ٱلْبَجَلِيّ, fa, زهیر بن قین بجلی), was a member of the Bajila tribe in Iraq and a companion of Husayn ibn Ali, Muhammad's grandson and son of ...
to command the right flank of his army,
Habib ibn Muzahir
Ḥabīb ibn Muẓāhir al-Asadī ( ar, حبيب بن مظاهر الأسدي, translit=Ḥabīb ibn Muẓāhir al-Asadī) was of the Banu Asad ibn Khuzaymah, Banu Asad clan, and one of the companions of Ali, Hasan ibn Ali and Husayn ibn Ali. He ...
to command the left flank, and his half-brother Abbas as the standard bearer. Husayn's companions, according to most accounts, numbered thirty-two horsemen and forty infantrymen. Ibn Sa'd's army totaled 4,000. The ditch containing wood were set alight. Husayn then delivered a speech to his opponents reminding them of his status as Muhammad's grandson and reproaching them for inviting and then abandoning him. He asked to be allowed to leave. He was told that first he had to submit to Yazid's authority, which he refused to do. Husayn's speech moved Hurr to defect to his side.
After Husayn's speech, Zuhayr ibn Qayn attempted to dissuade Ibn Sa'd's soldiers from killing Husayn, but in vain. Ibn Sa'd's army fired several volleys of arrows. This was followed by duels in which several of Husayn's companions were slain. The right wing of the Kufans, led by Amr ibn al-Hajjaj, attacked Husayn's force, but was repulsed. Hand-to-hand fighting paused and further volleys of arrows were exchanged. Shemr, who commanded the left wing of the Umayyad army, launched an attack, but after losses on both sides he was repulsed. This was followed by cavalry attacks. Husayn's cavalry resisted fiercely and Ibn Sa'd brought in armoured cavalry and five hundred archers. After their horses were wounded by arrows, Husayn's cavalrymen dismounted and fought on foot.
Since Umayyad forces could approach Husayn's army from the front only, Ibn Sa'd ordered the tents to be burned. All except the one which Husayn and his family were using were set on fire. Shemr wanted to burn that one too, but was prevented by his companions. The plan backfired and flames hindered the Umayyad advance for a while. After noon prayers, Husayn's companions were encircled, and almost all of them were killed. Husayn's relatives, who had not taken part in the fighting so far, joined the battle. Husayn's son
Ali Akbar was killed; then Husayn's half-brothers, including Abbas, and the sons of
Aqil ibn Abi Talib
ʿAqīl ibn Abī Ṭālib (lit. "Aqil the Son of Abu Talib"; full name , ar, أبو يزيد عقيل بن أبي طالب بن عبد المطّلب بن هاشم), , was a cousin of the Islamic prophet Muhammad () and an older brother of Ali ...
,
Jafar ibn Abi Talib
Jaʿfar ibn Abī Ṭālib ( ar, جعفر بن أبي طالب September 629), also known as Jaʿfar al-Ṭayyār ( ar, جعفر الطيّار, lit=Ja'far the Flyer) was a companion and cousin of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad, and an older broth ...
and Hasan ibn Ali were slain. The account of Abbas' death is not given in the primary sources,
al-Tabari
( ar, أبو جعفر محمد بن جرير بن يزيد الطبري), more commonly known as al-Ṭabarī (), was a Muslim historian and scholar from Amol, Tabaristan. Among the most prominent figures of the Islamic Golden Age, al-Tabari ...
and
Baladhuri
ʾAḥmad ibn Yaḥyā ibn Jābir al-Balādhurī ( ar, أحمد بن يحيى بن جابر البلاذري) was a 9th-century Muslim historian. One of the eminent Middle Eastern historians of his age, he spent most of his life in Baghdad and e ...
, but a prominent Shi'a theologian
Shaykh Al-Mufid
Abu 'Abd Allah Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn al-Nu'man al-'Ukbari al-Baghdadi, known as al-Shaykh al-Mufid () and Ibn al-Mu'allim (c.9481022 CE), was a prominent Twelver Shia theologian. His father was a teacher (''mu'allim''), hence the name Ibn ...
states in his account in ''
Kitab al-Irshad ''Al-Irshad'' ( fa, ارشاد), also called the ''Book of Guidance into the Lives of the 12 Imams,'' is a biography of the lives of the 12 Shia Imams. It describes their historical circumstances, miracles and virtues. The book also includes eviden ...
'' that Abbas went to the river together with Husayn but became separated, was surrounded, and killed. At some point, a young child of Husayn's, who was sitting on his lap, was hit by an arrow and died.
Death
![Imam Husayn Shrine by Tasnimnews 01](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/71/Imam_Husayn_Shrine_by_Tasnimnews_01.jpg)
During the Battle of Karbala the Umayyad soldiers hesitated to initiate a direct attack on Husayn, however he was struck in the mouth by an arrow as he went to the river to drink. He collected his blood in a cupped hand and cast towards the sky, complaining to God of his suffering. Later, he was surrounded and struck on the head by Malik ibn Nusayr. The blow cut through his hooded cloak, which Husayn removed while cursing his attacker. He put a cap on his head and wrapped a turban around it to staunch the bleeding. Ibn Nusayr seized the bloodied cloak and retreated.
Shemr advanced with a group of foot soldiers towards Husayn, who was now prepared to fight as few people were left on his side. A young boy from Husayn's camp escaped from the tents, ran to him, tried to defend him from a sword stroke and had his arm cut off. Ibn Sa'd approached the tents and Husayn's sister
Zaynab complained to him: "'Umar b. Sa'd, will Abu 'Abd Allah (the of Husayn) be killed while you stand and watch?" Ibn Sa'd wept but did nothing. Husayn is said to have killed many of his attackers. The Umayyad forces however were still unwilling to kill him and each of them wanted to leave this to somebody else. Eventually Shemr shouted: "Shame on you! Why are you waiting for the man? Kill him, may your mothers be deprived of you!" The Umayyad soldiers then rushed Husayn and wounded him on his hand and shoulder. He fell on the ground face-down and an attacker named Sinan ibn Anas stabbed and
beheaded
Decapitation or beheading is the total separation of the head from the body. Such an injury is invariably fatal to humans and most other animals, since it deprives the brain of oxygenated blood, while all other organs are deprived of the i ...
him.
Aftermath
![A_tilework_inside_Mu'awin_ul-Mulk,_Yazid_court](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/71/A_tilework_inside_Mu%27awin_ul-Mulk%2C_Yazid_court.jpg)
Seventy or seventy-two people died on Husayn's side, of whom about twenty were descendants of
Abu Talib, the father of
Ali
ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib ( ar, عَلِيّ بْن أَبِي طَالِب; 600 – 661 CE) was the last of four Rightly Guided Caliphs to rule Islam (r. 656 – 661) immediately after the death of Muhammad, and he was the first Shia Imam. ...
. This included two of Husayn's sons, six of his paternal brothers, three sons of Hasan ibn Ali, three sons of Jafar ibn Abi Talib and three sons and three grandsons of Aqil ibn Abi Talib. Following the battle, Husayn's clothes were stripped, and his sword, shoes and baggage were taken. The women's jewelry and cloaks were also seized. Shemr wanted to kill Husayn's only surviving son
Ali Zayn al-Abidin
ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥusayn Zayn al-ʿĀbidīn ( ar, علي بن الحسين زين العابدين), also known as al-Sajjād (, ) or simply as Zayn al-ʿĀbidīn (), , was an Imam in Shiʻi Islam after his father Husayn ibn Ali, his uncle Hasan ...
, who had not taken part in the fighting because of illness, but was prevented by Ibn Sa'd. There are reports of more than sixty wounds on Husayn's body, which was then trampled with horses as previously instructed by Ibn Ziyad. The bodies of Husayn's companions were decapitated. There were eighty-eight dead in Ibn Sa'd's army, who were buried before he left. After his departure, members of the Banu Asad tribe, from the nearby village of Ghadiriya, buried the headless bodies of Husayn's companions.
Husayn's family, along with the heads of the dead, were sent to Ibn Ziyad. He poked Husayn's mouth with a stick and intended to kill Ali Zayn al-Abidin, but spared him after the pleas of Husayn's sister Zaynab. The heads and the family were then sent to Yazid, who also poked Husayn's mouth with a stick. The historian
Henri Lammens
Henri Lammens (1 Jul 1862 – 23 Apr 1937) was a Belgian Orientalist historian and Jesuit, who wrote (in French) on the early history of Islam.
Education and career as a Jesuit
Born in Ghent, Belgium of Catholic Flemish stock, Henri Lammens joi ...
has suggested that this is a duplication of the report regarding Ibn Ziyad. no one was compassionate towards the women and Ali Zayn al-Abidin, One of his courtiers asked for the hand of a captive woman from Husayn's family in marriage, which resulted in heated altercation between Yazid and Zaynab. The women of Yazid's household joined the captive women in their lamentation for the dead. After a few years, the women were compensated for their belongings looted in Karbala and were sent back to Medina.
The killing of the grandson of Muhammad shocked the Muslim community. The image of Yazid suffered and gave rise to sentiment that he was impious.
Prior to the Battle of Karbala, the Muslim community was divided into two political factions. Nonetheless, a religious sect with distinct theological doctrines and specific set of rituals had not developed. Karbala gave this early political party of pro-Alids a distinct religious identity and helped transform it into a distinct religious sect. Heinz Halm writes: "There was no religious aspect to Shi'ism prior to 680. The death of the third imam and his followers marked the 'big bang' that created the rapidly expanding cosmos of Shi'ism and brought it into motion."
Related uprisings
A few prominent Alid supporters in Kufa felt guilty for abandoning Husayn after having invited him to revolt. To atone for what they perceived as their sin, they began a movement known as
Tawwabin uprising
Tawwabin uprising ( ar, ثَوْرَة ٱلتَّوَّابِين, ') or the penitents uprising refers to the uprising of a group of Kufan Shia after the Battle of Karbala to take revenge for murder of Husayn ibn Ali, whom they had invited to Kufa ...
, under
Sulayman ibn Surad Sulayman ibn Surad al-Khuza'i ( ar, سُلَيْمَان ٱبْن صُرَد ٱلْخُزَاعِيّ, '; died January 685) was a pro- Alid leader from Kufa, who led the Tawwabin movement during the Second Muslim Civil War to avenge the death of H ...
, a companion of Muhammad, to fight the Umayyads, and attracted large-scale support. The armies met in January 685 at
Battle of Ayn al-Warda
The Battle of Ayn al-Warda ( ar, مَعْرَكَة عَيْن ٱلْوَرْدَة) was fought in early January 685 between the Umayyad army and the Penitents (''Tawwabin''). The Penitents were a group of pro-Alid Kufans led by Sulayman ibn S ...
; which resulted killing most of them including Ibn Surad.
The defeat of the Tawwabin left the leadership of the Kufan pro-Alids in the hand of
Mukhtar al-Thaqafi
Al-Mukhtar ibn Abi Ubayd al-Thaqafi ( ar, المختار بن أبي عبيد الثقفي, '; – 3 April 687) was a pro-Alid revolutionary based in Kufa, who led a rebellion against the Umayyad Caliphate in 685 and ruled over most of Iraq f ...
. In October 685, Mukhtar and his supporters seized Kufa. His control extended to most of Iraq and parts of northwestern Iran. Mukhtar executed Kufans involved in the killing of Husayn, including Ibn Sa'd and Shemr, while thousands of people fled to Basra. He then sent his general
Ibrahim ibn al-Ashtar
Ibrahim ibn Malik al-Ashtar ibn al-Harith al-Nakha'i (; died October 691), better known as Ibrahim ibn al-Ashtar ( ar, إبراهيم بن الأشتر, Ibrāhīm ibn al-Ashtar) was an Arab commander who fought in the service of Caliph Ali (r. 656 ...
to fight an approaching Umayyad army, led by Ibn Ziyad, which had been sent to reconquer the province. The Umayyad army was routed at the
Battle of Khazir
The Battle of Khazir ( ar, يوم الخازر, ''Yawm Khāzir'') took place in August 686 near the Khazir River in Mosul's eastern environs, in modern-day Iraq. The battle occurred during the Second Muslim Civil War and was part of the larger st ...
in August 686 and Ibn Ziyad was slain. Later on, in April 687, Mukhtar was killed.
Historical analysis
Based on an official report sent to caliph Yazid, which describes the battle of Karbala very briefly, stating that it lasted for no longer than a
siesta
A ''siesta'' (from Spanish, pronounced and meaning "nap") is a short nap taken in the early afternoon, often after the midday meal. Such a period of sleep is a common tradition in some countries, particularly those in warm-weather zones. The ...
, Lammens concludes that there was no battle at all but a quick massacre that was over in an hour; he suggests that the detailed accounts found in the primary sources are Iraqi fabrications, since their writers were dissatisfied with their hero being killed without putting up a fight. This is countered by the historian
Laura Veccia Vaglieri
Laura Veccia Vaglieri (1893 – 1989) was an Italian orientalist.
A scholar and one of the pioneers of Arabic and Islamic studies in Italy, Veccia Vaglieri served as professor at the Università degli Studi di Napoli "L'Orientale" and was the a ...
, who argues that despite there being some fabricated accounts, all of the contemporary accounts together form "a coherent and credible narrative". She criticizes Lammens' hypothesis as being based on a single isolated report and being devoid of critical analysis. Similarly, Madelung and Wellhausen assert that the battle lasted from sunrise to sunset and that the overall account of the battle is reliable. Vaglieri and Madelung explain the length of the battle despite the numerical disparity between the opposing camps as Ibn Sa'd's attempt to prolong the fight and pressure Husayn into submission instead of attempting to quickly overwhelm and kill him.
According to Wellhausen, the compassion that Yazid showed to the family of Husayn, and his cursing of Ibn Ziyad was only for show. He argues that if killing Husayn was a crime its responsibility lay with Yazid and not Ibn Ziyad, who was only performing his duty. Madelung holds a similar view; according to him, early accounts place the responsibility for Husayn's death on Ibn Ziyad instead of Yazid. Yazid, Madelung argues, wanted to end Husayn's opposition, but as a caliph of Islam could not afford to be seen as publicly responsible and so diverted blame onto Ibn Ziyad by hypocritically cursing him. According to Howard, some traditional sources have a tendency to exonerate Yazid at the cost of Ibn Ziyad and lower authorities.
Primary and classic sources
The primary source of the Karbala narrative is the work of the Kufan historian
Abu Mikhnaf
Lut ibn Yahya ibn Sa'id ibn Mikhnaf al-Azdi ( ar, لوط ابن يحيٰ ابن سعيد ابن مِخنَف الأزدي, Lūṭ ibn Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd ibn Mikhnaf al-Azdī), more commonly known by his '' kunya'' (epithet) Abu Mikhnaf ( ar, أ ...
titled ''Kitab Maqtal Al-Husayn''. Abu Mikhnaf's was an adult some twenty years after the Battle of Karbala. As such he knew many eyewitnesses and collected firsthand accounts and some with very short chains of transmitters, usually one or two intermediaries. The eyewitnesses were of two kinds: those from Husayn's side; and those from Ibn Sa'd's army. Since few people from Husayn's camp survived, most eyewitnesses were from the second category. According to
Julius Wellhausen
Julius Wellhausen (17 May 1844 – 7 January 1918) was a German biblical scholar and orientalist. In the course of his career, he moved from Old Testament research through Islamic studies to New Testament scholarship. Wellhausen contributed to t ...
, most of them regretted their actions in the battle and embellished the accounts of the battle in favor of Husayn in order to dilute their guilt. Although as an Iraqi, Abu Mikhnaf had pro-Alid tendencies, his reports generally do not contain much bias on his part. Abu Mikhnaf's original text seems to have been lost and the version extant today has been transmitted through secondary sources such as the ''
History of Prophets and Kings
The ''History of the Prophets and Kings'' ( ar, تاريخ الرسل والملوك ''Tārīkh al-Rusul wa al-Mulūk''), more commonly known as ''Tarikh al-Tabari'' () or ''Tarikh-i Tabari'' or ''The History of al-Tabari '' ( fa, تاریخ طب ...
'' by
al-Tabari
( ar, أبو جعفر محمد بن جرير بن يزيد الطبري), more commonly known as al-Ṭabarī (), was a Muslim historian and scholar from Amol, Tabaristan. Among the most prominent figures of the Islamic Golden Age, al-Tabari ...
; and ''
Ansab al-Ashraf
Genealogies of the Nobles ( ar, أنساب الأشراف; transliterated: Ansab al-Ashraf) is a book on the history and genealogy of Arabs, authored by Ahmad Ibn Yahya al-Baladhuri (d. 892 CE). The book includes stories about pre-Islamic Arabian ...
'' by
Baladhuri
ʾAḥmad ibn Yaḥyā ibn Jābir al-Balādhurī ( ar, أحمد بن يحيى بن جابر البلاذري) was a 9th-century Muslim historian. One of the eminent Middle Eastern historians of his age, he spent most of his life in Baghdad and e ...
. Tabari quotes either directly from Abu Mikhnaf or from his student Ibn al-Kalbi, who took most of his material from Abu Mikhnaf. Tabari occasionally takes material from Ammar ibn Mu'awiya, Awana and other primary sources, which, however, adds little to the narrative. Baladhuri uses same sources as Tabari. Information on the battle found in the works of
Dinawari
Abū Ḥanīfa Aḥmad ibn Dāwūd Dīnawarī ( fa, ابوحنيفه دينوری; died 895) was a Persian Islamic Golden Age polymath, astronomer, agriculturist, botanist, metallurgist, geographer, mathematician, and historian.
Life
Dinawa ...
and
Ya'qubi
ʾAbū l-ʿAbbās ʾAḥmad bin ʾAbī Yaʿqūb bin Ǧaʿfar bin Wahb bin Waḍīḥ al-Yaʿqūbī (died 897/8), commonly referred to simply by his nisba al-Yaʿqūbī, was an Arab Muslim geographer and perhaps the first historian of world cultu ...
is also based on Abu Mikhnaf's ''Maqtal'', although they occasionally provide some extra notes and verses. Other secondary sources include
al-Mas'udi
Al-Mas'udi ( ar, أَبُو ٱلْحَسَن عَلِيّ ٱبْن ٱلْحُسَيْن ٱبْن عَلِيّ ٱلْمَسْعُودِيّ, '; –956) was an Arab historian, geographer and traveler. He is sometimes referred to as the "Herodotus ...
's ''
Muruj al-Dhahab'',
Ibn Ath'am's ''Kitab al-Futuh'', Shaykh al-Mufid's ''Kitab al-Irshad'', and
Abu al-Faraj al-Isfahani
Ali ibn al-Husayn al-Iṣfahānī ( ar, أبو الفرج الأصفهاني), also known as Abul-Faraj, (full form: Abū al-Faraj ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥusayn ibn Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad ibn al-Ḥaytham al-Umawī al-Iṣfahānī) (284–356 AH / 897 ...
's ''Maqatil al-Talibiyyin''. Most of these sources took material from Abu Mikhnaf, in addition to some from the primary works of Awana, al-Mada'ini and Nasr ibn Muzahim.
Although Tabari and other early sources contain some miraculous stories, these sources are mainly historical and rational in nature, in contrast to the literature of later periods, which is mainly
hagiographical
A hagiography (; ) is a biography of a saint or an ecclesiastical leader, as well as, by extension, an adulatory and idealized biography of a founder, saint, monk, nun or icon in any of the world's religions. Early Christian hagiographies might ...
in nature.
The Battle of Karbala was also reported by an early Christian source. A history by the Syriac Christian scholar
Theophilus of Edessa
Theophilus of Edessa (Greek: Θεόφιλος, 695–785 CE), also known as Theophilus ibn Tuma and Thawafil, was a Greco-Syriac medieval astrologer and scholar in Mesopotamia. In the later part of his life he was the court astrologer to the Abbasi ...
, who was chief astrologer in the Abbasid court between 775 and 785, is partially preserved in a number of extant Christian chronicles, including those by
Michael the Syrian
Michael the Syrian ( ar, ميخائيل السرياني, Mīkhaʾēl el Sūryani:),( syc, ܡܺܝܟ݂ܳܐܝܶܠ ܣܽܘܪܝܳܝܳܐ, Mīkhoʾēl Sūryoyo), died 1199 AD, also known as Michael the Great ( syr, ܡܺܝܟ݂ܳܐܝܶܠ ܪܰܒ݁ܳܐ, ...
and the Byzantine historian
Theophanes the Confessor
Theophanes the Confessor ( el, Θεοφάνης Ὁμολογητής; c. 758/760 – 12 March 817/818) was a member of the Byzantine aristocracy who became a monk and chronicler. He served in the court of Emperor Leo IV the Khazar before taking u ...
.
Tomb
![Haramein(92)-Karbobala](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/df/Haramein%2892%29-Karbobala.jpg)
Husayn ibn Ali's tomb is located in the city of
Karbala
Karbala or Kerbala ( ar, كَرْبَلَاء, Karbalāʾ , , also ;) is a city in central Iraq, located about southwest of Baghdad, and a few miles east of Lake Milh, also known as Razzaza Lake. Karbala is the capital of Karbala Governorat ...
, about 90 km southwest of
Baghdad
Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...
. This tomb was probably formed two centuries after the event of Karbala and was rebuilt and expanded until the thirteenth century AH. This place did not have a building at first and was marked with a simple sign. After that, in the third century AH, a monument was built on it, which was considered during the time of some
Abbasid caliphs
The Abbasid caliphs were the holders of the Islamic title of caliph who were members of the Abbasid dynasty, a branch of the Quraysh tribe descended from the uncle of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, Al-Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib.
The family came t ...
and
Dailami princes and patriarchal and
Ottoman rulers, and over time, the city of Karbala was built and expanded around it.
There are several narrations about the burial place of Imam Husayn's head; For example, with his father Ali in Najaf, outside Kufa but not with Ali, in Karbala with his whole body, in Baqiya, in an unknown place in
Damascus
)), is an adjective which means "spacious".
, motto =
, image_flag = Flag of Damascus.svg
, image_seal = Emblem of Damascus.svg
, seal_type = Seal
, map_caption =
, ...
, in
Raqqa
Raqqa ( ar, ٱلرَّقَّة, ar-Raqqah, also and ) (Kurdish languages, Kurdish: Reqa/ ڕەقە) is a city in Syria on the northeast bank of the Euphrates River, about east of Aleppo. It is located east of the Tabqa Dam, Syria's largest dam. T ...
, Syria, and in a mosque Mohsen Al-Amin in
Cairo
Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...
.
Commemoration
Shi'a Muslims consider pilgrimages to
Husayn's tomb to be a source of divine blessings and rewards. According to Shi'a tradition the first such visit was performed by Husayn's son Ali Zayn al-Abidin and the surviving family members during their return from Syria to Medina. The first historically recorded visit is Sulayman ibn Surad and the Penitents going to Husayn's grave before their departure to Syria. They are reported to have lamented and beaten their chests and to have spent a night by the tomb. Thereafter this tradition was limited to the Shi'a imams for several decades, before gaining momentum under the sixth Shi'a imam
Jafar Sadiq
Jaʿfar ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī al-Ṣādiq ( ar, جعفر بن محمد الصادق; 702 – 765 Common Era, CE), commonly known as Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq (), was an 8th-century Shia Islam, Shia Ulama, Muslim scholar, Faqīh, jurist, and ...
and his followers.
Buyids
The Buyid dynasty ( fa, آل بویه, Āl-e Būya), also spelled Buwayhid ( ar, البويهية, Al-Buwayhiyyah), was a Shia Iranian dynasty of Daylamite origin, which mainly ruled over Iraq and central and southern Iran from 934 to 1062. Coupl ...
and
Safavids
Safavid Iran or Safavid Persia (), also referred to as the Safavid Empire, '. was one of the greatest Iranian empires after the 7th-century Muslim conquest of Persia, which was ruled from 1501 to 1736 by the Safavid dynasty. It is often conside ...
also encouraged this practice. Special visits are paid on 10 Muharram (''
Ashura
Ashura (, , ) is a day of commemoration in Islam. It occurs annually on the 10th of Muharram, the first month of the Islamic calendar. Among Shia Muslims, Ashura is observed through large demonstrations of high-scale mourning as it marks the ...
'' Pilgrimage) and 40 days after the anniversary of Husayn's (
''Arba'een'' Pilgrimage). The soil of Karbala is considered to have miraculous healing effects.
![Muharram mourning, Hussainia TZ](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/54/Muharram_mourning%2C_Hussainia_TZ.jpg)
Mourning for Husayn is considered by Shi'as to be a source of salvation in the afterlife, and is undertaken as a remembrance of his suffering. After the death of Husayn, when his family was being taken to Ibn Ziyad, Husayn's sister Zaynab is reported to have cried out after seeing his headless body: "O Muhammad!... Here is Husayn in the open, stained with blood and with limbs torn off. O Muhammad! Your daughters are prisoners, your progeny are killed, and the east wind blows dust over them." Shi'a Muslims consider this to be the first instance of wailing and mourning over the death of Husayn. Husayn's son Zayn al-Abideen is reported to have spent the rest of his life weeping for his father. Similarly, Husayn's mother
Fatima
Fāṭima bint Muḥammad ( ar, فَاطِمَة ٱبْنَت مُحَمَّد}, 605/15–632 CE), commonly known as Fāṭima al-Zahrāʾ (), was the daughter of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and his wife Khadija. Fatima's husband was Ali, th ...
is believed to be weeping for him in paradise and the weeping of believers is considered to be a way of sharing her sorrows. Special gatherings (''majalis''; sing. ''majlis'') are arranged in places reserved for this purpose, called ''
husayniyya''. In these gatherings the story of Karbala is narrated and various elegies (''rawda'') are recited by professional reciters (''rawda khwan'').
![Ashura in layyah](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f3/Ashura_in_layyah.jpg)
During the month of Muharram, elaborate public processions are performed in commemoration of the Battle of Karbala. In contrast to pilgrimage to Husayn's tomb and simple lamenting, these processions do not date back to the time of the battle, but arose during tenth century. Their earliest recorded instance was in Baghdad in 963 during the reign of the first Buyid ruler
Mu'izz al-Dawla
Ahmad ibn Buya (Persian: احمد بن بویه, died April 8, 967), after 945 better known by his ''laqab'' of Mu'izz al-Dawla ( ar, المعز الدولة البويهي, "Fortifier of the Dynasty"), was the first of the Buyid emirs of Iraq, ...
. The processions start from a ''husayniyya'' and the participants parade barefoot through the streets, wailing and beating their chests and heads before returning to the ''husayniyya'' for a ''majlis''. Sometimes, chains and knives are used to inflict wounds and physical pain. In
South Asia
South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The region consists of the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.;;;;;;;; ...
, an ornately
tacked horse called ''zuljenah'', representing Husayn's battle horse, is also led riderless through the streets. In Iran, the battle scenes of Karbala are performed on stage in front of an audience in a ritual called ''
taziya
Ta'zieh ( ar, تعزية; fa, تعزیه; ur, ) means comfort, condolence, or expression of grief. It comes from roots ''aza'' (عزو and عزى) which means mourning.
Depending on the region, time, occasion, religion, etc. the word can sig ...
'' (passion play), also known as ''shabih''. In India however, ''taziya'' refers to the coffins and replicas of Husayn's tomb carried in processions.
Most of these rituals take place during the first ten days of Muharram, reaching a climax on the tenth day, although ''majalis'' can also occur throughout the year. Occasionally, especially in the past, some Sunni participation in ''majalis'' and processions has been observed. According to
Yitzhak Nakash
Yitzhak( ()) is a male first name, and is Hebrew for Isaac. Yitzhak may refer to:
People
*Yitzhak ha-Sangari, rabbi who converted the Khazars to Judaism
*Yitzhak Rabin (1922–1995), Israeli politician and Prime Minister
*Yitzhak Shamir (1915–2 ...
, the rituals of Muharram have an "important" effect in the "invoking the memory of Karbala", as these help consolidate the collective identity and memory of the Shi'a community. Anthropologist
Michael Fischer states that commemoration of the Battle of Karbala by the Shi'a is not only the retelling of the story, but also presents them with "life models and norms of behavior" which are applicable to all aspects of life, which he calls the Karbala Paradigm. According to Olmo Gölz, the Karbala Paradigm provide Shi'as with heroic norms and a martyr ethos, and represents an embodiment of the battle between good and evil, justice and injustice. Rituals involving self-flagellation have been criticized by many Shi'a scholars as they are considered to be
innovative practices damaging reputation of Shi'ism. Iranian supreme leader
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
Sayyid Ali Hosseini Khamenei ( fa, سید علی حسینی خامنهای, ; born 19 April 1939) is a Twelver Shia '' marja and the second and current Supreme Leader of Iran, in office since 1989. He was previously the third president ...
has banned the practice in Iran since 1994.
Family life
Husayn's first marriage was with
Rubab. Her father, Imra' al-Qais, a chief of
Banu Kalb
The Banu Kalb ( ar, بنو كلب) was an Arab tribe which mainly dwelt in the desert between northwestern Arabia and central Syria. The Kalb was involved in the tribal politics of the eastern frontiers of the Byzantine Empire, possibly as early ...
, came to Medina during the Caliphate of Umar, and was appointed by him as the chief of the
Quda'a
The Quda'a ( ar, قضاعة, translit=Quḍāʿa) were a confederation of Arab tribes, including the powerful Kalb and Tanukh, mainly concentrated throughout Syria and northwestern Arabia, from at least the 4th century CE, during Byzantine rule, t ...
tribes. Ali proposed her marriage with Husayn, but since Husayn and Imra al-Qais's daughter were too young at the time, the actual marriage took place later. Husayn had a daughter, Amena (or Amina or Omayma) who is known as
Sakinah, from her. According to a narration recorded by
Abu al-Faraj al-Isfahani
Ali ibn al-Husayn al-Iṣfahānī ( ar, أبو الفرج الأصفهاني), also known as Abul-Faraj, (full form: Abū al-Faraj ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥusayn ibn Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad ibn al-Ḥaytham al-Umawī al-Iṣfahānī) (284–356 AH / 897 ...
, Hasan has blamed Husayn for his excessive favors to Rubab. Husayn, in response, depicted his great love for Rubab and Sakinah in three lines of poetry. Later on Rubab bore a son, Abd Allah (or according to recent Shia sources,
Ali al-Asghar) for him. Husayn's , Abu Abd Allah, probably refers to this son. After Husayn's death, Rubab spent a year in grief at his grave and refused to marry again.
According to Madelung, Husayn had two sons named Ali. The older one,
Ali ibn Husayn Zayn al-Abidin
ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥusayn Zayn al-ʿĀbidīn ( ar, علي بن الحسين زين العابدين), also known as al-Sajjād (, ) or simply as Zayn al-ʿĀbidīn (), , was an Imam in Shiʻi Islam after his father Husayn ibn Ali, his uncle Hasan ...
who became the fourth Shia Imam later, was 23 years old when his younger brother (
Ali al-Akbar) was killed in the Battle of Karbala at the age of 19. Ali al-Akbar was born from
Layla
"Layla" is a song written by Eric Clapton and Jim Gordon, originally recorded by Derek and the Dominos, as the thirteenth track from their only studio album, ''Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs'' (1970). Its contrasting movements were compose ...
, the daughter of Abi Murrah al-Thaqafi, who was an ally of the Umayyads. Husayn's marriage with Layla, according to Madelung, probably had material benefits for Husayn. Zayn al-Abidin's mother, on the other hand, was a slave probably from Sind named Ḡazāla, Solāfa, Salāma, Šāhzanān, or
Shahrbanu use both this parameter and , birth_date to display the person's date of birth, date of death, and age at death) -->
, death_place = Bibi Shahr Banu Shrine(disputed)
, death_cause =
, body_discovered =
, resting_place = ...
. According to the reports, commonly accepted by Shia, she was the daughter of
Yazdegerd III
Yazdegerd III (also spelled Yazdgerd III and Yazdgird III; pal, 𐭩𐭦𐭣𐭪𐭥𐭲𐭩) was the last Sasanian King of Kings of Iran from 632 to 651. His father was Shahriyar and his grandfather was Khosrow II.
Ascending the throne at t ...
, the last
Sassanid
The Sasanian () or Sassanid Empire, officially known as the Empire of Iranians (, ) and also referred to by historians as the Neo-Persian Empire, was the last Iranian empire before the early Muslim conquests of the 7th-8th centuries AD. Named ...
king of Iran to be captured during the Arab conquest. On the other hand, in narrative sources, mistakes and confusion have been made between
Ali al-Asghar and Abd Allah. Contemporary Shiite circles have carefully identified Sajjad as Ali al-Awsat and Ali al-Asghar as an infant in Karbala; Among these children, Abd Allah - known by the mention of his name in the events of Ashura - is considered the other son of Husayn. According to Madelung, although early Sunni sources refer to Zayn al-'Abidin as 'Ali al-Asghar and Ali II as 'Ali al-Akbar, it is probably true that Sheikh Mufid and other Shi'ite writers are correct in stating the opposite. Ali II was killed in Karbala at the age of 19. His mother is Layla, the daughter of Abi Murrah ibn Urwah al-Thaqafi and Maymuna bint Abi Sufyan, the sister of Mu'awiya. According to Madelung, after Hasan's peace with Mu'awiya, Husayn married Layla, from whom Ali al-Akbar was born. Abu Murrah was an ally of the Umayyads. In his opinion, this marriage probably had material benefits for Husayn and its occurrence could not have been in Ali's time. Husayn also named this child Ali because he was superior to Zayn al-'Abidin, who was born a slave girl, because of his mother's Arab lineage. In a speech, Mu'awiya named Ali al-Akbar the best person for the caliphate; Because, according to Mu'awiya, he had combined the courage of the
Banu Hashim
)
, type = Qurayshi Arab clan
, image =
, alt =
, caption =
, nisba = al-Hashimi
, location = Mecca, Hejaz Middle East, North Africa, Horn of Africa
, descended = Hashim ibn Abd Manaf
, parent_tribe = Qu ...
, the generosity of the
Banu Umayya
Umayyad dynasty ( ar, بَنُو أُمَيَّةَ, Banū Umayya, Sons of Umayya) or Umayyads ( ar, الأمويون, al-Umawiyyūn) were the ruling family of the Caliphate between 661 and 750 and later of Al-Andalus between 756 and 1031. In the ...
, and the pride of the Thaqafis.
Umm Ishaq, the daughter of
Talha
Ṭalḥa ibn ʿUbayd Allāh al-Taymī ( ar, طَلْحَة بن عُبَيْد اللّه التَّيمي, ) was a Companion of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. In Sunni Islam, he is mostly known for being among ('the ten to whom Paradise was ...
, was another wife of Husayn, who had previously married Hasan. Despite her allegedly bad character, Hasan was pleased with her and asked his younger brother, Husayn, to marry her when he himself died. Husayn did so and had a daughter from her, named
Fatima
Fāṭima bint Muḥammad ( ar, فَاطِمَة ٱبْنَت مُحَمَّد}, 605/15–632 CE), commonly known as Fāṭima al-Zahrāʾ (), was the daughter of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and his wife Khadija. Fatima's husband was Ali, th ...
, who later married with
Hasan ibn Hasan
Hasan ibn Hasan ( ar, حسن ابن حسن, translit=Ḥasan ibn Ḥasan; ), also known as Hasan al-Muthanna ( ar, حسن المثنىٰ, , , translit=Ḥasan al-Muthannā, ), was an Islamic scholar and theologian. He was a son of Hasan ibn Ali and ...
.
Hasan and Husayn were the only male descendants of the Muhammad from whom the next generations were born. Hence, any person who says that his lineage goes back to the Muhammad is either related to Hasan or to Husayn. Hasan and Husayn are different in this respect from their half brothers, such as Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyya.
Personality and appearance
Husayn had white face and sometimes wore a green turban and sometimes a black turban. He would travel with the poor or invite them to his house and feed them. Mu'awiyah said about Husayn that he and his father Ali were not deceitful, and
Amr ibn al-As
( ar, عمرو بن العاص السهمي; 664) was the Arab commander who led the Muslim conquest of Egypt and served as its governor in 640–646 and 658–664. The son of a wealthy Qurayshite, Amr embraced Islam in and was assigned impor ...
considered him the most beloved of the earthlings to the people of heaven.
According to the Encyclopedia of Islam, one of the moral characteristics of Husayn is Tolerance, humility, eloquence, and finally traits that can be deduced from his behavior, such as despising death, hatred of a shameful life, pride, and the like.
In many narrations, the resemblance of Husayn and his brother to Muhammad is mentioned, and each of them is likened to half of their grandfather's behavior.
Husayn is described as looking like his grandfather, Muhammad, though not as much as his older brother, Hasan. According to Madelung, Husayn was similar to his father, Ali, while Hasan had the temperament of Muhammad and criticized the policies of his father, Ali. Madelung cites the fact that Hasan named two of his sons Muhammad and did not name any of them Ali and that Husayn named two of his four sons Ali and did not name either Muhammad as proof of this claim.
Rasool Jafarian considers the narrations in which Husayn is like Ali and Hasan is like Muhammad to be fake; According to him, the image presented in these narrations could have been used to destroy the image of Ali and Ashura and to be useful to those who were in favor of
Uthman
Uthman ibn Affan ( ar, عثمان بن عفان, ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān; – 17 June 656), also spelled by Colloquial Arabic, Turkish and Persian rendering Osman, was a second cousin, son-in-law and notable companion of the Islamic proph ...
tendencies. According to the Shia scholar,
Muhammad Husayn Tabatabai
Muhammad Husayn Tabataba'i or Sayyid Mohammad Hossein Tabataba'i (16 March 1903 – 15 November 1981) was an Iranian scholar, theorist, philosopher and one of the most prominent thinkers of modern Shia Islam. He is perhaps best known for his ''T ...
, the opinion of some commentators about the difference in taste between Hasan and Husayn is misplaced; Because despite not swearing allegiance to Yazid, Husayn, like his brother, spent ten years in Mu'awiya's rule and never opposed it.
Mohammad Emadi Haeri believes that Husayn is considered to be similar to Muhammad in most sources, and in one narration the most similar to him. There is also a narration that Ali considers Hussein to be the most similar person in terms of behavior.
Husayn was known for his generosity in Medina, and he freed his slaves and maids if they saw any good behavior. There is a narration that Muawiyah sent a maid to Husayn with a lot of property and clothes. When the maid recited verses from the Qur'an and a poem about the instability of the world and the death of man, Husayn set her free and gave her property. Once one of Husayn's slaves did something wrong. But after the slave recited the verse "وَالْعافینَ عَنِ النَّاس", Husayn forgave him and after that the slave recited the verse "وَلَلَّهُ یُحِبُّ الْمُحسسِينَ" and Husayn released the slave because of this. There is a narration that Husayn gave the property and goods that he inherited before receiving them. Husayn gave his children's teacher a large sum of money and clothes; While acknowledging that this does not compensate for the value of the teacher's work. A
Levant
The Levant () is an approximate historical geographical term referring to a large area in the Eastern Mediterranean region of Western Asia. In its narrowest sense, which is in use today in archaeology and other cultural contexts, it is eq ...
ine man once cursed Husayn and Ali, but Husayn forgive him and treated him with kindness. It is said that the place of the food bags that Husayn carried for the poor was obvious on his body on the day of Ashura.
In the Quran and Hadith
In the verses of the Quran
Many Sunni and Shiite commentators, such as
Fakhr Razi and
Muhammad Husayn Tabatabai
Muhammad Husayn Tabataba'i or Sayyid Mohammad Hossein Tabataba'i (16 March 1903 – 15 November 1981) was an Iranian scholar, theorist, philosopher and one of the most prominent thinkers of modern Shia Islam. He is perhaps best known for his ''T ...
, in their interpretation of Surah
Al-Insan
Al-Insan ("Man") (alternative names: al-Dahr, "Endless time", Hal Ata, "Has There Not come") is the 76th chapter (surah) of the Quran, with 31 verses ( ayat).
Summary
:1-2 Man conceived and born by the power of God
:3-4 Unbelievers warned by th ...
, attribute its revelation to Ali and Fatima and the story of the illness of their child or children and a vow for their recovery.
Seyyed Mohammad Husayn Tabatabai in
Tafsir al-Mizan
''Al-Mizan fi Tafsir al-Qur'an'' ( ar, الميزان في تفسير القرآن, "The balance in Interpretation of Quran"), more commonly known as ''Tafsir al-Mizan'' () or simply ''Al-Mizan'' (), is a tafsir (exegesis of the Quran) written by ...
said, the
event of Mubahala
The Event of Mubahala () was a meeting between the Islamic prophet Muhammad and a Christian delegation from Najran (present-day Saudi Arabia), in the month of Dhu'l-Hijja, 10 AH (October 631, October 631–32, October 632–33), where Muhamm ...
tells the story of the confrontation between the Prophet of Islam and his family on the one hand and the Christians of
Najran
Najran ( ar, نجران '), is a city in southwestern Saudi Arabia near the border with Yemen. It is the capital of Najran Province. Designated as a new town, Najran is one of the fastest-growing cities in the kingdom; its population has risen fr ...
on the other. Tabatabai says that according to the narrations, the meaning of our sons in the verse of Mubahila was Hassan and Husayn. Many Sunni commentators have also stated that the people in it are Ali, Fatima, Hasan and Husayn.
In interpreting the
Verse of Purification
The Verse of Purification (Arabic:آية التطهير) refers to verse 33:33 of the Quran about the status of purity of the Ahl al-Bayt (). The last passage of this verse reads:
Muslims disagree as to who belongs to the Ahl al-Bayt and what ...
in Al-Mizan, Tabatabai considers the addressee of this verse to be the
Ahl al-Kisa
Ahl al-Kisa ( ar, أَهْل ٱلْكِسَاء, ʾAhl al-Kisāʾ, lit=people of the cloak, '), also known as the Aal al-Aba (, ), are the Islamic prophet Muhammad, his daughter Fatima, his cousin and son-in-law Ali, and his two grandsons Ha ...
and refers to its hadiths, which number more than seventy hadiths and are mostly from the Sunnis. Sunni commentators such as Fakhr Razi and Ibn Kathir, in their commentary, while narrating various narrations about the example of Ahl al-Bayt in this verse, consider Ali, Fatima, Hasan and Husayn as examples.
In the explanation and interpretation of verse 23 of Surah
ash-Shura
Ash-Shūrā ( ar, الشورى, ''al shūrā'', "Council, Consultation") is the 42nd chapter (sūrah) of the Qur'an (Q42) with 53 verses ( āyāt). Its title derives from the question of "shūrā" (''consultation'') referred to in Verse 38. The ...
, Tabatabai in Al-Mizan, while reporting and criticizing the various sayings of the commentators, has said that the meaning of "nearness" is the love of the Ahl al-Bayt of Muhammad; That is, Ali is Fatima, Hassan and Husayn. He goes on to cite various narrations from Sunnis and Shiites that have clarified this issue. Sunni commentators such as Fakhr al-Razi and Ibn Kathir have also referred to this issue.
Verse 15 of Surah
Al-Ahqaf
Al-Ahqaf ( ar, الأحقاف, ; "the sand dunes" or "the winding sand tracts") is the 46th chapter (''surah'') of the Qur'an with 35 verses ('' ayat''). This is the seventh and last chapter starting with the Muqattaʿat letters '' Hāʼ Mīm' ...
talks about a pregnant woman who endures a lot of pain and suffering. This verse is considered a reference to Fatima Zahra, and the son is also known as Husayn, when God expressed his condolences to Muhammad about the fate of this grandson and Muhammad expressed this to Fatima Zahra, she was very upset.
Other verses that the Shiites attribute to Husayn include verse 6 of Surah
Al-Ahzab and 28 of Surah
Az-Zukhruf
Az-Zukhruf ( ar, الزخرف, "Ornaments of Gold, Luxury") is the 43rd chapter (''surah''), of the Quran, the central religious text of Islam. It contains 89 verses ('' ayat'').
Named after the golden ornaments recognized in verse 35 and aga ...
, which have been interpreted to mean the continuation of the Imamate from his generation. Also, verses such as 77 Surah
an-Nisa
An-Nisa' ( ar, ٱلنِّسَاء, ; The Women) is the fourth chapter (sūrah) of the Quran, with 176 verses ( āyāt). The title derives from the numerous references to women throughout the chapter, including verse 34 and verses 127-130.Hale ...
, 33 Surah
al-Isra
Al-Isrāʾ ( ar, الإسراء; The Night Journey), also known as Banī Isrāʾīl ( ar, بني إسرائيل; The Children of Israel) is the 17th chapter (sūrah) of the Quran, with 111 verses ( āyāt). The word refers to the "night j ...
and 27th to 30th Surah
Al-Fajr refer to the uprising and killing of Husayn from the Shiite point of view.
In the biography of the Prophet of Islam
Husayn is placed as an example for the second weight in the narrations related to "
Thaqalin". In another group of narrations related to Hasnain, they are introduced as "the master of the youth of Paradise". His name and Hassan's, due to their young age, are among those who pledge allegiance in renewing allegiance to the Prophet, which indicates the Prophet's goal in strengthening their historical and social status.
News of Husayn's fate
There are narrations that
Gabriel
In Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam), Gabriel (); Greek: grc, Γαβριήλ, translit=Gabriḗl, label=none; Latin: ''Gabriel''; Coptic: cop, Ⲅⲁⲃⲣⲓⲏⲗ, translit=Gabriêl, label=none; Amharic: am, ገብር ...
informed Muhammad at the time of Husayn's birth that his ummah would kill Husayn and that the Imamate would be from Husayn, and that Muhammad informed his companions of how Husayn had been killed. Except for Muhammad, Ali and Hasan, they had said the same thing. God also informed the previous prophets about the killing of Husayn.
Ali also knew that Husayn would be killed in Karbala, and once he passed by this area, he stopped and cried and remembered the news of Muhammad. He interpreted Karbala(کربلا) as (کرب) anguish and (بلا) calamity. The slain of Karbala will enter Paradise without any reckoning.
Works
There are narrations, sermons and letters left from Husayn Ibn Ali which are available in Sunni and Shiite sources. Narrations about him can be divided into two periods before and after the Imamate. In the first period - which is the period of his life in the life of his grandfather, father, mother and brother - there are at least two types of narrations about him: first, his narrations from his relatives, and second, his personal hadiths. In Sunni sources, only the aspect of the narration of his hadith has been considered in these hadiths. These Musnads, like the Musnad of the Companions of the Prophet of Islam, also have a Musnad named Husayn Ibn Ali. In his Musnad, Abu Bakr Bazar has narrated the Musnad of Husayn Ibn Ali with 4 hadiths and Tabarani has narrated his Musnad with 27 hadiths, respectively. In the Musnad of Husayn ibn Ali, in addition to the hadiths of Husayn himself, there are also hadiths of the Prophet of Islam and Ali ibn Abi Talib. In the present era, Azizullah Atardi has compiled the document of the Imam of the Martyr Abi Abdullah Al-Husayn Ibn Ali.
In the category of sermons of Husayn Ibn Ali, there are some sermons of him in the pre-Imamate period, some of which are very famous. Thus, the sermon of Husayn ibn Ali, after public allegiance to Ali ibn Abi Talib and others, is his sermon in the battle of Safin. Another example is a poem by Husayn about the loss of his brother Hasan after his burial. The sermons and letters of Husayn ibn Ali during his Imamate are more than before him. His letters to the Shiites, as well as his letters to Mu'awiyah regarding his adherence to the peace treaty, trace Mu'awiyah's actions, especially regarding Yazid, as well as his sermons and letters in the form of letters of recommendation at the beginning of Yazid's caliphate. An important part of the sermons and letters belong to the period of the uprising of Husayn bin Ali. Correspondence with Kufis, Basrians and people like
Muslim Ibn Aqeel
Muslim ibn Aqil al-Hashimi ( ar, مُسْلِم ٱبْن عَقِيل ٱلْهَاشِمِيّ ') was the son of Aqil ibn Abi Talib and a member of the clan of Banu Hashim, thus, he is a cousin of Husayn ibn Ali. The people of Kufa called upo ...
is like this. Hadiths on the subjects of jurisprudence, interpretation, beliefs, rulings and sermons, supplications, advice and poetry also remain from Husayn, which are scattered in Shiite and Sunni sources and have been compiled and published in the form of collections. There are also prayers left by Husayn Ibn Ali which have been published in the form of collections entitled Al-Sahifa Al-Husayn or prays of Imam Al-Husayn.
One of the most famous Shia prayers, as well as the works of Husayn, recorded in the book,
Mafatih al-Janan
''Mafatih al-Jinan'' (''Keys to Heavens'') ''(Arabic :مفاتیح الجنان)'' by Sheikh Abbas Qumi is a Twelver Shi'a compilation of Qur'anic Chapters, Dua's, Taaqeebat&e-Namaz (acts of worship after Namaz), acts during Islamic months and d ...
, is the
Du'a Arafah
Du'a Arafah ( ar, دعاء عرفة) is a Shia Muslim prayer first recorded by Husayn ibn Ali, the third Imam of Shia. It is read and chanted by Shia Muslims every year on the second day of the Hajj, day of Arafah, in the Arafat desert.
Authent ...
. According to
William C. Chittick
William C. Chittick (born 29 June 1943) is an American philosopher, writer, translator and interpreter of classical Islamic philosophical and mystical texts. He is best known for his work on Rumi and Ibn 'Arabi, and has written extensively on th ...
, this prayer is the most famous prayer in terms of its beauty and spiritual structure and is recited every year on the
Day of Arafah
The Day of Arafah ( ar, يوم عرفة, Yawm 'Arafah) is an Islamic holiday that falls on the 9th day of Dhu al-Hijjah of the lunar Islamic Calendar. It is the second day of both the Hajj pilgrimage and the Islamic holiday of Eid al-Adha. At d ...
and during the
Hajj
The Hajj (; ar, حَجّ '; sometimes also spelled Hadj, Hadji or Haj in English) is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the holiest city for Muslims. Hajj is a mandatory religious duty for Muslims that must be carried ...
season - that is, when it was first recited by Husayn ibn Ali - by Shia pilgrims. This prayer has a special and important role in Shia theology and
Mulla Sadra
Ṣadr ad-Dīn Muḥammad Shīrāzī, more commonly known as Mullā Ṣadrā ( fa, ملا صدرا; ar, صدر المتألهین) (c. 1571/2 – c. 1635/40 CE / 980 – 1050 AH), was a Persian Twelver Shi'i Islamic mystic, philosopher, the ...
, the philosopher and mystic, has referred to this prayer many times in his works.
Views
The killing of Husayn has had an emotional impact on Sunnis, who remember the event as a tragic incident and those killed in the company of Husayn as martyrs. The impact on Shi'a Islam has been much deeper. According to Vaglieri, only the adherents of the Umayyad who considered him as "a rebel against the established authority", condoned his murder by Yazid, but their opinion was opposed by the majority of Muslims. Therefore, almost all Muslims consider Husayn honorable because he was the grandson of Muhammad and because of the belief that he sacrificed himself for an ideal. Historian
Edward Gibbon
Edward Gibbon (; 8 May 173716 January 1794) was an English historian, writer, and member of parliament. His most important work, ''The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'', published in six volumes between 1776 and 1788, is k ...
described the events at Karbala as a tragedy. According to historian Syed Akbar Hyder,
Mahatma Gandhi
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...
attributed the historical progress of Islam, to the "sacrifices of Muslim saints like Husayn" rather than military force.
Sunnis
The positive attitude of the Sunnis towards Husayn, according to Vaglieri, is most likely due to the sad narrations that
Abu Mikhnaf
Lut ibn Yahya ibn Sa'id ibn Mikhnaf al-Azdi ( ar, لوط ابن يحيٰ ابن سعيد ابن مِخنَف الأزدي, Lūṭ ibn Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd ibn Mikhnaf al-Azdī), more commonly known by his '' kunya'' (epithet) Abu Mikhnaf ( ar, أ ...
has collected, some of which have been narrated directly or with short chains of transmitters, mostly from Kufis who regretted their actions towards Husayn. These sad narrations of the Kufis, which were a sign of Abu Mikhnaf's Shia tendencies, became the source of the narrations used by later historians and spread throughout the Islamic world. According to
Rasul Jafarian
Rasul Jafarian ( fa, رسول جعفریان; born June 30, 1964) is an Iranian clergyman and researcher in field of Iranian history. He is currently the Professor of the Department of History at the University of Tehran, the Director of The spe ...
, the Shia historian,
fatalism
Fatalism is a family of related philosophical doctrines that stress the subjugation of all events or actions to fate or destiny, and is commonly associated with the consequent attitude of resignation in the face of future events which are thou ...
, being promoted by Mu'awiya, caused Husayn's move to never be considered an uprising against corruption by the Sunnis, and they only considered it an illegal insurrection ().
Shias
The most important components of Shia views about Husayn are the belief in the
Imamate
{{expand Arabic, date=April 2021
The term imamate or ''imamah'' ( ar, إمامة, ''imāmah'') means "leadership" and refers to the office of an ''imam'' or a state ruled by an ''imam''.
Theology
*Imamate, in Sunni doctrine the caliphate
:* Naqshb ...
of Husayn and the characteristics of an Imam by the Shia religions;
Twelvers
Twelver Shīʿīsm ( ar, ٱثْنَا عَشَرِيَّة; '), also known as Imāmīyyah ( ar, إِمَامِيَّة), is the largest branch of Shīʿa Islam, comprising about 85 percent of all Shīʿa Muslims. The term ''Twelver'' refers t ...
,
Ismailis
Isma'ilism ( ar, الإسماعيلية, al-ʾIsmāʿīlīyah) is a branch or sub-sect of Shia Islam. The Isma'ili () get their name from their acceptance of Imam Isma'il ibn Jafar as the appointed spiritual successor (imām) to Ja'far al-Sa ...
and
Zaydis
Zaydism (''h'') is a unique branch of Shia Islam that emerged in the eighth century following Zayd ibn Ali‘s unsuccessful rebellion against the Umayyad Caliphate. In contrast to other Shia Muslims of Twelver Shi'ism and Isma'ilism, Zaydis, a ...
. Like other Imams, Husayn is a mediator with God for those who call on him; "it is through his intercession () that his faithful followers obtain guidance and attain salvation."
As a member of
holy five he receives all the divine grace that exist in his older brother, Hasan; also as the grandson of Muhammad.
According to Vaglieri, the basis of the Shias' glorification of Husayn is his outstanding sacred and moral action and the noble ideals to which he sacrificed himself. From the belief that "the Imams know all that was, that is, and that is to come, and that their knowledge does not increase with time," it is inferred that Husayn already knew the fate that awaited him and his followers.
Hence, he left Mecca for Kufa, aware of his imminent sacrifice and yet without any hesitation or attempt to escape the will of God. A narration according to which Husayn was called by God to choose between sacrifice and Victory (with the help of an angel), gives even more value to his enterprise. About the reason for Husayn's sacrifice in Shia sources Vaglieri write:
He is thus remembered as the prince of martyrs (''Sayyed al-Shuhada''). The historian G. R. Hawting describes the Battle of Karbala as a "supreme" example of "suffering and martyrdom" for Shi'as. According to
Abdulaziz Sachedina
Abdulaziz Sachedina is Professor and International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT) Chair in Islamic Studies at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia.
Biography
He has been a professor for 33 years, beginning in 1975. He annual ...
, it is seen by Shi'as the climax of suffering and oppression, revenge for which came to be one of the primary goals of many Shi'a uprisings. This revenge is believed to be one of the fundamental objectives of the future revolution of the twelfth Shi'a Imam
Muhammad al-Mahdi
Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan al-Mahdī ( ar, محمد بن الحسن المهدي) is believed by the Twelver Shia to be the last of the Twelve Imams and the eschatological Mahdi, who will emerge in the end of time to establish peace and justic ...
, whose return is awaited. With his return, Husayn and his seventy-two companions are expected to be resurrected along with their killers, who will then be punished.
Believing that Husayn wanted to redeem people from their sins with his blood, and that his action was "a redemptive sacrifice for the salvation of the world", according to Vaglieri, is foreign to Shia belief; however it may have been penetrated to Shia
ta'zieh
Ta'zieh ( ar, تعزية; fa, تعزیه; ur, ) means comfort, condolence, or expression of grief. It comes from roots ''aza'' (عزو and عزى) which means mourning.
Depending on the region, time, occasion, religion, etc. the word can sig ...
and recent poems later on, since it is easy to make the transition from ''tawassul'' to this idea, or it may be influenced by Christian ideas.
Among the verses that interpreted by some Shia sources as referring to Husayn is (Qur'an 46:15) which talks about a pregnant mother, Fatima, the mother of Husayn, who suffers a lot, when God expressed his condolences to Muhammad about the fate of this grandson, and Muhammad expressed this to Fatima; thus she was very upset.
According to another narration, the mysterious letters of K.H.Y.A.S. at the beginning of the nineteenth chapter of the Qur'an (
Maryam (surah)
Maryam ( ar, مريم, ; Arabic synonym of "Mary") is the 19th chapter (''sūrah'') of the Qur'an with 98 verses (''āyāt''). The 114 chapters in the Quran are roughly ordered by size. The Quranic chapter is named after Mary, mother of Jes ...
) refers to Husayn and his fate in Karbala, that was similar to the fate of
John the Baptist
John the Baptist or , , or , ;Wetterau, Bruce. ''World history''. New York: Henry Holt and Company. 1994. syc, ܝܘܿܚܲܢܵܢ ܡܲܥܡܕ݂ܵܢܵܐ, Yoḥanān Maʿmḏānā; he, יוחנן המטביל, Yohanān HaMatbil; la, Ioannes Bapti ...
who was also beheaded and his head was placed on a plate.
It is also narrated that Ali knew that Husayn would be killed in Karbala, and when he passed by this area, he stopped and cried, remembering Muhammad's prophecy. Ali interpreted the name "Karbala" as "Karb" and "bala" meaning "affliction" and "trial". The slain of Karbala will enter Paradise without any reckoning.
The traditional narration "Every day is Ashura and every land is Karbala!" is used by the Shi'a as a mantra to live their lives as Husayn did on Ashura, i.e. with complete sacrifice for God and for others. The saying is also intended to signify that what happened on Ashura in Karbala must always be remembered as part of suffering everywhere.
Husayn's head in Isma'ilism
![UmayyadMosque02](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/86/UmayyadMosque02.jpg)
the Fatimid vizier
Badr al-Jamali
Abū'l-Najm Badr ibn ʿAbdallāh al-Jamālī al-Mustanṣirī, better known as Badr al-Jamali ( ar, بدر الجمالى) was an Armenian Shia Muslim Fatimid vizier, and prominent statesman for the Fatimid Caliphate under Caliph al-Mustansir. Hi ...
conquered
Palestine
__NOTOC__
Palestine may refer to:
* State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia
* Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia
* Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...
under Caliph
al-Mustansir Billah
Abū Tamīm Maʿad al-Mustanṣir biʾllāh ( ar, أبو تميم معد المستنصر بالله; 2 July 1029 – 29 December 1094) was the eighth Fatimid Caliph from 1036 until 1094. He was one of the longest reigning Muslim rulers. ...
and discovered the head of Husayn in AH 448 (1056 AD). He constructed the minbar, a mosque and the ''mashhad'' at the place of burial.
[Williams, Caroline. 1983. "The Cult of 'Alid Saints in the Fatimid Monuments of Cairo. Part I: The Mosque of al-Aqmar". In Muqarnas I: An Annual on Islamic Art and Architecture. Oleg Grabar (ed.). New Haven: Yale University Press, 37–52. p.41, Wiet,"notes," pp. 217ff.; RCEA,7:260–63.] The shrine was described as the most magnificent building in
Ashkelon
Ashkelon or Ashqelon (; Hebrew: , , ; Philistine: ), also known as Ascalon (; Ancient Greek: , ; Arabic: , ), is a coastal city in the Southern District of Israel on the Mediterranean coast, south of Tel Aviv, and north of the border with ...
. During the
British Mandate it was a "large
maqam
MAQAM is a US-based production company specializing in Arabic and Middle Eastern media. The company was established by a small group of Arabic music and culture lovers, later becoming a division of 3B Media Inc. "MAQAM" is an Arabic word meaning a ...
on top of a hill" with no tomb but a fragment of a pillar showing the place where the head had been buried.
Israeli Defense Forces under
Moshe Dayan
Moshe Dayan ( he, משה דיין; 20 May 1915 – 16 October 1981) was an Israeli military leader and politician. As commander of the Jerusalem front in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces (1953–1958) du ...
blew up Mashhad Nabi Husayn in July 1950 as part of a broader operation.
Around the year 2000,
Isma'ilis
Isma'ilism ( ar, الإسماعيلية, al-ʾIsmāʿīlīyah) is a branch or sub-sect of Shia Islam. The Isma'ili () get their name from their acceptance of Imam Isma'il ibn Jafar as the appointed spiritual successor ( imām) to Ja'far al- ...
from India built a marble platform there, on the grounds of the
Barzilai Medical Center
Barzilai Medical Center ( he, מרכז רפואי ברזילי, ''Merkaz Refu'i Barzilai''; ar, مركز برزيلاي الطبي) is a 617-bed hospital in Ashkelon in southern Israel. The hospital serves a population of 500,000, including a la ...
.
; Prophet's grandson Hussein honoured on grounds of Israeli hospital[ The head remained buried in Ashkelon until 1153 (for about 250 years) only. Fearing the crusaders, Ashkelon's ruler Sayf al-Mamlaka Tamim brought the head to ]Cairo
Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...
on 31 August 1153 (8 Jumada al-Thani
Jumada al-Thani ( ar, جُمَادَىٰ ٱلثَّانِي, Jumādā ath-Thānī, lit=The second Jumada) also known as Jumada al-Akhirah ( ar, جُمَادَىٰ ٱلْآخِرَة, link=no, Jumādā al-ʾĀkhirah, lit=The final Jumada), Jumad ...
, AH 548).[Brief History of Transfer of the Sacred Head of Hussain ibn Ali, From Damascus to Ashkelon to Qahera By: Qazi Dr. Shaikh Abbas Borhany PhD (USA), NDI, Shahadat al A'alamiyyah (Najaf, Iraq), M.A., LLM (Shariah) Member, Ulama Council of Pakistan. Published in ''Daily News'', Karachi, Pakistan on 3 January 200]
.[
]
Modern historical views on motivations of Husayn
Wellhausen has described Husayn's revolt as a premature and ill-prepared campaign by an ambitious person. He writes "He reaches out to the moon like a child. He makes the greatest demands and does not do the slightest; the others should do everything... As soon as he encounters resistance, it is over with him; he wants to go back when it is too late." Lammens has agreed to this view and he sees in Husayn a person who disturbs public peace. According to Heinz Halm
Heinz Halm (born 21 February 1942 in Andernach, Rhine Province) is a German scholar of Islamic Studies, with a particular expertise on early Shia history, the Ismailites and other Shia sects.
Life
Born and raised in Andernach, Halm studied Islami ...
, this was a struggle for political leadership between the second generation of Muslims, in which the poorly equipped pretender ended up losing. Fred Donner
Fred McGraw Donner (born 1945) is a scholar of Islam and Peter B. Ritzma Professor of Near Eastern History at the University of Chicago. , G. R. Hawting
Gerald R. Hawting (born 1944) is a British historian and Islamicist.
Life
Hawting's teachers were Bernard Lewis and John Wansbrough. He received his Ph.D. in 1978. He is Emeritus Professor for the History of the Near and Middle East at the Sc ...
, and Hugh N. Kennedy
Hugh Nigel Kennedy (born 22 October 1947) is a British medieval historian and academic. He specialises in the history of the early Islamic Middle East, Muslim Iberia and the Crusades. From 1997 to 2007, he was Professor of Middle Eastern Histor ...
see Husayn's revolt as an attempt to regain what his brother Hasan had renounced.
Vaglieri, on the other hand, considers him to be motivated by ideology, saying that if the materials that have come down to us are authentic, they convey an image of person who is "convinced that he was in the right, stubbornly determined to achieve his ends..." Holding a similar view, Madelung has argued that Husayn was not a "reckless rebel" but a religious man motivated by pious convictions. According to him, Husayn was convinced that "the family of the Prophet was divinely chosen to lead the community founded by Moḥammad, as the latter had been chosen, and had both an inalienable right and an obligation to seek this leadership." He was, however, not seeking martyrdom and wanted to return when his expected support did not materialize. Maria Dakake
Maria Massi Dakake ( ) is an American scholar of Islamic studies and associate professor of Religious Studies at George Mason University. Her research mainly focuses on Islamic intellectual history, Quranic studies, Shi`ite and Sufi traditions, a ...
holds that Husayn considered the Umayyad rule oppressive and misguided, and revolted to reorient the Islamic community in the right direction. A similar view is held by Mahmoud Ayoub. S. M. Jafri proposes that Husayn, although motivated by ideology, did not intend to secure leadership for himself. Husayn, Jafri asserts, was from the start aiming for martyrdom in order to jolt the collective conscience of the Muslim community and reveal what he considers to be the oppressive and anti-Islamic nature of the Umayyad regime.
Impact
Politics
The first political use of the death of Husayn seems to have been during the revolt of Mukhtar, when he seized Kufa under the slogan of "Revenge for Husayn". Although the Penitents had used the same slogan, they do not seem have had a political program. In order to enhance their legitimacy, Abbasid rulers claimed to have avenged the death of Husayn by dethroning the Umayyads. During the early years of their rule, they also encouraged Muharram rituals. Buyids
The Buyid dynasty ( fa, آل بویه, Āl-e Būya), also spelled Buwayhid ( ar, البويهية, Al-Buwayhiyyah), was a Shia Iranian dynasty of Daylamite origin, which mainly ruled over Iraq and central and southern Iran from 934 to 1062. Coupl ...
, a Shi'a dynasty originally from Iran which later occupied the Abbasid capital Baghdad while accepting the Abbasid caliph's suzerainty, promoted the public rituals of Muharram to portray themselves as patrons of religion and to strengthen the Shi'a identity in Iraq. After taking over Iran in 1501, Safavids, who were previously a Sufi order, declared the state religion to be Twelver Shi'ism
Twelver Shīʿīsm ( ar, ٱثْنَا عَشَرِيَّة; '), also known as Imāmīyyah ( ar, إِمَامِيَّة), is the largest branch of Shīʿa Islam, comprising about 85 percent of all Shīʿa Muslims. The term ''Twelver'' refers t ...
. In this regard, Karbala and Muharram rituals came to be a vehicle of Safavid propaganda and a means of consolidating the dynasty's Shi'a identity. Riza Yildirim has claimed that the impetus of the Safvid revolution was the revenge of the death of Husayn. The founder of the dynasty, Shah Ismail
Ismail I ( fa, اسماعیل, Esmāʿīl, ; July 17, 1487 – May 23, 1524), also known as Shah Ismail (), was the founder of the Safavid dynasty of Iran, ruling as its King of Kings (''Shahanshah'') from 1501 to 1524. His reign is often c ...
, considered himself to be the Mahdi (the twelfth Shi'a Imam) or his forerunner. Similarly, Qajars
The Qajar dynasty (; fa, دودمان قاجار ', az, Qacarlar ) was an IranianAbbas Amanat, ''The Pivot of the Universe: Nasir Al-Din Shah Qajar and the Iranian Monarchy, 1831–1896'', I. B. Tauris, pp 2–3 royal dynasty of Turkic origin ...
also patronized Muharram rituals such as processions, ''taziya'' and ''majalis'', to improve the relationship between the state and the public.
Iranian Revolution
Karbala and Shi'a symbolism played a significant role in the Iranian Revolution
The Iranian Revolution ( fa, انقلاب ایران, Enqelâb-e Irân, ), also known as the Islamic Revolution ( fa, انقلاب اسلامی, Enqelâb-e Eslâmī), was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynas ...
of 1979. In contrast to the traditional view of Shi'ism as a religion of suffering, mourning and political quietism, Shi'a Islam and Karbala were given a new interpretation in the period preceding the revolution by rationalist intellectuals and religious revisionists like Jalal Al-e-Ahmad
Seyyed Jalāl Āl-e-Ahmad ( fa, جلال آلاحمد; December 2, 1923September 9, 1969) was a prominent Iranian novelist, short-story writer, translator, philosopher, socio-political critic, Sociology, sociologist, as well as an Anthropology ...
, Ali Shariati
Ali Shariati Mazinani ( fa, علی شریعتی مزینانی, 23 November 1933 – 18 June 1977) was an Iranian revolutionary and sociologist who focused on the sociology of religion. He is held as one of the most influential Iranian intell ...
and Nematollah Salehi Najafabadi
Ayatollah Nematollah Salehi Najafabadi (1923/24 in Najafabad, Isfahan province – 2006 in Tehran) was an Iranian cleric, scholar and proponent of Islamic Unity, who spent most years after the Iranian revolution of 1979 under house arrest.
T ...
. According to these, Shi'ism was an ideology of revolution and political struggle against tyranny and exploitation, and the Battle of Karbala and the death of Husayn was to be seen as a model for revolutionary struggle; weeping and mourning was to be replaced by political activism to realize the ideals of Husayn.
After the White Revolution
The White Revolution ( fa, انقلاب سفید ''Enqelāb-e Sefid'') or the Shah and People Revolution ( fa, انقلاب شاه و مردم ''Enqelāb-e Shāh o Mardom'') was a far-reaching series of reforms resulting in aggressive moderniz ...
reforms of the Iranian Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi
, title = Shahanshah Aryamehr Bozorg Arteshtaran
, image = File:Shah_fullsize.jpg
, caption = Shah in 1973
, succession = Shah of Iran
, reign = 16 September 1941 – 11 February 1979
, coronation = 26 October ...
, which were opposed by the Iranian clergy and others, Ruhollah Khomeini
Ruhollah Khomeini, Ayatollah Khomeini, Imam Khomeini ( , ; ; 17 May 1900 – 3 June 1989) was an Iranian political and religious leader who served as the first supreme leader of Iran from 1979 until his death in 1989. He was the founder of ...
labelled the Shah as the Yazid of his time. Shi'i beliefs and symbols were instrumental in orchestrating and sustaining widespread popular resistance with Husayn's story providing a framework for labeling as evil and reacting against the Pahlavi Shah.
Condemning the Iranian monarchy, Khomeini wrote: "The struggle of al-Husayn at Karbalâ is interpreted in the same way as a struggle against the non-Islamic principle of monarchy." Opposition to the Shah was thus compared with the opposition of Husayn to Yazid, and Muharram ritual gatherings became increasingly political in nature. According to Aghaie, the Shah's hostility towards various Muharram rituals, which he considered to be uncivilized, contributed to his fall. The Islamic republic that was established after the revolution has since promoted Muharram rituals. The clerics encourage public participation in elections as a form of "political activism" comparable to that of Husayn. Martyrdom spirit influenced by the death of Husayn was frequently witnessed in Iranian troops during the Iran–Iraq war
The Iran–Iraq War was an armed conflict between Iran and Iraq that lasted from September 1980 to August 1988. It began with the Iraqi invasion of Iran and lasted for almost eight years, until the acceptance of United Nations Security Council ...
.
In art and literature
Literature
Mir Mosharraf Hossain
Mir Mosharraf Hossain ( bn, মীর মশাররফ হোসেন; 1847–1912) was a Bengali writer, novelist, playwright and essayist. He is considered to be the first major writer to emerge from the Muslim society of Bengal, and one ...
's 19th century novel on Karbala, ''Bishad Sindhu'' (the Ocean of Sorrow), established the precedent of the Islamic epic in Bangali literature. South Asian
South Asia is the southern Subregion#Asia, subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geography, geographical and culture, ethno-cultural terms. The region consists of the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, ...
philosopher and poet Muhammad Iqbal
Sir Muhammad Iqbal ( ur, ; 9 November 187721 April 1938), was a South Asian Muslim writer, philosopher, Quote: "In Persian, ... he published six volumes of mainly long poems between 1915 and 1936, ... more or less complete works on philoso ...
sees Husayn's sacrifice as being similar to that of Ishmael and compares Yazid's opposition to Husayn with the opposition of Pharaoh
Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian: ''pr ꜥꜣ''; cop, , Pǝrro; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') is the vernacular term often used by modern authors for the kings of ancient Egypt who ruled as monarchs from the First Dynasty (c. 3150 BC) until the an ...
to Moses
Moses hbo, מֹשֶׁה, Mōše; also known as Moshe or Moshe Rabbeinu (Mishnaic Hebrew: מֹשֶׁה רַבֵּינוּ, ); syr, ܡܘܫܐ, Mūše; ar, موسى, Mūsā; grc, Mωϋσῆς, Mōÿsēs () is considered the most important pro ...
. Urdu poet Ghalib
Mirza Beg Asadullah Khan (Urdu, fa, مرزا بیگ اسد اللہ خان; 27 December 1797 – 15 February 1869) also known as Mirza Ghalib (Urdu, fa}) was an Urdu and Persian language, Persian shayar (poet), poet of the 19th century Mughal Em ...
compares Husayn's suffering with that of Mansur al-Hallaj
Al-Hallaj ( ar, ابو المغيث الحسين بن منصور الحلاج, Abū 'l-Muġīth Al-Ḥusayn bin Manṣūr al-Ḥallāj) or Mansour Hallaj ( fa, منصور حلاج, Mansūr-e Hallāj) ( 26 March 922) (Islamic calendar, Hijri ...
, a tenth century Sufi, who was executed on a charge of claiming divinity.
Maqtal literature and legendary accounts
''Maqtal'' (pl. ''Maqatil'') works narrate the story of someone's death. Although ''Maqatil'' on the deaths of Ali, Uthman and various others have been written, the ''Maqtal'' genre has focused mainly on the story of Husayn's death.
As well as Abu Mikhnaf's ''Maqtal'', other Arabic ''Maqatil'' on Husayn were written. Most of these mix history with legend and have elaborate details on Husayn's miraculous birth, which is stated to be on 10 Muharram, coinciding with his date of death. The universe as well as humanity are described as having been created on the day of ''Ashura'' (10 Muharram). ''Ashura'' is also asserted to have been the day of both Abraham
Abraham, ; ar, , , name=, group= (originally Abram) is the common Hebrew patriarch of the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Judaism, he is the founding father of the special relationship between the Jew ...
's and Muhammad's birth and of the ascension of Jesus to heaven, and of numerous other events concerning prophets. Husayn is claimed to have performed various miracles, including quenching his companions' thirst by putting his thumb in their mouths and satisfying their hunger by bringing down food from the heavens, and to have killed several thousand Umayyad attackers. Other accounts claim that when Husayn died, his horse shed tears and killed many Umayyad soldiers; the sky became red and it rained blood; angels
In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God.
Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles include ...
, jinns
Jinn ( ar, , ') – also romanized as djinn or anglicized as genies (with the broader meaning of spirit or demon, depending on sources)
– are invisible creatures in early pre-Islamic Arabian religious systems and later in Islamic mytho ...
and wild animals wept; that light emanated from Husayn's severed head and that it recited the Qur'an; and that all of his killers met calamitous end.
''Maqtal'' later entered Persian, Turkish, and Urdu literature, and inspired the development of ''rawda''.
Marthiya and rawda
When Shi'ism became the official religion of Iran in the 16th century, Safavid rulers such as Shah
Shah (; fa, شاه, , ) is a royal title that was historically used by the leading figures of Iranian monarchies.Yarshater, EhsaPersia or Iran, Persian or Farsi, ''Iranian Studies'', vol. XXII no. 1 (1989) It was also used by a variety of ...
Tahmasp I
Tahmasp I ( fa, طهماسب, translit=Ṭahmāsb or ; 22 February 1514 – 14 May 1576) was the second shah of Safavid Iran from 1524 to 1576. He was the eldest son of Ismail I and his principal consort, Tajlu Khanum. Ascending the throne after t ...
, patronized poets who wrote about the Battle of Karbala. The genre of ''marthiya'' (poems in the memory of the dead, with popular forms of Karbala related ''marthiya'' being ''rawda'' and ''nawha''), according to Persian scholar Wheeler Thackston
Wheeler McIntosh Thackston (born 1944) is an American Orientalist. He has edited and translated numerous Chaghatai, Arabic, and Persian literary and historical works.
Life
Thackston is a graduate of Princeton's Oriental Studies department, wh ...
, "was particularly cultivated by the Safavids." Various Persian authors wrote texts retelling romanticized and synthesized versions of the battle and events from it, including Sa'id al-Din's ''Rawdat al-Islam'' (The Garden of Islam) and Al-Khawarazmi's ''Maqtal nur 'al-'a'emmah'' (The Site of the Murder of the Light of the Imams). These influenced the composition of the more popular text ''Rawdat al-Shuhada'' (Garden of Martyrs), which was written in 1502 by Husain Wa'iz Kashefi. Kashefi's composition was an effective factor in the development of ''rawda khwani'', a ritual recounting of the battle events in ''majalis''.
Inspired by ''Rawdat al-Shuhada'', the Azerbaijani poet Fuzûlî
Mahammad bin Suleyman ( Classical Azerbaijani: ), better known by his pen name Fuzuli ( az-Arab, فضولی ; ;
* ota, محمد بن سلیمان فضولی ;
* fa, محمد بن سلیمان فضولی . – 1556), was a 16th century ...
wrote an abridged and simplified version of it in Ottoman Turkish
Ottoman Turkish ( ota, لِسانِ عُثمانى, Lisân-ı Osmânî, ; tr, Osmanlı Türkçesi) was the standardized register of the Turkish language used by the citizens of the Ottoman Empire (14th to 20th centuries CE). It borrowed extens ...
in his work ''Hadiqat al-Su'ada''. It influenced similar works in Albanian on the subject. Dalip Frashëri use both this parameter and , birth_date to display the person's date of birth, date of death, and age at death) -->
, death_place = Konitsa, Ottoman Empire
, death_cause =
, nationality =
, other_names = Hyxhretiu ...
's ''Kopshti i te Mirevet'' is the earliest, and longest epic
Epic commonly refers to:
* Epic poetry, a long narrative poem celebrating heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation
* Epic film, a genre of film with heroic elements
Epic or EPIC may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and medi ...
so far, written in the Albanian language
Albanian ( endonym: or ) is an Indo-European language and an independent branch of that family of languages. It is spoken by the Albanians in the Balkans and by the Albanian diaspora, which is generally concentrated in the Americas, Europ ...
; the Battle of Karbala is described in detail and Frashëri eulogizes those who fell as martyrs, in particular Husayn.
Urdu ''marthiya'' is predominantly religious in nature and usually concentrates on lamenting the Battle of Karbala. South Indian rulers of Bijapur
Bijapur, officially known as Vijayapura, is the district headquarters of Bijapur district of the Karnataka state of India. It is also the headquarters for Bijapur Taluk. Bijapur city is well known for its historical monuments of architectural ...
(Ali Adil Shah
Ali Adil Shah I ( fa, ; 1558–1579) was the fifth Sultan of Adil Shahi dynasty, Bijapur Sultanate.
On the day of his coronation Ali abandoned the Sunni practices and reintroduced the Shia, Shi’ah Khutbah and other practices. The Persian peo ...
), and Golkonda Sultanate
The Qutb Shahi dynasty also called as Golconda Sultanate (Persian: ''Qutb Shāhiyān'' or ''Sultanat-e Golkonde'') was a Persianate Shia Islam dynasty of Turkoman origin that ruled the sultanate of Golkonda in southern India. After the coll ...
(Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah
Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah (4 April 156511 January 1612) was the fifth sultan of the Qutb Shahi dynasty of Golkonda and founded the city of Hyderabad, in South-central India and built its architectural centerpiece, the Charminar. He was an able admi ...
) were patrons of poetry and encouraged Urdu ''marthiya'' recitation in Muharram. Urdu ''marthiya'' afterwards became popular throughout India. Famous Urdu poets Mir Taqi Mir
Mir Muhammad Taqi (February 1723 – 20 September 1810), known as Mir Taqi Mir (also spelled Meer Taqi Meer), was an Urdu poet of the 18th century Mughal era in the Subcontinent and one of the pioneers who gave shape to the Urdu language it ...
, Mirza Rafi Sauda
Mirza Mohammad rafi 'Sauda' ( ur, ),
(1713–1781) was an Urdu poet in Delhi, India. He is known for his ''Ghazals'' and Urdu ''Qasidas''.
Biography
He was born in 1713 in Shahjahanabad (i.e. Old Delhi), where he was also brought up. At the ...
, Mir Anees
Mir Babar Ali Anees ( ur, مير ببر على انيس) (1800–1874), also known as Mir Anees was an Indian Urdu poet. He used his pen-name (takhallus) of Anees (Urdu: , ''Anees'' means "close friend, companion") in poetry. Anees used Persian, ...
, and Mirza Salaamat Ali Dabeer
Mirza Salaamat Ali Dabeer ( ur, ),
(29 August 1803 – 6 March 1875) was an Urdu poet who excelled and perfected the art of Marsiya writing. He is considered the leading exponent of Marsiya Nigari or marsiya writing along with Mir Anees.
Mi ...
have also composed ''marthiya''. Comparing Karl Marx
Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 ...
with Husayn, Josh Malihabadi
Josh Malihabadi (born Shabbir Hasan Khan; 5 December 1898 – 22 February 1982) popularly known as Shayar-e-Inqalab (poet of revolution) was a Pakistani poet and is regarded as one of the finest Urdu poets of the era of British India. Kno ...
argues that Karbala is not a story of the past to be recounted by the religious clerics in ''majalis'', but should be seen as a model for revolutionary struggle towards the goal of a classless society and economic justice.
Sufi poetry
In Sufism
Sufism ( ar, ''aṣ-ṣūfiyya''), also known as Tasawwuf ( ''at-taṣawwuf''), is a mystic body of religious practice, found mainly within Sunni Islam but also within Shia Islam, which is characterized by a focus on Islamic spirituality, r ...
, where annihilation of the self (''nafs
''Nafs'' () is an Arabic word occurring in the Quran, literally meaning "self", and has been translated as "psyche
Psyche (''Psyché'' in French) is the Greek term for "soul" (ψυχή).
Psyche may also refer to:
Psychology
* Psyche (psych ...
'') and suffering in the path of God are paramount principles, Husayn is seen as a model Sufi. Persian Sufi poet Hakim Sanai
Hakim Abul-Majd Majdūd ibn Ādam Sanā'ī Ghaznavi ( fa, ), more commonly known as Sanai, was a Persian poet from Ghazni who lived his life in the Ghaznavid Empire which is now located in Afghanistan. He was born in 1080 and died between 1131 ...
describes Husayn as a martyr, higher in rank than all the other martyrs of the world; while Farid ud-Din Attar
Abū Ḥamīd bin Abū Bakr Ibrāhīm (c. 1145 – c. 1221; fa, ابو حامد بن ابوبکر ابراهیم), better known by his pen-names Farīd ud-Dīn () and ʿAṭṭār of Nishapur (, Attar means apothecary), was a PersianRitter, H. ( ...
considers him a prototype of a Sufi who sacrificed himself in the love of God. Jalal ud-Din Rumi describes Husayn's suffering at Karbala as a means to achieve union with the divine, and hence considers it to be a matter of jubilation rather than grief. Sindhi Sufi poet Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai
Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai ( sd, شاھ عبداللطيف ڀٽائي, ur, ; 1689/1690 – 21 December 1752), commonly known by the honorifics ''Lakhino Latif'', ''Latif Ghot'', ''Bhittai'', and ''Bhit Jo Shah'', was a Sindhi Sufi mystic, an ...
devoted a section in his ''Shah Jo Risalo
''Shah Jo Risalo'' ( sd, شاھ جو رسالو) is a poetic compendium of famous Sindhi Sufi poet Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai. In fact, it is many compendia, for Shah Abdul Latif's poetry in various forms of bayt and wai was compiled by many of h ...
'' to the death of Husayn, in which the incident is remembered in laments and elegies. He too sees Husayn's death as a sacrifice made in the path of God, and condemns Yazid as being bereft of divine love. Turkish Sufi Yunus Emre
Yunus Emre () also known as Derviş Yunus (Yunus the Dervish) (1238–1328) (Old Anatolian Turkish: يونس امره)
was a Turkish folk poet and Islamic Sufi mystic who greatly influenced Turkish culture. His name, ''Yunus'', is the Muslim e ...
labels Husayn, along with his brother Hasan, as the "fountain head of the martyrs" and "Kings of the Paradise" in his songs.
Ancestry
See also
References
Notes
Citations
Sources
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External links
Al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī
an article of Encyclopædia Britannica
The (Latin for "British Encyclopædia") is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It is published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.; the company has existed since the 18th century, although it has changed ownership various time ...
.
hussain ibn 'Ali
by Wilferd Madelung, an article of Encyclopædia Iranica.
hussain ibn 'Ali in popular Shiism
by Jean Calmard, an article of Encyclopædia Iranica.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Husayn Ibn Ali
626 births
680 deaths
7th-century imams
Family of Muhammad
7th-century Muslims
Arab Muslims
Children of Ali
Children of Rashidun caliphs
Deaths by blade weapons
Husayn ibn Ali
Hussainiya
People killed at the Battle of Karbala
People of the Second Fitna
Sahabah killed in battle
Twelve Imams