Al-Hussain

Ḥussain ibn Ali Ibn Abi Talib was the grandson of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and the son of Ali, the first Imam, and the fourth Caliph, and Muhammad's daughter Fatima Zahra. Hussein ibn Ali is revered as a martyr who fought tyranny, as the third Imam by most Shi’a Muslims, and as the second Imam by the majority of Ismaili Shi'a Muslims. He refused to pledge alligiance to Yazid I, the Umayyad caliph. As a consequence, he was assassinated by Yazid's army in the Battle of Karbala in 680 (61 AH).^[2] The anniversary of his martyrdom is called Ashura and it is a day of mourning and religious observance for Shi'a Muslims. Revenge for Husayn's death was turned into a rallying cry that helped undermine the Umayyad caliphate and gave impetus to the rise of a powerful Shia movement. Imam Hussain ibn Ali was born on 5 Sha'aban 4 AH/10 January 626 CE. Another report mentions the middle of Jumada al-awwal 6AH/beginning of October 627 CE as his date of birth. He and his brother Imam Hassan were the only descendants of Prophet Muhammad who remained alive. Many of the accounts about Prophet Muhammad's treatment of his grandsons and his great love for them deal with them together and at times confuse them. Prophet Muhammad is reported to have said that "whoever loves them [his grandsons] loves me and whoever hates them hates me" and "al-Hasan and al-Husayn are the sayyids of the youth of Paradise". The latter saying has been particularly important for Shias who used it in support of for the right of Muhammad's descendants to the imamate. Prophet Muhammad, according to other traditions, is pictured with his grandsons on his knees, on his shoulders, or even on his back during the prayer at the moment of prostrating himself. According to Madelung, Muhammad loved them and declared them as his Ahl al-Bayt frequently. The Quran has accorded the Ahl al-Bayt of the Prophet an elevated position above the rest of the faithful. Ali, Husayn's father was, by implication of the Islamic tradition, rightful successor of the prophet and was denied his right. This belief was reinforced by the incident of Ghadir Khumm. However, Ali maintained that although a right of the successor, leadership of the Muslim state was not to be perceived as successorship to the prophet since Islam was meant to be faith and not state. Thus, he stood firm as the bearer of Imamate while not the bearer of caliphate nor did he pledge his allegiance to his predecessors. In 656, when Uthman, the third caliph was killed by a revolting mob, all those who rejected Ali's claim earlier, came to him and pleaded of him to take up the position of the head of the temporal state. He was a caliph for four years and four months only, during this short period he faced continual challenges from the group of Muawiyah and other contenders. In 661 Ali was assassinated by Ibn Muljim, in the mosque of Kufa. Ali's followers, Shia, proclaimed that his eldest son Hassan, who was the successor to Ali's Imamate should be the caliph and the Islamic tradition must not be discarded again. Muawiyah had fought Ali for the leadership of the empire and now prepared to fight Hassan. After a few inconclusive skirmishes between the armies of Hassan and Muawiyah, Hassan reminded his followers of Ali's position that Imamate is sufficient for successorship of the prophet and that leading the Muslim state was not a criterion. Thus, to avoid agonies of another civil war, he signed a treaty with Muawiyah and relinquished the control of what had turned into an Arabian kingdom; while not having pledged his allegiance to Muawiyah. Even after taking such a stance, Hassan was poisoned and killed in 669 by Muawiyah. This left Husayn as the head of the Alids, the successor to Hassan's Imamate. When Imam Hassan ibn Ali agreed to a peace treaty with Muawiyah I, the first Umayyad caliph, he left Kufa and went to Medina with his brother Imam Husayn. Imam Husayn stayed in Madina until Muawiyah died in 680.

Muawiyah chose to proclaim his son Yazid as the heir to his throne, the leader of the Muslim state. Yazid realized that unless Husayn, the grandson of the prophet and the legitimate successor to Hassan, submits to his command, his caliphate would not be deemed legitimate due to the clause in Hassan's treaty with Muawiyah which forbade Muawiyah from appointing a successor to himself. Thus, he tried several times to force Husayn into pledging allegiance to him.

Yazid had claimed that Islam was no more than a game of the Hashimites to attain temporal power and in the face of such a claim, had the grandson of the prophet of Islam submitted to Yazid, it would conclusively affirm Yazid's position about genuineness of Islam.

In order to avoid being forced to submit, Husayn left Madina for Mecca. It is to be noted that Husayn had sufficient supporters in Hijaz whom he could easily mobilize, but did not.

The people of Kufa had sent several letters to Husayn, inviting him to fill the void left by demise of Hassan and to lead them in religious affairs. Yazid, who was already paranoid, perceived this a danger to his throne. He plotted to kill the grandson of the prophet during the Hajj, in the precincts of the Holy Kaaba, thus defiling and desecrating it.

In order to avoid this sacrilege, Husayn took along his wifes, children, a few friends and relatives and headed towards Kufa to fulfill the responsibility of the bearer of Imamate and to fulfill his destiny as was prophesied by his grandfather, Mohammad.

On his way, he was offered military support by the tribe of Banu Tayy as well as sanctuary in their hills from where he could (if he wanted to) safely lead a revolt and overthrow Yazid. But Husayn refused the offer and continued his journey with his few companions.

It thus becomes clear that the objective of Husayn's campaign was not caliphate. It was the honor of prophet Mohammad which he stood for.

On October 10 680(Muharram 10, 61 AH), he and his small group of companions and family members, who were 72 men of Husayn ibn Ali (the grandson of Muhammad), fought with a large army of perhaps 70,000 men under the command of Umar ibn Sa'ad, son of the founder of Kufah. Husayn and all of his men were killed. The bodies of the dead, including that of Husayn, were then mutilated.

Today, the death of Hussein ibn Ali is commemorated during every Muharram, with the most important of these days being its tenth day, Ashura.