Imam Hussain ibn Ali (AS)

Hussain (AS) was the second son of Imam Ali (AS) and Fatima al-Zahra (AS), born in Medina in Sha‘ban 4 AH. Like his brother, he grew up close to his grandfather the Prophet (s), whose love for the two boys is widely reported. [WikiShia]

Shia Muslims count him among the Ahl al-Kisa, and believe he was the third Imam after his father and brother. [WikiShia]

He stood with his father in Kufa and with his brother through the treaty, and he kept to its terms after the death of Imam Hasan (AS). He did, however, publicly rebuke Mu‘awiya. He wrote to condemn the killing of Hujr ibn ‘Adi, and refused to accept Yazid when Mu‘awiya named him as successor. His sermon at Mina during the Hajj is read as a challenge to Umayyad rule. [WikiShia]

When Mu‘awiya died in 60 AH, the governor of Medina demanded that Imam Hussain (AS) give allegiance to Yazid. He refused. He left Medina for Mecca on 28 Rajab 60 AH, leaving a written will with his brother Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyya. In his four months in Mecca, letters arrived from Kufa urging him to come, and he sent his cousin Muslim ibn ‘Aqil ahead. [WikiShia] [WikiShia] [WikiShia]

He left Mecca for Iraq on 8 Dhu al-Hijja 60 AH, just as the Hajj was beginning. On the way he learned that Muslim ibn ‘Aqil had been killed in Kufa after the Kufans abandoned him. [WikiShia] [WikiShia]

An advance force under al-Hurr ibn Yazid al-Riyahi, sent by ‘Ubayd Allah ibn Ziyad, stopped his caravan, and he camped at Karbala on 2 Muharram 61 AH. An army under ‘Umar ibn Sa‘d followed and cut the camp off from the Euphrates. On the day of Ashura al-Hurr went over to the Imam’s side and was killed with him. [WikiShia] [WikiShia]

Fearing Yazid’s army, the Kufans did not come to his aid. On the day of Ashura, 10 Muharram, he and around seventy-two companions and family members were killed. Among them was his brother al-‘Abbas (AS). [WikiShia]

The surviving women and children, with his son Imam Ali Zayn al-Abidin (AS) and his sister Lady Zaynab (AS), were taken captive to Kufa and then Damascus. [WikiShia]

Scholars differ on the aim of his journey. Some hold that he meant to establish a just government; others stress that he left to protect his life and refuse an unjust allegiance. His own will speaks of seeking reform. See the sayings below. [WikiShia] [Wilferd Madelung]

Mourning for Imam Hussain (AS) in Muharram and visiting his grave became central to Shia devotional life. The Arba‘een walk to Karbala, forty days after Ashura, is among the largest annual gatherings in the world. [WikiShia] [Wilferd Madelung]