Husayn ibn Ali
Husayn ibn Ali was a social, political and religious leader in early medieval Arabia. The grandson of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and an Alid, as well as a younger brother of Hasan ibn Ali, Husayn is regarded as the third Imam in Shia Islam after his brother, Hasan, and before his son, Ali al-Sajjad. Husayn is a prominent member of the Ahl al-Bayt and is also considered to be a member of the Ahl al-Kisa and a participant in the event of the mubahala. Muhammad described him and his brother, Hasan, as the leaders of the youth of paradise.
During the caliphate of Ali, Husayn accompanied him in wars. After the assassination of Ali, he obeyed his brother in recognizing the Hasan–Mu'awiya treaty, despite it being suggested to do otherwise. In the nine-year period between Hasan's abdication in AH 41 and his death in AH 49 or 50, Hasan and Husayn retreated to Medina, trying to keep aloof from political involvement for or against Mu'awiya I. 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 as his successor, contrary to the Hasan–Mu'awiya treaty. When Mu'awiya I died in 680, Yazid demanded that Husayn pledge allegiance to him. Husayn refused to do so. As a consequence, he left Medina, his hometown, to take refuge in Mecca in AH 60. There, the people of Kufa sent letters to him, invited him to Kufa and asked him to be their Imam and pledged their allegiance to him. On Husayn's way to Kufa with a retinue of about 72 men, his caravan was intercepted by a 1,000-strong army of the caliph at some distance from Kufa. He was forced to head north and encamp in the plain of Karbala on 2 October, where a larger Umayyad army of some 4,000 or 30,000 arrived soon afterwards. Negotiations failed after the Umayyad governor Ubayd Allah ibn Ziyad refused Husayn safe passage without submitting to his authority, a condition declined by Husayn. Battle ensued on 10 October during which Husayn was 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, during which the Iraqis organized two separate campaigns to avenge the killing of Husayn; the first one by the Tawwabin and the other one by Mukhtar al-Thaqafi and his supporters.
The Battle of Karbala galvanized the development of the pro-Alid party into a unique religious sect with its own rituals and collective memory. It has a central place in the Shi'a history, tradition, and theology, and has frequently been recounted in Shi'a literature. For the Shi'a, Husayn's suffering and martyrdom became a symbol of sacrifice in the struggle for right against wrong, and for justice and truth against injustice and falsehood. It also provides the members of the Shi'a faith with a catalog of heroic norms. The battle is commemorated during an annual ten-day period during the Islamic month of Muharram by many Muslims especially Shi'a, culminating on tenth day of the month, known as the day of Ashura. On this day, Shi'a Muslims mourn, hold public processions, organise religious gathering, beat their chests and in some cases self-flagellate. Sunni Muslims likewise regard the incident as a historical tragedy; Husayn and his companions are widely regarded as martyrs by both Sunni and Shi'a Muslims.
Early life
Most narrations report that Husayn was born on the 3rd of Sha'ban 4 AH in Medina and was still a child when his grandfather, Muhammad, died. He was the younger son of Ali, the cousin of Muhammad, and Fatima, the daughter of Muhammad, both from the Banu Hashim clan of the Quraysh tribe. Both Hasan and Husayn were named by Muhammad, although Ali had other names such as "Harb" in mind. Muhammad sacrificed a ram to celebrate Husayn's birth, and Fatima shaved his head and donated the same weight of his hair in silver as alms.Islamic traditions holds Husayn is mentioned in the Torah as "Shubayr" and in the Gospels as "Tab".
Husayn was raised in Muhammad's household during his early years. The family formed from the marriage of Ali and Fatima was praised many times by Muhammad. In events such as Mubahala and the hadith of the Ahl al-Kisa, Muhammad referred to this family as the Ahl al-bayt. In the Qur'an, in many cases, such as the verse of purification, the ahl al-bayt has been praised.
Madelung notes that 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 their bellies. Madelung believes that some of these reports may imply a slight preference of Muhammad for Hasan over Husayn, or pointing out that Hasan was more similar to his grandfather.
A hadith in the canonical Sunni collection Sunan al-Tirmidhi states al-Hasan and al-Husayn as the sayyids of the youth in Paradise. Madelung adds that this hadith is widely reported.
Other similar Hadiths include: "Whoever loves them loves me and whoever hates them hates me", and "al-Hasan and al-Husayn are the sayyids of the youth of Paradise". The recent one is used by Shia to prove the right of Imamate 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 and told her that the soil inside the bottle would turn into blood after Husayn was killed.
Event of ''Mubahala''
In the year 10 AH a Christian envoy from Najran came to Muhammad to argue which of the two parties erred in its doctrine concerning Jesus. After likening Jesus' miraculous birth to Adam'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 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, 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 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, 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, and his cousin, Abdullah ibn Ja'far were among closest allies of Ali. He remained alongside him, accompanying him in the battlefields. According to a report by Tabari, Husayn was among Ali's major supporters who were cursed in public by the order of Mu'awiya I.After the assassination of Ali people gave allegiance to Hasan. Mu'awiya who did not want to give allegiance to him, prepared to fight. To avoid the agonies of the civil war, Hasan signed a treaty with Mu'awiya I, according to which Mu'awiya I 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 I's camp near Kufa, he refused, saying that as long as Mu'awiya I was alive, he would abide by the terms of the peace treaty, however, after Mu'awiya I's death, he will reconsider it. After signing the peace treaty, Mu'awiyah I 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 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.