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al-Husayn ibn Ali (RA)

الحسين بن علي

4 AH - 10 Muharram 61 AH (680 CE), Karbala · grandchild of the Prophet ﷺ

The Prophet's younger grandson, 'leader of the youth of Paradise', who refused to pledge allegiance to Yazid and was martyred with family and companions at Karbala on 10 Muharram 61 AH.

Biography

Al-Husayn, son of Ali and Fatimah, was born in 4 AH. The Prophet ﷺ said 'Husayn is from me and I am from Husayn' (Jami' al-Tirmidhi, graded hasan) and named him with al-Hasan as leaders of the youth of Paradise. He is included in Hadith al-Kisa and the Mubahalah.

When Mu'awiyah nominated his son Yazid as successor (a hereditary succession unprecedented in the Rashidun era), al-Husayn refused allegiance. Invited by letters from Kufa, he set out from Makkah with his family. Ubaydullah ibn Ziyad's forces intercepted him at Karbala, where he and about seventy companions and family members were killed on 10 Muharram 61 AH (Ashura). Sahih Bukhari records Anas ibn Malik's report of al-Husayn's head being brought before Ibn Ziyad. Survivors included his son Ali (Zayn al-Abidin) and his sister Zaynab. Detailed battle narratives come mostly from Abu Mikhnaf via al-Tabari, whose reliability is debated.

Karbala became a defining event in Islamic history and central to Shia identity, while Sunni scholars also regard al-Husayn as a martyr who stood against injustice.

Sources & explanation

۞ Qur'an

33:33 3:61

Links open quran.com.

📜 Hadith verified on sunnah.com

  • Jami` at-Tirmidhi 3205 Sahih (Darussalam)

    The verse of purification (33:33) was revealed in Umm Salamah's house; the Prophet ﷺ covered Fatimah, Hasan, Husayn and Ali with a cloak.

  • Sahih Muslim 2424 Sahih

    Hadith al-Kisa': the Prophet ﷺ took Hasan, Husayn, Fatimah and Ali under his cloak and recited 33:33.

  • Sahih Muslim 2404d Sahih

    Mu'awiyah asked Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas what prevented him from reviling Abu Turab (Ali); Sa'd cited three sayings of the Prophet ﷺ: the Harun-Musa hadith, the Khaybar banner, and the Mubahalah, when he gathered Ali, Fatimah, Hasan and Husayn saying 'O Allah, these are my family'.

  • Jami` at-Tirmidhi 3768 Sahih (Darussalam)

    'Al-Hasan and al-Husayn are the leaders of the youth of the people of Paradise.'

  • Jami` at-Tirmidhi 3775 Hasan (Darussalam)

    'Husayn is from me and I am from Husayn; Allah loves whoever loves Husayn.'

  • Sahih al-Bukhari 3749 Sahih

    The head of al-Husayn was brought to 'Ubaydullah ibn Ziyad, who poked it with a stick; Anas ibn Malik said Husayn most resembled the Prophet ﷺ.

  • Sahih al-Bukhari 3754 Sahih

    Ibn 'Umar, asked about killing a fly in ihram by an Iraqi, said: they killed the son of the Prophet's daughter, while the Prophet ﷺ said 'they (Hasan and Husayn) are my two sweet basils in this world'.

💬 Explanation Mirza view verified

Engineer Muhammad Ali Mirza's perspective

Methodological note (not a direct quote): Engineer Muhammad Ali Mirza's widely known approach is to build narratives primarily on the Quran and Sahih Hadith, to set aside Israiliyat (Judeo-Christian lore absorbed into later tafsir) and weak or fabricated narrations, and to avoid sectarian framing. Applied to this node: Verified from his videos (paraphrase): al-Husayn's stand was for the truth ('Fikr-e-Husain haq-parasti ki alamat hai'); Mirza grounds it in the Sahih Muslim hadith on changing evil, arguing al-Husayn would not settle for the weakest level of faith. He stresses al-Husayn left with women and children (72 people, 18 of them Ahl al-Bayt), heading for Kufa after letters from Kufans including the companion Sulayman ibn Surad, so it was not a military rebellion. He holds Yazid's government and its governor Ubaydullah ibn Ziyad responsible, refutes defences of Yazid, says allegiance to Yazid was coerced, notes al-Husayn changed course after learning of Muslim ibn Aqil's death, and rejects the report (Ansab al-Ashraf) that al-Husayn offered to go to Yazid and pledge allegiance. He frames Karbala with Quran 19:59 (unworthy successors after the prophets) and his Research Paper 5 built on 72 Sahih hadith, and describes his stance as 'neither Rafidi nor Nasibi'.

Verified from auto-transcripts of 6zhjdo3CoFk (2 Nov 2014), IdbHksM5Ixs (14 July 2024), ywqlRL1hUWs and IGzUWj1OwDk. Transcripts are machine-generated (Hindi-script or English translation); content paraphrased, not quoted.

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Further references

  • Sahih Bukhari (Anas: Husayn's head brought to Ibn Ziyad)
  • Jami' al-Tirmidhi ('Husayn is from me')
  • Tarikh al-Tabari (Abu Mikhnaf narrations; reliability debated)

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