Husayn

Husayn, second son of Ali and Fatima, and grandson of the Prophet, Muhammad, the founder of Islam. Husayn is considered the second (and sometimes third) Imam (political leader) of the Shia branch of Islam. His fame rests chiefly on his preeminence as the Prophet's last surviving grandson and with his rebellion against the Umayyad caliph Yazid, which ended in martyrdom (see Caliphate: The Umayyad Caliphs (661-750)).

Husayn was born in Medina (located in present-day western Saudi Arabia) in 626, a few years before Muhammad's death (632). Husayn and his older brother Hasan were the Prophet's only grandsons and numerous Islamic traditions relate Muhammad's special love for the two boys. Husayn's tragic story began after the death of Hasan, whose claim to the caliphate, the office of the supreme leader of the Muslims, had been challenged by Muawiyah, the founding father of the Umayyad dynasty. When Hasan abdicated and submitted to Muawiyah's caliphate in 661, Husayn too, as the younger brother, was obligated to acknowledge Muawiyah. After Hasan's death, Husayn continued to submit to Muawiyah but refused to recognize Muawiyah's son, Yazid, as the heir apparent to the caliphate.

On Muawiyah's death Husayn fled Medina and its Umayyad governor to avoid giving allegiance to Yazid. Having found temporary refuge in the holy city of Mecca, Husayn soon received letters from many of the inhabitants of Al Kūfah (now in Iraq) who invited him to rebel with them against Yazid and claim the caliphate for himself. Husayn then dispatched a cousin, Muslim ibn Aqil, to Al Kūfah, where Muslim wrote back and confirmed this support. However, by the time the letter had reached Husayn in Mecca, Muslim's activities had been reported to the Umayyad governor and he had been abandoned by the Kūfans. Having set off through the desert for Al Kūfah with a small party of men, women, and children, Husayn was stopped from completing the journey. In 680 all of his male companions, with the exception of one of his sons, Ali Zain al-Abidin, were massacred by Umayyad soldiers at Karbala. Husayn was beheaded, his body trampled by horses, and his head taken to the Umayyad court. Mainstream Shias believe Husayn designated his son, Ali Zain al-Abidin, to be his successor, and thus Imam, shortly before being martyred (just as Hasan was supposed to have designated Husayn just before his death).

While the massacre at Karbala is condemned by Muslims in general, it is particularly mourned by Imami Shias on Ashura, an annual day of mourning that falls on the traditional date of Husayn's martyrdom, the 10th day of the Islamic month of Muharram. During this day, Imami Shias ritually reenact the massacre and express their grief. Many may cut their own bodies with razors and whip themselves to emulate Husayn's bloody wounds. The event culminates in a Passion Play in which the angel Gabriel delivers a key to Husayn, which he can use to take to paradise all those who have honored him. Among Shia Muslims, Ashura is the most important of the many events observed in commemoration of martyrdom and is known generically as Taziya. In contrast to mainstream Muslims, Imami Shias believe that all of their Imams were martyred, with the exception of the last who is in hiding but ready to return to the world to restore justice as the Mahdi, or rightly guided Imam.