The Martyrdom of Ali bin al-Ḥusayn (the fourth Imam) (95 A.H. / 713 A.D.)
On Wednesday, the 31st of July 2024 A.D. (the 25th of Muharram 1446 A.H.)
Imam Ali bin al-Hussain (the Shia’s fourth Imam) was born on the 5th of Sha‘bān 38 A.H. (658 A.D.) in Medina. His honorable parents were the third Imam (al-Hussain) and lady ShahrBānū (the daughter of Yazdgird, the king of Iran) who died soon after giving birth to him. He experienced three years of the Caliphate of his grandfather, Imam Ali, ten years of Imam al-Hassan’s Imamate and ten years of the Imamate of Imam al-Hussain.
The fourth Imam lived with his father Imam al-Hussain for 22 years. He was the only son of Imam al-Hussain to survive, for his other two brothers Ali al-Akbar and Ali al-Asghar were martyred during the event of Karbalā. The reason behind his survival in the event of Karbalā was due to his illness and the inability to participate in fighting. Then, he was sent with the womenfolk to Damascus. After spending a period in imprisonment he was sent with honor to Medina because Yazīd wanted to conciliate the opinion of the majority of people who increasingly started to criticize him for what he did against the Household of the Prophet.
After the tragedy of Karbalā, the Imam lived 34 years under very odd circumstances. During that entire period of time, patience and fortitude were his main characteristics. Staying away from worldly pursuits, he kept himself busy by either worshipping Allah or narrating the heart-rending events of Karbalā, thus keeping its memories alive. He was in contact only with the elite among the Shiites who were his sincere companions to teach them the religious sciences. Although it is narrated in history that the Imam succeeded to organize some limited groups of people to teach them about the pure knowledge of Islam, the government would not permit him to extend his religious activities.
Among the works of the fourth Imam is a book called al-Sahīfah al-Sajjādiyah. It consists of fifty-seven prayers concerning the most sublime divine sciences and is known as “The Psalm of the Household of the Prophet”. Also his writing, a divine perspective on rights (Risālah al-Huqūq), is a master document on Islamic human rights, which not only does cover human rights, but also includes the rights of Allah, our body parts, and our deeds. To any intelligent reader who ponders deeply about the contents of this valuable document on rights, it immediately becomes clear that Islam has already established the first document on rights nearly fourteen centuries ago.
The Tyrant rulers of his age were nine persons from Yazīd up to Hishām bin Abd al-Malik. They realized that the Imam was succeeding in his mission of spreading the message of his father so the 10th Omayyad Caliph poisoned the Imam at the age of 58 on the 25th of Muharram in 95 A.H / 713 A.D. in Medina after thirty-five years of his Imamate. His eldest son, Imam Muhammad (al-Bāqir) arranged the burial and laid him to rest in the grave yard of Jannat al-Baqīʹ beside his uncle Imam al-Hassan.
