On 10 Muharram 61 AH (680 CE), on the plain of Karbala beside the Euphrates, Imam Husayn عليه السلام, the grandson of the Prophet ﷺ, was killed together with members of his family and his companions. For Shia Muslims, and for many others, Karbala has become the defining image of a stand for truth against tyranny.
Why Husayn refused
Mu‘awiya’s designation of his son Yazid as successor broke the terms of the treaty with Imam Hasan. When Mu‘awiya died in Rajab 60 AH, Yazid ordered the governor of Medina to obtain Husayn’s allegiance. Husayn refused — in a widely cited report, declaring that one like him does not pledge allegiance to one like Yazid — and left for Mecca.
Chronology
- 15 Rajab 60 AH
- Death of Mu‘awiya; Yazid demands allegiance.
- 28 Rajab 60 AH
- Husayn leaves Medina with his family.
- 3 Sha‘ban 60 AH
- Arrival in Mecca. Letters arrive from Kufa inviting him to lead them.
- Ramadan 60 AH
- Muslim ibn Aqil is sent to Kufa to assess the support.
- 8 Dhu al-Hijja 60 AH
- Husayn leaves Mecca for Iraq rather than allow bloodshed in the sanctuary.
- 9 Dhu al-Hijja 60 AH
- Muslim ibn Aqil is killed in Kufa on the orders of Ubayd Allah ibn Ziyad.
- On the road
- News of Muslim’s death reaches the caravan. A cavalry force under al-Hurr ibn Yazid al-Riyahi intercepts it and escorts it away from Kufa.
- 2 Muharram 61 AH
- Arrival at Karbala.
- 3 Muharram 61 AH
- Umar ibn Sa‘d arrives with an army from Kufa; more troops follow.
- 7 Muharram 61 AH
- Access to the Euphrates is cut off.
- 9 Muharram 61 AH (Tasu‘a)
- The army advances; Husayn asks for one night’s respite for prayer and recitation of the Qur’an.
- 10 Muharram 61 AH (Ashura)
- Al-Hurr joins Husayn. His companions and family fall one by one. Husayn is killed in the afternoon. The tents are plundered and burned.
- 11 Muharram onwards
- The women and children, with Ali ibn al-Husayn, are taken captive to Kufa and then to Damascus.
- 20 Safar 61 AH (Arba‘in)
- The fortieth day. The Companion Jabir ibn Abd Allah al-Ansari visits the grave.
Those who stood with him
Among the martyrs were his half-brother Abbas ibn Ali, the standard-bearer, killed while trying to bring water from the river; his son Ali al-Akbar; his infant son Abd Allah, widely known as Ali al-Asghar; his nephew al-Qasim ibn al-Hasan; and companions such as the elderly Habib ibn Mazahir and Muslim ibn Awsaja. The number of martyrs is commonly given as seventy-two.
His sister Sayyida Zaynab bint Ali led the survivors through captivity. Her addresses in Kufa and before Yazid in Damascus, preserved in historical sources, ensured that the truth of Karbala could not be buried.
Aftermath
Karbala shook the legitimacy of Umayyad rule. The Penitents (al-Tawwabun) rose in 65 AH, and al-Mukhtar ibn Abi Ubayd took Kufa in 66 AH and pursued those responsible for the killings.
Commemoration
From the time of the Imams, the remembrance of Husayn has been taught as an act of devotion. Mourning gatherings (majalis) recount the events and their meaning; elegies (marathi), poetry and processions keep them in the public memory; and the visitation (ziyara) of his shrine is among the most emphasised recommended acts in Shia practice. Ziyarat Ashura, transmitted from Imam al-Baqir, is recited widely.
On Arba‘in, the fortieth day after Ashura, vast numbers of pilgrims walk to Karbala — one of the largest regular gatherings of people anywhere in the world.
A note on sources
The earliest detailed account was compiled by Abu Mikhnaf (d. 157 AH) from eyewitnesses and their descendants; it survives mainly through al-Tabari’s History. Al-Mufid’s al-Irshad and Ibn Tawus’s al-Luhuf are classic Shia accounts. Later maqtal literature sometimes adds details not found in early sources; this site relies on the early reports and marks contested details.
Sources
- Tarikh al-Rusul wa al-Muluk — al-Tabari, Muhammad ibn Jarir (d. 310 AH / 923 CE). year 61 AH
- Kitab al-Irshad fi Ma‘rifat Hujaj Allah ‘ala al-‘Ibad — al-Mufid, Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn al-Nu‘man (d. 413 AH / 1022 CE). chapter on Imam al-Husayn
- al-Luhuf ‘ala Qatla al-Tufuf — Ibn Tawus (d. 664 AH / 1266 CE)
- Kamil al-Ziyarat — Ibn Qulawayh, Ja‘far ibn Muhammad (d. 368 AH / 978–9 CE)
- Maqatil al-Talibiyyin — Abu al-Faraj al-Isfahani, Ali ibn al-Husayn (d. 356 AH / 967 CE)
- Redemptive Suffering in Islam: A Study of the Devotional Aspects of ‘Ashura’ in Twelver Shi‘ism — Ayoub, Mahmoud
- The Origins and Early Development of Shi‘a Islam — Jafri, S. H. M.