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Muhammad, son of Imam Ali عليه السلام and Khawla of the Hanifa tribe, was a brave commander in his father’s wars. He remained in Medina when Imam al-Husayn عليه السلام left for Iraq, and in later years a group known as the Kaysaniyya claimed him as Imam; the Twelver sources record that he acknowledged the Imamate of Ali ibn al-Husayn عليه السلام.
In his father’s wars
Muhammad was known as Ibn al-Hanafiyya after his mother’s tribe. He carried his father’s standard at the Battle of the Camel and fought at Siffin and Nahrawan; the histories record Imam Ali عليه السلام handing the standard back to him at the Camel and urging him on.
Karbala and after
He did not go with Imam al-Husayn عليه السلام to Iraq. The reasons given in the sources differ — an illness, or his brother’s wish that he remain in Medina — and the Shia tradition does not count his absence as disloyalty. After Karbala, al-Mukhtar rose in Kufa in the name of avenging al-Husayn, and a party known as the Kaysaniyya proclaimed Muhammad as Imam and later as the awaited Mahdi.
Al-Kulayni records that Muhammad and Imam Ali ibn al-Husayn عليه السلام went to the Black Stone in Mecca to settle which of them was the Imam, and that the Stone bore witness for Ali ibn al-Husayn, after which Muhammad accepted his Imamate. He died in 81 AH.
Differing reports
- Burial place: al-Baqi‘ in Medina is most likely; al-Ta’if and Ayla are also named.
- Why he stayed in Medina: illness or his brother’s instruction; the sources do not settle it.
Sources
- Tarikh al-Rusul wa al-Muluk — al-Tabari, Muhammad ibn Jarir (d. 310 AH / 923 CE). years 36–81 AH
- al-Kafi — al-Kulayni, Muhammad ibn Ya‘qub (d. 329 AH / 941 CE). Kitab al-Hujja
- 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). Part I