Al-Husayn ibn Ali

The account

Second son of Ali and Fatimah, al-Husayn was the other half of the pair the Prophet ﷺ called "my two sweet basils of this world," lengthening his sujud rather than hurry a grandson off his back, praying: "O Allah, I love them, so love them." Of him specifically he said: "Husayn is from me and I am from Husayn; Allah loves whoever loves Husayn."

He grew in his brother's counsel and outlived him into the hour when kingship asked the Prophet's grandson for its stamp. He refused the pledge he judged an injustice, answered Kufa's letters, and was intercepted at Karbala with his family: some seventy against thousands, cut off from the river. On Ashura of 61 AH he fell with his infant in his arms and his household around him, and the head of the man whom the Messenger of Allah kissed on the mouth was carried to a palace. The ummah's grief is not sectarian property; the Sunni canon itself carries his rank, and the Codex records both the love and the warning: whoever makes power absolute will meet the family of the Prophet at his reckoning.

The facts

• His ﷺ word“I am from Husayn”
• TitleSayyid of Jannah's youth
• StandRefused the unjust pledge
• KarbalaAshura, 61 AH

The narrations

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The words

• الحُسَيْنُ بْنُ عَلِيّHusayn ibn AliHistory
• فَاطِمَة الزَّهْرَاءFatimahHistory
• كَرْبَلَاءKarbalaHistory
• الجَنَّةJannahBelief
• عَاشُورَاءAshuraHistory
• سُجودSujudWorship

People beside it

• Ali ibn Abi TalibFourth caliph · Gate of the city of knowledgeعلي بن أبي طالب
• Fatimah az-ZahraAz-Zahra · Leader of the women of Jannahفاطمة الزهراء
• Al-Hasan ibn AliMaster of the youth of Jannah · The reconcilerالحسن بن علي