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Ali ibn al-Husayn al-Sajjad (Arabic: علي بن الحسين السجاد, romanized: ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥusayn al-Sajjād, c. 658 – 712), also known as Zayn al-Abidin (Arabic: زين العابدين, romanized: Zayn al-ʿĀbidīn, lit. 'ornament of worshippers') was the great-grandson of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and the fourth imam in Shia Islam, succeeding his father, Husayn ibn Ali, his uncle, Hasan ibn Ali, and his grandfather, Ali ibn Abi Talib. Ali al-Sajjad survived the Battle of Karbala in 680, in which Husayn and his small caravan were massacred en route to Kufa by the forces of the Umayyad caliph Yazid I (r. 680–683). After the battle, al-Sajjad and other survivors were treated poorly and taken to the Umayyad capital Damascus. Ali al-Sajjad was eventually allowed to return to his hometown of Medina, where he led a secluded and pious life, without participating in the numerous uprisings against the Umayyads. Instead, he devoted his life to worship and learning, and was highly esteemed, also among Sunni Muslims, as a leading authority on Islamic tradition (hadith) and law (fiqh), and known for his piety and virtuous character. However, the quiescent al-Sajjad had few followers until late in his life, for many Shia Muslims were initially drawn to the anti-Umayyad movement of Mukhtar al-Thaqafi. Ali al-Sajjad died around 712, either from natural causes or poisoned by the Umayyads. After his death, the mainstream Shia accepted the imamate of his eldest son, the quiescent Muhammad al-Baqir. Some others followed Muhammad's much younger half-brother, Zayd ibn Ali, whose rebellion was crushed by the Umayyads in 740. Some supplications attributed to al-Sajjad are collected in al-Sahifa al-Sajjadiyya (lit. 'the scripture of al-Sajjad'), which is highly regarded by the Shia. Ali al-Sajjad is seen by the Shia community as an example of patience and perseverance when numerical odds are against them. Life Birth and early life Ali al-Sajjad was the great-grandson of Muhammad, and grandson of the first Shia imam Ali ibn Abi Talib, from his marriage with Muhammad's daughter, Fatima. Father of Ali al-Sajjad was Husayn, the third Shia imam, son of Ali ibn Abi Talib and Fatima. Husayn also had two more sons named Ali, both of whom were killed in the Battle of Karbala in 680. The first one was an infant, identified in Shia literature as Ali al-Asghar (lit. 'Ali junior'). The second one was Ali al-Akbar (lit. 'Ali senior'), although some believe that Ali al-Sajjad was the eldest son of Husayn. Mother of Ali al-Sajjad is named variously in sources as Barra, Gazala, Solafa, Salama, Shahzanan, and Shahbanuya. By some Sunni accounts, she was a (freed) slave girl (umm walad) from Sind. By contrast, Shia sources maintain that his mother was the daughter of Yazdegerd III, the last Sasanian Emperor. Shia tradition thus refers to Ali al-Sajjad as Ibn al-Khiyaratayn (lit. 'son of the best two'), a title that signifies the union of Muhammad's tribe of Quraysh with Persians, representing Arabs and non-Arabs, respectively. According to some Shia sources, Shahrbanu, daughter of Yazdegerd III, was brought to Medina as a captive during the reign of the second caliph Umar (r. 634–644). She was then allowed to choose her husband, Husayn, and died shortly after giving birth to her only son, Ali al-Sajjad. Ali al-Sajjad was born in Medina, or perhaps in Kufa, in the year 38 AH, that is, 658–659 CE. Shia Muslims annually celebrate fifth of Sha'ban for this occasion. He was too young in 661 when his grandfather, Ali ibn Abi Talib, was assassinated. Ali al-Sajjad was instead raised by his uncle Hasan and his father Husayn, the second and third Shia imams, respectively. In Karbala On 10 Muharram 61 AH, equivalent to 10 October 680, Husayn and his small caravan were massacred in the Battle of Karbala, en route to Kufa, by the forces of the Umayyad Caliph Yazid I, to whom Husayn had refused to pledge his allegiance. Ali al-Sajjad was also present in Karbala but was too ill to fight. After killing Husayn and his male relatives and supporters, the Umayyad troops looted his camp and found al-Sajjad lying deathly ill in one of the tents. The Umayyad officer Shimr apparently wanted to kill him too but his aunt Zaynab successfully pleaded to the Umayyad commander Umar ibn Sa'd to spare al-Sajjad. In Kufa After the battle, al-Sajjad and the womenfolk were taken prisoner and marched to Kufa. They were treated poorly along the way. Once there, they were paraded in shackles and unveiled around the city, alongside the heads of the fallen. The captives were then presented to the Umayyad governor Ubayd Allah ibn Ziyad, who boasted about killing Husayn and his relatives, calling it divine punishment. When al-Sajjad responded that Ibn Ziyad was a murderer, he ordered the execution of al-Sajjad but relented when his aunt Zaynab protected him and asked to be killed first. Ibn Ziyad imprisoned the captives for a while and then sent them to the Umayyad capital, Damascus. Journey to Damascus The captives were taken to Damascus, and displayed from "village to village" asking the way. A letter to Yazid, attributed to Muhammad's cousin Abd Allah ibn al-Abbas, chastizes the caliph for poorly treating the captives, suggesting that this was worse than the massacre of Husayn and his relatives. In Damascus The captives were paraded in the streets of Damascus, and then imprisoned for a while. When they were brought to the caliph, the Islamicist L. Veccia Vaglieri (d. 1989) writes that Yazid treated them kindly after an initial harsh interview and that he regretted the conduct of his governor, even saying that he would have pardoned Husayn if he was alive. Similar accounts are offered by the historians W. Madelung (d. 2023) and H. Halm. By contrast, M. Momen, another expert, suggests that Yazid released the captives only as the public opinion began to sway in their favor, fearing unrest in his territory. Views of this kind are expressed by some authors, including J. Esposito, R. Osman, K. Aghaie, D. Pinault, H. Munson, and the Shia scholar M. H. Tabataba'i (d. 1981). In particular, the Sunni historian Ibn Kathir (d. 1373) writes that Yazid did not reprimand his governor in the wake of the massacre, which does not suggest remorse on his part to the Islamicist H.M. Jafri (d. 2019). Such claims of remorse also contradict Yazid's earlier orders for his governor to either exact homage from Husayn or kill him. An alternative account is presented by the Shia scholar Tabarsi (d. 1153) and by the early historian Abu Mikhnaf (d. c. 773). They write that the captives were brought in a ceremony to the caliph, who gloated about avenging his pagan relatives killed in the Battle of Badr in 624. By some accounts, Yazid also dishonored the severed head of Husayn with blows from a cane, although this last episode is sometimes attributed to Ibn Ziyad instead, in line with the Sunni tendency to exonerate the caliph in killing Husayn at the cost of Ibn Ziyad. Part of.... Discover the P Zainul Abideen popular books. Find the top 100 most popular P Zainul Abideen books.