One of the two main currents of modern Islam is Shiism. Imam Hussein was one of those people with whom the birth of this religious trend is associated. His biography can be quite interesting both to a simple layman and to people who are associated with scientific activities. Let's find out what Hussein ibn Ali brought to our world.
Pedigree
The full name of the future imam is Hussein ibn Ali ibn Abu Talib. He came from the Hashemite branch of the Arab tribe of the Quraysh, founded by his great-great-grandfather Hashim ibn Abd Manaf. The founder of Islam, the prophet Mohammed, belonged to the same branch, who was Hussein's grandfather (by his mother) and uncle (by his father) at the same time. The main city of the Quraysh tribe was Mecca.
The parents of the third Shiite imam were Ali ibn Abu Talib, who was the cousin of the Prophet Muhammad, and the latter's daughter Fatima. Their descendants are usually called Alides and Fatimids. In addition to Hussein, they also had an older son, Hasan.
Thus, Hussein ibn Alibelonged to the most noble, according to Muslim concepts, family, being a direct descendant of the Prophet Muhammad.
Birth and youth
Hussein was born in the fourth year of the Hijra (632) during the stay of the family of Muhammad and his supporters in Medina after fleeing Mecca. According to legend, the Prophet himself gave him a name, predicted a great future and death at the hands of representatives of the Umayyad family. Almost nothing is known about the early years of the youngest son of Ali ibn Abu Talib, since at that time he was in the shadow of his father and older brother.
The future Imam Hussein enters the historical arena only after the death of his brother Hassan and Caliph Muawiyah.
Rise of Shiism
Now let's take a closer look at how the Shiite movement of Islam arose, because this issue is closely connected with the life and work of Hussein ibn Ali.
After the death of the Prophet, the head of the Muslims began to be elected at a meeting of elders. He bore the title of caliph and was endowed with full religious and secular power. The first caliph was one of Muhammad's close assistants, Abu Bakr. Later, the Shiites claimed that he usurped power, bypassing the legitimate claimant - Ali ibn Abu Talib.
After the short reign of Abu Bakr, there were two more caliphs, who are traditionally called righteous, until in 661, Ali ibn Abu Talib, the cousin and son-in-law of the Prophet Muhammad himself, the father of the future, was finally elected the ruler of the entire Islamic world Imam Hussein.
But the ruler of Syria Muawiyah from the Umayyad family refused to recognize the authority of the new caliph,who was a distant relative of Ali. They began to conduct military operations among themselves, which, however, did not reveal the winner. But at the beginning of 661, Caliph Ali was killed by conspirators. His eldest son Hasan was elected as the new ruler. Realizing that he could not cope with the experienced Muawiyah, he handed over power to him, with the condition that after the death of the former Syrian governor, she would return to Hassan or his descendants.
However, already in 669, Hasan died in Medina, where, after the murder of his father, he moved with his brother Hussein. It is believed that death was due to poisoning. Shiites see the perpetrators of the poisoning as Muawiyah, who did not want power to slip away from his family.
Meanwhile, more and more people showed dissatisfaction with the policies of Muawiyah, grouping around the second son of Ali - Hussein, whom they considered the real vicar of Allah on Earth. These people began to call themselves Shiites, which is translated from Arabic as "followers." That is, at first, Shiism was more of a political trend in the Caliphate, but over the years it increasingly took on a religious color.
The religious chasm between Sunnis, supporters of the Caliph, and Shiites grew more and more.
Prerequisites for confrontation
As mentioned above, before the death of Caliph Muawiyah, which happened in 680, Hussein did not play a very active role in the political life of the Caliphate. But after this event, he rightly declared his claims to supreme power, as was previously agreed between Muawiyah and Hassan. Such a turn of events, of course, did not suit the son of Muawiya Yazid, who had already managed to accept title of caliph.
Hussein's supporters, the Shiites, declared him an imam. They claimed that their leader was the third Shia imam, counting Ali ibn Abu Talib and Hasan as the first two.
Thus, the tension between these two parties grew, threatening to turn into an armed confrontation.
The beginning of the uprising
And the uprising broke out. The rebellion began in the city of Kufa, which was located near Baghdad. The rebels believed that only Imam Hussein was worthy to lead them. They offered him to become the leader of the uprising. Hussein agreed to take on the role of leader.
In order to reconnoiter the situation, Imam Hussein sent his close associate, whose name was Muslim ibn Aqil, to Kufa, and he himself spoke with supporters from Medina behind him. Upon arrival at the place of the uprising, the representative took the oath on behalf of Hussein from 18,000 residents of the city, about which he informed his overlord.
But the administration of the Caliphate also did not sit idly by. To suppress the uprising in Kufa, Yazid appointed a new governor. He immediately began to apply the most stringent measures, as a result of which almost all of Hussein's supporters fled the city. Before Muslim was captured and executed, he managed to send a letter to the imam, telling about things that had changed for the worse.
Battle of Karbala
Despite this, Hussein decided to continue the campaign. He, along with his supporters, approached a town called Karbala located on the outskirts of Baghdad. Imam Hussein, along with a detachment, met there numerous troops of Caliph Yazid under the command of Umar ibn Sad.
Of course, the imam with a relatively small group of his supporters could not resist the whole army. Therefore, he went to negotiations, offering the command of the enemy army to release him along with the detachment. Umar ibn Sad was ready to listen to Hussein's representatives, but other commanders - Shir and ibn Ziyad - persuaded him to set conditions that the imam simply could not agree to.
The grandson of the Prophet decided to take an unequal battle. The red flag of Imam Hussein fluttered over a small detachment of rebels. The battle was short-lived, as the forces were unequal, but furious. Caliph Yazid's troops celebrated a complete victory over the rebels.
Death of the Imam
Almost all of Hussein's supporters, in the amount of seventy-two people, were killed in this battle or captured, and then subjected to a painful execution. Some were imprisoned. The imam himself was among those killed.
His severed head was sent immediately to the governor in Kufa, and then to Damascus, the capital of the Caliphate, so that Yazid could fully enjoy the victory over the Ali family.
Consequences
However, it was the death of Imam Hussein that influenced the process of the future collapse of the Caliphate, and even more than if he had remained alive. The perfidious murder of the grandson of the Prophet and the blasphemous mockery of his remains caused a whole wave of discontent throughout the Islamic world. Shiites finally separated themselves from the supporters of the caliph -Sunnis.
In 684, an uprising under the banner of revenge for the martyrdom of Hussein ibn Ali broke out in the holy city of Muslims - Mecca. It was headed by Abdullah ibn al-Zubayr. For eight whole years he managed to maintain power in the hometown of the Prophet. Eventually, the caliph was able to regain control of Mecca. But this was only the first of a series of rebellions that shook the Caliphate and took place under the slogan of revenge for the murder of Hussein.
The assassination of the third Imam was one of the most significant events in the Shia doctrine, which further rallied the Shiites in the fight against the Caliphate. Of course, the power of the caliphs lasted for more than one century. But by killing the heir of the Prophet Muhammad, the Caliphate inflicted a mortal wound on itself, which in the future led to its collapse. Subsequently, Shiite states of the Idrisids, Fatimids, Buyids, Alids and others were formed on the territory of the once powerful state.
Memory of Hussein
The events associated with the murder of Hussein have acquired cult significance for the Shiites. It is to them that one of the largest Shiite religious events - Shahsey-Wakhsey - is dedicated. These are the days of fasting, on which the Shiites mourn for the murdered Imam Hussein. The most fanatical of them inflict rather severe wounds on themselves, as if symbolizing the suffering of the third imam.
In addition, the Shiites made a pilgrimage to Karbala - the place of death and burial of Hussein ibn Ali.
As we have seen, the personality, life and death of Imam Hussain underlie suchthe largest Muslim religious movement, like Shiism, which has many followers in the modern world.
