Ali al-Akbar ibn al-Hussain: Difference between revisions

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==Life and Martyrdom==

His mother was [[Layla]] bint Morra b. ʿOrwa b. Masʿud Thaqafi (Tabari, II, p. 387; Mofid, al-Ershad, pp. 222ff.; idem, al-Ekhtesas, Tehran, 1379/1959-60, p. 82; Tarikh-eQom, ed. S. J. Tehrani, Tehran, 1313 Sh./1934, pp. 195 ff; in this last work “‘Ali Akbar” refers to ‘Ali Zayn-al-’Abedinand “‘Ali Asqar” to ‘Ali Akbar). According to most historical sources, ‘Ali Akbar was the first of the Talebites to go out to the battle-field and be killed (Tabari, II, pp. 356ff.; Dinavari, al-Akhbar al-tewal, Cairo, 1330/1912, p. 254; Mofid, al-Ershad, Tehran, 1377/1957-58, pp. 222ff.) His heroic deeds on the battlefield are told in semi-legendary accounts, and his fame as a valiant warrior of the [[Ahl-e Bayt]] might have preceded that of [[ʿAbbas b. ʿAli]]. Thus, according to Balʿami (p. 267; Chronique IV, pp. 42ff.) ‘Ali Akbar charged the enemy ten times before his father’s eyes and killed two or three men each time. Exhausted and parched with thirst, he came back to Husayn, who put his own tongue in his mouth. When he returned to the fight, a man called Morra b. Saʿd struck him from behind; he fell and was immediately surrounded by foes who cut him to pieces. Seeing his son fall, Husayn, who had never been known to weep, burst into tears. According to most traditions, his murderer was called Morra B. Monqedh ʿAbdi. His head, along with those of the other martyrs, was brought to [[Ibn Ziad]] in [[Kufa]] and then to [[Yazid]] in Damascus, where, according to a tradition, it was buried in the Bab al-Saqir cemetery (H. ul-Ameene, Islamic Shi’ite Encyclopaedia IV, Beirut, 1973, p. 180; on the “Torbat-al-Shohada” in Bab al-Saghir, see J. Sourdel-Thomine, “Les anciens lieux de pèlerinage damascains d’après les sources arabes,” in Bulletin d’Etudes Orientales de l’Institut Français de Damas 14, 1952-54, p. 79, note 5). Their bodies were buried by the Banu ʿAzera, a branch of the [[Banu Asad]] (Masʿudi, Moruj V, p. 147).

‘Ali Akbar’s memory is celebrated in Muharram ceremonies from the West Indies to Southeast Asia. Of all the young men of the Ahl-e Bayt, he is “the Persians’ most beloved, most exalted, most regretted; for he is Imam Husayn’s own son, he is the fatherland’s blood” (Gobineau, Religions, p. 347). Many features of his story appear in [[taʿziya]] (passion play) rituals, such as the love and devotion shown ‘Ali Akbar by his sisters ([[Sakina]]/ Sokayna at Karbala, and Fatima Sogra, who was sick and remained in Medina) and his aunt Zaynab; separate platonic love stories have also developed (on Khotanese or Egyptian princesses in love with ‘Ali Akbar see Rossi and Bombaci, Elenco, indices, p. 355). He is pictured as a brave and unfortunate youth martyred before he could marry; allusions to worldly and heavenly marriage abound. Chronology is reshuffled, and ‘Ali Akbar is martyred before [[Qasim]], who competes with him in his eagerness to sacrifice his life for Husayn. In the dramatization of Qasim’s marriage and [[martyrdom]], the dead bodies of ʿAbbas, ‘Ali Akbar, and Zaynab’s children appear on stage (see I. N. Berezin, Puteshestvie po severnoĭ Persii, Kazan, 1852, p. 322). Zaynab’s offering of her own children in sacrifice for ‘Ali Akbar was first dramatized as part of ‘Ali Akbar’s martyrdom (ibid., pp. 316ff.; P. Chelkowski, Tarikh va janba-ye adabi-e taʿzia, thesis, Tehran University, 1347 Sh./1968, pp. 230-35) before becoming a separate play (Rossi and Bombaci, Elenco, indices, p. 356). [[ʿAbbas]] is shown testing and training ‘Ali Akbar before the battle (a scene apparently performed only in Caspian coastal areas; see Chelkowski, Tarikh, pp. 180-86; Rossi and Bombaci, Elenco, no. 716). A parallel has been observed between Abraham’s sacrifice of his son Ismaʿil and Husayn’s sacrifice of ‘Ali Akbar (Lassy, Muharram Mysteries, pp. 79ff.; Chelkowski, Tarikh p. 211). In Jawhari’s Tufan al-bokaʾ, the story of Ismaʿil is related within that of ‘Ali Akbar (Tehran, n.d., pp. 249ff.). The actor playing ‘Ali Akbar had to be a young and handsome man with a slim waist, and melodious voice (ʿA. Mostawfi, Sharh-e zendegani-e man I, 2nd ed., Tehran, 1341 Sh./1962, p. 289). In popular iconography, ‘Ali Akbar appears in a coat of mail (sometimes covered with a shroud) dying in Husayn’s lap, arrows stuck in his chest and his head wounded by a sword. Young Boys were often dedicated to ‘Ali Akbar as [[nadhr]] or ex-voto, and thus were made Muharram ceremony celebrants for ‘Ali Akbar. A tradition says that ‘Ali Akbar wore a scalp lock; young boys, especially in villages, used to wear scalp locks in his memory (B. A. Donaldson, The Wild Rue, London, 1938, p. 187). Persons who do not expect to meet again may express the wish to meet on Judgment Day by quoting ‘Ali Akbar’s farewell words to the Ahl-e Bayt (ʿA. A. Dehkhoda, Amthal o hekam, Tehran , 1352 Sh./1973, II, p. 849).  

==Bibliography==  

   

   

   

==Source==

[[Category: Historic Character]]

[[Category: Karbala Martyrs]]

[[Category: Battle of Karbala]]

[[Category: Husayn’s Followers]]