Ali Asqar ibn Hussain
Ali Asqar ibn Husayn (d. 10 Muharram 61/ 10 October 680), commonly known as ‘Ali al-Asqar (“younger ‘Ali”), was Imam Husayn’s youngest son. He was killed at the Battle of Karbala by an arrow shot at his throat and is commemorated annually by Shi’a community during Muharram rituals. He is the youngest martyr of the Battle of Karbala on the day of Ashura. He is given the title "Bab al-Hawa'ij".
Ali Asqar’s Birth and Martyrdom
His mother was Rabab bint Imraʾ al-Qays b. ʿAdi Kalbi (Tabari, p. 387; Mofid, al-Ekhtesas, Tehran, 1379/1959-60, p. 83). According to various sources, he was a new-born child (Yaʿqubi, II, pp. 290f.), or an infant (one-year-old in Balʿami; Tarikh, p. 268; Chronique IV, p. 43; six months in the Arabic “historical romance” of Ebn Taʾus Taʾusi, tr. F. Wüstenfeld, Der Tod des Husein ben ʿAli und die Rache, Göttingen, 1883, p. 91). After trying to reach the Euphrates River, Husayn, surrounded by his enemies and badly wounded, took ʿAbdallah in his lap. A man from the Banu Asad shot an arrow into the baby’s neck, killing him; Husayn gathered his blood in his hands, spilled it on the ground, and invoked God against the evil-doers (Tabari, II, pp. 359-60; Baḷʿami, p. 268; Chronique IV, p. 44). Various later accounts confuse ʿAbdallah b. Husayn and ʿAbdallah b. Hasan, the latter of whom was killed defending his uncle Husayn. According to Tabari (II, p. 387), the ʿAbdallah b. Husayn was killed by Hani b. Thabit Hazrami, and ʿAbdallah b. Hasan by Harmala b. Kahel. According to the later Persian tradition, ʿAbdallah b. Husayn was killed by Harmala b. Kahel Azdi, who shot an arrow through the baby’s throat (Husayn Waʿez ashefi, Rawzat al-Shuhada, ed. M. Ramazani, Tehran, 1341 Sh./1962, p. 343; Habib al-siar [Tehran], II, p. 55). Rawzat al-Shuhada adds that the arrow also penetrated Husayn’s arm; he removed it, stanched the bleeding, and took care not to spill a drop of blood on the ground. In various chronicles not concerned with Shiʿite tradition regarding the three sons of Husayn named ʿAli, there are further confusions; thus ʿAli Zayn-al-ʿAbedin is sometimes called ‘Ali Asqar instead of ʿAli Awsat (e.g., Dinavari, Cairo, 1330/1912, p. 256; Habib al-siar II, p. 61). In Tarikh-eQom (ed. S. J. Ṭehrani, Tehran, 1313 Sh./1934, pp. 195ff.) “Imam ʿAli Akbar” refers to Shahrbanuya’s son (i.e., Zayn-al-ʿAbedin), and “ʿAli Asqar, the son of Layla,” to ʿAli Akbar; ʿAbdallah (= ʿAli Asqar) is killed by an arrow in his mother’s arms.
Commemoration and Shi’i Rituals
In Muharram ceremonies and commemorations, ‘Ali Asqar is represented as an innocent child suffering unbearable thirst; his martyrdom provokes loud lamentations in the whole harem (and in Muharram assemblies). Popular iconography represents Husayn, generally riding a white stallion, holding ‘Ali Asqar in his arms before the enemy ranks; he says to them, “Oh people, even if in your opinion I am a sinner, this baby is sinless. Give him a sip of water!” (Rawzat al-Shuhada, p. 342; Habib al-siar II, p. 55). ʿAli Asqar’s martyrdom is celebrated at length in Rawza-Khani literature (e.g., Jawhari, Tufan al-bokaʾ, Tehran, n.d., pp. 254-59); in Cerulli’s collection of taʿziyas, he is not specifically mentioned, though his martyrdom is represented in the majles dedicated to the death of Imam Husayn (Rossi and Bombaci, Elenco, nos. 539, 576, 583, 603/1, 699). It seems that in earlier taʿziya tradition a complete majles was dedicated to ‘Ali Asqar (A. Chodzko’s collection, Cat. Bib. Nat., Supplément persan, no. 993, drame no. 23). The infant’s cradle is a conspicuous element on the stage (see, e.g., the list of properties in Rossi and Bombaci, Elenco, no. 603/1). ‘Ali Asqar is also represented in Muharram processions (H. Massé, Croyances et coutumes persanes, Paris, 1938, I, p. 127, after S. G Wilson) and celebrated in folklore. He is buried with other martyrs of Karbala near Imam Husayn’s grave.
Bibliography
- See also Y. Lassy, The Muharram Mysteries among the Azerbeijan Turks of Caucasia, Helsingfors, 1916, pp. 39ff., 99, 124.
- E. Rossi and A. Bombaci, Elenco di drammi religiosi persiani (fondo mss. Vaticani Cerulli), Vatican City, 1961 (indices).
- H. ul-Ameene, Islamic Shiʿite Encyclopaedia, Beirut, 1973, IV, pp. 172ff.
- J. Calmard, Le Culte de l’Imām Ḥusayn, Etude sur la commémoration du drame de Karbaladans l’Iran pré-safavide, thesis, University of Paris III (Sorbonne), May, 1975, index and Tableau A, Tableau B. (J. Calmard).