Ali Asqar ibn HussainNew
Ali Asqar ibn Hussain (d. 10 Muharram 61/ 10 October 680), commonly known as Ali al-Asqar (“younger Ali”), was Imam Hussain’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".
Birth and Martyrdom[edit | edit source]
His mother was Robab bint Imraʾ al-Qays b. Adi Kalbi.[1] According to various sources, he was a new-born child [2], or an infant. [3] After trying to reach the Euphrates River, Hussain, surrounded by his enemies and badly wounded, took Abdallah in his lap. A man from the Banu Asad shot an arrow into the baby’s neck, killing him; Hussain gathered his blood in his hands, spilled it on the ground, and invoked God against the evil-doers. [4] Various later accounts confuse Abdallah b. Hussain and Abdallah b. Hasan, the latter of whom was killed defending his uncle Hussain. According to Tabari [5], the Abdallah b. Hussain was killed by Hani b. Thabit Hazrami, and Abdallah b. Hasan by Harmala b. Kahel. According to the later Persian tradition, Abdallah b. Hussain was killed by Harmala b. Kahel Azdi, who shot an arrow through the baby’s throat.[6] Rawzat al-Shuhada adds that the arrow also penetrated Hussain’s arm; he removed it, stanched the bleeding, and took care not to spill a drop of blood on the ground.
Name[edit | edit source]
In various chronicles not concerned with Shiʿite tradition regarding the three sons of Hussain named Ali, there are further confusions; thus Ali Zayn-al-Abedin is sometimes called Ali Asqar instead of Ali Awsat.[7] In Tarikh-e Qom [8] “Imam Ali Akbar” refers to Shahrbanuya’s son (i.e., Zayn-al-Abedin), and “Ali Asqar, the son of Layla,” to Ali Akbar; Abdallah (= Ali Asqar) is killed by an arrow in his mother’s arms.
Commemoration and Shi’i Rituals[edit | edit source]
In Muharram ceremonies and commemorations, ‘Ali Asqar is represented as an innocent infant suffering unbearable thirst; his martyrdom provokes loud lamentations in the whole harem (and in Muharram assemblies). Popular iconography represents Hussain, 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!”.[9] Ali Asqar’s martyrdom is celebrated at length in Rawza-Khani literature [10]; 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 Hussain.[11] It seems that in earlier taʿziya tradition a complete majles was dedicated to ‘Ali Asqar.[12] The infant’s cradle is a conspicuous element on the stage.[13] ‘Ali Asqar is also represented in Muharram processions [14] and celebrated in folklore. He is buried with other martyrs of Karbala near Imam Hussain’s grave.
Bibliography[edit | edit source]
- 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).
Source[edit | edit source]
- Encyclopaedia Iranica
- ↑ Tabari, p. 387; Mofid, al-Ekhtesas, Tehran, 1379/1959-60, p. 83
- ↑ Yaʿqubi, II, pp. 290f.
- ↑ 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
- ↑ Tabari, II, pp. 359-60; Baḷʿami, p. 268; Chronique IV, p. 44
- ↑ II, p. 387
- ↑ Hussain Waʿez ashefi, Rawzat al-Shuhada, ed. M. Ramazani, Tehran, 1341 Sh./1962, p. 343; Habib al-siar [Tehran], II, p. 55
- ↑ e.g., Dinavari, Cairo, 1330/1912, p. 256; Habib al-siar II, p. 61
- ↑ ed. S. J. Ṭehrani, Tehran, 1313 Sh./1934, pp. 195ff.
- ↑ Rawzat al-Shuhada, p. 342; Habib al-siar II, p. 55
- ↑ e.g., Jawhari, Tufan al-bokaʾ, Tehran, n.d., pp. 254-59
- ↑ Rossi and Bombaci, Elenco, nos. 539, 576, 583, 603/1, 699
- ↑ A. Chodzko’s collection, Cat. Bib. Nat., Supplément persan, no. 993, drame no. 23
- ↑ see, e.g., the list of properties in Rossi and Bombaci, Elenco, no. 603/1
- ↑ H. Massé, Croyances et coutumes persanes, Paris, 1938, I, p. 127, after S. G Wilson