Hayat al-Imam al-Hussein ibn Ali (AS), Darase wa Tahleel (Book)

The book Hayat al-Imam al-Hussein ibn Ali (AS), Darase wa Tahleel written by Baqer Sharif Qarashi examines the character, life, and uprising of Imam Hussein by referring to narrative texts while having an analytical approach.

About the book

The present book is a descriptive-analytical research about Imam Hussein and his era, written concerning more than three hundred books. The reason for the detailed nature of the book is that in addition to dealing with the life of Imam Hussein, it also talks about the era in which he lived. The date of the first volume’s introduction is in Rajab 1394 AH and the date of the third volume’s introduction is in Safar 1396 AH.

Abstract of the book

The first volume examines the life of the Imam until the Caliphate of Amirul Momineen, and mentions the following topics:

• The Imam's birth and its ceremony
• His upbringing in the arms of his grandfather and his parents
• Verses and traditions about him
• His characteristics (courage, patience, gentleness, kindness, etc.)
• His traditions from his grandfather and his parents
• Traditions from him and his life in the era of the three caliphs

In discussing the siege of Uthman's house, the author said that despite the opinion of some historians, Imam Hassan and Imam Hussein did not defend him.

The second volume includes the Imam's life during the Caliphate of Amir al-Mu'minin and the reign of Mu'awiya and Yazid until he departed from Medina to Mecca and the sending of Muslim Ibn Aqeel to Kufa. In this volume, the reign of Muawiyah and Yazid is discussed and in an independent discussion entitled “As-Sawwar Al-Husayniyyah, Asbabha wa Mukhattaatha” , some of the causes of Imam's uprising and his motivations are mentioned, including:

• Religious responsibility
• Social responsibility
• Supporting Islam
• Guarding the position of the caliphate
• Commanding the good and eliminating heresy

Then he discussed the reason why Imam Hussein took the women with him to Karbala, and also the opinion of Muhammad Hussein Al Kashif al-Ghita, Ahmad Fahmi, and Ahmad Mahmoud Sobhi also has been expressed in this regard.

The third volume starts with a discussion about Imam's migration to Iraq and its reason, and then the reason for Imam's turning away from Hijaz, Egypt, Yemen, Fars, and Basra is discussed. Then, under the title of “Dilsoozan wa Khordegiraan” , those who asked the Imam not to go to Kufa are mentioned.

The author lists these people as compassionates: Maswar bin Makhzamah, Abdullah bin Jafar, Abdullah bin Abbas, Abu Bakr Makhzoumi, Abdullah bin Jaedah, Jabir bin Abdullah, Abdullah bin Muti, Amr bin Saeed, Muhammad bin Hanafiyah, Umm Salamah and Abdullah ibn Zubair, and he lists these people among the slanderers: Abdullah bin Umar, Saeed bin Musayyib, Abu Waqd Laithi, Abu Salama, Abu Saeed, and Umrah bint Abdul Rahman. Then four contemporaries are mentioned who criticized Imam's uprising against Yazid: Shaykh Muhammad Khuzri, Muhammad Najjar, Muhammad Ghazali, and Ahmad Shibli.

In the continuation of the book these topics are discussed:

• The Imam's departure to Kufa
• Hs entry into Karbala
• The characteristics of the two armies
• The martyrdom of the Imam and his companions and relatives
• The captivity of his family in Kufa and Syria
• His return to Madinah

• The achievements of the Karbala Revolution

In the last discussion, the revolution of Abdullah bin Afif, the revolution of Medina, the revolution of Tawabin, and the revolution of Mukhtar have been discussed.

Seyyed Hussein Mahfovi translated the book into Farsi under the name "Zindgani Hazrat Imam Hussein (AS)" and it was published by Bonyad Ma'arif Islami. Several publications in Qom, Najaf, and Beirut have published the original text of the book.