Religious Leader. The grandson of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him), son of Muhammad's daughter Fatima and her husband Imam Ali (Muhammad's cousin), and brother of Imam Hasan, as a young man he participated in his father's effort to succeed Muhammad as leader of the Muslim people. After his father died his brother Hasan and another claimant, Muawiyah, fought for Ali's position. Muawiyah became the leader when Hasan agreed to retire to Medina, and Imam Husayn did not object. However, when Muawiyah sought to name his son Yazid as his successor, which would create the Umayyad dynasty, Husayn became the leader of an anti-Yazid movement and left Mecca for Kufa. While stopped at Karbala, 4,000 men from Yazid's army arrived, cut off Husayn's access to water and food, and ordered him to acknowledge Yazid's authority. Husayn and 72 followers refused, fought gallantly, but were massacred, and Husayn's head was taken to Damascus to be displayed before Yazid. His followers and he were buried in Karbala, and Husayn's head was later reinterred with his body. A shrine was erected over the graves, which became one of the holiest places for Shias, who make pilgrimages, most notably to celebrate Ashura, the annual holiday marking the anniversary of Husayn's death. Husayn is regarded by Shiites as their most important martyr for his willingness to die rather than submit to what he believed was a false version of Islam.
Religious Leader. The grandson of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him), son of Muhammad's daughter Fatima and her husband Imam Ali (Muhammad's cousin), and brother of Imam Hasan, as a young man he participated in his father's effort to succeed Muhammad as leader of the Muslim people. After his father died his brother Hasan and another claimant, Muawiyah, fought for Ali's position. Muawiyah became the leader when Hasan agreed to retire to Medina, and Imam Husayn did not object. However, when Muawiyah sought to name his son Yazid as his successor, which would create the Umayyad dynasty, Husayn became the leader of an anti-Yazid movement and left Mecca for Kufa. While stopped at Karbala, 4,000 men from Yazid's army arrived, cut off Husayn's access to water and food, and ordered him to acknowledge Yazid's authority. Husayn and 72 followers refused, fought gallantly, but were massacred, and Husayn's head was taken to Damascus to be displayed before Yazid. His followers and he were buried in Karbala, and Husayn's head was later reinterred with his body. A shrine was erected over the graves, which became one of the holiest places for Shias, who make pilgrimages, most notably to celebrate Ashura, the annual holiday marking the anniversary of Husayn's death. Husayn is regarded by Shiites as their most important martyr for his willingness to die rather than submit to what he believed was a false version of Islam.
Bio by: Bill McKern
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