Ali ibn Husayn (Arabic: علي بن الحسين) known as Zayn al-Abidin (the adornment of the worshippers) and Imam al-Sajjad (The Prostrating Imam), was the fourth Shiite Imam, after his father Husayn, his uncle Hasan, and his grandfather Ali,Muḥammad’s son-in-law. He survived the Battle of Karbala and was taken along with the enslaved women to the caliph in Damascus. Eventually, however, he was allowed to return to Medina where he led a secluded life with only a few intimate companions. Imam Sajjad's life and statements were entirely devoted to asceticism and religious teachings mostly in the form of invocations and supplications. His famous supplications are well known as Al-Sahifa al-Sajjadiyya.
BIRTH
ay have been too small to have remembered his grandfather Ali, but was brought up in the presence of his uncle Hasan and his father Husayn, Muhammad’s grandchildren. It is said that he was related through his mother Shahrbanu, the daughter of Yazdegerd, to the last Sassanian King ofPersia.[b] Thus he was said to be Ibn al-Khiyaratayn, the "son of the best two (the Quraysh amAli ibn al-Husain was born in Medina, according to most sources in the year 38/658-9.[a] He mong the Arabs and the Persians among the non-Arabs)".[1][18]According to some accounts, his mother was brought as a captive to Medina during the caliphate of Umar, who wanted to sell her. Ali suggested instead that she be offered her choice of the Muslim men as husband and that her dower be paid from the public treasury. Umar agreed and she chose Ali’s son Husayn.
IN KARBALA
In 61/680, Muhammad's grandson Husayn along with a small group of supporters and relatives were massacred by the much larger military forces of the Umayyad caliph Yazid (to whom Husayn had refused to give an oath of allegiance) at the Battle of Karbala. Zain al-Abidin accompanied his father on the march toward Kufa and was present at the Battle of Karbala, but survived the battle due to his illness. Once the Umayyad troops had mass murdered Husayn and his male followers, they looted the tents and took the skin upon which Zain al-Abidin was laying. It is said that Shemr was about to kill Ali ibn al-Husayn, but his aunt Zaynab was present to makeUmar ibn Sa'ad, the Umayyad commander, to let him alive.[18][20] Zain al-Abidin was taken along with the enslaved women to the caliph, and eventually was allowed to return to Medina. During this journey he delivered speeches in the towns of Kufa and Damascus, and informed the people of his father's intentions.[17][18][21]
Several accounts are narrated concerning Ali ibn al-Husayn deep sorrow over this tragedy. It is said that for twenty years whenever food was placed before him, he would weep. One day a servant said to him, "O son of Allah’s Messenger! Is it not time for your sorrow to come to an end?" He replied, "Woe upon you! Jacob the prophet had twelve sons, and Allah made one of them disappear. His eyes turned white from constant weeping, his head turned grey out of sorrow, and his back became bent in gloom,[d] though his son was alive in this world. But I watched while my father, my brother, my uncle, and seventeen members of my family were slaughtered all around me. How should my sorrow come to an end?
SHAHADAT
Ali ibn Husayn was the only son of Hussein ibn Ali who survived the Battle of Karbalain 680 when he was twenty three years old.[20] For, he could not take part in the battle due to his illness, and was thus saved from the general massacre. Once again when he was led as a prisoner before Ubayd Allah ibn Ziyad in Kufa, the latter ordered his execution but left him alive at the entreaty of his aunt, Zaynab.[18][50][51]Later on, however, he was poisoned by Umayyad ruler Ial-Walid through the instigation of the Umayyad caliph Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik in Medina.[20][6] The date of his death is most often given as 94/712-13 or 95/713-14; other dates mentioned are 92/710-11, 93/711-12, 99/717-18 and 100/718-19. He was buried next to his uncle, Ḥasan, in the cemetery of Al-Baqi' cemetery in Medina.[6][52][53] After his death many people found out that their livelihood had come from him. He would go out with a sack of food on his back, knocking at the doors of more than 100 families, and gave freely to whoever answered while covering his face in order not to be recognized.
WORKS
Al-Sahifa al-Sajjadiyya
According to Chittick the Al-Sahifa al-Sajjadiyya is the "oldest prayer manual in Islamic sources and one of the most seminal works of Islamic spirituality of the early period."[21] Shiite tradition esteem/considers this book with great respect, ranking it behind only the Quran and Ali’s Nahj al-Balagha. This prayer book deals not only with Islamic spirituality, but also provides teachings on different levels, from the theological to the social. The traditional category of ‘faith’, for example, which forms the basic subject matter of most of Islamic thought as developed in kalaam philosophy and Sufism; have been discussed in this book. The Imam also refers frequently to the domain of Islamic practices emphasizing the necessity of followingQuran and the hadith's guidelines and the necessity of establishing justice in society.[44]
The Fifteen Whispered Prayers
The Fifteen Whispered Prayers also known as The Fifteen Munajat, is a collection of fifteen prayers attributed to Zayn al-Abidin which some researchers regard it as a supplementary part of the latter collection.[45] These Prayers enable a person to recite the prayer which is in most accordance with his present mood and feeling.[46][47] The prayers start with 'repentance', as repentance is the first step towards a genuine communion with God.[47]
Supplication of Abu Hamza al-Thumali
Abu Hamza al-Thumali has related that during the month of Ramadhan, Imam Zayn al-Abidin used to spend a greater part of the night in prayers and when it used to be the time of beginning of the fast he recited a supplication which later known as Du'a Abi Hamzah al-Thumali (The supplication of Abi Hamzah al-Thumali). This supplication has been recorded in the book Misbah al-Mutahijjid of Shaykh Tusi.[48]
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