وقعة كربلاء

The battle of Karbala took place in 61 AH, and al-Husayn ibn Ali was killed in it on the day of Ashura, the tenth of Muharram, according to al-Mas'udi. ¹ The sources give several accounts of its details, which are set out here under the names of their transmitters. The place: Karbala.

al-Tabari, in the account for 61 AH, reports that al-Husayn prayed with his companions and with al-Hurr ibn Yazid and his army, and then addressed them. ²

al-Suyuti reports that Ubayd Allah ibn Ziyad sent four thousand men under Umar ibn Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas, and that the people of Kufa abandoned al-Husayn. When the weapons pressed upon him, he offered to surrender, to return, or to go to Yazid, but they refused except to kill him. Sixteen men of his household were killed with him. ³

There are several reports of his killer: Sinan ibn Anas al-Nakha'i; some say a man of Madhhij; and some say Shimr ibn Dhi al-Jawshan. al-Suyuti says that Khawli ibn Yazid al-Asbahi cut off his head and brought it to Ibn Ziyad. ³

al-Mas'udi relates that the people of Kufa wrote to al-Husayn, and that Ibn Abbas advised him to go to Yemen and not to take his women and children out with him. He says that thirty-three stab wounds and thirty-four blows were found on al-Husayn, and that the people of al-'Adiriyya of Banu Asad buried him a day later. ^{4 1}

The two sources differ on his age: fifty-five years, and it is also said nine. ¹

This battle is the subject of differing positions among the various traditions. What is not set out here, namely the academic account and other perspectives, needs an additional source.