Hafhaf b. Muhannad al-Rasibi
 Burial place of the martyrs of the Battle of Karbala | |
| Companion of | Imam Ali (a) • Imam al-Hasan (a) • Imam al-Husayn (a) |
|---|---|
| Place(s) of Residence | Basra |
| Death/Martyrdom | Day of Ashura, 61 AH/680 CE |
| Cause ofDeath/Martyrdom | Martyred in the Battle of Karbala |
| Burial Place | Holy Shrine of Imam al-Husayn (a) |
Hafhāf b. Muhannad al-Rāsibī (Arabic:هَفْهاف بن مُهَنَّد الراسِبي), one of the Shi'a of Basra who was martyred during the Battle of Karbala after the martyrdom of Imam al-Husayn (a). He had previously fought alongside Imam Ali (a) at the Battle of Siffin. Upon receiving news of Imam al-Husayn's (a) departure to Iraq, he set out to join him, but he arrived at Karbala on the Day of Ashura, after Imam al-Husayn's (a) martyrdom. He fought against the army of Umar b. Sa'd and was eventually martyred.
According to Abd Allah Mamaqani (d. 1351/1933), a Shi'a scholar in Rijal, Hafhaf b. Muhannad was a courageous horseman of Basra and a sincere Shi'a.[1] During the Battle of Siffin, he was one of Imam Ali's (a) companions. Per a report, the Imam (a) entrusted him with leading the Azdis of Basra in the battle.[2] He is considered as one of the companions of Imam al-Hasan (a).[3] The word "Hafhaf" describes a man with a skinny and slender physique.[4]
Fudayl b. al-Zubayr al-Kufi (d. second/eighth century), al-Murshid Billah, a Zaydi scholar (d. 479/1086-7), and Humayd b. Ahmad al-Muhalli, a Zaydi biographer (d. 652/1254-5), all reported that Hafhaf learned that Imam al-Husayn (a) had set out toward Iraq and quickly moved toward him. However, he arrived at the battlefield after the martyrdom of Imam al-Husayn (a). Consequently, he went to the army of Umar b. Sa'd, unsheathed his sword, and shouted this battle cry:
- "O well-equipped soldiers! I am Hafhaf b. Muhannad, who follows the Ahl al-Bayt of Muhammad (s)."
Then, he engaged in the battle with the forces of Umar b. Sa'd, striking down several of them before they eventually martyred him.[5] This account continues by narrating a hadith in which Imam al-Sajjad (a) praises Hafhaf: "People have not witnessed a warrior horseman like Hafhaf since the Bi'tha of Prophet Muhammad (s), second only to Ali b. Abi Talib (a)…"[6]
According to the book Danishnama-yi Imam Husayn (a), the name of Hafhaf is only mentioned in one ancient text called Tasmiya man qutil ma'a l-Husayn (a) by al-Fudayl b. al-Zubayr.[7] His name is not mentioned in the Ziyara al-Shuhada[8] and al-Ziyara al-Rajabiyya for Imam al-Husayn (a).[9]
Notes
- ↑ Mamaqānī, Tanqīḥ al-maqāl, vol. 3, p. 304.
- ↑ Group of Authors, Dhakhīrat al-dārayn, vol. 1, p. 457.
- ↑ Mamaqānī, Tanqīḥ al-maqāl, vol. 3, p. 304.
- ↑ Ibn Durayd, al-Ishtiqāq, p. 230.
- ↑ Shajarī Jurjāni, Tartīb al-Amālī al-khamīsīya, vol. 1, p. 227; Maḥallī, al-Ḥadāʾiq al-wardiyya, vol. 1, p. 212.
- ↑ Kūfī Asadī, Fuḍayl. Tasmīya man qutila maʿa l-Ḥusayn (a), p. 156; Shajarī Jurjāni, Tartīb al-amālī al-khamīsiya, vol. 1, p. 227; Maḥallī, al-Ḥadāʾiq al-wardiyya, vol. 1, p. 212.
- ↑ Muḥammadī Riyshahrī, Dānishnāmah-yi Imām Ḥusayn (a), vol. 6, p. 435.
- ↑ Ibn al-Mashhadī, al-Mazār, p. 487-495.
- ↑ Majlisī, Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 101, p. 339-341.
References
- Group of Authors. Dhakhīrat al-dārayn fīmā yataʿalaq bi maṣāʾib al-Ḥusayn (a) wa asḥābih. Edited by Muḥammad Bāqir Duryāb. [np], 1422 AH.
- Ibn al-Mashhadī, Muḥammad. Al-Mazār al-kabīr. Edited by Jawād Qayyūmī. Qom: Muʾassisa al-Nashr al-Islāmī, 1419 AH.
- Ibn Durayd, Abūbakr Muḥammad b. Ḥasan. Kitāb al-ishtiqāq. Edited by ʿAbd al-Salām Muḥammad Hārūn. Beirut: Dār al-Jayl, 1411 AH.
- Kūfī al-Asadī, Fuḍayl b. Zubayr al-. Tasmīya man qutila maʿa l-Ḥusayn b. ʿAlī (a). Edited by Muḥammad Riḍā Ḥusaynī Jalālī. Qom: 1406 AH.
- Maḥallī, Ḥamīd b. Aḥmad. Al-Ḥadāʾiq al-wardiyya fī manāqib al-aʾimma al-zaydiyya. Edited by Murtaḍā b. Zayd Maḥṭūrī. San'a: Maktabat Badr, 1423 AH.
- Majlisī, Muḥammad Bāqir al-. Biḥār al-anwār. Beirut: Muʾassisat al-Wafāʾ, 1403 AH.
- Mamaqānī, ʿAbd Allāh b. Ḥasan. Tanqīḥ al-maqāl fī ʿilm al-rijāl. Najaf: Maṭbaʿat al-Murtaḍawiyya, [n.d].
- Muḥammadī Riyshahrī, Muḥammad. Dānishnāmah-yi Imām Ḥusayn (a). [n.p], 1387 Sh.
- Shajarī Jurjāni, Yaḥya b. Ḥusayn. Tartīb al-amālī al-khamīsīya. Edited by Muḥammad Ḥasan Muḥammad Ḥasan Ismāʿīl. Beirut: Dar al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyya, 1422 AH.