Imam al-Hasan b. Ali al-Askari (a): Difference between revisions

According to the majority of sources, he was born in Medina,<ref>Mufīd, ''al-Irshād'', vol. 2, p. 313.</ref> but other sources suggest that he was born in Samarra.<ref>Ibn Ḥātam, ''al-Durr al-naẓīm'', p. 737.</ref> And according to the majority of early Imami sources, he was born in Rabi' al-Thani, 232 (December 846).<ref>Nawbakhtī, ''Firaq al-Shīʿa'', p. 95; Mufīd, ''al-Irshād'', vol. 2, p. 313.</ref> The same date was mentioned in a hadith from Imam Hasan al-Askari as well.<ref>Ibn Rustam al-Ṭabarī, ''Dalāʾil al-imāma'', p. 423.</ref> According to other Imami and Sunni sources, he was born in 231/845.<ref>Ibn Abī l-Thalj, ''Majmūʾat nafīsa fī tārīkh al-aʾimma'', p. 14; Masʿūdī, ''Ithbāt al-waṣīyya'', p. 258.</ref> In his ''Masar al-Shi'a'', al-Shaykh al-Mufid believes that the Imam was born on Rabi' al-Thani 10, 232 (December 4, 846).<ref>Mufīd, ''Masār al-Shīʿa'', p. 52; Ṭūsī, ''Miṣbāḥ al-mutahajjid'', p. 792.</ref>  However, this account was dismissed in the 6th/12th century when the majority of the Imamiyya believed that he was born on Rabi' al-Thani 8 (December 2, 846).<ref>Ibn Shahrāshūb, ''Manāqib Āl Abī Ṭālib'', vol. 3, p. 523; Ṭabrisī, ''Tāj al-mawālīd'', p. 57.</ref>

Imam al-Askari was martyred on Rabi' al-Awwal 8, 260 (January 1, 874) during the reign of Mu'tamad al-Abbasi at the age of 28.<ref>Kulaynī, ''al-Kāfī'', vol. 1, p. 503; Mufīd, ''al-Irshād'', vol. 2, p. 314.</ref> There are accounts of his martyrdom in Rabi' al-Thani and Jamadi al-Ula as well.<ref>Muqaddasī, ''Bāzpazhūhī-yi tārīkh-i wilādat wa shahādat-i maʿṣūmān'', p. 530-531.</ref> According to al-Tabrisi in ''A'lam al-wara'', many Imami scholars maintain that Imam al-Askari was martyred by poisoning. They appeal to the hadith, "I swear to God that there is none of us (i.e. the Imams) who is not murdered and martyred."<ref>Ṭabrisī, ''Iʿlām al-warā'', vol. 2, p. 131.</ref> Some historical reports imply that the two caliphs before al-Mu'tamad were also seeking to murder the Imam. According to a hadith, al-Mu'tazz al-'Abbasi ordered his personal security guard to murder the Imam on his way to Kufa, but the plan failed because it was leaked to people.<ref>Ṭūsī, ''al-Ghayba'', p. 208.</ref> According to another report, Muhtadi al-Abbasi also decided to martyr the Imam in the prison, but the plan failed because his reign was over.<ref>Masʿūdī, ''Ithbāt al-waṣīyya'', p. 268; Kulaynī, ''al-Kāfī'', vol. 1, p. 329.</ref> Imam al-Askari is buried in his own house in Samarra, where Imam al-Hadi had also been buried.<ref>Mufīd, ''al-Irshād'', vol. 2, p. 313.</ref> According to Abd Allah b. Khaqan (one of al-Mu'tamad al-Abbasi’s viziers),<ref>Amīn, ''Aʿyān al-Shīʿa'', vol. 1, p. 103.</ref> when Imam al-Askari was martyred, bazars were shut down, and Banu Hashim, prominent figures, statesmen, and other people attended his funeral.<ref>Nawbakhtī, ''Firaq al-Shīʿa'', p. 96.</ref>