A Childlike Tragedy: Re-reading the Stories of Ali Asghar, Ruqayya, and Muslim's Two Children

Mohammad Nasr Esfahani: Today we are faced with a multitude of educated people who, in religious matters, are far more ignorant, fanatical, and superstitious than the common folk of the old bazaar. In the past, although people were illiterate, by sitting at the foot of various pulpits and hearing diverse speeches at their own level, they gained a power of analysis and did not believe every word and saying. But unfortunately, some of our educated class do not even have this level of religious understanding, and without study and scientific and logical information, they either deny everything or think that the more recklessly and superstitiously they think and the more childishly they act, the more religious they are.

It seems these two groups believe that apart from their specialized field of study, no study, expertise, or expert view is needed to confirm or reject religious issues. This matter becomes more regrettable when our religious preachers also become populist and sell social responsibilities and state facilities for superficiality and pretense, and prepare fodder for superstitions, which have many customers. During these days, the author has sought to re-read the case of three tragic stories from the Karbala event that are often mentioned in mourning ceremonies and the media, so that truth may be distinguished from distortion, myth, and superstition.

According to historians, for a historical fact to be accepted, the time of the document's compilation must be very close to the event itself; the further the document is from the event, the more dubious its authenticity, and in the presence of first-hand documents, reliance on more distant sources is unjustifiable. 1- We have all heard that "Abi Abdullah al-Hussein (AS) had a six-month-old child named Ali Asghar. When the Imam sensed his child's thirst, he brought him before the enemy army and said: If you have no mercy on me, at least have mercy on the parched lips and burning heart of this child and give him a sip of water. At that moment, Harmala targeted Ali Asghar's throat with a three-pronged arrow." This story, in this form, has no sound historical documentation and appears to be among the fabrications of the Sunni Mulla Hussein Kashifi in his book "Rawdat al-Shuhada." He was a myth-maker who died in 910 AH. Kashifi compiled this book at the behest of the ruler of the time and to please him. This book is the first Persian maqtal, compiled with beautiful script and fluent Persian prose, and religious preachers who read from this book became known as "rawda-khans," and these gatherings came to be called "rawda-khani" sessions. The reason we say this story is his fabrication is that, unlike some other reports or stories in his book which he quotes from a source, he has elaborated on the tragedy of Ali Asghar in this manner, with more embellishment than what was quoted, without citing any source. (Rawdat al-Shuhada, p. 753) Sheikh Mufid, who died in 413 AH, approximately five hundred years before Kashifi, writes in the maqtal section of his book "al-Irshad"—the most authoritative Shia book on the history of the Pure Imams (AS)—that the sons of Imam Hussein (AS) were Ja'far, Ali Asghar, Ali Akbar, and Abdullah. Ja'far died during the Imam's lifetime. (al-Irshad, p. 126) Of his three other children who were present at Karbala, one was Ali Asghar, whose mother was Layla, daughter of Mas'ud al-Thaqafi, and he fought at Karbala and was the first martyr of the Banu Hashim. (Tarikh al-Tabari, vol. 7, p. 3052) (The same one who is known among us today as Ali Akbar.) The name of his other son was Ali Akbar. (al-Irshad, p. 127) According to Sheikh Mufid, Ali Akbar is the same as Imam Zayn al-Abidin (AS). Abdullah, who was the Imam's youngest son, was martyred at Karbala like his brother. (Ibid., p. 129) The manner of the martyrdom of Abdullah ibn al-Hussein (AS) was such that Imam Hussein was sitting in front of the tents. His son Abdullah, who was a child, came to his father. The Imam seated him on his knees. A man from the Banu Asad shot an arrow at him. The arrow struck the child's throat, and he was martyred. Sayyid al-Shuhada (AS) filled his hand with his blood and poured it on the ground. Then he said: "O Lord, if You withhold Your aid from the heavens from us, then place our reward in what is better, and take our revenge from these oppressive people." (Tarikh al-Tabari also, vol. 7, p. 3055) Then the Imam picked up that child and placed him beside the slain of his family. (al-Irshad, p. 112) Abu al-Faraj al-Isfahani, who died in 356 AH, in his book "Maqatil al-Talibiyyin," in which he speaks of the slain of the family of Abu Talib, narrates the manner of Abdullah ibn al-Hussein's martyrdom similarly to Sheikh Mufid, with the difference that he writes, quoting a narrator, that the Imam threw the blood from his throat towards the sky, and not a drop of it fell back to the ground. In this state, the Imam said: "O God, this child is not less in Your sight than the she-camel of Salih." (Maqatil al-Talibiyyin, p. 111) He considered the mother of Abdullah ibn al-Hussein to be Rubab, daughter of Imru' al-Qays. Abu al-Faraj quotes from Imam al-Baqir (AS) that Harmala was the killer of Abdullah ibn al-Hasan (AS) at Karbala (Ibid., p. 109). Historians have likely confused Abdullah ibn al-Hasan with Abdullah ibn al-Hussein (AS). Meanwhile, Ya'qubi, who died in 284 AH, has recorded in his history: The Imam was mounted on his horse. A newborn who had just been born to him at that very hour was handed to him. While Abi Abdullah was reciting the adhan in his ear and performing tahnik, an arrow struck the child's throat and severed it. The Imam pulled the arrow from the child's throat, smeared him with his blood, and said: "By God, you are dearer to God than the she-camel of Salih, and Muhammad (PBUH) is dearer to God than Salih." (Tarikh al-Ya'qubi, vol. 2, pp. 181-182) As observed, the matter of the Imam Hussein (AS) imploring the enemy and asking for water for himself or a six-month-old child named Ali Asghar is not mentioned in any of the reliable historical sources. 2- Another childlike tragedy that Mulla Husayn Kashifi relates in his book, quoting from the book *Kanz al-Ghara’ib* (which is no longer extant), is the story of a four-year-old daughter of Imam Husayn (a) who, in Damascus, keeps asking for her father Imam Husayn (a), and Yazid orders that her father’s head be brought to her. Upon seeing the head, she faints and surrenders her soul to the Creator of life. (*Rawdat al-Shuhada’*, p. 845) Among the reciters of elegies, this girl is called “Ruqayya” and her age is said to be three, yet in none of the reliable early Shi‘i books is a daughter by this name recorded for Imam Husayn (a), nor has anyone transmitted this story. According to the account of Shaykh al-Mufid, Imam Husayn (a) had no more than two daughters: one was “Sakina,” whose mother was “Layla,” and the other was named “Fatima,” whose mother was “Umm Ishaq,” the daughter of “Talha ibn Ubayd Allah.” (*Rawdat al-Shuhada’*, p. 137) The well-known tomb of “Ruqayya” in Damascus is most likely the grave of “Ruqayya,” the daughter of the Commander of the Faithful (a), since Imam Ali (a) had two daughters named “Ruqayya.” One was Ruqayya, whose mother was “Umm Habib,” the daughter of “Rabi‘a,” and the other was “Ruqayya al-Sughra,” whose mother was named “Jumana” and whose kunya was “Umm Ja‘far.” (*Irshad* of al-Mufid, vol. 1, p. 355) This account is consistent with the report of those who saw a stone beside the grave in Damascus on which was written: “This is the grave of Ruqayya, daughter of the Commander of the Faithful, peace be upon him.” Of course, Imam Hasan al-Mujtaba (a) also had a daughter named Ruqayya. (Ibid., vol. 2, p. 16) If the story of Ruqayya is connected to the daughter of Imam Hasan, even if Imam Hasan had fathered this daughter in the final moments of his life, she would have been at least 11 years old at the time of the Karbala event; therefore, the story of the ruins of Damascus and the three- or four-year-old daughter of Imam Husayn (a) has no historical basis. 3- Another childlike tragedy concerns the “Two Children of Muslim.” Mulla Husayn Kashifi also relates this story in the book *Rawdat al-Shuhada’* without quoting it from any book. It is highly probable that this long, sorrowful story, of which there is no trace in any historical book in this form, is one of Kashifi’s own fabricated tales. According to his account, the story is as follows: In Kufa, Muslim entrusted his two children, “Muhammad” and “Ibrahim,” to “Shurayh al-Qadi,” and after Muslim’s martyrdom, the judge sent them toward Medina, but they were captured on the way and thrown into prison. They escaped again with the help of “Mashkur,” the jailer, but lost their way once more; a woman gave them shelter, whose husband, “Harith,” was himself searching for the two children of Muslim in order to claim a reward. After learning of the situation, he took them to the bank of a river to kill them and take their heads to Ibn Ziyad. When his wife, child, and slave tried to dissuade him from this act, he killed his own child and slave, then killed the two children of Muslim as well, cast their bodies into the water, and brought the heads of the two children to Ibn Ziyad. “Ibn Ziyad” wept and ordered Harith’s execution. Ibn Ziyad handed Harith over to a man named “Muqatil,” who was a lover of the Ahl al-Bayt, so that he might kill him. He brought Harith to the very place where the children had been killed and threw the heads of the two children into the water as well. Finally, “Muqatil” cut “Harith” into pieces and threw him into the sea, but the sea cast him out; he threw him into a well, but the well cast him out; so, of necessity, they burned him and scattered his ashes to the wind. (*Rawdat al-Shuhada’*, pp. 503-522) It should be noted that in the reliable books of the predecessors, the name “Ibrahim” does not appear as a son of Muslim ibn Aqil. The names of Muslim’s children in historical books, including *Maqatil al-Talibiyyin* by Abu al-Faraj al-Isfahani, are “Muhammad” and “Abdullah.” (*Maqatil al-Talibiyyin*, p. 113) Al-Khwarazmi in his *Maqtal*, Shaykh al-Saduq in his *Amali*, and al-Tabari in his *Tarikh* have all recorded that both of Muslim’s sons were martyred in Karbala on the day of Ashura. “Abdullah ibn Muslim ibn Aqil” was the first of the Ahl al-Bayt to come to the battlefield, and after reciting a battle poem and killing a number of enemies, he was martyred. Some have described the manner of his martyrdom as follows: he was struck by an arrow while his hand was on his forehead, such that he could no longer remove his hand from his forehead, and then he was martyred by another arrow. Thus, as has been observed, the story of the “Two Children of Muslim” is also fabricated, and the two children that Muslim had were martyred in Karbala. Yes, in the nineteenth session of Shaykh al-Saduq’s book *Amali*, a story similar to this is related for two children who fled from Ibn Ziyad’s army after the martyrdom of Imam Husayn (a); they were not the children of Muslim but the children of Ja‘far al-Tayyar, who were handed over to Ibn Ziyad and then escaped. (Vol. 1, pp. 82-88) This is despite the fact that Ja‘far ibn Abi Talib had been martyred approximately fifty years earlier in the Battle of Tabuk, and it is impossible for him to have had young children at that time.Khwarazmi in *Maqtal al-Husayn* considers the fugitives from Ibn Ziyad's army to have taken refuge with a woman whose husband later decides to hand their heads over to Ibn Ziyad. (Amali, vol. 2, pp. 54–58) We have cited these three stories as examples from early and reliable sources to show how we have unknowingly taken certain matters as settled and definitive while no basis or foundation can be established for them. For this reason, it is expected of seminary and university graduates not to pollute their own minds and those of the people with superstitions in the name of religion without expert study and research, and not to shape the minds of the masses in such a way that they become filled with falsehoods that can no longer be cleansed from their minds. These nights, television broadcasts a film about the "Two Children of Muslim" and has fabricated stories for it which, as observed, are contrived. When such a story is broadcast, and from the national media at that, how can it be erased from people's minds? In the farthest reaches of the Shiite-populated areas of the world, we encounter gatherings and mourning groups named after "Ali Asghar" and "Ruqayya Khatun," formed even by the educated, and as observed, the existence of such children for Imam Husayn (AS) is highly dubious. In recent years, the author has observed in the city of Isfahan that throughout the city, following what was done in Tehran in previous years, banners have been prepared by the Isfahan Municipality Cultural and Recreational Organization, the Imam Khomeini Cultural Complex, and the Bab al-Hawaij Ali Asghar Youth Association, under the title "Bab al-Hawaij Ali Asghar (AS)." It is astonishing that in some quarters, Imam Husayn (AS) himself is not introduced as Bab al-Hawaij, yet Ali Asghar (AS), his infant child and a legendary figure, is the Bab al-Hawaij for some of the city's cultural officials. .

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. A Childlike Tragedy: Re-reading the Stories of Ali Asghar, Ruqayya, and Muslim's Two Children

Author: Mohammad Nasr Esfahani .

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