Shia

Ibn S:r:n said: ‘After John son of Zechariah, the heavens never wept for anyone except for usayn (a.s.). When he was killed the sky became dark and the stars appeared during the day and red dust fell.245 “On the day of the martyrdom of al-Hussein (AS) the sky rained blood . . . .”246 “There was not a stone which was not lifted but underneath it was found blood . . . . ”247 Records show that the skies wept blood for Imam Husayn throughout the globe. Christian monks in Britain recorded the following: “685. In this year in Britain it rained blood, and milk and butter were turned into blood.”248 The Fourth Imam He is Imam !Al: son of usayn (a.s.). His mother was Sh"hezan"n, daughter of the Persian king Yazdegird. He was born in the enlightened city of Medina on the 15th of the month of Jam"d" I in the year 36 A.H. (9th November 656 C.E.) the day that his grandfather the commander of the faithful !Al: (a.s.) captured the town of Basra in Iraq.

He died of poison on Saturday the 25th of the month of Mu9arram in the year 95 A.H. (20th October 713 C.E.) at the age of 57 years.

His funeral was conducted by his son Mu9ammad al-B"qir (a.s.) and he was buried in the cemetery of Baq:! In Medina, Arabia.

He was, in knowledge, worship of Alla>h, virtue, abstinence, and helping the afflicted the foremost of his age. Jurists have used him as a source for abundant traditions and he gave many sermons and taught a great many supplicatory prayers.249 72