Ali al-Akbar ibn Husayn
Aged between eighteen and twenty-five, Ali was killed at the Battle of Karbala in 680 CE, alongside his father and some seventy-two relatives and supporters, who fought against the army of the Umayyad caliph Yazid ibn Mu'awiya (r. 680–683).
Mother of Ali al-Akbar was Layla, daughter of Abu Murra, who was the son of Urwa ibn Mas'ud, a companion of Muhammad from the Banu Thaqif tribe.
[1] The maternal grandmother of Ali al-Akbar, Maymuna, was the daughter of Abu Sufyan, chief of the Banu Umayya tribe.
'Ali, the elder') was the eldest son of Husayn, per majority of the early authorities,[2][3] including the Sunni scholars Ibn Sa'd (d. 845) and al-Baladhuri (d. 892) and the pro-Shia historian al-Ya'qubi (d. 897–898).
[2] In an appointment that violated earlier agreements with Husayn's brother Hasan,[6] the Umayyad caliph Mu'awiya (r. 661–680) designated his son Yazid (r. 680–683) as his successor in 676.
[7] Yazid is often presented by Muslim historians as a debaucher who openly violated the Islamic norms,[8][9][10] and his nomination was indeed met with resistance at the time from sons of some prominent companions of Muhammad, including Husayn ibn Ali.
[4] A tradition attributed to Husayn explains that he left to fight the tyranny of Yazid, even though it would cost his life, as reported in al-Irshad, a biographical work by the prominent Shia scholar al-Mufid (d. 1022).
[14][15] Husayn also wrote in his will for his brother Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyya that he had not set out to seek "corruption or oppression" but rather to "enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong.
This account appears in [[History of the Prophets and Kings |Tarikh al-Tabari]], related by Uqba ibn Sam'an, who survived the Battle of Karbala.
[1] Soon afterward, Husayn's small caravan was intercepted by Yazid's army and forced to camp in the desert land of Karbala on 2 Muharram 61 (2 October 680) away from water and fortifications.
The governor did not relent, however,[20][4] and finally ordered Ibn Sa'd to fight, kill, and disfigure Husayn and his supporters unless they pledged allegiance to Yazid, in which case their fate would be decided later.
As the Umayyad army approached, however, Husayn dispatched Abbas and some other companions, who convinced Ibn Sa'd to delay the confrontation until the following day.
[4][24][25] Husayn and his companions spent that night praying and reciting the Quran,[26] as reported by the Shia jurist Ibn Tawus (d. 1266) and in most maqatil works.
In most reports, his killer is named Murra ibn Munqidh al-Abdi,[3][1] who later survived a revenge attempt by the pro-Alid revolutionary Mukhtar al-Thaqafi (d. 687), but was severely wounded.
[3] In particular, in Iranian ritual passion-plays (ta'zies), Ali al-Akbar is often featured as an unfortunate brave youth who was martyred before he could marry.
