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Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Your Questions Answered (volume 3) Q110: Was Imam Martyred When Praying? Was Imam (a.s.) martyred when he was praying? Also, was it Sinan bin Anas of Najaf who killed Imam Husain (a.s.)? I always hear that it was Shumr who killed the Imam. A. Imam Hasain (a.s.) was praying (in the meaning of Du'a) at the time of his martyrdom but not in the meaning of 'Salat'. This "of Najaf" is very very amusing.

It shows your author's ignorance, not only of Arabic but of history and related subject also. Sinan bin Anas is described as(Nakha'i) i.e., of the tribe of Nakha. It seems that your writer had seen it somewhere and mistook it for(Najafi). He does not know that there was no place called Najaf for a long time after the martyrdom of Imam Husain (a.s.)!

Shimr (not 'Shumr') was in charge of those who participated in murdering the Imam (a.s.); he was second in command of the whole army at Karbala; and was exhorting the soldiers to behead Imam (a.s.) without delay, and in many narratives he is mentioned as the one who finally killed the Imam (a.s.); and this version is generally narrated in Majlises. But in other reports the name of Sinan is mentioned as the killer of the Imam (a.s.). Q111. DID IMAM OFFER TO DO BAI'AT OF YAZID?

From the same book, it seems Amr bin Saad was more sympathetic in that he wanted to prevent bloodshed (than Yazid or Shumr). This can be seen from the following letter to Ibne Ziyad:- "Allah has extinguished the fire of mischief. He has resolved the difference and created unity. He has set right the community's cause. Husain held out a promise to accept any of the three alternatives.

Therein lies your as well as the community's welfare" This letter was written after Imam Husain (a.s.) had offered 3 alternatives to latter: (1) Let him (a.s.) go back to the place he had come from; (2) Let him have his case decided by Yazid himself; (3) He may be allowed to go to a border place." It seems that when Ibne Ziyad received the above letter, he accepted the proposal. But it was Shumr bin Zil Jaushan who opposed it and hence the latter went to Karbala.

Please confirm if the above incident is authetic. If not, give me an authentic account with source of reference. A.