Who was the elder: Imam ʿAli ibn al-Husayn Zayn al-ʿAbidin (a) or ʿAli ibn al-Husayn, the martyr at Karbala?
In the Name of Allah, the All-beneficent, the All-merciful
And blessings be upon our master Muhammad and his pure progeny,
The view that ʿAli ibn al-Husayn, the martyr at Karbala, was older than his brother Imam ʿAli ibn al-Husayn Zayn al-ʿAbidin (a) is well known among a group of scholars, and this is what agrees with what has been reported about their dates of birth. Some history books have stated explicitly that the martyr at Karbala was titled al-Akbar (the Elder), as in Maqatil al-Talibiyyin, which says: (And ʿAli ibn al-Husayn, who is ʿAli al-Akbar; he had no descendants; his kunya was Abu al-Hasan, and his mother was Layla…), and in al-Tabaqat al-Kubra: (As for ʿAli al-Akbar, son of al-Husayn (a), he was killed with his father at the river of Karbala).
What has been reported about the date of birth of Imam Zayn al-ʿAbidin (a) comprises several views, ranging between the year 38 AH and 33 AH in the best-known views. As for ʿAli ibn al-Husayn the martyr, it has been reported that he was born in the year 33 AH or earlier. So by calculation from the reported dates, either they were of the same age, which is not correct, or the martyr at Karbala was the elder.
This agrees with what al-Kulayni transmits in al-Kafi from Imam al-Sadiq (a): (ʿAli ibn al-Husayn (a) passed away at the age of fifty-seven, in the year ninety-five; he lived after al-Husayn (a) for thirty-five years). Vol. 1, p. 468.
So his birth would be between the year 38 and the year 39 AH, which makes him younger than what has been reported about the age of ʿAli al-Akbar, the martyr at Karbala. This is also indicated by the narration of Imam al-ʿAskari (a) in Dalaʾil al-Imama, and others.
It is also indicated by the narration of Ibn Shahrashub regarding the statement of Yazid or Ibn Ziyad, “Did not Allah kill ʿAli ibn al-Husayn?”, to which the Imam (a) replied: “I had a brother older than me named ʿAli, and you killed him.” This is explicit that the martyr at Karbala was the elder; however, this narration has other versions in which the phrase (older than me) does not occur.
There are those who disagreed with that view: Shaykh al-Mufid, followed by Shaykh al-Tusi (rh). ʿAllama al-Majlisi said that the view that the one killed at Karbala was the younger is what most of our companions held. Some researchers have attributed the statement of Shaykh al-Mufid and al-Tusi that Imam Zayn al-ʿAbidin (a) was the elder to what is narrated, that the Imam can only be the eldest son; but this was refuted on the grounds that what is meant is the eldest at the time of the martyrdom, and that he not have a physical defect—and Imam al-Sajjad (a), at the time of the martyrdom of Imam al-Husayn (a), was the eldest and without defect. So if Shaykh al-Mufid’s basis for adopting his view was a matter of ijtihad, it may be said that it is not conclusive.
However, while we incline to the view that ʿAli al-Akbar the martyr was older than Imam Zayn al-ʿAbidin (a), according to the indications mentioned and others, we do not rule out the opposite either.
It is known that the reason for naming [someone] al-Akbar (the Elder) and al-Asghar (the Younger), and even al-Awsat (the Middle), is to distinguish between individuals who share names, and this distinction looks to some real and evident aspect. Hence we would like to point out some observations on what some researchers have mentioned about this:
The first observation: On the view that Imam Zayn al-ʿAbidin (a) was titled al-Asghar, it is reported from al-Qunduzi al-Hanafi in Yanabiʿ al-Mawadda, vol. 3, p. 151, that the reason for this was to distinguish between him and his grandfather, the Commander of the Faithful (a); and some researchers have accepted this explanation of the title from him.
Our comment on this is that there is no reason for the distinction, because the two do not share the father’s name such that confusion could arise between them, so there is no need to differentiate between them in that way. Moreover, the Commander of the Faithful was not known as ʿAli al-Akbar in contrast to his grandson Imam Zayn al-ʿAbidin. Also, there is a historical report saying that ʿAli ibn al-Husayn the martyr was born two years before the martyrdom of the Commander of the Faithful.
The second observation: On the view that ʿAli ibn al-Husayn the martyr was titled al-Akbar despite being younger—as Sayed Jaʿfar Murtada al-ʿAmili explains it—the aspect of distinction looks to him and to his infant brother, who is ʿAli al-Asghar in his expression; so he was called al-Akbar because he was older than ʿAli al-Asghar, who was killed in his father’s arms. (Sirat al-Husayn fi al-Hadith wa al-Tarikh, vol. 4, p. 37).
Our comment on this is that it bypasses Imam Zayn al-ʿAbidin (a): how could he be titled al-Akbar with regard to the nursing infant, when there is the Imam, who also shares the name with them—especially given the belief that he [the Imam] was the elder? This consideration is strange.
If we accept that ʿAli ibn al-Husayn, the martyr at Karbala, was titled al-Akbar, then it must have a consideration relative to all his brothers who share the same name with him. It cannot be correct that he was greater in station, because the Infallible Imam is the greatest in station and rank without the slightest doubt; so it must be an ordinary matter, such as age.
Yes, it may be said that the titles (al-Akbar) and (al-Asghar) came on the tongues of historians after the event of al-Taff to distinguish between the two martyrs who were martyred at Karbala, without regard to Imam Zayn al-ʿAbidin (a). However, someone like Shaykh al-Mufid insisted on the term (ʿAli al-Asghar) in referring to ʿAli ibn al-Husayn known as al-Akbar, who is buried at his father’s feet in Karbala; but, as it seems, this was not based on transmission but on ijtihad, as we said earlier.
The third observation: Al-Muqarram mentioned that among the titles of Imam Zayn al-ʿAbidin (a) is (al-Asghar), (because he was younger than his brother, the martyr at Karbala; for he was born in the year (38) and on the day of al-Taff he was (23) years old, while the martyr ʿAli al-Akbar was born on the eleventh of Shaʿban in the year (33), two years before the killing of ʿUthman, so on the day of al-Taff he was about twenty-seven years old), Hayat al-Imam al-Sajjad, p. 67.
Al-Muqarram relied, in describing Imam Zayn al-ʿAbidin (a) as al-Asghar, on what a group of historians reported; and since the date of birth makes it more probable that al-Akbar the martyr was the elder, the title al-Asghar for the Imam is correct in his view.
However, some historians described the Imam as al-Awsat, and described the infant ʿAli as ʿAli al-Asghar, as in Kashf al-Ghumma, which ʿAllama al-Majlisi transmitted from it in al-Bihar: (ʿAli al-Akbar, ʿAli al-Awsat—who is the Master of the Worshippers—and ʿAli al-Asghar…), vol. 4, p. 331.
In any case, it is normal for there to be variation here because of the sharing of names, or in view of the considerations at the time of speaking: the elder is elder in relation to one younger than him, and younger in relation to one older than him. Sometimes the title is in view of all three together, and sometimes in view of two of them—either the Imam and the elder martyr, or in view of the two martyrs together only.
This disagreement does not harm the essence of belief, but it is important to distinguish between the two persons, especially in the texts of the ziyārāt (visitations), which abound in mention of the martyrs of al-Taff, and in the context of the ziyarah of Imam al-Husayn (a) on ʿAshura and other occasions. If the greeting of peace upon ʿAli ibn al-Husayn is mentioned, what is meant, without the slightest doubt, is the ʿAli known among us as al-Akbar—even if some refer to him as al-Asghar, or no title is mentioned for him. This is the consensus of the scholars, and what the firm indications point to, since the ziyarat are exclusively for the martyrs at Karbala and for the one buried at his father’s feet.
And Allah knows best the realities of matters.
Sayed Mahmoud Al-Mosawi
1444 AH