What happened at Karbala, and how does Ahl al-Sunnah view the killing of al-Ḥusayn?

In 61 AH al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī, the beloved grandson of the Prophet ﷺ, was killed at Karbala in Iraq by forces acting under the Umayyad governor — a grievous tragedy and a great crime against the Prophet's household. Ahl al-Sunnah love al-Ḥusayn and his family and regard his killing as a wrong, for the Prophet ﷺ said of him and his brother, "Al-Ḥasan and al-Ḥusayn are the two masters of the youth of the people of Paradise" (Jāmiʿ at-Tirmidhī 3768). At the same time the Salaf did not turn his death into ritual mourning, wailing, or self-harm, since the Prophet ﷺ disowned "the one who strikes his cheeks, tears his garments, and calls with the call of pre-Islamic ignorance" (Sahih al-Bukhari 1294). We honor him by holding to the truth he stood upon, not by innovated practices of grief.

Ask your own question → All questions