STRAIGHTPATHMONTHLY December 2011
35
Hazrat Ali Akbar
By: aliwaley
Hazrat Ali Akbar ibn Hussain a.s was the son of Imam
Hussain a.s and Umm e Laila. He was raised by Hazrat Zainab
a.s, the sister of Imam Hussain a.s. He was born in the month
of Shaaban in 44AH.
He was a handsome, 18 year old young man when he was
martyred in Karbala on the 10th of Muharram 61 AH. After
he had been taught fencing and archery by his uncle, Hazrat
Abbas ibn Ali a.s, he became a brave soldier.
He resembled so much to the Prophet Muhammad (sawas)
that he was given the title of "Shabeeh-e-Payambar" (The lookalike of the Prophet Pbuh). His father, Imam Hussain a.s often
said: "Whenever I remember my grandfather, I look at
Ali Akbar."
He had a beautiful voice and as Imam Hussain a.s loved
to hear him say Azaan, it was he who always said it. It so
happened that on the morning of Ashura, Imam Hussain a.s
asked Hazrat Ali Akbar to say the Azaan. Knowing that it
would be the last Azaan he would be hearing from Ali Akbar,
The Imam a.s began to weep while Ali Akbar was saying the
Azaan. The women could also be heard crying in their tents as
they too knew they would never hear such a beautiful voice
again.
After hearing the Azaan, the Imam a.s helped his youthful
son to mount the horse. As Ali Akbar began to ride toward the
battlefield, he noticed the footsteps of Imam a.s rushing
towards him. He stopped for a moment and asked the Imam
a.s why he was coming behind him. The Imam a.s replied that
if Ali Akbar had a son, he would have surely understood why.
At the battlefield, Hazrat Ali Akbar killed many well
known warriors and no one dared to come near him after that.
But after that, it is reported, that someone from the enemy
ordered the soldiers to kill him saying: "When he dies,
Hussain will not want to live. Ali Akbar is the life of
Hussain."
Hazrat Ali Akbar, alone, while fighting the many other
soldiers did not see a man, Murrah bin Munqad who secretly
came and threw a spear at the chest of Ali Akbar. He then
broke the wooden part of the spear and left the blade in his
chest, causing him more pain and that is when Ali Akbar fell
from his horse.
Hussain ibn Ali a.s rushed to his son and Ali Akbar placed
his right hand on his wounded chest and his left arm over his
father's shoulder. Imam Hussain a.s asked his son why he was
embracing him with only one hand even in his last moments
and Akbar remained silent.
The Imam a.s tried to remove the hand of Ali Akbar from
his chest but Ali Akbar resisted. As Ali Akbar did so, the Imam
a.s forcefully removed his hand from his chest and then he saw
it. He saw the blade of the spear dug into the chest of Ali
Akbar. Ali Akbar took a deep sigh and laid still.
A! work by Aliwaley