Ali al-Sajjad

Ali ibn al-Husayn al-Sajjad (Arabic: علي بن الحسين السجاد, romanized: ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥusayn al-Sajjād, c. 658 – 712), also known as Zayn al-Abidin (Arabic: زين العابدين, romanized: Zayn al-ʿĀbidīn, lit. 'ornament of worshippers') was the great-grandson of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and the fourth imam in Shia Islam, succeeding his father, Husayn ibn Ali, his uncle, Hasan ibn Ali, and his grandfather, Ali ibn Abi Talib.

Ali al-Sajjad survived the Battle of Karbala in 680, in which Husayn and his small caravan were massacred en route to Kufa by the forces of the Umayyad caliph Yazid I (r. 680–683). After the battle, al-Sajjad and other survivors were treated poorly and taken to the Umayyad capital Damascus. Ali al-Sajjad was eventually allowed to return to his hometown of Medina, where he led a secluded and pious life, without participating in the numerous uprisings against the Umayyads. Instead, he devoted his life to worship and learning, and was highly esteemed, also among Sunni Muslims, as a leading authority on Islamic tradition (hadith) and law (fiqh), and known for his piety and virtuous character. However, the quiescent al-Sajjad had few followers until late in his life, for many Shia Muslims were initially drawn to the anti-Umayyad movement of Mukhtar al-Thaqafi.

Ali al-Sajjad died around 712, either from natural causes or poisoned by the Umayyads. After his death, the mainstream Shia accepted the imamate of his eldest son, the quiescent Muhammad al-Baqir. Some others followed Muhammad's much younger half-brother, Zayd ibn Ali, whose rebellion was crushed by the Umayyads in 740. Some supplications attributed to al-Sajjad are collected in al-Sahifa al-Sajjadiyya (lit. 'the scripture of al-Sajjad'), which is highly regarded by the Shia. Ali al-Sajjad is seen by the Shia community as an example of patience and perseverance when numerical odds are against them.