when he was five years and a few days old. He was born on Friday, 1 Muharram 544 AH, and received the pledge of allegiance on the morning his father, al-Zāfir, was killed: Thursday, the last day of Muharram 549 AH. He was then the age we have mentioned, so neither his contracts nor his covenants were valid. He died at the age of eleven years, six months, and a few days, on the eve of Friday, with thirteen nights remaining in Rajab 555 AH.
“During his reign, the construction of the newly established shrine in Cairo and the head’s public arrival with al-Mashhadī al-Asqalānī were contrived, so that what was presented through these outward displays would become firmly rooted in the hearts of the common people. This was something deliberately fabricated or staged to serve a purpose. They carried out their designs to win over the common people for worldly gain. The man who built it was Talā’i‘ ibn Ruzzīk, the Rāfidī. All who have written about the killing of al-Husayn have stated that his honoured head never went west.”
What Abū al-Khattāb ibn Dihyah has stated concerning this shrine—that its claim is a fabricated lie—is a matter of agreement among the scholars.
There is much to discuss concerning this subject and others like it. The killing of ‘Uthmān, the killing of al-Husayn, and similar events gave rise to much strife, falsehood, and partisan passions, into which groups of both earlier and later generations fell. All manner of lies were fabricated about the Commander of the Faithful ‘Uthmān and the Commander of the Faithful ‘Alī ibn Abī Tālib. Some are denied by their partisans and others like them, and some by those who hate them. This was especially so after the killing of ‘Uthmān, when falsehood and partisan passions grew greatly.