anything offered in support of recommending such practices any valid proof under Sacred Law. Rather, according to the majority of scholars, what is recommended on the day of Āshūrā is fasting. It is also recommended to fast the ninth day along with it. Some scholars consider it disliked to single out Āshūrā for fasting, as has been explained at length elsewhere.

[Return to the discussion of al-Husayn’s killing—may Allah be pleased with him]

Those who transmitted accounts of al-Husayn’s death added fabrications to them, just as they did to accounts of Uthmān’s killing, to accounts of events they wished to magnify, and to accounts of military campaigns, conquests, and other matters. Among those who wrote about the killing of al-Husayn were men of learning, such as al-Baghawī, Ibn Abī al-Dunyā, and others. Even so, their narratives contain reports with broken chains of transmission and baseless claims. As for what authors relate about his death without any chain of transmission, it contains many lies.

What is authentically established is that, after al-Husayn was killed, his head was carried before Ubayd Allah ibn Ziyād, who tapped his front teeth with a cane. Anas ibn Mālik—may Allah be pleased with him—and Abū Barzah al-Aslamī were present at the gathering.

In Sahīh al-Bukhārī, Muhammad ibn Sīrīn narrated from Anas ibn Mālik—may Allah be pleased with him—who said:

“Ubayd Allah ibn Ziyād was brought the head of al-Husayn, and it was placed in a basin (1). He began prodding it and made some remark about his handsome appearance. Anas then said, ‘Of all of them, he was the one who most resembled the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—and his hair had been dyed with wasmah, a black plant dye (2).’”

It also contains a report from Ibn Abī Nu'm (3), who said:

“I heard Ibn Umar when a man asked him