Ali al-Abed Ibn Hassan al-Musallas

Compiled By: Syed Ali Shahbaz
On 26th of the Islamic month of Moharam in 146 AH, Ali al-Abed Ibn Hassan al-Musallas, passed away at the age of 45 in the dungeon of the tyrant Mansour Dawaniqi, who masqueraded as the 2nd caliph of the usurper Abbasid regime. He was exceptionally pious. His grandparents were Hassan al-Muthanna, the son of the Prophet’s elder grandson Imam Hasan Mojtaba (AS), and Fatema, the daughter of the Prophet’s younger grandson Imam Husain (AS), the Martyr of Karbala.
He was unsurpassed in his patience, worship and remembrance of God, and was imprisoned with other descendants of Imam Hasan (AS) without any fault, because of the Abbasid fears of the progeny of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA) to whom Mansour and his brothers had sworn allegiance as leaders during their persecuted days under Omayyad rule. On becoming the caliph one of the first acts of Mansour was to put several descendents of Imam Hasan (AS) in a dark dungeon where the day could not be differentiated from the night, except by means of the recitations and acts of worship of Ali al-Abed.
These disciplined, orderly and continuous acts used to make the others aware of the time for prayers. One day, due to the hardships of captivity and the weight of his fetters, his uncle, Abdullah Mahadh (father of Nafs Zakiyya and Ibrahim – martyred in battle in 145 AH), lost patience and told him in a state of great agitation: Do you not witness our misfortunes and adversities? Do you not pray to God to grant us relief from this suffering of ours? Ali al-Abed remained silent for a while and then said, “O’ Uncle! There exists for us a (lofty) rank in Paradise, which we can never achieve except through patience over these or even more severe adversities, and there exists for Mansur a dreadful place in Hell, which he shall never reach except by subjecting us to such persecution.
If we are patient, we shall soon find ourselves in ease and comfort, for death is not very far from us. But if you wish I shall pray for our deliverance.” Abdullah immediately said: We shall be patient. Hardly three days had passed when Ali al-Abed passed away while in the state of prostration to God. Abdullah thought him to be asleep and when he tried to wake up his nephew, he realized that his soul had already flown to the ethereal heavens. Later, the bloodthirsty caliph ordered that the noble descendents of the Prophet in the dungeon should all be killed by making the roof fall upon their heads. In 148 AH, Mansour martyred through poisoning the Prophet’s 6th Infallible Successor, Imam Ja’far as-Sadeq (AS).