Survival at Karbala
Ali ibn Husayn was ill on the day of ‘Ashura and could not fight. When the soldiers of Yazid’s army moved toward him after al-Husayn’s death, his aunt Zaynab interposed herself, saying: “By Allah, I will not leave him. If you want to kill him, you must kill me first.” The soldiers withdrew.
This survival — seen by later generations as providential — meant the Imamate had a male heir. Without Ali Zayn al-‘Abidin, the chain of Imams would have ended at Karbala.
Life in Medina
After being taken captive to Kufa and Damascus (where his speech moved even Yazid’s court), Ali returned to Medina. He spent decades in the city in worship and teaching, so known for his prostrations that his prayer calluses became legendary. The Umayyad state kept him under political surveillance but did not harm him directly.
He freed large numbers of slaves — reportedly freeing them then rehiring them as paid servants, freeing them again. He gave anonymously to the poor of Medina at night, reportedly supporting hundreds of families who did not know their benefactor until after his death.
Al-Sahifa al-Sajjadiyya
His collection of prayers — called Zabur Al Muhammad (the Psalms of Muhammad’s family) — covers every dimension of human experience in prayer: prayer for parents, for one’s enemies, for rain, for desperation, for gratitude, for the borders of the Islamic state, for the completion of Hajj. The theology is consistently direct: human need addressed to divine sufficiency, without intermediary formulas. It remains a core Shia and Ismaili spiritual text.
See also: Ahl Al Bayt, Seerah Husayn Ibn Ali, Karbala, Seerah Zaynab Bint Ali, Sulook, Tazkiyah