Ali al-Sajjad

Ali al-Sajjad علي السجاد
Ali al-Sajjad in the court of Yazid I in a 16th or 17th century Ottoman manuscript
4th Shia Imam
In office 680 – 712 CE
Preceded by	Husayn ibn Ali
Succeeded by	Muhammad al-Baqir (Twelvers and Isma'ilis)
Title	List Zayn al-Abidin (lit. 'ornament of the worshippers') al-Sajjad (lit. 'the one who is constantly prostrating in worship') Ibn al-Khiyaratayn (lit. 'son of the best two') Dhu al-Thafanat (lit. 'the one with calluses (from many prayers)') al-Zaki (lit. 'the pure one')
Personal
Born	Ali ibn al-Husayn ibn Ali c. 38 AH (658–659 CE) Medina, Hejaz
Died	c. 94–95 AH (712–714 CE) Medina
Resting place	Al-Baqi' Cemetery, Medina 24°28′1″N 39°36′50.21″E / 24.46694°N 39.6139472°E / 24.46694; 39.6139472
Religion	Shia Islam
Spouse	Fatima bint Hasan
Children	Muhammad al-Baqir Zayd ibn Ali
Parents	Husayn ibn Ali Shahrbanu

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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 was born around 658 CE. He 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. Al-Sajjad was eventually allowed to return to his hometown of Medina, where he led a secluded life, without participating in the numerous pro-Alid uprisings against the Umayyads during the civil war of the Second Fitna. Instead, he devoted his life to worship and learning, and was highly esteemed, even among proto- Sunnis, as a leading authority on Islamic tradition (hadith) and law (fiqh). He was also known for his piety and virtuous character. Being politically 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 having been poisoned by the Umayyads. After his death, the mainstream Shia followed his eldest son, the equally 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, marking the birth of Zaydism. 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 one.