Analysis on the Transformation of Historical Reports on Martyrdom of Imam Husayn's Infant Child (from Beginning to the End of the Fifth Century)

Ashura is considered one of the most important events in history of Islam, in which the infant child of Imam Husayn was martyred. Name, age and martyrdom of the child were presented differently in historical reports, which were not analyzed precisely until the fifth century. So the question of the present paper is: How the martyrdom of the Imam Husayn’s child was explained in historical reports prior to the fifth century? Inaccuracy and exaggeration of historians and making references to other historians are the main reasons of different historical reports. Presenting a real and clear picture of the present subject made the authors of the present paper to analyze the changes in historical reports to acknowledge the true report. The present paper has applied a descriptive – analytical method for examining historical reports and their transformation on the martyrdom of Imam Husayn’s infant child. The findings of the present paper indicate the name of murderer and the martyrdom of the child are obvious in resources, while the name and age of the child were not clear. However the birth of the child in Ashura and requesting water for the child by Imam Husayn were stated only for emotionalizing the story.