The Development of Approaches to the Narrative about the Burial of the Martyrs of Karbala

Abu Mikhnif’s narrative that tribe of Bani Asd who resided in Ghazeriyeh buried Imam Hussein and his companions (AS) one day after their martyrdom is narrated by authentic Shia and Sunni's historical sources and by the subsequent sources. With the passage of time, this narrative underwent some changes. The eleventh century was a turning point in these changes and the beginning of development of a theological approach, and change in the narrative of Imam’s burial from a historical event into a doctrinal principle; a principle which is rooted in some Shiite traditions and regards the burial rites of every Imam is not performed except by the Imam who succeeds him. In the thirteenth century, the outer layer of the theological approach took form and soon spread to replace the previous approaches. Resting on the narrative of the arrival of Imam Sajjad (AS) in Karbala to perform the burial rites of his father, the new approach has such a great effect on the works about Ashura that most of these works have accepted it up to the present time and it has prevailed and resisted against the previous approach. Using a descriptive-analytical approach, this paper explains the historical development of the different accounts and views about the burial rites of Karbala's martyrs and sheds light on how the narrative of the burial of Imam Hussein has changed from a historical event into an interreligious theological principle to become a news story. Based on Shia and Sunni sources, the paper answers three questions as to when, where and by whom the martyrs were buried and explains the origin of the new approach.