A Comparative Consideration and Critique of Accounts of Ashura in Zaydi Sources

Throughout different times and places as well as audiences, some sermons and talks of Sayyid al-Shuhada’ (Imam al-Husayn the Master of the Martyrs) has undergone changes in certain accounts of Ashura. Reliable Zaydi sources were not immune from such changes. Such hadiths in Zaydi sources can be divided into two categories: first, those that are not solely cited in Zaydi sources, and can indeed be found in Imami and Sunni sources as well, such as Imam al-Husayn’s letter to Banū Hāshim, his sermon in Dhū Ḥusam’s house, and his conversation with Ṭirimmāḥ ibn ‘Adiyy; second, those that are merely cited in Zaydi sources. Indeed, if they are to be found in Imami sources, they must have been transmitted from Zaydi sources: examples of this include the “death is inscribed” (khuṭṭ al-mawt) sermon. This paper deploys a descriptive-analytic method to compare accounts of Ashura in both categories of reliable Zaydi, Imami, and Sunni sources, showing that audiences or times and places have changed through changes in these accounts. We argue that negligence of these changes might occasion inaccurate analyses of these accounts.