01/04/874 AD killed by

Opinions differ on the cause of Hasan al-Askari's death. Some believe he died from illness.

But, according to some Shia sources, others think he was poisoned at the age of 28 at the instigation of the Abbasid Caliph Al-Mu'tamid and died on the 8th Rabi' al-Awwal 260 AH (approximately: 4 January 874)[40] in his house in Samarra and was buried with his father.

Shaykh Tabarsi thought, based on hadith of the Imamieh, that all Shia imams will be killed by someone else, so that he believed al-Askari was poisoned.

Ibn Shahrashub, referring to documents such as Dala'il al-imama, stated that al-Askari was killed by someone else.

Rasul Jafarian, referring to historical documents and detention records of the sixth century A.H., stated that al-Askari opposed the Abbasid Caliph politically and that his death happened early in life.

According to the Encyclopaedia of Islam, in all of the sources there is one common thread: that al-Mu'tamid wanted a declaration by medical practitioners that showed the people that al-Askari died a natural death.

When news of al-Askari's illness reached Caliph Al-Mu'tamid, he sent a physician and a group of his trusted men to observe the Imam's condition. After the death of the Imam, they had all his female slaves examined by the midwives. For two years, they searched for the successor of the Imam until they eventually lost hope. Al-Askari died on the very same day that his young son, Muhammad al-Mahdi, who then was five or a little over, disappeared and started what was henceforth known as the Minor Occultation.

Samarra

Lattitude: 34.1659° N
Longitude: 43.9055° E
Region: Middle East

Modern Day Iraq

Events in 874 MORE