The son of Imam Hasan
Qasim b. al-Hasan (a) was a son of the second Imam, born in Madinah a few years before his father's martyrdom; the seventh of Sha'ban is the date kept in the South Asian and Iraqi calendars, though the early sources do not fix it. Left fatherless as a small boy, he was raised in the household of his uncle Husayn (a), and went with him from Madinah to Makkah and on to Karbala at about thirteen.
"Sweeter than honey"
On the eve of Ashura, when Imam Husayn (a) told his companions they might leave, he asked the boy how he regarded death; Qasim answered that for him it was sweeter than honey. The next day he pressed his uncle for permission to fight, was refused, and wept until it was granted. He fought until his sandal-strap broke, was struck down as he bent to fix it, and called for his uncle; the Imam reached him as the enemy horsemen trampled him.
In the majalis
Qasim is the youth of Karbala, the theme of the seventh night of Muharram in many traditions, and in South Asian custom the mehndi of Qasim — the wedding he never had — is one of the most tender rituals of the ten days. His grave lies among the martyrs at his uncle's feet.
Written for Shia Online Community. Dates and facts are checked against the references listed under Research & books; where the tradition records more than one date, all are given.
