Muhammad Hanafiyya and Husseinid Movement:an Investigation of the Reasons for Refusal by Muhammad Hanafiyyah to Accompany Imam Hussein in Karbala

Historically critical and monumental events are effective, just as much as they are important, in screening the influential figures of the society. In the case of an event as great as Ashura, the individuals' positions, whether positive or negative, are scrutinized by scholars and researchers. Accordingly, the researchers on Ashura have always been exposed to the following question :"why were some of Imam Hussein's relatives who were expected to precede others in assisting him not among his companions in Ashura?" Muhammad Hanafiyya, Imam Hussein's brother, is one of these figures, whose absence in Karbala has raised the question of why he was absent in Karbala and bereft of accompanying his brother. Providing an answer to this question through an investigation of early sources of Muslims' historiography is our major concern in this paper.