Imam Hasan al-Askari Born: Eleventh Shia Leader

Hasan al-Askari served as the eleventh Shia Imam under Abbasid house arrest in Samarra, maintaining spiritual authority over the faithful despite constant state surveillance. Born in 846 in Medina, he was the son of the tenth Imam, Ali al-Hadi, and was brought to Samarra as a young child when the Abbasid caliph forced his father to relocate to the new capital, where the caliphate could monitor the Shia imams more closely. The Abbasids recognized that the Shia imams commanded the loyalty of millions of believers who viewed the caliphate as illegitimate usurpers of authority that rightfully belonged to the Prophet Muhammad's family. Hasan al-Askari communicated with his followers through a network of representatives who served as intermediaries, a system that would later formalize into the institution of the Shia scholarly establishment. His title "al-Askari" derives from the Arabic word for military camp, referring to the garrison district of Samarra where he was confined. He was reportedly poisoned by the Abbasid caliph al-Mu'tamid and died on January 1, 874, at approximately twenty-seven years old. His death triggered the central theological event of Twelver Shia Islam: the Major Occultation of his infant son, Muhammad al-Mahdi, the Twelfth Imam. Twelver Shia Muslims believe the Twelfth Imam went into hiding to escape Abbasid persecution and will return at the end of time to establish justice on earth. This messianic doctrine defines Twelver Shia Islam, the branch practiced by the majority of Shia Muslims worldwide and the state religion of Iran. The shrine of Hasan al-Askari in Samarra remains one of the holiest sites in Shia Islam; its bombing by Sunni extremists in 2006 triggered the Iraqi civil war.