Even the very existence of the pious Imam was considered a threat by the rulers of his time. Hisham, a brother of Abd al-Malik, poisoned the Imam who died in Madinah in the year 95 AH, at the age of 57 years. He was buried in the graveyard of Jannat ul-Baqic. Before his death, the Imam called his son Muhammad and entrusted the responsibility of the Imamate to him.
Although his son Muhammad al-Baqir fulfilled the needs of the believers by carrying out the functions of his assignment with spectacular brilliance, the painful death of his father left a void in the lives of his companions. People remembered the Imam for his, forbearance, piety, patience, and knowledge, and for the sufferings he had to endure throughout his life.
His aunt Zainab, the sister of Imam Husain, shared the life and suffering of the Imam. Together they had turned the tide of aggression into a lasting lesson for humanity. Whereas Imam Husain had laid down his own life along with that of his beloved family and friends in the desert of Karbala, Imam Ali ibn al-Husain and his aunt Zainab binte Ali ibne Abi Talib completed the vital mission of disseminating the Truth to the ignorant and confused nation of the Muslims and their rulers.
