Burayr ibn Khuḍayr al-Hamdānī () was descended from ''Bani Mashriq'', a branch of

Banu Hamdan Banu Hamdan (; Ancient South Arabian script, Musnad: 𐩠𐩣𐩵𐩬) is an ancient, large, and prominent Arab tribe in northern Yemen. Origins and location The Hamdan stemmed from the eponymous progenitor Awsala (nickname Hamdan) whose descent ...

, who were originally from

Yemen Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in West Asia. Located in South Arabia, southern Arabia, it borders Saudi Arabia to Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, the north, Oman to Oman–Yemen border, the northeast, the south-eastern part ...

. He was a

Qāriʾ A qāriʾ (, plural ''qurrāʾ'' or ''qaraʾa''; feminine form: qāriʾa ) is a person who recites the Quran with the proper rules of recitation ('' tajwid''). Although it is encouraged, a qāriʾ does not necessarily have to memorize the Qura ...

and used to teach

Quran The Quran, also Romanization, romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a Waḥy, revelation directly from God in Islam, God (''Allah, Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which ...

in Masjid al-Kufa. He was also one of the

Tabi'un The tābiʿūn (, also accusative or genitive tābiʿīn , singular ''tābiʿ'' ), "followers" or "successors", are the generation of Muslims who followed the companions (''ṣaḥāba'') of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and thus received their ...

and a companion of

Ali Ali ibn Abi Talib (; ) was the fourth Rashidun caliph who ruled from until his assassination in 661, as well as the first Shia Imam. He was the cousin and son-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Born to Abu Talib ibn Abd al-Muttalib an ...

as well. When Burayr heard of

Husayn ibn Ali Husayn ibn Ali (; 11 January 626 – 10 October 680 Common Era, CE) was a social, political and religious leader in early medieval Arabia. The grandson of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and an Alids, Alid (the son of Ali ibn Abu Talib ibn Abd a ...

's migration from

Medina Medina, officially al-Madinah al-Munawwarah (, ), also known as Taybah () and known in pre-Islamic times as Yathrib (), is the capital of Medina Province (Saudi Arabia), Medina Province in the Hejaz region of western Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, ...

Karbala Karbala is a major city in central Iraq. It is the capital of Karbala Governorate. With an estimated population of 691,100 people in 2024, Karbala is the second largest city in central Iraq, after Baghdad. The city is located about southwest ...

, he left

Kufa Kufa ( ), also spelled Kufah, is a city in Iraq, about south of Baghdad, and northeast of Najaf. It is located on the banks of the Euphrates, Euphrates River. The estimated population in 2003 was 110,000. Along with Samarra, Karbala, Kadhimiya ...

to join Husayn's army.

Objection to Umar ibn Sa'd

Some companions of Husayn condemned

Umar ibn Sa'd ʿUmar ibn Saʿd ibn Abi Waqqas (; died 686) was a son of Prophets and messengers in Islam, prophet Muhammad's Companions of the Prophet, companion, Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas. He was born in Medina and later moved to Kufa, which was founded by his fath ...

for denying water access to

in the

Battle of Karbala The Battle of Karbala () was fought on 10 October 680 (10 Muharram in the year 61 Hijri year, AH of the Islamic calendar) between the army of the second Umayyad Caliphate, Umayyad caliph Yazid I () and a small army led by Husayn ibn Ali, th ...

among whom was Burayr ibn Khudayr who went to Ibn Sa'd and called out whether he would leave the "family of prophethood to die of thirst" while he claimed he knew God and His Messenger.

Mubahala with Yazid

Yazid bin Moqal, an ally of Abd al-Qays moved towards the camp of Husayn and reaching near, he called out in a loud voice to Burayr ibn Khudayr, asking how did he find what God had destined for him. Burayr replied that God had sent good with regard to him, and evil in regard with Yazid. In response Yazid called him a liar who was among deviated ones. Burayr challenged him to Mubahala (i.e. calling God's curse down upon whoever is liar). Yazid agreed and they came before the two camps to take part in the imprecation contest after which they attacked each other. It is said that Yazid's strike had no effect, however, Burayr's blow split Yazid's helmet and the sword reached up to his brain. He fell down and died a few moments later.

Death

After killing Yazid, Burayr began to attack on the camp of

Ibn Sa'd Abū ‘Abd Allāh Muḥammad ibn Sa‘d ibn Manī‘ al-Baṣrī al-Hāshimī or simply Ibn Sa'd () and nicknamed ''Scribe of Waqidi'' (''Katib al-Waqidi''), was a scholar and Arabian biographer. Ibn Sa'd was born in 784/785 CE (168 AH) and di ...

, calling them "murderers of the son of the daughter of the Messenger" of God. Razi ibn Munqidh Abadi attacked him and they fought for sometime. However Burayr subdued him and sat upon his chest. While he was engaged in this, the Ka'b ibn Jabir Azadi, delivered a blow with a spear on the back of Burayr and killed him. It is related that his killer was condemned by people including his wife,Ibne Athir, Tarikh, 4/66-67 and his cousin, Ubayd Allah ibn Jabir. The killer, himself, was also ashamed and composed some couplets that described his grief and regret.

References

* {{cite book, last=al-Qarashi, first=Baqir Sharif, title=The life of Imam Husain (AS), year=2007, publisher=Ansariyan Publications, location=Iran, translator=Sayyid Athar Husain S.H. Rizvi, isbn=978-964-438-889-7 People killed at the Battle of Karbala

Objection to Umar ibn Sa'd

Mubahala with Yazid

Death

See also

References