Hujr ibn Adi


Hujr ibn 'Adi al-Kindi was a companion to the Islamic prophet Muhammad. He was sentenced to death by the Umayyad Caliph Muawiyah I for his unwavering support and praise for Ali, the fourth Rashidun Caliph for Sunni Muslims and the first Imam for Shia Muslims, when he objected to the tradition of publicly cursing Ali. He belonged to the tribe of Kindah.

Titles

Hujr was given two titles: "al-Kindi" and "al-Adbar". The first title was "al-Kindi", meaning The Person From Kindah, an Arabian tribe. The second title given to Hujr was "al-Adbar".

Character and biography

According to some narrations, his last wish was that his son should be executed before him lest death terrify him and therefore accede to the condition of cursing Ali.

Desecration of shrine

Hujr, his son Humaam ibn Hajar, and some other companions are buried in Adra, in the outskirts of the Syrian capital Damascus. A mosque had been built around his grave which became a pilgrimage site for Muslims.
On 2 May 2013, Jabhat al-Nusra attacked the mausoleum and exhumed his remains. His body was taken to an unknown location by the rebels. According to a report published in the New York Times, a widely distributed Facebook photo of the desecration of the pilgrimage site gives credit for the exhumation to a man named Abu Anas al-Wazir, or Abu al-Baraa, a leader of a military group called the Islam Brigade of the Free Syrian Army.