Al-Hussein ibn Ali ibn Abi Talib (sometimes spelled Husayn) (Arabic: الحُسين بن علي بن أبي طالب\u200e) (11 or 13 January 626 CE -- 13 October 680 CE) (3rd / 5th Sha'aban 4 AH -- 10th Muharram 61 AH) was the son of Ali ibn Abi Ṭalib (final Rashidun Caliph and first Shia Imam) and Fatimah Zahra (daughter of the Islamic prophet Muhammad) and the younger brother of Hasan ibn Ali. Hussein is an important figure in Islam