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The Shi'a maintain that the infallibility of the Imam
is a basic rule in the Imamate.
"The theologians have defined the Imamate, saying:

"Surely the Imamate is a grace from Allah, who grants
it to the most perfect and best of His servants to
Him Other traditions record Muhammad with his
grandsons on his knees, on his shoulders, and even on
his back during prayer at the moment of prostrating
himself, when they were young.

The Battle of Karbala
The Battle of Karbala took place on Muharram 10, in
the year 61 AH of the Islamic calendar (October 10,
680 AD) in Karbala, in present-day Iraq. The battle
took place between a small group of supporters and
relatives of Muhammad's grandson, Hussein ibn Ali,
and a larger military detachment from the forces of
Yazid I, the Umayyad caliph.
When Muawiyah I died in 680, Hussein did not give
allegiance to his son, Yazid I, who had been appointed
as Umayyad caliph by Muawiyah; Hussein considered
Yazidi's succession a breach of the Hasan-Muawiyah
treaty. The people of Kufa sent letters to Hussein,
asking his help and pledging allegiance to him, but
they later did not support him.
As Husain traveled towards Kufa, at a nearby place
known as Karbala, his caravan was intercepted by Yazid
I's army led by Al-Hurr ibn Yazid al Tamimi. He was
killed and beheaded in the Battle of Karbala by Shimr Ibn
Thil-Jawshan, along with most of his family and
companions, including Husayn's six month old son, Ali al-
Asghar, with the women and children taken as prisoners.