Martyrdom of the survivor of Karbala

Today, the 12th of Moharram we commemorate the Martyrdom of the Survivor of Karbala, who was forced to leave the mortal world over three decades after history’s most heartrending tragedy. We have prepared a special feature in this regard, and invite you to listen to some words of wisdom from him.

“Whenever a thought comes in your mind that you are better than any other person, then think along these lines: If the person is older than you then remind yourself that this person is better than you in matters of Islam because he has done more good deeds than you have. If the person is younger than you then remind yourself that this person is better than you because he has committed less sins than you have. If he is of your age than your argument should be: he is better than you in matters of Islam since you know of your own sins but not of his.”

This gem of a saying is not the statement of a philosopher whose theories constantly change; it is neither of an ascetic isolated from the society, nor is it of a person reaching such a rational conclusion after years of wayward life replete with trials and errors.

These are actually the words of the great-grandson and 4^th Infallible Heir of the Almighty’s Last and Greatest Messenger, Prophet Mohammad (blessings of God upon him and his progeny). Today, we commemorate his martyrdom, exactly 34 years after he survived the heartrending tragedy of Karbala, where his father, uncles, brothers, and cousins drank the elixir of martyrdom in manly combat, while he helplessly lay, often unconscious, on his sickbed. And when the killings were over, the cowardly hordes came with fetters to enchain him, while the tents burned and his aunts, sisters, wife, son, and other ladies and children of the Prophet’s Blessed Household, huddled together in grief, as the Omayyads looted whatever valuables they had. This was not the end of the sufferings for the then 23-year old ailing youth, who prostrated to God Almighty the whole night and on lifting his head before dawn for performing the Morning Prayer, he was confronted with gory sight of the severed heads of the martyrs of his household mounted on lances.

This was Imam Ali Zayn al-Abedin (AS), the Ornament of the Worshippers, the son and successor Imam Husain (AS) and the grandson of the Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali ibn Abi Taleb (AS). If his mother was Shahrbano, the Princess of Persia, his grandmother was the noblest ever lady of all times, Hazrat Fatema az-Zahra (SA), whom the holy Qur’an calls “Kowthar” or Spring of Perpetual Abundance.

No wonder, poets have hailed him as “Ibn al-Khiyaratain” or Son of the Two Most Excellent Ones, that is, the Hashemites among the Arabs and the Persians among the non-Arabs.

Although Imam Zain al-Abedin (AS) always remembered with tears the bloodcurdling martyrdom of his father and kith and kin, he was neither a recluse from the society nor spent his life in despondency and disappointment. He used to say:

“We, descendants of the Noble Prophet of Islam, have been trained from childhood to face afflictions and sufferings. We know that those who are loved by Allah are tried by Him and if they remain steadfast and true to their faith in Him, then only He bestows His Divine favors on them in the life hereafter which is permanent and not transitory like this worldly life.”   

Although the uprising in Iraq of Mukhtar ibn Abi Obaidah Thaqafi who brought to justice almost all principal perpetrators of the Tragedy of Karbala, was no doubt a solace for the Ahl al-Bayt, their sufferings continued. Nonetheless, despite the pressures of the political rulers, who wrongly styled themselves as caliphs or successors of the Prophet, the 4^th Imam strove to enlighten minds, souls, and hearts with the genuine teachings of the Seal of Messengers, which were family heritage for him.

Yazid’s horrible death as a result of Divine Wrath, two years after his cardinal sin in martyring Imam Husain (AS), did not mean the end of sufferings for the 4^th Imam, who now found himself confronted in Hijaz by the treacherous Abdullah ibn Zubair. For ten long years this charlatan masqueraded as caliph in Arabia, making life miserable for the Prophet’s clan the Bani Hashem, and even making a vain attempt to burn all members alive. At the same time in Syria, the despicable Marwan and his son Abdul-Malik also shamelessly called themselves caliphs. It was obvious that the caliphate which had veered off its course at the scandalous gathering of Saqifa Bani Sa’da no sooner did the Prophet departed from the mortal world, was being claimed by every Godless tyrant. No wonder, the Prophet’s Immaculate Daughter, Hazrat Fatema Zahra (peace upon her), in her famous address to the usurpers of the political right of leadership of her Infallible Husband, Imam Ali (AS), had called the caliphate “a cheap dromedary full of blisters with eternal shame and divine wrath attached to it”.

As the righteous caliph of his times, Imam Zain al-Abedin (AS), neither needed a palace nor armies, since his God-given spiritual authority was beyond the grasp of any usurper. He quietly continued his task of awakening consciences through the power of prayers, supplications, ethics, morals, expounding of the meaning and purport of the ayahs of the holy Qur’an and correct explanations of the Sunnah and Seerah of his great-grandfather Prophet Mohammad (blessings of God upon him and his progeny).

If the “Sahifat-as-Sajjadiyya”, whose flawless Arabic, timeless wisdom, scientific realities, the Almighty’s Majesty, and mankind’s humility, continues to captivate the hearts of even those whom circumstances made unacquainted with the dynamism path of the Prophet’s Ahl al-Bayt, his diligent definition of all kinds of rights, including the rights of our bodily organs upon us, as embodied in “Risalat al-Hoqouq” (or Treatise of Rights) have been hailed as the finest charter of human rights – more comprehensive than the UN version drafted by a team of intellectuals.

Alas, according to an account, on the 12^th of Moharram 95 AH, Imam Zain al-Abedin (AS) was martyred at the age of 57 years through a fatal dose of poison on the orders of the self-styled caliph, Walid ibn Abdul-Malik. He was laid to rest in the Jannat al-Baqie Cemetery by his son Imam Muhammad al-Baqer and 12-year old grandson Imam Ja’far Sadeq (peace upon them).

AS/SS