Birth Anniversary of Hazrat Zainab (SA)

Salaam dear listeners and heartiest congratulations to you on the occasion of a very blessed anniversary.

Today the 5^th of the Islamic month of Jamadi al-Awwal is celebrated in the Islamic Republic of Iran as the “Day of the Nurse”, to honour the services to humanity of these paramedics, who strive day and night to ensure the recovery of patients suffering from various diseases. But what is the significance of this particular date for nurses. It is a good question, and the answer is obvious. Today is that auspicious day in history when the virtuous lady that nursed Islam back to life was born. She was none other the Heroine of Karbala, Hazrat Zainab (peace upon her), the granddaughter of Prophet Mohammad (blessings of God upon him and his progeny). Please stay with us for a special feature in this regard.

It is beyond the power of ordinary mortals to pen the merits and virtues of Hazrat Zainab (peace upon her), whose praise requires a tongue as eloquent as that of the Holy Qur’an or, as heart-soothing as that of the Prophet of Islam, as expressive as that of her father the Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali (AS), as fluent as that of her brother the Martyr of Karbala, and as steeped in piety as that of her nephew,  Imam Zain al-Abedin (AS).

Her genealogy is impeccable. She was a blue blood scion of the monotheist House of Hashem, the noble leader of the Quraysh tribe who was descended from Prophet Abraham’s firstborn son, Prophet Ishmael (peace upon them). If her father Imam Ali continues to transcend history and all historical developments as the divinely-designated vicegerent of her grandfather, the Almighty’s Last and Greatest Prophet, her mother is the noblest-ever lady born on Planet Earth, the Prophet’s Immaculate Daughter, Hazrat Fatema Zahra (peace upon her). If Prophet as the “Mercy unto to the whole creation” is maternal grandfather, her paternal grandfather was that protector of infant Islam, the Prophet’s beloved uncle and guardian, Abu Taleb – the consanguineous brother of the Prophet’s father Abdullah. If her maternal grandmother was the Omm al-Momineen or the Mother of all true Believers, Hazrat Khadija al-Kubra (peace upon her) – also known as Maleekat al-Arab for her fabulous wealth that she all spent for Islam – her paternal grandmother was Fatema bint Asad, the lady who had brought up the orphaned Prophet as her own son following the death of his grandfather Abdul-Mutallib and of his mother Amena bint Wahb.

The merits of Hazrat Zainab (peace upon her), who gave her two youthful sons Aun and Mohammad as sacrifices for the cause of Islam at Karbala, do not end here, in view of the fact that her brothers were Imam Hasan and Imam Husain (peace upon them) – the Leaders of the Youth of Paradise. Moreover, she was married to her first cousin Abdullah the son of Ja’far at-Tayyaar, the first migrant in Islam whose famous expounding of monotheism and the merits of Prophet Jesus and the Virgin Mary (peace upon them) in the court of King Negus of Abyssinia (or present day Ethiopia) when the polytheists of Mecca pursued him there, is recorded in golden letters.

Hazrat Zainab (peace upon her) was too great to rest on family laurels. She explored a distinctive path of her own and that is the reason her virtues merited the title Sani-e Zahra or the lady who is second only to her impeccable mother, Hazrat Zahra (peace upon her), the greatest lady of all times. Hazrat Zahra (peace upon her), needed an immaculate deputy to demonstrate to the women of the world the greatness of Islam and the practical meaning of piety, virtue and feminine rights. This is why her elder daughter, Zainab al-Kubra (peace upon her), rose to the occasion to carve out an immortal niche for herself in history. Although not infallible like the Prophets, the Imams and her own mother, the Heroine of Karbala set a lasting example of flawlessness that not even the infallible Adam could match because of his slight negligence in approaching the forbidden tree while in heaven.

Hazrat Zainab (peace upon them) was the embodiment of practical knowledge. The Iranian scholar Shaikh Saddouq, who flourished over a thousand years ago, writes: “Zainab (peace upon her) had a special deputation on behalf of [her brother Imam] Husain (AS). People used to refer to her in [jurisprudential] matters related to the sanctioned and the forbidden until [her nephew, Imam] Zain al-Abedin (AS) recovered from his illness.”

In view of this statement, it is knowledge that unravels all realities. In other words there is no aspect of human life that does not require knowledge and awareness. Her father Imam Ali (AS) in his famous advice to his disciple Kumail ibn Ziyad (as mentioned in the Nahj al-Balagha) has beautifully outlined the indispensable nature of knowledge as more worthy than wealth, saying: “Knowledge guards you while you have to guard wealth. Wealth decreases by spending while knowledge increases by spending.”

In Islam, the pursuit of knowledge is not confined to men, but women are also urged to acquire it. Unlike other creeds and cultures, Islam restored woman to her natural status in society with emphasis on learning so that literate and knowledgeable mothers could properly groom their children, the future hope of the society. Thus Hazrat Zainab (peace upon her) was immune from any ignorance and possessed God-given knowledge with certitude. No less a personality than her nephew Imam Zain al-Abedin (AS) says about her: “You are by the grace of God a scholar unschooled by anyone and a sage by connation.”

The 4th Imam, in praise of her eloquent sermons in Kufa and Damascus when in the aftermath of the heartrending tragedy of Karbala the noble prisoners were brought before the Omayyud rulers, said the realities and finer points of God-given intelligence and knowledge that his aunt demonstrated is not easy to grasp by even the most erudite scholars. Her clarity of language and choice of words to expound the mission of her brother in the court of the tyrant Yazid is rather unique. History is incapable of doing full justice to her sermons that ensured eternity for the mission of Imam Husain (AS). Scholars, pointing to a single phrase from her memorable sermon in the court of Damascus, say that besides being an indicator of her firm faith, trust in God, sincerity of purpose and dauntlessness under the most adverse circumstances, it shattered to pieces the power and pride of Yazid. Her bold address to the seemingly proud caliph: “Is it justice O’ sons of freed slaves” shook the very foundations of Omayyad rule and exposed its illegitimacy not only for those present at the court, including the Byzantine ambassador, but for all generations to come. By her use of the word “tulaqa” (plural or “taleeq” or freed slave), Hazrat Zainab (peace upon her) was actually reminding the ruler how her grandfather the Prophet, on the day of the peaceful surrender of Mecca to Muslims, had shown magnanimity to the arch infidel Abu Sufyan, his accursed wife Hind bint Otbah and his equally criminal son Mua’wiyah (the grandfather, grandmother and father of Yazid) despite the fact that Hind had so savagely carved out the liver of the Prophet’s martyred uncle Hamza at the Battle of Ohod and tried to chew it. On the day of the liberation of Mecca, the Prophet had referred to Abu Sufyan, Mua’wiyah and their other idolatrous kinsmen “tulaqa” or freed slaves, and had spared their lives by accepting their lip service to Islam in order to teach humanity a lasting lesson that what evil such despised ingrates do when opportunity comes their way to strike at the humanitarian principles that they had always opposed.

It is rightly said the immortal saga of Karbala would have remained incomplete if not for the endeavours of Hazrat Zainab (peace upon her). Here was a sister who refused to let the mission of her martyred brother be confined to the epic Day of Ashura as the cowardly enemies of humanity had planned. Imprisonment did not dampen her spirits. She not just carried Imam Husain’s message to Kufa and made the Iraqis rue their betrayal of the Prophet’s grandson, but also institutionalized its commemoration for all time. Neither did she allow the dungeons of Damascus and the jam-packed court of the tyrant Yazid to drown the eloquence of her sermons that eventually apprised the Syrians of the treason of the Omayyuds against Islam. Nor was she content to merely lighten the burden of her bleeding heart on return home to Medina at the outpouring of grief of the people of Hejaz shocked by the tragedy that befell the Prophet’s Household.

Thus, when any conscientious mind turns to the Epic of Ashura and the traumatic aftermath of history’s greatest tragedy, it will acknowledge that Islam and all humanitarian values, without the least doubt, are also indebted forever to the lady whose indefatigable role earned her the title of “Sharikat al-Husain” or partner in the mission of Imam Husain (AS).

Peace upon the granddaughter of the Prophet and upon those guarding her holy shrine from the blasphemous attacks of the devilish Takfiri terrorists.    

AS/SS