Peace unto the Prophet’s granddaughter, Hazrat Zainab (PBUH)

Condolences to you on the anniversary of a very doleful day. Today the 15th of Rajab is the day when the Heroine of Karbala, Hazrat Zainab (Peace be upon her), who immortalized, institutionalized had universalized the life-inspiring mourning ceremonies for her tragically martyred brother, Imam Husain (AS), passed away from the mortal world.

Before presenting you an exclusive feature on the granddaughter of Prophet Mohammad (Blessings of God upon him and his progeny), here is a passage from the “Ziyarah” or the standard form of salutation that one recites:

      “Peace upon you O (Grand)Daughter of Muhammad “al-Mustafa” (Allah’s Chosen),

      “Peace upon you O Daughter of Ali “al-Murtaza” (the one Content with Allah’s Will),

      “Peace upon you O Daughter of Fatema “az-Zahra” (the Radiant),

      “Peace upon you O (Grand)Daughter of Khadija “al-Kubra” (the Great),

      “Peace upon you O Righteous One, pleasing (to Allah),

      “Peace upon you O the Learned, the Rightly Guided One,

      “Peace upon you O the Generous, Noble One,

      “Peace upon you O the Pious and Pure One,

      “Peace upon you O you who were thoroughly tested by sufferance, like (your brother) Husain the Oppressed,

      “Peace upon you O you who were held captive in (different) cities.

As is clear from the wordings, Hazrat Zainab (peace upon her) was a lady of impeccable pedigree. She needs no introduction. She reposes in eternal peace in Damascus, where the faithful from different parts of the world have assembled to protect her holy shrine from the dastardly attacks of the Takfiri terrorists – the modern version of the Godless Omayyads, who had perpetrated the heartrending tragedy of Karbala and had subjected the Prophet’s granddaughter and other members of the Blessed Household, the Ahl al-Bayt to imprisonment. Unafraid of death, the devotees of the Ahl al-Bayt are ready to court martyrdom, as part of their effort to ensure the flow of pilgrims to the shrine of Hazrat Zainab (peace upon her), by thwarting of the bid of the ungodly American and Zionist supported Salafi terrorists to take control of Damascus and Syria.

Perhaps, a question might arise as to how Hazrat Zainab (peace upon her), who was born in Medina in 6 AH and who in 61 AH, after a brief bout of captivity in Damascus following the tragedy of Karbala and return to hometown, made the Syrian capital her lasting abode.

The answers are obvious. In Medina, the continued lamentations and discourses of the granddaughter of the Prophet on the various dimensions of the tragedy of Karbala, aroused sympathies among the public for the Prophet’s progeny, a factor that sent shivers down the spine of Abdullah ibn Zubayr, who had seized Hijaz and most of Arabia and was contesting with the Omayyads for the caliphate. Abdullah ibn Zubayr, who was the instigator of the infamous Battle of Jamal or Camel  in 37 AH against the Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali ibn Abi Taleb (AS), had made life straitened for members of the noble Hashemite clan.

The scholar Seyyed Sadr od-Din in his book “Nuzhat al-Haramain” writes that Hazrat Zainab (peace upon her) and her husband Abdullah ibn Ja’far at-Tayyar came to Syria around 65 AH and settled in a place called Rawiyah on the outskirts of Damascus where the latter owned a farm. According to another version this farm or vast orchard was the property of the couple’s grandfather, Hazrat Abu Taleb, the Prophet’s uncle and guardian, who had bought it during his frequent trade trips to Syria before the advent of Islam.

While staying in this orchard, she visualized the severed head of Imam Husain (AS), and under the shade of a tree, started lamenting for her martyred brother. The wailing caught the attention of a hired gardener, who asked the maid Fizza about the Lady’s identity. On learning that she was the granddaughter of the Prophet, the gardener, who was an avowed enemy of the Ahl al-Bayt, struck Hazrat Zainab (peace upon her) on the head with his spade. The blow proved fatal and the noble lady collapsed with her soul flying to the ethereal heavens.

Thus, the village of Rawiyah on the outskirts of Damascus proved to be the last rendezvous of Hazrat Zainab (peace upon her). She was laid to rest in the orchard, which was the property of her husband and where now stands her magnificent shrine, revered by all, except the heretics and the enemies of humanity.

During the tyrannical rule of the Omayyads it was impossible to conceive of building any notable structure over the tomb of the Prophet’s granddaughter. However, we read in history that when Hazrat Nafisa (peace upon her), a great granddaughter of the Prophet’s elder grandson, Imam Hasan al-Mujtaba (AS),  visited Damascus in 193 AH, a simple room housed the grave of Hazrat Zainab (peace upon her) in an uninhabited place surrounded by woods and orchards. In 600 AH, a certain Qarqoubi of Aleppo built near the tomb a mosque that became famous as “Seyyedah Zainab Mosque”. Historians and travellers have taken note of this mosque including Abu Bakr al-Herawi who died in 611 AH), Ibn Jubair who died in 614 AH, and the famous North African traveller Ibn Batuta who died in 770 AH. They have also spoken of vast tracts of land endowed to the shrine. In 768 AH, Syria’s Naqeeb as-Saadaat or the Leader of the Prophet’s Descendants in Syria, Seyyed Hasan ibn Shaikh ol-Islam Seyyed Musa al-Musawi, who owned lands in Damascus, endowed them to the shrine. In 1316 AH the Ottoman Sultan, Abdul-Aziz, renovated the structure and covered it with a dome. A couple of years later, the celebrated scholar Seyyed Mohsin al-Amin al-Ameli with the help of the leading merchants and landholders of Damascus, built a new structure that has been constantly renovated and expanded ever since. In 1370 AH, Sait Mohammad Ali Habib of India donated a silver zareeh. In 1380 AH, three gold-plated doors were installed at the shrine by a group of Iranian merchants.

Thus, as a result of building of the grand mausoleum the insignificant village of Rawiyah has today grown into a flourishing centre, and is no longer known by its original name. The government of Syria has improved the roads and linked the shrine to the capital. Following the victory of the Islamic Revolution in Iran, the government in Tehran with the cooperation of Syrian authorities has renovated and beautified the mausoleum and also built a Mosalla or Prayer Ground beside it for the facility of the growing number of pilgrims.

Today the total area of shrine enclosed by courtyards on all sides is 15,000 square meters. According to the plans drawn by the Council of Custodians and approved by the Syrian Ministry of Religious Endowments, the mausoleum complex is to be enlarged to 150,000 square meters. The Iranian government has assumed construction responsibility, and hopefully, after crushing the insurgency of the blasphemous Takfiris, work will be completed. 

The renovation of the shrine and the complete cleansing of Damascus from the terrorists and their American-Saudi agents needs time, and with patience justice will prevail, as was practically demonstrated by Hazrat Zainab (peace upon her) during her life and her struggles against tyranny. It was Zainab (peace upon her), who with patience carried the battle to the enemy’s camp, and through her eloquent sermons in the courts of the tyrants in Kufa and Damascus, shook the foundations of the Omayyad regime. By holding the life-inspiring mourning ceremonies she universalized and immortalized the message of the Martyr of Karbala. She was a paragon of patience, who endured the most tragic events in the history of mankind with dignity, and firm faith in the Lord Most High.

The phrase that the Lord of the Age, Imam Mahdi (may God hasten his reappearance) has used in the famous Ziyarat-e Nahiya for Imam Husain (AS) could also be applied for Hazrat Zainab (peace upon her). It reads: “Indeed, the angels of heaven wonder at your patience.”

Never for a moment did Hazrat Zainab (peace upon her) ever show emotion or other negative traits throughout her life. In accordance with the benefits of patience as mentioned in over 70 ayahs of the Holy Qur’an, she exercised self-control in the midst of the most menacing calamities. On 10^th Moharram or the Day of Ashura in Karbala, she gave permission to her two young sons, Aun and Mohammad, to march to the battlefield, and when after a brave fight the two achieved martyrdom, the aggrieved mother prostrated in thanks to God for having accepted her sacrifice. She demonstrated to the world the practical meaning of patience throughout all those heart-rending scenes at Karbala when her dear brother Imam Husain (AS) achieved martyrdom, when almost all male members of the household were gruesomely killed in front of her eyes, when the heads of martyrs were inhumanly mounted on lances, when the encampment was burned by enemy soldiers, when the orphans were mercilessly thrashed for crying, when her bed-ridden nephew Imam Zain al-Abedin (AS) was flogged by the seemingly victorious hordes, and last but not the least, when the captives were deliberately taken past the unburied corpses of their dear ones lying without shrouds under the hot and burning sun. Never for instance did her feet falter.

It was thus the sister’s patience that made the message of the brother resound with glory in the courts of the perpetrators of history’s greatest tragedy and ensured that as long as the martyrdom of Imam Husain (AS) will be commemorated around the world, the name of Hazrat Zainab (peace upon her) will also shine with radiance. Although, the Prophet and all infallible members of his Blessed Household were pictures of paramount patience and endured the greatest of hardships for the sake of God, the patience of Imam Husain and Hazrat Zainab (peace upon them) was rather unique. Never can history present an example of such a peerless pair of brother and sister whose patience made Islam triumphant forever.

It could be said that if the patience of the brother ended in Karbala with his tragic martyrdom on the afternoon of Ashura, the patience of the sister was put to more gruelling tests and had to pass through the ordeal of captivity including dungeons, mockery by the captors, presentations at the courts of tyrants in a humiliating manner and moreover the sight of the severed heads of the martyrs mounted on lances and paraded before the bereaved household.

No wonder, her nephew, Imam Zain al-Abedin (AS), had said about his impeccable aunt: “O Aunt! You are by the grace of God a scholar unschooled by anyone and a sage by connation”.

AS/ME