The Lioness of Karbala: ‘Alima’ Zainab’s Stand
By Dr Amineh Hoti

 

Once I was at my office at the HEC in Islamabad and a government employee of a junior rank next to my office came to say salaam to me, probably curious about one of the few women there. He had a beard and hat on; he asked what I was doing? I explained that I was doing work through Seerat education on peacebuilding: to bring diverse people together. He told me abruptly that Shias are kafirs (unbelievers). I was saddened and uncomfortable at his ignorance and his arrogance of labeling and judging an entire community in this dismissive way. Why do my brothers and sisters from both the Sunni and Shia communities have gaps of understanding? To understand we have to ask: What is the driving story behind the pain?

The story of Karbala lies at the heart of the division. Yet it is not a division. The victims and people involved are as dear to Shias as they are to Sunnis. This story based on historical facts is from the life of Zainab, the granddaughter of the Prophet Muhammad and Hazrat Khadijah, and daughter of Hazrat Fatima and Hazrat Ali. The story of Zainab (born 626 AD) is truly inspiring: her father, sons, and her two brothers – Hassan poisoned and Hussain lynched and martyred at the age of 54 at Karbala in the year 680. The male members of the Prophet’s family were 72 and they had no chance of survival against the 30,000 brutal soldiers that the Umayyad Caliph Yazid, a tyrant, had sent after them to hunt them down after cutting all water supplies. Yazid, son of Muawiya and grandson of Abu Sufyan and liver-eating Hind, had an old tribal and familial underlying animosity against the Prophet Muhammad and his family. Yazid wanted Imam Hussain’s submission in an oath of allegiance, or his life. Imam Hussain refused to bow down to the tyrant and oppressor of the people and so his male family fought heroically one by one—all, but one, entering martyrdom.

After the men were killed, the tents were burnt and looted. Shimr one of the villains of Karbala was in the action of attempting to kill Imam Hussain’s ill son and great grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, Zain Al Abideen (aged about 22), after snatching the skin under his resting place but his aunt Zainab, with the authority of a 55-year-old, made the commander of the Umayyad army, Umar Ibn Saad, spare Zain’s life. Zainab, the granddaughter of the Prophet, was the final standing heroin: she led the captives of Karbala who were mainly women, children, and the sick—all hungry, thirsty, in extreme grief, humiliated, and in pain on a fifteen-hour journey from Karbala to Kufa and then another 182 hours from Kufa to Damascus. Their dignity was snatched by the soldiers who unveiled all the women in the camp and tied them together with ropes around their necks. Zainab counted each one overlooking them and fighting for their survival.

Zainab’s heart was torn with the tragedy of the killings of her two sons and her beloved brother whose last pillar of support she had been. Forced to travel from Iraq to Syria in chains through towns with the terrible feeling of grief, Zainab had lost everything, but her spirit, for the blood of Prophet Muhammad, Fatima and Ali ran in her veins. “Zainab” means adornment of her father, Hazrat Ali – the intellectual, the wielder of Zulfiqar (Ali’s famous double-edged sword). She stood up to all the ensuing oppression and oppressors, and hence enters history as the leader and lioness of the survivors of Karbala. This Muharram, my friend Naznin Apa sent me a very inspiring Persian Nashid called “Zainab” sung by Sayed Majid Banifatemeh with hundreds of men paying respect to Hazrat Zainab:

“In Karbala’s ship of distress. From the burning haram, the protective shield showed up: Zainab!
The steady feet and Haider’s pride. Ruh-e-Fatima Zainab.
Jan-e-Karbala Zainab: the Soul and Life of Karbala.
Everyone’s reference Zainab.
Salamun Ala Zainab: Peace be upon you, Zainab.
The Loyal Leader and Karbala’s hero: loyal lion Zainab.
The secrets of Zulfiqar, Zainab.
Patient and satisfied with God’s will, Zainab.
Ya Alima Zainab. Oh, scientist Zainab. Problem-solver Zainab.”

Zain ul Abideen, who later in his life became an ascetic and scholar, describes the most horrible hardship he personally faced in Karbala as the journey to “Al Sham, Al Sham! (Damascus, Damascus)” because, weeping, he said, “Soldiers were poking spears in the sides of my aunts!” It is hard to even imagine how and why the (Muslim) soldiers would treat the granddaughters of their own Prophet in this terrible brutish way and with what shame would they stand then before Allah for prayer answering the call: Lailaha ill Allah, Muhammad ur Rasul Allah.
After imprisonment, Zainab and the captives were brought in chains before the gloating arrogant Yazid whose narrative to his people was that he had tamed the disobedient who refused allegiance to him. Yazid sat on his throne surrounded by his army, soldiers, and ambassadors, including the Roman Ambassador—more than 300 men of state in total. Pointing to Zainab, Yazid asked thunderously, “Who is this woman who holds her head high before me?” Imagine the context Zainab was in at the very moment: she was in extreme grief – her sons, brother, family had been lynched and killed violently, she and all the women and children were forced to become prisoners, her veil had been torn off her, here was a virtual princess (the granddaughter of the Prophet) reduced to an oppressed captive in a tyrant’s court, but with the same spirit of her grandfather when he was asked to give up his faith and he said, “By God, if they place the sun in my right hand and the moon in my left, I will not abandon this course until God makes me victorious in it or I perish therein, I will not abandon it”. Zainab spoke with the same conviction and faith to the man others address as ‘Amir ul Mumineen’ but she called “Yazid”, as Moses had called out Pharaoh, reminding the king that God, not the king, is the ultimate seer, ruler, accountant, and judge. Yazid the grandson of Hind, “the Liver Eater” who, despite her malice, Zainab’s grandfather, in a gesture of generosity and mercy, had released from captivity after the conquest of Makkah yet here Zainab was a prisoner of the descendant of those very “Released Persons”. Zainab’s rebuke is said to be one of the most powerful human speeches in the court of a tyrant king.

“Why do you ask the guard who I am: I am Muhammad’s granddaughter. I am Fatima’s daughter. I am Ali’s daughter. All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the Worlds. Blessings of Allah be upon Rasul’s (S) entire family. Allah’s words are true Who says: “Then the end of those who committed evil was that they disbelieved in the Signs of Allah, and they were insulting them.”

O Yazid! Do you think that you have blocked all opportunities on earth and the scope of the universe for us, and driven us as prisoners – and assumed that we have been degraded in the sight of Allah and that you are respectful in His eyes and have acquired an important and lofty position near Allah due to this and now have the impurity to look down upon us and become arrogant when you see the world has turned towards you? You presume that your task is planned, while your power and command please you? Have you forgotten the words of Allah? “Do not regard those who disbelieved that we grant them good for themselves? We only give them a respite so that they may increase their sins, and for them, there is a humiliating and disgraceful torment.”

Is it the custom of justice, O accursed son of the “Released persons”, that you keep your women behind veils (with respect), and at the same time you captivate and parade the helpless daughters of Rasulullah (S) as prisoners? You snatched our veils and exposed us, and displayed us from one land to another, being viewed by those at watering places as well as those who guarded your forts, with their faces exposed to the looks of everyone – near or distinct, low or elite, having none of our men with us nor any of our protectors?”

The severed head of Imam Hussain lay at the feet of Yazid who was disrespectfully poking at the teeth which Zainab could not bare and crying said that she trusted her Lord God to whom she leaves her reply to this incident, and rebuked Yazid further:

“How dare you strike the lips of Imam Husain with your stick! These are the same lips which Rasul Allah (S) used to kiss. You have done what you wanted to do and have destroyed the roots of piety and virtue! You have shed the blood of the son and family of Rasul Allah (S) and have hidden the brilliant stars on the earth from amongst the descendants of Abd ul Muttalib (as), under the clouds of cruelty and brutality. However, you shall appear before Allah soon. You shall meet your ancestors and shall also move to their place. At that time, you will wish that perhaps you had been blind and dumb, and regretted what you said, that it was a day of rejoicing for your ancestors.

O Yazid! Allah is sufficient as a judge upon you, and Muhammad will be your enemy as the Petitioner, supported by Angel Gabrial (as). All those who instigated you to do what you did and all your organs will give evidence against you and your father, who appointed you as the Ruler of the Muslims, and set forth this worldly kingdom for you to rule upon the neck of Muslims. You will then realize what an evil place awaits the tyrants. On that day it will become known what penalty the dictators earn, whose position is worse and whose army is more feeble and degraded.
O enemy of Allah! Although calamities have forced me to speak to you, I consider you to be degraded and not fit even to be reprimanded and reproached. But what am I to do? I find your verbal attacks great and I regard your rebuke too much to bear, but our eyes are shedding tears, our hearts are burning. What is even stranger is that the noble party of Allah was slaughtered by the army of the “Released ones” – the force of Shait’an. Our blood is dripping from their hands.

The sacred bodies of the martyrs have been placed at the disposal of the wolves, hyenas and other carnivorous animals of the desert and are dirtied by the brutes. If you feel you have gained something today by this beastly act, by killing and arresting to be booty then, you will certainly be a loser on the Day of Judgement. On that day nothing but your deeds will count. On that day you will send Lanah on Ibn Marjanah (Ubaidullah ibn Ziyad) and in turn, he will throw Lanah upon you.

“And your Lord never treats His servants unjustly”.
Wallah! I do not fear anyone except Him and do not complain to anyone else, and rely upon Him Alone. You may utilize your treachery, traps, and disloyalty, but I swear that the shame and disgrace, which you have earned by the treatment meted out to us, cannot be eradicated. You shall never be able to wipe out our memories, and inspiration from the midst, nor will you ever be able to wipe off the disgrace of these events. Your opinion is erroneous, and your days are numbered, and your wealth wasted on the Day when the caller will announce: “Beware! (Now) Verily the Lanah of Allah is on the oppressors and unjust.”

I thank Allah, Who sealed the life of our early ones with felicity upon our beginning with forgiveness, and Who destined martyrdom for our conclusion with blessings and accommodated them in heaven. I pray that Allah elevates their status and completes His reward upon them, and increases it further, and to turn with fairness their succession upon us, for He is Merciful and a Friend. “Allah is sufficient for us and the most excellent Protector is (He)”.

The clarity within Zainab’s speech reflects her scholarly, wise, and faith-based communication skills, being brought up in the lap of the Prophet Muhammad and Hazrat Ali. Her words left an impression on the listeners and sent chills of fear in Yazid who realized this revolutionary philosophy could easily overthrow his rule and court. The celebration of victory turned into shock as the realization of the magnitude of oppression that had taken place under Yazid’s orders hit everyone present, and those afar. Jews, Christians and Muslims in Yazid’s court rose to their feet and protested in favor of Zainab. Yazid, guilty and shamed by the boldness of Zainab’s speech, asks for the Azan to be recited which resonated loudly with: “I bear witness that Muhammad is the Rasul of Allah.” Holding her spirit high, Zainab showed that even the powerless could stand up to the corruption, injustice, and oppression of the powerful: here the most oppressive king. Yazid was forced to release the prisoners before a rebellion may have broken out.

Following the burial of her deceased, Zainab and her family moved back to Madina where she set up an academy of learning. The academy had branches in Kufa and focused on teaching law and jurisprudence in the light of the Seerat. Zainab is called Aqeela e Bani Hashim: the Wise One of Bani Hashim. The nephew she had saved from his death at 22, Zain al Abideen (later given the title “The Ornament of the Worshippers”), went back too and became an ascetic and lived a quiet scholarly life. Karbala affected him so profoundly that even 34 years afterwards when he drank water or ate food he cried profusely at the thought that his brother, uncle, father and 17 members of his family died because the basic human rights to drinking water were denied to them. When Zain al Abideen sadly died of being poisoned it was discovered that he had supported 100 families in charity secretly without their prior knowledge. Zainab had done well to save the saintly and scholarly Zain al Abideen.

My heart hurts when I think of the tragedy of Karbala and no amount of tears can fill any gap: the love that Hazrat Fatima and Hazrat Ali had for their children is as any parent’s: immense. And then to realize their pain and that of Prophet Muhammad’s whose own sons did not survive so he considered his grandchildren, Hassan and Hussain, as his own sons. Prophet Muhammad had said, “Whoever hurts them hurts me.” And the Prophet Muhammad is Habib Allah, the beloved of God. God who is “The Most Merciful” and most kind would have felt this extreme pain of His Habib (beloved). In extreme sorrow, one hears people say God abandoned me/my community but Zainab teaches us to trust in God even in this extreme grief, as reflected in her speech to Yazid.

What is a powerful lesson is not only that an individual in chains could stand up to the oppressive tyrant of the time, but that a woman stood up in an official public court to more than 300 men of power. Her voice held weight. It saved lives. It changed the minds and hearts of people. And it took the tragic story forward, remembered today because of Zainab. Her answer in her life was not bitterness and negativity but she sought positivity and opened up a center for learning and teaching law. Therefore, she is “Alima Zainab”. Her constructive, communicative, and learned behavior is in sharp contrast with Yazid’s oppression, ignorance, and old tribal revenge and familial enmity. This story tells us that “all Muslims” are not villains, nor heroes, as for any other religion. But within each religion there are those who struggle towards good and those whose actions prove them as villains. Each community carries its pain. A good neighbor (a hadith) is one who learns what that pain is and empathizes.

I want my Sunni and Shia brothers not to fight, or kill each other. But to understand the others’ point of view, pain, and learn. To both brothers, the Prophet Muhammad, the grandfather of Zainab, urged in his last sermon to respect the lives of all peoples which he said are sacred. Thus, in the Qur’an beloved God asked us to feed the prisoners because there may be a Zainab or Sakina amongst them. Peace: Salmun Ala Rasul Allah, his children, his grandchildren and great grandchildren. Zainab’s harsh and hard struggle was not in vain. We hear. We see. And we stand with you and by you, oh Lioness of Karbala, Alima Zainab.

 ( Dr Amineh Hoti is the author of Gems and Jewels)