Life in Short

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"Zaynab bint Ali"

By Ali Abbas [UK]

Zaynab was the daughter of Ali, and granddaughter of prophet Muhammad through his daughter Fatima.

In Muslim views, she is a great figure of sacrifice and strength. In Iran, her birthday is recognized as Nurse's Day.

Zaynab was the third child of Ali and Fatima. She was born in Medina, and named by Mohammad. Zaynab means "the adornment of her father" as a reference to Imam Ali. Zaynab lost her mother when she was only three years old. She grew extremely close to her full brothers, Hasan and Husayn.

When Zaynab came of age, she was married to her cousin Abdullah ibn Jafar, a nephew of Ali, in a simple ceremony. Although Zaynab's husband was a man of means, the couple is said to have lived a modest life. Much of their wealth was devoted to charity. Abdullah was sometimes called "the sea of munificence" or "the cloud of munificence".

The marriage of Zaynab did not diminish her strong attachment to her family. Ali also felt a great affection for his daughter and son-in-law and when he became caliph and moved the capital from Medina to Kufa, Zaynab and Abdullah joined him. Zaynab bore four sons, Abbas, Ali, Aun and, Mohammad; and one daughter, Umm Kulthum.

At the death of the Muawiyah, Husayn was forced out of Mecca due to the assassins that were sent by Muawiyah's son Yazid to kill Husayn during pilgrimage. Thus Husayn went to Kufa by the invitation of the people of Kufa for him to claim the leadership of the Muslim community. Zaynab accompanied him, as did most of his household. After Husayn and all his 72 companions were brutally killed at the Battle of Karbala by the order of Yazid, Zaynab was taken hostage by the army of Yazid, Muawiyah's son and successor. Zaynab and the other survivors of Husayn's expedition, most of them women and children, were marched to Damascus, Yazid's capital, where they were held hostage. Tradition says that Zaynab, already in anguish due to the death of her brother Husayn and her sons Aun and Muhammad, was forced to march unveiled. This was an extreme indignity to inflict on a high-ranking Muslim woman, the granddaughter of Muhammad.

Eventually Yazid released his captives and allowed them to return to Medina. There are different views as to where she died and was buried. Shias say she is buried in Sayyidah Zaynab Mosque in Damascus, Syria. But Sunnis say her grave is in Sayyidah Zaynab Mosque in Cairo.


[The remaining text is omitted here. It is same as text from Victory of Truth, by M.H.Bilgrami.]

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