Zainab bint Ali’s Birth
Five years after Hijrah, Fatima (RA) gave birth to a baby girl.
It is narrated that the Prophet (PBUH) predicted the events and circumstances of Zainab’s entire life. He forsaw the role she would play in delivering Islam.
Fatima (RA) and Ali (RA) asked the Prophet (PBUH) to name the child. The Prophet answered: “I will not go in advance of my Lord in this matter.” He then declared that the child should be named ‘Zainab’, meaning ‘the embellishment of the father’.
There is an array of opinions surrounding the date of birth of Zainab (RA). While some say it was the 5th day of Jamada Al-Awwal, others say it was the 1st day of Shabaan. But what we all know to be true is that Zainab bint Ali was blessed with the noblest lineage; a notably knowledgeable and pious family.
She was the daughter of Ali bin Abi Talib (RA) and Fatimah bint Muhammad (RA). She was the granddaughter of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and the sister of Hassan (RA) and Hussain (RA).
In her character, she depicted the greatest qualities of those who raised her.
In “serenity and thoughtfulness,” she was like Umm ul-Muminin Khadija, her grandmother (RA).
In “innocence and bashfulness,” she was like her mother Fatima Zahra (RA).
In “fluency and expressiveness,” she was like her father Ali (RA).
In “leniency and fortitude,” she was like her brother, Hassan (RA)
and in “courage and repose of the heart,” she was like Hussain (RA).
Her face reflected her father’s admiration and her grandfather’s esteem.
Her Early Years
According to Nishwa Gardezi, Zainab developed a long-lasting bond of devotion to her brother Hussain (RA). In her mother’s arms, she would cry out her lungs and could not be pacified. But upon being held by her brother, she would keep quiet, gazing with pleasure at his face.
Her mother, Fatima (RA) mentioned the intensity of Zainab’s love for her brother Hussain (RA) to the Prophet (PBUH). He heaved a deep breath and said with eyes watering with tears, “My dear child, this child of mine Zainab would be confronted with a thousand and one calamities and face serious hardships in Karbala.“
Abdullah ibn Abbas reported that Ali (RA) was once teaching his daughter how to count. He asked her, “Say: ‘one.’ Zainab (RA) replied “One.” He then asked her “Say: two”. To this, she was quiet. Upon inquiry by her father about her silence, Zainab (RA) said, “A tongue which pronounces ‘one’ cannot say ‘two’”. Her father hugged and kissed her as a gesture in acknowledgement of her belief in the Tawhid of Allah (SWT).
It is also reported that when Zainab (RA) was about five years old, she had a strange and terrible dream. When she woke up, she immediately went to narrate the dream to her grandfather, the Prophet (PBUH).
He wept bitterly and said, “O, my daughter. The tree in your dream is me who will soon depart this world. The tree’s branches are your father Ali and your mother Fatima. And the twigs you held on to are your brothers Hassan and Hussain. They will all leave you behind in this world, and you will suffer their loss and detachment.“
Little was known of Zainab (RA)’s physical appearance while growing up. However, when the tragedy of Karbala befell her in her mid-fifties she was forced to go out uncovered. Then people, obviously stunned by her beauty, exclaimed she looked like a ‘shining sun’ and a ‘piece of the moon’.
Her Family
Upon attaining maturity, many sought Zainab for marriage, desiring to be joined with the family of the Messenger of Allah. However, Zainab (RA) married her first cousin, Abdullah ibn Ja’far.
He was the noblest man of the Hashimites and one of the most generous men of the Arabs. They had five children, four sons and one daughter; Awn, Ali, Muhammad, Abbas, and Umm-Kulthum.
As she increased in age, she became vastly knowledgeable on Islam. She also became an advocate for women in a time where there really was no such thing.
Her intellect was seen to be extremely vivid. The capacity to which she absorbed information can only be described as outstanding. To her merit lies the memorisation of the Holy Qur’an, the sayings of the Prophet (PBUH) on adab and Islamic ethics, as well as rules of education.
She would hold gatherings for women in which she would very concisely convey her knowledge. Among many subjects, she taught Islamic Law and the Tafsir of the Qur’an. Women used to converge to take Islamic lessons from her and imbibe her manners and values.
She became known for her ability to teach. Although by marriage she was very wealthy, she lived modestly and gave generously to charity. Zainab delivered her classes to groups of women she identified as the ones to pass knowledge to the next generation.
Her world was a place of travel where only that which was necessary for the journey to the hereafter should be taken. She was a woman of piety and had a deep love for worshipping Allah, spending her nights in prayer and her days fasting.
For these, she was bestowed with several titles such as Al-Aqilah, the noblewoman, Al-Aalimah, the knowledgeable woman, Al Fasihah, the skillfully fluent, Al Kamilah, the perfect and Aminatu al-Allah, the faithful of God.
Her Courage
Although she had been famous for being an incredible teacher and advocate for women, her most famous act occurred on the day of Ashura where she not only watched her own brother Hussain (RA) brutally murdered, but watched her two sons Aun and Muhammad die.
Her brother Husain (RA)’s body was trampled upon by his enemies’ horses, his head was severed, and even the tattered cloth with which he had hoped to preserve his modesty was snatched off him.
Yazid’s army barged into the camps, plundered what they could and set the tents on fire. They beat the women with their swords, snatched away their veils and took them as prisoners.
Upon the martyrdom of her brother alongside her two sons, she raised her hands up to her Lord and said: “O my Lord! Accept our humble sacrifice to You.”
When she, alongside other prisoners were brought before the governor of Kufah, Ubayd Allah ibn Ziyad, He was irritated by her dignified demeanour even in the face of defeat. He snapped at her saying, “Who is this woman?”
Her slave girl responded, “This is Zainab, daughter of Fatimah, daughter of the Messenger of Allah.”
With a mocking sneer, Ibn Ziyâd said, “Praise be to Allah who humiliated and killed you all.”
Eyes wide with anger, Zainab responded, “Rather, praise be to Allah Who honoured us with His prophet and thoroughly purified us from filth! It is only the morally-corrupt who are humiliated by Allah and the depraved who are disproven, and those are not us, O Ibn Ziyâd!”
Equally angered, Ibn Ziyâd asked her, “How do you find what Allah has done with your family?”
“Staunch and devoted as ever,” she responded: “They were granted death and as a result, they have gone to their resting places. Allah will bring about a gathering between them and you, and you will disagree with each other before Him on the day of reckoning.”
Her Defiance Against Oppression
Zainab functioned as a model of defiance against oppression and other forms of injustice. When her nephew, Ali ibn Husayn Zayn al-Abidin, was sentenced to death by Ibn Ziyad, she threw herself over him in a protective embrace yelling “By God, I will not let go of him. If you are going to kill him, you will have to kill me along with him.”
Moved by Zainab’s action, the captors spared Zayn al-Abidin’s life, only because he was the only surviving son of Husayn at the Battle of Karbala.
As a prisoner, her bravery and advocacy for freedom continued . She led the women and children and condemned oppression through a speech in the palace of her capturer.
When a Syrian in Yazid’s court demanded that he be given one of the prisoners, Fatimah, the daughter of Al - Husayn (RA) , a very beautiful young woman, Zainab countered by asserting that the Syrian man was not worthy and did not have that type of authority.
“This is neither your right nor his!” she declared to Yazîd.
Angered in turn, Yazîd snarled, “You have lied. This is certainly my right, and if I wanted to [give her to him], I would.”
“No, by Allah!” Zainab swore, “Allah has not granted you permission to do this unless she renounces our faith and takes another religion.”
“How dare you direct such speech toward me!” Yazîd exploded. “Your father and your brother are the only ones who have left our religion!”
“It is through the religion of my father, brother, and grandfather that you, your father, and your grandfather were guided,” Zaynib parried. She paused, and then issued a scathing retort, “You, a commander who has authority, are vilifying unjustly and oppressing with your authority.”
After finally returning home to Medina, she became known as “As-Sabira” - the patient one. Rather than sitting idly, painfully watching her loved ones die and thrown into prison, she instead set out to travel the world, championing the cause of Islam and fighting for freedom. She is even said to have caused a reawakening in the Muslim Ummah.
Zainab bint Ali is a woman in whose veins ran the blood of the Messenger of Allah (PBUH); a metaphor for the defiance of the oppressed against the oppressor, the victory of truth against falsehood.
It is through her extraordinary handling of all these trials that she endured that we have caught glimpses of the untold depths of her courage, forbearance, patience and submission to the decree of Allah (SWT).
Her Death
Zainab bint Ali (RA) died in the year 62 AH. According to some sources, she died of illness during a journey with her family from Medina to Damascus in Syria, at a location known as “Zaynabia”. Others suggest she was assassinated by Yazid’s soldiers while being extradited from Cairo in Egypt
From her story, life, and legacy, we can take inspiration for when we begin to feel helpless in the eyes of oppression.
She shows us that there is always a way to change the world around us and to always remain brave and steadfast in our views regardless of the backlash we may receive. We can educate those around us, we can stand up and fight, and most importantly, we can use our words to give mighty blows to the enemy.