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Introduction

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ

In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.

Of actions O Shaper! of needs O Fulfliller!

Started I have; Thou art Accomplisher!

وَلَا تَحْسَبَنَّ الَّذِينَ قُتِلُوا فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ أَمْوَاتًا بَلْ أَحْيَاءٌ عِنْدَ رَبِّهِمْ يُرْزَقُونَ

Do not think of those who are killed in the way or Allah as dead. They are alive and receive sustenance from their Lord! (3:169).

وَلَا تَقُولُوا لِمَنْ يُقْتَلُ فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ أَمْوَاتٌ بَلْ أَحْيَاءٌ وَلَٰكِنْ لَا تَشْعُرُونَ

“Do not call those who are slain in the way of Allah as dead (they are not dead). They are alive but you have no conception of their life”. (2:154).

وَلَنَبْلُوَنَّكُمْ بِشَيْءٍ مِنَ الْخَوْفِ وَالْجُوعِ وَنَقْصٍ مِنَ الْأَمْوَالِ وَالْأَنْفُسِ وَالثَّمَرَاتِ

“And surely and certainly we will test you with Fear and hunger and loss of wealth, life and loss of crop”. (2:155).

وَبَشِّرِ الصَّابِرِينَ- الَّذِينَ إِذَا أَصَابَتْهُمْ مُصِيبَةٌ قَالُوا إِنَّا لِلَّهِ وَإِنَّا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعُونَ

“Give the glad tidings to those who steadfast that when faced with misfortune they say. Verily we are of Allah and verily we have to return to Him”. (2:156).

وَمِنَ النَّاسِ مَنْ يَشْرِي نَفْسَهُ ابْتِغَاءَ مَرْضَاتِ اللَّهِ وَاللَّهُ رَءُوفٌ بِالْعِبَادِ

“Among the mankind is he who sells his life for the pleasure of Allah and verily Allah is compassionate to His bondmen”. (2:207).

إِنَّ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَالَّذِينَ هَاجَرُوا وَجَاهَدُوا فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ أُولَٰئِكَ يَرْجُونَ رَحْمَتَ اللَّهِ وَاللَّهُ غَفُورٌ رَحِيمٌ

“Those who believed and those who migrated and strove in the way of Allah are they who hope for mercy of Allah, and Allah is forgiving, merciful”. (2:218).

وَلَا يَحْسَبَنَّ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا أَنَّمَا نُمْلِي لَهُمْ خَيْرٌ لِأَنْفُسِهِمْ إِنَّمَا نُمْلِي لَهُمْ لِيَزْدَادُوا إِثْمًا وَلَهُمْ عَذَابٌ مُهِينٌ

“Do not let those who disbelieve imagine that Our giving them respite is good for them. We only give respite to them so that they may add up their sins and there is shameful doom for them”. (3:178).

ثُمَّ كَانَ عَاقِبَةَ الَّذِينَ أَسَاءُوا السُّوأَىٰ أَنْ كَذَّبُوا بِآيَاتِ اللَّهِ وَكَانُوا بِهَا يَسْتَهْزِئُونَ

“Then evil was the end of those who committed evil by rejecting God's manifest signs and mocking them”. (30:10).

وَالَّذِينَ كَذَّبُوا بِآيَاتِنَا سَنَسْتَدْرِجُهُمْ مِنْ حَيْثُ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ-

“We shall gradually draw those who reject our signs to ruin them unalarmed”. (7:182).

وَأُمْلِي لَهُمْ إِنَّ كَيْدِي مَتِينٌ

“And We grant them a respite. Verily Our scheme is unfailingly strong”. (7:183).

فَمَنْ حَاجَّكَ فِيهِ مِنْ بَعْدِ مَا جَاءَكَ مِنَ الْعِلْمِ فَقُلْ تَعَالَوْا نَدْعُ أَبْنَاءَنَا وَأَبْنَاءَكُمْ وَنِسَاءَنَا وَنِسَاءَكُمْ وَأَنْفُسَنَا وَأَنْفُسَكُمْ ثُمَّ نَبْتَهِلْ فَنَجْعَلْ لَعْنَتَ اللَّهِ عَلَى الْكَاذِبِينَ

“And to him, who disputes with you therein after knowledge has come to you, say (Oh Prophet) come! Let us summon our sons and your sons and our women and your women, and then let us invoke and lay the curse of God upon liars!” (3:61).

وَاعْلَمُوا أَنَّمَا غَنِمْتُمْ مِنْ شَيْءٍ فَأَنَّ لِلَّهِ خُمُسَهُ وَلِلرَّسُولِ وَلِذِي الْقُرْبَىٰ وَالْيَتَامَىٰ وَالْمَسَاكِينِ وَابْنِ السَّبِيلِ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ آمَنْتُمْ بِاللَّهِ وَمَا أَنْزَلْنَا عَلَىٰ عَبْدِنَا يَوْمَ الْفُرْقَانِ يَوْمَ الْتَقَى الْجَمْعَانِ وَاللَّهُ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرٌ

“And know (O believers) that whatever you acquire as a booty, fifth of it is for God, the Prophet, the (Prophet's) next of kin, the orphans, the needy and the wayfarers, if you believe in God and in what We revealed to Our Bondmen (Muhammad) on the Day of Distinction, when the two parties met; Allah Has power over all things” (8:41).

وَيُطْعِمُونَ الطَّعَامَ عَلَىٰ حُبِّهِ مِسْكِينًا وَيَتِيمًا وَأَسِيرًا-

“And they give away food out of love for Him to the needy, wretch man, the orphan” (76:8).

إِنَّمَا نُطْعِمُكُمْ لِوَجْهِ اللَّهِ لَا نُرِيدُ مِنْكُمْ جَزَاءً وَلَا شُكُورًا

“And the prisoner of war only for the sake of Allah, we seek no recompense nor thanks from you” (76:9).

قُلْ لَا أَسْأَلُكُمْ عَلَيْهِ أَجْرًا إِلَّا الْمَوَدَّةَ فِي الْقُرْبَىٰ

“Say (Oh Prophet)! I do not ask you for any reward for it save the love of my kins” (42:23).

إِنَّمَا يُرِيدُ اللَّهُ لِيُذْهِبَ عَنْكُمُ الرِّجْسَ أَهْلَ الْبَيْتِ وَيُطَهِّرَكُمْ تَطْهِيرًا

“Allah wants to keep all sins away from you O Ahl al-Bayt! and Allah may keep you as pure as you merit to be pure” (33:33).

إِنَّا أَعْطَيْنَاكَ الْكَوْثَرَ

“God revealed Oh Prophet (S)! We blessed you with Kauthar” (108:1).

فَصَلِّ لِرَبِّكَ وَانْحَرْ

“So, offer prayer and sacrifice” (108:2).

إِنَّ شَانِئَكَ هُوَ الْأَبْتَرُ

“Verily, your enemy will have no posterity” (108:3).

The reason for quoting the above Ayats to show that those who love Islam, for them material losses have no meaning, nor do physical hardships perturb them. They willingly suffer losses and gain the pleasure of Allah.

The family of the Prophet can sacrifice their houses, accept martyrdom but cannot accept oppression. They are forbearing and dependent on Allah in their piety. The best example is that of the prisoners of Karbala.

The concept of Eternal Life in Sham is not in vain

Precious lives of Aal al-lmran have been sacrificed & slain.

The aim here is not to write the history of Karbala. The entire event of incidents and Divine decisions have already been covered in detail in my coming book “Nawasa-e-Nabi Husayn Ibn Ali (‘a)”. Here we discuss the single and unique character of Bibi Zaynab granddaughter of the Prophet of Islam, the daughter of Hazrat Ali (‘a) and Hazrat Bibi Fatimah (‘a).

It necessitates, therefore, to write the events of the night of the 10th Muharram because from there starts the saga of her sacrifices.

The above quoted Ayats are about faith and sacrifices the, examples of which were set by the Ahl al-Bayt ar-Rasul in Karbala. People sacrifice their wealth to save their life while in· Karbala they sacrificed their lives and wealth to save Islam.

After the tragedy of Karbala Bibi Zaynab set such all example of leadership from Karbala to Kufa, Kufa to Damascus and Damascus to Madina that she was called apostle of the revolution of Imam Husayn (‘a).

The Ahl al-Bayt for three days and nights were without food and water and offered most sincere sacrifice. This in short is the History of Karbala.

Those who sacrifices their lives for Allah never die but always remain Alive in all ages receive sustenance from God in his whole domain.

Everything is finite in this world except the life of a martyr that has an extended life granted by Allah. The martyrs of Karbala are remembered every year and Allah willing will be remembered every year and Allah willing will be remembered till eternity.

This is the sign of a living nation. Those nations who do not remember their eiders and leaders, history always forgets them.

What is history? It is source of learning from past

People come and go but Allah's words always last.

وَلَقَدْ أَنْزَلْنَا إِلَيْكُمْ آيَاتٍ مُبَيِّنَاتٍ وَمَثَلًا مِنَ الَّذِينَ خَلَوْا مِنْ قَبْلِكُمْ وَمَوْعِظَةً لِلْمُتَّقِينَ

“And no doubt We have sent to you very clear signs and examples of such people”. (24:34).

O Allah! I wish to write more and more kindly be my Guide

Give more equipment to me that my pens on papers slide

With this, I start my discourse on Bibi Zaynab. I have written the simplified version of thoughts of the historians and scholars of the past on this subject so that people may read them and understand them easily.

I hope my sisters and daughters in Islam make use of it. If some of them try to cast themselves in the mould of Bibi Zaynab I will feel that I have succeeded in my endeavor. This book in fact has been written on the desire of our female folk. May Almighty Lord give us the enlightenment to follow the right path. Aameen.

Syed Ali Akbar Rizvi

Karachi.

25 March 2007