The lady who completed the epic of Ashura
There was a lady who saw how her sons and her brother and all of her family members were violently martyrd on Ashura.
Ashura
She saw how Yazid’s army cut the heads of her family and put them on the arrows and how they ride on their bodies.
She was the only one who had to care of the women and children being held captive in Karbala and she was the one who had to continued the story of Karbala.
Ashura
This great Lady was Zeinab who is the prophet Muhammad’s granddaughter and Imam hussain’s beloved sister.
Our supreme leader, Imam Khamenei, in one of his speeches in year 2013 said about this great Lady:
“The epic created by Zeinab al-Kubra (PBUH)[1] complements the epic of Ashura. The epic that Zeinab al-Kubra (s.a.) created revived and preserved the epic of Ashura. The greatness of what Zeinab al-Kubra (PBUH) did, cannot be compared to other great events in history. It should only be compared to the event of Ashura itself and truly, these two events complete one another.
The Supreme Leader, Imam Khamenei
This great personality and this great lady of Islam and all of humanity managed to stand firm in the face of the great mountain of hardships and there was not even a tremble in her voice because of all these events. She stood firm like a glorious mountain peak both in the face of enemies and in the face of hardships and bitter events. She became a lesson, a role model, a leader and a pioneer.
The Great Lady
At the market of Kufa [A city in Iraq], while she was held captive, she made this astonishing speech: “Oh people of Kufa, who are treacherous and disloyal, do you cry for us? May your tears not dry and may your moans not stop. You are like a woman who loosens her threads after she pulls them together” [al-Ihtijaj, Volume 2, page 303]. The words are as firm as steel and the meaning flows like a river and it influences hearts and souls. In such conditions, Zeinab al-Kubra delivered a speech, which was like the Commander of the Faithful (a.s.), and she shook hearts and souls and she shook history with these words. This speech became eternal in history. It was delivered in front of the people while she was held captive.
Typography Labbayk Ya Zeinab
After that, she delivered a speech in front of Ibn Ziad [The ruler of Kufa] in Kufa and a few weeks later, she spoke in front of Yazid with such strength that it both humiliated the enemy and the hardships which the enemy had imposed. She said, “Do you foolishly think that you can defeat, suppress and humiliate the household of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) ?” “Honor belongs to Allah and His Messenger, and to the believers” [The Holy Quran, 63: 8]. Zeinab al-Kubra is the manifestation of dignity, as Hussain ibn Ali (PBUH) was the manifestation of dignity in Karbala on the day of Ashura.
The way she looks at events is different from the way other people look at those events. Despite all those hardships, when the enemy wants to taunt her, she says, “I did not see anything except for beauty” [Lohuf, page 160]. She said, “What I saw was beautiful. It was martyrdom. Although it was difficult, it was in the way of God and it was done for preserving Islam. It was the creation of an epic in history so that Islamic Ummah knows what it should do and how it should move forward and stand firm“. This is a great achievement made by the epic of Zeinab (PBUH). This is the dignity of God’s saint. Zeinab al-Kubra (PBUH) is one of God’s saints. Her dignity is the dignity of Islam and she made Islam and the Holy Quran valuable.
Of course, we are not as aspirational and determined as Zeinab al-Kubra (PBUH) and therefore we cannot say that the behavior of this great lady is our model. We are too inferior to say such things, but anyway, our movement should be in line with the movement of Zeinab (PBUH). Our efforts should be focused on bringing dignity for Islam, the Islamic community and the entire humanity. This is the same responsibility that Allah the Exalted has entrusted to prophets through Islamic obligations and rules.
…one of the factors which brought about this spirit and this patience in Zeinab al-Kubra (PBUH) and other divine saints – who moved forward with such spirit and patience – is sincerity and honesty. It is very important to honor our promises to Allah the Exalted and to devote our hearts to the path of God in a sincere way….” [2]
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[1] Al-Kubra means the great which is a title of Lady Zeinab.
[2] Read the complete speech at here
Ashura 