Lady Zainab (S.A) & Yazeed Maloon

Top of Form

Question: How did Zaynab disgrace YazÐd when she was taken to Syria as a captive?

Answer: YazÐd ordered that the captives, along with the heads of the martyrs, be sent to Syria. Ibn ZÐyÁd’s agents, who were evil tempered and severe, began to head in that direction. YazÐd’s court waited anxiously for the caravan to arrive, for they considered it a sign of great victory and triumph. According to historians, the caravan of captives entered the city, while thousands of spectators had assembled. The city of Damascus overflowed with joy and high spirits on that day, as they were celebrating the victory of YazÐd. The caravan advanced street by street and was escorted in to YazÐd’s opulent palace. All of the court officials were sitting in their special places and YazÐd had placed himself on the top of his throne, and was sitting with complete arrogance and conceit; all of them were waiting in anticipation of the captives. There was one major difference between YazÐd’s gathering and that of ÝUbaydullahs; YazÐd had only allowed the notables of the city, the tribal chiefs, as well as foreign representatives to be present, while in ÝUbaydullah’s gathering, this had not been the case and everyone and anyone had been allowed entrance. In this form, YazÐd’s gathering was far more sensitive in its potential for consequences, due to the important individuals who were present. The captives entered the palace and sat down in an area which had been prepared for them. When YazÐd’s eye fell on the captives, and saw them standing before him, he ordered the head of Imam Íusayn (Ýa) to be brought in a basin. When this had taken place, he began to hit Imam Íusayn’s (Ýa) teeth with a stick that was in his hand, and he began to recite verses of a poem, which ÝAbdullah ibn ZabÝarÐ SahmÐ had composed during the days when he was a nonbeliever; this poem spoke of the animosity of the ‘Days of Ignorance’. YazÐd began to recite this poem and said: ‘How I wish my elders, who were present in (the battle of) Badr and felt the bite of the arrows of Khazraj, were here today and would feel joyous, saying: Oh YazÐd, well done! You have gotten our revenge for the day of Badr from the family of ÝAlÐ…’ The Defiance of the Lady Zaynab (Ýa) If the gathering of YazÐd had been concluded at this point, then YazÐd would have been the victor, and his actions would not have been considered as being too disgraceful and evil by the assembly. Zaynab (Ýa) did not allow the meeting to end on such a note. She turned what YazÐd had initially considered as a victory in to a bitter disgrace and defeat. She showed the people who were assembled that the very same people who were there in front of YazÐd were the daughters of the Prophet of Islam (Ò); the very same Prophet (Ò) whom YazÐd claimed to rule on behalf of over the Muslims. Zaynab (Ýa) began to speak with courage and power, and she said the following words to YazÐd: ‘God and his Messenger (Ò) have spoken the truth when they said: The end of those who do evil is that they hold the signs of God to be as lies and they mock and ridicule them. YazÐd! Do you think because you have constricted the earth and skies around us and you have ordered that we be made prisoners and taken from one city to another, that we have become abject and you have become great? Judging from your arrogance and conceit, do you think you have become higher in stature due to what you have done? When you see your power and kingship before you, you become so happy that your body can barely contain you, but don’t you know that this opportunity which is given to you is so that your nature is made manifest to all? Have you really forgotten the words of God when he says: ‘The disbelievers think that the time they are given (on earth) is of benefit to them; We give them opportunity so that their load of sins increase; Then they will reach a torment that is a cause for abjectness and disgrace.’ Oh son of the freed ones![1] Is this justice that your wives, daughters, and servants are sitting in the seats of honor, while you have enslaved the daughters of the Prophet (Ò), disrespected them, stifled their cries, and allowed strangers (unrelated men) to take them from one city to another on the backs of camels? All this, while no one has given them sanctuary, nor cared to see what state they are in, nor with any of their guardians from their men present to accompany them? People gather from all around to look and stare at them. Yet what can be expected from one whose heart is filed with animosity against us? You are saying that you wish that your forefathers, who were killed in the ‘Battle of Badr’, were here right now, and then you proceed to hit the teeth of the son of the Prophet (Ò) with a stick? Does it not occur to you that you have incurred a great sin and acted with disgrace? Why should you not? You, by shedding the blood of the children of the Prophet (Ò) and the family of ÝAbd al-MuÔÔalib, who were shining stars from amongst the people of the earth, have renewed the enmity of the two families. Do not be joyous, for you will soon be positioned in front of God’s presence, and this is when you will wish that you were both blind and dumb and you had not seen this day, and that you had not said: If my forefathers were present in this gathering, they would not be able to contain their joy! Oh Lord, you yourself give us our rights and take our revenge from the one who has oppressed us! By God, you hurt and damaged yourself (with these actions). On the day when the Messenger (Ýa) and his family sit in the shade of the mercy of God, you will stand by him in great wretchedness and abjectness. That day is a day, in which God will fulfil his promise, and these oppressed individuals, who are lying in their blood, will be gathered all together. God says: ‘Do not suppose that those who are killed in the way of God are dead; No they are alive and receiving sustenance from their Lord…’ YazÐd, oh enemy of God and son of the enemy of God! I swear by God, that in my view, you are not worthy of rebuke, and you are lesser than to ridicule. Yet, what can I do, for my eyes are filled with tears, and my chest is full of pain. After Íusayn (Ýa) was killed, the ‘Party of Satan’ took us from KÙfah to the ‘Royal Court of the Foolish’, in order that, through breaking the reverence of the family of MuÎammad (Ò), they may reap their reward from the treasury of the Muslims. After the hands of these executioners has been colored with our blood, and their mouths are filled with pieces of our meat, and after the wild wolves have run around those pure bodies, what pain will your reprimand and criticism cure? If you think that by killing and taking us as prisoners, you have gained and benefited, then you shall soon see that what you thought to be to your gain was really to your loss. On that day (the Day of Judgment), you will only see the results of what you have done. On that day, you will ask help from the son of ZÐyÁd and he will ask for help from you! You and your followers will be gathered next to the measure of divine justice; on that day, you will know that the best provisions which MÙÝÁwÐya prepared for you was that you killed the children of the Prophet (Ýa). I swear by God that I only fear him and I will only complain to him. Do whatever you wish! Enact whichever trick you are capable of! Bring forth every enemy that you can muster! By God, this disgrace that you have brought upon yourself can never be erased. I thank God that he made the life of the ‘Masters of the Youth of Paradise’ to end well and that he made paradise obligatory upon them. I ask God that he bestows upon them a high rank and that he spreads his mercy even more upon them, for he is a guardian and helper most able and most powerful.’[2] It is clear what reaction this heart breaking and emotional speech elicited from the people who were present in the gathering and her speech affected even the most hard hearted. A deathly silence pervaded the palace, and YazÐd saw the signs of discontent and displeasure on the faces of the people. In order to placate them, he said: ‘May God destroy the son of MarjÁnah, I did not want Íusayn to be killed…’[3] [4]

[1] When the Prophet (s) took over the city of Mecca, the tribal heads and the notables of the city, with AbÙ SufyÁn (YazÐd’s grandfather) at their head, were fearful that they would be punished for their past deeds. The Prophet (s) told them: Go, for you are free. Zaynab (a), in her famous speech, pointed out this momentous event for the grandfather of YazÐd.[2] Ibn AbÐ ÓayfÙr, Ibid, p.  12-23.[3] Doctor ShahÐdÐ, Sayyid JaÝfar, The Rise of Íusayn (a), Tehran, The Office for the Propagation of Islamic Culture, 1359 HijrÐ QamarÐ, p.  187-189, with slight differences in order and words.[4] Taken from the text: SÐrah PÐshvÁyÁn, MahdÐ PÐshvÁÐ, MuÞasasah Imam ÑÁdiq (Ýa), Qum, 1390 ShamsÐ QamarÐ, 23rd Edition, p. 201.