Zainab: Lady of knowledge and virtue

Peace be upon you. Oh daughter of the Commander of the faithful (Pbuh)! Peace be upon you, Oh daughter of Fatimah, Two Worlds' Radiant Lady (SA). Peace be upon you. Oh righteous one, pleasing to Allah.

We speak of Hazrat zeinab (AS). She well conveyed the message of Karbala's uprising and tragedy to the world and today it is a great honor for Muslims to follow this great lady as an example in their lives.

Truly when an individual spends his or her life in support of truth and establishment of divine values, his or her name will remain eternal in history and his or her lifestyle will inspire the future generations. That is why the name of zeinab and her lifestyle has influenced many people even non Muslims.

Ms. Carin from Germany, after embracing Islam, chose Zainab as her first name. Regarding her incentive in choosing this name, she says: "I was always interested in the life story of the holy Prophet of Islam (peace be upon him and his household) and his household. I was specially affected by the story of uprising of Imam Hussein (PBUH) in Karbala, and the per- sonality of Hazrat Zainab in the events of Karbala.

The self-sacrifices of that great lady, while bearing the heavy grief of martyrdom of her brother and other companions are praiseworthy. Hazrat Zainab was a lady of knowledge, virtue, bravery and patience.

These characteristics helped her carry out her mission in Karbala uprising in the company of Imam Hussein (PBUH). Hazrat Zainab's lifestyle contains instructive points for me and whenever I come across a problem, I immediately remember her. For, her name brings me tranquility. That's why I adopted the name of Zainab after embracing Islam.

Hazrat Zainab (PBUH) was brought up under instructions of a father like Imam Ali (PBUH) and a mother like Fatimah (SA) and she benefited greatly from these two personalities.

Historians say Hazrat Zainab inherited bravery, honesty, and fluency in speech from her father Imam Ali (PBUH) and kindness and loyalty from her mother Hazrat Fatimah (SA).

During her childhood, Hazrat Zainab was so keen in acquiring knowledge that one day she assisted her brothers Imam Hassan and Imam Hussein (Peace be upon them) in answering a jurisprudential problem.

She made great efforts in giving religious training to the women of her time and thus many women at that time benefited from Hazrat Zainab's knowledge and teachings.

Hazrat Zainab spent her fruitful life in promoting monotheism and assuming divine responsibilities and her heroic participation in the greatest epic of history, namely the uprising of Imam Hussein (PBUH) in Karbala brought her a lasting name.

You won't find a single person who is familiar with Karbala tragedy and has not heard of Hazrat Zainab. Zainab (SA) conveyed the message of Imam Hussein's uprising to territories beyond Karbala desert. In that tragedy she was both a patient teacher and a nurse.

She encouraged the warriors and sympathized with the injured. She was so bound to the fulfillment of her religious obligations that even at those critical conditions; she did not forget to say her prayers at night.

Imam Sajjad (PBUH) says: "I saw my aunt t Hazrat zeinab (Peace be upon her) saying her prayers while sitting."

A major part of Hazrat zeinab's mission started when Karbala tragedy apparently ended with the martyrdom of Imam Hussein (PBUH). This chapter of Hazrat Zainab's life began with conveying the message of Ashura in which she heroically defended the household's rights and did not permit the enemies to take advantage of Karbala tragedy.

In this tragedy, the Omayyeh ruler Yazid and his followers thought that they had succeeded in creating a negative image of the holy Prophet's household, but when the caravan of the household members now in captivity arrived in Kufa, Hazrat Zainab behaved in such a way that she managed to turn the so-called victory of the Omayyeh into a defeat. In her famous address, she changed the mentality of the people of Kufa and Damascus.

She symbolized a shining sun who reflected light into everything. Although Hazrat zeinab did not live long after Karbala tragedy, she sowed the seeds of awareness in the entire Islamic society.

This great lady passed away in 62 AH after she made lots of efforts in the path of truth.

Once again we offer our condolences and bring you an excerpt from her historic statement addressed to Yazid. She says:

"O Yazid, practice any trick you can and do anything that you think would vanish Islam, but you should know that you can not eradicate our message, path and memory. You should know that our memory will never die."