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His
Birth and blessings
The
4th Imam after Imam Hussain(a.s.) was his son Imam Ali
Zain-al-Abideen(a.s.). His mother was Bibi Shahar Bano
who was a princess from Persia, the daughter of the Kind
Yazd Gard II. She was brought as a prisoner of war
during the caliphate period of mam Ali(a.s.) during 31
A.H. and Imam Ali(a.s.) got her freed and married her to
Imam Hussain(a.s.). Imam Zain-al-Abideen was born from
this wedlock. She, however, died within 10 days of the
birth of Imam Sajjad(a.s.).
His
title Zain-al-Abideen was granted to him by the Holy
Prophet(pbuh&hf) himself who mentioned that on the day
of judgement a call for Zain-al-Abideen will be made and
my son Ali bin al-Hussain(a.s.) will responde to the
call saying "Labbaik". His other Title,
Syed-us-Sajideen, was given because of his devotion to
prayers. He would pray for long durations specially
during the nights and would pray a lot of prayers of
gratitude - Namaz-e-Shukrana.
Imam
Sajjad(a.s.) spent the first 2 years of his life under
the care of his grandfater Imam Ali(a.s.) and after his
death in 50 A.H., he was brought up under the care of
the 2nd Imam Hasan(a.s.). Imam Sajjad(a.s.) was married
to the Bibi Fatima(a.s.) - daughter of Imam Hasan(a.s.).
Imam Hasan(a.s.) was martyred in 50 A.H. and the Imamate
of Imam Hussain(a.s.) started which terminated on 10th
Moharram 61 A.H. from where the Imamate of Imam
Sajjad(a.s.) began.
Period
of Imamate and events of Karbala
Imam
Sajjad(a.s.) was about 22 or 23 years old when the sad
event of Karbala occured. Since Allah(swt) mentions in
his holy Book that this world cannot survive for a
moment if there is no Masoom "Imam" present at all
times, Allah(swt) arranged it such that Imam
Sajjad(a.s.) became severly ill during that battle and
could not participate as a warrior. He asked the
permission to fight in the battle but Imam Hussain(a.s.)
told him that he had been assigned a different type of
"Jihad" that was to start after the martyrdom of Imam
Hussain(a.s.) - namely leading the women and children of
the household of Prophet Mohammad(pbuh&hf) into the
bazars and courts of Kufa and Damascus. Imam
Sajjad(a.s.) was made a prisoner of war together with
the whole family of the Prophet Mohammad(pbuh&hf). It
was at this time that he was given the responsibility of
Imamate and his was one of the most difficult times when
any Imam was given this responsibility. Truly speaking,
for him, it would have been very easy to die on the
battle field as a martyr than to be taken as prisoner of
war and see all the insult and humiliations thrown on
him and on the womenfolk of the house of the Prophet.
However, he did what Allah wished him to do
After
the martyrdom of Imam Hussain(a.s.), the survival of
Islam depended on Imam Zainul Abideen(a.s.), and that
also at a tender age of 22. He had a very hard job of
letting the world know the mission of Imam Hussain(a.s.)
and exposing the evil intentions of Yazid and the Bani
Umayyah. He had to keep the message of Islam alive and
save it from being confused by the evil Bani Umayyah.
The
army of Yazid treated him very badly by putting him in
heavy chains. As a prisoner of war, he was made to
travel on the open back of a camel in burning sunshine
from Kerbala to Kufa and then from Kufa to Shaam
(Damascus) - a distance of about 750 kilometres.
Sometimes, he would be made to walk on the burning sands
of the desert. This was not all. Women and children of
the family of the Prophet Muhammad(pbuh&hf), too, were
hand-cuffed and treated like they were slaves. The
daughters of Imam Ali(a.s.) and Bibi Fatima(s.a.) were
treated worse than criminals, their Hijabs were taken
away from them. A caller accompanied them introducing
them to the passersbys as "Those who had disobeyed the
Muslim ruler, Yazid". They were then presented as
prisoners, first to Ibn-e-Ziyad in Kufa and then to
Yazid in Damascus.
In the
courts of Ibn-e-Ziyad and Yazid, Imam Sajjad(a.s.) gave
lion-hearted lectures and presented the true Islam to
the listeners and introduced himself and his
accompanying members as the descendents of the Prophet
Mohammad(pbuh&hf) and the leaders appointed by
Allah(swt). His lectures had such an impact on the
listeners that despite several attempts to kill him
inside the court of both Yazid and Ibn-e-Ziyad could not
materialize. Bibi Zainab(s.a.) and other women of the
household of Prophet Mohammad(pbuh&hf) became the
frontline protectors and were backed by the people in
the court of Yazid who had still left some shame in
them.
To
quote one incidence, Yazid asked one of his employed
preachersto go on the 'Mimber' (pulpit) of the Mosque
and abused Imam Ali(a.s.) and his family. When the
preacher finished his lecture, Imam Sajjad(a.s.) turned
to him and said, "Be ashamed of yourself, you evil
speaker. With your words you have displeased Allah so as
to please people". Then the Imam(a.s.) asked Yazid to
let him talk to the people. Yazid refused to do so. The
people of Syria, however, forced Yazid to allow the Imam
to go on the Mimber.
Once
on the Mimber, Imam Zain al-Abideen(a.s.) first praised
Allah(swt) and His Messenger(pbuh&hf). After that the
Imam gave along and very powerful speech letting the
Syrians know the great position of Imam Husain(a.s.) to
Allah(swt), and how evil Yazid and his family were. Part
of the speech is summarised below:
"O
listeners Allah has given us (Ahle Bart) six things
which no one else has. He has given us special Wisdom,
Patience, Dignity, Power of speech, Courage and Respect.
He gave us special benefit of belonging to the family of
his Prophet. To us belong Hamza and Jafar. To us belong
Asadullah (The lion of Allah, Imam Ali(a.s.)). To us
belong the leader of the youths of paradise (Imam
Hassan(a.s.) and Imam Hussain(a.s.)).
"Those
who know me, know me. Those who do not, then know that I
am the son of Mecca and Mina. I am the son of Zamzam and
Safa. I am the son of he who gave Zakat to the poor. I
am the son of the best of those who have ever put on
Ihram and performed ceremonies of Hajj. I am the son of
he who was taken on the night journey from house of
Allah to the Mosque of Aqsa and then to Miraj. I am the
son of he who was taken around by Gibrael to the
Lote-tree of the boundary (Sidratul Muntaha).
"I am
the son of Muhammad Mustafa(pbuh&hf). I am the son of
Ali Al-Murtaza(a.s.) who fought the polytheists in the
battle till they submitted to Islam and fought in the
presence of the Prophet until his sword was broken and
to whom Zulfikar was given. I am the son of he who had
the honour to migrate twice in Islam. I am the son of
Fatima the best women of the world...".
The
effect of the speech was so powerful that everybody in
the Mosque began to weep and to blame Yazid. Yazid was
afraid that if the Imam continued his speech, there
would be a revolution and revolt. At the same time Yazid
could not stop the Imam and get him down from the
Mimber. He therefore ordered a "Muazzin" to give Azan,
knowing that this would automatically cut the Imam's
speech. But he underestimated the Imam's bravery and
intelligence. The Imam stopped his speech but did not
get down from the Mimber. When the Muazzin said " Allahu
Akber" the Imam testified Allah's greatness. When the
Muazzin said, "Ash hadu anna Muhammaddan Rasulullah",
the Imam stopped the Muazzin from going any further. He
then turned to Yezid and asked him. "Tell me o Yazid,
was Muhammad(pbuh&hf) your grandfather or mine? If you
say he was your grandfather it will be an open lie and
if you say he was my grandfather then why have you
killed his son and imprisoned his family? Why have you
killed my father and brought his women and children to
this city as prisoners?"
Yazid
had no reply to give.
The
effect of this was to turn Syrians against Yazid.
Everyone of them now found out about Yazid's crimes that
he had committed against the Prophet (pbuh&hf) and his
family. They began to blame him and ask for the release
of Imam Zain al-Abidin(a.s.) and the womenfolk of the
house of the Prophet. Yazid was now afraid that if he
did not act fast his rulership would be lost. He
therefore freed Imam Zain al-Abidin(a.s.) and let. him
return to Medina with full honour and respect.
His
Life in Madina
Yazid
had to free the Imam(a.s.) out of fear of his own
rulership, therefore, Imam(a.s.) was still not
completely safe from his evil designs even upon reaching
back to Madina. Once in Madina, Imam(a.s.) gathered the
people and told them the horrifying stories of Karbala
and informed them that his father Imam Hussain(a.s.) and
his companions were martyred and his family members were
made prisoners and were taken from one city to another
and branded as traitors.
Imam
Sajjad(a.s.) started regular mourning session right from
the day he arrived in Madina and apprised the people of
the hard times that the family of the Prophet(pbuh&hf)
had to to through. Day in and day out, people used to go
to Imam(a.s.) and present condolence and hear the events
of Karbala. Once a visitor named Noman came to
Imam(a.s.) and asked him which was the most difficult
time he had to face and the Imam(a.s.) cried for a long
time and three times said "AS-SHAAM AS-SHAAM AS-SHAAM".
Another visitor asked him as to how long would he
continue mourning and crying and he replied that Prophet
Ayub(a.s.) had 12 sons and only one of them got lost and
he know that he was still alive but he continued crying
until his eyes became white and his back got bent - I
had seen 17 members of my family being slaughtered
around me like sheep and you ask me as to how long I
would continue mourning.
Another task that Imam Sajjad(a.s.) did after coming
back from Syria was that he started praying and saying
supplications with full devotion. His devotion was so
strong and felt by his companions and visitors that they
started collection his supplications which still exist
by the name of SAHIFA-E-KAMILA. It is also know as
SAHIFA-E-SAJJADIA. It consists of 54 Duas, 14 additional
duas and 15 Munajaat. In addition to the SAHIFA there
are several other supplications of the Imam(a.s.) which
appear under different cover names.
His
martyrdom
Imam(a.s.) kept his life very personal and preferred to
stay in a town close to Madina from where he would
preach the true religion of Allah(swt) quietly and with
character. His character and preaching inspired a large
number of people specially in the vicinity of Madina and
Makkah. Slowly the tyrrant rulers of his time began to
realize the dangers that they faced from the
Imam(a.s.)'s preaching and character. His period of
Imamte was full of tyrant rulers such as Yazid untill 64
A.H., Moawiya bin Yazid and Marwan bin-al-Hakam until 65
A.H, then from 68 A.H. until 86 A.H. was the rulership
of Abdul Malik bin Marwan and finally from 86 A.H. until
96 A.H. was the period of Walid bin Abdul Malik. Amid
this growing threat, Walid decided to poison and kill
the Imam and finally he succeeded in his ulterior
motives and Imam Sajjad(a.s.) was poisoned by the
governor of Madina and martyred on 25th Moharram 95 A.H.
(713 A.D.) |
