Editorial status: draft awaiting review by qualified scholars. Report corrections through the contact page.
Sayyida Zaynab سلام اللہ علیہا, the daughter of Imam Ali عليه السلام and Sayyida Fatima سلام اللہ علیہا, stood beside her brother Imam al-Husayn عليه السلام at Karbala and, as a captive, carried his message through Kufa and Damascus. Her sermons before the people of Kufa and in the court of Yazid are among the best-known words of the family of the Prophet ﷺ after Karbala.
In the house of Ali and Fatima
Zaynab grew up in Medina in the household of Ali عليه السلام and Fatima سلام اللہ علیہا, and was a child when her grandfather the Prophet ﷺ and then her mother passed away. She married her cousin Abd Allah ibn Ja‘far ibn Abi Talib; two of their sons, Awn and Muhammad, were later martyred at Karbala.
Karbala
Zaynab accompanied Imam al-Husayn عليه السلام from Medina to Karbala. Al-Mufid records how, on the night before Ashura, her brother consoled her and asked her to bear what was coming with patience. After the battle she cared for the women and children and protected her nephew, Imam Ali ibn al-Husayn عليه السلام, who was ill.
Kufa and Damascus
When the captives were brought into Kufa she addressed the crowd, a sermon preserved by al-Tabrisi. Before Ubayd Allah ibn Ziyad, who mocked what God had done to her family, Ibn Tawus records her reply that she had seen nothing but beauty. In the court of Yazid in Damascus she answered his verses with a sermon recorded by Ibn Abi Tahir Tayfur in Balaghat al-Nisa’ and by al-Tabrisi. She returned to Medina with the survivors and died in 62 AH.
Differing reports
- Year and day of zahoor: 5 or 6 AH; 5 Jumada al-Ula is the commonly observed date.
- Day of death: 15 Rajab is most often given; 14 Rajab is also reported.
- Burial place: the shrine at al-Zaynabiyya near Damascus is the best known; other traditions place her grave in Cairo or in Medina.
Sources
- Kitab al-Irshad fi Ma‘rifat Hujaj Allah ‘ala al-‘Ibad — al-Mufid, Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn al-Nu‘man (d. 413 AH / 1022 CE). chapter on Imam al-Husayn
- al-Luhuf ‘ala Qatla al-Tufuf — Ibn Tawus (d. 664 AH / 1266 CE)
- al-Ihtijaj ‘ala Ahl al-Lijaj — al-Tabrisi, Ahmad ibn Ali (6th c. AH / 12th c. CE)
- Balaghat al-Nisa’ — Ibn Abi Tahir Tayfur, Ahmad (d. 280 AH / 893 CE)
- Tarikh al-Rusul wa al-Muluk — al-Tabari, Muhammad ibn Jarir (d. 310 AH / 923 CE). year 61 AH