لطفا منتظر باشید ...
ZAINAB speaks in the court of
Yazid bin Mu'awiyah
After the massacre of Imam Husayn bin 'Ali (a.s.) and his companions at
Karbala, the forces of Yazid bin Mu'awiyah took the children and women of
Husayn's caravan as prisoners. They were taken from Karbala to Kufa and
from Kufa to Damascus, the capital and stronghold of Umayyid power.
In Damascus, the women and children were presented into the court
(darbar) of Yazid. Yazid had assembled all the dignitaries and officers of
his capital for that occasion. When the prisoners where brought in, they
saw that Imam Husayn's head was at the foot of Yazid's thorn. Yazid was
joyfully reciting some poems in which he openly rejected the Prophethood
of Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.) and called on his ancestors (who were killed
by the Muslim army in the battle of Badr) to witness the revenge which he
had extracted from the family of the Prophet.
It was under such an emotionally charged circumstances that Zaynab bin
Ali, the courageous daughter of a courageous father, stood up and gave a
very moving speech in response to Yazid's statements.
In the name of Allah the, the Beneficent, the Merciful.
All praise
is due to Allah, the Lord of the Universe,
Allah's blessings be on His
Messenger's Family altogether.
Allah says: "Then the end of those who do evil deeds is that they
reject the verses of Allah and ridicule them". (Quran 30:10)
Oh Yazid! Do you think that by making us prisoners in such a way that
we are being taken from one place to another in humiliation - do you think
that by this you have humuliated us in the sight of Allah and have earned
respect for youeself?!
This apparent success of yours is the result of grandeur of your might
and lofty status for which you are proud. You feel that you have
conquered the whole world and your affairs are organised and that our
domain is now under you control And are you forgetting that Allah has
said:
"Surely those who have bought unbelief at the price of faith
shall do no harm at all to Allah, and they shall have a painful
chastisement". (Quran 3:177)
Then Zaynab reminds Yazid that his
grandmother and other relatives came into the fold of Islam only
after the fall of Mecca at the hands of the Muslims. Since Mecca was
taken without any war or bloodshed, legally the entire inhabitant
could have been made the slaves of the Prophet. But the Prophet, out
of his mercy, declared to the people of Mecca that 'I release you
from the bonds of slavery, you are free.' In other words, Zaynab
wanted Yazid to remember that his ancestors were the 'freed slaves'
of her grandfather. Look at the courage of Zaynab! Standing as a
prisoner in the court of Yazid, she does not hesitate to remind him
of his reality.
Is it justice, O son of the freed slaves!, that you provide your ladies
and slave-girls with hijab, whereas the daughters of the Messenger of God
are held prisoners? You have insulted them by taking away the covers; you
have exposed their faces to the enemies -- from one city to another.
Everyone irrespective of his high or low status stares at their faces.
These ladies do not have their gents or protectors with them.
Then Zaynab reminds the audience of the
origins of Yazid: his grandmother, Hind (the wife of Abu Sufyan),
had ordered her slave after the battle of Uhud to cut open the chest
of Hamzah, the Prophet's uncle, and chewed upon his liver to
'quench' her anger for death of her father and brother who were
killed in Badr.
But, of course, how can we expect protection from him whose mouth spits
out the heart of the pious people, whose flesh has grown from the blood of
martyrs? And why should he not hate us who is jealous of us and shamefully
say: 'I wish my ancestors had seen me today; they would congratulate me
and pray that my hand would never be weak'. He is saying this while, he is
hurting [with his cane] the teeth of Husayn, the leader of the Youths of
Paradise.
Why should he not say these things -- he who has cursed his feelings
and sores by spilling the blood of Muhammad's family, the stars of the
family of 'Abdul Muttalib.
You call your ancestors hoping that they will answer you. You will be
put together with them and then you will regret and say had my tongue
become dumb so that I would not have said what I said.
O Allah! Give us our right, and avenge those who have oppressed us; and
send your anger upon those that spilled our blood and killed our
protectors
By Allah! O Yazid, by killing 'Husayn you have not torn but your own
skin and you have not cut but your own flesh. You will be brought to the
Prophet with the crimes of spilling the blood of his children and
humiliating his family.
"The oppressors will know when the time changes [against them].
Adapted from: The Right Path, Vol.1 No.4, 1993
Translated with
commentary by S.M. Rizvi
