By
Syed I Husain
August 23,
2020
The battle
of Karbala is largely considered an event involving men. It revolves around the
sacrifice of Hussain Ibn e Ali and the role of women is not much talked about.
The women of Karbala are known through the suffering of the male kin and the
hardship they endured in the absence of men. The Karbala narratives that are
derivative from this historic event, the martyrdom of Hussain being seen as the
key moment in the history.
In the earlier narratives, women were largely seen as passive victims of the tragedy and know largely through the trials and tribulations they faced. In some accounts the central female character Zainab bint Ali in Karbala is described as being weak with grief, choked with tears in the aftermath of Karbala. This trend of representations, portraying the Karbala women as weak and passive actors’ changes adequately when you read the post Karbala events, the journey of the family of Holy Prophet from Karbala to Damascus as prisoners of war.
Zainab bint
Ali’s character has been an integral part of the Karbala narrative. And in her
augmentative role, Zainab is the epitome of command, who had her father’s
eloquence and her mother’s forbearance. It was the night of the tenth of
Muharram when Zainab took charge of her desolated household. The focus shifts
to Zainab at the dusk of Ashura. From this point onward, she spoke with
paramount authority and unrivalled courage. Zainab confronted Yazid at his
court in Damascus, to redeem her family’s suffering and tell the world the
reasons for which Hussain Ibn e Ali and his companions suffered.
From this
moment onward, Zainab evoked the far-flung conquest of Hussain, metaphorically
turning Damascus into a variant of Karbala. Hussain’s martyrdom and his
physical combat are reinforced through Zainab’s subsequent confrontation with
Yazid; her battle with words and deeds. Zainab became the feminine face of
Hussain and Abbas Ibn e Ali.
A rigid
disunion between the emotional and the rationalised versions of Karbala
narrative, where the traditional narrative only make people cry and the
authenticated one teaches lessons is problematic because, it separates the
political from the spiritual and tends to overlook the intrinsic spiritual
message of Karbala.
The
characters of the Karbala women are no less important than the men and their
intellectual skills and oratory powers are equal to the defiant powers of their
male kin. The following excerpt of the sermon of Zainab bint Ali at Yazid’s
court is a prime example of such courage:
Whatever
you consider today, as a bounty would turn into reparation for tomorrow;
whatever you have sent in advance would be received by you. Allah does not like
oppression toward his servants. I complained to Him and put my trust upon Him;
thus whatever deceit you want to practice, go ahead and do it; whatever
endeavours and efforts you can make, try them.
By Allah
you would never be able to remove our remembrance from the hearts, nor would
you ever be able to destroy our revelations; you would never reach our
splendour and majesty; you would never be able to wash this ugly spot of
tyranny from your dress; your opinion and suggestions are invalid and unstable.
The duration of your rein is very short, and your assembly would soon be
scattered; on that day when the heavenly crier would announce: Praise be upon
the Lord of the Worlds, and are beginning- with prosperity and salvation-and
our end-with martyrdom and blessing. O You, Who is just and righteous toward us
and who is the most compassionate among all the compassionate ones, we put our
trust only upon you.
The late
Fahmida Riaz who was a progressive Urdu writer, poet, human rights activist and
feminist, depicted the address of Zainab bint Ali in a poem, titled Hazrat
Zainab ka Khutba Sham key Darbar Mein. The poem ends with a declaration of
defiance from Zainab bint Ali, and the defiance is immediately followed in the
final couplet by a call to feminism.
You perpetrated a horrible crime, O murderer Yazid
Do not think it is glad tidings of victory decreed
But the very end of the low which you think to be a high
The men and women you over-ran with your army were a handful
The Gracious Lord from the sky watched the unjust slaughter
You have caused yourself a huge loss
The wrath you visited, your oppression upon our brood
You cut your own jugular, drank your own blood
The Prophet’s family have embraced martyrdom
Their heads held high, departing successfully from this kingdom
They shine on the firmament, will be remembered by the earth
The darkness of your face is now indelible, you accursed
There is great noise in every quarter over your tyranny
You deserve curses, and are worthy of a penalty
Humanity presents her a golden tribute
She elevated the world of femininity with a crowning attribute
Translated
by Raza Naeem
Zainab was
the third child of Ali ibn Abi Talib and his wife Fatimah bint Muhammad. Like
her two elder brothers, Hassan and Hussain ibn Ali, Zainab was named by Prophet
Muhammad (PBUH). The name “Zainab” means, “adornment of her father”.
She is a
constant reminder that the human spirit will fight and triumph over oppression
and is seen as a protagonist, not as a victim. And? Finally, women were given
the right, or even the responsibility, to challenge male authority when a man
acted in an impious manner, even if he was the ruling caliph. Hussain’s Jihad
was marked partly by sword and arrows; Zainab’s Jihad was waged through words
of eloquence. Hussain made Karbala immortal; Zainab assured the immortality of
Karbala through her sermons in Damascus. The manifestation of her acts is seen
in the words of her grandfather Muhammad (PBUH):
The best
form of jihad is to utter just words in the presence of a tyrant ruler.
The
struggle of Zainab the conqueror of Damascus reminds us again and again that
the minority must not be intimidated by the majority.
----
Syed I
Husain is a traveller and freelance writer based in UK. He has previously
written for @the_nation @Dawn_com @DunyaNews @TheAsians
Original
Headline: Karbala’s Lion-Heart: Zainab Bint Ali’s Fierce Resistance Against
Tyranny
Source: Naya Daur TV
URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-personalities/zainab-bint-ali’s-fierce-resistance/d/122833
New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism