| He was the
eldest son of the Saviour of Islam. He witnessed the brutal deaths
of his father, his brothers and his uncles. He was shackled and
tortured himself. He was the fourth Imam - Imam Zainul-Abideen(A.S.)
During his
infancy the Imam spent his time with his grandfather - Imam Ali(A.S.).
He, then spent most of his time, with his uncle Imam Hasan(A.S.). He
was present in Kerbala along side his father, but because of his
illness he was unable to do battle. After the death of his father he
was given the Imamat.
On the day of
Ashura(10th Muharram) after all the men of the camp had gone to
battle and did not come back, the ill-strucken Imam was the only man
left in a camp full of ladies and innocent children. After killing
the Imam, Yazid's army would not let up. They, then, made their way
to the tents, where Bibi Zainab and the other ladies were. They
started ripping off the scarfs(chadars) off each woman's head, the
ultimate insult for any Muslim woman. They then burned down all the
tents, forcing the women and the children out of their homes. They
made their way to where Imam Zainul-Abideen(A.S.) was and pulled him
out of his bed. He was put in heavy chains with iron rings around
his neck and his ankles, and was made to walk barefooted on the
thorny plains from Kerbala to Kufa.
The women and
children were tied up like prisoners and put on camels. This journey
would take them to Kufa and then eventually to Yazid's Court in
Shaam, where they were locked up in dungeons. It was in these dark,
narrow dungeons where the Imam, the women and the children spent
most of their days. The members of the Holy Family suffered the
hardships and tortures of imprisonment for a long time.
After a long
imprisonment, the sick Imam, with the other captives, were released.
They returned to Kerbala, and after burying the body of Imam
Hussein(A.S.) and the other martyrs which were lying unburied till
then, they returned to Medina.
The Imam lived
40 years after the death of his father where he spent most of his
time in prayers and mourning, which gave him the name Sajjad.
Sources say that whenever the Imam drank a glass of water, he would
cry in memory of his father. On the 25th of Muharram, the Imam was
poisoned by the ruler of Medina. His son Imam Muhammad Baqir(A.S.)
buried him. |