SERMON OF SAYYIDA
ZAYNAB (A.S.)
Yazeed recited the blasphemous poetic verses of
Abdullah bin Zab'ari Sahmi which he had composed while he was an
unbeliever and also added some poetic verses of his own and said
openly that he wanted to take revenge upon the descendants of
Muhammad because Muhammad and his companions had killed his
polytheist ancestors. Zaynab (as), the daughter of Ali rose and
began speaking. She added a new chapter to the history of the
Caliphate of Yazeed, which covered a period of three years and a few
months, and said:
"O Yazeed! Allah and His
Prophet have said that committing sins and considering the signs of
Allah to be false is ridiculing them", i.e. deny the sign of Allah
today and hold them in derision and have become happy, and recite
poetic verses on account of the martyrdom of the children of the
Holy Prophet just as the polytheists of Makkah became happy and sang
songs because of the martyrdom of some Muslims in the Battle of Uhud,
and talk about taking revenge upon the Holy Prophet. This is how you
become like them and how you have reached this stage? You have
reached this stage because you have committed too many sins.
Whoever treads the path
of sin and persists in committing sins will, according to the
verdict of the Qur'an, deny the signs of Allah one day and
eventually will ridicule them and then deserve Divine punishment. O
Yazeed! Do you think that we have become humble and despicable owing
to the martyrdom of our people and our own captivity? As you have
blocked all the paths for us, and we have been made captives and are
being taken from one place to another, do you think that Allah has
taken away his blessings from us? Do you think that by killing the
godly persons you have become great and respectable and the Almighty
looks at you with special grace and kindness? For this reason and on
account of this wrong thinking you have become elated and arrogant.
You have become boastful because you have seen
that the matters have taken a turn in your favour. You have,
however, forgotten what Allah says: The disbelievers must not think
that Our respite is for their good We only give them time to let
them increase their sins. For them there will be a humiliating
torment." (Surah Ale Imraan, 3: 178)
Then lady Zaynab reminded Yazeed that on the day
of the conquest of Makkah which took place in 8 A.H. the Holy
Prophet did favour to all the men and women of Makkah and set them
free. Yazeed himself was a descendant of those very freed persons.
His father Mu'awiya, his grandfather Abu Sufyan and Mua’wiyah’s
mother were among those who were set free at the time of the
conquest of Makkah. On that day the Holy Prophet very magnanimously
set all of them free irrespective of what they had done in the past
and said: "Go, for all of you are free".
In the second part of her speech the daughter of
Imam Ali made the conquest of Makkah her topic and said:
"O son of the freed ones!
Is it justice that you keep your women and slave-girls in seclusion
but have made the helpless daughters of the Holy Prophet ride on
swift camels and given them in the hands of their enemies so that
they may take them from one city to another".
Then she said:
"Why shouldn't Yazeed be spiteful against us, it
is he, who looks at us with hostility. You say with perfect
intrepidity and without imagining that you are committing a sin: 'I
wish that my ancestors who were killed in Badr had been present here
today'.
Then you strike Imam Husayn in his teeth with a
stick in your hand! Why shouldn't you be like this, although you
have done what you wanted to do and have pulled out the roots of
piety and virtue! You have shed the blood of the sons of the Holy
Prophet and have hidden the brilliant stars on the earth from
amongst the descendants of Abdul Muttalib under the clouds of
oppression and injustice. However, you shall go before Allah soon.
You shall meet your ancestors and shall also be taken to their
place. At that time you will wish that you had been blind and dumb
and had not said that it was a day of rejoicing for your ancestors".
At this stage the daughter of Imam Ali prayed to Allah and said:
"O Lord!
Procure our right and take revenge upon those who have oppressed
us". Then she turned to Yazeed and said: "By Allah you have pulled
off your skin and cut off your flesh. You will soon go before the
Prophet of Allah and will see with your own eyes that his children
are in Paradise. It will be the day when Allah will deliver the
descendants of the Holy Prophet from the state of being scattered
and will bring all of them together in Paradise.
This is the promise, which Allah has made in the
Holy Qur'an. He says: ‘Do not think of those who are slain for the
cause of Allah as dead. They are alive with their Lord and receive
sustenance from Him’. (Surah Ale Imraan, 3: 169)
O Yazeed! On the day when Allah will be the Judge
and Muhammad will be the petitioner, and your limbs will give
evidence against you, your father, who made you the ruler of the
Muslims, will receive His punishment. On that day it will become
known what reward the oppressors earn, whose position is worse and
whose party is more humble. O enemy of Allah and O son of the enemy
of Allah! I swear by Allah that I consider you to be humble and not
fit even to be reprimanded and reproached. But what am I to do? Our
eyes are shedding tears, our hearts are burning, and our martyrs
cannot come to life by our reprimanding and reproaching you.
My Husayn has been killed
and the partisans of Satan are taking us to the fools so that they
may get their reward for insulting Allah. Our blood is dripping from
their hands and our flesh is falling down from their mouths. The
sacred bodies of the martyrs have been placed at the disposal of the
wolves and other carnivorous animals of the jungle. If you have
gained something today by shedding blood, you will certainly be a
loser on the Day of Judgment.
On that day nothing but
your deeds will count. On that day you will curse Ibn Marjāna and he
will curse you. On that day you and your followers will quarrel with
one another by the side of the Divine scale of Justice. On that day
you will see that the best provision, which your father made for
you, was that he enabled you to kill the children of the Prophet of
Allah. I swear by Allah that I do not fear anyone except Him and do
not complain to anyone else. You may employ your deceit and cunning
efforts, but I swear by Allah that the shame and disgrace which you
have earned by the treatment meted out to us cannot be eradicated".
The daughter of Fatima Zahra ended her speech with offering thanks
to Allah.
She said: "I thank Allah
Who has concluded the task of the chiefs of the youths of Paradise
with prosperity and forgiveness and accommodated them in Paradise. I pray to Allah that He may elevate their ranks
and favour them more with His kindness, for Allah is Omnipotent".
Extracted from
‘A Probe into Ashura’.
mulla@almahdi.org.uk
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