Title: Zain al-Abideen
Name: Ali
Father: Husain bin Ali
Mother: Shahbanoo (Yazdigard III’s daughter
Birth Date: Jamadiul Awwal, 37 AH (January 6659 AD)Birth Place: Madinah
Date of Martyrdom: Muharram 25, 95 AH (October 20, 713 AD)
Death place: Madinah
Burial place: Baqi’
FROM BIRTH TO THE TRAGEDY OF KARBALA
Imam Ali, Zain al-Abideen , was only two years of age when his
grandfather, Imam Ali (Pbuh) was killed during prayers in the holy month
of Ramadhan in the main mosque of Najaf (near Kufa). He was a youth of
fourteen years when he saw the life and the painful death of his uncle
Imam Hasan (Pbuh). He was about twenty-three years when he accompanied
his father, Imam Husain (Pbuh) and witnessed the events of the tragedy
of Karbala. Before he finally left his camp, Imam Husain (Pbuh) came to
the bedside of his sick son Ali, and bestowed the onerous duty of
Imamate on him.
Imam Ali Ibn-e al-Husain (Pbuh) survived the massacre only because he
was physically unable to go out to the battlefield due to his sickness.
However, on the next day after that blood event, he was hand tied and
put in shackles, and marched on foot from the battlefield, first to Kufa
and then to Damascus. On this journey of painful suffering, his aunt
Hazrat-e Zainab (SA), the sister of Imam Husain (pbuh) and other
surviving widows and children, accompanied him.
After Karbala, he lived for another thirty-four years under the
tyrannical rule of several Marwanid caliphs who took personal
gratification in inflicting abuse and torture to him and his followers.
THE JOURNEY OF THE CAPTIVES OF KARBALA
The hand-tied captives were not tongue-tied. Despite the recent
inflections of the loss of loved ones in the battlefield, lack of
recuperation from the torturous thirst and starvation of women and
children, the rag tag caravan manifested tremendous courage by defying
their physical difficulties and continuing to preach the truth to the
on-lookers who had gathered to line up the caravan route.
During their passage through the streets and bazaars of Kufa, the
eloquent speeches made by the captive sister of Imam Husain (Pbuh), and
his son Imam Sajad (Pbuh) told their painful story to the onlookers who
had come to line up the caravan route. When they learned and realized
who the captives were, they cried out aloud and openly rebuked the
killers of the family of the Prophet of Islam. From then on, the caravan
was led to Damascus via an unfrequented route to prevent possible
reprisals.
The retelling of the story by the captives continued every inch of the
way to the palace of Yazid. This rendered an extremely valuable service
to the cause of Imam Husain (Pbuh) and made the victors look aggressors
thirsty for the blood of the Imam and his family. They were then thrown
in prison for a period of over one-year. Many children and the weak
succumbed to fatigue and grief throughout the caravan route as well as
within the prison.
Imam Sajad (Pbuh) used to pray to Allah with such intensity and devotion
that he earned the names of Sayyed u's-Sajedin and Zain al-Abidin.
THE MARTYRDOM OF IMAM SAJAD (PBUH)
Even the very existence of the pious Imam was considered a threat by the
rulers of his time. Hisham, a brother of Abd al-Malik, poisoned the Imam
who died in Madinah in the year 95 AH, at the age of 57 years. He was
buried in the graveyard of Jannat ul-Baqi. Before his death, the Imam
called his son Muhammad and entrusted the responsibility of the Imamate
to him.
Although his son Muhammad al-Baqir (Pbuh) fulfilled the needs of the
believers by carrying out the functions of his assignment with
spectacular brilliance, the painful death of his father left a void in
the lives of his companions. People remembered the Imam for his,
forbearance, piety, patience, and knowledge, and for the sufferings he
had to endure throughout his life.
His aunt Zainab (SA), the sister of Imam Husain (Pbuh), shared the life
and suffering of the Imam. Together, they had turned the tide of
aggression into a lasting lesson for humanity. Whereas Imam Husain
(Pbuh) had laid down his own life along with that of his beloved family
and friends in the desert of Karbala, Imam Ali ibn al-Husain (Pbuh) and
his aunt Zainab (SA) completed the vital mission of disseminating the
truth to the ignorant and confused nation of the Muslims and their
rulers.
Some of Imam Sajad's(AS) traditions(Ahadith)
إنَّ لِلعَبّاسِ عِندَاللهِ لَمَنزِلَهٌ يَغبِطُهُ بِها
جَميعُ الشُّهَداءِ يَومَ القيِامَهِ
Imam Sajjad (A.S):
"Abbas is granted by Allah a status which would result in the envoy of
the martyrs on the Day of Judgment."
خَفِ اللهَِ تَعالي لِقُدرَتِهِ عَلَيكَ وَ اسْتَحيِ مِنهُ
لِقُربِهِ مِنكَ
Imam Sajjad (A.S):
"Think of the might of God the All Mighty over thee and be bashful for
His closeness to thee."
هَلَكَ مَن لَيسَ لَهُ حَكيمٌ يُرشِدُهُ
Imam Sajjad (A.S):
"The one who is deprived of a wise guide to be guided by shall go
stray."
مَن رَمَي النَّاسَ بِما فيهم، رَمَوهُ بِما لَيسَ فيه
Imam Sajjad (A.S):
"He who attributes to people what is in their nature will be attributed
to the ones which is not owned by him."
نَظَرُ المُؤمِنِ في وَجهِ أخيهِ المُؤمِنِ لِلمَوَدَّهِ وَ
المَحَبَّهِ لَهُ عِبادهُ
Imam Sajjad (A.S):
"The kind and affectionate looking of a Mo'men (true-believer) at his
Mo'men brother is considered as a worship."
إنَّها (الصَّدَقهَ) تَقَعُ في يَدِ اللهِ أن تَقَعَ في
يَدِ السّائلِ
Imam Sajjad (A.S):
"Charity before reaching to the poor 's hand would be received by God's
hand."
أنتِ بِحمدِاللهِ عالِمَهٌ غَيرُ مُعَلَّمَهٍ و فَهِمَهٌ
غيرُ مُفَهَّمهٍ
Imam Sajjad (A.S):
"(Thou Zeynab) arst a scientist who did not receive guidance from any
professor and the wise one having no instructor around."
المًؤمنُ يَصمُتُ لِيَسلَمَ وَ يَنطِقُ لِيَغنَمَ
Imam Sajjad (A.S):
"Mo'men would silence to be safe and sound and speaks to be benefited
from."
إنّ حُبَّنا أهلَ البَيتِ يُساقِطُ عَنِ العِبادِ الذّنوبَ
كَما يُساقِطُ الرّيحُ الورَقَ مِنَ الشَّجَرِ
Imam Sajjad (A.S):
"He affection toward us as the Muhammad's Progeny would vibrate and
cause falling of the sins which resembles to the story of wind and
falling a leaf."
إذا قامَ قائِمُنا أذهَبَ اللهُ عَن شيعَتِنا العاهَهَ و
جعلَ قُلوبَهُم كَزُبَرِ الحَديدِ
Imam Sajjad (A.S):
"When our Up holder rises God would set the Shia's free from any harm
and would make their hearts as strong as iron."
إنَّ الحَسَنَ بنَ عليٍّ (ع) كانَ أعبَدَ النّاسِ في
زَمانِهِ و أزهَدَهُم و أفضَلَهُم
Imam Sajjad (A.S):
"Surely, Imam Hasan ( A.S) was the best worshipper,and the best and most
pious of all time."
اَلمُنتَظِرونَ لِظهُورهِ أفضَلُ أهلِ كُلِّ زَمان
Imam Sajjad (A.S):
"Those who are waiting for glad advent of Imam Mahdi (A.J) are the best
people of all time."
كَفي بِنَصرِاللهِ لَكَ أن تَري عَدُوَّكَ يَعمَلُ
بِمَعاصِيِ اللهِ فيكَ
Imam Sajjad (A.S):
"When Thou witness that thy enemy would
disobey Allah through evil-wishing for Thee It means that God is helping
Thee.
رَحِمَ اللهُ العَبّاسَ آثَرَ و أبلي و فَدي أخاهُ
بِنَفسِهِ
Imam Sajjad (A.S): "God's Blessing would be for Abbas who was an
altruist ,who did his best and sacrificed himself for sake of his
brother."
ألا و إنَّ أبغَضَ النّاسِ إلي اللهِ مَن يَقتَدي بِسُنَّهِ
إمامٍ و لا يَقتَدي بأَعمالِهِ
Imam Sajjad (A.S): "Be ware that the mostly hated people by God is the
one who chooses an Imam's ideology but does not follow him and his
deeds.
Source:
IRIB
