Zaynab bint Ali
Zaynab is best known for her role in the aftermath of the Battle of Karbala (680 CE), in which her brother Husayn and most of her male relatives were massacred by the forces of the Umayyad caliph Yazid ibn Mua'awiya (r. 680–683).
Women and children in Husayn's camp were taken captive after the battle and marched to Kufa and then the Umayyad capital Damascus, where Zaynab gave impassioned speeches, condemning Yazid and spreading the news of Karbala.
She is considered to be a symbol of sacrifice, strength, and piety in Islam, and a role model for Muslim women, typifying courage, leadership, and defiance against oppression.
[34] Shia Islam asserts that she miscarried her child and died from the injuries she suffered in an attack on her house,[27][35][36] intended to subdue Ali,[37] instigated by Abu Bakr and led by his aide Umar.
[12] According to the Sunni author A. Abd al-Rahman (d. 1998), Fatima on her deathbed entrusted Zaynab with a white garment for Husayn to wear as his shroud (kafan) when leaving for the battlefield in Karbala.
[43] The Shia author M. Eshtehardi writes that Zaynab married Abd Allah on the condition that she would be allowed to daily visit her brother Husayn and travel with him.
[49] She also taught Quranic exegesis to women in her hometown of Medina,[50] and later in Kufa,[12][49] and was likely trained in this subject by her father Ali, whom the Islamicist T. Qutbuddin praises as "the most learned of [Islamic] sages.
[2][52] A sermon attributed to Zaynab after the Battle of Karbala is recorded by the Muslim historian Ibn Abi Tahir Tayfur (d. 893) in his Balaghat al-nisa', which is an anthology of eloquent speeches by women.
[60] Soon after Ali's death, his eldest son Hasan was elected caliph in Kufa,[61][62] but later abdicated in favor of Mu'awiya (r. 661–680) in August 661,[12][63] possibly due to the latter's overwhelming military superiority and the weak support of the Iraqis for war.
[82] Eshtehardi suggests that Abd Allah's absence must have been due to his poor health or old age and that sending his sons with Husayn was an indication of his support.
[83] As the husband's permission is necessary in such cases under Islamic laws, some have instead suggested that a condition of her marriage to Abd Allah was that Zaynab could accompany Husayn in all his travels,[46] or specifically to Karbala.
"[86] At any rate, on their way to Kufa, Husayn's small caravan was intercepted by Yazid's army and forced to camp in the desert land of Karbala on 2 Muharram 61 (2 October 680) away from water and fortifications.
The governor did not relent, however,[89][73] and finally ordered Ibn Sa'd to fight, kill, and disfigure Husayn and his supporters unless they pledged allegiance to Yazid, in which case their fate would be decided later.
[97] On the morning of Ashura, Husayn organized his supporters, some seventy-two men, and then spoke to the enemy lines and asked them why they considered it lawful to kill Muhammad's grandson.
[98] The Umayyad army then showered the camp with arrows,[89] thus commencing the battle which lasted from morning till sunset and consisted of incidents of single combat, skirmishes, assaults, and retreats.
[103] Similarly, al-Tabari reports that Zaynab ran to the battlefield crying and threw herself on her fallen nephew Ali al-Akbar ibn Husayn when the latter was killed in the fight.
[101] After the death of Husayn, Umayyad soldiers stole his garments and personal belongings, pillaged his camp,[89] and severed the heads of his fallen companions, which they then raised on spears for display.
[110] Acting upon earlier orders of Ibn Ziyad, the body of Husayn was then trampled,[73] apparently by ten horsemen who volunteered to "inflict this final indignity" upon him.
[120] Ibn Tayfur records two speeches about Karbala in his Balaghat al-nisa', one attributed to Umm Kulthum in the market of Kufa,[116] and the other ascribed to Zaynab in the court of Yazid in Damascus.
She countered by reminding him of the verse of purification (33:33) and the elevated status of Muhammad's family in the Quran, adding that murder was preordained for Husayn and his supporters, and that God would soon judge between them and Ibn Ziyad.
[1] When they were brought to the caliph, the Islamicist L. Veccia Vaglieri (d. 1989) writes that Yazid treated them kindly after an initial harsh interview and regretted the conduct of his governor, even saying that he would have pardoned Husayn if he was alive.
[73][132] By contrast, the Islamicist M. Momen believes that Yazid initially treated the captives harshly but later released them as the public opinion began to sway in their favor and he feared unrest in his territory.
[135] In particular, the Sunni historian Ibn Kathir (d. 1373) writes that Yazid did not reprimand his governor in the wake of the massacre, which does not suggest remorse on his part to the Islamicist H.M. Jafri (d. 2019).
[137] They write that the captives were brought in a ceremony to the caliph, who recited poetry and gloated about avenging his pagan relatives killed in the Battle of Badr (624).
[117] Reports by al-Tabari and the Shia scholar Ibn Babawayh (d. c. 923) indicate that a Syrian at one point asked the caliph to give her a daughter of Husayn as a slave but Zaynab angrily prevented this.
[1][18][144][145] The Shia jurist Mughniyya (d. 1979) writes that Zaynab was asked sarcastically in Damascus how she perceived the events of Karbala, to which she replied, "I have not seen anything except that it was beautiful" (ma ra'aytu illa jamila).
[128][152] According to a common Karbala narrative, the family of Muhammad was assisted in this journey by a man named Bashir, who was generously compensated by Zaynab and others from the little that was left after the looting on Ashura.
[164][169] Qutbuddin considers Zaynab a role model for Muslim women and a symbol of "courage, fortitude, leadership, eloquence, devotion, and faith.
"[1] This view is common,[18][170][13][8] and female Muslim activists have at times cited what they perceived as the steadfast stance of Zaynab against tyranny and oppression,[8] particularly in the recent histories of Iran and Lebanon.
[157] Historically, Karbala served to crystallize the Shia community into a distinct sect and remains an integral part of their religious identity to date.
