The Embodiment of Perfection

by Insha Mirza


I am writing in regards to a very famous personality,
whom we speak of regularly. In fact I think that
we speak of her so much in the context of her
mourning and suffering that we forget to admire
the true majesty and charismatic qualities of lady
Zainab (AS). To this day she has been the most
dynamic and proactive political figure to have ever
stepped on this Earth. I will address three key
points about the life of Lady Zainab (AS) and the
lessons we learn from them.

At the tender age of five she had the once in a life
time opportunity to listen to the dramatic and
earth shaking khutbah of Lady Fatema, she had to
deal with her grandfather Mohammed’s (saw) death
followed by her own mother’s death. She survived
the trauma. This proved to be a learning ground.
We learn two lessons from this; firstly, what is
childhood? It’s a place of security that we have
invented for ourselves; did any of the Prophet’s
progeny have a childhood? Barbies, cars? No, I’m
afraid not. Instead they were constantly learning
important lessons of life so that when faced with
such calamities in the future they would be able to
live with sanity, through suffering and distress. Secondly,
people always say that a mother is responsible
for the nurturing of a child, but lady Zainab lost
her mother at a very young age. We need strong
mothers, yes, but stronger parents; a two way
force so that it is balanced. She learnt from her
father’s political situations, moves and tactics that
the people were taking against him. She thus inherited
the oratory eloquence from him which would
help her further on in life.

Moving on from that we see that role Bibi Zainab
played, was more than just of a sister, she was a
preacher. She preached to women in her society to
ensure that they too gained the knowledge of religion.
She discussed with them and propagated Islam
to them with such perfection, that she became
famous for her logical and practical approach to
problems. Even though she was not infallible, she
was spiritually perfect, unlike any mortal being. The
lesson we learn from this, is that it is essential -
that a woman preach to women because only a
woman can relate to another woman.

Never underestimate a woman. In Sham, Yazid
thought he had won, he thought Zainab (AS) was
desperate, depressed and distraught. He thought he
had broken her hopes, that Karbala had disoriented
her, as it would have any ordinary woman. He was
lulled into a false security and thought there was
nothing to fear in her addressing the court in his
palace–but she proved otherwise. At the courts of
Yazid where he had prepared a gathering for all
people to witness his triumph over Imam Husayn,
she baffled him with her strength and her faith in
Allah (swt). With her confidence in her righteousness
and her imperturbable eloquence, she said
checkmate in his game of chess and on his board.
Victory was hers. Even as she was surrounded by
the enemy she could make Yazid shake with fear.
She turned the tables on him in such a way that
history still commemorates her victory while
Yazid’s glory has been lost and in rubble in dirt.
Let us stop here for a moment and think – she was
more skillful than any politician and more fearless
than any warrior. Where did Lady Zainab (as) acquire
these skills?

When the caravan of Imam Zainul-abedin was finally
freed Lady Zainab first asked for a place
where she could honor the memory of Imam Hussain.
Was it to share the grief and sorrow? Possibly,
but moreover it was to inform all these witness the
truth of the journey of Karbala. The camels held
black curtained. Why did she do this? She was
spreading the message of Imam Hussain to the
world – teaching them, showing them that Imam
Hussain and Karbala was what Islam was about –
that Islam was all about making the right choices
and the right decisions and standing by those decisions
to the very end. What does this prove? We
learn that she was not simply a person who spent
her life keeping home and bringing up children –
yes she did all of that - and much more. She was
more of a modern woman than the modern
woman is today!