Hadhrat Imam Zainul Abideen

Hadhrat Imam Zainul Abideen

Hadhrat Imam Zainul A'abideen (May Allah be well pleased with him) is the beloved son of Hadhrat Imam Hussain (May Allah be well pleased with him) and is included in the elite of the Tabi'een (those who learnt from the Sahabah). He is the Imam of the 7 Imams of Fiqh of Madina Munawwarah. He is the 4th Imam in the 12 Imams of the Ahle Bait. His Kunniyah is "Abu Muhammad", his name is "Ali" and his title is "Zainul A'abideen".

Reason behind naming as Zainul A'abideen

It is written in "Shawahid," that one night, Hadhrat Imam was busy offering Tahajjud that Satan came in the form of a snake to stop him from praying and bit him. Hadhrat Imam Zainul A'abideen never paid attention to it and continued his Salaat. At that time somebody said thrice: You are Zainul A'abideen (the beauty of the worshippers).

His mother

His mother is Hadhrat Shahrbano Bint Kusra Yazdajar Shahryaar Bin Parvez Bin Nausherwan A'adil.

It is given in "Qissatus Safa" that in the caliphate of Hadhrat Umar (May Allah be well pleased with him), 3 daughters of Yazdjar were arrested and brought to Madina. Hadhrat Umar Faruq (May Allah be well pleased with him) took all 3 of them in his custody as they were the daughters of an emperor and could not be treated as slaves. One of them was given to Hadhrat Imam Hussain (May Allah be well pleased with him) from whom the 4th Imam, Hadhrat Zainul A'abideen (May Allah be well pleased with him) was born. The 2nd was given to Hadhrat Muhammad Bin Abu Bakr (May Allah be well pleased with him) from whom Hadhrat Qasim (May Allah be well pleased with him) was born and the 3rd was given to Hadhrat Abdullah Bin Umar (May Allah be well pleased with him) from whom Hadhrat Salim (May Allah be well pleased with him) was born. In this way, all 3 of them are cousins.

His birth:

Imam Sajjad Hadhrat Zainul A'abideen (May Allah be well pleased with him) was born in Madina Taiba in 33 Hijri, according to another opinion 36 Hijri and according to another opinion 38 Hijri.

He had an age of 61 or 62. Some hold it to be 58 and some 56 also.

At the time of the martyrdom of Hadhrat Imam Hussain (May Allah be well pleased with him), his age was 18 years and as per some traditions 16 years.

An incident from his childhood

Hadhrat Muhaddith-E-Deccan (May Allah shower His Mercy on him) has written an incident from the childhood of Hadhrat Imam Zainul A'abideen, which shows his profound knowledge.

Hadhrat Abdullah Bin Mubarak (May Allah be well pleased with him) says: I started with the intention of Makkah Mu'azzama. I saw on the way that a boy, 10, 12 years of age is walking alone. I said: Subhanallah! Who is this child in this dismal and desolate forest!

Hadhrat Abdullah Bin Mubarak says: I went to him and greeted him with Salaam. He returned my Salaam.

I asked: Who are you?

He said: A slave of Allah (Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala)

I asked: Where are you coming from?

He said: From Allah Ta'ala.

I asked: Where are you going?

He said: To Allah Ta'ala.

I asked: What do you desire ?

He said: The approval of Allah Ta'ala.

I asked: What are your means for the journey?

He said: My means are "Taqwa" (piety).

I asked: Where is the means of conveyance?

He said: My means of conveyance are my 2 legs.

I asked: This dangerous forest and your young age! How will it go?

He said: Ibn Mubarak! What are you thinking of? Have you ever seen that someone is going to meet someone and that person troubles him?

I said: You are young in age, but through your talk you seem to be very dignified. What is your name?

He said: Ibn Mubarak! Why do you ask the names of those who are troubled? What names do the unknown have?

I am broken-hearted and feeble with the love of Allah Ta'ala and sorrow. What do you ask? We have no name and no customs, no body and no life. Only an infirm whom love has emaciated. Very light to look at but in reality, are very weighty.

I said: If you don’t want to reveal your name then at least reveal which nation and which clan do you belong to?

He drew a sigh and said: We are the troubled people. We are exiled from our lands. We are overcome by our enemies.

I said: I can't understand anything. Please describe in some detail.

He said: We are those who serve water to those who come to the Houz-E-Kauthar. Whoever achieves salvation, achieves it through us. Whoever befriends us will not remain unfortunate.

After saying this, he vanished from my eyes. I regretted that I could not find out who was he.

When I reached Makkah Mu'azzama, while performing Tawaf, I saw that people are crowded around a saint. When I went forward, I saw that it was the same person, who had talked to me in the jungle. People are crowded around him and are asking questions. He is explaining the complex rules of the Holy Quran and the Hadith and the issues of the people are being solved by them. I asked the people: Who is this person. They said: Alas! You don’t know the one whom even the pebbles of Makkah recognize! This is the light of the eye of, Hadhrat Hussain (May Allah be well pleased with him), the martyr of Karbala , Imam Zainul A'abideen. On listening to this, I ran towards him and kissed his hands and feet. With tears in my eyes, I said: O son of the Prophet of Allah! The troubles of the Ahle Bait, which you described, are true.