In this, the fifty-fourth episode of our series, we look at a famous sermon of Hazrat Zainab (SA), the sister of the Martyr of Karbala, Imam Husain (AS), delivered Damascus in the court of the Godless tyrant Yazid. We present you parts of this eloquent sermon of the granddaughter of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA).
The tyrant Yazid was seated on his golden throne and all around him were dignitaries, foreign ambassadors, military commanders, tribal elders and important people of the usurper Omayyad regime. When the self-styled caliph tried to ridicule the Martyr of Karbala and members of the blessed household of the Prophet of Islam, brought to his court as captives, Hazrat Zainab (SA), gave one of the memorable speeches of her life. Her eloquent speech that made the elders recall the tone and unmatched eloquence of her late father, the Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali ibn Abi Taleb (AS), shattered Yazid’s inflated pomp, and showed him for what he really was!! Everyone present heard her magnificent speech. Here is a part of her speech:
“All praise belongs to God, the Sustainer and Preserver of the Universe and may His blessings be showered on my grandfather Prophet Muhammad (SAWA). The Qur’an says (in ayah 10 of Surah Roum): “Then evil was the end of those who wrought evil, for they belied the signs of God and mocked at them.”
“O Yazid! You think that you have made our life miserable and existence unbearable and you have made us prisoners, and because we have been presented in your court you feel elated. You think that we have been disrespected and dishonoured by God and that you have been honoured and elevated to this position by Him.
“This apparent success of yours is the result of your worldly might and this makes you puffed with pride at our disaster. You feel that you have conquered the whole world and feel that you are well set in power and control. Time will teach you a bitter lesson. This ayah of the Qur’an (177 of Surah Aal-e Imran) points to people like you who are destined to go to hell.
“Let not those who disbelieve, think that Our giving them respite is good for themselves. We only give them respite so that they may increase in sins and for them is a disgraceful chastisement.”
Then Hazrat Zainab (SA) referred to the undeniable fact of the abject surrender to Muslims in 8 AH of Yazid’s father Mua’wiya, grandfather Abu Sufyan, and grandmother Hind, at the fall of Mecca, and how the Prophet of Islam, despite the avowed enmity of the Omayyads to him and Islam, had magnanimously set them free by calling them “tulaqa” or emancipated slaves. She continued her sermon by saying:
“O you Yabna at-Tulaqa (son of freed slaves), is this your justice that the ladies of your household remain veiled and we, the Prophet’s family should be paraded thus? You have insulted our dignity, our faces have been unveiled, your villainous soldiers have exposed us to public view, and all along the journey people have looked at us. We do not have our male companions any more to come to our rescue.
“O Yazid! Your misdeeds have clearly proved your rebellion towards God and the message the Prophet brought to this world, and this has proved beyond doubt that you refuse to honour the Revealed Message of God. This behaviour of yours does not come as a surprise, for your ancestors chewed the liver of the Prophet’s uncle Hamza, while Hind, the wife of Abu Sufyan, mutilated his body, had his liver taken out, sucked it and quenched her thirst for vengeance at the Battle of Ohad. You belong to this clan, which always opposed the Prophet and gathered armies from various clans to oppose him. The descendants of such rabble and monsters are the enemies of God and His Prophet, and are expected to be merciless and deadly since violence is part of their nature.
“Remember! Your disgusting deeds are the results of your inherent animosity and malicious nature, which are the cause of so much vice in your character. This revenge is due to this nature and you have borne revenge in your heart ever since the Battle of Badr in which your elders were killed because of their opposition and attack on the Prophet.
“He who looks upon us with animosity, malice and revenge is clearly an enemy of the blessed Ahl al-Bayt. He who takes pleasure in taunting us proves his infidelity towards the Messenger of God. Moreover, you take pride in saying that you have killed the grandson of the Prophet and imprisoned the members of his family. It seems you do not consider this as a sin of extraordinary magnitude. On the contrary you say: Had my forefathers seen this performance of mine, they would have been filled with pride and would have said, ‘O Yazid, you have avenged us..!
“O Yazid! You are joyously disrespecting the head of Aba Abdullah al-Husain (AS) by caning his lips. Do you not know that these are the lips the Prophet has kissed on several occasions? On my soul, you have deepened our wounds by shedding the blood of the Chief of the Youths of Paradise, the son of Ali ibn Abi Taleb (AS).
“O Yazid! If you have a heart to take into account your nefarious deeds, you would surely wish that your arms be paralysed and severed from the elbow, and you would have exclaimed: Would that my parents had never given birth to me. You would have realized that God is displeased with you and the Prophet has become your enemy.
“O God! Restore us our rights; avenge those who have oppressed us and make Your wrath descend on those who have broken their pledge, killed our kith and kin and our relations and supporters, and have disgraced us.
“O Yazid, you have done what you wished to do, but remember, you are doomed to perish and you will be cut to pieces. Then (on the Day of Judgement) you will be taken in to the presence of the Prophet and you will be burned with the sins you have committed by shedding the blood of his progeny and dishonouring the sanctity of his family. You will be taken in the presence of the Prophet to a place where his family members will be gathered and you will undergo a horrible punishment and then there will be no escape for you and your companions.
“O Yazid! Do not be inflated with pride after slaying the Prophet’s progeny. Do you know what the Qur’an says (in ayah 169 of Surah Aal-e Imran) about such people who have been martyred? “Think not of those slain in God’s way as dead. Nay, they are alive, finding their sustenance in the Presence of their Lord.”
MD/AS/SS
source : irib
