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The eldest daughter of 'Ali and Fatima; the woman who protected the women and children of the Ahl al-Bayt during and after the events of Karbala. Her full name is Zaynab al-Kubra bint 'Ali ibn Abi Talib al-Hashimiyya.
According to the common view she was born in Medina in Sha'ban 5 (January 627); there are other views as well. She came after her elder brothers Hasan and Husayn and, according to some reports, after Muhassin (Muhsin), who was stillborn or died soon after birth. She was called Zaynab al-Kubra ("the Elder") to distinguish her from a younger sister of the same name born to another wife of 'Ali, and was also given the kunya Umm al-Masa'ib ("Mother of Afflictions") because of the many hardships she faced throughout her life.
In the source's words, the information on her life is mostly of a hagiographical kind. After her mother's death she grew up under the care of 'Ali's wives after Fatima — Umm al-Banin bint Hizam, Layla bint Mas'ud and Asma' bint 'Umays; her father himself saw to her education. Because she grew up under his supervision as a learned, intelligent and discerning young woman, she was given the epithet 'Aqilat Bani Hashim. It is reported that even as a child she astonished her father with her answers on certain questions; as a young woman, women in particular turned to her for answers to their questions.
Her father married her to 'Abd Allah, son of her uncle Ja'far ibn Abi Talib. 'Abd Allah, born while his father was an emigrant in Abyssinia, was a Companion famed for his generosity. From this marriage were born 'Ali, 'Awn, Muhammad, 'Abbas and Umm Kulthum; some sources give Ja'far and Umm 'Abd Allah instead of Muhammad and 'Abbas. 'Awn and Muhammad fell as martyrs at Karbala. Her daughter Umm Kulthum was married by her uncle Husayn to Qasim ibn Muhammad ibn Ja'far.
During 'Ali's caliphate she settled in Kufa with her husband; 'Abd Allah was one of 'Ali's commanders at the Battle of Siffin. Before the events of Karbala, 'Abd Allah, like many of his relatives, had warned Husayn not to answer the invitation of the Kufans, but to no avail.
The source states that Zaynab's importance lies above all in her role at Karbala and afterwards, and that if Husayn is the most important person in those events, Zaynab is the most important woman. When the fighting began, she directed the treatment and care of the wounded as the eldest woman of the family, and protected the women and children. When the governor of Kufa, 'Ubayd Allah ibn Ziyad, wished to have her nephew Zayn al-'Abidin killed — he had been unable to take part in the fighting because of illness, and had been saved from being killed in his tent through the efforts of 'Umar ibn Sa'd — she threw herself upon him and said the governor would have to kill her first, and so broke his resolve. Because of similar conduct in Kufa and then in Damascus, to which she was taken, some sources name her as the one who saved the Prophet's lineage from extinction.
She is likened to her father in eloquence. Her address to the people as she was being taken to the governor in Kufa, her words before 'Ubayd Allah ibn Ziyad, and what she said in her exchange with Yazid ibn Mu'awiya in Damascus are famous. According to the source, the main theme of her address to the Kufans was their conduct toward 'Ali and Husayn, and that of her words before Yazid the superiority of her lineage and the rightness of their cause. At a time when no adult man was left to lead the family, these actions raised her to the position of leader of the Ahl al-Bayt.
Zaynab and those with her were held in Damascus for a few days, and were then permitted to return to Medina under the protection of Nu'man ibn Bashir. After returning to Medina, Zaynab wished to give Nu'man, who had accompanied them on the road and treated them well, all the jewellery they had on them.
The date and place of her death are disputed: there are reports that she died on 14 Rajab 62 (29 March 682) or in 65 (684), in Cairo, Damascus or Medina (see Multiple Views). Shi'is who accept that she died on 14 Rajab hold mourning gatherings in her memory on that day every year.
She is also likened in many respects to her mother Fatima; it is recorded that, like her husband 'Abd Allah, she was generous, distributed whatever came into her hands to the poor, and spent her nights in supererogatory worship.
Her Circle of Influence — She transmitted reports from Fatima, 'Ali, Hasan, Husayn and Asma' bint 'Umays; and hadith was transmitted from her by her husband 'Abd Allah ibn Ja'far, 'Abd Allah ibn 'Abbas, Muhammad ibn 'Amr, 'Ata' ibn al-Sa'ib, 'Abbad al-'Amiri and her niece Fatima bint Husayn, among others. She is one of the principal figures named in the Muharram gatherings — important elements of Shi'i culture — and in the mourning gatherings (ta'ziya) in which the martyrs of Karbala are remembered. Her speeches, in the house where she was held in Damascus, recounting what had happened at Karbala, and her mourning for her dead kin are presented as the first instance of the mourning gatherings called "majlis" that became part of later Shi'i culture; it is also said that her words before Yazid are commemorated among Shi'is with a ceremony as important as that of the day of 'Ashura'. Many works in prose and verse have been written about her in both Sunni and Shi'i literature, and numerous studies in Western languages.
Differing Scholarly Views
The source's tradition — This record rests on the article by Halit Özkan in the TDV Encyclopaedia of Islam; the article is written in the Sunni academic tradition of Turkey and draws on both Sunni and Shi'i works (e.g. A'yan al-Shi'a). The source notes that Zaynab is more prominent in Shi'i than in Sunni culture. The article author's own assessments are marked below as "in the author's view". The atlas presents no tradition's view as the correct one.
Location of the grave — Various sources state that her grave is in Cairo or in Damascus. The work of Musa M. 'Ali states that the grave attributed to her southeast of Damascus — at the place formerly the village of Rawiya and today called the Sayyida (Sitti) Zaynab quarter — in fact belongs to her younger sister Zaynab. As for the grave that Kahhala mentions at the place known as Qanatir al-Siba' in Cairo, A'yan al-Shi'a says that it belongs to Zaynab bint Yahya and that her grave should in reality be in Medina. In the author's view, since it cannot be established whether Zaynab ever left Medina again after her return, reports placing her grave outside Medina should be treated with caution. The source also records that her shrine in Cairo, and especially that in Damascus, are important places of visitation. The atlas makes no choice among these views: the shrine in Cairo is marked here as a place of visitation, not as the certain site of her grave.
Date of death — The source gives two dates: 14 Rajab 62 (29 March 682) and 65 (684). The article's heading also records the year of death with a question mark (62/682 [?]). The atlas makes no choice between them.
How she was named — Some sources state that the Prophet himself gave her the name of her maternal aunt Zaynab, who had died shortly before her birth. In the author's view, the known fact that her aunt Zaynab died in Safar of year 8 of the Hijra (June 629) weakens this report.
Her mother's charge — There are reports that Fatima, at her death, entrusted to her the care of all her siblings. In the author's view, these reports about Zaynab, who was then a small child, may have taken shape later to show how she afterwards bore the hardships of her family and protected them. The atlas records the report and the author's assessment side by side.
Her husband's absence at Karbala — It has not been fully clarified how Zaynab came to be at Husayn's side with her two sons while 'Abd Allah ibn Ja'far remained in Medina. On the first possibility, 'Abd Allah had divorced her before this and later married her younger sister Zaynab al-Sughra (Ibn Hazm, 'A'isha 'Abd al-Rahman, Musa M. 'Ali). On the second, recorded in some sources such as A'yan al-Shi'a, Zaynab was not yet divorced at the time and was at Husayn's side with her husband's permission. The atlas makes no choice between them.
The heads of the martyrs — There are interpretations and traditional beliefs that Zaynab did not wish to leave Damascus until the severed heads brought there were buried at Karbala. In the author's view these should be treated with caution: although there is no doubt that the bodies of the martyrs were buried at Karbala, it is not known for certain where the heads were buried, and so it cannot be accepted that Zaynab succeeded in having them buried at Karbala. The atlas records the tradition and the author's assessment side by side.
Sources
- TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi (DİA) · vol. 44, pp. 356-357, entry “Zeyneb bint Ali”
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