It is narrated that when the Imam’s family members were made captives
and brought to the court of Ibne Ziyad, women, including those from
the Ahle Bayt as well as wives and slave-girls of the companions of Imam
Husain (a.s.) encircled Lady Zainab (s.a.) and kept her veiled from the
view. Lady Zainab (s.a.) was tall; therefore she was visible even after being
surrounded by other women. She did not greet the ruler upon entering
the court.
Ibne Ziyad used to think that he has taken away all the strength of Ahle
Bayt after the Kerbala tragedy. His mean thinking was that he had made
Ahle Bayt helpless and was expecting them to fall at his feet and seek
forgiveness. Thus, he had expected that at least Lady Zainab (s.a.) would
greet him even if based on some Divine Will. However, the determined
daughter of Ali shattered all his expectations. He was enraged at this act of
disrespect for him. Perhaps he was not aware that the souls of the family
of the Prophet (s.a.) were not going to be intimidated. When Lady
Zainab (s.a.) sat down,1 he proudly asked, “Who is this haughty woman?”
Or he asked, “Why didn’t she greet me?” or asked, “Who is this woman
careless about others?” (Both versions are found. One of them has the
word Mutakabbir and other Munkir) No one replied to Ibne Ziyad’s
question. He repeated his question once again but did not get any reply.
1 Normally, prisoners of war cannot sit without the permission of the commander of
the victorious army but Lady Zainab (s.a.) took her seat in Ibne Ziyad’s court without
his permission and broke his pride. She made it clear that she was the actual victor and
not he. (Rizwani)
When he repeated it for the third or fourth time, a woman said, “This is
Zainab, the daughter of Ali bin Abi Talib (a.s.)”.
Ibne Ziyad tried to deceive the people. He said, “Praise be to Allah for
He disgraced you. He killed you and exposed your lie.” The accursed one
continued to taunt Lady Zainab (s.a.) with his words.
Lady Zainab (s.a.) had a great responsibility on her shoulders at this
moment. Hearing his words, the determined Lady Zainab (s.a.) spoke
in a defying manner, “All thanks is for the Lord Who gave Prophethood
to Muhammad Mustafa and honor to us and granted the miracle of
infallibility to our household. What you are saying is wrong.” Then she
said,
“O Ibne Ziyad! Disgraced is one that is a sinner and a liar. We are
not such!. We have dignity. Falsehood is not the practice of truthful
ones. Falsehood is far away from us. O son of Marjana! May God
destroy you!”2
Ibne Ziyad’s eyes were red in anger on hearing this. He hissed like a
desert snake and said, “Do you still have strength left? Are you talking in
the same way even after suffering so much? Are you still focused on your
aim?”
Although “son of Marjana” are three words, they describe a story,
which unveiled the lowly character of Ibne Ziyad. Ibne Ziyad’s mother,
Marjana was an unchaste woman. Lady Zainab (s.a.) directed the
attention of everyone present in the court towards this fact by calling him
“son of Marjana”.
Ibne Ziyad ordered his executioner to “behead that woman” (Lady Zainab
(s.a.)).
Janabe Zainab s.a in the court of Ibne Ziyad l.a.
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