Sage by Connation
By: Seyyed Ali Shahbaz
“Knowledge guards you while you have to guard wealth. Wealth decreases by spending while knowledge increases by spending.”
The above words are that of the One and Only Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali ibn Abi Taleb, the divinely-designated vicegerent of Prophet Muhammad (SAWA).
This excellent piece of advice which beautifully outlines the indispensable nature of knowledge as more worthy than wealth, is mentioned in the famous book Nahj al-Balagha. It was given to Kumail ibn Ziyad (recipient of the famous supplication "Du’a Kumayl”) by the person whom the Almighty’s Last and Greatest Messenger had hailed as "Gateway of the City of Knowledge.”
The Prophet and his Ahl al-Bayt are knowledge personified. They are repositories of God-given knowledge. The Noblest Lady of all times, Hazrat Fatema Zahra (SA) was the embodiment of celestial knowledge, and so were the Infallible Imams of her progeny.
Today, the 5th of Jamadi al-Awwal affords us the opportunity to dwell on another Immaculate Personage of this Blessed Household who was personification of a higher realm of knowledge that is not acquired through books or taught by teachers.
It is the birth anniversary of a lady, who was hailed as the Unschooled Scholar.
She was none other than Hazrat Zainab (SA), the Heroine of Karbala, who carried the mission of her martyred brother to the enemy’s camp, in order to make Islam triumphant.
Although not among the 14 Infallibles (ma’soumin), in the strict sense of the word, the granddaughter of the Prophet had reached such a higher status of cognition of God that she was immune from any ignorance and fallibility, as is borne out by her dynamic characteristics.
She was considered next only to her Impeccable Mother, Hazrat Fatema Zahra (SA), in terms of all excellent merits including possessing knowledge with certitude. It is actually one’s own ignorance to raise such an issue in view of the fact that no less a personality than her nephew Imam Zain al-Abedin (AS) says about her:
"Ante be-hamdillah, ‘alematun ghaira mu’allema, wa fahmatun ghaira mufahema (You are by the grace of God, a scholar unschooled by anyone and a sage by connation)”
The 4th Imam, in praise of her eloquent sermons in Kufa and Damascus when the noble prisoners were brought before the Omayyad rulers, said the realities and finer points of God-given intelligence and knowledge that his aunt demonstrated is not easy to grasp by even the most erudite scholars.
It would be repetitive to say that on her birth in 6 AH in Medina, she was named by the Prophet as "Zainab” on God’s command conveyed through Archangel Gabriel, or that her grandfather foretold his daughter and son-in-law about her great sufferings to nurse back to life the sapling of Islam.
Her flawless genealogy is crystal clear to all. Her parents, Imam Ali (AS) and Hazrat Fatema Zahra (SA), need no introduction. If Prophet Muhammad (SAWA) was her maternal grandfather, her paternal grandfather was that protector of infant Islam, the Prophet’s beloved uncle and guardian, Hazrat Abu Taleb (AS). If her maternal grandmother was the Mother of all true Believers (Umm al-Momineen) Hazrat Khadija (SA) – the Maleekat al-Arab who had spent all her fabulous wealth for Islam – her paternal grandmother was Fatema bint Asad (SA), the lady who had brought up the orphaned Prophet as her own son.
The merits of Hazrat Zainab (SA), who gave her two youthful sons Aun and Muhammad as sacrifices for the cause of Islam at Karbala, do not end here, in view of the fact that her brothers are Imam Hasan (AS) and Imam Husain (AS), the Leaders of the Youth of Paradise. Moreover, she was married to her first cousin Abdullah (AS), who was brought up by the Prophet following the death of his father, Ja’far at-Tayyaar (AS) – the first migrant in Islam whose famous expounding of monotheism and the merits of Prophet Jesus (AS) and the Virgin Mary (SA) in the court of King Negus (Najashi) of Abyssinia (modern day Ethiopia) when the polytheists of Mecca pursued him there is recorded in golden letters.
Here I intend to mention some of the epithets of this Immaculate Lady for the defence of whose golden-domed shrine in Damascus from the attacks of the Takfiri terrorists, the followers of the Ahl al-Bayt have assembled in the Syrian capital.
(1) Siddiqat-as-Sughra (Truthful Lady the Younger, in view of the fact that her mother’s famous epithet is Siddiqat-al-Kubra – the Most Truthful Lady).
(2) Aqeelat-al-Bani Hashem (The Wise Lady of the Hashemite Clan, as narrators including the celebrated exegete Abdullah Ibn Abbas would refer to her while quoting a hadith on her authority).
(3) Umm al-Masa’eb (The Mother of Grief – because of her role in Karbala and its equally tragic aftermath).
(4) Muwasseqa (The Authoritative Lady).
(5) Fazelat-al-Kamela (The Perfectly Virtuous Lady).
(6) Abeda-e Aal-e Ali (The Pious Lady of the Alawid Family)
No wonder, in view of these matchless merits of his sister, it was the habit of Imam Husain (AS) to stand to his feet whenever Hazrat Zainab (AS) entered his presence.
Congratulations on the Blessed Birthday of Hazrat Zainab (SA)
This excellent piece of advice which beautifully outlines the indispensable nature of knowledge as more worthy than wealth, is mentioned in the famous book Nahj al-Balagha. It was given to Kumail ibn Ziyad (recipient of the famous supplication "Du’a Kumayl”) by the person whom the Almighty’s Last and Greatest Messenger had hailed as "Gateway of the City of Knowledge.”
The Prophet and his Ahl al-Bayt are knowledge personified. They are repositories of God-given knowledge. The Noblest Lady of all times, Hazrat Fatema Zahra (SA) was the embodiment of celestial knowledge, and so were the Infallible Imams of her progeny.
Today, the 5th of Jamadi al-Awwal affords us the opportunity to dwell on another Immaculate Personage of this Blessed Household who was personification of a higher realm of knowledge that is not acquired through books or taught by teachers.
It is the birth anniversary of a lady, who was hailed as the Unschooled Scholar.
She was none other than Hazrat Zainab (SA), the Heroine of Karbala, who carried the mission of her martyred brother to the enemy’s camp, in order to make Islam triumphant.
Although not among the 14 Infallibles (ma’soumin), in the strict sense of the word, the granddaughter of the Prophet had reached such a higher status of cognition of God that she was immune from any ignorance and fallibility, as is borne out by her dynamic characteristics.
She was considered next only to her Impeccable Mother, Hazrat Fatema Zahra (SA), in terms of all excellent merits including possessing knowledge with certitude. It is actually one’s own ignorance to raise such an issue in view of the fact that no less a personality than her nephew Imam Zain al-Abedin (AS) says about her:
"Ante be-hamdillah, ‘alematun ghaira mu’allema, wa fahmatun ghaira mufahema (You are by the grace of God, a scholar unschooled by anyone and a sage by connation)”
The 4th Imam, in praise of her eloquent sermons in Kufa and Damascus when the noble prisoners were brought before the Omayyad rulers, said the realities and finer points of God-given intelligence and knowledge that his aunt demonstrated is not easy to grasp by even the most erudite scholars.
It would be repetitive to say that on her birth in 6 AH in Medina, she was named by the Prophet as "Zainab” on God’s command conveyed through Archangel Gabriel, or that her grandfather foretold his daughter and son-in-law about her great sufferings to nurse back to life the sapling of Islam.
Her flawless genealogy is crystal clear to all. Her parents, Imam Ali (AS) and Hazrat Fatema Zahra (SA), need no introduction. If Prophet Muhammad (SAWA) was her maternal grandfather, her paternal grandfather was that protector of infant Islam, the Prophet’s beloved uncle and guardian, Hazrat Abu Taleb (AS). If her maternal grandmother was the Mother of all true Believers (Umm al-Momineen) Hazrat Khadija (SA) – the Maleekat al-Arab who had spent all her fabulous wealth for Islam – her paternal grandmother was Fatema bint Asad (SA), the lady who had brought up the orphaned Prophet as her own son.
The merits of Hazrat Zainab (SA), who gave her two youthful sons Aun and Muhammad as sacrifices for the cause of Islam at Karbala, do not end here, in view of the fact that her brothers are Imam Hasan (AS) and Imam Husain (AS), the Leaders of the Youth of Paradise. Moreover, she was married to her first cousin Abdullah (AS), who was brought up by the Prophet following the death of his father, Ja’far at-Tayyaar (AS) – the first migrant in Islam whose famous expounding of monotheism and the merits of Prophet Jesus (AS) and the Virgin Mary (SA) in the court of King Negus (Najashi) of Abyssinia (modern day Ethiopia) when the polytheists of Mecca pursued him there is recorded in golden letters.
Here I intend to mention some of the epithets of this Immaculate Lady for the defence of whose golden-domed shrine in Damascus from the attacks of the Takfiri terrorists, the followers of the Ahl al-Bayt have assembled in the Syrian capital.
(1) Siddiqat-as-Sughra (Truthful Lady the Younger, in view of the fact that her mother’s famous epithet is Siddiqat-al-Kubra – the Most Truthful Lady).
(2) Aqeelat-al-Bani Hashem (The Wise Lady of the Hashemite Clan, as narrators including the celebrated exegete Abdullah Ibn Abbas would refer to her while quoting a hadith on her authority).
(3) Umm al-Masa’eb (The Mother of Grief – because of her role in Karbala and its equally tragic aftermath).
(4) Muwasseqa (The Authoritative Lady).
(5) Fazelat-al-Kamela (The Perfectly Virtuous Lady).
(6) Abeda-e Aal-e Ali (The Pious Lady of the Alawid Family)
No wonder, in view of these matchless merits of his sister, it was the habit of Imam Husain (AS) to stand to his feet whenever Hazrat Zainab (AS) entered his presence.
Congratulations on the Blessed Birthday of Hazrat Zainab (SA)