By: Seyyed Ali Shahbaz
     
 “O’ Allah! Curse the first tyrant who usurped the right of Muhammad and the progeny of Muhammad, and the next one who followed him on this path.”
The above phrase of the famous “Ziyarat-al-Ashura” for the Martyr of Karbala, which the faithful recite on the anniversary of the martyrdom of Imam Husain (AS) – Muharram 10 – as well as on other days of the year whenever they wish to salute in a proper manner the grandson of Almighty’s Last and Greatest Messenger to all mankind, Prophet Muhammad (SAWA).
The first tyrant, who oppressed the Prophet’s Immaculate Ahl al-Bayt and deprived them of the Divinely Decreed right of the leadership of the Ummah, was not Shimr the killer of Imam Husain (AS). Nor was it the tyrannical governor of Iraq, Obaidullah ibn Ziyad who sent the brutal hordes to Karbala under Omar ibn Sa’d. Neither the Godless Yazid ibn Mu’awiyyah who masqueraded as caliph.
Then who initiated terrorism in the history of Islam and committed such unpardonable crimes against the Prophet’s progeny, despite claiming to be a Muslim?
The answer warrants the recognition of the prime victim of terrorism amongst the Ahl al-Bayt of the Seal of Divine Messengers. 
It is irony of history that without the least doubt, the first and foremost member of the Ahl al-Bayt to be oppressed and finally martyred as a result of the first ever act of terrorism in the history of Islam was none other than the Prophet’s Immaculate Daughter, Hazrat Fatema Zahra (SA) – whose martyrdom anniversary we are commemorating these days.
No sooner did her father leave the mortal world, her house was stormed by the first ever terrorist in the history of Islam. She was pinned between the blazing door of her house and the wall, and suffered miscarriage – the stillborn Mohsin being the first martyr of the Ahl al-Bayt – for refusing to hand over to the coup leaders, her husband, the Prophet’s Divinely-designated heir, Imam Ali ibn Taleb (AS).
Hazrat Fatema (SA) was thus the first Mujahid in the history of Islam after the passing away of the Prophet who rose in defence of the fundamentals of the message entrusted to her father by God. She drew a permanent line between genuine Islam and hypocrisy. Here is a part of her famous elegy addressed to the Prophet that provides us a glimpse of her sufferings at the hands of tyrants and terrorists who shamelessly called themselves Muslims:  
“Father! I remain bewildered and lonely; confused and lonesome. My voice is subdued. My back is broken. My life is disturbed…Surely, after you, (God’s) revelations, the place of (the Archangel) Gabriel’s descent and (the Angel) Michael’s station have vanished. Father! Motives have changed and gates have been shut in my face.” 
“Father! I will forever be sorrowful until we are reunited. Father! We became after you among the oppressed. Father! People shun us after you, after glorification by your presence. Father! How gloomy are your meeting places (without your presence)! How pained I am for you, until I soon join you! How bereaved is Abu’l-Hasan (Imam Ali), the father of your two (grand)sons Hasan and Husain; your beloved one; he whom you brought up as a youth, and made your brother as a man; the most beloved of your companions to you; Abu’l-Hasan, who was the first to migrate and help you.”
In the hadith compilation titled “Sahih Bukhari” – a book revered by our Sunni brethren – the Prophet is quoted as saying: “Fatema is a part of me; whoever displeases her has displeased me.” 
Why would anyone, however, displease such a paragon of virtue, whom God hails in the holy Qur’an as “Kowsar” or the Blessed Spring of Perpetual Abundance? 
Were not the companions of the Prophet aware of her prime position as the fulcrum of faith? 
Had they not watched in amazement and admiration the veiled figure of the Immaculate Fatema (SA) accompanying her father – along with her husband and two sons – to the memorable “Mubahela” (invoking of God’s curse on the liars) on revelation of Ayah 61 of Surah Aal-e Imran to meet the challenge of the Christians of Najran. 
No one can deny these facts. Alas, no sooner did the Prophet pass away things abruptly changed for his beloved daughter and her family. The political right of leadership of her husband was usurped at Saqifa Bani Sa’dah by a group of her father’s companions – greedy for rule of the Islamic state that neither the Prophet willed for them nor has God indicated in the holy Qur’an.
Next, her own rights were seized, including the patrimony of the Orchard of Fadak, which the Prophet had given her in his lifetime and whose income she spent for the upkeep of the poor and the destitute. 
Matters worsened by the day. In order to defend not just her own rights or the rights of inheritance of Muslim women, but also the Divinely-Decreed right of Imam Ali (AS), she delivered the memorable sermon in the court of the self-styled caliph and his clique. It remains a flawlessly eloquent sermon providing guidelines for Muslims concerning the fundamentals of faith, including Towhid (monotheism), Adl (divine justice), Ma’ad (resurrection), Nubuwwah (prophethood) and Wilayah (God-given authority of the Prophet’s progeny). 
Her words fell on deaf ears, and failed to jolt the conscience of the neo-Muslims who before paying lip service to Islam had spent their entire life in idol-worship and all other abominable crimes and sins of the Days of Ignorance. In her last will, she instructed her aggrieved husband: 
“I ask you not to let anyone who did injustice to me to witness my funeral, for they certainly are enemies of mine, and the enemy of Allah’s Messenger. Also don’t give them the chance to pray over me, nor to any of their followers. Burry me at night when eyes are at rest and sight is put to sleep.”
Imam Ali (AS) carried out the wishes of his beloved wife in the dead of night on the 3rd Jamadi al-Akher (95 days after the Prophet’s passing away). He laid her to eternal rest at an unmarked and still unknown spot in Medina, so that the shadow of those that had displeased her and committed their unpardonable act of terrorism against the Prophet’s progeny, would never fall upon it, nor would any future blasphemers, such as the Wahhabis of our times, would be able to desecrate it. 
       It would not be out of context to refer here to an incident that has been widely quoted by even our Sunni brethren. When the morning after her burial the coup leaders tried to make a tumult by threatening to dig up the whole place in order to find the grave of Hazrat Fatema (SA), the patience of Imam Ali (AS) almost snapped, as he grabbed the first tyrant, shook him and threw him to the ground, saying:
“Son of the Sawada! I have abandoned my right to prevent people from forsaking their faith, but as regards Fatema’s grave, by Him in whose hand is my soul, if you and your followers attempt to do anything to it, I will irrigate the ground with your blood!”