Right from
the advent of Islam, there have been great personalities whose mention makes us
realize their contribution towards the divine religion. The sacrifice, worship
and etiquettes of the fourteen infallibles are matchless and incomparable.
However, there are others who were attached to the household of Holy Prophet
(a) and justified their connection with the Ahle Bait (a) on the basis of their
sincere actions and absolute submission. This appeasement is not gender bias
and includes all categories of humans. We cannot belittle the beneficence of
ladies in supporting Islam and it is our duty pay our regards to them.
There have
been many glorious ladies passed in antiquity whose status, the Holy Prophet
(s) has introduced in the following tradition
قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ص أَفْضَلُ نِسَاءِ الْجَنَّةِ
أَرْبَعٌ خَدِيجَةُ بِنْتُ خُوَيْلِدٍ وَ فَاطِمَةُ بِنْتُ مُحَمَّدٍ وَ مَرْيَمُ
بِنْتُ عِمْرَانَ وَ آسِيَةُ بِنْتُ مُزَاحِمٍ امْرَأَةُ فِرْعَوْن
The Holy
Prophet (s) said: the best of women on paradise are four viz: Khadija bint
Khuwailid, Fatima bint Mohammad (s), Maryam bint Imran and Aasiya bint
Mazaahim, the wife of Firaun
(Ref: Bihar
ul Anwar V 13, Pg 162 H 3).
However, our
discussion is regarding a lady whose sacrifice came on a day which is matchless
in the history of mankind. She has had the honor of being a wife to an Imam and
two Imams and other members of the pure tree calling her as their mother. Our
thousands and thousands of salutations to this revered lady whom the mourners
of Sayyid us Shohada remember as Janabe Ummul Baneen, mother of Abil Fazlil
Abbas (a).
Her name was
Fatima bint Hizaam bin Khalid bin Rabi’atah al-Kilabiyah. She belonged to
al-Kilab tribe and was the cousin of Shimr bin Ziljawshan (la).
There are
indications on the internet (w/o reference) that she was born in 5 AH.
The chapter
of her life which is famous and is well known among historians is that after a
few years of the martyrdom of J. Fatima Zahra (s), Ameerul Momineen (a)
intended to re-marry with the intention of a child from this marriage who would
represent him and defend Imam Husain (a) in Karbala. He requested his brother
Aqil bin Abi Talib who was an expert in genealogy to look for a bride for him
in a family famous for their courage and bravery. Thus, on the recommendation
of J. Aqil he (a) tied knots with J. Ummul Baneen (sa).
J. Ummul
Baneen knew very well that she can never replace the position of J. Fatima
Zahra (s) hence never considered herself to be the wife of Imam Ali (a) and
mother of his children. She always called herself a servant of the Ahlul Bait.
May be for this reason, never did Hazrat Abbas (a) referred to Imam Hasan, Imam
Husain, J. Zainab and J. Umm Kulsum (a) as siblings but always called them as
masters or mistresses respectively.
She had four
sons hence she was called as Ummul Baneen (Mother of many children). All the
four sons were martyred in a single day at Karbala.
She had
trained all her children to be loyal to Ahlil Bait (a) even at the cost of
their lives. May be that is a reason that when Shimr (la) received the letter
of Ibn Ziyad (la), he along with Abdullah b. Abi Mahal,
approached Ubaydillah (la) to plead exemption for the sons of his
paternal aunt, Ummul Baneen (s). The latter complied
with this request and issued a letter. Abdullah b. Abi Mahal ordered his
freed slave,Karman, to deliver the letter to his nephews.
Karman did as ordered and handed over the letter to Janabe Ummul
Baneen’s sons. However, the latter did not even bother reading the message.
They said that they would never accept any immunity from Ibne Ziyad as Allah’s
promise of deliverance was more veracious than that of Ibne Ziyad (la).
Tabari writes further, that on the eve of Ashoora, which happened to be a
Thursday, Shimr approached Imam Hussain’s camp. He demanded,
Where
are my nephews?
Hearing him,
Hazrat Abbas, J. Abdullah, J. Usman and J. Ja’far, stepped out of their tents.
They asked him,
What do you
want with us?’
Shimr (la)
replied,
I bring
tidings of reprieve for all of you?
They retorted
contemptuously,
Curse be upon
you and your reprieve! You, our uncle, are willing to offer us immunity but
deprive the Prophet’s son of it..
(Tarikh-e-Tabari
part IV, page, 241-242, printed by Nafis Academy, Karachi).
The sons of
J. Ummul Baneen chose martyrdom over amnesty. This was the result of the
training of their mother that through their sacrifice they made theirs and
their mothers’ remembrance immortal. Whenever the sorrows of Karbala will be
recited the name of J. Ummul Baneen will be taken with utmost respect.
She left for
heavenly abode a few years after the battle of Karbala. She is buried in Jannat
ul Baqi on the left hand side of the cemetery.
To conclude,
let us refer to the last sentences of Ziyarat where we plead to her with these
words
يا وجيهة عند الله ، اشفعي لنا عند الله
O the
incumbent one to Allah, you intercede for us near Allah.
Such is the
magnificence of the mother of Abil Fazl that she is qualified to intercede for
believers on the Day of Judgment. May Allah include us among the mourners of her
sons. InshaAllah
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