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5th of Shabaan 1435 AH - the birth anniversary of Syed-us-Sajideen - Imam Ali Zain-al-Abideen(as)- the fourth Holy Imam. This is a disputed date. More widely accepted date of his birth is 15th Jamadi-al-Awwal in the 38 Hijra.

His Birth and Titles

The 4th Imam after Imam Hussain(as) was his son Imam Ali Zain-al- Abideen(as). His mother was Bibi Shahr Bano who was a princess from Persia, the daughter of the Kind Yazd Gard II.

His title Zain-al-Abideen was granted to him by the Holy Prophet(sawaw) himself who mentioned that on the day of judgment a call for Zain-al-Abideen will be made and my son Ali bin al- Hussain(as) will respond to the call saying “Labbaik”. His other Title, Syed-us-Sajideen, was given because of his devotion to prayers. He would pray for long durations especially during the nights and would offer many prayers of gratitude - Namaz-e-Shukrana – for which he was also given the title of Sajjad.

Imam Sajjad(as) spent the first 2 years of his life under the care of his grandfather Imam Ali(as) and after his death in 40 AH, he was brought up under the care of the 2nd Imam Hasan(as). Imam Sajjad(as) was married to Bibi Fatima(as) - daughter of Imam Hasan(as). Imam Hasan(as) was martyred in 50 AH and the Imammat of Imam Hussain(as) started which terminated on 10th Moharram 61 AH from where the Imammat of Imam Sajjad(as) began.

Period of Imammat

Imam Sajjad(as) was about 22 or 23 years old when the sad event of Karbala occurred. Allah(swt) so arranged that Imam Sajjad(as) became severely ill before that battle and could not participate as a fighter. He asked the permission to fight in the battle but Imam Hussain(as) told him that he had been assigned a different type of “Jihad” that was to start after the martyrdom of Imam Hussain(as) - namely leading the women and children of the household of Prophet Mohammad(sawaw) into the bazars and courts of Kufa and Damascus. Imam Sajjad(as) was made a prisoner of war together with the whole family of the Prophet Mohammad(sawaw). It was at this time that he was given the responsibility of Imammat. His was one of the most difficult times that any Imam had to see. Truly speaking, for him it would have been very easy to die on the battlefield as a martyr rather than to be taken as prisoner of war and see all the humiliations put on him and on the womenfolk of the household of the Prophet(sawaw). However, he did what Allah(swt) wished him to do.

After the martyrdom of Imam Hussain(as), the survival of Islam depended on Imam Zainul Abideen(as), and that also at a tender age of 22. He had a very hard job of letting the world know the mission of Imam Hussain(as) and exposing the evil intentions of Yazid and the Bani Umayyah. He had to keep the message of Islam alive and save it from being confused by the evil Bani Umayyah. The tradition of azadari-e-Imam Hussain(as) which has continued from then on until today proves how successful Imam Sajjad(as) was in his mission.

His life upon returning to Madina

Yazid had to free the Imam(as) out of fear of his own rulership, therefore, Imam(as) was still not completely safe from his evil designs even upon reaching back to Madina. Once in Madina, Imam(as) gathered the people and told them the horrifying stories of Karbala and informed them that his father Imam Hussain(as) and his companions were martyred and his family members were made prisoners and were taken from one city to another and branded as traitors.

Imam Sajjad(as) started regular mourning sessions right from the day he arrived in Madina and apprised the people of the hard times that the family of the Prophet(sawaw) had to go through. Day in and day out, people used to go to Imam(as) and present condolences and hear the events of Karbala. Once a visitor named Noman came to Imam(as) and asked him which was the most difficult time he had to face and the Imam(as) cried for a long time and three times said "AS-SHAAM AS-SHAAM AS-SHAAM". Another visitor asked him as to how long would he continue mourning and crying and he replied that Prophet Ayub(as) had 12 sons and only one of them got lost and he know that he was still alive but he continued crying until his eyes became white and his back got bent - I had seen 18 members of my family being slaughtered around me like sheep and you ask me as to how long I would continue mourning.

During his remaining 34 years in Madina, Imam Sajjad(as) concentrated only upon devoting himself to supplicating Allah(swt) and spreading the events of Karbala through mourning of Imam Hussain(as) in his daily life.

Sahifa-e-Kamila and Risalatal Huqooq

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Another task that Imam Sajjad(as) did after coming back from Syria was that he started praying and saying supplications with full devotion. His devotion was so strong and felt by his companions and visitors that they started collecting his supplications which still exist by the name of SAHIFA-E-KAMILA. It is also known as SAHIFA-E-SAJJADIA. It consists of 54 Duas, 14 additional duas and 15 Munajaat.

In addition to the SAHIFA there are several other supplications of the Imam(as) which appear under different cover names – titles. Another notable work of Imam Sajjad(as) was the compilation of the charter of rights known as RISALATAL HUQOOQ.

His martyrdom

Even in the quiet and solitude of life the fourth Imam(as) was not tolerated by the rulers of bani-ummaya. He was arrested one more time during his 34 years in Madina by Abdul Malik ibne Marwan who later released him after 3 days of detention in Damascus. Finally the cruel ruler Waleed bin Abdul Malik had him martyred by poison on 25 Muharram 95 AH in Madina.

Article from Ziaraat.Com