This is a story about pure love
between Saidina Zainab RA bint Muhammad
SAW and Abu El'Ass ibn Rabee'; Zainab was the daughter of the Prophet (PBUH)
and her cousin Abu El'Ass, was Khadeeja's (RA) nephew. He was one of the nobles
of the Quraish, and Rasulullah SAW loved him very much.
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One day Abu El'Ass went to the
Rasulullah SAW before he had received his mission of Rasul of Allah and said:
"I want to marry your eldest daughter". So Rasulullah SAW replied: "I must ask her first".
He (SAW) went to Zainab and asked her: "Your cousin came to me and he
wishes to marry you, do you accept him as your husband?" Her face turned
red with bashfulness and she smiled. So Saidina Zainab RA married Abu El'Ass, the beginning of a great
love story. They had two children; Ali and Omama. Then Muhammad SAW became a
Rasul of Allah while Abu El'Ass was away
from Makkah. Abu El'Ass returned to find his wife a Muslim. When he first came
back, his wife said "I have great news for you". He stood up and left
her. Saidina Zainab RA was surprised and
followed him as she said, "My father became a Rasul of Allah and I have
become a Muslim". He replied, "Why didn't you tell me first?"
Hence a big problem began between the two; a problem of religion and belief.
She told him, "I wasn't
going to disbelieve in my father and his message, he is not a liar, and he is
"The Honest and Trustworthy". I'm not the only believer; my mother
and my sisters became Muslims, my cousin Ali ibn Abi Talib RA became a Muslim,
your cousin Othman ibn Affan RA became a Muslim, and your friend, Abu Bakr
RA became a Muslim". He replied,
"Well, as for me, I don't want people to say, 'he let down his people and
his forefathers to please his wife'. And I am not accusing your father of
anything". Then he said, "So will you excuse me and understand?"
She replied, "Who will excuse and understand you if I don't? I will stay
beside you and help you until you reach the truth." And she kept her word
for 20 years.
Abu El'Ass remained an
unbeliever, and then came the migration.Sadina Zainab RA went to her father and
asked him for the permission to stay with her husband. Rasulullah SAW replied,
"Stay with your husband and children". So Saidina Zainab RA stayed in Makkah, until the battle of Badr
occurred. Abu El'Ass was to fight in the army of Quraish against the Muslims.
For Saidina Zainab RA, it meant that her husband will be fighting her father, a
time Saidina Zainab RA had always
feared. She kept crying out: "O Allah, I fear one day the sun may rise and
my children become orphans or I lose my father".
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So the battle started, and ended
in victory for the Muslims. Abu El'Ass was captured by the Muslims, and news of
this reached Makkah. Saidina Zainab RA asked, "What did my father
do?" They told her, "The Muslims won". So she prayed to Allah,
thanking Him. Then she asked: "What did my husband do?" They said:
"He was captured". She said, "I'll send a payment to release
him". She didn't own anything of much value, so she took off her mother's
necklace, and sent it with Abu El'Ass's brother to Rasulullah SAW.
While Rasulullah SAW was sitting,
taking payments and releasing captives, he saw Saidina Khadeeja's necklace. He
held it up and asked: "Whose payment is this?" They said: "Abu
El'Ass ibn Rabee". He cried and said "This is Khadeeja's
necklace". As soon as the Rasulullah SAW, saw that necklace, he had a feeling of extreme
compassion and his heart palpitated for the great memory. The Companions who
were present there gazed in amazement having being captivated by the magnificence
of the situation. After a long silence, Rasulullah SAW stood up and said "People, this man is my
son in-law, should I release him? And do you accept the return of this necklace
to my daughter?" They answered in unison "Yes, Rasulullah".
Rasulullah SAW gave the necklace
to Abu El'Ass and said to him: "Tell Zainab not to give away Khadeeja's
necklace". Then he (SAW) said, "Abu El'Ass, Can we speak
privately?" He took him aside and said, "Allah has ordered me to
separate between a Muslim and a disbeliever, so could you return my daughter to
me?" Abu El'Ass reluctantly agreed.
Saidina Zainab RA stood on the gates of Makkah waiting for the
arrival of Abu El'Ass. When he finally came he said, "I am going
away". She asked, "Where to?" He replied, "It is not me who
is going, it is you. You are going to your father. We must separate because you
are a Muslim". She implored him, "Will you become a Muslim and come
with me?" But he refused. So Saidina Zainab RA took her son and daughter and traveled to Madinah,
and for 6 years she refused to remarry, hoping that one day Abu El'Ass would
come.
After 6 years, Abu El'Ass was
traveling in a caravan from Makkah to Syria. During the journey, he was intercepted
by some of Rasulullah SAW companions. He escaped and asked for Zainab's home.
He knocked on her door shortly before the dawn prayer. She opened the door and
asked him "Did you become a Muslim?" He whispered "No, I come as
a fugitive". She implored him once more "Can you become a
Muslim?" Again his answer was a negative. "Do not worry." She
said, "Welcome my cousin, welcome, the father of Ali and Omama".
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After Rasulullah SAW prayed the
dawn prayer in congregation with the people, they heard a voice from the back
of the mosque, "I have freed Abu El'Ass ibn Rabee". Zainab had
granted Abu El'Ass' freedom. Rasulullah SAW asked, "Have you heard what I
heard?" They all said, "Yes, Rasul of Allah".Saidina Zainab RA said, "He is my cousin and the
father of my children and I have freed him". Rasulullah SAW stood up and
said, "O people, I declare that this man was a very good son-in-law, he
never broke his promise, and neither did he tell lies. So if you accept, I will
return his money back and let him go. If you refuse it's your decision and I
will not blame you for it." The companions agreed, "We will give him his
money". So Rasulullah SAW said to
Zainab RA, "We have freed the one you have freed, O Zainab." Then he
(SAW) went to her and told her "be generous to him, he is your cousin and
the father of your children, but don't let him get near you, he is prohibited
for you." She replied, "Sure, father, I'll do as you say".
She went in and told her husband,
"O Abu El'Ass, didn't you miss us at all? Won't you become a Muslim and
stay with us?" But he refused. Abu El'Ass then took the money and returned
to Makkah. Once he returned he stood up and announced, "O people, here is
your money. Is there anything left?" They replied, "No, Abu El'Ass,
there is nothing left, thanks a lot." So Abu El'Ass said, "I testify
that there is no god but Allah, and Muhammed is His Messenger." Then he
went back to Madinah and ran to towards
as he said, "Dear Rasulullah, you freed me yesterday, and today I
say that I testify there is no god but Allah and you are His Messenger."
He asked Rasulullah SAW, "Will you
give me the permission to go back to Zainab?" Rasulullah smiled and said, "Come with me"; he
took him to Saidina Zainab's RA house and knocked on her door. Rasulullah SAW said, "O Zainab, your cousin came to me
and asked if he can return to you". Just like 20 years before, her face
turned red with bashfulness and she smiled.
The sad thing was, a year after
this incident, Saidina Zainab RA passed away.. Abu El'Ass shed hot tears
because of her death and drove those who were around him to tears. Rasulullah
SAW came with eyes full of tears and a
heart full of sorrow. Zainab's death reminded him of the death of his wife,
Khadeejah. He told the women, who gathered around Zainab's corpse, "Wash
her three times and use camphor in the third wash." He performed funeral
prayers on her and followed her final resting place. Abu El'Ass returned to his
children, Ali and Omama. Kissing them and wetting them with his tears, he
remembered the face of his departed darling.
May Allah be pleased
with Saidina Zainab RA , The daughter of Rasulullah passed away.! May He reward
her with Paradise for her patience, endurance and struggle! Abu El'Ass would
cry so profusely that the people saw Rasulullah SAW himself weeping and calming
him down.
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"Abu El'Asr would say, "By
Allah, I can't stand life anymore without Zainab". He died one year after
Zainab's death."
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Another
beautiful rendering about the love of the wife for her husband
Everyone
comes into this world with predicaments. Some find it difficult to reach
decisions while others have simple choices to make. Nevertheless, decisions
need to be made in order to move overcome such obstacles and sometimes even the
easiest decision can become an obstacle especially when made with the wrong
intentions. Muslims today do not face the challenges as the Sahabah Nabi
(Companions of the Prophet), but it pays to understand their underlying motives
when looking at predicaments. One good story is told of Zainab, the eldest
daughter of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and her plight to make the
hardest decisions of a woman’s life.
When
Prophet Muhammad received his first revelation, Zainab was already married to
Abul-Aas ibn Rabi. Upon learning of her father’s appointment as the last
Prophet, Zainab along with her mother Khadijah, and her sisters Ruqayyah, Umm
Kulthum and Fatimah were the first women and young girls who embraced Islam.
Their
reversion in silence, along with other Muslims, was suddenly shattered when the
Prophet received revelation to announce to Makkah that there was only one God
worthy of worship, and he, Prophet Muhammad, was the final Messenger. Families
began to divide. Brothers lost brothers to this new faith. Parents lost
children; and some children lost their parents. Husbands and wives disagreed
and fought. Family heads were appalled at changes in religious beliefs of their
son-in-laws and daughter-in-laws. Many were expelled from the family home.
There was
Zainab. In the clamor of confusion and a strong resistance to acceptance of
Islam by the heavyweights of the Quraish, Zainab and Abul-Aas’ marriage
remained intact. Yet amidst the pressure and insult that fell upon Abul-Aas and
his wife, they remained married amongst the controversies that surrounded their
union. He remained “tolerant,” as many scholars described. Yet, tolerance was a
feeble excuse for the proud pagan Arabs – tolerance did not exist – especially
in a society that had suddenly been condemned by a man named Muhammad, who
previously to his submission to One God, had been trusted by his community.
When the
Muslims emigrated to Madinah, to start the first civilization known to mankind,
Zainab was alone again – within the sea of non-believers – married to a man who
did not share her love for Islam. Soon, a huge battle ensued between the
Muslims and the pagan Arabs of Makkah - the Battle of Badr. Sources narrate
that there were tears in the Muslims’ eyes as they fought against their brothers,
cousins, uncles, neighbors, friends and former colleagues. It must have been no
less teary for Zainab.
The outcome
of Badr was also bittersweet for her. When her husband did not return from the
battlefield, she knew he was being held captive by the Muslims, and her father
was alive and safe. Back in Madinah, Prophet Muhammad was collecting blood
money for the captives. One by one he freed the captives as the blood money
trickled in. When it came to Abul-Aas’ package, the Prophet paled, as attached
to the money was an onyx necklace – one that belonged to Khadijah. He ordered
for the money and the necklace to be returned to his estranged daughter, along
with her husband. However, he spoke gently with Abul-Aas, to free Zainab from
her marriage, as by then, a revelation directed that she could no longer be
married to a non-Muslim man.
Her
departure was heartbreaking. She left to live her life as a Muslim without
barriers, but Abul-Aas was still using Islam as a barrier for their
relationship. He was still unable to forsake the beliefs of his fore-fathers.
As she left for Madinah, the men of the Abd Shams tribe became outraged that a
woman of their clan was being transported to the Muslims. They had barely
recovered from the vile defeat in Badr and stopped her from leaving Makkah.
An escort
later transported Zainab and her daughter, Umamah, by night where they safely
arrived at
Madinah to be reunited with her family. Zainab was finally able to live her life as a liberated Muslim, attending prayers with her family and working towards the betterment of a progressive society. During her time at Madinah, she also experienced a perilous siege upon the Muslim community. The people of Makkah were back to attack the Muslims in Madinah. Her father along with his consultative panel strategized to play on the defensive, digging a trench around the vulnerable border of Madinah. “The Battle of the Trench,” as it was called, marked an unfavourable turning point for the army from Makkah.
Months
followed and the Muslims were instructed to counter trade caravans from Makkah
that were travelling past Madinah. A caravan returning from Syria was captured
and the merchandise and employees were brought to Madinah. However, one man,
amongst a few, escaped. He made his way carefully to Madinah in the middle of
the night, and by some miracle he knocked on the right door.
Zainab left
quietly for dawn prayers with her family members. She stood amongst the female
congregation, in the front row, with her sisters and the Mothers of Believers
(the Prophet’s wives). As she saw her father with a congregation of men, Zainab
waited for a moment of silence and cried out with all her heart, “O people, I
give protection to Abul-Aas, the son of Rabi.” Concerned by her situation, her
father hurried over to Zainab and reminded, “Receive him with all honour, but
let him not come to you as a husband, for you are not his by law.” He then
turned to his followers and beseeched them to have mercy upon his former
son-in-law who was also his late wife’s nephew. After his last transaction,
Abul-Aas embraced Islam. The Prophet reinstated his marriage to Zainab. It was
one of the happiest days of his family and the city of Madinah rejoiced at
their reunion.
Choosing
her husband over her family and later her religion over her husband makes
Zainab’s predicaments the most compelling decisions in a believing Muslimah’s
life. Yet she chose again and again between two impossible alternatives, with a
single guiding light – Allah and His Messenger. She was abandoned several
times, forcing herself to live amongst non-Muslims who despised her father. She
feared her father’s life as she did for her husband’s on several occasions and
sometimes at the same time.
There were
times when her own life was threatened and her divorce took a toll on her
mental and physical self. She was torn between two loves time and time again;
yet she chose each time – and chose wisely – one man above the other man, both
whom she loved dearly.
The driving
force behind Zainab’s steadfastness could only be one thing – her faith – her
undying love for the one religion that saved her life on many occasions, her
father’s life and her husband’s life – it was the choice of Islam.
