Lady Zeinab: The Epitome of Dignity

Of course, we are not as aspirational and determined as Zaynab al-Kubra (s.a.) and therefore we cannot say that the behavior of this great lady is our model. We are too inferior to say such things, but anyway, our movement should be in line with the movement of Zaynab (s.a.). Our efforts should be focused on bringing dignity for Islam, the Islamic community and the entire humanity.

At the bazaar of Kufa, while she was held captive, she made this astonishing speech: “Oh people of Kufa, who are treacherous and disloyal, do you cry for us? May your tears not dry and may your moans not stop. You are like a woman who loosens her threads after she pulls them together” [al-Ihtijaj, Volume 2, page 303]. The words are as firm as steel and the meaning flows like a river and it influences hearts and souls. In such conditions, Zaynab al-Kubra delivered a speech, which was like the Commander of the Faithful (a.s.), and she shook hearts and souls and she shook history with these words. This speech became eternal in history. It was delivered in front of the people while she was held captive.

After that, she delivered a speech in front of Ibn Ziad in Kufa and a few weeks later, she spoke in front of Yazid with such strength that it both humiliated the enemy and the hardships which the enemy had imposed. She said, “Do you foolishly think that you can defeat, suppress and humiliate the household of the Holy Prophet (s.w.a.)?” “Honor belongs to Allah and His Messenger, and to the believers” [The Holy Quran, 63: 8]. Zaynab al-Kubra is the manifestation of dignity, as Hussain ibn Ali (a.s.) was the manifestation of dignity in Karbala on the day of Ashura.

The way she looks at events is different from the way other people look at those events. Despite all those hardships, when the enemy wants to taunt her, she says, “I did not see anything except for beauty” [Lohuf, page 160]. She said, “What I saw was beautiful. It was martyrdom. Although it was difficult, it was in the way of God and it was done for preserving Islam. It was the creation of an epic in history so that Islamic Ummah knows what it should do and how it should move forward and stand firm”. This is a great achievement made by the epic of Zaynab (s.a.). This is the dignity of God’s saint. Zaynab al-Kubra (s.a.) is one of God’s saints. Her dignity is the dignity of Islam and she made Islam and the Holy Quran valuable.

Of course, we are not as aspirational and determined as Zaynab al-Kubra (s.a.) and therefore we cannot say that the behavior of this great lady is our model. We are too inferior to say such things, but anyway, our movement should be in line with the movement of Zaynab (s.a.). Our efforts should be focused on bringing dignity for Islam, the Islamic community and the entire humanity. This is the same responsibility that Allah the Exalted has entrusted to prophets through Islamic obligations and rules.

The above is a part of Ayatollah Khamenei’s speech delivered on 20 November, 2013.