ভূমিকা

Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Al-serat (a Journal of Islamic Studies) The Illustrious Period of the Imamate of Imam Zayn Al-'abidin Seyyid Saeed Akhtar Rizvi Al-Serat, Vol. 5 (1979), Nos. 3 & 4 No Imam began his Imamat in a more tragic atmosphere. The first day of his Imamat saw him seriously ill and a captive of the army of Yazid in Karbala.

His father and predecessor had sacrificed all he had on the altar of truth; and Imam Zayn al-'Abidin found himself with a group of helpless widows and orphans being led from place to place, from the durbar of Ibn Ziyad to the court of Yazid. Finally they were thrown into a prison, where the Imam spent the first year of his Imamat, cut off from the followers of his father and unable to look after their affairs. Understandably, the tragedy of Karbala had created a chaos in the Shi'a world.

Shi'as were in the throes of a dark pessimism, and the community was in disarray. A movement had already begun to accept Muhammad al Hanafiyah, son of Amir-ul-Mu'minin 'Ali as the 4th Imam. Muhammad al Hanafiyah himself had no such design. But the problem was: how to stop that movement without putting the life of Imam Zayn al-'Abidin in danger? Yazid had not hesitated to murder Imam Husayn in spite of the highest prestige the Imam had in the Muslims' eyes.

It would have been far more easier for him to kill Imam Zayn al-'Abidin a young man of 23 years of age, whose divine virtues were yet to shine before the Muslim community. And it was not in the interest of Islam that Imam Zayn al-'Abidin be martyred so soon after Imam Husayn. Altogether, Imam Zayn al-'Abidin had three difficult tasks before him: To announce his Imamat publicly without seeming to oppose outsiders.

To weld the community together, making a "tasbih" (rosary) out of the scattered beads - doing it in such a way as not to give Yazid and Yazidites an excuse to retaliate. To expand true faith, providing a beacon of light to guide the seekers of truth to the safety of true faith and virtuous deeds - doing it without attracting untoward attention of his enemies. Any of these Himalayan tasks would have defeated a lesser being.

But Imam Zayn al-'Abidin under divine guidance did achieve all these aims in such a beautiful and unobtrusive way that even his followers, who tremendously benefited, and are benefiting, from his superb leadership did not consciously realise how they were being guided.