A small town flourished for the up keep of pilgrims who...

A small town flourished for the up keep of pilgrims who began to visit the grave of Husayn (as) and all the martyrs of Karbala’. Having being released from confinement in Damascus, Imam came to live in Madina with his family and to lead a quiet life. But the city was in revolt against the cruel regime of Yazid. Many tried to persuade the Imam to join them, but Imam knew their unreliability and he declined. So when Yazid’s army invaded Madina, they left the Imam’s family alone.

Yet he was greatly shocked to see how for three days the invading army led by Muslim Ibn Aqaba who was charged with invading Madina, tied their horses in the Prophet’s mosque, turning the sacred place into a filthy stable, killing hundreds of innocent people and playing havoc with chaste women. For three continuous days these beasts from Damascus ravaged the city and destroyed it. Imam had so much control over his emotions that he kept quiet.

When different revolutionary parties rose to avenge the blood of Imam Husayn, he wisely kept aloof from them whose uprisings he deemed untimely. No doubt Sulaiman Ibn Surad al-Khuzai and Mukhtar ibn Obaidah ath-Thaqafi avenged Imam’s precious blood. Imam Zainul Abedeen had compassion for them; he prayed for them and for their success and often enquired about those who were captured and executed by Yazid’s cruel regime. Certainly Mukhtar relieved the Imam’s wounded heart by punishing the culprits.

But the Imam was so cautious that his outward appearance gave the impression that he was indifferent, so much so that the cruel Government could not implicate him of any subversion. Times were hard in Madina for the family of the Prophet. Imam ‘Ali Ibn el Husayn(Sajjad became his title because of his intense prostrations in prayers) lived for another 35 years after the event of Karbala’. He was the Imam of the time and it was his duty to spread guidance to the people.

But how he would do that when a single word in favor of the Ahlul Bayt would have meant certain death. No one dared to say that he followed the family of the Prophet. The Imam survived with the sheer will power and providence. He used to go to the mosque of the Prophet and sometimes prayed there all night. These were special prayers in the shape of supplications with great significance than mere ritual.

These prayers were memorized by his companions, written down by his two sons, Mohammad and Zaid.