The view presented by the opponents not only proves that Allah forbid...

The view presented by the opponents not only proves that Allah forbid, Imam Zainul Aabideen was the son a slave girl, but it also alleges that, God forbid, he was illegitimate! The manager was having a similar view, but he was very surprised when I told him that even if the Caliphate of the three Caliphs was illegal, the relationship of Imam Husayn (a.s.) with Lady Shaharbano could not be considered illegal. She was not betrothed to Imam Husayn (a.s.) as a slave girl.

It should be clear that there is difference of opinion regarding the period when Shaharbano is reported to have come to Medina as a slave girl. Shaykh Mufid (a.r.) says that she came during the Caliphate of Ali (a.s.), Shaykh Ibn Babawayh says she came during the Caliphate of Uthman and Qutub Rawandi says she came during Umar’s Caliphate. Whatever may be the period of her arrival, the allegation of the opponents is not proved true in any case.

The sharing of war booty by Ali (a.s.) cannot be said to be illegal as we have stated above. Their sharing of the booty does not prove that they had approved the Caliphate of the three Caliphs. The research of this humble slave says that just as Shaykh Mufid (a.r.) has written, Lady Shaharbano came to Medina during the Caliphate of Ali (a.s.).

The Shaykh says, “After the Chief of the Martyrs, Imam Husayn (a.s.), the next Guide is the Chief of Prostrators, Imam Zainul Aabideen (a.s.) His mother was Shahezanaan, the daughter of King Yezdgird, son of Shahryar, son of Choesroe. Some say that her name was Shaharbano. Ali (a.s.) had appointed Harith bin Jabir Juhfi as the Governor on some Eastern province. He took two daughters of Choesroe as prisoners and sent them to Ali (a.s.).

Ali (a.s.) gave Shaharbano to Imam Husayn (a.s.) and the other one to Muhammad bin Abi Bakr. Lady Shaharbano gave birth to Imam Zainul Aabideen and the other girl gave birth to Qasim Ibn Muhammad. Maulavi Sayyid Shah Muhammad Kabir Danapuri (r.a.) has certified the research of Shaykh Mufid (a.r.). The Shah writes in his well known book, Tazkeratul Kiraam, Tarikh Khilafa Arabo Islam[^1] that the above incident took place during the Caliphate of Ali (a.s.).

It should be clear that this book was based on various English and Persian books and published by Naval Kishore Press. The writer was a great scholar of the Sufi School.