ভূমিকা

Lady Zaynab was (accurately) the third child born to Lady Fatima

Zahra (A). In other words, she was born directly after Imam Hussain

(A); despite the false claim of some historians who hold the opinion

that Zaynab was born after the miscarriage, which Lady Fatima had

and resulted in the martyrdom of Mohsin. These historians are

motivated by their desire to divert the attention from the merciless

attack on Lady Fatima's house which not only resulted in Mohsin's

martyrdom, but also in the eventual death of Lady Fatima herself. Among these writers is the Egyptian Bint Ash- Shati who wrote in her

"Zahra, the Prophet's daughter was about to give birth to a new baby

after bringing happiness unto Messenger's life by giving birth to his

beloved sons: Al-Hassan and Al-Hussain, and a third child, who was

not destined to live and whose name was to be Mohsin Ibn Ali..." [1]

Regardless of these unfounded claims, it has been established that

Lady Zaynab (A) was born in 5 A. H., and that she was the third child

of the honorable Alawi household. It is said that her grandfather, the Prophet named her Zaynab that is

derived from two words: "Zain" and "Ab" that together means "The

embellishment of her father." Yet, Muhammad Jawad Mughniah

quoted the Egyptian newspaper, Al-Jomhuria dated October 31, 1972,

in his book Al-Hussain Batala Karbala as saying:

"Zaynab was born in Shaban 5 A.H. When her mother brought her to

Imam Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) and said: "Name her" he

replied: "I would not name her before Allah's Messenger." At this time

the Prophet was on a trip and when he returned, he again refused to

name her before her Lord. So Gabriel descended to inform the

Prophet about Allah's blessings and said: "The name of this baby is

Zaynab; Allah chose this name for her."

Zaynab's history itself speaks of her honorable life and noble traits, as

well as the miseries she encountered during her childhood, such as

the death of her great grandfather, the martyrdom of her mother (A),

and the various inflictions which she lived through during the quarter of

a century that her father, Imam Ali (A), was confined to his house as a

result of his rights having been usurped by others. Moreover, when Zaynab emigrated from Medina to Kufa, her Father's