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 capital then, several misfortunes were destined for her; starting with the martyrdom of Imam Ali (A). This was followed by fierce battles between her brother, Al-Hassan, and Mu'awiya, which resulted in the poisoning of the Imam (A). After several years, Zaynab faced the greatest disaster of history when Imam Hussain along with the prominent Hashemite men were massacred at Karbala by the Umayyad’s. After massacring the men, Zaynab and the women were taken to Syria, but she did not panic nor did she give into the enemy. From Syria she was sent to Medina and then exiled to Egypt to live the Digitized by: www.playandlearn.org 161 Zaynab's tomb is well-known in Egypt today and is visited by believers from all over the world. (There is disagreement about the location of Zaynab's tomb; it is believed by most to be located in Syria.)