Sayyid Muhammad Rizvi
(Toronto, Canada)
Who is my father?
I am the son of the person killed unjustly, the son of one whose head was severed from the back of the
neck, I am the son of the one who was thirsty till the last moment, I am the son of one who was abandoned in Karbala, I am the son of the one whose blood soaked in the dust – I am the son of the one who was slaughtered in Karbala.
I am the son of the one on whom the angels of the heavens cried, I am the son of the one on whom the jinn in the earth and birds in the sky wailed. I am the son of the one whose head was paraded on the spear; I am the son of the one whose family was made prisoners from Iraq to Sham.
According to the narrations, Imam Zayn Al-Abidin continued to say “I am…” and “I am…” until the people started to cry and Yazid feared their reaction. Then Yazid asked the mu’adhdhin to sound the call for prayer so that the Imam would be forced to stop his speech.
The mu’adhdhin started the call for prayer. He said, “Allahu akbar – Allah is the greatest,” and the Imam affirmed the greatness of Allah. Then the mu’adhdhin said, “Ash-hadu an la ilaha il-lal-lah – I bear witness that there is no god but Allah,” and the Imam affirmed the unity of God.When the mu’adhdhin uttered the third phrase of the adhan, “ash-hadu anna Muhammadan Rasululah – I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah,” the Imam turned towards Yazid and said:
O Yazid! This Muhammad is my grandfather or your grandfather? If you say that he is your grandfather,
then you are a liar and you will become kafir; and if you say that he is my grandfather, then why did you
kill his family? Why did you kill my father and made his women captives?
Yazid ordered the mu’adhdhin to start the iqamah to start the prayer. Imam Zayn Al-Abidin’s speech had such an impact that many people stood up and left without praying behind Yazid.
Conclusion
The sermon of Lady Zaynab exposed the true face of the family of Abu Sufyan to the people of Sham, and the sermon of Imam Zayn Al-Abidin showed the true status of the Ahlul Bayt to the people of Sham. Its immediate result was that Yazid feared the reaction of the people and started distancing himself from the killing of Imam Husayn bin ‘Ali and blaming everything on Ibn Ziyad! He was forced to release the family of Ahlul Bayt and send them to Medina respectfully.
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