Eid-e-Zahra- An Occasion for Great Celebration

Dr.Mazhar Naqvi Heartiest greetings of Eid-e-Zahra to all the lovers of Ahle-Bait. The day is indeed the greatest celebration (Eid) for them. The 9th Rabi al-Awwal is known as Eid-E-Zahra (Festival of Bibi Fatima)as on this day joy and happiness had returned to the family of Ahle-Bait 3 or 4 years after the tragedy of Karbala. Since the martyrdom of Imam Hussain and his companions on 10th Muharram in 61 Hijri, the family members of the Prophet Muhammad had continuously mourned. Then Janab-e-Mukhtar vowed to rose to avenge the blood of Imam Hussain. He hunted every killer of Karbala with the help of Ibrahim, son of Maula Ali’s great companion Malik-e-Ashtar and executed them. Finally, Umar ibn Saad, commander-in-chief of Yazid's army at Karbala and Ubaidullah ibn Ziyad , governor of Kufa, also landed in the custody Mukhtar.Umar ibn Saad was the wretched criminal who was the first one to shoot an arrow towards Imam Hussain and  proclaimed, "O people of Kufa and Shaam, be witness hereto on the Day of Judgment, that I am the one who is the first to shoot an arrow at Hussain". Ubaidullah Ibn Ziyad had sent thousands of soldiers under the leadership of Umar Ibn Saad from Kufa to surround and slaughter Imam. It was he who had also sent Shimr with a letter to kill Imam Hussain without any delay.He beheaded them and sent their heads to Imam Zain-ul-Abideen. These heads reached Imam on the 9th Rabi -ul-Awwal in Medina and on seeing them, Imam  offered  Sajda-e-Shukr(prostration) and said, "I thank Allah who kept me alive to this day so that I could see the heads of the tyrants who killed my father." He then instructed the members of his family to remove the clothes of mourning, adorn themselves and celebrate the day with joy and happiness.  Further, 9th Rabi-ul-Awwal also happens to be the first official day of the Imamate (leadership) of living Imam Mehdi-the awaited one. While celebrating Eid-e-Zahra, the lovers of Ahle-Bait should also prepare themselves to face gracefully the hidden Imam after his reappearance. The believers should always pray to Allah specifically on this day to keep them on right path and prevent them from any negligence in discharging duties towards the awaited Imam. Believers need to remember the famous Hadees of Holy Prophet who had stated “ The world will not come to an end until a man from my family  and of my name shall be master of the world, When you see a green ensign coming from the direction of Khorasan, then join him, for the Imam of God will be with the standard and be called Al-Mahdi."The 10th Imam Hadi also said “"9th of Rabi al-Awwal is the day of Eid. It is our greatest Eid and the Eid of our followers."

Ahmad ibn Ishaq al-Qummi was a great companion of our 11th Imam, Imam Hassan Askari who was martyred n 8ith Rabi ul Awwal. He too has recorded “ I visited Imam Hassan Askari on 9th Rabi-ul-Awwal and noticed that his ring was shinning. The people of his household wore new clothes and had applied perfume. When I asked the reason, Imam Hassan Askari, father of Awaited Imam said, 'Today is 9th Rabi al-Awwal. It is the day of Eid for us and for our followers”. While rejoicing at Eid-e-Zahra, lovers of Panjatan should also pray for the hastening of the Imam Mehdi’s appearance as the 21st century world is terror-stricken, full of troubles, poverty and other afflictions and only he can liberate people from  their sufferings. (Photo Courtesy-Google Images)