 Salam alaykum dear viewers, peace be upon you all, welcome to today's show discussing different aspects of maharam. Today we're going to be discussing the momentous, outstanding, powerful servant of the sister of Imam Hussein, peace be upon him, Sayyida Zaynab, peace be upon her. After the Battle of Karaballah she was faced with many trials but perhaps her most defining trial and defining moment was the moment where she spoke in the court of the Zid and shook his throne and the world forever as we have today. To discuss today's topic we have three steed and guests, we've got Sheikh Abbas Banjou, Sayyid Mohsin Shah and Muntazer Jaffer to provide some poetry for us. Sheikh, we've looked at the idea of what happened at the Abbas Shura, we all know what happened, it's documented. But for many people the story ends there. Can you tell us what was Sayyida Zaynab's stance in this moment when she stood in front of the palace of Zid and maybe describe the weight of this because it's not just a lady talking to somebody, it's a very big deal. Of course, the divine position of Sayyid Zaynab Al-Kobra within the court of Yazid Al-La'een, if we were to understand the magnitude of this at that point in time and for the rest of history and humanity as we know it till today, is important for us to analyze the stance of Sayyida Zaynab Al-Kobra in light of the stance of Hamadah Sayyida Tinsa Al-Alamin. For the khutbah, the mannerism and the circumstances, there are many parallels in the mannerisms and the circumstances in the style of speech in which Sayyida Sayyida Tinsa Al-Alamin confronts the tyrants of her time and the manner in which Sayyida Zaynab Al-Kobra Al-Hassalam confronts the tyrant of her time. You see there are two parallels and each one is needed in order to understand and to get a cumulative understanding of the goal and the impact and the weight of the khutbah of Sayyida Zaynab Al-Hassalam. And you find over here that one thing which is extremely important for us to understand from the many dimensions that are there within the khutbah of Sayyida Zaynab Al-Hassalam is where she says to Yazid, do you think, to paraphrase, and the words in the khutbah verbatim and the words of Sayyida Zaynab Al-Manari in which she says it is of course much more eloquent, but to paraphrase and to give you the idea is when she confronts Yazid and she says, do you think that because now you seem to have this apparent power and control over this kingdom and you have come across as being all powerful, do you think that that means God favors you? And she quotes a verse of the Quran which I shall pull out for you in a little bit. When she quotes this verse of the Quran and she addresses Yazid in this manner, it puts out for us another massive rule of thumb through which we are able to differentiate between haqq and barthel even in our daily lives today. She says to Yazid, do you think just because you have the apparent power and you are on the seat of authority that Allah has favored you over us and the fact that we are standing in front of you apparently as slaves with our hands shackled, that you are greater than us and God has favored you more than he has favored us? This has a very deep point. Say the Zaynab over here in the eyes of the Awam is making very clear that even within the Islamic world, being in a state of power does not necessarily mean that you are right. Many times when we want to evaluate historical events, when we want to understand current political events, we tend to think when there are two sides in a conflict, because this one party is in power, then they have to be correct. Many people think like this. Many people say, because for example, I don't want to bring in any names of any countries and make this any political, but you look within the Islamic world, you can have an Islamic government that performs crimes and that is involved in tyranny to the highest level. But why the Muslim Ummah will not condemn them? Why? Because they are in power and because they are in power, therefore they have been chosen by Allah SWT and hence that government is right. Had they been wrong, Allah would not have given them this much success or given them this much power. Say the Zaynab, alaihi salam, broke this mentality inside. She said, just because you are in the seat of power and using the name of Islam doesn't mean that you are on hack. She is saying this for the wider people to understand this and this is a very important rule of thumb, which even we need to apply when it comes to understanding current political, ideological disputes and battles that we are faced with in the world that we live today. Say, Muslim, looking at the speech itself, it's a very, as Sheikh mentioned, a very eloquent speech and no matter how much we break it down, we can't talk about the eloquence enough and clearly comes from her father. We know the contents of the speech and I want to ask you however, what is your favourite line of the speech or part of the speech or lesson from the speech, if you want to do it that way, that really hits you? I think the best part of the speech, it's not just for me, I think a lot of people share this moment and it's rhetoric is that when you see challenges and says, what do you think Allah has done to you and your family? And she replies, I saw nothing but beauty. I think that, because let's be real, what did she see? Nothing but bloodshed and she even witnessed her brother being butchered in that way. She saw all of it but yet she still sees the marafa and the wisdom and she still sees, you could say, the way Allah swt sees it and she could see his level and his status being raised and raised and raised. It's a famous kind of proverb that's used in many religions that the friends of God see through the eyes of God. Maybe that's what she saw in this, perhaps. But I think she understood the true reality of Imam Hussein and of his actions. So that's my favourite bit of the speech and also when we look at the speech, if we look at the way Yazid, the manor and the way he actually set up the whole gathering was to mock and humiliate Bani Hashim. There were so many different important figures in that courtroom people from different governors, different leaders, people who have been probably who have witnessed the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam speak, people of great political importance and I guess he set that up to ridicule and mock and humiliate Bani Hashim and also to confirm his victory and his power and that now I am the leader of the Muslims whereas it totally backfired with the sermon of Sayyid Zaynab, Salaamu Alaihi Wasallam and her reminding the people of Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, her reminding the people of her father and in a way reminding them of Allah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam and the true sacrifice Imam Hussein has done. I think that was fantastic and beautiful about the speech. What do you think, Bruno? I think the speech itself, one of the things that strikes me in the speech is the bravery with which she spoke. I think after having a father like Meir Mu'mineen Ali Ibn Nabi Talib Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam I think you'd expect nothing less from such an epitome of mountain of patience and courage like that then to walk into the Darbar of the one who's rights, who've taken away her rights and to say that you can do whatever you want. I think the exact words were, you plot your plot, you do whatever you want to do but at the end of the day know that our reward lies with Allah the same way that your destruction lies in his hands as well and I think to go in with that sort of courage and to remind everybody of the status of Yazid's ancestors compared to the ancestors of Sayyid Zaynab Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam Yazid is the son of the freed slaves. He's Ibn Al-Talaqa but Sayyid Zaynab Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam is the daughter of the one in his house where the revelation came. There's no comparison. That's true. I mean her speech is like a piece of art in the sense that if you snapshot any part of it it becomes a piece of art in itself and there are so many quotas from it. I mean the two that come to my mind is something quite simple the fact that she thanks God at the end for what happened. I mean for us in this day and age to understand that is so much and also the idea of her, I would say looking towards the future she says our memory will never be erased almost like a prophecy of the future that you watch was going to happen that our memory will never go. Sheikh, I think one thing that comes to my mind actually is when you look at all the sermons of the Holy Family and this sermon included they always start, they always have a structure even the supplications have a structure the supplications starts with praise of God then perhaps saying the needs and the weakness of the human being Sayyid Zaynab Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam as a similar structure here she starts praising God explaining who she is then gives her take what can we learn from this the idea of starting with God first? You have a look like you rightfully pointed out every sermon of Ahlul Bayt has began with the word Alhamdulillah it's not a coincidence that the first Surah which is placed in the Quran Suratul Fatiha begins with Alhamdulillah this Surah without which your Salat becomes invalid you begin with Alhamdulillah Suratul Haab Alhamdulillah every Salat that you recite if you omit Suratul Alhamdulillah Salat becomes a battle so when you look at these three inside of a scale you find that the speech of Ahlul Bayt is a full reflection of the Quran in its entirety like the way the Quran begins with Alhamdulillah Rabbil Alameen the speech of every one of the Ahlul Bayt begins with Alhamdulillah Rabbil Alameen because they are the Quranunatek they are the live Quran and the speaking version of this Quran the reflection of the Quran in its entirety this is one number two it shows us the sacrifice the goal of the sacrifice from this phrase Alhamdulillah Rabbil Alameen you are able to understand the goal of the sacrifice how? say the Zainab Al-Kubrah Alayha Salam with this level of infallibility with which she is blessed and this is from understanding the rights of say the Zainab Al-Kubrah Alayha Salam that she was endowed with a level of infallibility which is attested to by Imam Zainul Abideen Alayhi Salam Ya'amma Alhamdulillah Anti Alima Gheir Muallama Wa Fahima Gheir Mufahama Alima Gheir Muallama the untouched color so where did that elm come from this is an elm which is achieved through Ghaib and it is restricted for a group of individuals that have reached the level of infallibility so the infallibility of say the Zainab Al-Kubrah has differences in regards to the infallibility of the Ahlul-Baita stated within the Quran the fourteen individuals that we have Isma has different levels has different scopes has different dimensions in any case when say the Zainab says Alhamdulillah she is in a state of gratitude that thank you Ya'Allah I thank God for having chosen us to be those individuals who are going to be the ultimate sacrifice as a result of which people will be able to seek guidance until the day of judgement this is a responsibility that no other creation could have taken and this leads us to the realm of Al-Mulmi Thaq and why say the Zainab was in that place at that time and this divine covenant and pledge that they took even before this dunya was created but look at her understanding of her servitude towards Allah at that point having seen the massacre and the martyrdom of her entire family being enslaved and being brought into Sham the first thing that comes to her mind is not to complain to Allah not to blame Allah rather the total opposite praise Allah and this for us in terms of implementing lessons on a daily life can never be at the level of say the Zainab Al-Kobra however what we are able to learn from the Seerah of say the Zainab is that even us in our daily lives when we come across difficulties the first thing we need to do is say Alhamdulillah supposed to say Alhamdulillah complete change of mindset complete set of mind change Ahsantum Bain Al-Kursin again between brackets do you know that this phrase of Alhamdulillah is supposed to nourish within the Muslim Ummah the sentiment of being somebody who is absolutely optimistic the Muslim Ummah which was built by Rasulullah sallallahu alaihi wa sallam and Ameer al-Mu'mineen alaihi sallam was then Ummah built on optimism and you find this again from Surat Al-Hamd Alhamdulillah Hura Bila Alameen Baba at the time of Fajr at the time of Zohar and the Asr, Maghrib and the Aisha even if you have had the worst day in your life and everything has gone wrong for you still in your Salat it is matloob you will stand up and say Alhamdulillah Alhamdulillah you can get fired at 11 am from your job one o'clock Salat with Zohar comes you have to say Alhamdulillah Alhamdulillah supposed to have an impact on our mindset no matter what happens in the dunya what trials and tribulations fall upon you you still have to praise Allah you still praise Allah because this Alhamdulillah teaches you to be an optimistic person and that whatever happens in the dunya whatever in your destiny is controlled ultimately by him and you will refer returning back to that person who has absolute control over destiny number one, number two it could be a test that you are facing could be an mtehan negativity is happening in life is a way of mtehan whether you have been steadfast or not thank Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala for making you steadfast until that point these are one of the many many lessons we are able to draw from the khutbah or from this one phrase this is one phrase you can write a whole book on this muntazirp has some poetry regarding say the zaynab if you could please recite a few lines for us and our organs that would be much appreciated go through history go through history and find me a relationship with more resistance than that of Hussain and Zaynab because even death couldn't separate the two for Hussain's head reciting Quran on the spear while Zaynab's words in Yazid's heart would strike fear she spoke and Ali spoke within her voice I saw nothing but beauty for it was only God's choice if a kid came back plot how you may our remembrance will never be removed nay for Yazid may have lost the battle and lost the war as sheikh ma'aulah was from jihad said Yazid lost the battle and he lost the war a loss that started when Zahra was crushed behind the door taking after her mother not afraid to stand for what's right oh the son of the freed slaves how dare you come and fight oh the son of the freed slaves how dare you come and fight last bit of the discussion say the most in bringing you in here the idea of public speaking in front of an audience perhaps obviously there's much discussion about the religion over time about the role of women speaking in front of a public audience and we've seen clearly that Zaynab did this but not just for women what is the Islamic position first of all on women being able to do this being in the public sphere and speaking I mean in terms of the Islamic opinion and in terms of when it comes to the violation of human rights and fighting for justice and for haq women we've seen in history Islamic history women are given a platform not just a platform but they have been successful in fighting oppression and we have this with say the Zahra Fatou Zahra As-Salaamu Alayha and her when Faduk was taken away from her and she went to the to you know the courts and she went to those Mal'Ons and she gave the speech on not just the speech but she gave the evidences she gave her you know her position and her authority she gave the evidence she gave Quranic references and she was like why have you done this injustice upon me and why are you taking away you know this my right and my property so we have you know the Islamic position here with say the Zahra you know giving this and we it kind of rubbed off on her daughter as well where we have say the Zaynab not just one hut but there's two people forget people forget about Qufa yes there's a sermon in Qufa and also a sermon in you know in Damascus so I hope this is an encouragement and motivation and inspiration for our Muslim women especially all over the world where they're being oppressed whether it is in you know Europe parts of Europe who are banning the Hijab or whether it's you know other parts of Asia where the religion is being attacked that women can have a platform to speak and also a platform you know to to actually express themselves and also to fight injustice what about you brother Munda do you think that you know we have significant examples and I think significant people that we can look up to I think we definitely do I think we definitely definitely do if you look at going further back in history where even at the time where the rights of the women were taken away by the men themselves if you look at Thiraun and his wife and the proximity his wife came to Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala from for from the oppression that she was facing I think now it's the same I think definitely definitely there's scope for people who are fighting oppression for the women to stand up based themselves on Sayyid-ul-Fatima al-Zahra alaihi salam not compromise their values and still be able to stand for what's right I think it's an important thing to think about and we will make the mistake that Sayyid-ul-Fatima al-Zahra and standing up is not just for women in fact they are every human being regardless of their gender can actually learn from the fact that when it's time to speak it's time to speak regardless of your gender shake to maybe close although on this is quite a big topic what are this sermon I want you to draw and say more since touched upon this what are the parallels between the sermon of Bibi Zaynab peace be upon her and her mother peace be upon her when her land was taken away and when her the bride of her husband was taken away where can we draw these parallels where did we see shades of Zaynah's mother within herself this is a question that would require us to sit down with text with both the khutbah of Sayyid-ul-Fatima al-Zahra al-Alamin and the khutbah of Sayyid-ul-Fatima al-Zaynab alaihi salam in order for us to draw the parallels in the words and in the ideas that are there however you look into them number one there was the element that in terms of personality and then there is element in terms of the actual content of the speech you find that in both circumstances both these holy women a past or both these holy women they were above and beyond intimidation Sayyid-ul-Zaynab al-Alamin being in the state in which she was brought into the courtyard of Yazid al-La'in the severed head of her brother in front of her the fact that the rest of the children are brought in as slaves the fact that you were surrounded and you were in the foot of your enemy and you were a minority within a minority despite all these factors put together she was not intimidated same thing with Sayyid-ul-Zaynab al-Alamin her lung has been punctured her ribs have been broken she has just lost mohsin she has seen her husband Amir al-Mu'mineen being dragged into the mosque with a rope around his neck she has just lost her father Rasulullah despite that she comes into the mosque she's not intimidated in order to deliver the message of Allah so what you take in terms of parallel for these two women is that person should not be intimidated by circumstances or situations when it comes to defending the right of Allah Azza wa Jalla defending the religion which is also important to Islam you take this into consideration when you have the talk about the role of women and speaking and so on and so forth in the religion right is the question that you had just posed earlier it's also important for us that when we studied the Makam of Sayyid-ul-Zaynab al-Alamin and the Makam of Sayyid-ul-Zaynab al-Alamin al-Alamin and we try and use these two stances to deduce the role of women in society today there are a number of conditions which are or there are a number of functions that are absolutely important for us to take into consideration such that we do not come to an incorrect conclusion the first is that Sayyid-ul-Zaynab al-Alamin was forced into the courtyard of Yazid she didn't go there out of her own free will to address and to speak to Yazid and in fact she says that in her sermon she says I do not even see you as somebody befitting enough for me to talk to you but the circumstances dictate that she enjoys scolding him so she was scolding Fala so number one Sayyid-ul-Zaynab was not there out of will number two Sayyid-ul-Zaynab al-Alamin al-Alamin when she went into the Masjid we have within our traditions that the manner in which she walked towards Masjid-ul-Nabawi you are able Maraja have deduced at least from what I know and perhaps there is more at least ten ahkam sharai just from the manner in which Sayyid-ul-Zaynab Zahra walked from her home to the Masjid ten ahkam sharai she came out surrounded by a group of women this has a hukum sharai the manner of her hijab seven levels or seven layers of hijab that Sayyid-ul-Zayn al-Alamin war and when she did come to the mosque she commanded for a hijab to be drawn between her and the people of Saqifah and the muhajireen and the Ansar who were present inside of the mosque so when we quote or when we want to understand for example the role, the boundaries the ahkam the so on so forth which is attached to the role of women in society not to say that women doesn't have any role in society it's not what I'm trying to say but when we are analyzing their roles and we are deducing a hukum sharai we have to be very very precise and we have to take into consideration these major points that then allow us to define the scope, the boundaries and the potential that Islam has given to women in their role of building the society and building the deen always remember behind every great prophet there was a great mother there was a great woman who gave birth to the prophet for every great companion that you have of Ahlul Bayt there was this great woman who was responsible for building these men who would then go on to change history forever these are things to take into consideration thank you very much for that fitting closing we would like to thank our viewers all over the world for watching this show and I'm sure like myself you have learned much from this we can only really close with that phrase that Sayyed Moussin talked about I saw nothing but beauty and truly if you analyze every single line of Sayyid Zaynab Sermon or her stance we see nothing but beauty I would like to close the show by asking brother Montezer to recite a eulogy the eulogy that I want to present is basically the khutbah where she stood there and she was addressing the people