Sukayna bt. al-Imam al-Husayn (a): Difference between revisions

Although she was characterized younger than [[Fatima bt. al-Husayn|Fatima]], the other daughter of Imam al-Husayn (a).<ref>Ibn Athīr, ‘’al-Kāmil fī l-tārīkh’’, vol. 4, p. 86; Ṭabarī, ‘’Tārīkh al-umam wa l-mulūk’’, vol. 5, p. 464.</ref> in early historical sources; there is no report about her exact birthday. However, it can be concluded from the report, in which [[Imam al-Hasan b. 'Ali al-Mujtaba (a)|Hasan al-Muthanna]] asked Imam al-Husayn (a) to marry him one of his daughters and in response Imam let him choose Sukayna or Fatima, that she was an adult woman and in the right age for marriage when Imam al-Husayn (a) started his journey toward [[Karbala]].<ref>Abū l-Faraj al-Iṣfahānī, ‘’al-Aghānī’’, vol. 21, p. 79; Mufīd, ‘’al-Irshād’’, p. 366; Ibn Ṣabbāq, ‘’al-Fuṣūl al-muhimma’’, vol. 2, p. 751.</ref>

Some sources reported that she married her cousin (son of her father's brother) [['Abd Allah b. al-Hasan|Abd Allah (Abu Bakr) b. al-Hasan]].<ref>Balādhurī, ''Ansāb al-ashrāf'', vol. 2, p. 195; Iṣfahānī, ''al-ʾAghānī'', vol. 16, p. 366.</ref> Qadi Nu'man al-Maghribi said that she married Abd Allah b. al-Hasan, but before consummation, he was martyred in [[Karbala]].<ref>Maghribī, ''Sharḥ al-akhbār'', vol. 3, p. 180-181; Ibn ʿAsākir, ''Tārīkh madīnat Dimashq'', vol. 69, p. 205; Ṭabrisī, ''Iʿlām al-warā'', vol. 1, p. 418.</ref> However, these reports contradicts with that of [[al-Shaykh al-Mufid]] and some other historians that Abd Allah b. al-Hasan had not reached puberty in Karbala.<ref>Mufīd, ''al-Irshād'', p. 465.</ref>

In another report about Imam al-Husayn's last farewell, Imam (a) came to women tents and said calling the women of Ahl al-Bayt: "O [[Zaynab]], O [[Umm Kulthum]], O [[Fatima bt. al-Husayn|Fatima]] and O Sukayna! My salutation be upon you!"

It is reported that on the day after [['Ashura']] and when [[Ahl al-Bayt]] were biding farewell to pure bodies of [[martyrs of Karbala]], Sukayna hugged his father's headless body and mourned. She spoke with her father and wept until a group of soldiers from [[Umar b. Sa'd]]'s army took her away from her father by force and dragged her to other captives.<ref>Ibn Ṭāwūs, ''al-Luhūf'', p. 134; Baḥrānī, ''al-ʿAwālim al-Imām al-Ḥusayn'', p. 303.</ref>

Sukayna and other members of Ahl al-Bayt passed very hard and difficult times in captivity. However, the day that they entered [[Damascus]] was the hardest and most painful day. Describing the entrance of the caravan of Ahl al-Bayt to Damascus, [[Sahl b. Sa'd al-Sa'idi]], a companion of the [[Prophet (s)]], reported: “On the day that captives entered Damascus, I saw a man holding a spear with a head, whose face looked liked the Prophet (s), at its point. After the spearman there was a girl on a bareback camel. I hurried to her and said, “O, my daughter! Who are you?” she said, “Sukayna bt. al-Husayn.” I said, “Can I do you any favor? I am Sahl b. Sa'd, who has seen your great grandfather and heard his speech.” She responded, “O, Sahl! Could you tell them to move away these heads from us so by looking at these heads the people would not look at women of Ahl al-Bayt?” ”Sahl said that I went to the man who was carrying [[Imam al-Husayn]]'s pure head by a spear and told him, “Could you do me a favor? and in return I will give you forty dinars [or four hundred dinars].” He said, “What do you want?” I said, “Take this money and move forward and keep this head away from these women.” He accepted, took the money and moved the head away from the women.”<ref>Khwārizmī, ''Maqtal al-Ḥusayn'', p. 60-61; Majlisī, ''Biḥār al-anwār'', vol. 45, p. 127-128; Baḥrānī, ''al-ʿAwālim al-Imām al-Ḥusayn'', p. 395; Ṣadūq, ''al-Amālī'', p. 166.</ref>

After captivity, Sukayna and other members of the caravan returned to [[Medina]]. There are not many authentic and reliable reports about her life in Medina until her demise. Her conversation with 'Uthman's daughter is perhaps one of the few reliable reports of this period.

Evidently, after returning to Medina, she along with other members of [[Ahl al-Bayt]] did their best to inform people of the brutality and oppression of [[Umayyad]] especially in the [[tragedy of Karbala]]. Her lament poems about [[martyrs of Karbala]], especially Imam al-Husayn (a) proves this. Therefore, the government could not stand their residence in Medina and eventually she and her aunt, [[Lady Zaynab (a)]], were exiled to [[Egypt]].

[[Abu l-Faraj al-Isfahani]] ascribed to her that she composed romantic poems and held poem gathering, in which poets read their poems in her presence and would accept her judgment about the best poem.

However, this report is not reliable, as Abu al-Faraj has narrated it from Zubayr b. Bakkar who was an enemy of the descendants of [[Imam Ali (a)]] and even all [[Banu Hashim]]. He made up false reports about [[Ahl al-Bayt (a)]] to the point that they wanted to kill him; so, during the caliphate of [[al-Mutawakkil al-Abbasi|al-Mutawakkil]], he fled from [[Mecca]] and settled in [[Baghdad]]. Moreover, there is 'Umar b. Abi Bakr al-Mu'mili among the narrators of this report. He is so weak (Da'if) according to [[Rijal]]i scholars that even some [[Sunni]] scholars refused his narrations and said that he is “a blight of blights”.

Having similar name with Sukayna bt. Khalid b. Mus'ab, 'Umar b. Abi Rabi'a's wife, and, sometimes deliberate, confusion between them, resulted in made-up stories about her like what Abu l-Faraj has reported.

It has been reported in [[Sunni]] [[Hadith]]s that after the [[tragedy of Karbala]], when Sukayna returned to [[Medina]], she married [[Mus'ab b. Zubayr]] and gave birth to a girl named “Fatima.” After that Mus'ab was killed, she married 'Abd Allah b. 'Uthman b. 'Abd Allah b. Hakim b. Hizam b. al-Khuwaylid and gave birth to a son named “'Uthman.” After him, she married Ibrahim b. 'Abd al-Rahman b. 'Auwf; but they divorced because of a letter form [[Hisham b. 'Abd al-Malik]], the governor of Medina. Then she married Asbagh b. 'Abd al-'Aziz b. Marwan and afterward remarried Ibrahim b. 'Abd al-Rahman b. 'Auwf.

These Sunni reports suffers from various problems, two most important of which are:

Considering this, the stories about her holding poem gatherings or marrying several times are just false reports with a purpose of insulting and humiliating her or as an evidence for their fake claim that descendants of Ali had very good relations and ties with their enemies.

In [[Rijal]], she is considered as a reliable [[hadith]] narrator.<ref>Ibn Ḥabbān, ''al-Thiqāt'', vol. 4, p. 352.</ref> She has narrated hadiths from his father, and narrators such as, Salma 'Ammat Ya'la, Fa'id al-Madani, Sukayna bt. Isma'il b. Abi Khalid and Sukayna bt. Qadi Abi Dhar have narrated [[hadith]]s from her.<ref>Ṭabarānī, ''al-Muʿjam al-kabīr'', vol. 3, p. 132; Ibn Makūlā, ''al-Ikmāl'', vol. 4, p. 316; Ibn ʿAsākir, ''Tārīkh madīnat Dimashq'', vol. 69, p. 206-207.</ref>

On the other hand, some said that when Sukayna married Asbagh b. 'Abd al-Aziz b. Marwan, they headed to [[Egypt]] but she passed away in [[Damascus]].<ref>Ibn ʿAsākir, ''Tārīkh madīnat Dimashq'', vol. 69, p. 421.</ref> Therefore, there is tomb by her name in the cemetery of [[Bab al-Saghir Cemetery|Bab al-Saghir]] in Damascus. However, some said that she arrived in Egypt and passed away and was buried there.

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