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

'''Ruqayya bt. al-Ḥusayn''' (Arabic: رُقَیَّة بنت الحُسَین), according to some reports, was one of the daughters of [[Imam Husayn (a)]] who was present at the [[tragedy of Karbala]] and was amongst the [[captives of Karbala|captives]] that was taken to [[Sham]]. According to these reports, it was during this captivity in Sham that led to her martyrdom at the tender age of three. Currently there exists a mausoleum for her in the city of [[Damascus]], Syria.

Ibn Fandaq in his book ''Lubab al-ansab'' mentions Ruqayya as being one of the daughters of Imam Husayn (a). However, about this daughter of Imam Husayn (a) differences exist concerning her name and the way she was martyred.

In mentioning the names of the children of [[Imam Husayn (a)]], [[al-Shaykh al-Mufid]] only mentions that he (a) had two daughters by the names of [[Fatima bt. al-Husayn (a)|Fatima]] and [[Sukayna]] . However, Muhammad b. Talha al-Shafi'i mentions that Imam Husayn (a) had four daughters and that Zaynab, Sukayna and Fatima were the names of three of the daughters. He believed that this opinion was the generally accepted opinion and that the opinion of the two daughters was not the generally accepted opinion. As can be noticed, he did not bring a name for the fourth daughter, so it should be sought in other books.

 

Ibn Fandaq in ''Lubab al-ansab'' writes: No children of Husayn (a) were left alive except [[Imam Zain al-Abidin (a)]], Fatima, Sukayna and Ruqayya. In another place, while counting the children of Imam Husayn (a) he mentions the names of the daughters of Imam Husayn (a) as Fatima, Sukayna, Zaynab, Umm Kuthum and adds that Zaynab and Umm Kulthum passed away in their childhoods.

 

Najm al-Din al-Tabasi, by comparing the report of Ibn Fandaq with the one found in ''[[Matalib al-Sa'ul]]'', comes to the conclusion that the name of Imam Husayn's (a) fourth daughter was Ruqayya and that her [[Kunya]] was Umm Kulthum.

 

Another report that mentions the name of Ruqayya is that in some manuscripts of the book ''[[al-Luhuf]]'', when Imam Husayn (a) bids farewell to his family members, he says the following: 'O my sisters! O [[Umm Kulthum]]! O [[Zaynab]]! O Ruqayya! O Fatima ! and O [[Rubab]]! Listen to me! When I am killed, do not hurt yourselves, do not scratch your faces and do not shout out profanities!'

 

 

 

 

 

# The name of the daughter is not mentioned in the narration;

 

 

::"When she removed the cloth, she saw a head placed on that platter. She lifted it up and looked at it carefully. She recognized the head of her father. She let out a chilling scream, she rubbed her face upon his and kissed his lips and while in that state, she left this world. <ref>Mulla Husayn Wa'idh Kashifi Sabziwari, ''Rawdhat al-shuhada''', p. 389</ref>

 

 

===Report in ''al-Muntakhab''===

 

After Mulla Husayn Wa'idh Kashifi, [[Fakhr al-Din al-Turayhi]] (d. 1058/1648) in his book ''[[al-Munthakhab]]'' describes this incident in a different manner. A part of the text found in ''al-Munthakhab'' is as follow:

 

::"It has been narrated that when the People of Allah and the household of the Prophet (s) entered upon [[Yazid]] in the city of [[Sham]], he provided for them a specific house and it was in this house that they mourned. Our Master, Imam Husayn (a) had a three year old daughter... the head of Imam Husayn (a) was wrapped in a silk cloth. They brought the head and placed it in front of her and removed the cloth from it. The daughter of Imam Husayn (a) asked: 'Whose head is this?' They said: 'It is the head of you father!' She lifted it from the platter and hugged it and said: 'O my beloved father! After you, who can we give our love to? O my beloved father! Who will look after the orphans until they grow up? O my beloved father! Who will be the guardian of the weak ladies? O my beloved father! Who will be the guardian of the imprisoned widows? O my beloved father! Who will wipe our tears away? O my beloved father! Who will be the refuge for all the lost strangers? O my beloved father! Who will reassure those who are worried? O my beloved father! Who will fill the void for us left by you? O my beloved father! Who is there for us in our loneliness after you? O my beloved father! If only I could be sacrificed for you! O my beloved father! If only I was blind before this. O my beloved father! If only I had died before, I would not have seen your face covered in sand.' She then kissed the lips of her father and began to cry intensely until she fell unconscious. When they tried to wake her up, they realized that her soul had left this world." <ref>Fakhr al-Din al-Turayhi, ''al-Muntakhab fi jam' al-marathi wa al-Khutab'', hundred and thirty six</ref>

 

Interestingly, this is the first source that mentions the age of the daughter as being three, and also it it the first source that elaborately describes her conversation with Imam Husayn (a). However, no name has been given for this daughter.

 

===Report of ''Anwar al-majalis''===

Towards the end of the thirteenth/nineteenth century, a person by the name of Muhammad Husayn Aarjastani in his book ''Anwar al-majalis'', describes this story in a different way. He writes:

 

::"The family of the Holy Prophet (s) during those nights had no candle, no lamp, no water, no food, no carpet and no extra clothing; they just sat in sadness and kept themselves busy by grieving over the [[martyrs of Karbala]]. Until Lady Zubayda, the three year old daughter of Imam Husayn (a), one night cried intensely over her separation from her father...<ref>Muhammad Husayn Aarjastani, ''Anwar al-majalis'', p. 161</ref>

 

Research shows that this is the first report that mentions a name i.e. Zubayda, for the child and states that the incident happened in the [[ruins of Sham]].

 

On the previous page, he indicates towards the ruins of Sham. He writes:

 

::"I remember the loneliness in the ruins of Sham. Were the family of the Holy Prophet (s) not alone in the ruins of Sham? Were not Sukayna and Ruqayya the children of Husayn (a)? Why after all the troubles they had been through; from losing their father and brothers, did no one, out of sympathy, come to their assistance?"<ref>Muhammad Husayn Aarjastani, ''Anwar al-majalis'', p. 160</ref>

 

So according to our findings, ''Anwar al-majalis'' is the first book to mention that Imam Husayn (a) had a daughter by the name of Ruqayya in the prison of Sham, even though he does not mention what happened to her, but rather recounts the martyrdom of a daughter by the name of Zubayda.

 

It is possible that the report found in this book laid the foundations for future books to mention a passing away of a child in the ruins of Sham.

 

===Report of ''Sh'ash'at al-Husayni''===

At the beginning of the fourteenth/twentieth century, Shaykh Muhammad Jawad Yazdi wrote in his book titled ''Sh'ash'at al-Husayni'' the following:

 

::"It has been narrated that a child of Imam Husayn (a) passed away in the prison of Sham after seeing the head of her father. However, there is a difference of opinion concerning her name i.e. was it Ruqayya, Zubaydah, Zaynab or Sukayna?

Shaykh Muhammad Jawad Yazdi, Sh'ash'ah al-Husayni', vol.2, pg 171.

In the pages that follows he narrates from the book Riyadh al-Ihzan that the name of the child was Fatima.

In this report, many names, including that of Ruqayya has been mentioned for the child who passed away in the prison of Sham.

A few years later a person by the name of Sayyid Muhammad Ali Shah Abd al-Azimi (d. 1336 AH) in his book al-Iyqad clearly and emphatically states for the first time that the name of the child was Ruqayya and that she was three years old. He writes:

'Husayn (a) had a little daughter who he loved very much and she also loved the Imam (a) very much. It is said that her name was Ruqayya. She was three years old and was amongst the captives in Sham.

The Mausoleum attributed to Ruqayya

The first report that available about the current mausoleum attributed to Ruqayya, dates back to the tenth century Hijri. In his book Tasliyah al-Majalis, Muhammad b. Abi Talib Haeri Karaki (alive at 955AH) writes:

'In the city of Damascus, Sham, towards the eastern side of the Great Masjid of the city, I saw a ruins that used to previously be a masjid. Amongst those ruins I saw a stone that had the name of the Holy Prophet (s), his family and the names of the twelve Imams written on it. At the end it had the following sentence,' This is the grave of a princess, the daughter of Husayn b. Amir al-Mominin (a).'

'Some of the people of Sham told me that there exist in Damascus, Sham, a mausoleum for Lady Ruqayya, the daughter of Imam Ali (may Allah illuminate his face), whose walls at that time had been damaged. The people of Sham wanted to remove the corpse from its grave so that they could rebuild and repair the mausoleum. However, no one, because of the admiration and respect they had for her, had the courage to enter the grave until a person from the family of the Holy Prophet (s) by the name of Sayyid the son of Murtadha entered the grave. He threw a piece of cloth over the grave and wrapped the body with the cloth and brought it out; everybody saw that it was a child who had not reached the age of maturity. I told this story to one of the great teachers; he also narrated the same story from a few of his teachers.'

In this report, the name of the owner of the grave i.e. Ruqayya b. Ali (a) is mentioned and it is the first report that indicates to the damage that the grave endured.

During the first part of the fourteenth century, Shaykh Muhammad Hashim Khurasani' (d. 1352 AH), in his book- written in Persian-Muntakhab al-Tawarikh in addition to attributing the grave to Ruqayya b. Husayn (a), he goes into detail describing the damage done to the grave. The text of his report is as follows:

'The respected scholar, Shaykh Muhammad Ali Shami, who can be counted amongst the students and scholars of Najaf, said to me that his paternal grandmother told him directly that Sayyid Ibrahim Damisqi, whose lineage goes up to Sayyid Murtadha 'Alam al-Huda and who was also a very respected and well-mannered individual whose age exceeded ninety, had three daughters and no sons. One night his eldest daughter saw Lady Ruqayya b. Husayn (a) in a dream and she said to her, "Tell your father to tell the governor that water has fallen between my grave and my tomb and my body is being troubled. Tell them to come and fix my grave and tomb."

The daughter told this to Sayyid, but out of fear from the Sunni population, he did not pay much attention to the dream. On the second night, the middle daughter saw the same dream and told her father, but again Sayyid was not affected by it. On the third night, the youngest daughter saw the same dream and told her father, but yet again Sayyid did not do anything. However, on the fourth night Sayyid himself saw the garbed figure of Lady Ruqayya in his dream and she addressed him in a very reproaching manner and said: 'Why have you not informed the governor?'

Sayyid awoke and in the morning went to the governor and narrated his dream to him. The governor summoned all the scholars and sages amongst the Sunni and Shia and ordered them to make major ablution and dress in neat and clean clothes. He then said that in whoevers hands the lock opens, that person should enter the tomb and exhume the body from the grave until the tomb and grave is repaired. The dignitaries from amongst the Shias and Sunnis performed the major ablution and dressed appropriately, however the gate did not unlock for any of them except for Sayyid. After they all entered the tomb, no pickaxe except the one in the hands of Sayyid Ibrahim had an effect on the ground. After digging up the grave, the tomb was cleared of people and the tomb was opened. They saw a delicate garbed body that had not decomposed at all, however, a lot of water had collected within the tomb. Sayyid then removed the body of the child from the tomb and placed it on his knees and he did this for three days, whilst crying continuously, until they repaired the tomb.

When the time for prayers arrived, Sayyid would place the body of the child of a clean surface and when he returned would again place her on his knees until they completed the repair work of the tomb. Sayyid then buried the child. The miracle of these three days was that Sayyid never got hungry or thirsty, nor did he require to renew his minor ablution. When Sayyid was about to bury the child, he prayed to Allah (swt) for a son. His prayer was accepted and at that old age, Allah gave him a son who he named Sayyid Musthapha.

After this incident, the governor wrote an extensive letter to Sultan Abd al-Hamid. He then granted the custodianship of the Zaynabiyyah shrine together with the tombs of Ruqayya, Sukayna and Umm Kulthum to him. Currently Sayyid Abbas, the son of Sayyid Musthapha and grandson of Sayyid Ibrahim mentioned above, is the custodian of these pure and holy places.

Shaykh Muhammad Hashim Khurasani', Mutakhab al-Tawarikh, pg. 388.

'Ruqayya, the daughter of Imam Husayn (a) has a shrine attributed to her that is located in the al-"Amarah District of Damascus. And Allah (swt) knows best. Mirza Ali Asghar Khan [Atabak, Amin al-Sultan], the supreme ruler of Iran rebuilt the tomb in 1323 AH.

Therefore, based upon the historical and narrative evidences, it is not possible to give a concrete answer on the subject being researched. However, the miracles that have been seen and will be seen from this blessed place confirms that it does possess spiritual significance and that this place should be revered as it is a place that is attributed to the Ahlul Bayt (a), even though the exact details concerning the demise of Ruqayya does not appear in any of the reliable sources. Mentioning her tragedy must be referenced to a reliable source so that the truth or inaccuracy of the story can be placed solely on the narrators head.

The station of Lady Ruqayya within the mourning gatherings

Even though many historical differences still exist concerning her, amongst the people and during the mourning gatherings held in Muharram, Lady Ruqayya has a very elevated position. The third night of Muharram is dedicated specifically for her remembrance. Many groups (heyat) of mourners are named after her. A large amount of eulogies and poetry have been composed and recited in her honor. In some of the eulogies, those people who have denied her existence have been sarcastically and slyly reprimanded.