Lady Zeinab (s.a.) is a prominent role model in history; she shows the significance of a woman's presence in one of the most important events of human history. Blood gained a victory over the sword on the day of Ashura, and Lady Zeinab (s.a.) was the cause of that victory. This was because the forces of righteousness were apparently defeated in a military fight in Karbala, but Lady Zeinab's (s.a.) behavior was the factor that turned this apparent defeat into a permanent and decisive victory. That victory was due to the role she played after the day of Ashura. That is a very important point. The event proved that women are not on the periphery of history. It proved that women can have a central role in important historical events. This has been pointed out in several places in the Holy Quran as well. But Lady Zeinab (s.a.) is a recent example and does not belong to ancient times. The story of her life is a tangible event. She played a brilliant role, making the enemies - who had apparently won the battle and slain all their opponents - feel humiliated in their own base. She branded them with permanent disgrace and turned their victory into a defeat. That was what Lady Zeinab (s.a.) did. She proved that it is possible to turn feminine morality and modesty into glory and a great jihad.
If lady Zeinab (a.s.) and Imam Sajjad (a.s.) had not fought, or revealed and interpreted the truth of Ashura's philosophy, or the purpose of Hussein ibn Ali (a.s.) and the enemy's oppression during the days of captivity--in the evening of Ashura in Karbala, in the following days en-route to Sham and Kufa, and in the city of Sham, then on the pilgrimage of Karbala, and while moving to Medina and during the many years that these great figures lived--the event of Ashura wouldn’t have survived and remained as vivacious till this day.
September 20, 1989
I think the one who established the preservation of events through literature and art is Lady Zeinab (a.s.). If it was not for the movement and actions of Zeinab (a.s.), then followed by the other great people (from the Prophet’s household (pbut))--Imam Sajjad (a.s.) and others--the event of Ashura wouldn’t have survived throughout history. Yes, the divine tradition is that such events remain throughout history, but all divine traditions operate through certain mechanisms. The mechanism of survival for these facts in history is that the companions of the secret and sorrow, and those who are aware of the secret and these moments, transfer facts to others.
