The Hill of Torment, The hill of Zeinab (as) is arguably the most heart shattering place in Shia Islam’s psyche and tangible experience.
Many people who travel to Karbala often lose sight of where they stand. It is difficult to reconcile that not only do they walk in the place that the great Imam Hussein (as) himself walked, but that they stand where his sanctified and purified blood was spilled. Many people become so transfixed with the grand architecture and religious rituals that they invariably do not appreciate the very proximity they have at that moment with the time and space of Imam Hussein (as), his experiences and ultimately his and his families and his companion’s brutal demise. That is of course, until the Hill of Zeinab is reached.
In this image one gets an immediate sense of proximity and nearness to where the Lady Zeinab (as) stood (the building in red light) and the battlefield upon which Imam Hussein was slaughtered, (the mosaic and marbled wall, coming into view on the left).
One is immediately confronted with a convulsing sense of dread that this brave, strong and pious young women stood on a tiny mound (the mound of Zeinab), alone, and looked on, shattered in witnessing the brutal murder of her family and yet resolute in conviction that no matter the dreadful outcome, they stood on the path of righteousness. One may begin to conceive that standing upon that mound, knowing with certainty that soon she would be led away in chains to the court of Yazid who ordered the murder of her family, the formulations of her defiance in the face of the decrepit tyrant materialised.
Who of us today, whether man, woman or child, scholar or soldier, parent, offspring or sibling, could witness such barbarity and cruelty, then stand in the court of the crimes instigator, resolute in faith and purpose and answer when asked “what did you see of what we did with your family” only to reply “I saw nothing but beauty”. Knowing that the path of her Grandfather, father, mother and holy brothers (peace be upon them all) would live on forever, because of the stance of the great Imam Hussein (as) in Karbala.
