Zaynab bint Ali
زينب بنت علي
c. 626 CE · c. 5 AH† – c. 682 CE · c. 62 AH† †
† Hijri date derived by computation from the Gregorian/Julian date; it may differ from the transmitted date by a day or two.
Granddaughter of the Prophet through Fatima and Ali; a survivor of Karbala whose accounts and defiance made her a central voice of her family in tradition.
At a glance
- Roles
- Companion
- Counted among
- Sunni · Shia (Twelver)
- Era
- The Prophetic Era · The Rashidun Caliphate · The Umayyad Period
- Region
- Arabia · Levant & Iraq · Egypt & Nile
- Review
- Draft Completeness 2/5 · Help complete it
In time
In space
Map: Natural Earth, public domain · places and route from the graph
WomenCivil wars and revoltsSects and schools
Place in the story
- Family of the ProphetTradition
- Witness · 10 October 680 CE · 10 Muharram 61 AH†Tradition
Sunni (transmitted)
Roles are dated and sourced; the museum describes the act and attributes the judgement.
Brief
Zaynab was a granddaughter of the Prophet through Fatima bint Muhammad and Ali ibn Abi Talib. Taken captive with the women and children after Karbala, she is remembered in tradition as the family's fearless voice before its enemies.
Life
Born in Medina about 626 CE 1, Zaynab was married to her cousin Abdullah ibn Ja'far and had a household of her own when her brother Husayn ibn Ali set out for Kufa in 680.
She accompanied him and was present at Karbala. When the killing was over, tradition tells that she spoke back to the governor Ibn Ziyad in Kufa and to Yazid in Damascus, refusing to let the family's death be treated as a rebel's end 2. Reports differ on her later life and on whether she died in Damascus, Cairo or Medina — Cairo keeps her shrine 2.
Legacy
In both Sunni and Shia memory Zaynab carries the story of Karbala past the battlefield: the sister who buried the dead, guarded the orphans, and told the world what had happened. Her name is one of the most honored for Muslim girls.
For young visitors
After a terrible battle, Zaynab was brought before the rulers as a prisoner. Instead of staying silent, she stood up and told them the truth about what they had done.
Connections
- Sibling of
- Hasan ibn AliHusayn ibn Ali
- Born in
- Medina
- Child of
- Ali ibn Abi TalibFatima bint Muhammad
- Member of
- Ahl al-BaytBanu Hashim
- Participated in
- The killing of Husayn at Karbala
People and things also explored
Fatima bint MuhammadHasan ibn AliHusayn ibn AliAhl al-BaytThe delegation of NajranAli ibn Abi TalibBanu HashimMuhammad
Sources
- Ibn Sa'd, Kitab al-Tabaqat al-Kabir (Bewley translation, Ta-Ha)
- Momen, An Introduction to Shi'i Islam (1985)
- Nisa' Hawl al-Rasul: Tarajim wa Qisas — al-Maktaba al-Asriyya
Cite this page
islam.museum contributors. “Zaynab bint Ali”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/person/zaynab-bint-ali/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Accessed 2026-10-12.