Maula Ali and Bibi Zainab- Similarity in Thier Last Resting Place

[heritageman]

What a striking similarity between Sher-E-Khuda Hazrat Ali and his exemplary courageous daughter Bibi Zainab? Their holy names are associated with two mosques that are considered to built over their graves in different countries by their followers. As faith has no logic, all the mosques are revered and visited by pilgrims in large number who treat Maula Ali as the spiritual successor Prophet Muhammad and  hold in high esteem his brave daughter for her role as messenger of Karbala and founder of the institution of Majlis to mourn the sacrifice of Imam Hussain and his companions.
On the other hand, successors of those who martyred Maula Ali simply because he wanted to rule in accordance with the will of Allah. It was also their supporters who also killed his son Imam Hussain when he refused to acknowledge anti-Islamic rule of Yazid. It was again their soldiers who deprived the women of Prophet’s family of their coverings and made them pass through the markets of Kufa and Shaam(Modern)Syria bareheaded. It is their sympathizers again in the 21st century who consider ever increasing popularity of Maula Ali and Bibi Zainab’s shrines as a  threat to their sinister aim to cover their Jewish tendencies  under the garb of Islam. It is this apprehension that prompt them to plan bomb attacks at their shrines be it Syria, Afghanistan, Egypt or Iraq. They have so far failed in their bids only indicate that truth prevails even against the heaviest odds.
Twelver Imamis consider Najaf-e-Ashraf as the last resting place of Hazrat Ali. They believe so on the basis of traditions narrated by Imam Jafar Sadiq. But Blue mosque of Afghanistan is also said to be built over the grave of Maula Ali. Most Afghanis believe so and give a different version to the burial of Maula Ali. They are of the opinion on the basis of traditions that since Maula was martyred and his enemies might have desecrated his grave, hence, some of his supporters carried his body to Afghanistan and  buried it near Mazar-e-Sharif. 
Likewise there is difference between Twelvers and Bohra community over the location of the burial place of Syeda Zainab. While Twelvers has no doubt about Damascus as the last resting place of Ali’s brave daughter, Bohras consider shrine mosque of Bibi Zainab in Cairo as the location of her last rites. Their 52nd Dai Muhammad Burhanuddin presented a Zarih- Mubarak- a beautifully designed grilled structure surrounding Bibi Zainab’s tomb in Cairo. Bohras claim that after the massacre of Karbala, and the terrible events of Damascus Hazrat Zainab led the survivors to Cairo from Damascus where she was martyred and buried. The shrine in Cairo is decorated with silver dome. The Fatimids ,Bohras and  some non-Imamis  believe that the Syeda Zainab Mosque in Damascus is actually the burial site of  her sister, Janab-e-Umme Kulsum who had also accompanied the caravan of imam Hussain and marched with Bibi Zainab like a shadow after the tragedy of Karbala.
Since Twelvers who are in majority among the Imamis consider Damascus as the Burial place of Bibi Zainab, terrorists also target it with the objective of increasing sectarian violence. They make no such attempt for Cairo shrine but at times succeed in pressurizing Egyptian government to ban Ashura processions.
In 2013, the custodian of the shrine in Damascus was killed in a rocket attack. Prior to it, a car bomb attack had taken place near the shrine. So aghast was the Sunni Mufti of Syrian Arab Republic, Sheikh Badar Hassone, at the attack on shrine that he declared “If the terrorists decide their impure tactics on the Maqaam of Bibi Zainab, they shall have to cross my dead body". Ever since efforts have been initiated by separatist forces to topple the regime of  Assad, hundreds of youths have taken upon themselves the responsibility of protecting the shrine of Bibi Zainab. The attacks on Bibi’s shrine in Damascus are similar to the attacks on Imami Hazaras who were persecuted by Taliban for their love for Ahle-Bait. This is another similarity between Hazrat Ali and his daughter for followers of both are still paying price for being with true tenets of Islam. The Imamis should derive solace from the fact that both the shrines are revered and visited by people from all over the world .They are centers of attraction and miracles and spreading the message of Sher-E-Khuda and his daughter for a society based on equity and justice. So far as the decision about the exact location of the burial places of both the towering personalities of Islam is concerned, it should be left with Allah as it is who only who knows the better. The admirers should go in this context in accordance with their school of thought.(reference available on request)