Her actual name was Amatul Aziz (like
Abdul Aziz for boys). She was daughter of Jaafer, brother of Caliph
Mahdi and her mother Salsal was the sister of Khaizran, wife of Caliph
Mahdi. Thus, she was connected to Haroon Al-Rasheed from her mother as
well as father's side. She was very brilliant, beautiful and fond of
learning. She learned the Holy Qur'an, Hadith and Arabic literature with
due interest. She also showed great interest in literature and science
and allocated funds inviting tens of poets, scientists and literary
figures to Baghdad. It is said that her palace “sounded like a beehive”
as she employed one hundred women maids who recited the Holy Qur'an day
and night. Wherever she went in the palace the verses of Holy Qur'an
were echoing.
She sponsored a group of Ulema for promoting
Islamic learning. She lived during and after the time of Imam
Al-Shafe'i. She was married to Haroon Al-Rasheed in 165 AH (781 AD), who
was the fifth Abbasid Caliph and ruled for 23 years (786-809). Queen
Zubaida was a very devout Muslim and never missed a prayer. She also
performed Haj many times, often making the 900-mile trip from Baghdad to
Makkah on foot with her husband.
Zubaida got a son named Mohammed
Al Amin. He was six month younger to his step brother Ali Al-Mamoun
whose mother was a concubine named Marajel. Zubaida pleaded for the
nomination of her son Amin as the crown prince though Caliph Haroon
preferred Mamoun because of his intelligence and scholarship. Finally,
Haroon decided not to infuriate his wife and appointed her son as crown
prince and Al Mamoun as crown prince to the new crown prince, and also
appointed his third son Al Kassim as a third crown prince.
As
expected, Al Amin started to mess things up from his first days in
power, after the death of his father. Eventually, his conflict with his
brother escalated and it ended after fierce battle, in which he was
killed. His mother overcame her sorrow and tragedy and wrote to Al
Mamoun “I congratulate you as the new caliph. I have lost a son, but he
was replaced by the son that I did not give birth to.”
These words
moved the new caliph as Mamoun was also raised by Zubaida when his
mother died after three days of his birth. He rushed to her and swore
that he did not order the killing of his brother. Zubaida lived for 22
years after the death of her husband. Caliph Mamoun gave her full
respect and comfort and consulted her in important matters. She died at
the age of 67 in 216 A.H.
Her biggest achievement was the planning
and execution of a road project from Baghdad to Makkah. There was a
path that existed before but she saw the pilgrims dying with thirst and
losing the way because of desert and sandstorms. To solve this problem,
Zubaida planned to build a well-demarcated route with buildup walls and
shelters to protect the travelers from shifting sands and harsh weather
conditions. Her engineers moved in the direction of Qibla and drew a map
of over 1200 km. The road was divided into more than 40 stations for
shelter of huge caravans of pilgrims with their animals. Deep wells,
water pools, guest houses, mosques and police posts were erected to
provide comfort and security to the pilgrims. High minarets were raised
to locate the place and in the night towers were lit with fire to guide
the caravans to the right direction.
All these structures were so
strong that they remained intact for centuries. The result was that Darb
Zubaida served for more than 1,000 years for million of pilgrims from
Iraq, Fares, Khorasan and Kurdistan. Though about 1,300 years have
passed, some of the wells and pools of this route can still be
identified.
Darb Zubaida started from Baghdad and passing through
Kufa, Najaf, Qadsiya, Mughiatha, Thalabia, Feedh and Samera reached
Naqra where it bifurcated for Madina through Al-Akhakia. The main route
to Makkah continued through Mughaith, Beir-Ghifari, Al-Saleelah,
Birka-Zabda and reached Mahad Dhahab (Gold mines). Later crossing
through Safinah, Ghamrah, it reached Meeqat named Zat-Irq, and later
passing through Bustan reached Makkah.
Darb Zubaida also mobilized
the cultural and commercial activity in the region. Pilgrims exchanged
their ideas, delivered sermons, told historical stories and reached
commercial dealing during the night halts. This route remained active
for six months every year for Haj traffic and for the rest period served
the locals and traders. It is said that Zubaida spent 1,700,000
mithqaal on this project which is equal to 5,950 kg of pure gold costing
billions of dollars today.
Apart from Darb Zubaida that mobilized the cultural
and commercial activities in the region and provided pilgrims a
platform to exchange their ideas and reach commercial dealings, her
another achievement was the canal named Ain Zubaida.
Few sites
remaining as her monuments can still be seen at Birkah Al Areesh located
70km north and Birka Al Bidaa, located 20 km northeast of Turbat Hayel.
Another site is Birka Al-Jumaima, 14 km east of Rafha and Birkat
Zarood, 50 km northeast of Buqaa.
Zubaida's another milestone
achievement was the canal named Ain Zubaida. After her husband's death
in 193 A.H., Zubaida went for Haj. She noticed great scarcity of
drinking water in Arafat, Mina and Makkah. Pilgrims were suffering with
thirst and the cost of water had risen to one dinar a bottle. She was so
distressed and moved by the situation that she decided to build a
canal. She enlisted the services of the best engineers to build a canal
that could provide free water to the pilgrims throughout all areas of
Makkah. Ibn Al Jawzi recorded that Zubaida ordered engineers to conduct
an urgent study to bring water to Makkah. After a survey, they reported
to her that it would be an extremely difficult job, since it requires
digging tunnels under massive rocks and building tunnels along slopes
for over 10 miles. The report also concluded that it would be a very
costly project.
"After surveying the entire area they decided to
bring the canal from Hunain valley where water springs from the
mountains provided water to the residents and for irrigation. The valley
of Hunain was the place where the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) had
won Ghazwa-e-Hunain. The area was rocky, the land was barren and dry and
the weather very hot. It was very difficult to sustain a canal on the
surface of the earth, so the engineers planned to make a subterranean
canal in the form of a tunnel (aqueduct), with water stations raised
above the ground at different intervals, wherefrom people could meet
their water needs."
On the orders of Zubaida, the entire area of
Hunain valley, which contained springs and other sources of water, was
bought by paying a huge amount of money. To bring water through the
mountains was a Herculean task, which required a large number of
manpower, enormous funds and expertise for cutting the mountains and
digging the barren and rocky hills. But nothing could frustrate
Zubaida's determination. "For each stroke of spade and shovel, I'm ready
to give a dirham if needed", she said and the work was launched. The
whole project took three years and cost the equivalent of billions of
dollars of our time, which she paid from her own money.
After
several years of hard work, the canal was eventually brought all the way
down to Jabal-e-Rahma in Arafat, and then to Mina and Muzdalifah. The
spring water from Hunain valley and whatever water sources found on the
way were converged into the canal. The water supply through this canal
brought great relief to the pilgrims as well as to the residents of
Makkah for more than thousand years. The remains of this historical
canal can still be seen on the side of Mount Arafat.
On a historic
day, a crowd had gathered outside the beautiful palace of Queen
Zubaida, waiting for her audience. The queen appeared in the balcony and
very gracefully addressed the crowd: “Today I close all the account
books on the Makkah Canal. Those who owe me any money need not pay back.
And those whom I owe any, will be paid immediately and double the
amount.” Saying this, she ordered that all the account books be thrown
into the river and said: “My reward is with Allah.”
Sheikh
Abdullah bin Mubarak narrated that he saw Queen Zubaida in a dream and
asked her. What Almighty Allah did with you? She said, My Lord granted
me forgiveness on the first stroke of the shovel on Makkah route.
This
is an interesting contrast. If austerity elevated the name of Rabia
Basri, the wealth raised the name of Queen Zubaida. Today we have
thousands of Muslim women who are millionaires and Muslims are facing
enormous difficulties, let them get inspiration from Queen Zubaida. May
Allah grant her the best reward.
arabnews
