Al-Sahifa al-Sajjadiyya

Who Was Imam Zayn al-Abidin (AS)?

Full name: Ali ibn al-Husain ibn Ali ibn Abi Talib al-Hashimi
Title: Zayn al-Abidin (Adornment of the Worshippers) and al-Sajjad (the one who prostrates much)
Born: 38 AH (659 CE) in Madinah
Father: Imam al-Husain (AS), third Imam, martyr of Karbala
Mother: Shahrbanu, daughter of Yazdagerd III, the last Sassanid Persian emperor
Died: 95 AH (712 CE) in Madinah
Burial: Madinah (Jannatul Baqi’, the same cemetery as Imam Hasan (AS))

Imam Zayn al-Abidin was present at Karbala as a young man (approximately 23 years old) — but was gravely ill during the battle and did not fight. This illness, by divine providential arrangement, preserved the Imam while his father and brothers were martyred. He was taken captive with the women and children of the Prophet’s family, brought to Kufa, and then to Damascus (Sham) to the court of Yazid.

His eloquent speech in Damascus — addressing Yazid’s court while in chains — preserved the message of Karbala. Imam Zayn al-Abidin became the living witness to what had happened, and his return to Madinah began the process of transmitting Karbala’s meaning to all subsequent generations.

The Sahifa’s Context

After Karbala, the political space for the Imam’s public teaching was extremely dangerous under the Umayyad Caliphate. The methods available to most Imams for public preaching were closed. Imam Zayn al-Abidin chose a different vehicle: prayer.

The form of du’a (supplication) is theologically and politically ambiguous — it is addressed to Allah and thus cannot be censored by any earthly authority. And yet within the du’a, one can:

State the most comprehensive theology of divine unity and human dependence
Describe the human condition with extraordinary philosophical and psychological depth
Establish the Imam’s relationship with the community through a medium of shared prayer
Transmit ‘ilm in a form that any mumin can access through the simple act of supplication

The Sahifa is thus simultaneously a personal spiritual document and a complete theological text encoded in the form of prayer.

Structure: 54 Du’as

The Sahifa’s 54 supplications cover virtually every dimension of human existence:

On the Divine:

Du’a 1: Praise of Allah — opening with the most comprehensive attributes of the divine
Du’a 3: Blessings on the bearers of the divine throne and the angels
Du’a 49: The supplication when facing the terrors of Qiyama

On the Human Condition:

Du’a 8: Seeking refuge in Allah
Du’a 12: Confession of sins — one of the most psychologically honest texts in Islamic literature
Du’a 16: Seeking the good of this world and the next

On the Prophet (SAW) and His Family:

Du’a 2: Blessings on Muhammad and his family — extended and theologically rich
The Sahifa opens with blessings on the Prophet before every du’a, establishing the channel through which all prayer flows

On Specific Occasions and States:

Du’a 7: In times of worry and difficulty
Du’a 20: On noble character (makarim al-akhlaq)
Du’a 28: For fasting and Ramadan
Du’a 30: For those who die
Du’a 32: Prayer for parents
Du’a 38: For one who is being wronged
Du’a 47: On the Day of ‘Arafa (Hajj)

On the Community and the World:

Du’a 5: Prayer for the people of the frontiers
Du’a 6: Prayer for the rulers and judges

Key Du’as and Their Significance

Du’a 20: Makarim al-Akhlaq (Noble Character)

One of the most celebrated du’as in the Sahifa, the Makarim supplication is a prayer to become good rather than to have good things. The Imam prays:

“O Allah, bless Muhammad and his family, and cause me to complete the tasks which I have undertaken, and which have not been completed because of disability, falling short, the seriousness of obstacles, negligence, or the excess of desire.”

And further: “O Allah, whatever there is of my conduct in which I have committed an excess or fallen short — grant me goodness in place of it through your favor… O God, I ask You for a complete faith, a true certainty, a sincere intention, a sound heart, a straight deed, a correct knowledge, and a great provision — through Your mercy.”

This du’a models the Ismaili principle: the inner work of character is the goal, not just outward compliance.

Du’a 12: The Confessional Du’a

The Imam confesses with extraordinary honesty:

“O Allah, I complain to You of a soul that commands evil, eagerly goes toward sins, desires what You have forbidden, excites enmity without cause, acquires false things, and is filled with forgetfulness and inattentiveness — I am seeking refuge in You from a soul like this.”

This is not the confession of a sinner who has forgotten the divine — it is the confession of a servant who knows himself too clearly, who sees the gap between aspiration and actuality, and who turns to the divine precisely in that gap. The Imam who could claim spiritual perfection models instead the deepest spiritual honesty.

Du’a 32: For Parents

One of the most humanly intimate supplications:

“O Allah, forgive me and my parents, and shower Your mercy on them as they sheltered, raised, and cared for me in childhood. Bestow on them the good of this world and the hereafter.”

This du’a echoes and extends the Quranic command (17:24): “Say: My Lord, be merciful to them, as they raised me when I was small.”

The Theological Achievement

The Sahifa’s theological sophistication exceeds most systematic theological works in classical Islam precisely because it is embedded in prayer:

On Divine Unity: The opening du’as establish the most rigorous tanzih (divine incomparability) — Allah is praised through attributes, but every attribute is immediately qualified: “beyond every thing that defect would befall, beyond every thing that alteration would afflict.”

On Human Responsibility: The Sahifa neither excuses human failure through determinism nor denies divine sovereignty. The balance is maintained throughout — the Imam prays for help in doing good while taking full responsibility for failures.

On the Ahl al-Bayt: The repeated blessings on Muhammad and his family in the Sahifa establish the centrality of the prophetic house to Islamic spirituality without making any political claims that the Umayyad authorities could act against.

On the Soul’s Journey: The Sahifa traces the complete arc from fear (du’as of seeking refuge) through awareness (du’as of confession) through aspiration (du’as of noble character) through hope (du’as of divine mercy) to eschatological orientation (du’as on death, Qiyama, and Paradise).

The Sahifa in the Bohra Tradition

Imam Zayn al-Abidin (AS) is the fourth Imam in the Ismaili-Tayyibi chain of Imams. The Sahifa is thus not merely a historical text but part of the living ‘ilm of the Dawat.

In Bohra practice:

Specific du’as from the Sahifa are incorporated into du’a programs during important occasions
Al-Jamea-tus-Saifiyah’s curriculum includes the Sahifa as a primary text of Islamic literature and the Imam’s ‘ilm
The Sahifa is frequently referenced in the Syedna’s waaz as an example of the Imam’s teaching

The connection to Karbala: Imam Zayn al-Abidin was the sole surviving male of the Imam Husain (AS)‘s immediate family. His Sahifa is thus the literary testament of the Karbala generation — the ‘ilm that Imam al-Husain’s sacrifice made possible. The du’as of the Sahifa are, in a sense, what Karbala was for: to preserve the channel of guidance that allows every generation to speak to Allah in the Imam’s language. See also: Ashara Mubaraka, Imam Husain Master Of Martyrs

Ta’wil of the Sahifa

The zahir of the Sahifa is the prayer book — 54 supplications covering the full range of human need and divine praise, composed in sublime classical Arabic.

The batin of the Sahifa is the model of how the Imam maintains walayah with Allah when the physical world offers no route. Imam Zayn al-Abidin could not preach publicly; he could not lead a movement; the Umayyad state was watching every move. He turned inward — and from that inward turn produced something that no Umayyad caliph could touch: a text of such pure spiritual depth that it has transmitted the Imam’s ‘ilm across 1,300 years without ever being suppressed.

This is the Imam’s teaching about satr: when the door to public teaching is closed, the door to divine prayer is never closed. The prisoner who prays beautifully transmits more ‘ilm than the free man who speaks carelessly.

Al-Sajjad: the one who prostrates much. In the batin, every sujud is the soul’s acknowledgment: I am not the source; You are the source. I return to You as my beginning. The Imam who survived Karbala by divine providence, and who responded to that survival by spending his life in sujud — he is teaching us what to do when the world takes everything away: prostrate, pray, and trust that the divine plan is unfolding even when you cannot see it.

Al-Sahifa al-Sajjadiyya — The Psalms of Islam