During the time of Abbasid Caliph Al-Mutawakkil a lady claimed that she was Zainab the daughter of Fatimah (sa).
Abbasid Caliph Al-Mutawakkil said, "Many long years have passed since that period when Zainab lived and you are quite young."
She replied, "Yes, but the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) drew his hand upon my head and prayed for me to remain young for ever.

As such, after every forty years I turn back to become young."

Al-Mutawakkil called upon all the wise men to visit him and enquired from them,
"What do you say about the claim of this women." All of them said, "she tells a lie."

Al-Mutawakkil said, "I know that she is lying, but what proof and logic do you have to condemn her."
They said, "We do not know, but Imam Ali-un-Naqi (as) should solve this problem."

Al-Mutawakkil at once summoned the Imam a.s. and told him about that matter.
Imam Ali-un-Naqi (as) said, send her to the cage of the lions, if she is telling the truth,
because the beasts do not molest the children of Fatimah (sa) and do not eat their flesh.

Al-Mutawakkil said to the woman, "what do you say?"
She said, "This man wishes that I may be killed. If he is right then let him do it himself."
Al-Mutawakkil said, "she is right, you must do it first yourself."

Imam Ali Naqi (as) replied, "There is no hurdle to it"  He went to the lions in the cage and sat among them.
All observed with amazement, that the lions sat very respectfully before the Imam Ali Naqi (as) and sometimes even caressed themselves against his body and he caressed their bodies with his hand, affectionately. When Imam Ali Naqi (as) ordered that they might move to a corner, all of them crept to a nook.

Then Imam a.s. came out of the cage and went to Al-Mutawakkil and said, "Oh woman now it is your turn."
The woman started crying and begging saying,
"I told a lie, I am the daughter of such and such man, and wanted to play a trick and a hoax but it did not work.

On this blessed Wiladat day of our 10th Imam a.s.
May Peace, Rehma and Blessings of Allah swt be on all Muslimins, Ameen.

What is Hadith?
The Hadith is the record of the sayings of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). The sayings and conduct of Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W.) constitute the Sunnah.

The Hadith has come to supplement the Holy Quran as a source of the Islamic religious law. The Hadith is the second pillar after the Quran upon which every Muslim rests his faith. Hadith consists of Mat’n and Isnad. Mat’n means the text of the Hadith, while Isnad means the chain of transmitters to that Hadith.  The scholars of the Hadith literature divided the Traditions into categories according to the degree of authenticity and reliability, each category had to meet certain criteria.

The categories are as follows:
1. Sahih: The genuine Traditions, the authentic ones.
2. Moothaq: Almost like the Sahih but the narration is not as strong as those of the Sahih.
3. Hasan: The fair Traditions although inferior in matter of authenticity.
4. Dha’eef: The weak Traditions which are not so reliable.
In Shari’ah (Islamic Constitution) deeds and actions are divided into five classes:
1. Fardh or Wajib: An obligatory duty the omission of which is Islamically punishable.
2. Mus’tahab: An action which is rewarded, but whose omission is not punishable.
3. Mu’baah: An action which is permitted but legally is indifferent.
4. Mak’rooh: An action which is disapproved by the Shari’ah but is not under any penalty.
5. Haram: An action which is forbidden, and Islamically punishable.

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