Hazrat Syeda Bibi Pak Daman (RA) is the mausoleum of Hazrat Ruqayyah bint Hazrat Ali (RA) located in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. Legend has it that it holds the graves of six ladies from Holy Prophet Hazrat Muhammad's (PBUH) household (Ahl-e-Bayt).
Syeda Ruqayyah bint Ali (RA) was the step-sister of Hazrat Abbas ibn Hazrat Ali (RA) and also the wife of Hazrat Muslim ibn Aqeel (RA) (emissary of third Shia Imam Hussain ibn Ali to Kufah). It is said that these ladies came here after the event of the battle of Karbala on the 10th day of the month of Muharram in 61 AH (680 AD). Bibi Pak Daman (RA), which means the "chaste lady", is the collective name of the six ladies believed to interred at this mausoleum, though it is also popularly used to refer to the personage of Hazrat Ruqayyah bint Ali (RA) alone. They were among the women who brought Islam to South Asia, preaching and engaging in missionary activity in the environs of Lahore.
Darbar of Hazrat Bibi Pak Daman (RA) is located between Garhi Shahu and Railway Station area in Lahore.
After the events at Karbala five Muslim women, led by Syeda Ruqayyah bint Ali (R.A), left Makkah to settle and proselytize in Lahore, as a result of which the Hindu community embraced Islam.
According to one school of thought among historians such as S.M. Latif, Molvi Noor Ahmad Chishti and Mufti Ghulam Sarwar, the daughters of Hazrat Ali (RA) were instructed by their father to go to Sind and Hind to preach the Islamic faith. It was prophesied that their mission would achieve success. The events of the massacre at Karbala caused many relatives of Hazrat Muhammad (PBUH) including Syeda Ruqayyah (RA) to migrate to Makran where she preached Islam for several years. The Hindu Raja of Jaisalmer felt threatened by her missionary work. Umayyad rulers were also displeased.
However, continued threats to Syeda Ruqayyah's life caused her to cross the Indus River to settle in Lahore. The local Hindu ruler there attempted to arrest her but failed because his son, the prince Bakrama Sahi, accepted Islam. This enabled Ruqayyah to continue her missionary activities in peace for some more time. Eventually, fearing disgrace at the hands of the Hindu Raja's army when they were again dispatched to arrest her and the other five ladies, she gathered her female kin and made a collective prayer for rescue. As a fulfillment of their wishes, the ground split and their camp went underground. A shawl remained to mark the spot of that event.
Seven ladies and four men are traceable from history, as it is found that she introduced herself stating that “I am widow of Martyr Muslim bin Aqeel, daughter of Hazrat Ali (RA) and sister of Commander-in-Chief Hazrat Abbas (RA) of Hazrat Imam Hussain's (R.A) Army and other five ladies were my sisters in law, whereas the sixth one was our maid “Halima”. She introduced further telling the names of men that they were our guards and belonged to our tribes namely; Abb-ul-Fatah, Abb-ul-Fazal, Abb-ul-Mukaram and Abdullah. Besides two names “Ruqayyah and Halima”.
The shrine is visited by both Shias and Sunnis. From 7 to 9 of Islamic month of Jumadi-us-Sani, three-days Urs of Bibi Pak Daman (RA) is celebrated.
Hazrat Bibi Pak Daman (RA), Lahore | Auqaf & Religious Affairs Department (punjab.gov.pk)
