Hawzah News Agency- Titled "Ahl-e Zaria" (People of Zaria), the book is written by Najmeh Javadi and published by Iran's Beinolmelal Publishing House. It seeks to take readers beyond the images and news of the Zaria massacre, delving into the intellectual, social and ideological roots that shaped Zakzaky's character and his path of resistance.
Narrative begins before the Zaria tragedy
The massacre of Shia Muslims in the Nigerian city of Zaria on December 12, 2015, stands as one of the darkest chapters in the contemporary history of the country's Shia community. Nigerian army forces attacked Shia mourners in Zaria, killing and wounding scores of people and demolishing the Baqiyatullah Hussainiya.
However, "Ahl-e Zaria" does not begin its narrative with the massacre. Instead, the author returns to the years before Zakzaky's name appeared in world media to trace the formation of his personality, beliefs and thought.
Javadi attempts to demonstrate how an idea can shape a person's character and how that person can, in turn, influence the society around him.
The book opens with the history of Muslims in Nigeria, the legacy of Uthman dan Fodio and the Sokoto Caliphate, before moving to Zakzaky's introduction to Iran's Islamic Revolution and the thoughts of Imam Khomeini.
From Uthman dan Fodio to Imam Khomeini
One of the central themes of "Ahl-e Zaria" is its attention to the historical and intellectual background of Nigerian Muslims. The author reconstructs the social and religious environment in which Zakzaky grew up — a society carrying the memory of anti-colonial struggle and a preoccupation with reviving Islamic identity.
The book begins with a saying attributed to Uthman dan Fodio: "After me, a saint will appear, and he is Ibrahim the Reviver."
From the outset, this frames a narrative that extends beyond a single historical event, placing concepts such as faith, awakening, resistance and the revival of religious identity at the heart of the story.
Portions of the book recount Ibrahim's childhood and the influence of his family on his development. His mother's talk of a savior and a future free from oppression plants the seeds of hope, expectation and liberation — concepts that later manifest in his social and political life.
A cleric who paid a heavy price
Another section of the book is devoted to the difficult years in the lives of Sheikh Zakzaky and his family — years marked by detention, imprisonment, injury and the loss of family members.
The author portrays resistance not merely as a political concept but as woven into the texture of family life and the human experiences of the central character.
Zakzaky emerges in "Ahl-e Zaria" not simply as an oppressed figure but as a conscious and resolute personality who chose a difficult path for his convictions and paid an immense price for it.
One of the book's most powerful scenes depicts the return of Ibrahim and his wife Zeenat to the home where Ibrahim's sister Fatima and her three children were martyred. The author presents an image of a destroyed house and a grieving family, showing that resistance is found not only in the arena of political struggle but also in confronting loss, suffering and tragedy.
Humanizing a historical narrative
"Ahl-e Zaria" blends history with literary fiction. While the Zaria incident, Zakzaky's life and the emergence of Nigeria's Shia movement have been covered in media and academic works, they have rarely been narrated through Persian literary fiction.
Javadi conducted four years of research and one year of writing for the book. The initial idea came in 2020 after she watched an interview, after which she pursued the full process of research and composition.
The result is a 176-page book that, rather than offering a merely documentary biography, draws readers into the lives of its characters. History, politics, faith and family stand side by side, presenting a figure who — before becoming a globally recognized face — had a childhood, a family, concerns, aspirations and choices of his own.
A fictional retelling of contemporary Shia history
From this perspective, "Ahl-e Zaria" is not only an account of one man's life but also a literary rereading of part of the contemporary history of Muslims and Shias in Nigeria.
Focusing on Zakzaky's intellectual and social path, the book paints a picture of the background that gave rise to Nigeria's Shia movement, his intellectual development and his inspiration from Iran's Islamic Revolution and Imam Khomeini's thought.
Moving beyond the purely news-driven coverage of the Zaria events, the work confronts readers with the human beings behind the statistics, images and headlines — people whose lives, families, beliefs and personal experiences form part of the reality of this history.
"Ahl-e Zaria" by Najmeh Javadi is published in 176 pages by Beinolmelal Publishing House, offering readers a fictionalized account of the life, thought and struggles of Sheikh Ibrahim Zakzaky and part of the contemporary history of Muslims and Shias in Nigeria.
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