Zayd ibn Ali
Alid political and religious leader (c. 695–740)
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Through Umayyad Caliphate, Medina and Common Era
To Twelver and Isma'ili Shias however, his elder half-brother Muhammad al-Baqir is seen as the next Imam of the Shias. Nevertheless, he is considered an important revolutionary figure by Shias and a martyr (shahid) by all schools of Islam, including Sunnis and Shias. The call for revenge for his death, and for the brutal display of his body, contributed to the Abbasid revolution.
Zayd was a learned religious scholar. Various works are ascribed to him, including Musnad al-Imam Zayd (published by E. Grifinni as Corpus Iuris di Zaid b. ʿAlī, also known as Majmuʿ al-Fiqh), possibly the earliest known work of Islamic law. However, the attribution is disputed; these likely represent early Kufan legal tradition.
Birth
Zayd was born in Medina in 695 CE. He was the son of Ali ibn al-Husayn Zayn al-Abidin. The 9th-century biographer Ibn Qutaybah wrote in his al-Ma'ārif that Zayd's mother was from Sindh; this statement is repeated by 'Abd al-Razzaq al-Hasani. Zayd's mother Jodha was known to Muslim chroniclers as Jayda al-Sindiyya.
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Contemporary opinions
Zayd was a revered member of the Household of Muhammad. Scholars, Saints, Sufis and Imams alike, all spoke of him in respectful terms. When the ascetic Umayyad Caliph Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz was the Governor of Madinah during the reign of al-Walid and Suleiman, he was an associate of Zayd ibn Ali. Zayd continued to correspond and advise him when he became the Khalifah.
Zayd is believed the first narrator of Al-Sahifa al-Sajjadiyya of Imam Zainul-'Abidin. Several works of hadith, theology, and Qur'anic exegesis are attributed to him. The first work of Islamic jurisprudence Mujmu'-al-Fiqh is attributed to him. The only surviving hand-written manuscript of this work dating back to at least a thousand years is preserved in the pope's library, Bibliotheca Vaticana in Vatican City under "Vaticani arabi". Photocopies of this rare work are available in several libraries including the Library of the University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom. In 2007, Sayyid Nafis Shah Al-Husayni Sayed Nafees al-Hussaini obtained a copy of this work, and re-issued it from Lahore.
He was an excellent orator and spent much of his life learning and educating others. It is said that his half-brother, Imam al-Baqir, wanted to test him on the Quranic knowledge, asking him various questions for which he received answers beyond his expectation, causing to him to remark, "For our father and mother's life! You are one of a kind. God grace your mother who gave you birth, she gave birth to a replica of your forefathers!" Al-Baqir also said: "No one of us was born to resemble 'Ali ibn Abi Talib more than he did."
When describing Zayd, his nephew, Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq, said: "Among us he was the best read in the Holy Qur'an, and the most knowledgeable about religion, and the most caring towards family and relatives." Hence his title Ḥalīf Al-Qurʾān (Arabic: حَلِيْف ٱلْقُرْأٓن, romanized: Ally of the Qur'an). Jafar Sadiq's love for his uncle Zayd was immense. Upon receiving and reading the letter of Zayd ibn Ali's death he broke down and cried uncontrollably, and proclaimed aloud:
From God we are and to Him is our return. I ask God for my reward in this calamity. He was a really good uncle. My uncle was a man for our world and for our Hereafter. I swear by God that my uncle is a martyr just like the martyrs who fought along with God's Prophet (s) or Ali (s) or Al-Hassan (s) or Al-Hussein (s) Uyun Akhbar al-Reza – The Source of Traditions on Imam Ali ar-Ridha
Imam Ali ar-Ridha said:
.. He (Zayd bin Ali) was one of the scholars from the Household of Muhammad and got angry for the sake of the Honorable the Exalted God. He fought with the enemies of God until he got killed in His path. My father Musa ibn Ja'far al-Kazim narrated that he had heard his father Ja'far ibn Muhammad say, "May God bless my uncle Zayd ... He consulted with me about his uprising and I told him, "O my uncle! Do this if you are pleased with being killed and your corpse being hung up from the gallows in Al-Kunasa neighborhood." After Zayd left, As-Sadiq said, "Woe be to those who hear his call but do not help him!"
— Imam Ali ar-Ridha
In one hadith, the Sunni Imam Abu Hanifa once said about Imam Zayd, "I met with Zayd and I never saw in his generation a person more knowledgeable, as quick a thinker, or more eloquent than he was." However, in another hadith, Abu Hanifa said: "I have not seen anyone with more knowledge than Ja'far ibn Muhammad." Imam Abu Hanifa was reportedly a student of Imam Ja'far, like another great Imam of Sunni Fiqh, that is Malik ibn Anas.
The Sufi scholar, Mujtahid and mystic, Sufyan al-Thawri, respected Imam Zayd's knowledge and character, saying "Zayd took the place of Imam al-Husayn. He was the most versed human concerning Allah's holy book. I affirm: women have not given birth to the likes of Zayd ... "
Al-Shaykh Al-Mufid the writer of the famous Shi'ah book Kitab al Irshad described him as, " ... a devout worshipper, pious, a jurist, God-fearing and brave."
Prophecy of martyrdom
Imam al-Baqir narrated:
The Holy Prophet put his sacred hand on Al-Husayn bin Ali's back and said: "O Husayn, it will not be long until a man will be born among your descendants. He will be called Zaid; he will be killed as a martyr. On the day of resurrection, he and his companions will enter heaven, setting their feet on the necks of the people."
Imam Husayn narrated that his grandfather Muhammad prophesied his death:
The Holy Prophet put his sacred hand on my back and said: "O Husayn, it will not be long until a man will be born among your descendants. He will be called Zaid; he will be killed as a martyr. On the day of resurrection, he and his companions will enter heaven, setting their feet on the necks of the people."
— Imam al Husayn
Death
In AH 122 (AD 740), Zayd led an uprising against the Umayyad rule of Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik in the city of Kufa. Initially Zayd had the support of the people of Kufa but then they asked him for his opinions on Umar and Abu Bakr, to which Zayd replied:
May God have mercy on both of them and forgive them both! I have not heard anyone in my family renouncing them both nor saying anything but good about them.
Following this statement, many of his Shia supporters abandoned him.
The Umayyad governor of Iraq, Yusuf ibn Umar al-Thaqafi, would manage to bribe key figures in Kufa which allowed him to break the insurgence, and kill Zayd in battle by a arrow to his forehead.
Following his death, Zayd's followers secretly buried him in a dry riverbed to prevent the desecration of his body. However, Umayyad forces discovered the grave, exhumed his corpse, and decapitated him. His severed head was sent to Caliph Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik in Damascus before being publicly displayed in Medina and Egypt, while his body was gibbeted in Kufa for several years. Upon Hisham's death, his successor ordered Zayd's remains taken down, burned, and scattered into the Euphrates to prevent his grave from being a place of pilgrimage.
Shrines
There are two shrines for Zayd, One is in Kafel, Iraq, the other is in Karak, Jordan. The shrine in Jordan is believed to be the final resting place of the head of Zayd ibn 'Ali ibn Al-Husayn.
According to later tradition, relayed by the 14th-century historian al-Maqrizi, Zayd's severed head was brought to Egypt, and displayed at the Mosque of Amr in Fustat, until it was stolen and buried. A mosque was erected over the site. When it fell into ruin by the early 12th century, the Fatimid vizier, al-Afdal Shahanshah, ordered it excavated, and the head was placed in a purpose-built shrine on 1 March 1131. This building, inaccurately known as the Shrine of Zayn al-Abidin (Zayd's father), was located some 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) north of the Mosque of Amr, and was entirely rebuilt twice in the 19th century. Nothing of it survives today.
Legacy
All schools of Islam, Sunnis and Shias, regard Zayd as a righteous martyr against what was regarded as the corrupt leadership of an unjust king proclaimed to be a caliph. It is even reported that Mujtahid Imam Abu Hanifa, founder of the largest school of Sunni jurisprudence, gave financial support to Zayd's revolt, and called on others to join Zayd's rebellion. Zayd's rebellion inspired other revolts by members of his clan, especially in the Hejaz, the most famous among these being the revolt of Imam Muhammad al-Nafs al-Zakiyya al-Mahdi against the Abbasids in 762.
Zaydis believe that he was a rightful Caliph, and their sect is named after him. It is believed that from them originated the word for Shi'ites, Rafida.
Descendants
- Hasan, 1st son
- Yahya, 2nd son
- Al-Ḥusayn Dhu'l-Dam'a, 3rd son and the grandfather of Yahya's father Umar
- Īsā Mū'tam (Father of Aḥmad) al-Ashbāl, 4th son and the 13th Imām of Zaydiyyā
- Ahmad ibn Isa ibn Zayd, grandson
- Muḥammad, 5th son and the father of Muḥammad the 17th Imām of Zaydiyyā
- Yahya ibn Umar, the grandson of Zayd's grandson Yaḥyā, who lead an abortive uprising from Kufa in 250 A.H. (864-65 C.E.)