Abd-Allah ibn al-Zubayr

Abd Allah al-Zubayr or Ibn Zubayr or Abdullah ibn az-Zubayr' (624 - 692) ( _ar. عبد الله بن الزبير) was a sahabi whose father was Zubayr ibn al-Awwam the nephew of Aisha, wife of Muhammad, and whose mother was Asma bint Abu Bakr, daughter of the first Caliph Abu Bakr.

Biography

He was of the Banu Asad. As a young man, Abdullah was an active participant in numerous Muslim campaigns against both the Byzantine and Sassanid empires.He marched to Sbeitla,Tunisia, the capital of exarchate of Carthage King Gregory. Gregory was defeated and killed in the Battle of Sufetula in 647 CE.

He also accompanied his father and Aysha into battle against Ali at the Battle of Bassorah.

Ibn al-Zubayr's revolt

Ibn al-Zubayr was not active in politics during the reign of Muawiyah I, but upon the ascension of Yazid I, he refused to swear allegiance to the new caliph.

One of his supporters, Muslim ibn Shihab, was the father of Ibn Shihab al-Zuhri who would become a famous scholar.

Yazid

After the death of Husayn bin Ali at the Battle of Karbela, Ibn Zubayr returned to the Hejaz where he declared himself the righteous caliph, and he began building support. Eventually he would consolidate his power by sending a governor to Kufa. Soon, Ibn Zubayr established his power in Iraq, southern Arabia and in the greater part of Syria, and parts of Egypt. Ibn Zubayr benefitted greatly from widespread dissatisfaction among the populace with Umayyad rule. Yazid tried to end Ibn Zubayr's rebellion by invading the Hejaz, but his sudden death would end the campaign and throw the Umayyads into disarray with civil war eventually breaking out.

Marwan

This would essentially split the Islamic empire into two spheres with two different caliphs, but it would not last long. The Umayyad civil war would be settled, and Zubayr would lose Egypt and whatever he had left of Syria to Marwan I. This coupled with the Kharijite rebellions in Iraq dwindled his control down to only the Hejaz.

Abd al-Malik

Ibn Zubayr would finally be defeated by Abd al-Malik who would send Al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf to reunite the Islamic empire. Hajjaj would defeat and kill Ibn Zubayr on the battlefield in 692, beheading him and crucifying his body, reestablishing Umayyad control over the Islamic Empire.

ee also

*Islam
*Sahaba

External links

* [http://www.themuslimhistory.info/INenglish/ImamNcal/Chap11.htm Reference from Islamic history website]