Zayd ibn ‘Alī (Arabic: زيد بن علي, also spelled Zaid) (695-740) His Kunyah is Halef al-Quran and he was given the title "Zayd the Martyr" (Zayd ash-Shahīd) by his sympathizers. He was the grandson of Ḥusayn ibn ‘Alī, the grandson of Muhammad. Zayd was born in Medina in 695. His father was the Shī‘ah Imām ‘Alī ibn Ḥusayn "Zayn al-Abidīn". Zayd’s mother was a woman of slave origin from Sind named Jaydā, who is said to have been presented to his father by the Shī'ī rebel leader al-Mukhtār.[1]
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Hadith Prophesising his Birth
The prophet once looked at Zayd ibn Harithah, cried, and said " The martyr in the sake of Allah, The crucified of my people, The oppressed from my progeny, his name is thus." Then the prophet pointed at Zayd ibn Harithah and said " Come closer to me, your name became more dear to me because it is the same as my dear child (Zaid.)" [2] Abu Jafar Mohamad bin Ali narrated: "The Holy Prophet put his sacred hand on [Hussain bin Ali] back and said: 'O Hussain, 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.'"[2]
His Imamate
The Zaidis claim that Zaid was the rightful successor to his father, rather than his half-brother Muhammad al-Baqir.
Unlike his brother, Muhammad al-Baqir, the fifth Imam of the Sevener Ismaili and Twelver Imami Shi'as, Zayd believed the time was ripe for renewing the rebellion against the Umayyad Caliphs in support of the claims of his own Hashemite clan. It is here where many parallels with the life of his more famous grandfather, Husayn, begin. Imam Zaid, following the foot steps of his grandfather Husayn, thought that an Imam Should Fight oppression. Instead of watching the Muslims stay under an oppressive and ignorant ruler such as Hisham, he called for many people to follow him and fight with him to end reign of terror of Umayyad dynasty
Zaidi Revolt
Rafidha desertion of Imam Zaid
Accounts differ slightly on the circumstances of the desertion. Sunni sources attribute the desertion to Zayd's refusal to speak ill of the first two Caliphs, Abu Bakr and Umar, who most Shi'a regard as usurpers. [3] Zaydi sources on the other hand attribute it to the rejection of Imam Zayd's claim to Calipate. In both accounts, Zayd bitterly scolds the "rejectors" (Rafidha) who desert him, an apellation used by some Sunnis to describe non-Zaydi Shi'ites to this day.
His Character
Shaykh Mufid describes him as "a devout worshipper, pious, a jurist, God-fearing and brave." [4]
When descriibng Zaid, Imam Jafar As-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."[5] Hence his title "Ally of the Quran" (Halef Al-Quran)
Abu Hanifah once said about Imam Zaid, "I met with Zaid and I never saw in his generation a person more knowledgeable, as quick a thinker, or more eloquent than him. He was in a class by himself."
It is worth mentioning that he is also the first narrator of the famous as-Sahifah as-Sajjãdiyya of Imam Zainul 'Abidin.
Several works of hadith, theology, and Qur'ānic exegesis are attributed to him. The Mu‘tazilite school of theology is believed to have adopted many of Zayd's teachings, and therefore followers of the Zaidi sect are close to Mu‘tazilite school of theology.
Hadith Prophesising his Death
Muhammad prophesied his death, as narrated by Imam Hussain: "The Holy Prophet put his sacred hand on my back and said: 'O Hussain, 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.'" [6]
His Death
Historians of both Shi'is and Sunnis recorded that when Hisham ibn Abdu'l-Malik became the caliph, he committed many atrocities. With regard to the Bani Hashim, he was particularly cruel. At last, Zaid ibn ‘Ali, well known as a great scholar and a pious theologian, went to see the caliph to seek redress for the grievances of the Bani Hashim. As soon as Zaid arrived, the caliph, instead of greeting him as a direct descendant of the prophet, abused him with such abominable language that it can not be repeated. Because of this disgraceful treatment, Zaid left Syria for Kufa, where he raised an army against the Bani Umayyad. The governor of Kufa, Yusuf ibn 'Umar Thaqafi came out with a huge army to face him. Zaid recited the following war poem: "Disgraceful life and honourable death: both are bitter morsels, but if one of them must be chosen, my choice is honourable death." Although he fought bravely, Zaid was killed in battle on the 2nd of Safar in 120 A.H. at the age of forty-two by Yusuf ibn 'Amr ath-Thaqafi (the Umayyad governor). His son, Yahya, took his body from the field and buried him away from the city near the river bank, causing the water to flow over it. However, the grave was discovered and, under Yusuf's orders, the body was exhumed, Zaid's head was cut off and sent to Hisham in Syria. In the month of Safar, 121 A.H., Hisham had the sacred body of this descendant of the Prophet placed on the gallows entirely naked. For four years the sacred body remained on the gallows. Thereafter, when Walid Ibn Yazid ibn Abdu'l-Malik ibn Marwan became caliph in 126 A.H., he ordered that the skeleton be taken down from the gallows, burnt, and the ashes scattered to the wind. This accursed man committed a similar atrocity to the body of Yahya ibn Zaid of Gurgan (or Jowzjan). This noble man also opposed the oppression of the Bani Umayyad. He too was martyred on the battlefield. His head was sent to Syria and, as in the case of his revered father, his body was hung on the gallows - for six years. Friend and foe alike wept at the sight. Waliu'd-din Abu Muslim Khorasani, who had risen against the Bani Umayyad on behalf of Bani 'Abbas, took his body down and buried it in Gurgan (or Jowzjan). In Sarakhs however, there is a site of pilgrimage at Miyami.[7]
Shrines
There are two shrines for Zaid, One is in Kufa, Iraq, the other is in Karak, Jordan. The shrine in Jordan may be the final resting place of the head of Zaid ibn ‘Ali ibn Al-Hussain.[8]
Inspiration for Ahlul bayt
Zayd's desperate rebellion became the inspiration for the Zaydi sect, a school of Shi'a Islam that holds that any learned descendant of Ali can become an Imam by asserting and fighting for his claim as Zayd did (the rest of the Shi'as believe, in contrast, that the Imam must be divinely appointed). However, all schools of Islam, including the majority Sunnis, regard Zayd as a righteous martyr (shahid) against what is regarded as the corrupt leadership of the Umayyads. It is even reported that 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 Muhammad al-Nafs az-Zakiyya against the Abbasids in 762.
References
- ^ Madelung, W. "Zayd b. ʿAlī b. al-Ḥusayn." Encyclopaedia of Islam. Edited by: P. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C.E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel and W.P. Heinrichs. Brill, 2007. Brill Online. 13 September 2007 [1]
- ^ a b Alsayd Ibrahim Aldarsee Alhamzee, Preface of Musnad Al-Imam Zaid bin Ali, Referencing:Biography of Imam Zaid bin Ali
- ^ Tareekh at-Tabari, Vol. II, p. 1700
- ^ Article by Sayyid 'Ali ibn 'Ali Al-Zaidi, A short History of the Yemenite Shi‘ites (2005) Referencing: al-Irshad, p. 403
- ^ Article by Sayyid 'Ali ibn 'Ali Al-Zaidi, A short History of the Yemenite Shi‘ites (2005) Referencing: Religion & Faith
- ^ Article by Sayyid 'Ali ibn 'Ali Al-Zaidi, A short History of the Yemenite Shi‘ites (2005) Referencing: Peshawar Nights by Sultanu'l-Wa'izin Shirazi
- ^ Article by Sayyid 'Ali ibn 'Ali Al-Zaidi, A short History of the Yemenite Shi‘ites (2005) Referencing: al-Mufid, al-Irshad, p. 404; al-Mas'udi, Muruj adh-Dhahab; al-Qummi, Muntahal Amãl, p. 36
- ^ Article by Sayyid 'Ali ibn 'Ali Al-Zaidi, A short History of the Yemenite Shi‘ites (2005)
See also
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