Zayd ibn Ali ibn Al-Hussein (Part 1)
Zayd ibn Ali was the grandson of
Hussein ibn Ali, the grandson of
Prophet Muhammad (
peace be upon him). Zayd was born in
Medinah in 695. He is the son of Ali ibn Al-Hussein (Zainul Abideen).
Zayd ibn Ali soon became one of the foremost scholars of the
Alawi family. He narrated hadiths from all of his relatives including his elder brother,
Muhammad Al-Baqir. Zayd expanded his knowledge by travelling to other major centers of learning in
Iraq, Kufah,
Basrah and
Wasit, where he sat and exchanged views with his contemporaries like Abu Haneefah and Sufyan Al-Thawri.
The
Umayyad caliph,
Hisham ibn Abdul-Malik (reign 724-743 CE) never missed an opportunity to degrade and humiliate the Alawi family and Zayd ibn Ali was often singled out for abuse. He was not allowed to leave the city of
Madinah without the permission of its governor and his requests for permission were often turned down repeatedly.
Eventually, Zayd became the first of Ali's descendants to try to wrest the caliphate from the
Umayyads after the catastrophe at
Karbala. He travelled secretly to Kufah where he was joined by the
Shi'ites of Iraq, Was and other places, and made preparation to do battle with the Umayyads. A number of his relatives warned him against depending on the Kufans, as it was their betrayal of
Imam Hussein which led to his unnatural death, but he did not heed their warnings. Before his preparations were complete, disputes arose among his new followers when they found out that he did not consider the first caliphs,
Abu Bakr and
Umar, to be apostates who stole the caliphate from his grandfather. The majority of his followers broke away from him and declared his nephew,
Ja'far as-Sadiq, to be the
Imam of the time instead of Zayd. Hisham's army took advantage of the confusion and made a surprise attack on Kufah. Only a little more than four hundred followers rallied to Imam Zayd's side and he was killed during the fighting which ensued.
"A group of their leaders assembled in his (Zayd's presence) and said: "May God have mercy on you! What do you have to say on the matter of Abu Bakr and Umar?" Zayd said, "I have not heard anyone in my family renouncing them both nor saying anything but good about them
...when they were entrusted with government they behaved justly with the people and acted according to the Qur'an and the Sunnah."
Although he fought bravely, Zayd was killed in battle on the 2nd of
Safar in
120 or 122
A.H. (740
A.D.) 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, Zayd'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 (peace be upon him) placed on the gallows entirely naked. For four years the sacred body remained on the gallows. Thereafter, when Walid Ibn Yazid ibn
Abd al-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.
The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) once looked at
Zayd ibn Haritha, 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 (peace be upon him) pointed at Zayd ibn Haritha and said: "
Come closer to me, your name became more dear to me because it is the same as my dear child (Zayd)."
The brother of Zayd ibn Ali, Muhammad Al-Baqir narrated: "The
Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) put his sacred hand on Hussein ibn Ali's back and said: "O
Hussein, it will not be long until a man will be born among your descendants. He will be called Zayd; 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."
Abu Hanifah 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."
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.
Sufyan al-Thawri respected Imam Zayd's knowledge and character, saying "Zayd took the place of Imam Al-Hussein. He was the most versed human concerning Allah's holy book. I affirm: women have not given birth to the likes of Zayd..."