Zayd ibn Ali

Zayd ibn Ali
زيد بن علي
6th Zaydi Imam
In office
714/715 CE – 739/740 CE
Preceded byHasan al-Muthana
Succeeded byYahya ibn Zayd
Title
  • Zayd the Martyr
    Arabic: زَيْد ٱلشَّهِيْد, romanized: Zayd ash-Shahīd
  • Ally of the Qur'an
    Arabic: حَلِيْف ٱلْقُرْأٓن, romanized: Ḥalīf Al-Qurʾān
Personal
Born80 AH
≈ 698 CE
Medina, Hejaz
Died2nd Safar 122 AH
≈ 740 CE (aged 42)
Resting placeKufa, Iraq
ReligionIslam
SpouseRayta bint Abd Allah al-Alawiyya
Children
  • Hasan
  • Yaḥyā
  • Ḥusayn Dhū al-Dam'a
  • ʿĪsā Mū'tam (Father of Aḥmad) al-Ashbāl
  • Muḥammad
Parents
Other namesAbū al-Ḥusayn (Kunya)

Zayd ibn ʿAlī (Arabic: زيد بن علي; 695–740), also spelled Zaid, was the son of Ali ibn al-Husayn Zayn al-Abidin, and great-grandson of Ali ibn Abi Talib. He led an unsuccessful revolt against the Umayyad Caliphate, in which he died.[1] The event gave rise to the Zaydiyya sect of Shia Islam, which holds him as the next Imam after his father Ali ibn al-Husayn Zayn al-Abidin. Zayd ibn Ali is also seen as a major religious figure by many Sunnis and was supported by the prominent Sunni jurist, Abu Hanifa, who issued a fatwa in support of Zayd against the Umayyads.[2]

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 (shaheed) by all schools of Islam, Sunnis[2] and Shias. The calling for revenge for his death, and for the brutal display of his body, contributed to the Abbasid Revolution.[3]

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.[4][3]

  1. ^ Esposito, John L., ed. (2003). "Zayd ibn Ali". The Oxford Dictionary of Islam. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-1998-9120-7.
  2. ^ a b Ahkam al-Quran By Abu Bakr al-Jassas al-Razi, volume 1 page 100, published by Dar Al-Fikr Al-Beirutiyya
  3. ^ a b Madelung, Wilferd (2012). "Zayd b. ʿAlī b. al-Ḥusayn". In P. Bearman; Th. Bianquis; C.E. Bosworth; E. van Donzel; W.P. Heinrichs (eds.). Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-9-0041-6121-4.
  4. ^ Katz, Stanley N., ed. (2009). "Islamic Schools of Sacred Law". Islamic Schools of Sacred Law: Shiʿi Schools: The Zaydi School of Law. The Oxford International Encyclopedia of Legal History. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-1953-3651-1.