With Hisha`m b. 'Abd al-Malik
Hisha`m bore malice against the Prophet's family and harbored hatred against them. He ordered his security agents to keep an eye on the 'Alids and to know their political activities. His security agents informed him of Zayd's high social rank and his remarkable abilities. They told him that the people
followed Zayd and that they looked
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1. Ibid.
2. Zahr al-Adab, vol. 1, p. 118.
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forward to his government. Thus, Hisha`m plotted against him. He ordered his governor over Medina (Yathrib) to send Zayd to Damascus. When Zayd arrived in Damascus, Hisha`m did not receive him to weaken and disdain him. When the Syrians saw that Zayd had high morals, eloquent speech, strong proofs, and religious devoutness, they followed him. Hisha`m heard of that, so he burst into anger. Then he asked the advice of some of his followers to abase and weaken Zayd before the Syrians. They said to him:"Permit all the people to come to meet you. Prevent Zayd from coming with them. Then let him enter after them all. When he enters and greets you, do not greet
him and do not order him to sit down."Hisha`m did that. He thought that such an action would decrease Zayd's importance and weaken his character. Some historians said: "Zayd came in and greeted Hisha`m. However, Hisha`m did not greet him. Thus, Zayd burst into anger. He addressed him violently, saying: 'Cross-eyed, greetings! Indeed you see yourself appropriate for this name!’
1 These words destroyed the tyrant's might and abased his haughtiness. So, he shouted at Zayd, saying: "I have heard that you mention the caliphate and wish
for it. Still, you are inappropriate for it. Moreover, you are the son of a slave-wife.
Zayd opposed Hisha`m. He mocked at him. He brought proofs to refute Hisha`m's words, saying: "Surely, mothers do not hold back men from their aims. Indeed Ismael's mother was a slave for
Isaac's mother. However, Allah appointed him prophet, made him the father of the Arabs, and brought out from his back the best of prophets, Mohammed, may Allah bless him and his family.
2
Hisha`m could not control himself because of these wonderful words. He shook all over. Thus, he attacked Ima`m Mohammed al-Ba`qir, saying: "What does your brother, the cow (al-baqara), do?
Nobody uses these obscene words except the ignorant ones who have no proof. Zayd felt pain when Hisha`m abused his brother. So, he
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1. Ibn 'Asakir, al-Tahdhib, vol. 6, p. 22.
2. Ibn al-Athir, al-Kamil, vol. 5, p. 84.
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turned to the tyrant and said to him: "Allah's Apostle has called al-Ba`qir (the one who splits open knowledge). Why do you call him al-baqara (the cow)? That is because of the great difference between you and him. You will oppose him in the hereafter as you have opposed him in this world. So, he will enter Paradise and you will enter the Fire.
1
These words shook the tyrant's throne. They made the Syrians know that the tyrant was the worst creature and that he was not worthy of being a police man. He opposed Allah's Apostle, may Allah bless him and his family. So, why was he the Caliph over the Moslems? Hisha`m was unable to control himself, so he ordered his police to take Zayd out of his meeting.
2 Zayd went out. His heart was full of anger and pain. The tyrant (Hisham) began saying to his family: "Do you not claim that the members of this House have perished? No, by my life, the people whose descendant is this have not perished.
3
Zayd went out. He was very eager to announce his uprising against the Umayyad government that denied all human values and disdained the people's dignity. Zayd declared his uprising through his immortal words that became a motto and anthem for the revolutionists who entered the fields of armed struggle. He said:
If people hate the heat of the swords, they become low.
This confrontation between Zayd and Hisha`m took place during the lifetime of Ima`m Mohammed al-Ba`qir, peace be on him. The books have not mentioned the Year when this confrontation occurred. However, from that moment, Zayd decided to revolt against the Umayyad regime. Some of his followers said that they went to him and heard reciting the following words of the poet:
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1. Sharh al-Nahjj, vol. 1, p. 315.
2. Ibn al-Athir, al-Kamil, vol. 5, p. 84.
3. 'Umdat al-Talib.
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Whoever seeks the forbidden glory with the spear lives glorious or the spears tear him.
When you gather together a clever heart and a sword and a refusal soul, the oppressive will avoid you.
When a group of people invade me, I invade it.
O Family of Hamada`n, am I oppressive in that?
1
These lines of poetry indicate that Zayd decided to revolt against the Umayyad regime through entering the field of armed struggle. He chose this method to live glorious and noble, to make the oppressive avoid him, and to protect himself from the plot of the aggressors. Oh You who are great revolutionary, you are not oppressive nor are an aggressor. Rather you are the one who saved and freed the Arabs and the Moslem community from oppression, injustice, and despotism.
The Legal Uprising
It is certain that Zayd was not joyful nor ungrateful nor oppressive nor corruptive when he announced his uprising. Rather he wanted to obtain Allah's pleasure and the hereafter. Surely he saw prevailing oppression and general injustice. He saw the Umayyad rulers violate all the things Allah prohibited. Thus, he revolted against them for Allah and the truth. The reporters said: "When Zayd decided to revolt (against the Umayyads), Ja`bir b. Zayd al-Ju'fi came and said to him:' I heard your brother, Abu` Ja'far (al-Ba`qir), say:' Indeed my brother, Zayd b. 'Ali, will revolt and he will be killed. He is right. Woe unto him who betrays him! Woe unto him who fight against him! Woe unto him who Kills him. '
So, Zayd said to him: "I cannot keep silent. That is because they have disobeyed Allah's Book. Moreover, they have believed in idols and false deities. I saw a man with Hisha`m. The man was abusing Allah's Apostle, may Allah bless him and his family. Thus, I said to
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1. Maqatil al-Talibiyyin, p. 129.
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the man:' Unbeliever, woe unto you. When I meet you, I will kill you and send you quickly to the Fire. '"So, Hisha`m said to me: "Zayd, keep silent. He is our friend. "Then I (Zayd) said: "By Allah, if there was nobody except I and my son, Yahya`, I will go out and fight against him till I have perished.
1
Ima`m Abu` Allah al-Sa`diq, peace be on him, praised his uncle (Zayd) very much. He also glorified his reformative uprising. "The narrators said: "Al-Sa`diq said to his companions:'Do not say that Zayd disobeyed. Surely, Zayd was a religious scholar. He was very truthful. He did not summon you for himself. Rather, he summoned you to follow al-Rida from the family of Mohammed, may Allah bless him and his family. If he had appeared, he would have fulfilled what he had promised you. Surely, he revolted against the supreme authority to change it.
2 Al-Sa`diq, peace be on him, gave 'Abd al-Rahma`n b. Sayya`ba a thousand dinars
to divide them among the families of those who were wounded with Zayd.
3
If the uprising had been illegal, Zayd would have not done that. That is because he was far above emotions and sentiments.
Some reports have condemned Zayd's uprising. They have regarded it as illegal. However, our master sayyid Ima`m al-Khu'i has discussed Zayd's uprising. He has proven that the chain of the reporters is weak. So, nobody can rely on such a chain to defame Zayd's character and uprising.
4
However, Zayd's uprising made intellectual social change in the Islamic society and made it ready to revolt against the Umayyad government. Few years passed, then the black standards waved in Khurasan. Then they crept to conquer the Islamic countries and to purify them from the hirelings of the Umayyad authority. Thus, they overthrew the Umayyad throne and put an end to its haughtiness and despotism.
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1. Taysir al-Matalib, pp. 108-109.
2. Roudat al-Kafi.
3. Al-Majjalisi, al-Amali, p. 54.
4. Mu'jam Rijal al-Hadith, vol. 7, pp. 350-358.
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The Great Uprising
Zayd revolted against the Umayyad rule through his faith that represented the essence and guidance of Islam. Indeed he saw a liar living, a truthful one was accused of lying, riches without piety, common injustice, and despotism in the affairs of the Moslems. So, he was unable to keep silent. Some of his Shi'ties said: "We went out with Zayd. When it was mid night and the Pleiades appeared, he said to us:' Do you
not see the Pleiades? Do you thing that there is anyone who can reach them?'
"No,"they replied.
"By Allah, I wish that my hand was attached to them and I fell on the ground or where I fell and cut into pieces and that Allah reformed the community of Mohammed, may Allah bless him and his family.
1
These words of his indicate his reformative nature and his great loyalty to the community of his grandfather, may Allah bless him and his family and his full dedication to general reform.
'Isa` b. 'Abd Allah reported on the authority of his grandfather Mohammed b. 'Umar b. 'Ali, peace be on him, who said: "I was with Zayd b. 'Ali when Hisha`m sent us to Yousif b. 'Umar. When we left Hisha`m , we headed for Qa`disiya (a province in Iraq). When we arrived there, Zayd said:' Isolate my provision from yours. ' So, his son said to him:'What do you want to do?' ' I want to return to Ku`fa. By Allah, if I know that Allah is pleased with me when I strike fire with my hand to throw myself into it when it is ablaze, I will do so. However, I know that there is nothing that pleases Allah, the Great and Almighty, more than striving against the Umayyads.
2
Zayd did not revolt against the Umayyads for the Caliphate or the supreme authority. Rather he revolted to obtain Allah's pleasure and the hereafter. He thought that striving against the oppressive was among the greatest things that would make him near him to Allah.
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1. Maqatil al-Talibiyyin, p. 129.
2. Taysir al-Matalib, pp. 108-109.
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Then he headed for Ku`fa, for it was the general center of the Shi'ites who asked him to come to them to pledge allegiance to him to revolt against the Umayyad government and to overthrow it. The historians said that a group of his loyal companions warned him of going to Ku`fa and blamed him for having trust in the Ku`fa`ns who were known for treason and breaking promises. However, he did not pay attention to that, for he found no strategic place for his uprising other than Ku`fa. He was reciting the following words of 'Antara al-'Absi:
She got up early in the morning to make me afraid of death.
It was as if I was in isolation from the accidents of life.
So, I answered her that death was a watering place and that
I would be surely watered by the glass of the watering place.
1
These lines of poetry indicates that Zayd decided to enter the field of armed struggle and that he strove bravely to drink out of the glass of death to get rid of abasement, as his grandfather, Ima`m Husayn, the Lord of the free, and of the abstinent ones in Islam.
When Zayd arrived in Ku`fa, the Ku`fa`ns received him warmly and hurried to pledge allegiance to him. The number of those who pledged allegiance to him was fifteen thousand people. It was said that their number was more than this. Moreover, the jurists, the judges, the great thinkers, and the prominent poets pledged allegiance to him. Among them were al-A'mash, Sa'd b. Kadda`m, Qays b. al-Rabi', al-Hasan b. Ammara, and the like.
2 Abu` Hanifa was asked about Zayd's going out, so he said: "His going out was similar to the going out of the Apostle of Allah, may Allah bless him and his family, at the Battle of Badr."He added: "If I had known that the people would not abandon him as they had abandon his father, I would have fought along side him. However, I helped him with money.
3
As for the form of the pledge of allegiance which Zayd took from those who pledged allegiance to him, it is as follows: "I summon you to (follow) the Book of Allah, the Sunna (practices) of His
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1. Al-Roud al-Nadir, vol. 1, p. 75.
2. Maqatil al-Talibiyyin.
3. Al-Kamil, vol. 5, p. 56.
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Apostle, to strive against the oppressive, to defend the oppressed, to give to the deprived, to divide booty among its people, to pay the rights to their owners, to support the people of the truth , and the like.
1
This form gives a picture about the original principles for which Zayd revolted. They are:
1. He summoned (the people) to enliven the Book of Allah and the Sunna of His Prophet. That is because the Umayyad policy drove them away from life.
2. He summoned them to strive against the Umayyad oppressive rulers who led the Moslems through oppression and injustice and forced them to adopt what they hated.
3. He summoned them to defend the rights of the oppressed and to give to the deprived. Indeed this class of people were deprived of all their legal rights throughout the Umayyad rule.
4. He summoned them to divide equally booty and all financial rights among the Moslems. The Umayyads blundered such rights and spent them on their pleasures and their private desires.
5. He summoned them to support the righteous people who took care of the lawful affairs of the community. They were the guides from the members of the House (ahl al-Bayt), peace be on them.
Zayd revolted (against the Umayyads) to achieve these great aims in the Islamic homeland and to save the community from injustice, oppression, and severe punishments of the Umayyads.
The historians said: "Zayd had a large armed force. Their number was forty thousand people. Thus, he thought that he had to announce his uprising and to creep with his armies to occupy
Ku`fa and to over throw the Umayyad government.
His armies started from Jabba`nat Sa`lim.
2 They were hailing their great leader, Zayd. They were very eager to over throw Umayyad rule. They were shouting: Ya Mansur, amit. "O He who is
____________
1. Maqatil al-Talibiyyin.
2. Ansab al-Ashraf, vol. 3, p. 203.
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victorious, bring death.
1
When Zayd saw the standards waving over his head , he said: "Praise belongs to Allah Who has guided me. By Allah, if I do not enjoin (the people) to do good, I will feel shame ofAllah's Apostle, may Allah bless him and his family, when I meet him at al-Hawd (holy water in Heaven).
2 Then he addressed his armies, saying: "Cleave to the behavior of the Commander of the Faithful in Basrah and Syria. Do not follow the fugitive, do not kill the wounded, and do not open a closed thing.
3
The war broke out at a very cold night.
4 That was in Muharram 23rd, in the year
122 A. H. Armed clashes occurred between Zayd's followers and the Umayyad armies headed by the Governor of Ku`fa, Yousif b. Umar.
Treason and Perfidy
The Ku`fa`ns betrayed Zayd after they had made a covenant with Allah to support and
defend him. They abandoned him at the battle. They left him with the few of his companions in the field of armed struggle (jihad). When Zayd knew of their treason, he said:
"They have done towards me as they had done towards al-Husayn.
The Ku`fa`ns betrayed him as they had betrayed his grandfather, al-Husayn, before. Zayd was sure of the failure of his uprising. It seemed to him that the Ku`fa`ns had no protection nor had they loyalty. Thus, he and his companions took part at the battle that happened in the streets of Ku`fa. He proved himself brave. The people did not see a knight braver than him.
5
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1. Al-Tabari, Tarikh, vol. 8, p. 273.
2. 'Umdat al-Talib, vol. 2, p. 127.
3. Al-Hada'iq al-Wardiya, vol. 1, p. 148.
4. Ansab al-Ashraf, vol. 3, p. 202.
5. Ibid.
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Under the Protection of Immortality
Zayd showed bravery and heroism which nobody can depict. He pursued the armies and inflicted on them heavy causalities. So, the Umayyad army was unable to resist Zayd's successive attacks. He attacked them and recited the following words of a poet:
I abase life and honor death.
I see them both unhealthy taste.
If one of them is necessary,
then I will walk towards death in a pretty way.
Surely Zayd preferred the glory of death to the abasement of life, as his grandfathers preferred that. He did not yield to abasement and enslavement. Rather, he died honorably under the shade of swords.
When it got dark, an arrow hit Zayd in the forehead.
1 The arrow reached his noble brain that thought of nothing but of man's righteousness and happiness.
The disaster befell his companions. They were full of sorrow and sadness. Thus, they sent for a doctor. The doctor took the arrow out of Zayd's forehead. However, Zayd died immediately. With that the glowing candle that illuminated the way and made clear the purpose for the Moslems went out.
Zayd died as a martyr to achieve social justice in the earth, to secure equal chances for the Moslems, and to divide the blessings of the earth among the poor and the deprived whose rights the Umayyad authority denied.
The historians said : "Indeed Zayd's companions were perplexed at burning his body. That is because the Umayyad authority would maim it in a sinful way. After a discussion, they decided to bury his body in a river. They went to the river and stopped its water. They dug a gave in it and buried the pure body in it. They made the water flow on it. Then they went away weeping over the great leader who took
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1. Al-Muqrim, Zayd al-Shahid.
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care of the rights of the oppressed and the persecuted.
One of the spies of the authorities was among Zayd's companions. The spy saw their movements. Thus, he hurried to Ku`fa to tell its governor about the place of the grave. So, the governor ordered the grave to be dug up to take the body out of it. Thus, the body was taken out and carried to the Palace of Ku`fa. There the governor ordered the body to be hung upside-down at al-Kanasa Market. Then he ordered the head to be cut off to be sent as a gift to the Syrian tyrant, Hisha`m b. 'Abd al-Malik. The cruel tyrant ordered the head to be put at his meeting. He ordered those who came to him to step on it with their shoes to abase it very much.
1Then he made the hens peck its brain. In this connection, the poet said:
Dismiss the rooster from Zayd's brain
as long as the chickens did not tread on him.
2
(He is) the grandson of the Prophet, the noblest of all Allah's creatures, the adornment of the delegations and pilgrims.
They carried running his head to Syria in the early morning.
3
The tyrant (Hisha`m b. 'Abd al-Malik) ordered the head to be hung on the gate of Damascus. Then the head was sent to Medina.
4It was installed at the grave of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and his family, for a day and a night.
5 Then it was sent to Egypt. All that was done to spread fear and terrorism among the people and to make them know that the authorities were able to suppress any
anti-government opposition.
The tyrant of Damascus wrote to the assassin, Yousif b. 'Umar, the governor of Ku`fa, to let Zayd hang. With that he intended to abase the 'Alids and to disdain their Shi'ites. It escaped him that such an
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1. Ibn Abi Al-Haddid, Sharh.
2. Al-Niza wa al-Takhasum, p. 7.
3. Ansab al-Ashraf, vol. 3, p. 292.
4. Al-Tabari, Tarikh, vol. 8. p. 77.
5. 'Umdat al-Talib, p. 258.
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action lighted the fire of revolution in their souls. Thus, they were ready to sacrifice their lives for their doctrines.
The Umayyads boasted of hanging Zayd's body. Al-Hakim b. 'Ayya`sh, an Umayyad hireling, boasted of that, saying:
We have hung Zayd for you on the trunk of a date-palm.
We have never seen a Mahdi hung on the trunk.
You have compared 'Uthma`n with 'Ali owing to foolishness.
While 'Uthma`n is better than 'Ali.
A handful of earth is in al-Hakim's mouth. Surely Zayd was hung because he wanted to achieve the rights of the oppressed and the persecuted. He was hung because he wanted to establish social justice in the earth and to put an end to social oppression and the playing with the fate and blessings of the community.
When Abu` 'Abd Allah al-Sa`diq heard of these lines of poetry, he felt pain very much. So, he raised his hands to supplicate (Allah), saying: "O Allah, if your servant is a liar, then empower Your dog. "Allah accepted the Ima`m's supplication. A lion ate al-Hakim when he was walking in the streets of Ku`fa. When the Ima`m heard of that, he prostrated himself in prayer to thank Allah, saying: "Praise belongs to Allah Who has fulfilled His promise.
1
