Zayd bin Ali Uprising (Qyam)

This post is also available in:

In the last period of the , the were generally found to be in a state of considerable agitation and civil unrest.

At that time Damascus was in the kingdom of . .During this period there was a lot of political turmoil in the country, many of the Fatimids were ready to face government Suppression. Therefore the spirit of uprising and revenge from the intensified.

The unbridled oppression of the rulers and their blatant immorality; as well as their fearless subversion of the basis of Islamic beliefs, had severely afflicted and affected Zayd’s free spirit.
Zayd’s traveled to the Levant during the Caliphate ‘‘. The disgraceful treatment of Hisham with him among the courtiers made Zayd very upset.
The actions and words he uttered from the during these travels, strengthened Zayd’s determination to rise up. These circumstances made a brighter flame in his heart.

On his return from the Levant, the people of met him in Al-Qadisiyah. Kufies called him for jihad and swore that they do not withhold their support from him.

Due to the insistence of the Kufis, Zayd finally accepted; Although, veteran Hejaz and Iraqi politicians have advised Zayd against doing so, warning of Kufi history in breaching the treaties. But Zayd gave appropriate answers to each of them and prepared for the uprising.

Zayd insisted on staying in Kufa

‘Yusuf bin Umar’ (Governor of Iraq) did not rush Zayd to ‘‘; (‘Yusuf ibn Umar Saghafi’ was living in ‘‘ at that time and a man named ‘Hakam ibn Salat’ was his successor in ‘‘. Therefore, when he wanted to leave the city, he ordered his agents, to keep annoying Zayd.

But Zayd insisted on staying in ‘Kufa’ and refused to follow the governor’s orders under various pretexts; such as trade, illness, and a lawsuit against ‘Talha ibn Ubaydullah’ over the joint finance in Medina.

People’s allegiance to Zayd

For ten months in ‘‘ and , he secretly invited people to the movement, uprising, and allegiance. During this time, Zayd lived in the Shiite homes of ‘Kufa’ and Basra; and occasionally changed his residence for security reasons.

The people of Fujifuj went to Zayd’s residence and pledged allegiance to him. It is narrated that Zayd’s allegiance

to the people was based on the following:

“We call you to the Book of God and the ‘Sunnah’ of His Prophet (PBUH) to fight the oppressors, and to defend the weak and to bestow the deprived and to divide the spoils among its owners equally.”

“And rejecting oppression and bringing back the armies that are late and helping the ‘Ahl al-Bayt (PBUH)’; against the opponents who do not know our right.”… And when they had received him, he said, God! “Be a witness.”

Number of pledgers

Allegiance was done cautiously and secretly, during which time 50,000 Kufis are said to have pledged allegiance to him; This number was different from the people who had pledged allegiance to him in , , , , , and ; Because in addition to Kufa, Zayd had sent envoys to other important cities in Iraq and even distant centers to take allegiance from the people for him.

The help of some Sunni scholars

Many people joined Zayd’s movement, including some leading Sunni scholars (such as Abu Hanifa). It is said that Zayd sent a letter to ‘Abu Hanafiyyah’ inviting him to help him and the jihad against the ‘Benjamite’ government, and ‘Abu Hanifa’ to Zayd. He sent financial aid and helped him with his facilities.

The Upraising

After a few months and with the preparations for the uprising being prepared; Zayd openly prepared for the uprising and ordered his allies to prepare and prepare the battle equipment.

At this time, a man named “Sulayman ibn Saraqa” informed Yusuf ibn Umar about the matter ; And reported Zaid visits to the homes of two of his companions, Amer and Ta’meh.

News of the uprising was also transmitted to Hisham; Hisham’s repeatedly sent letters to ‘Yusuf ibn Umar’ to pursuit the issue, ordered him to follow the whole situation in Kufa seriously; Therefore, he wrote a letter to ‘Ibn Salat’, urging him to be vigilant and ordering government officials to search for Zayd in the house of the two men; however, government officials did not find Zayd ibn Ali (as) in this search;

But the leaking of Zayd’s headquarters and the arrest and martyrdom of these two close allies of Zayd. The possibility of a surprise attack by the enemy forced Zayd and his allies to act sooner; Meanwhile, strengthen their positions before the enemy invaded and officially prepare for battle. They left the city on Tuesday evening and prepared for war.

Declaration of martial law

One day before ‘Zayd’s’ departure (ie Tuesday 1st Safar), a military government was announced in Kufa by the ruling of ‘Ibn Salat’, the agent of ‘Yusuf ibn Umar’, the tribal leaders, the guards, the elders, and the warriors of the people.

And according to the narration, all the people of Kufa gathered in the Grand Mosque of Kufa. He ordered a preacher in the city to shout that “whoever disobeys this order, his sanctity will be taken away [and his blood is wasted].” The doors of the mosque and the bazaar were closed and the people were imprisoned there.

Al Masjid Al Azam Bil Kufa (The Great Mosque of Kufa), raq

Breaking the pledged allegiance By Kufies

Zayd was living outside Kufa that night. That night, Zayd and his companions lit a fire in the desert, and reeds of fire were set on fire, and they woke up till the morning, Calling Kufies to Join them by shouting “Mansour al-Ummah.” But out of the fifty thousand who had pledged allegiance to him, only two hundred and eighty, and, according to a narration, three hundred, had joined him.

In the morning, he looked at his companions and said, “Glory be to God; “Who are the people?” They said: “O son of the Prophet (PBUH)! “People have been imprisoned in the mosque.” “I swear to God,” he said with regret and sadness. This is no excuse for those who have pledged allegiance to us;

How many people are trapped in the mosque, so why don’t the rest go out to us? “It is true that they are negligent and deceitful.”

The beginning of the armed uprising

The news of this night and the chants of Zayd and his companions reached ‘Yusuf bin Umar’. So he decided to come to Kufa in person and try to suppress the movement. He sent some people to Kufa to find out about the situation and the people of Zayd. They returned to Yusuf after study the ground situation.

On Wednesday morning, Zayd ordered two Shiites to go to Kufa and shout the slogan of revolution; But the two encountered a group of enemies near Kufa and were martyred.
So Zayd sent ‘Sa’id ibn Khaytham’, who was known for his loud voice, to do this, and he did it. On the first Wednesday of the ‘Safar’ of the year 121 (or two) AH, the war began.

Zayd moved his army towards the city and incited them to war. The Umayyads also prepared for defense, the first clash taking place around Kufa in the area of ‘Sayadin’ (Saidin), which led to the victory of Zayd’s allies.

The advance of Zayd’s companions to Kufa

As Zayd’s allies advanced, the war broke out in Kufa, then moved towards ‘Konasa’. At this time, Zayd turned to ‘Nasr ibn Khuzaymah’ and said, “Are you worried that the Kufis will leave me alone, like my grandfather, Hussein?” Nasr said, “May God help me, I will fight in the sword until I die.”

Action to rescue imprisoned people

He then suggests that they go to the mosque to liberate the people. Zayd, along with his two Brave officers, ‘Nasr ibn Khuzaymah’ and ‘Mu’awiyah ibn Ishaq’, and a few of his companions decided to go to the mosque; so that they might be able to break the siege. Save the trapped people in the mosque from the siege of the Umayyads.
Zayd and his companions reached the house of ‘Anas bin Amr’ on the way, Zayd called out: “O Anas, get out; The place of truth and falsehood is falsehood, and falsehood is false ”; But he did not pay attention to Zayd’s words and did not come out.

“Stay with what you have been created for, for God is sufficient for you,” Zayd said.

Zayd and his companions were able to reach the mosque. At the order of Zayd, they waved their flags and entered the mosque so that people could see the flags inside the mosque.
At this time, ‘Nasr ibn Khuzaymah’ shouted: “O people of the mosque! Get rid of humiliation, go out to religion and the world; “Because now you have neither a world nor a religion.”
But the Kufis did not respond to his call and did not show any movement, and the Umayyad agents threw stones at the top of the mosque to prevent Zayd and his companions from advancing further.

Ibn Umar’s army clashed with Zayd’s army

At this time, the new army of ‘Yusuf ibn Umar’ arrived and came to the mosque and fought with Zayd and his companions. A fierce battle broke out around the mosque and the bazaar. Zayd and his companions reached another neighborhood of the city (Dar al-Razq).

Zayd organized his forces there and ordered the battle. The battle in this neighborhood was also associated with the victory of Zayd and his allies.
Thus, the first day of the war ended with the relative success of Zayd’s allies. In the evening, ‘Yusuf bin Omar’ convened a military meeting, and that night they decided to end the rebellion tomorrow with an equipped army.

The victory of Zayd’s allies on the second day of the war

On the second day of the war, ‘Nasr ibn Khuzaymah’ was martyred by ‘Nayel ibn Furwah’. His martyrdom had a profound effect on Zayd’s spirit and greatly affected him. The hard battle of Zayd and his allies ended this morning with the victory of Zayd and his allies.

‘Yusuf ibn Umar’ prepared another army to attack Zayd’s allies. But Zayd and his companions crushed his army and pursued them to the area of ”Shohazar”.
Then from there to the neighborhood of “Bani Salim” and from there to “Rahband” they followed the Umayyads in the area of ”Barak and Ross” and attacked them and defeated them.

Rain of Arrows

The Umayyad forces, soon found out that their cavalry and infantry could not fight the cavalry and infantry of Zayd and his allies; So they asked permission from ‘Yusuf ibn Umar’ to shoot rain of Arrows on Zayd forces.

therefore they sent squads to the battlefield and at the beginning of the shooting, it created a difficult situation for Zayd and his companions. On this day, ‘Mu’awiyah ibn Ishaq’, another Zayd commander, was martyred and drowned in a valley of sorrow. In the evening of this day, Zayd was also severely wounded by an arrow that hit him in the forehead.

Martyrdom of Zayd

His companions took him to the house of one of his companions named ‘Harran Ibn Abi Karimah’, and brought him a doctor for his treatment; Unfortunately, the doctor’s attempt to treat Zayd was in vain, and he was martyred at the age of forty-two or forty-six on the third Friday of ‘Safar’ in the year one hundred and twenty-one AH after a bullet was drawn from his forehead.