User:Al Ameer son/Ibn al-Zubayr
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ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Zubayr ibn al-ʿAwwām (May 624 — October/November 692) was an influential Muslim figure who headed a caliphate that rivaled the Umayyads between 683 until his death. He was the son of al-Zubayr ibn al-Awwam and Asma bint ibn Abi Bakr and the first child born to the Muhajirun, Islam's earliest converts. While still a child, he participated in the early Muslim conquests alongside his father in Syria and Egypt, and later played a role in the Muslim conquests of Ifriqiya and northern Iran in 647 and 650, respectively. During the First Fitna, he fought on the side of his aunt A'isha and the Banu Umayya against Caliph Ali (r. 656–661). Though little is heard of Ibn al-Zubayr during the subsequent reign of the first Umayyad caliph Mu'awiya I (r. 661–680), it was known that he opposed Mu'awiya's designation of his son Yazid I as his chosen successor. Ibn al-Zubayr, along with much of the Quraysh and Ansar of the Hejaz, opposed the caliphate being an inheritable institution of the Banu Umayya.
ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Zubayr | |||||
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6th Caliph[note 1] | |||||
Reign | 683–692 | ||||
Predecessor | Yazīd I | ||||
Successor | ʿAbd al-Malik | ||||
Born | May 624 Medina | ||||
Died | October/November 692 Mecca | ||||
Burial | Medina | ||||
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House | Banū ʿAbd al-ʿUzza of Quraysh | ||||
Dynasty | Zubayrid | ||||
Father | Al-Zubayr ibn al-ʿAwwām | ||||
Mother | Asmā' bint Abi Bakr | ||||
Religion | Islam |
Ibn al-Zubayr established himself in Mecca where he rallied opposition to Yazid's reign (680–683), before declaring himself caliph in the wake of Yazid's death in 683. Meanwhile, Yazid's son and successor died weeks into his reign, precipitating the collapse of Umayyad authority throughout the caliphate, most of whose provinces subsequently accepted the suzerainty of Ibn al-Zubayr. Though widely recognized as caliph, Ibn al-Zubayr's authority was largely nominal outside of the Hejaz. By 685, the Umayyad Caliphate was reconstituted under Marwan I in Syria and Egypt, while Zubayrid authority was being challenged in Iraq and Arabia by pro-Alid and Kharijite forces, respectively. Ibn al-Zubayr's brother Mus'ab was able to reassert Ibn al-Zubayr's suzerainty in Iraq by 686, but was defeated and killed by Marwan's successor Abd al-Malik in 691. The Umayyads under the general al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf proceeded to besiege Ibn al-Zubayr in his Meccan stronghold, where he was ultimately slain in 692.
Through the prestige of his family ties and social links with the Islamic prophet Muhammad and his strong association with the holy city of Mecca, Ibn al-Zubayr was able to lead the influential, disaffected Muslim factions opposed to Umayyad rule. He sought to reestablish the Hejaz as the political center of the caliphate. However, his refusal to leave Mecca precluded him from exercising power in the more populous provinces where he depended on his brother Mus'ab and other loyalists, who ruled with virtual independence. He thus played a minor role in the struggle carried out in his name.