Mus'ab b. al-Zubayr
| Teknonym | Abu Abd Allah |
|---|---|
| Religious Affiliation | Islam |
| Well-known Relatives | Al-Zubayr b. al-Awwam (his father), Abd Allah b. al-Zubayr (his brother), Sukayna (his wife) |
| Death | 72/691-2 |
| Cause of Death | Killed in the battle with Abd al-Malik b. Marwan |
| Notable roles | Ruler of Basra and Kufa |
| Activities | Murder of al-Mukhtar and overthrow of his government |
Mus'ab b. al-Zubayr (Arabic: مُصعَب بن الزُبَير) (d. 72/691-2) was the commander from the al-Zubayr Family who put an end to al-Mukhtar's Uprising. Mus'ab was appointed as the ruler of Basra by his brother Abd Allah b. al-Zubayr. After killing al-Mukhtar, he also killed five thousand people to whom he had promised a safeguard. Mus'ab married Imam al-Husayn's (a) daughter, Sukayna. Mus'ab was killed in a battle with Abd al-Malik b. Marwan, the Umayyad ruler, in 72/691.
Lineage and Family
Mus'ab was a son of al-Zubayr b. al-Awwam[1] and Rubab, the daughter of Anif b. Ubayd,[2] and his kunya was Abu Abd Allah.[3] He is considered as a member of the second group of Tabi'un.[4] He allegedly was good-looking,[5] generous,[6] and had many children.[7]
He transmitted hadiths from al-Zubayr b. al-Awwam, Umar b. al-Khattb, Sa'd b. Abi Waqqas, and Abu Sa'id al-Khudri.[8]
Mus'ab once stopped at Imam al-Husayn's (a) grave in one of his trips and said, "O Abu Abd Allah! I swear to God that although your enemies took your life, they failed to take your religion away from you".[9]
Two of Mus'ab's wives were well-known: Sukayna the daughter of Imam al-Husayn (a) and A'isha the daughter of Talha.[10]
Marriage to Sukayna the Daughter of Imam al-Husayn (a)
According to historical sources, Mus'ab was passionate about marrying Sukayna, the daughter of Imam al-Husayn (a). He allegedly asked and prayed to God to help him marry Sukayna and become the ruler of Iraq.[11] Sukayna married Mus'ab with a large amount of mahr.[12] The enormous mahr led to objections to Abd Allah b. al-Zubayr. Thus, he temporarily removed Mus'ab from the government.[13] Mus'ab and Sukayna had a daughter called Fatima who died when she was a child.[14] [15]
The Rule of Basra
In 67/686-7,[16] Mus'ab was appointed by his brother, Abd Allah b. al-Zubayr, as the ruler of Basra.[17] Upon his arrival in Basra, he gave a speech to people of Basra and referred to himself as a "butcher".[18]
During Mus'ab's rule of Basra, he was encouraged by some noblemen of Kufa, such as Shabath b. Rib'i and Muhammad b. Ash'ath,[19] to combat al-Mukhtar.
The Battle with al-Mukhtar and the Conquest of Kufa
Mus'ab combated and defeated al-Mukhtar. With the remainder of his army, al-Mukhtar went inside Kufa's Dar al-Imara (House of Emirate). After forty days of siege, al-Mukhtar and a few of his forces went out of Dar al-Imara and were killed after a short battle.[20]
The majority of al-Mukhtar's people, who amounted to about five thousand (or six thousand[21] or seven thousand[22]), asked Mus'ab to promise them a safeguard, and he gave it to them. However, when they surrendered, they all were killed at the command of Mus'ab.[23] Because of the mass killing, Mus'ab was condemned by Abd Allah b. Umar. He told Mus'ab, "You would have squandered if you had slaughtered the same number of sheep from the al-Zubayr Family in one morning, let alone this number of people who were hoped to repent to God".[24]
Mus'ab also killed Abd al-Rahman and Abd al-Rabb, the sons of Hujr b. Adi.[25]
After defeating al-Mukhtar, Mus'ab gained the rule of both Basra and Kufa.[26]
The Battle with Abd al-Malik
In 72/691-2, a battle took place between Abd al-Malik b. Marwan and Mus'ab in an area called "Maskan".[27] Mus'ab was defeated and killed in the battle.[28] According to some sources, Mus'ab was thirty six at the time of his death.[29] Mus'ab's son, Isa, was also killed in the battle.[30]
Notes
- ↑ Ibn Kathīr al-Dimashqī, al-Bidāya wa l-nihāya, vol. 8, p. 317.
- ↑ Ibn Saʿd, al-Ṭabaqāt al-kubrā, vol. 5, p. 139.
- ↑ Balādhurī, Jumal min ansāb al-ashrāf, vol. 9, p. 447.
- ↑ Sibṭ b. al-Jawzī, Mirʾāt al-Zamān, vol. 9, p. 26.
- ↑ Ibn Kathīr al-Dimashqī, al-Bidāya wa l-nihāya, vol. 8, p. 317.
- ↑ Ibn Kathīr al-Dimashqī, al-Bidāya wa l-nihāya, vol. 8, p. 317.
- ↑ Balādhurī, Jumal min ansāb al-ashrāf, vol. 9, p. 447.
- ↑ Ibn Kathīr al-Dimashqī, al-Bidāya wa l-nihāya, vol. 8, p. 317.
- ↑ Group of authors. Al-Uṣūl al-Sitta ʿAshara, p. 123.
- ↑ Ziriklī, al-Aʿlām, vol. 3, p. 240.
- ↑ Balādhurī, Jumal min ansāb al-ashrāf, vol. 2, p. 195.
- ↑ Abū l-Faraj Iṣfahānī, al-ʾAghānī, vol. 16, p. 366.
- ↑ Abū l-Faraj Iṣfahānī, al-ʾAghānī, vol. 3, p. 251.
- ↑ Ibn Ḥabīb Baghdādī, Kitāb al-muḥabbar, vol. 1, p. 438.
- ↑ After the death of their husbands, Imam al-Husayn's daughters were proposed for marriage by Umayyad rulers. Thus, in order to evade marriage to the Umayyads, they married other people. Ibn al-Athir, al-Kamil, 1965, vol. 5, p. 113; al-Baladhuri, Ansab al-ashraf, 1977, vol. 2, p. 47.
- ↑ Ibn al-Jawzī, al-Muntaẓam, vol. 6, p. 63.
- ↑ Ibn Saʿd, al-Ṭabaqāt al-kubrā, vol. 5, p. 140.
- ↑ Ibn Athīr al-Jazarī, al-Kāmil, vol. 4, p. 267.
- ↑ Ibn Athīr al-Jazarī, al-Kāmil, vol. 4, p. 267.
- ↑ Dīnawarī, al-Akhbār al-ṭiwāl, p. 307-308.
- ↑ Dīnawarī, al-Akhbār al-ṭiwāl, p. 308.
- ↑ Ibn Kathīr al-Dimashqī, al-Bidāya wa l-nihāya, vol. 8, p. 318.
- ↑ Ibn Kathīr al-Dimashqī, al-Bidāya wa l-nihāya, vol. 8, p. 318.
- ↑ Ibn Kathīr al-Dimashqī, al-Bidāya wa l-nihāya, vol. 8, p. 318.
- ↑ Ibn Athīr al-Jazarī, al-Kāmil, vol. 4, p. 280.
- ↑ Ibn Kathīr al-Dimashqī, al-Bidāya wa l-nihāya, vol. 8, p. 318.
- ↑ Ibn Saʿd, al-Ṭabaqāt al-kubrā, vol. 5, p. 176.
- ↑ Ibn Saʿd, al-Ṭabaqāt al-kubrā, vol. 5, p. 140.
- ↑ Ibn Athīr al-Jazarī, al-Kāmil, vol. 4, p. 333.
- ↑ Ziriklī, al-Aʿlām, vol. 5, p. 109.
References
- Abū l-Faraj Iṣfahānī, ʿAlī b. Ḥusayn. Al-ʾAghānī. Beirut: Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth al-ʿArabī, 1415 AH.
- Balādhurī, Aḥmad b. Yaḥyā al-. Jumal min ansāb al-ashrāf. Edited by Suhayl Zakār & Riyāḍ al-Ziriklī. 1st edition. Beirut: Dār al-Fikr, 1417 AH.
- Dīnawarī, Aḥmad b. Dāwūd al-. Al-Akhbār al-ṭiwāl. Qom: Manshūrāt al-Sharīf al-Raḍī, 1368Sh.
- Group of authors. Al-Uṣūl al-Sitta ʿAshara. 1st edition. Qom: Dār al-Shabistarī li-l-Maṭbūʿāt, 1363 Sh.
- Ibn Athīr al-Jazarī, ʿAlī b. Abī l-Karam. Al-Kāmil fī l-tārīkh. Beirut: Dār Ṣādir, 1385 AH.
- Ibn al-Jawzī, ʿAbd al-Raḥmān b. ʿAlī. Al-Muntaẓam fī tārīkh al-umam wa l-mulūk. Edited by Muḥammad ʿAbd al-Qādir ʿAṭāʾ and Musṭafā ʿAbd al-Qādir ʿAṭāʾ. 1st edition. Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmīyya, 1412 AH.
- Ibn Ḥabīb Baghdādī, Muḥammad b. Ḥabīb. Kitāb al-muḥabbar. Edited by Elza Lichten Stetter. Beirut: Dār al-Āfāq al-Jadīda, [n.d].
- Ibn Saʿd, Muḥammad b. Manīʿ al-Ḥāshimī al-Baṣrī. Al-Ṭabaqāt al-kubrā. 2nd edition. Beirut: Dar al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyya, 1418 AH.
- Ibn Kathīr al-Dimashqī, Ismāʿīl b. ʿUmar. Al-Bidāya wa l-nihāya. Beirut: Dār al-Fikr, 1407AH.
- Sibṭ b. al-Jawzī, Yūsuf b. Qazāwughlī. Mirʾāt al-Zamān fī Tawārīkh al-Aʿyān. Damascus: Dār al-Risāla al-ʿĀlamiyya, 1434 AH.
- Ziriklī, Khayr al-Dīn al-. Al-Aʿlām. Eighth edition. Beirut: Dār al-ʿIlm li-l-Malāyyīn, 1989.
