Sahib al-Zanj

Priority: c, Quality: b
From wikishia
Sahib al-Zanj
Personal Information
NameAli b.Muhammad
EpithetSahib al-Zanj
BirthWarzanin village near Rayy, Iran
Death270/883
FatherMuhammad b. Abd al-Rahim
MotherQurra
ReligionIslam
Rule
Area of GovernanceBasra and Ahwaz
ActivitiesLeader of the Zanj revolt against Abbasids


Sāḥib al-Zanj (Arabic: صاحِب الزَنْج, d. 270/883) was the leader of the Zanj revolt against the Abbasids. His name was Ali b. Muhammad but came to be known as Sahib al-Zanj because of his leadership of the Zanj revolt. He began his uprising in 255/869 and was killed in 270/883.

Sahib al-Zanj used to introduce himself as a descendant of Imam al-Sajjad (a) and claimed to be from the Ahl al-Bayt (a). However, most historians consider his claim to be false. According to a hadith from Imam al-Hasan al-Askari (a) too, he was neither from the family of the Prophet (s) nor from their followers.

Life

Ali b. Muhammad b. Abd al-Rahim, known as Sahib al-Zanj, was from the tribe Abd al-Qays.[1] He was born in Iran in a village called Warzanin near Rayy[2]—hence his title Warzanini[3]— and the name of his mother was Qurra.[4] Some scholars consider him originally Iranian with the given name Yahbud.[5]

Ali b. Muhammad became the leader of the Zanj revolt[6] and because of that came to be known as Sahib al-Zanj (the Comrade of the Zanj). His grandfather participated in the revolt of Zayd b. Ali[7] and after the latter's martyrdom fled Iraq and resided in Rayy.

Ibn Taqtaqa, an eighth/fourteenth-century historian, described Sahib al-Zanj as an intellectual (fadil);[8] however, Ibn Inaba, a ninth-century AH historian, considered him a hardhearted person who committed evil actions.[9]

Sahib al-Zanj is also described as a poet and man of literature[10] who gained many followers by his speeches.[11] In one part of his life, he would compose poems in praise of the Abbasid caliph. A collection of poems was attributed to him, which was extant until the ninth/fifteenth century.

It is reported that Sahib al-Zanj claimed to be a miracle-worker as well.[12]

Zarrinkub has noted that most of the views on Sahib al-Zanj are biased.[13] The accounts of al-Tabari, Ibn Athir, and al-Mas'udi about him are seen as hostile.[14] Al-Tabari, for instance, describes Sahib al-Zanj as "wicked" (khabith)[15] and a "grave sinner" (fasiq).[16] Al-Dhahabi,[17] the eighth/fourteenth-century historian, and Ibn Khaldun,[18] the ninth/fifteenth-century thinker, have also called him "wicked." Other historians have used such expressions as "May God curse him!" when mentioning him. [19]

Claim of Being an Alid

Sahib al-Zanj used to introduce himself as a descendant of Imam Ali (a) through Imam al-Sajjad (a)[20] with the following ancestral line: Ali b. Muhammad b. Ahmad b. Isa b. Zayd b. Ali b. al-Husayn b. Ali (a).[21] According to another report, he introduced himself as a descendant of Yahya b. Zayd. Miskawayh has affirmed the claim that he was from the descendants of the Prophet (s).[22] As a result, some have called Sahib al-Zanj "Alawi" (Alid).

However, most historians and scholars reject this claim and do not regard him a descendant of the Prophet (s).[23] They maintain that Sahib al-Zanj used to make this claim because at that time most revolts were conducted by the Zaydis and he made this claim to gain their support.[24]

Religious Affiliation

Sahib al-Zanj is regarded as similar to Khawarij in his beliefs and actions. Like them, he would kill women and children and others who did not deserve to be killed. He also considered a grave sinner to be a polytheist, which was a major Khariji belief.[25] The similarities between Sahib al-Zanj and Khawarij led the Qaramita to distance themselves from him, whereas their unity could pose a great danger to the Abbasid caliphate.[26]

Although Sahib al-Zanj used to introduce himself as a descendant of Imam al-Sajjad (a), according to a hadith from Imam al-Hasan al-Askari (a), he was neither a descendant of the Prophet (s) nor a follower of Ahl al-Bayt (a).[27] Shaykh Abbas Qummi has also stated that this hadith is confirmed by the fact that the actions of Sahib al-Zanj did not accord with the teachings of Ahl al-Bayt (a) and did not bear any signs of love for them.[28] For instance, under the rule of Sahib al-Zanj, Shiite and Alid women were sold as female slaves.[29]

Revolt of Sahib al-Zanj

Main article: Revolt of Sahib al-Zanj

The revolt of Sahib al-Zanj or the Zanj Revolt was an uprising under the leadership of Sahib al-Zanj against the Abbasid caliph al-Muhtadi bi-Allah.[30] This uprising started in 255/869[31] and lasted for fifteen years.[32] The Zanj managed to bring parts of the Muslim territories, such as Basra and Ahwaz, under their control.[33] Al-Muwaffaq, the brother of the Abbasid caliph,[34] waged war against the Zanj in 267/880-1 and was able to defeat them in 270/883 and kill Sahib al-Zanj.[35] Scholars maintain that this revolt was a social and economical revolt,[36] motivated by the class differences between the slaves and the elite.[37]

Notes

  1. ↑ Abū al-Fadāʾ, al-Mukhtaṣar fī akhbār al-bashar, vol. 2, p. 46; Ibn Khaldūn, Tārīkh Ibn Khaldūn, vol. 3, p. 377.
  2. ↑ Masʿūdī, Murūj al-dhahab, vol. 4, p. 108.
  3. ↑ Ziriklī, al-Aʿlām, vol. 4, p. 324.
  4. ↑ Ṣafdī, al-Wāfī bi l-Wafīyāt, vol. 21, p. 406.
  5. ↑ Maqdīsh, Nuzhat al-anẓār, vol. 1, p. 260.
  6. ↑ Rūḥānī, Nihḍat-i ṣāḥib al-Zanj, p. 83.
  7. ↑ Ibn Athīr, al-Kāmil, vol. 7, p. 206.
  8. ↑ Ibn Ṭaqṭaqī, al-Fakhrī, p. 246.
  9. ↑ Ibn ʿAnba, ʿUmdat al-ṭālib, p. 269.
  10. ↑ Ibn Ṭaqṭaqī, al-Fakhrī, p. 245- 246.
  11. ↑ Jaʿfarīyān, Az ṭulūʿ-i Ṭāhirīyān tā ghurūb-i Khwārazmshāhīyān, p. 59.
  12. ↑ ʿAlī Baygī, Ṣāḥib al-Zanj; Chālishī dīgār dar barābar-i dastgāh-i khalāfat-i ʿAbbāsī, p. 85.
  13. ↑ Zarrīnkūb, Tārīkh-i Iran baʿd az Islām, p. 476.
  14. ↑ ʿAlībaygī, Ṣāḥib al-Zanj; Chālishī dīgār dar barābar-i dastgāh-i khalāfat-i ʿAbbāsī, p. 83.
  15. ↑ Ṭabarī, Tārīkh al-Ṭabarī, vol. 9, p. 473.
  16. ↑ Ṭabarī, Tārīkh al-Ṭabarī, vol. 9, p. 473.
  17. ↑ Dhahabī, Tārīkh al-Islām, vol. 20, p. 34.
  18. ↑ Ibn Khaldūn, Tārīkh Ibn Khaldūn, vol. 3, p. 377.
  19. ↑ Ibn Tagharī, al-Nujūm al-zāhira, vol. 3, p. 47.
  20. ↑ Ibn Athīr, al-Kāmil, vol. 7, p. 205.
  21. ↑ Ibn Khaldūn, Tārīkh Ibn Khaldūn, vol. 3, p. 377.
  22. ↑ Ibn Miskawayh, Tajārub al-umam, vol. 4, p. 397.
  23. ↑ ʿAlībaygī, Ṣāḥib al-Zanj; Chālishī dīgār dar barābar-i dastgāh-i khalāfat-i ʿAbbāsī, p. 78.
  24. ↑ Ibn Khaldūn, Tārīkh Ibn Khaldūn, vol. 3, p. 377.
  25. ↑ Masʿūdī, Murūj al-dhahab, vol. 4, p. 108.
  26. ↑ Zarrīnkūb, Tārīkh-i Iran baʿd az Islām, p. 478.
  27. ↑ Ibn Shahrāshūb, Manāqib Āl Abī Ṭālib, vol. 4, p. 429.
  28. ↑ Qummī, al-Kunā wa l-alqāb, p. 394.
  29. ↑ Maqdīsh, Nuzhat al-anẓār, vol. 1, p. 260.
  30. ↑ Masʿūdī, Murūj al-dhahab, vol. 4, p. 108.
  31. ↑ Abū al-Fadāʾ, al-Mukhtaṣar fī akhbār al-bashar, vol. 2, p. 46.
  32. ↑ Ibn al-Jawzī, al-Muntaẓam, vol. 12, p. 235.
  33. ↑ Ibn al-ʿImrānī, al-Inbāʾ fī tārīkh al-khulafāʾ, vol. 1, p. 138.
  34. ↑ Zarrīnkūb, Tārīkh-i Iran baʿd az Islām, p. 477.
  35. ↑ Jaʿfarīyān, Az ṭulūʿ-i Ṭāhirīyān tā ghurūb-i Khwārazmshāhīyān, p. 50.
  36. ↑ Jaʿfarīyān, Az ṭulūʿ-i Ṭāhirīyān tā ghurūb-i Khwārazmshāhīyān, p. 59.
  37. ↑ Jaʿfarīyān, Az ṭulūʿ-i Ṭāhirīyān tā ghurūb-i Khwārazmshāhīyān, p. 60.

References

  • Abū al-Fadāʾ, Ismāʿīl b. ʿAlī. Al-Mukhtaṣar fī akhbār al-bashar. Egypt: [n.n], [n.d].
  • Dhahabī, Muḥammad b. al-Aḥmad al-. Tārīkh al-Islām wa wafayāt al-mashāhīr wa l-aʿlām. Edited by ʿUmar ʿAbd al-Salām al-Tadmurī. Second edition. Beirut: Dār al-Kitāb al-ʿArabī, 1409 AH.
  • Ibn al-ʿImrānī, Muḥammad b. ʿAlī. Al-Inbāʾ fī tārīkh al-khulafāʾ. Edited by Qāsim al-Sāmarrāʾī. Cairo: Dār al-Āfāq al-ʿArabīyya, 2001 CE.
  • Ibn Athīr, ʿAlī b. Muḥammad. Al-Kāmil fī l-tārīkh. Beirut: Dār al-Ṣādir, 1385 AH.
  • Ibn Ṭaqṭaqī, Muḥammad b. ʿAlī b. Ṭabāṭabā. Al-Fakhrī fī ādāb al-sulṭānīya wa al-duwal al-Islāmīya. Edited by ʿAbd al-Qādir Muḥammad Māyu. 1st edition. Beirut: Dār al-ʿIlm al-ʿArabī, 1418 AH.
  • Ibn al-Jawzī, ʿAbd al-Raḥmān b. ʿAlī. Al-Muntaẓam fī tārīkh al-umam wa l-mulūk. 1st edition. Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmīyya, 1412 AH.
  • Ibn Khaldūn, ʿAbd al-Raḥmān b. Muḥammad. Diwān al-mubtadaʾ wa l-khabar fī tārīkh al-ʿarab wa l-barbar wa man ʿaṣarahum min dhawi l-shaʾn al-akbar. Edited by Khalil Shahata. Beirut: Dār al-Fikr, 1408 AH.
  • Ibn Shahrāshūb, Muḥammad b. ʿAlī. Manāqib Āl Abī Ṭālib. 1st edition. Edited by Ḥāshim Rasūlī. Qom: Nashr-i ʿAllāma, 1379 Sh.
  • Ibn ʿAnba, Sayyid Aḥmad b. ʿAlī. ʿUmdat al-ṭālib fi ansāb Āl Abī Ṭālib. Qom: Intishārāt-i Anṣārīyān, 1380 AH.
  • Ibn Miskawayh, Aḥmad b. Muḥammad. Tajārub al-umam. Edited by Abu l-Qāsim Imāmī. Tehran: Surūsh, 1379 Sh.
  • Ibn Tagharī Bardī, Jamāl al-Dīn. Al-Nujūm al-zāhira fī mulūk Miṣr wa al-Qāhira. Egypt: Dār al-kutub, [n.d].
  • Jaʿfarīyān, Rasūl. Az ṭulūʿ-i Ṭāhirīyān tā ghurūb-i Khwārazmshāhīyān. Tehran: Andīsha-yi muʿāṣir, 1379 AH.
  • Masʿūdī, ʿAlī b. al-Ḥusayn al-. Murūj al-dhahab wa maʿadin al-jawhar. 2nd edition. Edited by Asʿad Dāghir. Qom: Dār al-Hijra, 1409 AH.
  • Majlisī, Muḥammad Bāqir al-. Biḥār al-anwār. Second edition. Beirut: Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth al-ʿArabī, 1403 AH.
  • Maqdīsh, Maḥmūd. Nuzhat al-anẓār fī ʿajāʾib al-tawārīkh wa-al-akhbār. Edited by: ʿAli al-Zawārī, Muḥammad Maḥfūẓ. Beirut: Dār al-Gharb al-Islāmī, 1988 CE.
  • Qummī, Shaykh ʿAbbās. Al-Kunā wa l-alqāb. Qom: Muʾassisat al-Nashr al-Islāmī Tābiʿat li Jamāʿat al-Mudarrisīn, 1429 AH.
  • Ṣafdī. Khalīl b. Ībak. Al-Wāfī bi l-Wafīyāt. Edited by: Hellmut Ritter. Beirut: Dār al-nashr, 1401 AH.
  • Ṭabarī, Muḥammad b. Jarīr al-.Tārīkh al-umam wa l-mulūk. Edited by Muḥammad Abu l-faḍl Ibrāhīm. Second edition. Beirut: Dar al-Turāth, 1387 AH.
  • Ziriklī, Khayr al-Dīn al-. Al-Aʿlām. 8th edition. Beirut: Dār al-ʿIlm li-l-Malāyyīn, 1989 CE.
  • Zarrīnkūb, ʿAbd al-Ḥusayn. Tārīkh-i Iran baʿd az Islām. Tehran: Amīr Kabīr, 1368 Sh.
  • ʿAlībaygī, Ḥusayn. Ṣāḥib al-Zanj; Chālishī dīgār dar barābar-i dastgāh-i khalāfat-i ʿAbbāsī. Journal of Nāma-yi Tārīkh Pazhūhān, No 11, (1386 Sh).
  • Rūḥānī, Sayyid Kāẓim. Nihḍat-i ṣāḥib al-Zanj. Journal of Kayhān-i Andīsha, No 22. (1367 Sh).
Retrieved from "https://en.wikishia.net/w/index.php?title=Sahib_al-Zanj&oldid=183018"