Mus'ab b. al-Zubayr

Mus'ab b. Zubayr (murdered in 72/691) was the commander from the 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. 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 daughter, Sakina. 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 Zubayr b. 'Awam and Rubab the daughter of Anif b. 'Ubayd, and his kunya was Abu 'Abd Allah. He is considered as a member of the second group of Tabi'un. He allegedly was good-looking, generous, and had many children.

He transmitted hadiths from Zubayr b. 'Awam, 'Umar b. Khattb, Sa'd, and Abu Sa'id al-Khidri.

Mus'ab once stopped at Imam al-Husayn’s grave in one of his trips and said, “O Aba 'Abd Allah! I swear to God that although your enemies took your life, they failed to take your religion away from you”.

Two of Mus'ab’s wives were well-known: Sakina the daughter of Imam al-Husayn (a) and 'A'isha the daughter of Talha.

Marriage with Sakina the Daughter of Imam al-Husayn

According to historical sources, Mus'ab was passionate about marrying Sakina the daughter of Imam al-Husayn (a). He allegedly asked and prayed to God to help him marry Sakina and become the ruler of Iraq. Sakina married Mus'ab with a large amount of mahr. The enormous mahr led to objections to 'Abd Allah b. Zubayr. Thus, he temporarily removed Mus'ab from the government. Mus'ab and Sakina had a daughter called Fatima who died when she was a child.

The Rule of Basra

In 67/686, Mus'ab was appointed by his brother, 'Abd Allah b. Zubayr, as the ruler of Basra. Upon his arrival in Basra, he gave a speech to people of Basra and referred to himself as a “butcher”.

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, to combat al-Mukhtar.

The Battle with al-Mukhtar and the Conquest of Kufa

Mus'ab combatted and defeated al-Mukhtar. With the remainder of his army, al-Mukhtar went inside Kufa’s Dar al-Imara (House of Emirate). After 40 days of siege, al-Mukhtar and a few of his forces went out of Dar al-Imara and were killed after a short battle.

The majority of al-Mukhtar’s people, who amounted to about five thousand (or six thousand or seven thousand), 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. 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 Zubayr Family in one morning, let alone this number of people who were hoped to repent to God”.

Mus'ab also killed 'Abd al-Rahman and 'Abd al-Rabb, the sons of Hujr b. 'Adi.

After defeating al-Mukhtar, Mus'ab gained the rule of both Basra and Kufa.

The Battle with 'Abd al-Malik

In 72/691, a battle took place between 'Abd al-Malik b. Marwan and Mus'ab in an area called “Maskan”. Mus'ab was defeated and killed in the battle. According to some sources, Mus'ab was 36 at the time of his death. Mus'ab’s son, 'Isa, was also killed in the battle.