Abd Allah az-Zubayr or Ibn Zubayr (624 - 692) was the son of Zubayr, who was the nephew of Khadija, and Asma, who was the daughter of Abu Bakr.

As a young man, Abdullah was an active participant in numerous Muslim campaigns against both the Byzantine and Sassanid empires. He also accompanied his father and Aysha into battle against Ali at the Battle of the Camel.

During the reign of Muawiyah I he was not active in politics, but upon the ascension of Yazid I, he refused to swear allegiance to the new caliph. After the death of Husayn bin Ali at the Battle of Karbela, Zubayr returned to the Hejaz where he declared himself the righteous caliph, and he began building support. Eventually he would consolidate his power by sending a governor to Kufa. Soon, Ibn Zubayr established his power in Iraq, southern Arabia and in the greater part of Syria, and parts of Egypt. Zubayr was benefitted greatly by many who were unsatisfied with Umayyad rule. Yazid tried to end Zubayr's rebellion by invaing the Hejaz, but his sudden death would end the campaign and throw the Umayyads into disarray with a civil war eventually breaking out.

This would essentially split the Muslim empire into two spheres with two different caliphs, but it would not last long. The Umayyad civil war would be settled, and Zubayr would lose Egypt and whatever he had left of Syria to Marwan I. This coupled with the Kharijite rebellions in Iraq dwindled his control down to only the Hejaz.

Zubayr would finally be defeated by Abd al-Malik who would send Hajjaj bin Yousef to reunite the Islamic empire. Hajjaj would defeat and kill Zubayr on the battlefield in 692 reestablishing Umayyad control over the Islamic Empire.

External link

• http://www.themuslimhistory.info/INenglish/ImamNcal/Chap11.htm

Nephew of Aisha and the son of Asma daughter of Abu Bakr