Age, death and accounts of Abdullah bin al-Zubayr (may Allah be pleased with him)

Al-Layth bin Sa'd said: "Abdullah bin al-Zubayr (may Allah be pleased with them both) was killed in Jumada al-Akhirah in the year 73 AH, and on the day he was killed he was 72 years old."

Yahya bin Bukayr said: "Abdullah bin al-Zubayr (may Allah be pleased with them both) was born in Madinah twenty months after the Hijrah, and he was four months and seven days older than al-Miswar and Marwan."

Al-Haytham bin Adi said: "Ibn al-Zubayr (may Allah be pleased with them both) was killed in the year 72 AH."

Hisham bin Urwah narrated from his father: Asma' bint Abi Bakr (may Allah be pleased with them both) set out, emigrating to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), while she was pregnant with Abdullah bin al-Zubayr. Her labour began, and then she brought him to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) so that he (peace and blessings be upon him) might perform tahnik for him (rub a chewed date on his palate). The messenger of allah (peace and blessings be upon him) took him and placed him in his lap. Then a date was brought; he (peace and blessings be upon him) chewed it, then put it in his mouth and performed tahnik with it. So the very first thing that entered his stomach was the saliva of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). Asma' (may Allah be pleased with her) said: Then the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) wiped him with his hand and named him Abdullah. Later, when he was seven or eight years old, he came to pledge allegiance to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him); al-Zubayr (may Allah be pleased with him) had instructed him to do so. The messenger of allah (peace and blessings be upon him) smiled when he saw him coming, and accepted his pledge. He was the first child born in Islam in Madinah after the arrival of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). The Jews used to say: "We have bewitched them, so no child will be born to them in Madinah." So when Abdullah was born, the Companions of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) proclaimed the takbir. When Abdullah bin Umar bin al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with them both) heard the takbir of the people of Syria, after they had killed Abdullah bin al-Zubayr, he said: "Those who proclaimed the takbir at his birth are better than those who proclaimed the takbir at his killing."

Hisham bin Urwah narrated from his father and from Fatimah bint al-Mundhir: When Asma' bint Abi Bakr set out to emigrate, she was pregnant with Abdullah bin al-Zubayr. She reached Quba', and her labour began at Quba'. Then, after she had given birth to Abdullah, she set out with him to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) so that he (peace and blessings be upon him) might perform tahnik for him. The messenger of allah (peace and blessings be upon him) took him from her and placed him in his lap, then called for a date. Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said: We searched for it for a while before we found it. Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) chewed it and placed it in his mouth, so the very first thing that entered his stomach was the saliva of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). Asma' (may Allah be pleased with her) said: Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) wiped him with his hand, supplicated for him and named him Abdullah. Later, when he was seven or eight years old, he came to pledge allegiance to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him); al-Zubayr had instructed him to do so. He (peace and blessings be upon him) smiled when he saw him coming towards him, and then accepted his pledge.

Hisham bin Urwah narrated from his father, from Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her), who said: I said: "O Messenger of Allah, all my companions have a kunyah; if only you would give me a kunyah too." He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Take your kunyah from your son (that is, your nephew) Abdullah bin al-Zubayr." So she continued to be called by the kunyah Umm Abdullah until she died.

Hisham bin Urwah narrated from his father that Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): "All your wives have a kunyah except me." The messenger of allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said to her: "Take a kunyah: you are Umm Abdullah." So she continued to be called Umm Abdullah until she died, although she never gave birth to a child.

Abbad bin Hamzah bin Abdullah bin al-Zubayr narrated that Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said: "O Messenger of Allah, will you not give me a kunyah?" He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Take your kunyah from Abdullah bin al-Zubayr." So she was called by the kunyah Umm Abdullah.

Abbad bin Hamzah narrated something similar from Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her), from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him).

Ahmad bin Muhammad bin Sa'id narrated that when death approached Sayyiduna Mu'awiyah (may Allah be pleased with him), he said to Yazid bin Mu'awiyah: "I have smoothed the land for you and laid the people out before you, and I fear no one for you except the people of the Hijaz. If anything about them makes you suspicious, send Muslim bin Uqbah al-Murri to them, for I have tested him more than once and have found none equal to him in obedience and sincere loyalty." Then, when news reached Yazid bin Mu'awiyah of Ibn al-Zubayr's opposition and of his calling people to himself, he summoned Muslim bin Uqbah al-Murri, who had by then been struck with paralysis, and said to him: "The Commander of the Believers charged me during his illness that if anything about the people of the Hijaz made me suspicious, I should send you to them, and I have become suspicious." He said: "I am just as the Commander of the Believers thought. Tie the banner (of command) for me and prepare the armies." The narrator said: So he reached Madinah and declared it lawful (for plunder) for three days. Then he called its people to pledge allegiance to Yazid on the basis that they were slaves of his, both in obedience to Allah and in disobedience to Him. They all accepted this except one man of Quraysh whose mother was a slave woman. It was said to him: "Pledge allegiance to Yazid on the basis that you are a slave, both in obedience to Allah and in disobedience to Him." He said: "No, rather in obedience to Allah." He refused to accept this from him and killed him. The man's mother swore an oath that if Allah gave her power over Muslim, alive or dead, she would burn him with fire. The narrator said: When Muslim bin Uqbah left Madinah, his illness grew severe and he died. So the mother of that Qurashi man went out with some of her slaves to Muslim's grave and ordered that it be dug open from the side of his head. When they reached him, they saw a great serpent coiled around his neck, holding the tip of his nose and sucking it. The narrator said: The people drew back from him in fear and said: "O our mistress, turn back; Allah has sufficed you against his evil (that is, saved you from it)," and they told her the whole matter. She said: "No, not until I fulfil the promise I made to Allah." Then she said: "Dig for me from the side of the two feet." They dug, and saw that the serpent had wrapped its tail around his two legs. The narrator said: She moved aside and prayed two rak'ahs, then said: "O Allah, if You know that I became angry with Muslim bin Uqbah today only for Your sake, then clear the way between me and him." The narrator said: Then she took up a stick, went to the serpent's tail and stirred it, and it slipped out from the back of his head and left the grave. Then she gave the order, and he was taken out of the grave and burned with fire.

Ishaq bin Abi Ishaq said: I was present on the day Ibn al-Zubayr (may Allah be pleased with them both) was killed in al-Masjid al-Haram. The armies were entering through the gates of the mosque, and whenever a group entered through a gate, he would charge at them alone until he drove them out. While he was in that state, one of the battlements of the mosque came down, fell on his head and knocked him to the ground, and he was reciting these verses:
Asma' says: "Do not weep for me." Nothing remains to me but my honour and my faith
And a sharp sword which my right hand has proclaimed

Ibn Sirin said: Ibn al-Zubayr (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: "Everything Ka'b used to tell us has come to pass, except his saying that a young man of Thaqif would kill me, while here is his head placed before me," meaning al-Mukhtar. Ibn Sirin said: And he did not know that Abu Muhammad, meaning al-Hajjaj, had been kept in store for him.

Hisham bin Urwah narrated from his father: When Sayyiduna Mu'awiyah (may Allah be pleased with him) died, Abdullah bin al-Zubayr (may Allah be pleased with them both) was slow to obey Yazid bin Mu'awiyah and openly reviled him. This reached Yazid, and he swore that he would be brought to him only in chains, or else he would send (an army) against him. It was said to Ibn al-Zubayr: "Shall we not make you chains of silver which you can wear under your clothes, so that his oath is fulfilled? Reconciliation is better for you." He said: "By Allah, I will not fulfil his oath." Then he recited this verse:
I do not yield to anything other than the truth that I ask for, until the stone softens before the molar of the one who chews. Then he said: "By Allah, a blow of the sword with honour is dearer to me than a blow of the whip with humiliation." Then he called people to himself and openly declared his opposition to Yazid bin Mu'awiyah. So Yazid bin Mu'awiyah sent Muslim bin Uqbah al-Murri against him with the army of the people of Syria, ordered him to fight the people of Madinah, and (told him) that when he had finished with that, he should march to Makkah. The narrator said: So Muslim bin Uqbah entered Madinah, and on that day the remaining Companions of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) fled from him. He wrought havoc in it and went to excess in killing, then left it. On the way (to Makkah) he died, and he appointed Husayn bin Numayr al-Kindi as his successor, saying to him: "O son of a donkey's saddle-cloth, beware of the tricks of Quraysh; deal with them only through deception, then pick them off." So Husayn went on until he reached Makkah and fought Ibn al-Zubayr there for several days. Ibn al-Zubayr (may Allah be pleased with them both) had pitched a tent in the mosque, in which women gave water to the wounded and treated them, fed the hungry and hid the wounded with them. Husayn said: "A lion keeps coming out at us from that tent as though coming out of its den. Who will rid me of him?" A man from the people of Syria said: "I will." So when night fell, he placed a candle on the tip of his spear, spurred his horse, then struck the tent with the spear, and it went up in flames. On that day the Ka'bah was draped with fine carpets, and its top was red, so the wind carried the flames to the Ka'bah until it burned. On that day the two horns of the ram with which Ishaq (peace be upon him) was ransomed also burned in it. The narrator said: News of the death of Yazid bin Mu'awiyah reached Husayn bin Numayr, and Husayn bin Numayr fled. When Yazid bin Mu'awiyah died, Marwan bin al-Hakam called people to himself, and the people of Hims, Jordan and Palestine responded to him. Ibn al-Zubayr sent al-Dahhak bin Qays al-Fihri against him with a hundred thousand men, and the two armies met at Marj Rahit, while Marwan on that day had five thousand men of Banu Umayyah, their clients and their followers from the people of Syria. Marwan said to a slave of his called Kaddah: "Charge whichever flank you wish." He said: "How can I charge these when they are so many?" He said: "These people have been coerced or hired. Charge them, may you have no mother! The sharp stone will suffice you; they will suffice you against themselves. These are nothing but slaves of the dinar and the dirham." So he charged them and routed them; al-Dahhak bin Qays was killed and the army broke apart. About this Zufar bin al-Harith said:
By my life, the battle of Rahit has left, for Marwan's sake, slain men scattered among us
I bare my weapon, may you have no father; indeed I see that war only grows longer
Pasture may grow on dung-strewn ground, yet the grudges of hearts remain just as they were. And about it he also said:
Is it just that Bahdal and Ibn Bahdal should live, while Ibn al-Zubayr is killed?
You have lied, by the House of Allah, you will not kill him, and the radiant day of victory has not yet come
And the Mashrafi swords have not yet shown among you a gleam like the light of the sun when it rises high. The narrator said: Then Marwan died, and Abd al-Malik called people to himself and stood up (to claim it), and the people of Syria responded to him. He delivered a sermon from the pulpit and said: "Which of you will take on Ibn al-Zubayr?" Al-Hajjaj said: "I, O Commander of the Believers." He silenced him; then he repeated it and silenced him again. Then he said: "I, O Commander of the Believers, for I saw in a dream that I stripped off his cloak and put it on." So he gave him command of an army to Makkah, until he reached it against Ibn al-Zubayr and they fought there. Ibn al-Zubayr said to the people of Makkah: "Guard these two mountains, for you will remain in good and in honour as long as they do not gain control of them." The narrator said: It was not long before al-Hajjaj and those with him gained control of Abu Qubays and set up the catapult on it, and he kept bombarding with it Ibn al-Zubayr and his companions who were in the mosque. On the morning on which Ibn al-Zubayr was killed, Ibn al-Zubayr went in to his mother Asma' bint Abi Bakr (may Allah be pleased with them both). She was a hundred years old at that time; not one of her teeth had fallen out and her eyesight had not weakened. She said to her son: "O Abdullah, what have you done in your war?" He said: "They have reached such-and-such a place." The narrator said: Ibn al-Zubayr laughed and said: "In death there is indeed rest." She said: "My son, perhaps you wish it for me. I would not like to die until I have seen one of your two outcomes: either you rule and my eyes are delighted by it, or you are killed and I seek my reward from Allah for you." The narrator said: Then he bade her farewell, and she said to him: "My son, beware of giving up any part of your religion for fear of being killed." He left her and entered the mosque, and two door-leaves had been placed over the Black Stone to shield it from the catapult. Someone came to Ibn al-Zubayr while he was sitting by the Stone and said to him: "Shall we not open the Ka'bah for you so that you can go up into it?" Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with them both) looked at him and then said to him: "You protect your brother from everything except from himself," meaning from his appointed death, "and does the Ka'bah have a sanctity that this place does not have? By Allah, if they found you clinging to the coverings of the Ka'bah, they would kill you." It was said to him: "Will you not speak to them about a truce?" He said: "Is this the time for a truce? By Allah, if they found you inside it, they would slaughter you all." Then he recited these verses:
I do not buy life at the price of disgrace, nor do I climb a ladder out of fear of death
I do not avert my eyes from the arrow of death; it will not turn aside, it meets death whichever direction it aims. Then he turned to the family of al-Zubayr, exhorting them, and said: "Let each of you hold his sword as he holds his face; let him not turn his sword upside down and then defend himself with his hand to the utmost. By Allah, I have never met an advancing army except in the foremost rank, and I have never felt the pain of a wound except when medicine was applied to me." The narrator said: While they were in that state, some men entered upon them through the gate of Banu Jumah. He asked: "Who are these?" It was said: "The people of Hims." So he charged at them, and Sufyan was with him. The first to meet him was al-Aswad; he struck him with his sword so hard that he cut off his leg. Al-Aswad said: "Ouch, O son of an adulteress!" Ibn al-Zubayr said: "Be gone, O son of Ham! Is Asma' an adulteress?" Then he drove them out of the mosque and turned back, and saw that some men had entered through the gate of Banu Sahm. He asked: "Who are these?" It was said: "The people of Jordan." So he charged at them while saying:
I have never known a raid like a flood, whose dust does not clear even by nightfall. So he drove them out of the mosque, and saw that some men had entered through the gate of Banu Makhzum, so he charged at them while saying:
Had my opponent been only one, I would have been enough for him. The narrator said: On the roof of the mosque were some of his helpers who were throwing bricks and other things at his enemy. He charged at them (the enemy), and a brick struck him on the parting of his hair and split his head open. He stood upright and began to say:
We are not those whose wounds bleed on our heels in retreat; rather, the blood drips upon our feet as we face forward. The narrator said: Then he fell, and two of his freed slaves bent over him, saying:
The slave protects his master and shields him. The narrator said: Then (men) were sent to him, and his head was cut off.

Abu Nawfal bin Abi Aqrab al-Urayji (may Allah have mercy on him) said: Al-Hajjaj bin Yusuf crucified the body of Abdullah bin al-Zubayr (may Allah be pleased with them both) on the road to Madinah in order to show it to Quraysh. When the people set off, they kept passing by him without stopping, until Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) passed by; he stopped and said: "Peace be upon you, O Abu Khubayb!" He said this three times. Then he said: "I forbade you from this," and this too he said three times. "You used to fast much and pray much at night, and you upheld the ties of kinship." News of Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) stopping there reached al-Hajjaj, so he had the body taken down and thrown into the graves of the Jews. He sent word to Sayyidah Asma' bint Abi Bakr (may Allah be pleased with her), whose eyesight had gone, that she should come to him, but she refused. He sent word again: "You will certainly come, or else I will send someone to you who will drag you by your braids." She said: "By Allah, I will not come to you until you send someone to me who drags me by my braids." His messenger came back to him and told him this, so he said: "Boy, give me my two sandals." He handed him his two sandals, and he set off, blazing with anger, until he came to her and said to her: "Have you seen what Allah has done to the enemy of Allah?" She said: "I have seen that you ruined his worldly life for him and he ruined your Hereafter for you. As for the matter for which you used to taunt him, calling him (the son of) 'the one with the two belts', yes, I did have two belts: one belt with which the food of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was covered from the ants, and the other belt which women cannot do without. And I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) say: 'In Thaqif there will be a great destroyer and a great liar.' As for the liar, we have already seen him; and as for the destroyer, it is none other than you." The narrator said: Then he left.

Ibn al-Mukhtar (may Allah have mercy on him) narrated from his father that he came to Makkah three days after Abdullah bin al-Zubayr (may Allah be pleased with them both) had been crucified or killed. His mother, Sayyidah Asma' bint Abi Bakr (may Allah be pleased with her), spoke to al-Hajjaj and said: "Is it not time for this rider to dismount?" He said: "That hypocrite?" She said: "No, by Allah, he was not a hypocrite; he used to fast much and pray much at night." He said: "Be quiet, for you are an old woman whose mind has failed." She said: "My mind has not failed since I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) say: 'From Thaqif there will emerge a liar and a destroyer.' As for the liar, we have already seen him," meaning al-Mukhtar, "and as for the destroyer, it is none other than you."

Al-Qasim bin Muhammad (may Allah have mercy on him) said: Sayyidah Asma' bint Abi Bakr (may Allah be pleased with her) came with some of her slave girls, her eyesight having gone, and asked: "Where is al-Hajjaj?" We said: "He is not here." She said: "Then tell him to order that these bones be given to us, for I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) forbid mutilation." We said: "When he comes, we will tell him." She said: "When he comes, tell him that I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) say: 'In Thaqif there will be a great liar and a great destroyer.'"

Aqil bin Khalid (may Allah have mercy on him) narrated that his father was with al-Hajjaj when Abdullah bin al-Zubayr (may Allah be pleased with them both) was killed. He sent him to Sayyidah Asma' bint Abi Bakr (may Allah be pleased with her) and said: "Tell her: Al-Hajjaj says to you: Separate whatever wealth is yours from the wealth of Abdullah bin al-Zubayr." She said: "Go and say that to the son of Asma'! I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) say: 'From this tribe, Thaqif, two men will emerge: one of them a great liar and the other a great destroyer.' As for the liar, we have already recognised him, and I am sure the destroyer is none other than this man." The narrator said: I went back to him and told him, and he did not dislike it.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin al-Zubayr (may Allah be pleased with them both) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Announce marriage publicly."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin al-Zubayr (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: "The name of Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) was Abdullah bin Uthman, and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) gave him the title 'Atiq' (the one freed from the Fire)."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin al-Zubayr (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: "This verse was revealed concerning Abu Bakr al-Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him): 'And no one has any favour with him to be repaid, except seeking the countenance of his Lord, the Most High; and he will surely be pleased' [Surah al-Layl: 20]."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin al-Zubayr (may Allah be pleased with them both) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to point with his finger when supplicating, without moving it. Ibn Jurayj said: Amr bin Dinar added that Amir bin Abdullah bin al-Zubayr reported that his father saw the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) supplicating in this way, and he (peace and blessings be upon him) would lean the weight of his left hand on his left leg.

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin al-Zubayr (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: "When the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) sat in the prayer, he would place his left foot between his thigh and his shin, place his left hand on his left thigh, and place his right hand on his right thigh."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin al-Zubayr (may Allah be pleased with them both) that he saw the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him): when he (peace and blessings be upon him) prayed and sat after two or four rak'ahs, he would place his left hand on his left thigh and his right hand on his right thigh, and point with the finger next to the thumb.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin al-Zubayr (may Allah be pleased with them both) that when the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) prayed, he would place his left hand on his left thigh and the other hand on his right thigh, and raise his finger like this, pointing.

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin al-Zubayr (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: "I saw the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): when he (peace and blessings be upon him) began the prayer, he raised his hands until they went beyond his ears."

Amir bin Abdullah bin al-Zubayr (may Allah have mercy on him) said: I came, and he asked: "Where were you?" I said: "I found people better than whom I have never seen. They remember Allah, and one of them begins to tremble until he faints out of fear of Allah, so I sat with them." He said: "Do not sit with them after this." He saw that it was as if this had not made an impression on me, so he said: "I saw the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) reciting the Qur'an, and I saw Sayyiduna Abu Bakr and Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) reciting the Qur'an, and this state did not come over them. Do you think those people fear Allah more than Abu Bakr and Umar?" Then I saw that it was indeed so, and I left them.