Zubayr ibn al-Awwam

His father was the brother of Khadija, Al-Awwam ibn Khuwaylid of the Asad clan of the Quraysh tribe. His mother was Muhammad's aunt, Safiyya bint Abd al-Muttalib. Hence Zubayr was Muhammad's first cousin and brother-in-law. Zubayr ibn al-Awwam was born in Mecca in 594. He had two brothers, Sa'ib and Abd al-Kaaba; and two sisters Hind bint Al-Awwam, who would later marry Zayd ibn Haritha, Al-Awwam died while Zubayr was still young, the day of Al Ablaa, the third year of the Fijar War. His mother, Safiyya, would beat him severely in order to make him "bold in battle". and is said to have been the fourth or fifth adult male convert. Zubayr was one of the first fifteen emigrants to Abyssinia in 615, until he returned there in 616. During his stay in Abyssinia, a rebellion against Najashi, king of Aksum and benefactor of the Muslim emigrants, broke out. Najashi met the rebels in battle on the banks of the Nile. The Muslims were greatly worried and decided to send Zubayr to seek news from Najashi. By using an inflated waterskin, he swam down the Nile river until he reached the point where the battle was raging. He watched until Najashi had defeated the rebels and then swam back to the Muslims to report the victory. However, another version recorded Zubayr as crossing the Red Sea from the coast of the Arabian Peninsula. Zubayr was among those who returned to Mecca in 619 when he heard that the Meccans had converted to Islam. However, as they approached Mecca, they learned that the report was false, and they had to enter the town under the protection of a citizen or by stealth. While he stayed with early converts of Islam in Mecca, Zubayr was given a shared responsibility as a hafiz, someone who memorized every verse of the Quran, along with Abu Bakr, Abdur Rahman ibn Auf, Talha and Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas. Zubayr joined the general emigration to Medina in 622. At first he lodged with Al-Mundhir ibn Muhammad. It is disputed who became Zubayr's sworn brother, as various traditions name different people, including Abdullah ibn Mas'ud, Talhah, Ka'b ibn Malik, or Salama ibn Salama. As a shrewd merchant, Zubayr diverted his trading business route from Mecca to Medina at the beginning of the emigration. ==Military career==

Zubayr served as one of three main commanders of the Muslim forces in the Battle of Badr, along with Hamza ibn Abdul-Muttalib and Ali. At the Battle of Uhud, Zubayr volunteered to take up Muhammad's sword, though Muhammad chose to give the sword to Abu Dujana al-Ansari instead. Not long after the battle of Uhud, Muhammad sent Zubayr and Abu Bakr to chase the Quraish forces in Hamra al-Asad, where they captured a Quraish soldier from Banu Jumah, Abu Izzah al-Jumahi. Later, after the invasion of Banu Nadir which resulted in their exile from Medina, their landed estates, which included palm-date gardens and cultivation fields along with their fortress residences, were confiscated and divided among the Muslims. Battle of the Trench During the Battle of the Trench, Zubayr fought and killed Nawfal ibn Abdullah ibn Mughirah al Makhzumi in a duel. However, other chroniclers such as Ibn Hajar Al-Asqalani recorded the man killed by Zubayr as Uthman ibn Mughirah al Makhzumi. The Muslim defenders cheered and praised the sharpness of the sword which Zubayr used, only for Zubayr to reply that it is not his sword which need to be complimented, but the strength of the arm which held the sword. Zubayr caused the enemy horsemens to flee after he defeat Qurayshite warrior named Hubayr ibn Abi Wahb al Makhzumi, cutting the entire body of Hubayr into two pieces, along with his horse armour and crupper of Hubayr's horse in a single strike. Zubayr also played a reconnaissance role when he volunteered to spy on the Qurayza tribe for Muhammad. The latter then praised Zubayr: "Every Prophet has a disciple, and my disciple is Al-Zubayr." ceasing or resting to the settlement of Banu Qurayza, a Jewish tribe who had reportedly betrayed the Muslims in the previous battle. Banu Qurayza was besieged for several days before the Muslim soldiers, including Zubayr, broke through with a battering ram, and forced the surrender and execution of the garrison. Pledge of the Tree In March 628 CE (6 AH), Muhammad set out for Mecca to perform the ritual pilgrimage of Umrah. who had been killed in the battle a few days earlier. Conquest of Mecca until death of Muhammad In December 629, on the eve of the Conquest of Mecca, Zubayr and Ali brought back to Muhammad a letter from a spy intended for the Quraysh, making Muhammad confident that the Muslims would now take Mecca by surprise. possibly including Zubayr. Later, Abu Bakr insisted on sending Usama ibn Zayd to Balqa to execute the last will of Muhammad. The caliph appointed Zubayr, Umar ibn al-Khattab, and Khalid ibn al-Walid as officers under Usama. Tabari states that the expedition was successful, and Usama reached Syria and became the first Muslim force to successfully raid Byzantine territory, thus paving the way for the subsequent Muslim conquests of Syria and Egypt from the Byzantine Empire. Since all horses and trained camels were brought by main army to Balqa, Abu Bakr and the rest of Haras forces left in the capital had to resort to fighting the rebels with only untrained camels. However, as the rebels retreated to the foothills on the outskirts of the city, Abu Bakr and the Medinese army could not catch up to the battle in the outskirt of Medina due to their untrained camels, so they had to wait until the next day to gather momentum for the second strike. The Medinese army engaged the rebels in the Battle of Zhu Qissa, which resulted in a rout of the rebel army. Then, after the rebels retreated from the outskirt of Medina, the caliph went further to the north to crush another Bedouin rebellion in Dumat al-Jandal. According to Ibn Hisham on secondhand testimony, as Khalid ibn al-Walid engaged the biggest rebel faction led by Musaylimah, Zubayr participated in the Battle of Yamama while bringing the ten-year old Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr on his horse. Hisham ibn Urwah has recorded that when the Muslim army faced a dire situation in the battle, while one of Zubayr brother, Sa'ib ibn al-Awwam had also fallen during the battle, Zubayr gave a rousing speech towards the Muslims to reinvigorate their spirit, which then followed with the Muslims pushing back until they gained the upper hand in the battle. Campaign in Levant During the Rashidun invasion of the Levant, after Abu Ubayda ibn al-Jarrah had pacified the area in Moab, he sent Zubayr and Fadl ibn Abbas to subdue the city of Amman. Then Zubair managed to kill the Byzantine commander Nicetas and subdued the city of Amman. Battle of the Yarmuk Later, Zubayr participated in the Battle of the Yarmuk in 636. In the battle, Zubayr was placed on the left wing commanded by Yazid ibn Abi Sufyan, leading his personal squadron among other dozen squadrons of the left wing. Zubayr twice charged alone against the row of Byzantine soldiers, breaking up their ranks and suffering a heavy shoulder injury in the process. Abdullah ibn Zubayr, who at that time was still a child and was carried on his father's chest, testified that his father was doing the salah prayer on top of his camel while fighting the enemy at the same time. At some point, Zubayr fought side by side with Khalid ibn al-Walid and Hashim ibn Utba (also known as Hashim al-Marqal) until the three of them reached the tent of Vahan, commander of the Armenian division of the Byzantines, causing the chaotic retreat of the Armenian ranks. Zubayr's brother, Abd al-Rahman al-Zubayr, died in the battle. After the battle at Yarmuk, Zubayr continued to accompany the Muslim army in the Levant and captured the coastal city of Ayla (modern-day Aqaba). After Jerusalem had been subdued, Zubayr accompanied caliph Umar to visit the city. Campaign in Persia In 635 to 636, the caliph assembled his council, including Zubayr, Ali, and Talhah, about the battle plan to face the Persian army of Rostam Farrokhzad in Qadisiyyah. At first the caliph himself led the forces (including Zubayr) from Arabia to Iraq, Caliph Umar responded by assembling a war council consisting of Zubayr, Ali, Uthman ibn Affan, Talha, Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas, Abd al-Rahman ibn Awf, and Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib to discuss the strategy to face the Sassanids in Nahavand. The caliph want to lead the army himself, but Ali urged the caliph to instead delegate the battlefield commands to the field commanders. The caliph decides to send Zubayr, Tulayha, Amr ibn Ma'adi Yakrib, Abdullah ibn Amr Al-Ash'ath ibn Qays and others under the command of Al-Nu'man ibn Muqrin to go to Nahavand, to face the army of the Sasanian Empire in the battle of Nahavand. Then as the reinforcements from Medina arrived in Nahavand, Umar gave further instruction for the army from Kufa under Hudhayfah ibn al-Yaman and the army of Basra under Abu Musa al-Ashari to merge with al-Nu'man's army under the overall command of al-Nu'man. The Arabs won a huge victory (hailed by medieval chroniclers as Fatih al-Futuh or "victory of victories") against the 150,000-man Sassanid army, more than half of whom were killed. Where there are records about Zubayr involvement in this battle of Nahavand. Campaign in North Africa After the conquest of Jerusalem caliph Umar stayed for while in Jerusalem, Amr ibn al-As, who at that time was in Egypt besieging a Byzantine fortress, sent a message to Umar asking for reinforcements of exactly 8,000 soldiers. However, since at the moment the available manpower of the caliphate was strained, the caliph was only able to send 4,000 soldiers, led by four commanders. The four commanders were two veteran Muhajireen, Zubayr and Miqdad ibn Aswad, and two Ansari commanders named Maslama ibn Mukhallad al-Ansari and Ubadah ibn al-Samit. However, Baladhuri, Ibn al-Athir and Ibn Sa'd recorded that the four commander were Zubayr, Busr ibn Abi Artat, Umayr ibn Wahb, and Kharija ibn Hudhafa. There are differing opinions regarding the number of soldiers which Zubayr brought: some say 12,000, others only 8,000. After the fall of Faiyum, Zubayr march to Ain Shams to assist 'Amr in besieging the Byzantine fortress at Heliopolis, which had been besieged before by 'Amr unsuccessfully for months. At Heliopolis Zubayr helped repel a surprise Byzantine counterattack at night against the Rashidun forces. Ibn Abd al-Hakam noted that Zubayr skipped the siege of Alexandria, as the siege was conducted by 'Ubadah ibn al-Samit. Conquest of al-Bahnasa Later in 639, the Rashidun forces marched south to the Byzantine city named Oxyrhynchus (al-Bahnasa in Arabic). 'Amr delegated Khalid ibn al-Walid to lead Zubayr and a Muslim army of 10,000 under his command to invade the city, where they faced Sudanese Christian auxiliaries of the Byzantine-Beja coalition in the Battle of Darishkur. Before the battle, the Rashidun army camped in a place which called Dashur. Benjamin Hendrickx reported that the African Christians mustered around 20,000 symmachoi (black Sudanese auxiliary units of Byzantine), 1,300 war elephants with howdahs housing archers, and anti-cavalry units named al-Quwwad armed with iron staffs, all of them commanded by a patrician named Batlus. Al-Maqrizi and Waqidi stated in this conflict, Zubayr alongside Miqdad, Dhiraar ibn al-Azwar, and Uqba ibn Amir each led 500 Rashidun cavalry to fight against the elephant corps of Batlus, by using spears soaked in santonin plants and sulfur which then ignite their spears with flames to drive the elephants back in terror. while the elephant riders were toppled from the elephant's back and crushed underfoot on the ground. Meanwhile, the Quwwad warriors who used iron staffs were routed by the Rashidun cavalry soldiers who used a seized chain weapons on their hands to disarm the Quwwad staff weapons from their hands. It was narrated by Rafi' ibn Malik that the final phase of this battle occurred when Zubayr and several other commanders led a night raid with 1,000 Rashidun cavalry, which routed the enemy encampments and seized many spoils, including numerous sheep. They camped in a village which was later renamed as Qays village, in honor of Qays ibn Harith, the overall commander of the Rashidun cavalry. The Byzantines and their Coptic allies showered the Rashidun army with arrows and stones from the city wall, until the Rashidun overcame the defenders, as Dhiraar came out from the battle with his entire body stained in blood, having slain 160 Byzantine soldiers during the battle. After the conquest of Egypt and Sudan, Zubayr followed 'Amr to the west. The Muslim army under Amr continued their campaign toward Tripolitania. It is recorded during the lengthy siege of Tripoli, seven or eight Muslim soldiers from the Madhlij tribe of Kinanah accidentally spotted an unguarded side of Tripoli and managed to slip into the city unnoticed. Caught off guard, the confused Byzantine garrison was thrown in panic by the intruders and fled with their ships anchored in the harbor. These Madhlij warriors used this opportunity to open the town gate and inform 'Amr, who led the Muslim army to enter the city unopposed. After they subdued Tripoli, Libda, and Sirte in 643 AD (22 AH), 'Amr sent Zubayr to besiege Sabratha in advance, before 'Amr joined him. In 644, after Zubayr and Amr had stormed Sabratha, they conquered Sharwas, a city in the Nafusa Mountains. However, further conquests in Africa came to halt after caliph Umar instructed them to restrain from advancing and consolidate the pacified region first. In 642, Zubayr settled in a house adjacent to the Mosque of Amr ibn al-As, neighboring the homes of other Sahabah such as Abd Allah ibn Amr ibn al-As, Abu Ayyub al-Ansari, Abu Dharr al-Ghifari, Abdullah ibn Umar, and Ubadah. At some point during Umar's reign, when Zubayr was in Medina, he along with Miqdad and the caliph's son, Abdullah ibn Umar, went to Khaybar to collect their share of the profits from properties and plantations in Khaybar in which they held a stake. These properties were managed and worked by the Jewish tribes of Khaybar, who has been subdued during the time of Muhammad. Reign of caliph Uthman Later, as caliph Umar was dying in 644, he selected Zubayr and five other men to elect the next caliph. Zubayr personally gave his own vote to nominate Ali as caliph. After this, Zubayr officially served as a member of Majlis-ash-Shura, which was responsible for the elections of the caliph and functioned as a governmental advisory council regarding the law. Later, in the year of 27 AH, during the Muslim conquest of North Africa, Zubayr and his son, Abdullah were sent by caliph Uthman as reinforcements for Abdallah ibn Sa'd when fighting a Byzantine splinter group of about 120,000 under Gregory the Patrician. During this battle, Zubayr's son, Abdullah ibn Zubayr, played a pivotal role as he led an attack that caught Gregory off guard when the two forces were still in stalemate, and decapitated the Byzantine general, causing the resistance of the Byzantine army to crumble as their morale plummeted. When Abdullah ibn Masud died, Zubayr petitioned caliph Uthman to give Abdullah's pension to his heirs, which was granted by the caliph. Later, when Miqdad ibn al-Aswad, one of Zubayr's fellow veterans, died of an illness, Miqdad left a message for Zubayr to manage and sell one of his estates, from which the proceeds would given to Hasan ibn Ali and Husayn ibn Ali, with each receiving 18,000 dirhams from the endowment, while from the rest he asked Zubayr to give each of Muhammad's wives 7,000 dirhams. Zubayr's engagement in caliph Uthman's policy of land exchange resulted in him gaining lands in Egypt, such as Fustat and Alexandria, in return for lands in Arabia. First civil war and Zubayr's death Uthman was assassinated in 656. Zubayr had reason to hope that he would be elected as the next caliph, although he knew that his old ally Talha was also a strong contender. However, Ali was elected, to the consternation of Muhammad's widow Aisha. Thereupon Zubayr met with Aisha and Talha in Mecca, claiming that he had only given allegiance under duress to Ali at swordpoint. putting to death everyone who had been implicated in the assassination of Uthman. However, suddenly Abdullah ibn Saba', Malik al-Ashtar and Shuraih ibn Awfa incited a riot within the ranks of Ali's soldiers during the negotiations, plunging both sides into confusion and thus inciting the start of the combat. The battle started, but according to some traditions at some point Zubayr lost the desire to fight. He said that Ali had talked him out of it during the negotiations on the grounds that they were cousins, and reminding him that Muhammad had once told Zubayr that he would one day fight Ali and he (Zubayr) would be on the wrong side. Zubayr's son 'Abd Allah accused him of fearing Ali's army. 'Abd Allah was hostile to Ali because his mother was Aisha's sister and she had raised him like her son. In a sermon of his, Ali laments that 'Zubayr remained a part of our family until his wretched son Abd Allah came along'. Whatever the case, Zubayr left the battlefield while Aisha continued to direct her troops from her camel. A man named Amr ibn Jarmouz decided to track Zubayr's movements and followed him to a nearby field. It was time for prayer so, after each had asked the other what he was doing there, they agreed to pray. While Zubayr was prostrating, Amr ibn Jurmuz stabbed him in the neck and killed him. == Legacy ==

In Islamic scholarship Zubayr is generally viewed by Islamic scholars as an important figure, who collectively classified Zubayr as being among the highest-ranked Companions of Muhammad, due to his inclusion among the ten Muslims to whom Muhammad guaranteed Paradise while they were still alive. Aside from his inclusion in the hadith about ten companion who guaranteed paradise, scholars also exalted Zubayr for these six particular events: • His migration from Mecca to Medina, for their perseverance and willingness to leave worldly possessions in favor of mass migration due to the instruction of Muhammad. Prayer and ethics Zubayr established a number of traditions in Islamic prayer and ethics, including a prayer gesture of clasping his right middle, ring, and pinky fingers while pointing the index finger and putting the thumb above the clasped middle finger, whether to sit down while eating and drinking, prohibiting sleep during Fajr, and reciting sura Ar-Ra'd, Ayah 13| whenever a Muslim hears the sound of thunder. Hadith and law As one of principal companions of Muhammad who followed him from the beginning of Islam, many hadith are attributed to Zubayr. Thus, Sunni Islam Madhhab scholars have accepted hadith and exegesis from Zubayr as the source of Islam jurisprudence. Zubayr's ruling on Islamic law have been influential to the Shafi'i, Hanbali, Hanafi, and Zahiri schools. Contemporary (far left), 20th century Salafi scholar and Saudi Permanent Committee of Fatwa member. In the modern era, Permanent Committee for Scholarly Research and Ifta in Saudi Arabia used the practice of Zubayr as one of their source of fatawa, such as an act of government to spying any endangering act from enemy of the state, such as criminal behavior, alleged terrorism, and other illegal conduct. In Egypt, Zubayr's jurisprudence has had widespread influence, as Grand Mufti of Egypt, Muhammad Sayyid Tantawy recorded that due to Zubayr and 'Amr ibn al-As's long stay in Egypt, Muslims in Egypt and Faqīh scholars of the country base much of their fatwa and rulings on Zubayr's verdicts during his tenure in Africa. Rules of war Zubayr's conduct has been influential on Islamic interpretation of the rules of war, such as the use of military deception, the division of spoils of war at the Battle of the Yarmuk, and the treatment of prisoners of war. Entrepreneurship , Sudan. Zubayr was known to be very wealthy as a result of his business career. Manumission of slaves Zubayr owned at least a thousand slaves and reportedly freed one each day. Some of his ex-slaves became prominent in their own right, including Yarba ibn Rabban Mawla az-Zubayr, who became a scholar of hadith. Another slave who gained prominence was Abu Yahya Mawla az-Zubayr. Daniel Pipes argued that the practice of early Muslims such as Zubayr and Uthman ibn Affan of owning massive number of slaves and casual manumissions was the first indication of Mamluk, an Islamic military slave system. Descendants Zubayr's status as an early Muslim hero and model of religious piety prompted many ethnic communities across the world to claim themselves as his descendants. particularly in Hejaz and Egypt. The Zubairi community which dwells in India and Pakistan also claims Zubayr as their ancestor, as descendant clans of Zubayr allegedly migrated from their homeland to the Indian subcontinent during the Umayyad campaigns in India in the 7th century AD. The descendants of Zubayr, known as Zubayrids, were influential in Iraq and Iran. == Personal characteristics ==

Zubayr is described as of medium height, lean, dark-complexioned, and hairy, though with a thin beard. His hair hung down to his shoulders, and he did not dye it after it turned white. Other reports consider him burly and tall. He possessed a large number of properties, and vast wealth, though he was said to be generous. Family Zubayr married eight times and had twenty children. However, contemporary writer Abdo Khal questioned the validity of this narration as he viewed the stories as based on unverified laymen interpretations in modern social media. Zubayr gave his male children the names of the Sahaba who died as Shahid (martyrs): • Abd-Allah ibn Jahsh who died in the Battle of Uhud for Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr • Urwah ibn Mas'ud, who was killed by people of Tha'if, for Urwah ibn Zubayr • Mus'ab ibn Umayr for Mus'ab ibn al-Zubayr • Khalid ibn Sa'id, who died in Battle of Marj as-Saffar for Khalid ibn al-Zubayr • Amr ibn Sa'id ibn al-Aas, who was killed during Battle of Yarmouk, for Amr ibn al-Zubayr. The two most notable of his sons were Abdullah ibn al-Zubayr, who claimed the caliphate during the reign of Yazid ibn Muawiyah, along with Zubayr's youngest son from Asma', Urwah ibn al-Zubayr, member of the most influential group of jurists known collectively as The Seven Fuqaha of Medina, prominent hadith scholar, and the first writer of Seerah or Maghazi. One of Zubayr's daughters, Ramlah bint al-Zubayr, married the Umayyad prince Khalid ibn Yazid, despite the fact that Khalid was also the one who had killed Ramlah's brother Mus'ab ibn al-Zubayr in the Battle of Maskin in 691. Ibn Asakir recorded that Ramlah was famous for her extraordinary beauty. == See also ==

• Zuberi Clan History – 2009 archive • Talha and Zubair – 2011 archive Khalid Basalamah