Rebellion of Muḥammad al-Nafs al-Zakiyya in 145/762

Amikam Elad, Ph.D. 1987, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, is Professor of Medieval Islamic History. He is particularly interested in the history of the early Abbasid Caliphate and the history of Syria and Palestine during the early Muslim period, with a special focus on Jerusalem. He is the author of numerous articles and Medieval Jerusalem and Islamic Worship, Holy Places, Ceremonies (Brill, 1995).

• ContentsIntroductionChapter 1: Biographical Data of Muḥammad b. ʿAbdallāh al-Nafs al-Zakiyya1) Birth 2) Death3) Mother4) Siblings5) The Residences of the Family6) Wives and Children7) Education8) Physical Traits9) The Image of Muḥammad b. ʿAbdallāh as Portrayed by the Sources1) The Title al-Mahdī2) The Title al-Nafs al-Zakiyya3) ‟Ṣāḥib al-khāl” 4) Zaydī Imām?Chapter 2: Muḥammad b. ʿAbdallāh during the Umawī and ʿAbbāsī Periods A) The Umawī Period1) Traditions without Specific Dates and Names of Caliphs 2) Traditions with Dates and Names of Caliphs 3) The Period after al-Walīd b. Yazīd’s Reign (126/743–744)B) Upon the Accession of the ʿAbbāsīs to Rule1) The Abū Salama Affair2) The Affair of Yazīd b. ʿUmar b. Hubayra3) ʿAbd al-Jabbār b. ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-AzdīC) The Caliphate of Abū l-ʿAbbās al-Saffāḥ (r. 132–136/749–754)1) Abū l-ʿAbbās and the ʿAlīds (mainly ʿAbdallāh b. al-Ḥasan b. al-Ḥasan b. ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib)2) Muḥammad b. ʿAbdallāh during the Caliphate of al-SaffāḥD) The Reign of al-Manṣūr (136–158/754–775)E) The Pre-Rebellion Phase: Propaganda and Espionage Activities 1) The ʿAbbāsī Side2) Muḥammad b. ʿAbdallāh's Intelligence Operations Chapter 3: On the Eve of the RebellionA) Medina during the Early ʿAbbāsī Caliphate1) Abbāsī Policy towards the City2) The ʿAbbāsīs and the Governors of Medina3) The Governors of Medina (136–145/754–762)B) The Imprisonment of the Ḥasanīs and Their Death1) The Imprisonment of ʿAbdallāh b. al-Ḥasan and His Family in 140/7582) The Imprisonment of the Ḥasanīs in 144/7623) ConclusionC) Propaganda and Followers of Muḥammad b. ʿAbdallāh in the Provinces1) Egypt2) Syria (al-Shām)3) Al-ʿIrāq (al-Baṣra and al-Kūfa)4) Al-SindChapter 4: RevoltIntroductionA) Entering the City and Taking Control B) Supporters and Warriors in the First Stage of the Revolt: General Observations 1) The Size of the Army of Muḥammad b. ʿAbdallāh2) Muḥammadʼs CommandersC) The First Actions: The Imprisonment of the ʿAbbāsī Family in MedinaD) The Financial Sources of the RebellionE) Organizing Medina1) Governors of Medina2) The Ḥijāba3) The Shurṭa4) The Judiciary (al-Qaḍāʾ)5) Dīwān al-ʿAṭāʾ6) The Arsenal7) The Flag-bearerF) Appointing Governors in Arabia1) Mecca2) Yemen (al-Yaman)3) Al-Ṭāʾif4) Al-YamāmaChapter 5: The ʿAbbāsī ReactionsA) Al-Manṣūr’s First ResponseB) The Correspondence Between al-Manṣūr and Muḥammad b. ʿAbdallāh1) The Text and its Transmission2) The Text of the Three Letters Recorded by Sibṭ b. al-Jawzī3) The Problem of Authenticity: The Question of the “Fourth Letter”4) Kitāb al-Siyar of Muḥammad b. ʿAbdallāh 5) The Letters according to Balʿamī (d. 974, or after 992?)C) The ʿAbbāsī Army Headed by ʿĪsā b. Mūsā against Muḥammad al-Nafs al-Zakiyya1) The Ṭālibīs in ʿĪsā b. Mūsā’s Camp 2) The Advancement of ʿĪsā’s Army until Reaching MedinaChapter 6: The ʿAbbāsī Armyʼs Campaigns Against Muḥammad b. ʿAbdallāhA) The First Stages1) Duel Combats2) Assaulting and Bridging the Khandaq (Moat)3) Taking Control of the Outskirts of Medina and Entering the CityB) The Campaign outside the CityC) The Last Battle and the Death of Muḥammad b. ʿAbdallāh D) The Site Where Muḥammad b. ʿAbdallāh Was Killed1) Aḥjār al-Zayt3) Mashhad al-Nafs al-Zakiyya in the Market of Medina. 4) Bayt Rūmī (A Byzantine House [?])5) Ghanāʾim Khashram 6) Muḥammad b. ʿAbdallāh’s Burial PlaceE) The ʿAbbāsīs’ First Actions after the Suppression of the Revolt1) Acts of Killing and Robbing by the Contingents of the ʿAbbāsī Army2) The Persecution of Members of the Ḥasanī Family and other Supporters of the Rebellion 3) Maritime Blockade4) The Confiscation of Banū l-Ḥasan’s and Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq’s Estates 5) The Confiscation of Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq’s EstateChapter 7: The Social, Ethnic, Political, and Religious Character of the RevoltPart 1: Banū Quraysh A) The Ṭālibīs1) Banū l-Ḥasan b. ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib (table I)2) Banū l-Ḥusayn b.ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib (table II)3) Banū Jaʿfar b. Abī Ṭālib (table III)4) Banū ʿUmar b. ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib (table IV)5) Banū ʿAqīl b. Abī Ṭālib (table IV)B) Banū Umayya al-Akbar b. ʿAbd Shams b. ʿAbd Manāf b. Quṣayy b. Kilāb b. Murra b. Kaʿb b. Luʾayy b. Ghālib b. Fihr (Quraysh) (table V)C) Banū Nawfal b. ʿAbd Manāf b. Quṣayy b. Kilāb b. Murra b. Kaʿb b. Luʾayy b. Ghālib b. Fihr (Quraysh) (table V)D) Banū l-Muṭṭalib b. ʿAbd Manāf b. Quṣayy b. Kilāb ... b. Ghālib b. Fihr (Quraysh) (table V)E) Banū ʿAdī b. Kaʿb b. Luʾayy b. Ghālib b. Fihr (Quraysh) (table VI)F) Banū Taym b. Murra b. Kaʿb b. Luʾayy b. Ghālib b. Fihr (Quraysh) (table VII)G) Banū Makhzūm b. Yaqẓa b. Murra b. Kaʿb b. Luʾayy b. Ghālib b. Fihr (Quraysh) (table VIII)H) Banū ʿĀmir b. Luʾayy b. Ghālib b. Fihr (Quraysh) (table IX)I) Banū Jumaḥ b. ʿAmr b. Huṣayṣ b. Kaʿb b. Luʾayy b. Ghālib b. Fihr (Quraysh) (table X). See also Banū KindaJ) Banū Hāshim b. ʿAbd Manāf b. Quṣayy b. Kilāb b. Murra b. Kaʿb b. Luʾayy b. Ghālib b. Fihr (Quraysh) (table X)K) Banū Zuhra b. Quṣayy b. Kilāb b. Murra b. Kaʿb b. Luʾayy b. Ghālib b. Fihr (Quraysh) (table XI)Chapter 7Part 2: Banū Asad b. ʿAbd al-ʿUzzā b. Quṣayy b. Kilāb b. Murra b. Kaʿb b. Luʾay b. Fihr (Quraysh) (table XII)A) The Family of al-Zubayr b. al-ʿAwwām1) The Family of Muṣʿab b. al-Zubayr b. al-ʿAwwām b. Khuwaylid b. Asad 2) The Family of Jaʿfar b. Muṣʿab b. al-Zubayr3) The Family of Khālid b. al-Zubayr b. al-ʿAwwām4) The Family of ʿAbdallāh b. al-Zubayr5) The Family of al-Mundhir b. al-Zubayr b. al-ʿAwwām 6) The Family of ʿUrwa b. al-ZubayrB) The Family of ʿAbdallāh b. Khālid b. Ḥizām b. Khuwaylid b. Asad b. ʿAbd al-ʿUzzā b. Quṣayy b. KilābC) Some Notes on the Zubayrīs in Early Islam1) The political-social and especially the economic position of the Zubayrīs 2) The Relations between the Zubayrīs and the ṬālibīsD) ʿAbbāsīs and Zubayrīs1) The Position and Roles of Members of the Zubayrī Family in the Early ʿAbbāsī State 2) Marriage and relations between the Zubayrīs and the ʿAbbāsīs E) Transmissions of the ZubayrīsChapter 7 Part 3: The Tribal Support for/Opposition to Muḥammad b. ʿAbdallāhA) The AnṣārA.1) Banū AwsA.2) Banū l-KhazrajB) Banū Juhayna (... b. al-Ḥāfī b. Quḍāʿa)C) Banū Muzayna (... b. al-Yās b. Muḍar)D) Banū Sulaym (... b. Qays ʿAylān b. Muḍar)E) Banū Ghifār b. Mulayl (... b. Kināna ... b. al-Yās b. Muḍar)F) Banū Aslam (... b. Māzin b. al-Azd)G) Banū Ashjaʿ (... b. Ghaṭafān b. Saʿd b. Qays ʿAylān b. Muḍar)H) Banū Fazāra (... b. Ghaṭafān b. Saʿd b. Qays ʿAylān b. Muḍar)I) Thaqīf (... b. Hawāzin ... b. Khṣafa b. Qays ʿAylān b. Muḍar)J) Banū ʿĀmir b. Ṣaʿṣaʿa (... b. Hawāzin ... b. Khaṣafa b. Qays ʿAylān b. Muḍar) K) Banū Bāhila (mawālī)L) Banū Hawāzin (... b. Khaṣafa b. Qays ʿAylān b. Muḍar) (mawlā)M) Banū KindaN) Banū Daws (al-Azd) (mawlā), or Banū Layth (Quḍāʿa) (mawlā) or Banū Ghifār (mawlā) O) UnidentifiedConclusionsAppendix 1: The Attitude of the ʿUlamāʾ Towards the Rebellion1) Mālik b. Anas2) Hishām b. ʿUrwa b. al-Zubayr3) Sufyān b. Saʿīd b. Masrūq (known as Sufyān al-Thawrī)4) Abū Ḥanīfa al-Nuʿmān b. Thābit 5) Hārūn b. Saʿd al-ʿIjlīAppendix 2: Transmitters and Transmission of the Historical Events of the Revolt A) Transmitters from the Ṭālibī FamiliesB) The ʿAbbāsī FamilyC) Transmission from Contemporaries of the Rebellion: Eyewitnesses, Supporters, and Opponents of the RevoltD) ʿUmar b. Shabba: Direct TransmittersE) Some Remarks on the Transmission of Abū l-Faraj al-Iṣfahānī in Maqātil al-ṭālibiyyīn Regarding the Events Surrounding the Rebellion of Muḥammad al-Nafs al-ZakiyyaAppendix 3: The Struggle for Legitimization Between the Ḥasanīs and the Ḥusaynīs as Reflected Mainly in Imāmī LiteratureA) The Ḥusaynīs and Other Ṭālibī/Hāshimī Factions A.1) Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq and Muḥammad Ibn al-ḤanafiyyaA.2) Ḥusaynīs and Jaʿfarīs/ Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq and the JaʿfarīsB) The Ḥasanī and the Ḥusaynī Families: Animosity and Conflicts1) Economic Reasons: Some Preliminary Remarks2) The Exclusive Right of the Ḥusaynīs to the Imāma: The Struggle between Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq and ʿAbdallāh b. al-ḤasanC) The Symbols of Legitimacy of the Ḥusaynīs: The Inheritance of the ʿIlm of the Prophet; Holy Relics of Ādam, Moses, Joseph, and (mainly) of the Prophet Muḥammad1) The Prophet’s Weapons2) Holy Relics of Ādam, Moses, Joseph, and (mainly) of the Prophet Muḥammad.3) Historical note on al-ʿIjliyyaD) Ḥusaynīs and Ḥasanīs: The Struggle between Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq and Muḥammad b. ʿAbdallāh b. al-Ḥasan1) Historical traditions: The al-Abwāʾ meeting, Abū Salama’s affair, and other events2) The struggle according to Imāmī traditionsE) Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq during the Rebellion and his Attitude Towards it According to Mainly Imāmī TraditionsF) Did Jaʿfar Regard Himself, or was he Regarded by his Adherents, as the Mahdī? G) Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq and the ʿAbbāsīsH) The Treatise of Condolences from Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq to the ḤasanīsMap of Medina Genealogical Charts QurayshI) The Ṭālibīs: Banū l-Ḥasan b. ʿAlī b. Abī ṬālibII) The Ṭālibīs: Banū ʿAlī b. al-Ḥusayn b. ʿAlī b. Abī ṬālibIII) The Ṭālibīs: Banū ʿAbdallāh b. Jaʿfar b. Abī ṬālibIV) The Ṭālibīs: Banū ʿUmar b. ʿAlī b. Abī ṬālibV) 1) Banū Umayya al-Akbar 2) Banū Nawfal b. ʿAbd Manāf 3) Banū Rabīʿa b. ʿAbd al-ʿUzzā b. ʿAbd ShamsVI) Banū ʿAdī1) Banū ʿAdī b. Kaʿb b. Luʾayy 2) Banū ʿUwayj b. ʿAdī. a) Banū ʿUmar b. al-Khaṭṭāb b) Banū Ibrāhīm b. ʿAbdallāh b. Muṭīʿ c) Banū Zayd b. al-KhaṭṭābVII) Banū Taym b. MurraVIII) Banū MakhzūmIX) Banū ʿĀmir b. LuʾayyX) Banū JumaḥXI) Banū ZuhraXII) Quraysh: Banū Asad b. ʿAbd al-ʿUzzā 1) Banū l-Zubayr b. al-ʿAwwām 2) Banū Khālid b. ḤizāmBibliography