Abdullah Ibn Zubayr

Abdullah Ibn Zubayr (624 - 692) was one of the comapanions of the Prophet Muhammad. Ibn al-Zubayr was not active in politics during the reign of Muawiyah I, but upon the ascension of Yazid I, he refused to swear allegiance to the new caliph. After the death of Imam Hossein at the Battle of Karbala, Ibn Zubayr returned to the Hejaz where he declared himself the righteous caliph, and he began building support. Eventually he consolidated 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. Ibn Zubayr benefitted greatly from widespread dissatisfaction among the populace with Umayyad rule. Yazid tried to end Ibn Zubayr's rebellion by invading the Hejaz, and took Medina after the bloody Battle of Harrah followed by the siege of Mecca but his sudden death ended the campaign and threw the Umayyads into disarray with civil war eventually breaking out. This essentially split the Islamic empire into two spheres with two different caliphs, but soon the Umayyad civil war was ended, and Zubayr lost Egypt and whatever he had of Syria to Marwan I. Ibn Zubayr was finally defeated by Abdul Malek, who sent Hajjaj Ibn Yusuf Thaqafi to reunite the Islamic empire. Hajjaj defeated and killed Ibn Zubayr on the battlefield in 692, beheading him and crucifying his body, reestablishing Umayyad control over the Islamic Empire.

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