Ibn al-Zubayr
klei...@astound.net
al-Zubayr who disputed the caliphate with Abd al-Malik for so long is
actually the same person as that al-Zubayr ibn al-'Awwam who, in the
sirat, is named as one of the first Muslims and who was a member of the
committee that named 'Uthman as caliph and who was killed at the battle
of the camel.
Of course, that means that the notices about the career of al-Zubayr
ibn al-'Awwam are incorrect. I observe that essentially nothing in the
history of early Islam would have to be changed if we simply erased all
references to al-Zubayr ibn al-'Awwam. But, naturally, 'Awwam might
still be the name of al-Zubayr's father.
Why should I make such a suggestion? I make it because several of the
historical stories confuse al-Zubayr and Ibn al-Zubayr. You might reply
that there is very little difference and a mistake would be easy. I
would respond that nobody ever seems to confuse Ibn 'Umar and 'Umar or
Ibn 'Abbas and 'Abbas. An excellent example of the confusion is the
story recounted by Ibn Sa'd in his notice about Ibn Shihab al-Zuhri of
Ibn Shihab's first interview with Abd al-Malik where the caliph is
made, apparently, to confuse the two. Abd al-Malik, of all people,
should be aware of who al-Zubayr was.
I assume that, while ruling independently in the Hijaz, al-Zubayr used
the offical title Abd Allah in the same fashion that Mu'awiya and Abd
al-Malik did. He probably also claimed, like the others, to be
"commander of the faithful". I have seen references to the fact that he
also called himself caliph and was the first person to use that title;
but I don't know where this idea comes from. In any case Abd Allah
al-Zubayr would be easy to change to Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr.
Now we must contemplate the notion that Abd Allah ibn 'Umar and Abd
Allah ibn 'Abbas are, in fact, 'Umar and 'Abbas. I doubt if I can go
along with the idea.I suggest that the examples of Abd Allah ibn 'Umar
and Abd Allah ibn 'Abbas made it very easy to create Abd Allah ibn
al-Zubayr.
The question is when and how did Abd Allah become a "royal" title? The
name itself is perfectly unsurprising given Abd Shams, Abd 'Uzza and
all the rest. But, according to the genealogies in Ibn Ishaq these were
"nicknames". However it is not so surprising to find a nickname
turning into a real name. But into a title?
If I am right about who al-Zubayr was then nothing significant appears
to need to be changed. The actual generation of al-Zubayr seems to not
be important.