The Origins of the Zaydīs

Introduction

The Zaydīs arose after the revolt of their fourth Imām, Zayd b. ‘Alī b. Hussain (d. 122 / 740). Zayd b. ‘Alī’s father was ‘Alī b. Hussain¹, the latter being the only surviving descendant of the martyr of Karbala Hussain b. ‘Alī b. Abi Talib. Zayd b. ‘Alī narrated aḥādīth from his father, his half-brother, Muḥammad al-Bāqir, and ʿUrwah ibn Zubayr.²

In the year 122, Zayd b. ‘Alī was contacted by the Kūfans and promised support if he was to rise up against the Umayyads. Unfortunately he accepted their word. But Zayd’s refusal to condemn the first two Caliphs resulted in the Kūfans abandoning his cause leaving him with only two hundred riders. Zayd ibn ʿAlī questioned them, “Have you forsaken me?” (رفضتموني) “Yes,” they replied. Thereafter, the name Rāfiḍah became associated with the Shia.³ Betrayed by the Kūfans, he met a similar fate to his grandfather Hussain b. ‘Alī.

Zayd accepted of the validity of Abū Bakr’s and ‘Umar’s caliphates based upon the concept of “the acceptance of the Imāmate of the less worthy.” This was in marked contrast to the Ithnā ‘Asharīs and Ismā‘īlīs, who condemned the first two caliphs as usurpers. In this sense, the Zaydīs were the closest of the early Shī‘ī groups to the Sunnīs.

Two strands of the Zaydīs

In the early second century, Zaydī Shi’ism consisted of two doctrinal tendencies; the Batriyya and the Jarudiyya. The former, like their founder, refused to condemn Abū Bakr and ‘Umar and suspended judgement over ‘Uthmān. Although ‘Alī was superior in their view, they accepted the Caliphate of the ‘less excellent’ and thus the legitimacy of the first two caliphs Some members of this group eventually merged with Kūfan Sunnīsm.

The Jarudiyya represented a more radical Shī‘ī doctrine, condemning the first three Caliphs, and believing in the divine designation of ‘Alī by the Prophet. Although some early Zaydis held that any descendant of Abū Tālib could be suitable for Imāmate, this was later replaced by belief in the divine designation of ‘Alī, Hasan and Hussain.

In the eighth century, most Zaydīs were Batrī. However by the ninth century, the Jārūdīs were dominant. In the period 132–334/750–945, the Zaydis were successful in establishing states in Tabaristan (250/864) and Yemen in 288/901.⁴ However, their influence in the central Islamic lands was minimal. The last Zaydī Imām, Muh̩ammad al-Badr, died in 1996 in the UK leaving the Zaydī community without an Imām.⁵

Differences between Zaydī, Ithnā ‘Asharīs and the Ismā‘īlis

a) The Zaydis held that after Hussain, the Imāmate could pass to any descendant of Hasan and Hussain, as long as they were prepared to launch an armed revolt. The Ithnā ‘Asharīs and the Ismā’īlis, on the other hand, restricted the Imāmate to designated descendants of Hussain.

b) Unlike the Zaydis, the Ithnā ‘Asharīs and the Ismā’īlis considered all of the Imāms to be ma‘ṣūm (infallible).

c) Another crucial difference was the importance of khurūj in Zaydī thought. An Imām had to assert his claim by armed revolt, and hence the Zaydis rejected the quietest claims to Imāmate attributed to Muh̩ammad al Bāqir.

c) Finally, unlike the Ithnā ‘Asharīs and the Ismā‘īlīs, the Zaydīs rejected the concept of ghayba and the raj‘a of the hidden Imām.

Notes:

1. also known as Zayn al ʿĀbidīn ↩︎
2. Eminent Personalities of The Ahl Al-Bayt. Al-Sayyid Ḥasan Al-Ḥusaynī. www.mahajjah.com ↩︎
3. History And Evolution Of Shi’ism, Shaykh Iḥsān Ilāhī Ẓahīr ↩︎
4. Shi’ism (New Edinburgh Islamic Surveys) 2nd edition by Halm, Heinz 2004 p. 204. ↩︎
5. Carole Hillenbrand, Islam: A New Historical Introduction, (Thames and Hudson, 2015), p. 151.; According to Marshal Hodgson the central Islamic lands were from the Nile to the Oxus plus N orth Africa and Spain. R Stephen Humphreys, Islamic History: A Framework for Inquiry, (Princeton University Press Princeton, 1991), p. ix. ↩︎