caliphate · Arabia and the Gulf
Caliphate of Ibn al-Zubayr
Origins
Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr, son of a Companion of the Prophet and grandson of Abu Bakr, refused to recognise the Umayyad caliph Yazid I and took refuge in Mecca. When Yazid died in 683 and his son soon after, Ibn al-Zubayr proclaimed himself caliph and was accepted in the Hejaz, Iraq, Egypt, Yemen and much of Syria.
Rule and society
He governed from Mecca, where he rebuilt the Kaaba after it was damaged in an Umayyad siege, while his brother Mus'ab ruled Iraq from Basra. His authority depended on governors and tribal allies, and he faced revolts from the Kharijites of the Najdiyya and from al-Mukhtar's pro-Alid movement at Kufa, which Mus'ab defeated in 687.
Decline and legacy
The Umayyad victory at Marj Rahit in 684 kept Syria, Marwan I retook Egypt in 685, and Abd al-Malik reconquered Iraq, where Mus'ab was killed in 691. In 692 al-Hajjaj besieged and bombarded Mecca; Ibn al-Zubayr died fighting and the Umayyad Caliphate was reunited.
Lineage
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Cite this page
- APA
- The Epoch Institute. (2026). Caliphate of Ibn al-Zubayr. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/caliphate-of-ibn-al-zubayr
- MLA
- “Caliphate of Ibn al-Zubayr.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/caliphate-of-ibn-al-zubayr. Accessed .
- Chicago
- The Epoch Institute. “Caliphate of Ibn al-Zubayr.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/caliphate-of-ibn-al-zubayr.
- Harvard
- The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Caliphate of Ibn al-Zubayr’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/caliphate-of-ibn-al-zubayr (Accessed: ).
Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻