Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-
Ḥasan al-Muthannā ibn al-
Ḥasan al-Mujtabā ibn
ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib or Muḥammad al-Nafs al-Zakīyya ( ar, محمد بن عبد الله بن الحسن بن الحسن بن علي الملقَّب النفس الزكية, lit=The Pure Soul), was a descendant of the Islamic prophet
Muhammad
Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the mo ...
, through his daughter
Fatimah
Fāṭima bint Muḥammad ( ar, فَاطِمَة ٱبْنَت مُحَمَّد}, 605/15–632 CE), commonly known as Fāṭima al-Zahrāʾ (), was the daughter of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and his wife Khadija. Fatima's husband was Ali, ...
. Known for his commanding oratory skills, amiable demeanor, and impressive build, he led the
Alid Revolt in
Medina
Medina,, ', "the radiant city"; or , ', (), "the city" officially Al Madinah Al Munawwarah (, , Turkish: Medine-i Münevvere) and also commonly simplified as Madīnah or Madinah (, ), is the second-holiest city in Islam, and the capital of the ...
, a failed rebellion, against the second
Abbasid
The Abbasid Caliphate ( or ; ar, الْخِلَافَةُ الْعَبَّاسِيَّة, ') was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abdul-Muttalib ...
caliph
Al-Mansur
Abū Jaʿfar ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad al-Manṣūr (; ar, أبو جعفر عبد الله بن محمد المنصور; 95 AH – 158 AH/714 CE – 6 October 775 CE) usually known simply as by his laqab Al-Manṣūr (المنصور) w ...
. He and a few hundred soldiers faced against a large Abbasid force under
Isa ibn Musa
ʿĪsā ibn Mūsā ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-ʿAbbās () (–783/4) was a nephew of the first two Abbasid caliphs, as-Saffah () and al-Mansur (), and for a long time heir-apparent of the Caliphate, until he was superseded b ...
, and he was killed on December 6, 762
CE (145
AH).
Life
Initially, he hoped to rebel against
Umayyad
The Umayyad Caliphate (661–750 CE; , ; ar, ٱلْخِلَافَة ٱلْأُمَوِيَّة, al-Khilāfah al-ʾUmawīyah) was the second of the four major caliphates established after the death of Muhammad. The caliphate was ruled by the ...
rule, when the
children of Hashim paid their allegiance to him at
Abwa. Among them were Ibrahim al-Imam,
As-Saffah
Abū al-ʿAbbās ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad al-Saffāḥ ( ar, أبو العباس عبد الله بن محمد السفّاح; 721/722 – 8 June 754, al-Anbar) usually known as Abūʾl-ʿAbbās as-Saffāḥ or simply by his laqab As ...
and Al-Mansur. But it soon became clear that Abbasid rule was established, so those who had paid allegiance to him deserted him, and another group of
Shiites
Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his successor (''khalīfa'') and the Imam (spiritual and political leader) after him, most n ...
flocked around him.
[Firaq al-Shi’ah (The Shi'ah Groups), by Abu Muhammad al-Hasan bin Musa al-Nubakhti, pg.62, and Al-Maqalat wa al-Firaq, by Sa'ad Ibn Abdillah al-Ash'ari al-Qummi (d. 301), pg.76]
Personality
Muhammad was an inspirational figure to many throughout the caliphate who believed that he was destined for glory due to his ancestry. For years he disguised himself and travelled stealthily, since his professed relationship to the Prophet meant that he posed a threat to the established political order. He was eventually able to amass a sizable but ragtag army and seize the city of Medina. He then left Medina in the year 145 A.H and took over
Mecca
Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow ...
and
Yemen
Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...
. He was murdered in Medina a few months later.
Revolt in 762–763
Medina was an exceptionally poor place for any large-scale insurrection due to its dependence on other provinces for goods, and his motley army of devotees were no match for the Caliph's imperial soldiers. Despite the advantage held by the Abbasid troops, Muhammad refused to step down in the hours before battle, utilizing the historic trenches dug by the Prophet to fortify the city decades earlier.
Hugh Kennedy
Hugh Edward Kennedy (11 July 1879 – 1 December 1936) was an Irish Cumann na nGaedheal politician, barrister and judge who served as Chief Justice of Ireland from 1924 to 1936, a judge of the Supreme Court from 1924 to 1936 and Attorney Gener ...
. ''When Baghdad Ruled the Muslim World.'' Da Capo P, 2004, 21-26,
Ancestry
See also
*
Abbasids
*
Alids
*
Abdullah Shah Ghazi, son of Muhammad
*
Ja'far al-Sadiq
Jaʿfar ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī al-Ṣādiq ( ar, جعفر بن محمد الصادق; 702 – 765 CE), commonly known as Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq (), was an 8th-century Shia Muslim scholar, jurist, and theologian.. He was the founder of th ...
*
Nafs-e-Zakiyyah (Pure soul)
Al-Nafs al-Zakiyyah ( ar, النفس الزكية, , the Pure Soul, fa, نفس زکیه, Nafs-e-Zakiyyah), according to Shia Islamic eschatology, is one of the apocalyptic characters that Mahdi will send as his envoy to Mecca before his reappear ...
*
Zaydism
Zaydism (''h'') is a unique branch of Shia Islam that emerged in the eighth century following Zayd ibn Ali‘s unsuccessful rebellion against the Umayyad Caliphate. In contrast to other Shia Muslims of Twelver Shi'ism and Isma'ilism, Zaydis, ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Muhammad Al-Nafs Al-Zakiyya
Year of birth missing
762 deaths
8th-century Arabs
Hasanids
8th-century people from the Abbasid Caliphate