Zubayrid Caliphate

Yazid's death and the subsequent withdrawal of the Umayyad army from the Hejaz afforded Ibn al-Zubayr the opportunity to realize his aspirations for the caliphate.[1][5] He immediately declared himself amīr al-muʾminīn (commander of the faithful), a title traditionally reserved for the caliph, and called for all Muslims to give him their oaths of allegiance.[1][6] With the other potential Hejazi candidates dead, Ibn al-Zubayr remained the last contender for the caliphate among the anti-Umayyad factions in Mecca and Medina and most of these groups recognized him as their leader.[6] An exception to were the Banu Hashim clan to which Muhammad and the Alids belonged and whose support Ibn al-Zubayr deemed important for his own legitimacy as caliph.[9] The leading representatives of the clan in the Hejaz, Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyya, the half-brother of Husayn ibn Ali, and their cousin Abd Allah ibn Abbas, withheld their oaths citing the need for a stronger consensus in the wider Muslim community.[9] Irritated, Ibn al-Zubayr besieged the clan's neighborhood in Mecca and imprisoned Ibn al-Hanafiyya to pressure the Banu Hashim.[9] Meanwhile, the Kharijites under Najda ibn Amir al-Hanafi in the Yamama (central Arabia) abandoned Ibn al-Zubayr once he forwarded his claim to the caliphate, an institution they rejected, and Ibn al-Zubayr refused to embrace their doctrine.[1][6][10]

After taking Medina, Muslim set out for Mecca, but on the way he fell ill and died at Mushallal, and command passed to his lieutenant Husayn ibn Numayr al-Sakuni. According to the account reported by al-Tabari, this was much against Uqba's will, but in accordance with the wishes of Yazid.[11][12]

Many of the Medinans had fled to Mecca, including the commander of the Qurayshites at the battle of al-Harra, Abd Allah ibn Muti, who played a leading role in Mecca's defense along with al-Mukhtar al-Thaqafi.[13] Ibn al-Zubayr was also joined by Kharijites from Yamama (central Arabia), under the leadership of Najda ibn Amir al-Hanafi.[14][15] Husayn's army arrived before Mecca in September. In a first battle, Ibn al-Zubayr proved victorious,[14][15] but the Umayyads persisted, and on 24 September placed the city under siege, employing catapults to bombard it with stones.[16][17]

Ibn al-Zubayr established his command post on the grounds of the Grand Mosque. On Sunday, 31 October, the Kaaba, over which a wooden structure covered with mattresses had been erected to protect it, caught fire and burned down, while the sacred Black Stone burst asunder. Many later sources ascribe the fault to the besiegers, with the result that "this siege and bombardment too figure prominently in the lists of Umayyad crimes" (G.R. Hawting), but more reliable accounts attribute the event to a torch borne by one of Ibn al-Zubayr's followers, which the wind wafted onto the building.[18][16][19]

After asserting Umayyad authority in Iraq, Abd al-Malik dispatched one of his commanders, al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf, to subdue Ibn al-Zubayr.[1] Al-Hajjaj besieged and bombarded Mecca for six months, by which point, most of Ibn al-Zubayr's partisans and his sons Khubayb and Hamza surrendered upon offers of pardons.[1][20] Ibn al-Zubayr remained defiant and, acting on his mother's counsel, entered the battlefield where he was ultimately slain on 3 October or 4 November 692.[21][1]