Contemporaries Opinions of Zayd Ibn Ali
Zayd was a revered and respected member of the Ahl ul Bayt, the family bloodline of the prophet Muhammad. Scholars, Saints, Sufis and Imams alike, all spoke of him in respectable terms.
Al-Shaykh Al-Mufid the writer of the famous Shi'ah book Kitab al Irshad described him as, "...a devout worshipper, pious, a jurist, God-fearing and brave."
When describing Zayd, Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq said: "Among us he was the best read in the Holy Qur'an, and the most knowledgeable about religion, and the most caring towards family and relatives." Hence his title "Ally of the Quran" (Halef Al-Quran)
Zayd's brother Imam Muhammad al-Baqir spoke of him reverentially, "No one of us was born to resemble ‘Ali ibn Abi Taleb more than he did"
Imam Ali ar-Ridha spoke of him respectfully:
| “ | ..he (Zayd bin Ali) was one of the scholars from the Household of Muhammad and got angry for the sake of the Honorable the Exalted God. He fought with the enemies of God until he got killed in His path. My father Musa ibn Ja'far narrated that he had heard his father Ja'far ibn Muhammad say, "May God bless my uncle Zayd...He consulted with me about his uprising and I told him, "O my uncle! Do this if you are pleased with being killed and your corpse being hung up from the gallows in the al-Konasa neighborhood." After Zayd left, As-Sadiq said, "Woe be to those who hear his call but do not help him!". | ” |
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—Imam Ali ar-Ridha |
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Imam Jafar Sadiq's love for his uncle Zayd ibn Ali was immense. Upon receiving and reading the letter of Zayd ibn Ali's death he broke down and cried uncontrollably, and proclaimed aloud:
| “ | From God we are and to Him is our return. I ask God for my reward in this calamity. He was a really good uncle. My uncle was a man for our world and for our Hereafter. I swear by God that my uncle is a martyr just like the martyrs who fought along with God’s Prophet (s) or Ali (s) or Al-Hassan (s) or Al-Hussein(s) | ” |
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—Uyun Akhbar al-Reza- The Source of Traditions on Imam Ali ar-Ridha |
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Abu Hanifah once said about Imam Zayd, "I met with Zayd and I never saw in his generation a person more knowledgeable, as quick a thinker, or more eloquent than he was."
The Sufi scholar, Mujtahid and mystic, Sufyan al-Thawri respected Imam Zayd's knowledge and character, saying "Zayd took the place of Imam Al-HUssain. He was the most versed human concerning Allah’s holy book. I affirm: women have not given birth to the likes of Zayd..."
The famous ascetic Caliph Umar ibn Abdul Aziz was the then Governor of Madinah during the reign of al-Walid and Suleiman and was also an associate of Zayd ibn Ali. Zayd continued to correspond and advise him when he became khalifah.
It is worth mentioning that he is also the first narrator of the famous as-Sahifah as-Sajjãdiyya of Imam Zainul 'Abidin.
Several works of hadith, theology, and Qur'anic exegesis are attributed to him. The first work of Islamic jurisprudence Mujmu'-al-Fiqh is attributed to him. The only surviving hand-written manuscript of this work dating back to at least a thousand years is preserved in the pope's library, Bibliotheca Vaticana in Vatican City under "Vaticani arabi". Photocopies of this rare work are available in several libraries including the Library of the University of Birmingham, UK. In 2007, Sayyid Nafis Shah al-Husayni obtained a copy of this work and re-issued it from Lahore. The Mu‘tazilite school of theology is believed to have adopted many of Zayd's teachings, and therefore followers of the Zaidiyyah sect were initially close to Mu'tazilite school of theology because of their founder Wasil ibn Ata being the student of Zayd, but they later progressed into two very distinct schools of thought.
He was an excellent orator and spent much of his life learning and educating others. It is said of his brother Imam Muhammad al-Baqir wanted to test his brother on the Quranic knowledge, asking him various questions for which he received answers beyond his expectation, causing to him to remark, "For our father and mother’s life! You are one of a kind. God grace your mother who gave you birth, she gave birth to a replica of your forefathers!"
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