Urwah ibn Zubayr

ʿUrwa ibn al-Zubayr ibn al-ʿAwwām al-Asadī was an early Muslim traditionist, widely regarded as a founding figure in the field of historical study among the Muslims. He was a son of Muhammad's close aide Zubayr ibn al-Awwam, and a nephew of his wife A'isha. He spent much of his life in Medina, witnessed the First Muslim Civil War (656–661) as a youth, and supported his elder brother Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr in his failed attempt to establish his caliphate in the Second Muslim Civil War (680–692). After Abd Allah's elimination by his Syria-based Umayyad rivals, Urwa reconciled with the Umayyads, whom he paid occasional visits and maintained a literary correspondence with. Urwa's relations with important early Islamic figures gave him access to first-hand accounts on the early Islamic period, which he collected from his father, his aunt, and a number of companions of Muhammad, passing these on to his students, above all Ibn Shihab al-Zuhri and his son Hisham. A large number of these traditions are reported in the hadith and historical literature. Some of his literary correspondences with the Umayyad caliphs Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan and al-Walid I have also been reported in historical works. Combined, they cover almost all important events of Muhammad's prophetic career as well as early caliphate, and are central to the historical study of Muhammad. Modern historians have debated the authenticity of the Urwa corpus of traditions. Some hold that most of the traditions reported on his authority did indeed originate with him and the core of the information contained therein is genuine, although they have been modified and colored by later transmitters to some extent. On the other hand, some hold that much of the corpus is later, retrospective attribution to Urwa. Biography Sources differ on Urwa's birth year, placing it in 22, 23, 26, or 29 AH. 23 AH, corresponding to 643/644 CE, is most likely. His father was Zubayr ibn al-Awwam, a senior companion of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and his mother was Asma, a daughter of the first caliph Abu Bakr and sister of Muhammad's wife A'isha. Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr, the counter-caliph of the Second Muslim Civil War, was his full brother. Urwa spent his early life in Medina, during the caliphate of the third caliph Uthman. After Uthman's assassination, he accompanied his father, brother, and his aunt A'isha to the southern Iraqi town of Basra, where the three elders fought against the fourth caliph Ali.