Encyclopedia of Islam

Further reading: G. R. Hawting, “The Disappearance 

and Rediscovery of Zamzam and the Well of Mecca,” 

Bulletin of the Society of Oriental and African Studies

43 (1980): 44–54; Muhammad ibn Ishaq, The Life of 

Muhammad: A Translation of Ibn Ishaq’s Sirat Rasul Allah.

Translated by Alfred Guillaume (Oxford: Oxford Uni-

versity Press, 1955); F. E. Peters, The Hajj: The Muslim 

Pilgrimage to Mecca and the Holy Places (Princeton, N.J.: 

Princeton University Press, 1994).

Zaydi Shiism

Also known as Fiver Shiism, the Zaydi tradition 

of s

hiism

 is today found mainly in y

emen

, where 

Zaydis are estimated to be about 36 percent of 

the population (Yemen’s total population was 

estimated at 23 million in 2008). In keeping with 

other branches of Shiism, it traces its heritage to 

the 

ahl

 

al

-

bayt

—the household of the prophet 

Muhammad (ca. 570–632). Its name is derived 

from that of Zayd ibn Ali (d. 740), the son of 

Ali Zayn al-Abidin (d. 714) and grandson of 

h

Usayn

 

ibn

 a

li

, who was killed at Karbala in 680. 

According to Zaydi doctrine he is the fifth Imam, 

instead of Muhammad al-Baqir (d. 731), who is 

considered to be the fifth in t

Welve

-i

mam

 s

hiism

.

Known for his religious knowledge, Zayd became 

embroiled in anti-Umayyad politics, and he was 

considered by his followers to be a Shii i

mam

because of his descent and because he led a revolt 

against the Umayyads. He received only nominal 

support from other Shii factions in Arabia and 

Iraq, partly because he refused to condemn a

bU

b

akr

 (r. 632–634) and U

mar

 

ibn

 

al

-k

hattab

 (r. 

634–644), the first two caliphs. Zayd was killed 

by Umayyad troops in a skirmish in Kufa in 740. 

The Syrians dismembered his body—the head 

was presented to the 

caliph

 in Damascus and the 

body was crucified, then later burned and the