Zaydi Revolt The Zaidi Revolt was a failed rebellion led by Zayd ibn Ali in 740 against the Umayyad dynasty , who had taken over the Islamic Caliphate since the death of his great - grandfather , Ali . Personality of " Zayd ibn Ali " and the reasons for his uprising . Unlike his brother , Muhammad al - Baqir , the fifth Imam of the Twelver Shi ' a s , Imam Zayd believed the time was ripe for renewing the rebellion against the Umayyad Caliphs in support of the claims of his own Hashemite clan . It is here where many parallels with the life of his more famous grandfather , Husayn , begin . The revolt . Zayd began seeking followers for his revolt , and found support among the people of Kufa in Iraq . Kufa had previously been the capital of his great - grandfather Ali , and the place where his grandfather Husayn also sought support for his own rebellion in 680 . Zayd moved to Kufa and spent more than a year among the Arab tribes in the region , gathering further support . The Umayyad governor of Kufa , however , learned of the plot , and commanded the people to gather at the great mosque , locked them inside and began a search for Zayd . Zayd with some troops fought his way to the mosque and called on people to come out . Zayd ' s abandonment by his followers . However , in events that echoed Husayn ' s own abandonment by the Kufans decades earlier , the bulk of Zayd ' s supporters deserted him and joined the Umayyads , leaving Zayd with only a few dozen outnumbered followers . Accounts differ slightly on the circumstances of the desertion . Sunni sources attribute the desertion to Zayd ' s refusal to speak ill of the first two Caliphs , Abu Bakr and Umar , who most Shi ' a regard as usurpers . Zaydi sources on the other hand attribute it to Zayd ' s refusal to acknowledge the authority of his nephew , Ja ' far al - Sadiq ( the sixth Imam according to the Twelver Shi ' ites ) . In both accounts , Zayd bitterly scolds the " rejectors " ( " Rāfiḍah " ) who desert him , an appellation used by some Sunnis to describe non - Zaydi Shi ' ites to this day . Nevertheless , Zayd fought on . His small band of followers was soundly defeated by the much larger Umayyad force , and Zayd fell in battle to an arrow that pierced his forehead . The arrow ' s removal led to his death . He was buried in secret outside Kufa , but the Umayyads were able to find the burial place , and , in retribution for the rebellion , exhumed Zayd ' s body and crucified it . They then set it on fire and scattered the ashes , probably in order to prevent his gravesite from becoming an object of pilgrimage . When the Abbasids , who , like Zayd , were Hashemites , overthrew the Umayyads in 750 , they in turn exhumed Hisham ' s body , crucified it , and burned it , out of revenge for Zayd . Consequences of the Zaydi rebellion and the insurrection of " Hasan ibn Zayd ’ ūl - Alavī " . Zayd ' s desperate rebellion became the inspiration for the Zaydi sect , a school of Shi ' a Islam that holds that any learned descendant of Ali can become an Imam by asserting and fighting for his claim as Zayd did ( the rest of the Shi ' as believe , in contrast , that the Imam must be divinely appointed ) . However , all schools of Islam , including the majority Sunnis , regard Zayd as a righteous martyr ( " shahid " ) against what is regarded as the corrupt leadership of the Umayyads . It is even reported that Abu Hanifa , founder of the largest school of Sunni jurisprudence , gave financial support to Zayd ' s revolt and called on others to join Zayd ' s rebellion . The uprising of " Hasan ibn Zayd ’ ūl - Alavī " . Zayd ' s rebellion inspired other revolts by members of his clan , especially in the Hejaz , the most famous among these being the revolt of Muhammad al - Nafs az - Zakiyya against the Abbasids in 762 . Actually , " the Zaydi Revolt " continued until 785 and re - erupted in Tabaristan under the leadership of the Zayd ibn Ali ' s son , " " Hasan ibn Zayd ’ ūl - Alavī . " " His revolt attracted many supporters , among them the ruler of Rustamids , the son of " Farīdūn " " ( a descendant of Rostam Farrokhzād ) " " " Abd al - Rahmān ibn Rustam " " who was well known by the name of " " Bānū - Bādūsyān , " " worth mentioning .