[1] The event gave rise to the Zaydiyya sect of Shia Islam, which holds him as the next Imam after his father Ali ibn al-Husayn Zayn al-Abidin.

Various works are ascribed to him, including Musnad al-Imam Zayd (published by E. Grifinni as Corpus Iuris di Zaid b.

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".

In 2007, Sayyid Nafis Shah Al-Husayni Sayed Nafees al-Hussaini obtained a copy of this work, and re-issued it from Lahore.

It is said that his half-brother, Imam al-Baqir, wanted to test him 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!

"[9] When describing Zayd, his nephew, 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.

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.

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.

I affirm: women have not given birth to the likes of Zayd ... "[15] 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.

"[16] Imam al-Baqir narrated: The Holy Prophet put his sacred hand on Al-Husayn bin Ali's back and said: "O Husayn, it will not be long until a man will be born among your descendants.

"In AH 122 (AD 740), Zayd led an uprising against the Umayyad rule of Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik in the city of Kufa.

Yusuf ibn Umar al-Thaqafi, the Umayyad governor of Iraq, managed to bribe the inhabitants of Kufa which allowed him to break the insurgence, killing Zayd in the process.

[21] According to later—and most likely invented—tradition, relayed by the 14th-century historian al-Maqrizi, Zayd's severed head was brought to Egypt, and displayed at the Mosque of Amr in Fustat, until it was stolen and buried.

When it fell into ruin by the early 12th century, the Fatimid vizier, al-Afdal Shahanshah, ordered it excavated, and the head was placed in a purpose-built shrine on 1 March 1131.

This building, inaccurately known as the Shrine of Zayn al-Abidin (Zayd's father), was located some 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) north of the Mosque of Amr, and was entirely rebuilt twice in the 19th century.