His Imamate
The Zaidis claim that Zaid was the rightful successor to his father, rather than his half-brother Muhammad al-Baqir.
| “ | The death of Imam Ali Zayn ul Abidin triggered the struggle for leadership between his two sons, Muhammad al Baqir and Zayd...Zayd rejected the principle of hereditary succession to the imamat, and asserted his own right to it on the ground that he was better qualified for it, because he fulfilled all the necessary conditions for this purpose including the one that the Imam must rise in revolt against the unjust, oppressive rulers. | ” |
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—Abdul Ali in Islamic dynasties of the Arab East: state and civilization during the later medieval times |
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Zayd rebelled against the Umayyad Caliph he felt was unjust. It is here where many parallels with the life of his more famous grandfather, Husayn, begin. Imam Zayd, following the foot steps of his grandfather Husayn, thought that an Imam should fight oppression. Instead of watching the Muslims stay under a ruler he considered oppressive and ignorant (Hisham), he called for many people to follow him and fight.
Read more about this topic: Zayd Ibn Ali