The Debt of az-Zubayr

202. Abu Khubayb – with a u on the kha’ – ‘Abdullah ibn az-Zubayr ibn al-‘Awwam al-Qurashi al-Asadi, may Allah be pleased with him, who said, “When az-Zubayr stood awaiting the Battle of the Camel, he called me over and I went to his side. He said, ‘Son, no one will be killed today except someone wrongdoing or someone wronged. I think that I will be killed today as one of the wronged. One of my greatest concerns is my debts. Do you think that any of our property will remain after our debts are settled?’ Then he said, ‘O my son! Sell our property and pay my debts!’ Then he willed a third, and a third of it was for his sons, i.e. the sons of ‘Abdullah ibn az-Zubayr, a third of the third. He said, ‘If anything is left over of our property after paying the debts, then a third of it is for your children.’ (Hisham said, “Some of the sons of ‘Abdullah were the same age as the sons of az-Zubayr: Khubayb and ‘Abbad. At that time he had nine sons and nine daughters.”)” ‘Abdullah said, “My father began to order me concerning his debt and say, ‘Son, if you are unable to settle any of it, then ask my Master for help in doing it.’” He said, “By Allah, I did not know what he meant so I said, ‘Father, who is your Master?’ He said, ‘Allah.’”

He said, “By Allah! Whenever I ran into difficulty regarding his debt I said, ‘O Master of az-Zubayr! Pay his debt for him!’ and He would settle it.” He said, “Az-Zubayr, may Allah be pleased with him, was killed without leaving a dinar or a dirham, but only pieces of land, one of which was al-Ghabah, and eleven houses in Madinah, two in Basra, one in Kufa, and one in Egypt.”

He said, “The debt that he owed resulted from people bringing him money to leave in his keeping. Az-Zubayr would say, ‘No, let it rather be a loan, for otherwise I fear that it might get lost.’ He had never been appointed to a government post of any kind nor to the collection of land-tax (kharaj) nor anything else. What he had came only from expeditions with the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, or with Abu Bakr, ‘Umar and ‘Uthman, may Allah be pleased with them.”

‘Abdullah ibn az-Zubayr said, “When I worked out the debt he owed, I found it to be two million and two hundred thousand.” Hakim ibn Hizam met ‘Abdullah ibn az-Zubayr and said, “Nephew, how large a debt does my brother have?” I concealed it and said, “A hundred thousand.” Hakim said, “By Allah, I do not think that your property will cover this amount.” ‘Abdullah said, “What would you think if it were two million and two hundred thousand?” He said, “I do not think you will be able to pay this. If you are unable to cover any of it, then ask me for help.”

He said, “Az-Zubayr had purchased al-Ghabah for one hundred and seventy thousand, and ‘Abdullah sold it for one million and six hundred thousand. Then he stood up and said, ‘Anyone who is owed anything by az-Zubayr should come to us at al-Ghabah.’ ‘Abdullah ibn Ja‘far came to him, and az-Zubayr owed him four hundred thousand. He said to ‘Abdullah. ‘If you like, I will forgo it.’ ‘Abdullah said, ‘No.’ He said, ‘If you like, you can delay payment if you want to.’ ‘Abdullah said, ‘No.’” He said, “He said, ‘So allocate me a piece of land.’ ‘Abdullah said, ‘You can have from here to there.’ ‘Abdullah sold some of it and paid his debts in full and there remained four and a half shares of the land. He went to Mu‘awiyah while ‘Amr ibn ‘Uthman, al-Mundhir ibn az-Zubayr and Ibn Zam‘ah were with him. Mu‘awiyah said, ‘How much have you valued al-Ghabah at?’ He said, ‘Each share at a hundred thousand.’ He said, ‘How much remains?’ He said, ‘Four and a half shares.’ Al-Mundhir ibn az-Zubayr said, ‘I will take a share for a hundred thousand.’ ‘Amr ibn ‘Uthman said, ‘I will take a share for a hundred thousand.’ Ibn Zam‘ah said, ‘I will take a share for a hundred thousand.’ Mu‘awiyah said, ‘How much remains?’ He said, ‘A share and a half.’ He said, ‘I will take it for one hundred and fifty thousand.’”

He said, “‘Abdullah ibn Ja‘far later sold his share to Mu‘awiyah for six-hundred thousand. When Ibn az-Zubayr finishing settling his debts, the sons of az-Zubayr said, ‘Distribute our inheritance between us.’ He said, ‘No, by Allah, I will not distribute it until I have made this announcement for four years during the Hajj festival: “Anyone who has a debt owed him by az-Zubayr should come to us and we will settle it.”’ He announced that every year at the festival and when the four years were up, he distributed it between them and paid over the third. Az-Zubayr had four wives and after the prescribed third was removed, each wife got a million and two hundred thousand. So the total amount of his property was fifty million and two hundred thousand.” (Al-Bukhari narrated it)