The discovery of al-Zubayr's grave at Basra, 386

العثور على قبر الزبير بالبصرة 386هـ

c. January 996 CE · Muharram 386 AH

In Muharram 386 the people of Basra reported uncovering an old grave containing a fresh corpse in its clothes and sword, said to be al-Zubayr b. al-'Awwam; they re-shrouded and reburied it at al-Mirbad between the two lanes, the amir built over it and made the spot a mosque, moving in candelabra, vessels, mats and pillars, appointing wardens and settling waqfs on it ¹.

Depth

At a glance

Era: The Buyid, Fatimid and Seljuk Era
Region: Levant & Iraq
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In time

The Buyid, Fatimid and Seljuk Era

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Map: Natural Earth, public domain · places and route from the graph

Summary

In Muharram 386 AH the people of Basra reported that they had uncovered an old grave and found in it a fresh body, in its clothes and with its sword. It was said that this was al-Zubayr ibn al-ʿAwwam. ¹

The scene

The body was taken out, shrouded and buried at al-Mirbad, between the two lanes. The amir built a structure over it and made the site a mosque; lamps, equipment, mats and pillars were moved there, keepers and custodians were installed, and endowments (awqaf) were made for it. ¹

Connections

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Occurred at: Basra

People and things also explored

Great Mosque of Basra· Qasr Qubadh / the Hajjaj palace at Basra· The Asawira's Settlement at Basra· The Banu Amir sack of Basra (588 AH)· The Basra Bathhouse Permissions· The Basrans' Cry to Abdallah ibn Ali· Battle of Basra· Battle of Basra (871)

Sources

al-Muntazam fi Tarikh al-Muluk wa'l-Umam — Ibn al-Jawzi , j.7 p.185

Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “The discovery of al-Zubayr's grave at Basra, 386”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/event/zubayr-tomb-basra-386/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-29.

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Great Mosque of Basra

Basra's congregational mosque; Utba ibn Ghazwan built it of reeds in 14 AH — its layout claimed for himself, Nafi' ibn al-Adhra' al-Bahzi, Nafi' ibn al-Harith, and al-Aswad ibn Sari' who first judged in it — Abu Musa rebuilt it in mud-brick with mushab roofing, then Ziyad enlarged and rebuilt it in fired brick and gypsum with teak roofing, a stone minaret, the first maqsura, and columns hauled from Ahwaz's mountain by al-Hajjaj ibn Utayk and his son; he had pebbles strewn lest hand-dusting pass for sunnah, and the enforcers' harshness bred the saying 'lovely the governorship, even over stones'. Al-Mahdi bought the houses of Nafi' ibn al-Harith, Ubaydallah ibn Abi Bakra and Rabi'a ibn Kallada into it, and the governor's palace was taken in under al-Rashid.