Al-Zubayr ibn al-Awwam in the context of Battle of Zhu Qissa

Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr ibn al-Awwam (May 624 – October/November 692) was the leader of a caliphate based in Mecca in opposition to the Umayyads during the Second Fitna from 683 until his death in 692.

The son of al-Zubayr ibn al-Awwam and Asma bint Abi Bakr, and grandson of the first Rashidun caliph Abu Bakr, Ibn al-Zubayr belonged to the Quraysh, the leading tribe of the nascent Muslim community, and was the first child born to the Muhajirun, Islam's earliest converts. As a youth, he participated in the early Muslim conquests alongside his father in Syria and Egypt, and later played a role in the Muslim conquests of North Africa and northern Iran in 647 and 650, respectively. During the First Fitna, he fought on the side of his aunt Aisha against the fourth Rashidun caliph Ali (r. 656–661). Though little is heard of Ibn al-Zubayr during the subsequent reign of the first Umayyad caliph Mu'awiya I (r. 661–680), it was known that he opposed the latter's designation of his son, Yazid I, as his successor. Ibn al-Zubayr, along with many of the Quraysh and the Ansar of Medina, the leading Muslim groups of the Hejaz (western Arabia), opposed the caliphate becoming an inheritable institution of the Umayyad dynasty.

Urwa ibn al-Zubayr ibn al-Awwam al-Asadi (Arabic: عُرْوَة بْن الزُّبَيْر بْن الْعَوَّام الأَسَدِيّ, romanized: ʿUrwa ibn al-Zubayr ibn al-ʿAwwām al-ʾAsadī; c. 644–713) was an early Muslim traditionist, widely regarded as a founding figure in the field of historical study among the Muslims. He was a son of Muhammad's close aide al-Zubayr ibn al-Awwam, and a nephew of his wife A'isha. He spent much of his life in Medina, witnessed the First Fitna (656–661) as a youth, and supported his elder brother Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr in his failed attempt to establish his caliphate in the Second Fitna (680–692). After Abd Allah's elimination by his Syria-based Umayyad rivals, Urwa reconciled with the Umayyads, whom he paid occasional visits and maintained a literary correspondence with.

Urwa's relations with important early Islamic figures gave him access to first-hand accounts on the early Islamic period, which he collected from his father, his aunt, and a number of companions of Muhammad, passing these on to his students, above all Ibn Shihab al-Zuhri and his son Hisham. A large number of these traditions are reported in the hadith and historical literature. Some of his literary correspondences with the Umayyad caliphs Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan (r. 685–705) and al-Walid I (r. 705–715) have also been reported in historical works. Combined, they cover almost all important events of Muhammad's prophetic career as well as early caliphate, and are central to the historical study of Muhammad. Modern Western Historians have debated the authenticity of the Urwa corpus of traditions. Some hold that most of the traditions reported on his authority did indeed originate with him and the core of the information contained therein is genuine, although they have been modified and colored by later transmitters to some extent. On the other hand, some hold that much of the corpus is later, retrospective attribution to Urwa.

Mu'sab ibn al-Zubayr ibn al-Awwam al-Asadi (Arabic: مُصْعَبِ ٱبْن الزُّبَيْرِ ٱبْن الْعَوَّامِ الأَسَدِيّ, romanized: Muṣʿab ibn al-Zubayr ibn al-ʿAwwām al-ʾAsadī; died October 691) was the governor of Basra in 686–691 for his brother, the Mecca-based counter-caliph Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr, during the Second Fitna. Mus'ab was a son of al-Zubayr ibn al-Awwam, a prominent companion of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Before becoming governor, he led an unsuccessful campaign against Umayyad-held Palestine. He defeated and killed the pro-Alid revolutionary Mukhtar al-Thaqafi after a series of battles in 687, gaining control over all of Iraq. Complaints from the Iraqis caused his removal from office by his brother, but he was restored shortly after. He was killed by Umayyad forces led by the caliph Abd al-Malik in the Battle of Maskin four years later.