Ahmad ibn Isa ibn Zayd

After the death of Ahmad 's father, a person named Sabbah Za'farani, took Ahmad and his brother Zayd to one of the Abbasid caliphs named Al-Mahdi in Baghdad. Al-Mahdi took them under his tutelage.[20] They both grew up in the government apparatus until Muhammad Amin was killed and the caliphate was disrupted in Baghdad. Zayd had already died of an illness, and Ahmad took the opportunity to flee.[21][22]

According to another narration, the person who took Ahmad and his brother Zayd to Al-Mahdi was called Ibn Alaq Seirafi, and Ahmad and Zayd went to Medina with the permission of Al-Mahdi, and Zayd died there, and Ahmad was there for a while. It was not until the early caliphate of Harun al-Rashid (the fifth Abbasid Caliph) that the caliph was informed that a group of Zaydis had gathered around Ahmad, so he ordered that Ahmad be arrested and imprisoned.[23][24][25]

According to Ya'qubi, Harun al-Rashid imprisoned Ahmad in Rafaqa (a palace in Raqqa Governorate) in 804 AD (188 AH). After a while, Ahmad fled to Basra and corresponded with the Shiites and invited them to himself. Harun al-Rashid sent for him, but could not arrest him. Harun al-Rashid imprisoned Ahmad's agent, who his name was Hazer. Hazer swore not to show Ahmad's hideout, so he was crucified on Harun al-Rashid's order.[26]

Elsewhere it is stated that Harun al-Rashid summoned Ahmad and Qasim ibn Ali ibn Umar ibn Ali ibn Husayn from Hejaz. And imprisoned them under the supervision of Al-Fadl ibn al-Rabi. After a while, they both escaped with the help of a group of Zaydis.[27][28]

Ahmad hid for a while in the house of a person named Muhammad ibn Ibrahim in Baghdad, and when Harun al-Rashid found out about him, Ahmad went to Basra and Harun al-Rashid could not capture him.[27]

Abu al-Faraj al-Isfahani narrated the story of Hazer but said that Hazer was killed not in the time of Harun al-Rashid but in the time of the Al-Mahdi because he did not show the hideout of Isa Mu'tam al-Ashbal, father of Ahmad.[29][30][31]

However, Abu al-Faraj al-Isfahani mentioned a narration that indicates the connection between Ahmad and Hazer in Basra and the surrounding areas of Ahvaz. It is narrated that Harun al-Rashid ordered to capture them and taken to him.[32] Al-Dhahabi[33] quoted Al-Mada'ini as saying that Harun al-Rashid was informed in 801 AD (185 AH) that Ahmad began an uprising in Ibadan.[34]

Al-Qadi al-Nu'man has elaborated on the narration of Ahmad's departure in Ibadan, a narration that contradicts what has been said about Ahmad before. He narrated that in 801 AD (185 AH), Harun al-Rashid ordered the arrest of Ahmad, who was launching an uprising against the caliph in Ibadan, and at that time Ahmad was active in Basra and the surrounding areas of Ahvaz along with the son of Idris ibn Abd Allah al-Mahad. Harun al-Rashid's envoy, named Abu al-Saj, cunningly captured Ahmad and Idris' son, but the two fled and hid in Basra,[35][36][37][38] after which they went to Kufa.[39]

According to Al-Qadi al-Nu'man, Ahmad returned to Basra and lived there in hiding until his death.[39][40]

In a narration mentioned by Mahali, when Ahmad ibn Isa fled to Basra, Muhammad ibn Zakariya al-Ghallabi heard from him that when Harun al-Rashid was pursuing for the Alawites, Al-Qasim al-Rassi fled to Yemen, Abd Allah ibn Musa ibn Abd Allah ibn Hasan ibn Hasan fled to Levant and Ahmad himself fled to Ray. After the death of Harun al-Rashid (809 AD, 193 AH), these three persons came together during the Hajj pilgrimage and each of them told their own story. At this time, Ahmad explained that he had been living secretly for many years in the area of Varzanin in the Ray County, changing his name to Abu Hafas Jassaas and marrying a woman. Ahmad's son, Muhammad, also married a woman from Banu Abd al-Qays tribe there and had a child named Ali.[41][42][43][44]

In 834 AD (219 AH), Ahmad ibn Isa ibn Zayd pledged allegiance to Al-Qasim al-Rassi at the house of Muhammad ibn Mansur al-Muradi[10] in Kufa. These two narrations, which have been reported by Zaydi sources, can remove some of the ambiguity in other narrations about Ahmad's life during the years of concealment. Based on these, it can be said that Ahmad spent a long time in Ray and other areas during the years when he was thought to be hiding in Basra.[41]

Ahmad ibn Isa ibn Zayd, who spent most of his life on the run, became blind in the last years of his life, and Al-Mutawakkil (tenth Abbasid caliph), who was pursuing him, found him in his son-in-law's house in Kufa, and when he saw Ahmad blind, left him alone.[11][45] Abu al-Faraj al-Isfahani has written Al-Mutawakkil's motivation in pursuing Ahmad ibn Isa ibn Zayd, was Zaydiyyah's support for him and the possibility of helping him in the event of Ahmad 's uprising.[46]

• Husayn ibn Alwan
• Muhammad ibn Bakr Arhabi

• Ali ibn Ahmad ibn Isa
• Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Isa
• Muhammad ibn Mansur al-Muradi,[10] the great Zaydi scholar of Kufa[47][55][56]

The hadiths that transferred by Ahmad, have been narrated by Al-Hadi ila'l-Haqq Yahya in the books "Al-Nikah" (النکاح) and "Al-Amali" (الامالی), as well as by the five elders of Zaydiyyah, namely Muhammad ibn Mansur al-Muradi,[10] Abu al-Hasan Haruni, Abu Talib Haruni, Al-Muwaffaq Billah Jorjani and his son Murshid Billah[57] in their writings.[13]

Ahmad believed that Abu Bakr and Umar were righteous.[58] He believed that Imamate is also permissible for non-descendants of Ali ibn Abi Talib, provided they have justice.[13]