It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) that he was asked: Which of the two sons of al-Zubayr (Abdullah and Mus'ab) was braver? He said: Each of them was brave; both of them advanced towards death while seeing it with their own eyes.

Muhammad bin Umar (al-Waqidi) said that al-Muhallab was asked about the brave men, and he said: Ibn al-Kalbiyyah (meaning Mus'ab bin al-Zubayr), a man from Banu Tamim (meaning Umar bin Ubaydullah bin Ma'mar) and Abbad bin Husayn al-Habati. It was said to him: How did you forget Abdullah bin al-Zubayr and Abdullah bin Khazim? He replied: We were only speaking of humans; we were not speaking of the jinn (meaning their bravery was beyond human limits).

Muhammad bin Umar (al-Waqidi) said that Sayyiduna Abdullah bin al-Zubayr (may Allah be pleased with them both) was martyred on Tuesday, 19 Jumada al-Ula, 73 AH. He charged at the people of Syria and was struck by a brick which hit him in the face, so he trembled, bled and fell. When al-Hajjaj was informed of his martyrdom he prostrated; then he and Tariq bin Amr came and stood over him, and Tariq said: Women have never given birth to a braver man than this one.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin al-Zubayr (may Allah be pleased with them both) that he said: On the day of the Battle of the Trench, Umar bin Abi Salamah and I were on a fortress. He would bend down for me and I would watch the fighting, and I would bend down for him and he would watch the fighting. I saw my father (Sayyiduna al-Zubayr) in the salty ground, charging at these people one time and at those another time. When he returned I said: Father! I saw you (fighting). He asked: My son, did you really see me? I said: Yes. He said: Today the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) gathered his parents for me (that is, he said: May my father and mother be ransomed for you). This hadith is sahih (authentic) on the condition of the two Shaykhs (Bukhari and Muslim).

Hisham bin Urwah narrates from his father that when Sayyiduna Abdullah bin al-Zubayr (may Allah be pleased with them both) was martyred, he said: I heard Abdullah bin al-Zubayr saying: "Whoever denies trials, let him do so; I do not deny them. It has reached me that Sayyiduna Yahya bin Zakariyya (peace be upon him) was killed on account of an adulterous woman who was a slave girl." This hadith is sahih (authentic) on the condition of the two Shaykhs (Bukhari and Muslim), and some of the Egyptians have narrated it from Yahya bin Ayyub as a musnad (connected) report.

Hisham bin Urwah narrates from his father that Sayyiduna Abdullah bin al-Zubayr (may Allah be pleased with them both) said to Abdullah bin Ja'far (may Allah be pleased with him): Do you remember the day when the two of us went out to receive the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and he (peace and blessings be upon him) mounted me on his riding animal and left you? This is a hadith of Hisham bin Urwah which the two Shaykhs did not record.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin al-Zubayr (may Allah be pleased with them both) that he said: I wished that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) had granted me the office of giving the call to prayer (adhan). He was asked: Why is that? He said: Because the callers to prayer will be the people with the longest necks (the most distinguished) on the Day of Resurrection. This hadith has a sahih (authentic) chain of narration, but the two Shaykhs did not record it. (Imam al-Hakim says:) What I have mentioned, in the account of the martyrdom of Abdullah bin al-Zubayr, of the audacity of al-Hajjaj bin Yusuf against Allah and His Messenger, his desecration of the two Sanctuaries, and his contemptuous conduct towards the household of al-Siddiq (Abu Bakr) (may Allah be pleased with him) is enough for a person of sense to know his reality. Now consider the statements of the Companions and the Successors about al-Hajjaj, and their testimonies to his corrupt creed, which they gave after the killing of Abdullah bin Umar, Abdullah bin al-Zubayr and Sa'id bin Jubayr.