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186-522: The Fatimid dynasty emerged as the leaders of the clandestine early Isma'ili missionary movement ( da'wa ) in the ninth century CE, ostensibly acting on behalf of a hidden imam, implied at the time to be Muhammad ibn Isma'il . The Isma'ili da'wa spread widely across the Islamic world, then ruled by the Abbasid Caliphate . In 899, the future first Fatimid caliph, Abdallah , proclaimed himself to be

372-513: A Christian envoy from Najran (now in northern Yemen ) came to Muhammad to argue which of the two parties erred in its doctrine concerning Jesus . After likening Jesus' miraculous birth to Adam 's creation —who was born to neither a mother nor a father— and when the Christians did not accept the Islamic doctrine about Jesus, Muhammad reportedly received a revelation instructing him to call them to Mubahala, where each party should ask God to destroy

558-431: A full marriage , but had slave concubines, who could rise to the high status of an umm walad upon the birth of a son. Several caliphal daughters are not even known by name, and for those that are, it is likely that they never married at all as a matter of policy, even though they are often mentioned only by their teknonyms . Although politically inactive, the members of the dynasty enjoyed immense riches, founded on

744-469: A desert plain 70 kilometers (43 mi) north of Kufa, and set up camp. On the following day, a 4,000-strong Kufan army arrived under the command of Umar ibn Sa'd . He had been appointed governor of Rayy to suppress a local rebellion, but then recalled to confront Husayn. Initially, he was unwilling to fight Husayn, but complied following Ibn Ziyad's threat to revoke his governorship. After negotiations with Husayn, Ibn Sa'd wrote to Ibn Ziyad that Husayn

930-404: A desolate place without fortifications or water. One of Husayn's companions suggested that they attack Hurr and move to the fortified village of al-Aqr. Husayn refused, stating that he did not want to start the hostilities. According to Valiri, Hurr ordered his army to take Husayn and his companions to Ibn Ziyad without fighting and intended to persuade Husayn to do so. But when he saw that Husayn

1116-471: A distinct religious sect. Heinz Halm writes: "There was no religious aspect to Shi'ism prior to 680. The death of the third imam and his followers marked the 'big bang' that created the rapidly expanding cosmos of Shi'ism and brought it into motion." A few prominent Alid supporters in Kufa felt guilty for abandoning Husayn after having invited him to revolt. To atone for what they perceived as their sin, they began

1302-621: A ditch was dug behind the tents and filled with wood ready to be set alight in case of attack. Husayn and his followers then spent the rest of the night praying. After the morning prayer on 10 October, both parties took up battle positions. Husayn appointed Zuhayr ibn Qayn to command the right flank of his army, Habib ibn Muzahir to command the left flank, and his half-brother Abbas as the standard bearer. Husayn's companions, according to most accounts, numbered thirty-two horsemen and forty infantrymen. Ibn Sa'd's army totaled 4,000. The ditch containing wood were set alight. Husayn then delivered

1488-446: A dream to move forward irrespective of the consequences. Further on the way, he received the news of the execution of Ibn Aqil and the indifference of the people of Kufa. He informed his followers of the situation and asked them to leave. Most of the people who had joined him on the way left, while his companions from Mecca decided to stay with him. On the way, Husayn encountered various people. In response to Husayn's question about

1674-545: A hundred years after Muhammad's death, in the wake of 'Abbasid propaganda against the then ruling Umayyad clan in the 720s. However, the 'Abbasid daʿwah ceased as soon as the 'Abbasids were in power—a fact that attests to its political nature. Daʿwah as a truly missionary activity, albeit still within the Muslim Ummah , appeared in the form of the Isma'ili daʿwah of the 9th through 13th centuries. Isma'ilis, in many ways, can be seen as

1860-428: A letter to Hur in which Ibn Ziad had ordered him to not to stop in a place where Husayn can have easy access to water. With this letter, Obaidullah wanted to force Husayn to fight. Zuhair ibn Qayn suggested to Husayn to attack the small army of Hur and capture the fortified village of Akr. But Husayn did not accept; Because he did not want to start a war. On 2 October 680 (2 Muharram 61 AH), Husayn arrived at Karbala ,

2046-738: A movement known as Tawwabin uprising , under Sulayman ibn Surad , a companion of Muhammad, to fight the Umayyads, and attracted large-scale support. The armies met in January 685 at Battle of Ayn al-Warda ; which resulted killing most of them including Ibn Surad. The defeat of the Tawwabin left the leadership of the Kufan pro-Alids in the hand of Mukhtar al-Thaqafi . In October 685, Mukhtar and his supporters seized Kufa. His control extended to most of Iraq and parts of northwestern Iran. Mukhtar executed Kufans involved in

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2232-692: A part of their political theory (through relating daʿwah to jihad) and life (using the concept of daʿwah in their political agendas). Taken in general, the intertwining of daʿwah and politics, then, has been a feature throughout the Muslim history, though practical implications of this have been different in different ages. A classical example of diversion in daʿwah can be seen in the case of Yusuf in prison when two prisoners asked him to interpret their dreams. One of them said: "I saw myself pressing wine." The other said: "I saw myself carrying bread on my head and birds were eating from it." They asked: "Inform us of

2418-601: A pious fiction. States People Centers Other Both the Twelvers and the Seveners held that their final imams were not dead, but had simply gone into concealment, and that they would soon return as a messiah, the mahdi ('the Rightly Guided One') or qa'im ('He Who Arises'), to usher in the end times . The mahdi would rapidly overthrow the usurping Abbasids and destroy their capital Baghdad , restore

2604-593: A problem complicated by the Isma'ili claims that the hidden imams assumed various aliases for safety. Thus the pro-Isma'ili Prince Peter Hagop Mamour, in his 1934 apologetic work Polemics on the Origin of the Fatimi Caliphs , lists no fewer than fifty variations of the line of the four hidden imams between Isma'il ibn Ja'far and al-Mahdi, claiming that the various names represent pseudonyms. Early Isma'ili sources tend to be silent on

2790-404: A religious worker or in a volunteer community effort, is called a dāʿī ( داعي , plural duʿāh دعاة [dʊˈʕæː] ). A dāʿī , is a person who invites people to understand and accept Islam through dialogue and other techniques, who may be regarded as a missionary inviting people to the faith, prayer, and manner of Islamic life. The term daʿwah has other senses in

2976-498: A renewed Fatimid attempt to conquer Syria. At the same time, around 970/71, the two holy cities of Mecca and Medina , recognized Fatimid suzerainty, an important symbolic victory for the Fatimids. In 978, Caliph al-Aziz ( r.  975–996 ) captured Damascus, but Fatimid power in Syria continued to be challenged, whether by powerful generals or by the restive Bedouin of Palestine under

3162-624: A result, many sources into the 20th century referred to the Fatimids by the derogatory name Ubaydids. Fatimid expansion into the Levant, and the ideological challenge that the ascendancy of Shi'a regimes represented, resulted in the Sunnis rallying around the Abbasid Caliphate in response, triggering the Sunni revival of the 11th century. Faced with internal turmoil, and the arrival of the Seljuk Turks and then

3348-662: A series of hereditary governors, the Kalbid dynasty , governed Sicily on the Fatimids' behalf. The Fatimids also expanded west to the rest of the Maghreb, where Fez and Sijilmasa were captured in 920–921, although these conquests were difficult to hold, and brought the Fatimids into conflict with the Umayyads of Cordoba. In an attempt to supplant the Abbasids, al-Mahdi's son and heir, al-Qa'im bi-Amr Allah, led campaigns eastward to capture Egypt in 914 and 919 . Both endeavours failed, leaving only

3534-478: A speech to his opponents reminding them of his status as Muhammad's grandson and reproaching them for inviting and then abandoning him. He asked to be allowed to leave. He was told that first he had to submit to Yazid's authority, which he refused to do. Husayn's speech moved Hurr to defect to his side. After Husayn's speech, Zuhayr ibn Qayn attempted to dissuade Ibn Sa'd's soldiers from killing Husayn, but in vain. Ibn Sa'd's army fired several volleys of arrows. This

3720-504: A successor was in violation of Hasan's peace treaty with Mu'awiya. Before his death in April 680, Mu'awiya cautioned Yazid that Husayn and Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr might challenge his rule and instructed him to defeat them if they did. Yazid was further advised to treat Husayn with caution and not to spill his blood, since he was the grandson of Muhammad. Immediately after Mu'awiya's death on 15th of Rajab 60 AH (22 April 680 AD), Yazid charged

3906-701: A tendency to exonerate Yazid at the cost of Ibn Ziyad and lower authorities. The primary source of the Karbala narrative is the work of the Kufan historian Abu Mikhnaf titled Kitab Maqtal Al-Husayn . Abu Mikhnaf's was an adult some twenty years after the Battle of Karbala. As such he knew many eyewitnesses and collected firsthand accounts and some with very short chains of transmitters, usually one or two intermediaries. The eyewitnesses were of two kinds: those from Husayn's side; and those from Ibn Sa'd's army. Since few people from Husayn's camp survived, most eyewitnesses were from

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4092-499: Is a duplication of the report regarding Ibn Ziyad. No one was compassionate towards the women and Ali al-Sajjad, One of his courtiers asked for the hand of a captive woman from Husayn's family in marriage, which resulted in heated altercation between Yazid and Zaynab. The women of Yazid's household joined the captive women in their lamentation for the dead. After a few years, the women were compensated for their belongings looted in Karbala and were sent back to Medina. The killing of

4278-413: Is also narrated that Muhammad took Ali, Fatima, Hasan and Husayn under his cloak and called them ahl al-bayt and stated that they are free from any sin and pollution. Muhammad reported the Karbala incident on several occasions; For example, he gave a small bottle of soil to Umm Salama and told her that the soil inside the bottle would turn into blood after Husayn was killed. In the year 10 AH (631–632)

4464-441: Is considered by Shi'as to be a source of salvation in the afterlife, and is undertaken as a remembrance of his suffering. After the death of Husayn, when his family was being taken to Ibn Ziyad, Husayn's sister Zaynab is reported to have cried out after seeing his headless body: "O Muhammad!... Here is Husayn in the open, stained with blood and with limbs torn off. O Muhammad! Your daughters are prisoners, your progeny are killed, and

4650-404: Is little or no independent confirmation", as even Isma'il ibn Ja'far is an obscure figure, let alone his supposed hidden successors. While pro-Fatimid sources emphasize their Alid descent—the dynasty named itself simply as the 'Alid dynasty' ( al-dawla al-alawiyya )—many Sunni sources instead refer to them as the 'Ubaydids' ( Arabic : بنو عبيد , romanized :  Banu Ubayd ), after

4836-574: Is said to have killed many of his attackers. The Umayyad forces however were still unwilling to kill him and each of them wanted to leave this to somebody else. Eventually Shemr shouted: "Shame on you! Why are you waiting for the man? Kill him, may your mothers be deprived of you!" The Umayyad soldiers then rushed Husayn and wounded him on his hand and shoulder. He fell on the ground face-down and an attacker named Sinan ibn Anas stabbed and beheaded him. Seventy or seventy-two people died on Husayn's side, of whom about twenty were descendants of Abu Talib ,

5022-401: Is the proselytism for Islam . The plural is daʿwāt ( دَعْوات ) or daʿawāt ( دَعَوات ). Daʿwah [ˈdæʕwæh] literally means "issuing a summons" or "making an invitation". Grammatically, the word represents a gerund of a verb with the triconsonantal root d-ʕ-w ( د-ع-و ) meaning variously "to summon" or "to invite". A Muslim who practices daʿwah , either as

5208-405: Is to correct the corruptions that have occurred in the nation of my ancestors. I want to command the good and forbid the bad, and follow the tradition of my grandfather and the way of my father Ali ibn Abi Talib. So, whoever accepts this truth (and follows me) has accepted the way of God and whoever rejects (and does not follow me) I will walk (my way) with patience and perseverance so that God may be

5394-594: Is unlikely to have considered submitting to Yazid. A mawla of Husayn's wife later claimed that Husayn had suggested that he be allowed to leave, so that all parties could allow the fluid political situation to clarify. Ibn Sa'd sent the proposal, whatever it was, to Ibn Ziyad, who is reported to have accepted but then persuaded otherwise by Shemr ibn Ziljawshan . Shemr argued that Husayn was in his domain and letting him go would be to demonstrate weakness. Ibn Ziyad then sent Shemr with orders to ask Husayn for his allegiance once more and to attack, kill and disfigure him if he

5580-451: The mahdi . In this chaotic atmosphere, and with the Abbasids preoccupied with suppressing the Zanj uprising, the Isma'ili da'wa spread rapidly, aided by dissatisfaction among Twelver adherents with the political quietism of their leadership and the recent disappearance of their twelfth imam. Missionaries ( da'i s) like Hamdan Qarmat and his brother-in-law Abu Muhammad Abdan spread

5766-469: The History of Prophets and Kings by al-Tabari ; and Ansab al-Ashraf by Baladhuri . Tabari quotes either directly from Abu Mikhnaf or from his student Ibn al-Kalbi, who took most of his material from Abu Mikhnaf. Tabari occasionally takes material from Ammar ibn Mu'awiya, Awana and other primary sources, which, however, adds little to the narrative. Baladhuri uses same sources as Tabari. Information on

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5952-524: The Ahl al-Bayt . He is also considered to be a member of the Ahl al-Kisa , and a participant in the event of the mubahala . Muhammad described him and his brother, Hasan, as the leaders of the youth of Paradise . During the caliphate of Ali, Husayn accompanied him in wars. After the assassination of Ali , he obeyed his brother in recognizing the Hasan–Mu'awiya treaty , despite it being suggested to do otherwise. In

6138-625: The Banu Hashim clan of the Quraysh tribe. Both Hasan and Husayn were named by Muhammad, although Ali had other names such as "Harb" in mind. To celebrate Husayn's birth, Muhammad sacrificed a ram, and Fatima shaved his head and donated the same weight of his hair in silver as alms. According to Islamic traditions, Husayn is mentioned in the Torah as "Shubayr" and in the Gospels as "Tab". Aaron, Moses' brother, gave

6324-522: The Crusades , Fatimid power began to decline in the later 11th century. the dynasty was saved by passing power to powerful military viziers , but this also meant that the imam–caliphs often were mere puppet rulers. The initial dynamism of the da'wa was diminished by bitter succession disputes, which resulted in large parts of the Isma'ili community, such as the Druze , Nizaris , and Tayyibis , breaking off from

6510-627: The Cyrenaica in Fatimid hands. Between 916 and 921, al-Mahdi built a new residence, the fortified palace city of Mahdiyya , on a rocky promontory on the Ifriqiyan coast. When Al-Mahdi died in 934, he was succeeded by his son, al-Qa'im ( r.  934–946 ), who continued his father's policies. Another attempted invasion of Egypt in 935 was defeated by the country's new strongman ruler, Muhammad ibn Tughj al-Ikhshid . The most notable event of al-Qa'im's reign

6696-517: The Fall of Rometta in 965, as well as the reconquest of the western Maghreb by the Fatimid general Jawhar in 958–960, temporarily expelling Umayyad influence from the region and extending Fatimid rule to the shores of the Atlantic Ocean. After these successes, al-Mu'izz once again turned to the abandoned project of the conquest of Egypt. Meticulous military and political preparations were undertaken, and

6882-529: The Hasan–Mu'awiya treaty . When Mu'awiya died in 680, Yazid demanded that Husayn pledge allegiance to him. Husayn refused to do so. As a consequence, he left Medina , his hometown, to take refuge in Mecca in AH 60 (679 CE). There, the people of Kufa sent letters to him, invited him to Kufa and asked him to be their Imam and pledged their allegiance to him. On Husayn's way to Kufa with a retinue of about 72 men, his caravan

7068-661: The Jarrahids . Al-Aziz's attempts to capture the Hamdanid emirate of Aleppo brought the Fatimids into conflict with the Byzantines, who considered the city their protectorate. Attempts to take Aleppo failed in 983, 992/3 and 994/5, and effective Fatimid power reached little past Tripoli in the north. In 987, the Fatimid suzerainty was recognized by the Ya'furids in Yemen, but Fatimid attempts to induce

7254-543: The Qur'an . In sura (chapter) 30:25, for example, it denotes the call to the dead to rise on the Day of Judgment . When used in the Qur'an, it generally refers to Allah's invitation to live according to His will. Thus, when used in the first centuries of Islam, it usually referred to that message and was sometimes used interchangeably with sharī‘a and dīn . Daʿwah is also described as

7440-399: The verse of purification , the ahl al-bayt has been praised. According to Madelung, there are numerous narrations showing Muhammad's love for Hasan and Husayn, such as carrying them on his shoulders, or putting them on his chest and kissing them on the belly. Madelung believes that some of these reports may imply a little preference of Muhammad for Hasan over Husayn, or pointing out that Hasan

7626-757: The Banu Amir tribe, but the Muslims were again killed in revenge for the assassination of Khalid bin Sufyan by Muhammad's followers. 70 Muslims were killed during this expedition. During the Expedition of Khalid ibn al-Walid (Banu Jadhimah) in January 630, Muhammad sent Khalid ibn Walid to invite the Banu Jadhimah tribe to Islam. This is mentioned in the Sunni Hadith Sahih al-Bukhari , 5:59:628 . Mus'ab ibn 'Umair

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7812-562: The Caliphate of Ali, Husayn, along with his brothers Hasan and Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyya , and his cousin, Abdullah ibn Ja'far were among closest allies of Ali. He remained alongside him, accompanying him in the battlefields. According to a report by Tabari , Husayn was among Ali's major supporters who were cursed in public by the order of Mu'awiya . After the assassination of Ali people gave allegiance to Hasan. Mu'awiya who did not want go give allegiance to him, prepared to fight. To avoid

7998-461: The Fatimid allegiance, and tarnished the prestige and authority of the dynasty. The last of the Fatimid imam–caliphs were powerless child rulers that were pawns in the hands of their viziers. The last of these viziers, Saladin , deposed the dynasty in 1171, after the death of Caliph al-Adid . The remaining members of the dynasty and their offspring were placed under house arrest in Cairo until their deaths;

8184-499: The Fatimid court to a new palace city, al-Mansuriyya near Kairouan , but died soon after, and was succeeded by his son, al-Mu'izz li-Din Allah ( r.  953–975 ). Al-Mu'izz was an excellent planner and organizer, and the state he inherited had regained internal stability, after the turmoils of Abu Yazid's revolt. His early reign saw successes against the Byzantines, where the last remaining Byzantine strongholds were extinguished with

8370-669: The Fatimid imam–caliphs extended their rule over most of the Maghreb as well as Sicily , before conquering Egypt in 969. Founding Cairo as their new capital, for the next two centuries, the Fatimids would be based in Egypt and identified with the country. At their height, the Fatimids claimed control or suzerainty over much of North Africa, Sicily, Egypt, the Levant , the Hejaz , Yemen, and Multan . The Fatimids' claimed pedigree of descent from Fatima and Ali

8556-569: The Fatimids' ambitions were not limited to Ifriqiya. The Fatimid caliphs aimed to overthrow not only the rival Muslim monarchs—the Abbasids of Baghdad and the Umayyads of Cordoba —but also the Byzantine Empire , claiming a divine right to universal sovereignty. Fatimid power quickly expanded across the sea to Sicily , which had been conquered by the Aghlabids from the Byzantines, but Fatimid rule

8742-481: The Kufis had left both his father Ali and his brother Hasan alone, and suggested that Husayn go to Yemen instead of Kufa, or at least not take women and children with him if he were to go to Iraq. Husayn insisted on his decision and wrote about his motives and goals in a famous letter or will that he gave to Muhammad ibn al Hanafiyyah "I did not go out for fun and selfishness and for corruption and oppression; Rather, my goal

8928-452: The Qur'an preaches monotheism . Muhammad saw Islam as the true religion and mission of all earlier prophets. He believed that their call had been limited to their own people but that his was universal. His mission as the final prophet was to repeat to the whole world this call and invitation ( daʿwah ) to Islam. Muhammad wrote to various non-Muslim rulers, inviting them to convert. The importance of daʿwah has been emphasised many times in

9114-499: The Quran: Who is better in speech than one who calls to Allah, does righteous deeds and says indeed I am among the Muslims. You are the best nation raised up for humankind. You enjoin righteousness, forbid corruption and you believe in Allah . Let there arise among you a group inviting to all that is good, enjoining righteousness and forbidding evil. Those are the successful ones. Call to

9300-666: The Sunni narrations quoted by al-Tabari do not name the participants. Other Sunni historians mention Muhammad, Fatima, Hasan and Husayn as having participated in the Mubahala, and some agree with the Shia tradition that Ali was among them. The verse "God wishes only to remove taint from you, people of the Household, and to make you utterly pure" is also attributed to this event, during which Ali, Fatima, Hasan and Husayn stood under Muhammad's cloak. Thus

9486-528: The Umayyad rule, which they considered to be oppressive, and that they had no rightful leader. They asked him to lead them in revolt against Yazid, promising to remove the Umayyad governor if Husayn would consent to aid them. Husayn wrote back affirmatively that a rightful leader is the one who acts according to the Qur'an and promised to lead them with the right guidance. Then he sent his cousin Muslim ibn Aqil to assess

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9672-717: The agents of the Isma'ili da'wa engaged to promote the Fatimid cause in Egypt and suborn officials of the weakened Ikhshidid regime. As a result, when the Fatimid army under Jawhar arrived in Egypt in summer 969, it faced little organized resistance. Jawhar entered the Egyptian capital, Fustat , in July 969, and claimed the country for his master. Immediately he began establishing a new capital city near Fustat, which came to be known as al-Qahira al-Mu'izziyya ('the Victorious One of al-Mu'izz'), modern Cairo . Jawhar governed Egypt for

9858-466: The agonies of the civil war, Hasan signed a treaty with Mu'awiya , according to which Mu'awiya would not name a successor during his reign, and let the Islamic community ( ummah ) choose his successor. Madelung believes that Husayn did not recognize this treaty at first, but pressed by Hasan, accepted it. Later on when several Shia leaders suggested him to conduct a surprise attack on Mu'awiya's camp near Kufa, he refused, saying that as long as Mu'awiya

10044-498: The attention of the authorities, and he moved on to the small town of Salamiyah on the western edge of the Syrian Desert . There he settled as a merchant from Basra, and had two sons, Ahmad and Ibrahim. When Abdallah died c.  827/8 , Ahmad succeeded his father as the head of the Isma'ili movement, and was in turn succeeded by his younger son, Muhammad, known as Abu'l-Shalaghlagh. In later Fatimid doctrine, Abdallah al-Akbar

10230-440: The battle found in the works of Dinawari and Ya'qubi is also based on Abu Mikhnaf's Maqtal , although they occasionally provide some extra notes and verses. Other secondary sources include al-Mas'udi 's Muruj al-Dhahab , Ibn Ath'am 's Kitab al-Futuh , Shaykh al-Mufid's Kitab al-Irshad , and Abu al-Faraj al-Isfahani 's Maqatil al-Talibiyyin . Most of these sources took material from Abu Mikhnaf, in addition to some from

10416-503: The battle of Karbala very briefly, stating that it lasted for no longer than a siesta , Lammens concludes that there was no battle at all but a quick massacre that was over in an hour; he suggests that the detailed accounts found in the primary sources are Iraqi fabrications, since their writers were dissatisfied with their hero being killed without putting up a fight. This is countered by the historian Laura Veccia Vaglieri , who argues that despite there being some fabricated accounts, all of

10602-462: The bitterness of breaking the allegiance of the people of Kufa with his father and brother, saying, "These people have submitted to the obedience of Satan and have left the obedience of God the Merciful." On the way, he refused to accept the offer to go to the tribe of Tayy by pointing to his pact with Hurr about not returning. Later, a messenger from Ibn Ziad came to Hur and, without greeting Husayn, gave

10788-650: The burial place of Imam Husayn's head; For example, with his father Ali in Najaf, outside Kufa but not with Ali, in Karbala with his whole body, in Baqiya, in an unknown place in Damascus , in Raqqa , Syria, and in a mosque Mohsen Al-Amin in Cairo . Shi'a Muslims consider pilgrimages to Husayn's tomb to be a source of divine blessings and rewards. According to Shi'a tradition the first such visit

10974-672: The city, secretly left the city with his companions and family. Fifty men from Husayn's relatives and friends – who could fight if needed – accompanied Husayn, including women and children. He took the northerly route through the Arabian Desert . On persuasion of Husayn's cousin Abd Allah ibn Ja'far , the governor of Mecca Amr ibn Sa'id sent his brother and Ibn Ja'far after Husayn in order to assure him safety in Mecca and bring him back. Husayn refused to return, relating that Muhammad had ordered him in

11160-408: The claimant of God: So speak to him, both of you, mildly in order that he may reflect or fear God. (Quran  20:44 ). Muhammad was reported by his wife, Aisha to have said "Whenever gentleness is in a thing, it beautifies it, and whenever it is withdrawn from something, it defaces." Muhammad was quoted by Jareer as saying,"One deprived of gentleness is deprived of all good." Muslims made it

11346-667: The community was split between the two factions, but in Bahrayn, the local da'i s split off from Salamiyah and established an independent Qarmatian state that lasted into the 1070s. On the other hand, Zakarawayh and his loyalists now began a series of anti-Abbasid uprisings in Iraq and Syria in 902–907, with the support of the Bedouin tribes. Calling themselves the Fatimiyyun , the uprisings enjoyed some ephemeral success, but were eventually suppressed by

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11532-718: The conclusion of peace with Byzantium in 1001, as well as the great tribal revolts of Abu Rukwa in Cyrenaica in 1005, and of Mufarrij ibn Daghfal in Palestine in 1012–13. In the north, the Uqaylids of Mosul briefly acknowledged Fatimid suzerainty in 1010, and in 1015, Aleppo did the same, with Fatimid troops entering the city and imposing direct control in 1017. Relations with the Zirids, who quickly had begun distancing themselves from Cairo's authority, became more strained under al-Hakim due to disputes over Cyrenaica and Tripoli , and in 1016/7,

11718-403: The contemporary accounts together form "a coherent and credible narrative". She criticizes Lammens' hypothesis as being based on a single isolated report and being devoid of critical analysis. Similarly, Madelung and Wellhausen assert that the battle lasted from sunrise to sunset and that the overall account of the battle is reliable. Vaglieri and Madelung explain the length of the battle despite

11904-408: The diminutive form Ubayd Allah for al-Mahdi's name, commonly used in Sunni sources with an apparently pejorative intent. Medieval anti-Fatimid polemicists, starting with Ibn Rizam and Akhu Muhsin , were keen to discredit Isma'ilism as an antinomian heresy and generally considered Fatimid claims to Alid descent fraudulent. Instead, they put forth a counter claim that al-Mahdi descended from Abdallah,

12090-399: The duty to "actively encourage fellow Muslims in the pursuance of greater piety in all aspects of their lives", a definition which has become central to contemporary Islamic thought . During the Expedition of Al Raji in 625, Muhammad sent some men as missionaries to various different tribes. Some men came to Muhammad and requested that Muhammad send instructors to teach them Islam, but

12276-491: The earlier Shi'a figure. Another suggestion, by Abbas Hamdani and F. de Blois, is that the officially published genealogies represent a compromise between two different lines of descent from Ja'far al-Sadiq, one from Isma'il and another (per al-Mahdi's letter to the Yemenis) from Abdallah al-Aftah. Other scholars, such as Halm, remain skeptical, while Omert Schrier and Michael Brett dismiss the Fatimid claims of Alid descent entirely as

12462-400: The early Isma'ili da'wa divided into two factions: those who accepted Abdallah's claims, and continued to follow him, and became the Isma'ilis proper, and those who rejected them and continued to believe in the return of Muhammad ibn Isma'il as mahdi , who became known as the Qarmatians (although anti-Fatimid sources also used the label for the Fatimids themselves). In Iraq and Persia,

12648-542: The east wind blows dust over them." Shi'a Muslims consider this to be the first instance of wailing and mourning over the death of Husayn. Husayn's son Ali al-Sajjad is reported to have spent the rest of his life weeping for his father. Similarly, Husayn's mother Fatima is believed to be weeping for him in paradise and the weeping of believers is considered to be a way of sharing her sorrows. Special gatherings ( majalis ; sing. majlis ) are arranged in places reserved for this purpose, called husayniyya . In these gatherings

12834-405: The existence of Maymun al-Qaddah, but later, Fatimid-era sources were forced to confront their opponents' claims about his person, and tried to reconcile the conflicting genealogies accordingly. Some sectarian Isma'ili—especially Druze —sources even claimed that during the period of concealment of the Isma'ili imams, the Isma'ili movement was actually led by the descendants of Maymun al-Qaddah, until

13020-416: The expected mahdi was not Muhammad ibn Isma'il, as commonly propagated, but Abdallah himself, and that Abdallah's ancestors, far from being simply the hujja s of the imams, were actually the imams themselves. In a letter to the Yemeni community, Abdallah claimed that 'Muhammad ibn Isma'il' was actually a cover name assumed by each incumbent imam, and denied any particular role of Muhammad ibn Isma'il as

13206-427: The expected mahdi who was to usher in the end times. These doctrinal innovations caused a major rift in the movement, as Hamdan denounced the leadership in Salamiyah, gathered the Iraqi da'i s and ordered them to cease the missionary effort. Shortly after this Hamdan "disappeared" from his headquarters, and Abdan was assassinated by Zakarawayh ibn Mihrawayh , who had remained loyal to Salamiyah. The schism left

13392-515: The expected imam, causing a rift in the Isma'ili da'wa as the Qarmatians , who did not recognize his imamate, split off. In the meantime, Isma'ili agents had managed to conquer large parts of Yemen and Ifriqiya , as well as launch uprisings in Syria and Iraq. Fleeing Abbasid persecution to Ifriqiya, Abdallah proclaimed himself openly and established the Fatimid Caliphate in 909. From there,

13578-504: The false party and their families: If anyone dispute with you in this matter [concerning Jesus] after the knowledge which has come to you, say: Come let us call our sons and your sons, our women and your women, ourselves and yourselves, then let us swear an oath and place the curse of God on those who lie.(Qur'an 3:61) In Shia perspective, in the verse of Mubahala , the phrase "our sons" would refer to Hasan and Husayn, "our women" refers to Fatima, and "ourselves" refers to Ali. Most of

13764-448: The father of Ali . This included two of Husayn's sons, six of his paternal brothers, three sons of Hasan ibn Ali, three sons of Jafar ibn Abi Talib and three sons and three grandsons of Aqil ibn Abi Talib. Following the battle, Husayn's clothes were stripped, and his sword, shoes and baggage were taken. The women's jewelry and cloaks were also seized. Shemr wanted to kill Husayn's only surviving son Ali al-Sajjad , who had not taken part in

13950-570: The fellow Shi'a rulers of Iraq, the Buyids , to recognize their suzerainty, failed; the Buyids rejected the Fatimids' claims of Alid descent. Al-Aziz's reign saw also a transformation in the structure and nature of the Fatimid state: the Kutama, who had been the main pillar of the early Fatimid regime, were now complemented by Turkish military slaves ( ghilman ) as well as Black African slave soldiers, while under

14136-538: The fighting because of illness, but was prevented by Ibn Sa'd. There are reports of more than sixty wounds on Husayn's body, which was then trampled with horses as previously instructed by Ibn Ziyad. The bodies of Husayn's companions were decapitated. There were eighty-eight dead in Ibn Sa'd's army, who were buried before he left. After his departure, members of the Banu Asad tribe, from the nearby village of Ghadiriya, buried

14322-469: The fighting so far, joined the battle. Husayn's son Ali Akbar was killed; then Husayn's half-brothers, including Abbas, and the sons of Aqil ibn Abi Talib , Jafar ibn Abi Talib and Hasan ibn Ali were slain. The account of Abbas' death is not given in the primary sources, al-Tabari and Baladhuri , but a prominent Shi'a theologian Shaykh Al-Mufid states in his account in Kitab al-Irshad that Abbas went to

14508-484: The first known ancestor of the Fatimid line, Abdallah al-Akbar , the great-grandfather of the first Fatimid caliph, initially claimed descent not from Ali at all, but from his brother Aqil ibn Abi Talib , and was accepted as such by the Aqilids of Basra. According to Brett, the line of descent claimed by the Fatimid between Ja'far al-Sadiq and al-Mahdi reflects "historical beliefs rather than historical figures, for which there

14694-414: The front only, Ibn Sa'd ordered the tents to be burned. All except the one which Husayn and his family were using were set on fire. Shemr wanted to burn that one too, but was prevented by his companions. The plan backfired and flames hindered the Umayyad advance for a while. After noon prayers, Husayn's companions were encircled, and almost all of them were killed. Husayn's relatives, who had not taken part in

14880-409: The governance of provinces or the command of armies as in other medieval states, which might result in an independent power base that could threaten the orderly father-to-son succession of the imamate and caliphate. The sole exception was the designated successor, such as al-Qa'im, al-Mansur and Abdallah ibn al-Mu'izz, and that only in the early decades of the dynasty; as the caliphs increasingly ascended

15066-440: The governor of Medina, Walid ibn Utba ibn Abu Sufyan , to secure allegiance from Husayn with force if necessary. Yazid's goal was to take control of the situation in the city before the people became aware of Mu'awiya's death. Yazid's concern was especially about his two rivals in the caliphate; Husayn and Abdullah ibn Zubayr who had previously renounced allegiance. Husayn answered the summons but declined to pledge allegiance in

15252-455: The grandson of Muhammad shocked the Muslim community. The image of Yazid suffered and gave rise to sentiment that he was impious. Prior to the Battle of Karbala, the Muslim community was divided into two political factions. Nonetheless, a religious sect with distinct theological doctrines and specific set of rituals had not developed. Karbala gave this early political party of pro-Alids a distinct religious identity and helped transform it into

15438-425: The guidance of Ya'qub ibn Killis , the Fatimid administration became organized and regularized. Al-Aziz died in 996, while preparing a major campaign against the Byzantines and Hamdanids. He was succeeded by his eleven-year-old son, al-Hakim ( r.  996–1021 ). Initially under the tutelage of powerful officials, al-Hakim managed to seize the reins of power for himself in 1000. The early years of his reign saw

15624-403: The headless bodies of Husayn's companions. Husayn's family, along with the heads of the dead, were sent to Ibn Ziyad. He poked Husayn's mouth with a stick and intended to kill Ali al-Sajjad, but spared him after the pleas of Husayn's sister Zaynab. The heads and the family were then sent to Yazid, who also poked Husayn's mouth with a stick. The historian Henri Lammens has suggested that this

15810-416: The historical Maymun al-Qaddah is now known to have been a disciple of Muhammad al-Baqir (recognized by both Isma'ilis and Twelvers as an imam), and both he and his son Abdallah hailed from the Hejaz . For reasons of chronology alone, Ibn Rizam's version is thus proven to be untenable. Access to more sources has furthermore led to the partial reconciliation of the conflicting accounts by positing that some of

15996-576: The imam's existence, the hujja ( lit.   ' seal ' ). The first known hujja was Abdallah al-Akbar, a wealthy merchant from Askar Mukram , in what is now southwestern Iran . Apart from improbable stories circulated by later anti-Isma'ili polemicists, his exact origin is unknown. His teachings led to his being forced to flee his native city to escape persecution by the Abbasid authorities, and seek refuge in Basra . Once again, his teachings attracted

16182-465: The incident as a historical tragedy; Husayn and his companions are widely regarded as martyrs by both Sunni and Shi'a Muslims. According to majority of narrations, Husayn was born on the 3rd of Sha'ban 4 AH (11 January 626 CE) in Medina and was still a child when his grandfather, Muhammad , died. He was the younger son of Ali , the cousin of Muhammad, and Fatima , the daughter of Muhammad, both from

16368-468: The interpretation of these things. Indeed, we believe you are one of the righteous." He replied: "Whenever food came to you as your provision, I informed you about it before it came. That is from what my Lord has taught me.... As for one of you, he will pour wine for his lord to drink, and as for the other, he will be crucified and birds will eat from his head. This is the case judged concerning which you both inquire." (Quran  12:35–41 ) Doing daʿwah in

16554-454: The judge between me and this nation and he is the best judge." Then, Husayn, who had not yet received the letters of the new events of Kufa, prepared to leave for Kufa on the 8th or 10th of Dhu al-Hijjah 60 AH / 10 or 12 September 680 AD. Instead of performing Hajj, he performed Umrah, and in the absence of the Governor of Mecca, Amr ibn Sa'id ibn As , who was performing Hajj on the outskirts of

16740-550: The killing of Husayn, including Ibn Sa'd and Shemr, while thousands of people fled to Basra. He then sent his general Ibrahim ibn al-Ashtar to fight an approaching Umayyad army, led by Ibn Ziyad, which had been sent to reconquer the province. The Umayyad army was routed at the Battle of Khazir in August 686 and Ibn Ziyad was slain. Later on, in April 687, Mukhtar was killed. Based on an official report sent to caliph Yazid, which describes

16926-552: The last members of the dynasty died in the mid-13th century. Since the death of Caliph Ali ( r.  656–661 ) in 661, which led to the establishment of the Umayyad Caliphate , a part of the Muslim community rejected the Umayyads as usurpers and called for the establishment of a regime led by a member of the ahl al-bayt , the family of Muhammad. The Abbasids , who claimed descent from Muhammad's paternal uncle Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib and thus claimed membership of

17112-569: The majority of al-Sadiq's followers, followed his line down to a twelfth imam who supposedly vanished in 874. Adherents of this line are known as the Twelvers . Another branch believed that Ja'far al-Sadiq was followed by a seventh imam, who also had gone into hiding; hence this party is known as the Seveners. The exact identity of that seventh imam was disputed, but by the late ninth century had commonly been identified with Muhammad , son of Isma'il and grandson of al-Sadiq. From Muhammad's father, Isma'il,

17298-480: The matter, from a mixture of both religious imperative—since God has decreed his imams to be hidden, they should remain so—and apparent ignorance. Al-Mahdi himself, in a letter sent to the Isma'ili community in Yemen, even claimed not to be descended from Isma'il ibn Ja'far, but from his older brother Abdallah al-Aftah, who is generally held to not have had any descendants at all. Notably, later official Fatimid genealogies rejected this version. In addition, it appears that

17484-696: The meantime, in Ifriqiya, the da'i Abu Abdallah al-Shi'i had managed to convert the Berber tribe of the Kutama to the Isma'ili cause. From 902 on, the Kutama had gradually conquered the region from its Abbasid clients, the Aghlabids . On 25 March 909, Abu Abdallah and his Kutama entered the Aghlabid palace city of Raqqada in triumph. The da'i proclaimed a Shi'a regime, but kept the name of his master secret as yet, only using

17670-483: The members of the Shi'a faith with a catalog of heroic norms. The battle is commemorated during an annual ten-day period during the Islamic month of Muharram by many Muslims especially Shi'a, culminating on tenth day of the month, known as the day of Ashura . On this day, Shi'a Muslims mourn, hold public processions, organize religious gathering, beat their chests and in some cases self-flagellate . Sunni Muslims likewise regard

17856-461: The men were bribed by the two tribes of Khuzaymah, who wanted revenge for the assassination of Khalid bin Sufyan (Chief of the Banu Lahyan tribe) by Muhammad's followers. A number of missionaries were killed in this expedition, either eight or, according to another account, ten. Then during the Expedition of Bir Maona in July 625 Muhammad sent some missionaries at the request of some men from

18042-502: The modern scholar Farhad Daftary calls it, influenced Sunni historiographers throughout the following centuries, and became official doctrine with the Baghdad Manifesto of 1011. Due to the paucity of actual Isma'ili material until Isma'ili sources started to become available and undergo scholarly examination during the 20th century, the Sunni version was adopted even by some early modern Orientalists . Early Isma'ili sources ignore

18228-496: The movement remained hidden even from the senior missionaries, however, and a certain Fayruz functioned as chief missionary ( da'i al-du'at ) and 'gateway' ( bab ) to the hidden leader. In about 899, Abdallah ibn al-Husayn assumed the leadership of the da'wa . Soon, he began making alterations to the doctrine, which worried Hamdan Qarmat. Abdan went to Salamiyah to investigate the matter, and learned that Abdallah claimed that

18414-452: The murder of Muslim ibn Aqeel and Hani ibn Arwa was reported by some travellers, for the first time in Thalabiyah. When Husayn reached the area of Zabalah, he found out that his messenger, Qais ibn Mushar Sa'idawi – or his brother-in-law, Abdullah ibn Yaqtar – who had been sent from Hejaz to Kufa to inform the people of Husayn's imminent arrival, was exposed and killed by falling from

18600-416: The network of agents to the area round Kufa in the late 870s, and from there to Yemen ( Ibn Hawshab , 882) and thence India (884), Bahrayn ( Abu Sa'id al-Jannabi , 899), Persia , and Ifriqiya ( Abu Abdallah al-Shi'i , 893). The real leadership of the movement remained hidden at Salamiyah, and only the chief da'i s of each region, such as Hamdan Qarmat, knew and corresponded with it. The true head of

18786-634: The new Zirid emir, al-Mu'izz ibn Badis , launched a pogrom against the remaining Isma'ilis in Ifriqiya. From 1015 on, the Fatimid Caliphate, and the Isma'ili community, were confronted by a rise in sectarianism: a series of preachers who propagated extremist versions of Isma'ilism appeared, preaching the imminence of the end times, the divinity of al-Hakim, and the abolition of the Sharia . The Fatimid religious establishment opposed such antinomian views, but al-Hakim seems to have tolerated, if not encouraged them. Although al-Hakim never officially espoused their views,

18972-451: The new regime occurred quickly. Abu Abdallah al-Shi'i and his brother demanded proof of Abdallah being the mahdi , or resented the limitations on their authority placed by the new ruler. Al-Mahdi Billah was able to eliminate them in 911, but this led to a Kutama revolt, led by a child mahdi as a figurehead. The uprising was defeated, and the Fatimid control over the Kutama consolidated. Nevertheless, Fatimid power remained fragile, as it

19158-510: The next four years as viceroy of al-Mu'izz, restoring the country's finances. It was not until August 972 that al-Mu'izz left Ifriqiya, appointing the Berber Buluggin ibn Ziri as his viceroy there. In June 973, the Fatimid court arrived in Egypt and al-Mu'izz took up residence in Cairo. In the meantime, immediately after the conquest if Egypt Jawhar had tried to extend Fatimid rule into Syria . The first Fatimid invasion failed largely due to

19344-443: The nine-year period between Hasan's abdication in AH 41 (660 AD) and his death in AH 49 (669 AD), Hasan and Husayn retreated to Medina, trying to keep aloof from political involvement for or against Mu'awiya. Sentiments in favor of the rule of Ahl al-Bayt occasionally emerged in the form of small groups, mostly from Kufa, visiting Hasan and Husayn asking them to be their leaders – a request to which they declined to respond. When Hasan

19530-491: The nine-year period between Hasan's abdication in AH 41 (660 CE) and his death in AH 49 or 50 (669 or 670 CE), Hasan and Husayn retreated to Medina, trying to keep aloof from political involvement for or against Mu'awiya . After the death of Hasan, when Iraqis turned to Husayn, concerning an uprising, Husayn instructed them to wait as long as Mu'awiya was alive due to Hasan's peace treaty with him. Prior to his death, Mu'awiya appointed his son Yazid as his successor, contrary to

19716-423: The numerical disparity between the opposing camps as Ibn Sa'd's attempt to prolong the fight and pressure Husayn into submission instead of attempting to quickly overwhelm and kill him. According to Wellhausen, the compassion that Yazid showed to the family of Husayn, and his cursing of Ibn Ziyad was only for show. He argues that if killing Husayn was a crime its responsibility lay with Yazid and not Ibn Ziyad, who

19902-461: The opposition of the Qarmatians of Bahrayn, who did not hesitate to align themselves with the Abbasid caliph and denounce al-Mu'izz in public. The Qarmatian leader al-Hasan al-A'sam led two invasions of Egypt in 971 and again, despite al-Mu'izz's efforts to win him over, in 974. Both invasions were beaten back at the gates of Cairo, forcing the Qarmatians to retreat to Bahrayn, and opening the path for

20088-529: The payment of charity from their wealth obligatory on their rich to be given to their poor. If they accept that, then take it from them and avoid the best part of people's property." With regard to Muhammad's mild nature in preaching Islam , the Quran says: And by the mercy of Allah you dealt with them gently. If you were harsh and hardhearted, they would have fled from around you. (Quran  3:159 ). The Quran says about Moses and Aaron who preached to Pharaoh,

20274-434: The pioneers of the organized Muslim missionary activities: their highly institutionalized and sophisticated daʿwah structure has hardly been repeated until today. Moreover, for the Isma'ilis, daʿwah was a state priority. The Isma'ili daʿwah encompassed extra- and intra-ummatic forms and blended both theology and politics. In Islamic theology , the purpose of daʿwah is to invite people, Muslims and non-Muslims, to understand

20460-728: The place from which I came to you. He then showed them the letters he had received from the Kufans, including some in Hurr's force. Hurr denied any knowledge of the letters and stated that Husayn must go with him to Ibn Ziyad, which Husayn refused to do. Hurr responded that he would not allow Husayn to either enter Kufa or go back to Medina, but that he was free to travel anywhere else he wished. Nevertheless, he did not prevent four Kufans from joining Husayn. Husayn's caravan started to move towards Qadisiyya, and Hurr followed them. At Naynawa, Hurr received orders from Ibn Ziyad to force Husayn's caravan to halt in

20646-407: The possession of properties in the capital, Cairo, and its environs, as well as commerce. The caliph himself was not above such enrichment, and owned extensive parts of Cairo; according to the mid-11th traveller Nasir Khusraw , all 20,000 shops in the city, as well as its caravanserais and baths, and 8,000 other buildings that paid a monthly rent to the caliph's private purse ( diwan al-khass ) or

20832-406: The posts, thereby arousing the hostility of the Fatimid elites. As a result of a conspiracy among the latter, al-Hakim was murdered during one of his night rides outside Cairo, and his corpse disposed of, never to be found. Members of the dynasty were carefully kept out of public affairs; even princes and princesses of the blood did not have a special position at court, let alone being entrusted with

21018-490: The primary works of Awana, al-Mada'ini and Nasr ibn Muzahim. Although Tabari and other early sources contain some miraculous stories, these sources are mainly historical and rational in nature, in contrast to the literature of later periods, which is mainly hagiographical in nature. The Battle of Karbala was also reported by an early Christian source. A history by the Syriac Christian scholar Theophilus of Edessa , who

21204-676: The private treasury ( khizana al-khass ). Fatimid princesses are likewise recorded as being extremely wealthy, in part from estates allocated to them, and in part due to their own commercial and entrepreneurial activities. Thus at their death in 1050/51, two daughters of Caliph al-Mu'izz left estates of about 1.7 million gold dinars each, while Sitt al-Mulk is known to have employed an extensive staff of able administrators of both sexes for her far-flung economic interests. Da%27wa Daʿwah ( Arabic : دعوة , Arabic: [ˈdæʕwæ] , "invitation", also spelt dâvah , daawa , dawah , daawah or dakwah )

21390-477: The pro- Alid party ( Shi'at Ali ) into a unique religious sect with its own rituals and collective memory. It has a central place in the Shi'a history, tradition, and theology, and has frequently been recounted in Shi'a literature . For the Shi'a, Husayn's suffering and martyrdom became a symbol of sacrifice in the struggle for right against wrong, and for justice and truth against injustice and falsehood. It also provides

21576-568: The pulpit. During the time of Uthman, he defended Abu Dharr al-Ghifari , who had preached against some of the actions of the tyrants and was to be exiled from Medina. According to several narrations, Ali asked Hasan and Husayn to defend the third Caliph during the Siege of Uthman and carry water to him. According to Vaglieri, when Hasan entered Uthman's house, Uthman was already assassinated. Another report says that Uthman asked Ali's help. The latter send Husayn in response. Then Uthman asked Husayn if he

21762-433: The question of their identity is impossible". The main problem arises with the succession linking al-Mahdi with Ja'far al-Sadiq. According to Isma'ili doctrine, the imams that followed Muhammad ibn Isma'il were in concealment ( satr ), but early Isma'ili sources do not mention them, and even later, official Isma'ili genealogies diverge on the number, names and identities of these 'hidden imams' ( al-a'imma al-masturin ),

21948-516: The rebel armies and captured Abu Yazid in August 947. The victory over the rebel leader, who had almost destroyed the Fatimid state and was symbolically called the Dajjal ('the false Messiah') by the Isma'ili da'wa , was the moment when Abu Tahir declared himself as the imam and caliph in succession to his father, with the name of al-Mansur bi-Nasr Allah ('The Victor with the Help of God'). Al-Mansur moved

22134-405: The reign of al-Amir, the caliph's single full brother ( shaqiq ), Ja'far, is accorded first place in the hierarchy, while their half-brothers from other women are listed much lower, after the caliph's own concubines, followed by the "sons and daughters of cousins". For similar reasons, Fatimid princesses were usually not wed outside the family, and the caliphs themselves did not usually engage in

22320-406: The restoration of the true line with the Fatimid caliphs. Later Tayyibi Isma'ili authors also used the figures of Maymun al-Qaddah and his son Abdallah to argue for the legality of there being a substitute or representative of the imam, whenever the latter was underage. A further controversy that emerged already in medieval times is whether the second Fatimid caliph, Muhammad al-Qa'im bi-Amr Allah ,

22506-438: The revolts instigated by Zakarawayh were suppressed, Abdallah moved to Tulunid Egypt in early 904. As the Abbasids recovered control of Egypt in the next year, the small party fled again. While his companions expected to head to Yemen, where the Isma'ili da'wa had enjoyed great success, Abdallah turned westward, and established himself at the oasis town of Sijilmasa , in what is now southwestern Morocco , in August 905. In

22692-411: The right location. For example, Mount Safa in the time of Muhammad was used for announcements. So Muhammad went there to make his point. He chose that particular location because he knew the people who he was inviting to Islam . He knew their nature and characteristics, so he chose Mount Safa. He climbed up to its summit and addressed his people saying: "O people of Quraysh , if I were to tell you there

22878-424: The river together with Husayn but became separated, was surrounded, and killed. At some point, a young child of Husayn's, who was sitting on his lap, was hit by an arrow and died. During the Battle of Karbala the Umayyad soldiers hesitated to initiate a direct attack on Husayn; however, he was struck in the mouth by an arrow as he went to the river to drink. He collected his blood in a cupped hand and cast towards

23064-399: The river. They could only fill twenty water-skins. Husayn and Ibn Sa'd met during the night to negotiate a settlement; it was rumored that Husayn made three proposals: either he be allowed to return to Medina, submit to Yazid directly, or be sent to a border post where he would fight alongside the Muslim armies. According to Madelung, these reports are probably untrue as Husayn at this stage

23250-459: The roof of Kufa Palace. Upon hearing this, Husayn allowed his supporters to leave the caravan due to the depressing issues such as the betrayal of the Kufis. A number of those who had joined him on the way, parted away. But those who had come with Husayn from Hejaz did not leave him. The news from Kufa showed that the situation there had completely changed from what Muslim had reported. The political assessments made it clear to Husayn that going to Kufa

23436-520: The routes into Kufa. Husayn and his followers were intercepted by the vanguard of Yazid's army, about 1,000 men led by Hurr ibn Yazid al-Tamimi , south of Kufa near Qadisiyya . Husayn said to them: I did not come to you until your letters were brought to me, and your messengers came to me saying, 'Come to us, for we have no imam.' ... Therefore, if you give me what you guaranteed in your covenants and sworn testimonies, I will come to your town. If you will not and are averse to my coming, I will leave you for

23622-402: The same names to his sons after learning the names God had chosen for Ali's children. Husayn was brought up in the household of Muhammad at first. The family formed from the marriage of Ali and Fatima was praised many times by Muhammad. In events such as Mubahala and the hadith of the Ahl al-Kisa , Muhammad referred to this family as the ahl al-bayt . In the Qur'an, in many cases, such as

23808-456: The second category. According to Julius Wellhausen , most of them regretted their actions in the battle and embellished the accounts of the battle in favor of Husayn in order to dilute their guilt. Although as an Iraqi, Abu Mikhnaf had pro-Alid tendencies, his reports generally do not contain much bias on his part. Abu Mikhnaf's original text seems to have been lost and the version extant today has been transmitted through secondary sources such as

23994-407: The secretive environment of the meeting, suggesting it should be done in public. Marwan ibn Hakam told Walid to imprison or behead him, but due to Husayn's kinship with Muhammad, Walid was unwilling to take any action against him. A few days later, Husayn left for Mecca without acknowledging Yazid. He arrived in Mecca at the beginning of May 680, and stayed there until the beginning of September. He

24180-473: The sect receives its name of 'Isma'ili'. Neither Isma'il's nor Muhammad's lives are well known, and after Muhammad's reported death during the reign of Harun al-Rashid ( r.  786–809 ), the history of the early Isma'ili movement becomes obscure. Official Fatimid doctrine claimed an uninterrupted line of succession between the first Fatimid caliph, Abd Allah al-Mahdi Billah ( r.  909–934 ), and Ali and Fatima, via Muhammad ibn Isma'il. This descent

24366-497: The situation in Iraq, the poet Farzadaq explicitly told him that the hearts of the Iraqi people are with you, but their swords are in the service of the Umayyads. But Husayn's decision was unwavering, and in response to those who tried to dissuade him, he said that things were in God's hands and that God wanted the best for His servants and would not be hostile to anyone who was right. The news of

24552-411: The situation in Kufa. Ibn Aqil attracted widespread support and informed Husayn of the situation, suggesting that he join them there. Yazid removed Nu'man ibn Bashir al-Ansari as governor of Kufa due to his inaction, and installed Ubayd Allah ibn Ziyad , then governor of Basra , in his place. As a result of Ibn Ziyad's suppression and political maneuvering, Ibn Aqil's following began to dissipate and he

24738-493: The sixth Shi'a imam Jafar Sadiq and his followers. Buyids and Safavids also encouraged this practice. Special visits are paid on 10 Muharram ( Ashura Pilgrimage) and 40 days after the anniversary of Husayn's ( Arba'in pilgrimage ). In Shi'a tradition, Husayn's martyrdom is also connected to the hagiography of John the Baptist . The soil of Karbala , is considered to have miraculous healing effects. Mourning for Husayn

24924-405: The sky, complaining to God of his suffering. Later, he was surrounded and struck on the head by Malik ibn Nusayr. The blow cut through his hooded cloak, which Husayn removed while cursing his attacker. He put a cap on his head and wrapped a turban around it to staunch the bleeding. Ibn Nusayr seized the bloodied cloak and retreated. Shemr advanced with a group of foot soldiers towards Husayn, who

25110-475: The son of a certain Maymun al-Qaddah from Khuzistan , that al-Mahdi's real name was Sa'id, or that al-Mahdi's father was in reality a Jew (a common antisemitic trope among medieval Arab authors). While several medieval Sunni authors and contemporary potentates—including the impeccably Alid sharifs of Mecca and Medina —accepted or appeared to accept Fatimid claims at face value, this anti-Isma'ili 'black legend', as

25296-413: The still potent Abbasid army. Zakarawayh apparently moved without Abdallah's authorization or prior knowledge, and thus placed him in danger: the Abbasid authorities began a crackdown on the da'wa , and Zakarawayh's sons unwittingly revealed the location and identity of Abdallah to the Abbasids, who launched a man-hunt against him. Already in 902, Abdallah with his household left Salamiyah for Ramla . As

25482-427: The story of Karbala is narrated and various elegies ( rawda ) are recited by professional reciters ( rawda khwan ). During the month of Muharram, elaborate public processions are performed in commemoration of the Battle of Karbala. In contrast to pilgrimage to Husayn's tomb and simple lamenting, these processions do not date back to the time of the battle, but arose during tenth century. Their earliest recorded instance

25668-493: The succession for his own sons but failed, as the latter all died prematurely. During the late ninth century, millennialist expectations increased in the Muslim world, coinciding with a deep crisis of the Abbasid Caliphate during the decade-long Anarchy at Samarra , the rise of breakaway and autonomous regimes in the provinces, and the large-scale Zanj Rebellion , whose leader claimed Alid descent and proclaimed himself as

25854-404: The succession was left open. One faction of al-Sadiq's followers held that he had designated another son, Musa al-Kazim , as his heir. Others followed other sons, Muhammad al-Dibaj and Abd Allah al-Aftah —as the latter died soon after, his followers went over to Musa's camp—or even refused to believe that al-Sadiq had died, and expected his return as a messiah . Musa's adherents, who constituted

26040-401: The teachings of men such as al-Darzi and Hamza ibn Ali resulted in the birth of the Druze faith. At the same time, al-Hakim made curious innovations in the succession, by splitting up his office in two: one to succeed the caliphate, i.e. the secular office, and one to succeed as imam, i.e. as leader of the Isma'ili community. Furthermore, he sidelined his own son and appointed two cousins to

26226-409: The terms of the treaty even after Hassan's death. Husayn then left Kufa for Medina along with Hasan and Abdullah ibn Ja'far. He adhered to the terms of the treaty even after Hasan's death. According to the Shi'a, Husayn was the third Imam for a period of ten years after the death of his brother Hasan in 670 AD. All of this time except the last six months coincided with the caliphate of Mu'awiya. In

26412-399: The throne as children, this practice was also dropped. This did not remove inter-family feuds, however, most notably in the sidelining of Nizar and the other sons of al-Mustansir at the accession of al-Musta'li, which was followed by repeated attempts by Nizar's descendants to raise a revolt and reclaim power. This led to differences in rank: a detailed list of court precedence from 1122, during

26598-555: The title hujjat Allah , 'God's proof'; and soon set out westward, at the head of a large army, to bring his imam to Ifriqiya. The Kutama army destroyed the Kharijite Rustamid emirate on its way, and arrived at Sijilmasa in August 909. There Abdallah was acclaimed caliph by the troops. On 4 January 910, Abdallah entered Raqqada, where he publicly proclaimed himself caliph with the regnal title of al-imam al-mahdi bi'llah , 'the imam rightly guided by God'. The first crisis of

26784-580: The title, the Family of the Cloak, is related sometimes to the Event of Mubahala. During the caliphate of Abu Bakr and Umar, Husayn was present at some events such as testifying about the story of Fadak . According to a narration, Husayn, while the second caliph was sitting on the pulpit of Muhammad and giving a speech, objected to him for sitting on the pulpit of Muhammad, and Umar also stopped his sermon and came down from

26970-399: The true religion, the religion of Adam , would be manifested without the need for symbols and other mediating devices. While the mahdi Muhammad ibn Isma'il remained hidden, however, he would need to be represented by agents, who would gather the faithful, spread the word ( da'wa , 'invitation, calling'), and prepare his return. The head of this secret network was the living proof of

27156-536: The true representatives of God on earth. This doctrine was founded on the designation ( nass ) of Ali by Muhammad at Ghadir Khumm , and later pro-Fatimid scholars held that an unbroken chain of designated imams would follow until the end of the world; indeed, these scholars argued that the imams' existence was an inevitable necessity. The sixth of these imams, Ja'far al-Sadiq , appointed ( nass ) his son Isma'il al-Mubarak as his successor, but Isma'il died before his father, and when al-Sadiq himself died in 765,

27342-415: The unity of the Muslims, conquer Constantinople , ensure the final triumph of Islam and establish a reign of peace and justice. The Isma'ilis in particular believed that the mahdi would reveal the true, 'inner' ( batin ) meaning of religion, which was until then reserved for a few select initiates. The mahdi would abolish the 'outer' ( zahir ) forms and strictures of Islam, since henceforth

27528-958: The values in which dais should spread the word of Islam to Muslims and non-Muslims. Idris Imad al-Din 's work presents us with an indigenous account of the traditions of the daʿwa in Yaman. His account of the Nizari – Musta'li succession dispute reflects the official view of the Tayyibis . Similarly, modern-day platforms designated for open-air public speaking in the western world also provide platforms for debate between different denominations in Islam, with documented instances of dialogue being reported between demographics such as Quranists and Mahdi'ist based creeds such as Mahdavia . Husayn ibn Ali Husayn ibn Ali ( Arabic : الحسين بن علي , romanized :  al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī ; 11 January 626 – 10 October 680)

27714-599: The variant names in the genealogies were indeed cover names for the Isma'ili imams: thus Maymun ('the Fortunate One') is suggested as the sobriquet for Muhammad ibn Isma'il, especially since a source connects him with a sect known as the Maymuniyya. This explanation is also present in an epistle by the fourth Fatimid caliph, al-Mu'izz , in 965. This would make the claim of al-Mahdi's descent from an 'Abdallah ibn Maymun' actually correct, and lead hostile sources to confuse him with

27900-559: The way of your Lord with wisdom and good preaching. In the Hadith ("sayings") of Muhammad , daʿwah is mentioned to emphasise importance and virtues: Muhammad sent Muadh ibn Jabal to Yemen and told him "You will be going to Christians and Jews, so the first thing you should invite them to is the assertion of the oneness of Allah, Most High. If they realize that, then inform them that Allah has made five daily prayers obligatory on them. If they pray them, then inform them that Allah has made

28086-486: The wider family, profited from this during their rise to power against the Umayyads; but their claim was rejected by the Shia , who insisted on the exclusive right of the descendants of Hasan ( d.  670 ) and Husayn ( d.  680 ), Ali's sons by Muhammad's daughter Fatima . A line of imams emerged from the offspring of Husayn, who did not openly lay claim to the caliphate, but were considered by their followers as

28272-458: The worship of God as expressed in the Qur'an and the sunnah of Muhammad and to inform them about Muhammad. Daʿwah as the "Call towards God" is the means by which Muhammad began spreading the message of the Qur'an to mankind. After Muhammad, his followers and the Ummah (Muslim community) assumed responsibility for it. They convey the message of the Qur'an by providing information on why and how

28458-511: Was "a proud soul in him". The army advanced toward Husayn's camp on the evening of 9 October. Husayn sent Abbas to ask Ibn Sa'd to wait until the next morning, so that they could consider the matter. Ibn Sa'd agreed to this respite. Husayn told his men that they were all free to leave, with his family, under the cover of night, since their opponents only wanted him. Very few availed themselves of this opportunity. Defense arrangements were made: tents were brought together and tied to one another and

28644-455: Was a social, political and religious leader. The grandson of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and a son of Ali ibn Abi Talib and Muhammad's daughter Fatima , as well as a younger brother of Hasan ibn Ali , Husayn is regarded as the third Imam (leader) in Shia Islam after his brother, Hasan, and before his son, Ali al-Sajjad . Being the grandson of the prophet, he is also a prominent member of

28830-525: Was able to defend himself against rebels. Husayn demurred, so Uthman sent him back. It is also narrated that Uthman's cousin, Marwan ibn Hakam , have said Husayn: "Leave us, your father incites the people against us, and you are here with us!" Haeri writes in the Encyclopedia of the Islamic World: According to some narrations, Husayn or Hasan were wounded in the case of defending Uthman. During

29016-657: Was accompanied by his wives, children and brothers, as well as Hasan's sons. Husayn had considerable support in Kufa, which had been the caliphal capital during the reigns of his father and brother. The Kufans had fought the Umayyads and their Syrian allies during the First Fitna, the five-year civil war which had established the Umayyad Caliphate. They were dissatisfied with Hasan's abdication and strongly resented Umayyad rule. While in Mecca, Husayn received letters from pro- Alids in Kufa informing him that they were tired of

29202-462: Was alive due to Hasan's peace treaty with him. Meanwhile, Marwan reported to Mu'awiya the frequent visits of Shias to Husayn. Mu'awiya instructed Marwan not to clash with Husayn, in the same time he wrote a letter to Husayn in which he "mingled generous promises with the advice not to provoke him." Later on, when Mu'awiya was taking allegiance for his son, Yazid , Husayn was among the five prominent persons who did not give his allegiance, as appointing

29388-410: Was alive, he would abide by the terms of the peace treaty, however, after Mu'awiya's death, he will reconsider it. After signing the peace treaty, Mu'awiyah delivered a sermon in Kufa in which he declared that he had violated all the provisions of the treaty and also insulted Ali ibn Abi Talib. Husayn wanted to respond, but Hasan refused to do so, and Hasan delivered a sermon in response. Husayn adhered to

29574-621: Was an army behind this hill would you listen to me?" Various Islamic institutions provide elaborate manuals, trainings and workshops to daʿi to prepare them for successful daʿwah . Daʿi s are given trainings in the form of physical workshops and training sessions. Daʿwah trainings are also provided in the form of online video lessons, webinars, online discussion forums, handouts and quizzes. Modern daʿwah movements are varied in their objectives and activities. Examples include: Methods may also depend upon specific creeds. For instance, among Ismailis, al-Naysaburi 's Code of Conduct depicts

29760-504: Was based almost exclusively on the—often truculent—Kutama, and later the Sanhaja tribe as well. Conversely, the local Arabs of Ifriqiya were Maliki Sunnis, while most Berber tribes further west—notably the Zenata confederation—adhered to various forms of Kharijism , and thus opposed to the Isma'ili regime of the Fatimids. Given the semi-divine status they claimed as the rightful imams of Islam,

29946-488: Was both accepted and challenged already in the Middle Ages, and remains a topic of debate among scholars today. As the historian of Shi'a Islam Heinz Halm comments, "The alleged descent of the dynasty from Ali ibn Abi Talib and Muhammad's daughter Fatima has been called into question by contemporaries from the very beginning and cannot be proven", while Michael Brett, an expert on the Fatimids, asserts that "a factual answer to

30132-481: Was central to their legitimacy as the legitimate imams in an unbroken, divinely ordained line from Ali onwards. Their initial obscurity, and the publication of conflicting and incorrect genealogies by the first Fatimid caliph, Abdallah al-Mahdi Billah (known by the diminutive Ubayd Allah by his detractors), cast doubt on the accuracy of these claims, which were usually rejected by contemporary Sunni and Twelver Shi'a alike, who considered them impostors and usurpers. As

30318-557: Was chief astrologer in the Abbasid court between 775 and 785, is partially preserved in a number of extant Christian chronicles, including those by Michael the Syrian and the Byzantine historian Theophanes the Confessor . Husayn ibn Ali's tomb is located in the city of Karbala , about 90 km southwest of Baghdad . This tomb was probably formed two centuries after the event of Karbala and

30504-507: Was determined, not to take women and children with him. Nevertheless, he offered Husayn support if he would stay in Mecca and lead the opposition to Yazid from there. Husayn refused this, citing his abhorrence of bloodshed in the sanctuary, and decided to go ahead with his plan. Despite the advice of Muhammad ibn Hanafiyya , Abdullah ibn Umar , and the constant insistence of Abd Allah ibn Abbas in Mecca, Husayn did not back down from his decision to go to Kufa. Ibn 'Abbas pointed out that

30690-427: Was doing this for Husayn and that if there would be a war, Husayn would be killed. Husayn, however, was not afraid of death and stopped in an area called Karbala, on the outskirts of Kufa. In one place, Husayn recited a sermon and said: "I do not see death except as martyrdom and living with the oppressors except as hardship." In another place, he explained the reason for his opposition to the government while recalling

30876-443: Was established there only after a series of revolts by the local Muslims, who at times declared for the Abbasids, were suppressed. Sicily was also important as a battleground against the Byzantines, which among other things allowed the Fatimids to present themselves as champions of Islam, engaged in holy war against the infidels. In practice, relations were often more pragmatic, and warfare alternated with periods of truce. From 948 on,

31062-666: Was followed by duels in which several of Husayn's companions were slain. The right wing of the Kufans, led by Amr ibn al-Hajjaj, attacked Husayn's force, but was repulsed. Hand-to-hand fighting paused and further volleys of arrows were exchanged. Shemr, who commanded the left wing of the Umayyad army, launched an attack, but after losses on both sides he was repulsed. This was followed by cavalry attacks. Husayn's cavalry resisted fiercely and Ibn Sa'd brought in armoured cavalry and five hundred archers. After their horses were wounded by arrows, Husayn's cavalrymen dismounted and fought on foot. Since Umayyad forces could approach Husayn's army from

31248-441: Was forced to declare the revolt prematurely. It was defeated and Ibn Aqil was killed. Husayn had also sent a messenger to Basra, another garrison town in Iraq, but the messenger could not attract any following and was quickly apprehended and executed. Husayn was unaware of the change of political circumstances in Kufa and decided to depart. Abd Allah ibn Abbas and Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr advised him not to move to Iraq, or, if he

31434-506: Was in Baghdad in 963 during the reign of the first Buyid ruler Mu'izz al-Dawla . The processions start from a husayniyya and the participants parade barefoot through the streets, wailing and beating their chests and heads before returning to the husayniyya for a majlis . Sometimes, chains and knives are used to inflict wounds and physical pain. In South Asia , an ornately tacked horse called Zuljenah , representing Husayn's battle horse,

31620-451: Was intercepted by a 1,000-strong army of the caliph at some distance from Kufa. He was forced to head north and encamp in the plain of Karbala on 2 October, where a larger Umayyad army of some 4,000 or 30,000 arrived soon afterwards. Negotiations failed after the Umayyad governor Ubayd Allah ibn Ziyad refused Husayn safe passage without submitting to his authority, a condition declined by Husayn. Battle ensued on 10 October during which Husayn

31806-559: Was martyred along with most of his relatives and companions, while his surviving family members were taken prisoner. The battle was followed by the Second Fitna , during which the Iraqis organized two separate campaigns to avenge the martyrdom of Husayn; the first one by the Tawwabin and the other one by Mukhtar al-Thaqafi and his supporters. The Battle of Karbala galvanized the development of

31992-415: Was more similar to his grandfather. Other Hadiths of this kind are: "whoever loves them loves me and whoever hates them hates me", and "al-Hasan and al-Husayn are the sayyids [masters] of the youth of Paradise". The recent one is used by Shia to prove the right of Imamate for the descendants of Muhammad. Sayyid shabab al-djanna is an epithet used by Shias to refer to each of Muhammad's grandsons. It

32178-566: Was moving his caravan, he did not dare to follow it. However, Madlung and Bahramian write that when Husayn was ready to leave, Hurr blocked his way and said that if Husayn did not accept the order given by Ibn Ziyad, Hurr would not allow him to go to Medina or Kufa. He suggested to Husayn to neither go to Kufa nor to Medina, rather write a letter to Yazid or Ibn Ziyad and wait for their orders, hoping to avoid this difficult situation by receiving an answer. But Husayn did not heed to his advice and continued to Azad or Qadisiyah. Hurr informed Husayn that he

32364-581: Was no longer apt. In the area of Sharaf or Zuhsam, armies emerged from Kufa under the leadership of Hurr ibn Yazid. With the weather being hot there, Husayn ordered water to be given to them and then announced his motives to the army and said: "You did not have an Imam and I became the means of uniting the ummah. Our family is more deserving of government than anyone else, and those in power do not deserve it and rule unjustly. If you support me, I will go to Kufa. But if you do not want me anymore, I will return to my first place." Ibn Ziyad had stationed troops on

32550-414: Was now prepared to fight as few people were left on his side. A young boy from Husayn's camp escaped from the tents, ran to him, tried to defend him from a sword stroke and had his arm cut off. Ibn Sa'd approached the tents and Husayn's sister Zaynab complained to him: "'Umar b. Sa'd, will Abu 'Abd Allah (the kunya of Husayn) be killed while you stand and watch?" Ibn Sa'd wept but did nothing. Husayn

32736-425: Was only performing his duty. Madelung holds a similar view; according to him, early accounts place the responsibility for Husayn's death on Ibn Ziyad instead of Yazid. Yazid, Madelung argues, wanted to end Husayn's opposition, but as a caliph of Islam could not afford to be seen as publicly responsible and so diverted blame onto Ibn Ziyad by hypocritically cursing him. According to Howard, some traditional sources have

32922-512: Was performed by Husayn's son Ali al-Sajjad and the surviving family members during their return from Syria to Medina. The first historically recorded visit is Sulayman ibn Surad and the Penitents going to Husayn's grave before their departure to Syria. They are reported to have lamented and beaten their chests and to have spent a night by the tomb. Thereafter this tradition was limited to the Shi'a imams for several decades, before gaining momentum under

33108-519: Was poisoned, he refused to tell Husayn the name of his suspect, probably Mu'awiya, in fear of provoking bloodshed. The burial of Hasan's body near that of Muhammad, was another problem which could have led to bloodshed, as Marwan ibn Hakam swore that he would not permit Hasan to be buried near Muhammad with Abu Bakr and Umar , while Uthman was buried in the cemetery of al-Baqi . After the death of Hasan, when Iraqis turned to Husayn, concerning an uprising, Husayn instructed them to wait as long as Mu'awiya

33294-454: Was presented as the eldest son of Muhammad ibn Isma'il, and his successor as imam, followed by Ahmad. While Muhammad Abu'l-Shalaghlagh was the head of the da'wa , however, the imamate passed to another son, al-Husayn (d. 881/2), and thence to al-Husayn's son, Abdallah or Sa'id, the future Caliph al-Mahdi, who was born in 873/4. Isma'ili texts suggest that Abu'l-Shalaghlagh was the guardian and tutor of al-Mahdi, but also that he tried to usurp

33480-431: Was rebuilt and expanded until the thirteenth century AH. This place did not have a building at first and was marked with a simple sign. After that, in the third century AH, a monument was built on it, which was considered during the time of some Abbasid caliphs and Dailami princes and patriarchal and Ottoman rulers, and over time, the city of Karbala was built and expanded around it. There are several narrations about

33666-601: Was the first Muslim envoy in September 621. He was sent to Yathrib (now Medina ) to teach the people the doctrines of Islam and give them guidance. After Muhammad's death in 632, from the available historical evidence, it appears that after Muhammad's death Muslims did not immediately embark upon daʿwah activities—during and after the rapid conquests of the Byzantine and Persian lands, they ventured little if at all to preach to local non-Muslims. Daʿwah came into wider usage almost

33852-508: Was the revolt of the Zenata Berbers under the Khariji preacher Abu Yazid in 943/44: almost all of Ifriqiya succumbed to the rebels, and in January 945, the rebels laid siege to Mahdiyya itself. Al-Qa'im died during the siege, and was succeeded by his son, Abu Tahir Isma'il ( r.  946–953 ). The new caliph concealed his father's death, took to the field, and in a series of battles defeated

34038-485: Was the son of al-Mahdi, or whether the latter was merely usurping the position of a still-hidden imam; that would mean that al-Qa'im was the first true Fatimid imam-caliph. Modern authors have tried to reconcile the genealogies. In Origins of Ismāʿı̄lism , the Arabist Bernard Lewis suggested the existence of two parallel series of imams: trustee ( mustawda' ) imams, descended from Maymun al-Qaddah, whose task

34224-422: Was to hide and protect the existence of the real ( mustakarr , lit.   ' permanent ' ) imams. Lewis posited that al-Mahdi was the last of that line, and that al-Qa'im was the first of the mustakarr imams to sit on the throne. Research by Vladimir Ivanov , on the other hand, has conclusively shown that the supposed Qaddahite descent of the Fatimids is a legend, likely invented by Ibn Rizam himself:

34410-407: Was to refuse, as "a rebel, a seditious person, a brigand, an oppressor and he was to do no further harm after his death". If Ibn Sa'd was unwilling to carry out the attack, he was instructed to hand over command to Shemr. Ibn Sa'd cursed Shemr and accused him of foiling his attempts to reach a peaceful settlement but agreed to carry out the orders. He remarked that Husayn would not submit because there

34596-460: Was willing to return. Ibn Ziyad replied that Husayn must surrender or he should be subdued by force, and that to compel him, he and his companions should be denied access to the Euphrates river. Ibn Sa'd stationed 500 horsemen on the route leading to the river. Husayn and his companions remained without water for three days before a group of fifty men led by his half-brother Abbas was able to access

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