Muhammad ibn Ja'far al-Sadiq

Muhammad ibn Ja'far al-Sadiq, surnamed al-Dibaj ("the handsome"),[1] the younger full brother of Musa al-Kadhim,[2] appeared in Mecca in the year 200 A.H. / 815 C.E. claiming that he was the Awaited Mahdi. He believed in a Zaydi Shia type of Imamate[3] and declared himself as the Caliph of the Muslims and took the oath of allegiance from them and was called the Leader of the faithful. He was recognized as the Imam by a small group of followers. His followers became denominated as the Shumaytiyya (Sumaytiyya) after their leader Yahya ibn Abi’l-Shumayt (al-Sumayt).[4] However, his revolt against the Caliph al-Ma'mun proved unsuccessful in the very same year it started (i.e. 815 C.E.).[5] He ended his revolt by abdicating and publicly confessing his error and was then banished from the Hejaz and the Tihamah. [6]

Al-Dibaj died in 203 A.H. / 818 C.E.,[7] and was buried in Bastam, Iran.[8]

Descendants

Some descendants of Muhammad ibn Jafar al-Sadiq settled in Iran, and moved to India along with the armies of Mahmud of Ghazni and later with the Mughal emperor Hamayoun.

Jafar

They were present at the cemetery, attending to the funeral and burial ceremonies of their father Muhammad bin Ja'far. The Abbasid capliph Al-Ma'mun himself was present until the burial was over and said the final prayer on the bier.

Yahyah

According to Al-Ma'mun, Yahyah was somewhere in Egypt at the time of his father's death. It is possible he was opposed to the Abbasid caliphate.

Ali

Known as Al-Harisi. He had settled permanently in Shiraz since the exile of his father's family from Medina. Seven generations of his descendants lived and multiplied in Shiraz] and some are known to have accompanied armies of Mahmud of Ghazni to India.

Al-Qasim

Al-Dibaj had a son named al-Qasim, who in turn had three children: Umm Kulthum (d.868), Abdallah (d.875) and Yahya (d.877).[9] Al-Qasim and his family went to live in Egypt after the failure of Al-Dibaj’s revolt and were among the first Alid families to resettle in Egypt.[10]

Legacy

Al-Dibaj's followers, the Shumaytiyya or Sumaytiyya, believed that the Imamate would remain with his family and that the Mahdi would come from among his family.[11]

See also

References

Notes

  1. ↑ An Introduction to Shi’i Islam: The History and Doctrines of Twelver Shi’ism: The Shumayliyya or Sumaytiyya, by Moojan Momen
  2. ↑ The Isma'ilis: Their History and Doctrines, By Farhad Daftary, pg.94
  3. ↑ An Introduction to Shi’i Islam: The History and Doctrines of Twelver Shi’ism: The Shumayliyya or Sumaytiyya, by Moojan Momen
  4. ↑ The Isma'ilis: Their History and Doctrines, By Farhad Daftary, pg.94
  5. ↑ A short history of the Ismailis: traditions of a Muslim community, By Farhad Daftary, pg.35
  6. ↑ Ibn Khaldūn, Kitābu l-ʻibār wa Diwānu l-Mubtada' wa l-Ħabar fī tarikhi l-ʻarab wa l-Barbar wa man ʻĀsarahum min Đawī Ash-Sha'n l-Akbār, vol. 3, p. 244
  7. ↑ The Isma'ilis: Their History and Doctrines, By Farhad Daftary, pg.94
  8. ↑ Bloom, Jonathan M.; Blair, Sheila S., eds. (2009). "Bistam". The Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art & Architecture. 1. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press. p. 291.
  9. ↑ Muqarnas, Volume 3: An Annual on Islamic Art and Architecture, By Oleg Grabar, pg.56
  10. ↑ Muqarnas, Volume 3: An Annual on Islamic Art and Architecture, By Oleg Grabar, pg.41, 43
  11. ↑ An Introduction to Shi’i Islam: The History and Doctrines of Twelver Shi’ism: The Shumayliyya or Sumaytiyya, by Moojan Momen
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