فصلنامه تاریخ اسلام
پیاپی 27 (پاییز 1385)

Asma’ bint al-‘Umays was at first Ja‘far ibn Abi-Talib’s wife and migrated to Abyssinia with him. She helped her husband manage the affairs of Muslim emigrants there. After the martyrdom of Ja‘far in the Battle of Mutah, Asma’ married Abu-Bakr and Muhammad ibn Abu-Bakr was born. This great lady of Islam kept her close relations with ‘Ali’s family, and in particular with Fatimah (‘A), during Abu-Bakr’s caliphate as well. Following Abu-Bakr’s death, she married ‘Ali (‘A) and continued living after his martyrdom for a while.Since part of Imam ‘Ali’s social and familial behavior can be understood by studying the lives of his wives and children, this paper is an attempt to recount the life of Asma’ bint al-‘Umays through this new biography.

Following the killing of ‘Uthman, the most significant factor that brought Imam ‘Ali (‘A) to power was the allegiance pledged to him by the people, an issue that has always been a major point of discussion in the history of early Islam.This paper embarks on a brief and comparative study of how people pledged their allegiance to the Imam using the enormous book of “Nahj ul-Balaghah” and major sources of Islamic history written between the 3rd and 10th centuries A.H. The purpose of this work is to clarify ambiguities in this regard and answer related questions.

The Isma‘iliyyah sect was established in the second half of the 2nd century A.H. based on the belief in the imamah (Shi‘ah leadership) of Imam Ja‘far as-Sadigh’s son, Isma‘il. The Isma‘iliyyah invented their particular set of beliefs regarding the issue of the Mahdawiyyah (belief in the Coming of the Promised Mahdi). Isma‘il was the first person that they introduced as their 7th Imam and Promised Mahdi at the same time. Nevertheless, the majority of the Isma‘ilites later came to believe in Muhammad ibn Isma‘il as the Promised Mahdi and regarded him as their 7th Imam and the seal of the 6th Cycle. These people came to be known as Gharmati and were called Gharamitah or Gharmatian collectively. At the beginning, the Gharamitah turned away from Muhammad ibn Isma‘il and regarded Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Hanafiyyah as the Promised Mahdi for a brief period before returning to Muhammad ibn Isma‘il again.Later, the 1st Fatimid caliph, ‘Ubaydallah al-Mahdi made some changes in the Isma‘ili belief system of Mahdawiyyah and claimed to be the Promised Mahdi himself. During the rule of the 4th caliph, al-Mu‘izz, there was a limited return to belief in Muhammad ibn Isma‘il as the Promised Mahdi with some modifications however. During the rule of the 6th caliph, al-Hakim, the Druze organized the doctrine of al-Hakim’s divinity after he vanished in 411 A.H. and believed that he had not died and that he would one day return to rule again.This paper reviews the Mahdawiyyah belief system of the Isma‘iliyyah sect and its various branches.

The port city of Siraf, a major Muslim trade center throughout ages, is situated 300 kilometers west of Bandar-e Abbas, 230 kilometers east of Bushehr, near the present Bandar-e Taheri on the southern coast of Iran. The Siraf port played a very sensitive role in Muslim maritime trade between the 1st and 6th centuries A.H.Producing a great number of scientists in mathematics, medicine, literature, figh`h (religious law), Hadith (Tradition), etc. is proof that besides its importance in seafaring and trade, Siraf had been a major center of scholarly activities; a point that is the focus of study for this article.

The presence of ‘Alawites and Shi‘i thought in distant regions all over the world has had a major role in the expansion and establishment of Islam in those areas. An important factor in the rise and spread of ‘Alawite following and Shi‘i thought in such places was the existence of necessary political, social, cultural, and ideological grounds in those geographical regions. Andalusia– when a Muslim sphere of influence– not only did not provide proper grounds for the spread of Shi‘ah footholds, but hindered the growth and expansion of ‘Alawite religious and political thought, because of the presence of certain specific factors, compared to other domains of the Muslim World.

The idea of Mahdawiyyah (belief in the Coming of the Promised Mahdi) is a major Qur’anic, hadithic, theological, and political concept and a pillar in the history of Islam. This idea was born among the Shi‘ah of the East, acquired its final doctrinal formulation, and became part of the official culture of the Islamic West (al-Maghrib). This concept has had a prominent position in the Islamic civilization and culture and played a major role in repeated crises in the Muslim World throughout history. Awaiting the Promised One is traditionally rooted among the numerous creeds in the Islamic West. In fact, the first instance of the establishment of a government based on the belief in the Coming of Mahdi occurred in the Islamic West.A historical report of 14 centuries of belief in Mahdawiyyah and the study of its theoretical principles, the claimants to Mahdawiyyah, and theologically Mahdawiyyah-based governments that were established in the Islamic West from towards the end of the 2nd until the middle of the 14th centuries A.H. are subjects of study for this paper.

The history of ‘Alawite inclinations in Anatolia and the quality of the penetration of Shi‘ah thought into their belief system has been largely ignored by researchers throughout history. In fact, the roots of ‘Alawite beliefs can be traced back to ancient times from when Turkic tribes resided in Transoxiana to their migration to Anatolia. Gradually, this pattern of life resulted in an eclectic theology that has borrowed a thing or two from every geographical area they passed through and every religion they encountered. What is certain is that Shi‘i opinions influenced the ‘Alawite belief system mostly through the Hurufiyah Order and missionary work by Safavid sheikhs in Anatolia in the 15th and 16th centuries CE, changing the ‘Alawites of Ottoman Anatolia into the Ghizilbash of Safavid Iran.