Abu'l-Husayn Muhammad ibn Ali (), better known by his nickname Akhu Muhsin (), was a 10th-century anti- Isma'ili writer. Himself of

Alid The Alids are those who claim descent from the '' rāshidūn'' caliph and Imam ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib (656–661)—cousin, son-in-law, and companion of the Islamic prophet Muhammad—through all his wives. The main branches are the (inc ...

descent, Akhu Muhsin lived in

Damascus )), is an adjective which means "spacious". , motto = , image_flag = Flag of Damascus.svg , image_seal = Emblem of Damascus.svg , seal_type = Seal , map_caption = , ...

, and was one of the first writers interested in Alid genealogy. Based to a large degree on the previous anti-Isma'ili tract of Ibn Rizam, which now survives only in fragmentary form, he composed his own treatise against the

Fatimid Caliphate The Fatimid Caliphate was an Isma'ilism, Ismaili Shia Islam, Shi'a caliphate extant from the tenth to the twelfth centuries AD. Spanning a large area of North Africa, it ranged from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Red Sea in the ea ...

and their Isma'ili adherents . It too does not survive but in fragments, incorporated in the works of the later historians

al-Nuwayri Al-Nuwayrī, full name Shihāb al-Dīn Aḥmad bin ʿAbd al-Wahhāb al-Nuwayrī ( ar, شهاب الدين أحمد بن عبد الوهاب النويري, born April 5, 1279 in Akhmim, present-day Egypt – died June 5, 1333 in Cairo) was an Eg ...

, Ibn al-Dawadari, and

al-Maqrizi Al-Maqrīzī or Maḳrīzī (Arabic: ), whose full name was Taqī al-Dīn Abū al-'Abbās Aḥmad ibn 'Alī ibn 'Abd al-Qādir ibn Muḥammad al-Maqrīzī (Arabic: ) (1364–1442) was a medieval Egyptian Arab historian during the Mamluk era, kn ...

. From the fragments, it appears that Akhu Muhsin's work contained separate parts dealing with history and doctrine. However, already al-Maqrizi condemned both Akhu Muhsin and Ibn Rizam as unreliable. Indeed, the work introduced extensive quotations from an anonymous tract, the ''Kitāb al-siyāsa'' ("Book of Methodology" or " Book of the Highest Initiation"), which purported to be an Isma'ili work describing methods of winning new converts and initiating them into the secrets of the Isma'ili doctrine. Its fabricated content was tailored to justify the rejection of the Isma'ilis as antinomian atheists and libertines, and ensured it a long existence as the main source for "several generations of polemicists and heresiographers" targeting the Isma'ilis. Ibn Rizam and Akhu Mahsin's account thus "provided the basis for most subsequent Sunni writing", notably the public denunciation of the Fatimids in the

Baghdad Manifesto The Baghdad Manifesto was a polemical tract issued in 1011 on behalf of the Abbasid caliph al-Qadir against the rival Isma'ili Fatimid Caliphate. Background The manifesto was the result of the steady expansion of the Fatimid Caliphate since its es ...

of 1011, sponsored by the

Abbasid caliph The Abbasid caliphs were the holders of the Islamic title of caliph who were members of the Abbasid dynasty, a branch of the Quraysh tribe descended from the uncle of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, Al-Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib. The family came t ...

al-Qadir. Their work thus became the accepted version outside the Isma'ili community, not only on Isma'ili doctrine, but also on the origins of the Isma'ili movement, including in Western scholarly circles, until the start of a more critical evaluation of the historical sources in the 20th century. Akhu Mahsin died in .

References

Sources

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Akhu Muhsin 980s deaths 10th-century Arabs Year of birth unknown Year of death uncertain Anti-Ismailism Alids History of Ismailism Writers from Damascus