Abu'l-Fadl al-Isfahani, also known as the Isfahani Mahdi, was a young

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

man who in 931 CE was declared to be "God incarnate" by the

Qarmatian The Qarmatians ( ar, قرامطة, Qarāmiṭa; ) were a militant Isma'ili Shia movement centred in al-Hasa in Eastern Arabia, where they established a religious-utopian socialist state in 899 CE. Its members were part of a movement that adh ...

leader of

Bahrayn Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ad ...

Abu Tahir al-Jannabi Abu Tahir Sulayman al-Jannabi ( ar, ابو طاهر سلیمان الجنّابي, Abū Tāhir Sulaymān al-Jannābī, fa, ابوطاهر سلیمانِ گناوه‌ای ''Abu-Tāher Soleymān-e Genāve'i'') was a Persian warlord and the ruler ...

. This new apocalyptic leader, however, caused great disruption by rejecting traditional aspects of Islam, and promoting ties to

Zoroastrianism Zoroastrianism is an Iranian religion and one of the world's oldest organized faiths, based on the teachings of the Iranian-speaking prophet Zoroaster. It has a dualistic cosmology of good and evil within the framework of a monotheisti ...

. Abu Tahir thought that he had identified the

Mahdi The Mahdi ( ar, ٱلْمَهْدِيّ, al-Mahdī, lit=the Guided) is a messianic figure in Islamic eschatology who is believed to appear at the end of times to rid the world of evil and injustice. He is said to be a descendant of Muhammad w ...

as a young Persian prisoner from Isfahan by the name of Abu'l-Fadl al-Isfahani, who claimed to be a descendant of the Sassanid Persian kings.The Other God: Dualist Religions from Antiquity to the Cathar Heresy by Yuri Stoyanov Al-Isfahani had been brought back to Bahrayn from the Qarmatians' raid into Iraq in 928. In 931, Abu Tahir turned over the state to this Mahdi-Caliph, said in fact to be a

Zoroastrian Zoroastrianism is an Iranian religion and one of the world's oldest organized faiths, based on the teachings of the Iranian-speaking prophet Zoroaster. It has a dualistic cosmology of good and evil within the framework of a monotheistic ...

revivalist with anti-Arab sentiments. He reinstituted the veneration of fire and engaged in burning of religious books during an eighty-day rule. Isfahani also is though to have some links with established Zoroastrian orthodoxy as the high priest of the Zoroastrians. Esfandiar Adarbad was executed by the Abbasid Caliph after being accused of complicity with Abu Tahir. His reign culminated in the execution of members of Bahrayn's notable families, including members of Abu Tahir's family.Farhad Daftary, The Assassin Legends: Myths of the Isma'ilis, IB Tauris, 1994, p21 Abu Tahir's mother conspired to get rid of Abu'l-Fadl; she faked her death and sent a messenger to call the

to resurrect her. When he refused, he was exposed as being a normal human, and Abu Tahir's brother Sa'id killed Abu'l-Fadl after the Mahdi had reigned for only eighty days. Other accounts say fearing for his own life, Abu Tahir announced that he had been wrong and denounced the al-Isfahani as a false Mahdi. Begging forgiveness from the other notables, Abu Tahir had him executed.

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* * * * * {{cite book , last=Madelung , first=Wilferd , author-link = Wilferd Madelung , chapter = The Fatimids and the Qarmatīs of Bahrayn , pages = 21–73 , title=Mediaeval Isma'ili History and Thought , editor-last = Daftary , editor-first = Farhad , editor-link = Farhad Daftary , year = 1996 , publisher=

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press in the world. It is also the King's Printer. Cambridge University Pre ...

, isbn=978-0-521-00310-0 , chapter-url={{Google books, 8eebGQXgPcQC, page=21, plainurl=y Qarmatians 931 deaths Medieval Bahraini people Iranian Zoroastrians 10th-century Iranian people Mahdism