( ar, عبد الله بن معاویه الهاشمي; died 747) was an Alid leader who led a rebellion against the

Umayyad Caliphate The Umayyad Caliphate (661–750 CE; , ; ar, ٱلْخِلَافَة ٱلْأُمَوِيَّة, al-Khilāfah al-ʾUmawīyah) was the second of the four major caliphates established after the death of Muhammad. The caliphate was ruled by th ...

Kufa Kufa ( ar, الْكُوفَة ), also spelled Kufah, is a city in Iraq, about south of Baghdad, and northeast of Najaf. It is located on the banks of the Euphrates River. The estimated population in 2003 was 110,000. Currently, Kufa and Najaf a ...

and later

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

during the

Third Fitna The Third Fitna ( ar, الفتنة الثاﻟﺜـة, al-Fitna al-thālitha), was a series of civil wars and uprisings against the Umayyad Caliphate beginning with the overthrow of Caliph al-Walid II in 744 and ending with the victory of Marwan ...

Early life and rise to the imamate

Abd Allah ibn Mu'awiya was a great-grandson of

Ali ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib ( ar, عَلِيّ بْن أَبِي طَالِب; 600 – 661 CE) was the last of four Rightly Guided Caliphs to rule Islam (r. 656 – 661) immediately after the death of Muhammad, and he was the first Shia Imam ...

's brother,

Ja'far ibn Abi Talib Jaʿfar ibn Abī Ṭālib ( ar, جعفر بن أبي طالب September 629), also known as Jaʿfar al-Ṭayyār ( ar, جعفر الطيّار, lit=Ja'far the Flyer) was a companion and cousin of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad, and an older broth ...

. Following the death of Ali's grandson Abu Hashim in 703, the leadership of the Alid cause was vacant, and several candidates vied for it: one party claimed that Abu Hashim had transferred his rights to the

Abbasid The Abbasid Caliphate ( or ; ar, الْخِلَافَةُ الْعَبَّاسِيَّة, ') was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abdul-Muttalib ...

Muhammad ibn Ali, while another faction wanted to proclaim Abd Allah ibn Amr al-Kindi as the next imam. The latter, however, proved unsatisfactory, and Abd Allah ibn Mu'awiya was chosen instead. Abd Allah claimed not only the imamate, but also, according to

Karl Vilhelm Zetterstéen Karl Vilhelm Zetterstéen (18 August 1866 – June 1, 1953) was a Swedish professor and orientalist. Biography Zetterstéen was born at Orsa in Dalarna, Sweden. He began his studies at Uppsala University in 1884, became a Ph.D. and docent o ...

, a divine status. Consequently, his followers embraced the concept of

reincarnation Reincarnation, also known as rebirth or transmigration, is the philosophical or religious concept that the non-physical essence of a living being begins a new life in a different physical form or body after biological death. Resurrection is ...

and rejected the resurrection of the dead.

Rebellion and death

In October 744, Abd Allah and his followers rebelled in

, and joined by other Alid sympathizers (especially

Zaydis Zaydism (''h'') is a unique branch of Shia Islam that emerged in the eighth century following Zayd ibn Ali‘s unsuccessful rebellion against the Umayyad Caliphate. In contrast to other Shia Muslims of Twelver Shi'ism and Isma'ilism, Zaydis, ...

), took control of the city and expelled its governor. The reaction of the governor of Iraq, Abd Allah ibn Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz, however, was swift, and he marched on Kufa. Most of the citizens deserted the Alid cause, but the Zaydi contingent fought with enough determination to allow Abd Allah to withdraw from Kufa, first to al-Mada'in and thence to

Jibal Jibāl ( ar, جبال), also al-Jabal ( ar, الجبل), was the name given by the Arabs to a region and province located in western Iran, under the Umayyad and Abbasid Caliphates. Its name means "the Mountains", being the plural of ''jabal'' (" ...

. Despite his defeat at Kufa, volunteers opposed to the Umayyad regime continued to flock to his banner, including remnants of the Kharijites defeated by

Marwan II Marwan ibn Muhammad ibn Marwan ibn al-Hakam ( ar, مروان بن محمد بن مروان بن الحكم, Marwān ibn Muḥammad ibn Marwān ibn al-Ḥakam; – 6 August 750), commonly known as Marwan II, was the fourteenth and last caliph of ...

and some Abbasid followers. Taking advantage of the turmoils of the

and the burgeoning

Abbasid Revolution The Abbasid Revolution, also called the Movement of the Men of the Black Raiment, was the overthrow of the Umayyad Caliphate (661–750 CE), the second of the four major Caliphates in early Islamic history, by the third, the Abbasid Caliphate ...

in Khurasan, which debilitated the Umayyad government, he managed to extend his control over large parts of

, including most of Jibal,

Ahvaz Ahvaz ( fa, اهواز, Ahvâz ) is a city in the southwest of Iran and the capital of Khuzestan province. Ahvaz's population is about 1,300,000 and its built-up area with the nearby town of Sheybani is home to 1,136,989 inhabitants. It is hom ...

, Fars and Kerman. He established his residence first at Isfahan and then at

Istakhr Istakhr (Middle Persian romanized: ''Stakhr'', fa, اصطخر, translit=Istakhr also spelt استخر in modern literature) was an ancient city in Fars province, north of Persepolis in southwestern Iran. It flourished as the capital of the Per ...

. Finally, Marwan II dispatched an army under Amir ibn Dubara against Abd Allah. The Alid's forces were utterly defeated at Marw al-Shadhan in 747, and his rule over Persia collapsed. Abd Allah himself managed to flee to Khurasan, where the Abbasid leader Abu Muslim executed him. Some of his followers refused to believe his death, and believed that he would return as 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 ...

'', forming the sect known as the "'' Janahiyya''". Others, the so-called "Harithites", believed that he was reincarnated in the person of Ishaq ibn Zayd ibn al-Harith al-Ansari.

Early life and rise to the imamate

Rebellion and death

References

Further reading