The Muhammadite Shia (named for
Muhammad al Askari ibn Imam Ali al-Hadi) were a
Shia
Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his successor (''khalīfa'') and the Imam (spiritual and political leader) after him, mo ...
sect who believed that due to the supposed lack of a son (according to their opinion) for
Hasan al-Askari, they had to rethink the legitimacy of his
Imamate. Therefore, they instead believed in the Imamate of his brother
Muhammad al Askari ibn Imam Ali al-Hadi,
[{{cite book, last1=Reza , first1=Saiyed Jafar, title= The Essence of Islam , date=2012, publisher= Concept Publishing Company, location= New Delhi, India , page=254 & 255, language=English] who died 7 years before the death of his father. However, the Muhammadites denied the death of
Muhammad al Askari ibn Imam Ali al-Hadi, and claimed that his father had pointed to him and appointed him as the Imam to succeed himself, and had mentioned him by his name and person. These beliefs, falsely according to them, are what were agreed by all.
To support their position, they believed it was impossible for the Imam to point through will to one who was not the Imam. Therefore, to support this belief, they argued that
Muhammad al Askari ibn Imam Ali al-Hadi did not die in reality, as was apparent. According to them, his father had rather hidden him due to
Taqiyyah (as the
Ismailis claimed
Ja'far al-Sadiq
Jaʿfar ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī al-Ṣādiq ( ar, جعفر بن محمد الصادق; 702 – 765 CE), commonly known as Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq (), was an 8th-century Shia Muslim scholar, jurist, and theologian.. He was the founder of th ...
hid his son
Isma'il ibn Jafar
Abū Muḥammad Ismāʿīl ibn Jaʿfar al-Mubārak ( ar, إسماعيل بن جعفر; c.719 AD – c.762 AD) was the eldest son of Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq. He is also known as Isma'il al-Ãraj ibn Ja'far al-Sadiq (اسماعيل الاعرج ...
) and he was the Awaited
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 ...
.
Muhammadite sub-sect
Nafisites
The Nafisites (named for a servant of Ali al-Hadi called Nafis) were an extremist Shia sub-sect of the Muhammadites.
The Nafisites believed that
Muhammad al Askari ibn Imam Ali al-Hadi did die and that he gave the will to a servant of his father called Nafis. According to them, Muhammad handed over to Nafis books, different kinds of knowledge, the sword and whatever the
Ummah
' (; ar, أمة ) is an Arabic word meaning "community". It is distinguished from ' ( ), which means a nation with common ancestry or geography. Thus, it can be said to be a supra-national community with a common history.
It is a synonym for ' ...
would need. They also believed that Muhammad advised Nafis to give all these things to his brother Ja'far ibn Ali al-Hadi if he (i.e. Muhammad) died.
The Nafisites took a very violent stand as regards Hasan al-Askari. They considered him and all those who believed in his Imamate as unbelievers. They also held extreme views in the case of Ja'far ibn Ali al-Hadi and claimed that he was the Mahdi.
[Firaq al-Shi’ah (The Shi'ah Groups), by Abu Muhammad al-Hasan bin Musa al-Nubakhti, pg.108]
See also
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Islamic schools and branches
Islamic schools and branches have different understandings of Islam. There are many different sects or denominations, schools of Islamic jurisprudence, and schools of Islamic theology, or '' ʿaqīdah'' (creed). Within Islamic groups themselves ...
*
List of extinct Shia sects
The following is a list of extinct unorthodox movements within Shia Islam. These are movements that no longer have any living followers or practitioners. These movements were created around certain beliefs that were unorthodox and not held by th ...
References
Shia Islamic branches
Schisms in Islam
9th-century Islam