Qarmatians
Encyclopedia
The Qarmatians were a Shi'a Ismaili
group centered in eastern Arabia
, where they attempted to established a utopian republic in 899 CE. They are most famed for their revolt against the Abbasid Caliphate
. Mecca
suffered great indignity by the sect’s leader Ṭāhir Sulaymān, particularly with their theft of the Black Stone
and desecration of the Well of Zamzam
with Muslim corpses during the Hajj season of 930 CE.
The Qarāmaṭah were also known as "the Greengrocers" (al-Baqliyyah) because of their strict vegetarian habits.
(750–1258 CE), various Shī‘ī groups organised in secret opposition to their rule. Among them were the supporters of the proto-Ismā‘īlī community, of whom the most prominent group were called the Mubārakiyyah.
According to Ismaili school of thought, Imām Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq
(702–765) designated his second son, Ismā‘īl ibn Ja‘far "al-Mubārak" (ca. 721–755), as heir to the Imamate
. However, Ismā‘īl predeceased his father. Some claimed he had gone into hiding, but the proto-Ismā‘īlī group accepted his death and therefore accordingly recognized his eldest son, Muḥammad ibn Ismā'īl
(746–809), as Imām. Muḥammad ibn Ismā'īl remained in contact with the Mubārakiyyah group, most of whom resided in Kūfah
.
The split among the Mubārakiyyah came with the death of Muḥammad ibn Ismā‘īl (ca. 813 CE). The majority of the group denied his death; they recognized him as the Mahdi
. The minority believed in his death and would eventually emerge in later times as the Fāṭimid
Ismā‘īlī, the precursors to all modern groups.
The majority Ismā‘īlī missionary movement settled in Salamiyyah (in present-day Syria) and had great success in Khuzestan (southwestern Persia), where the Ismā‘īlī leader al-Husayn al-Ahwāzī converted the Kūfan man Ḥamdān in 874 CE, who took the name Qarmaṭ after his new faith. Qarmaṭ and his theologian brother-in-law ‘Abdān prepared southern Iraq for the coming of the Mahdi by creating a military and religious stronghold. Other such locations grew up in Yemen, in Bahrain
in 899 CE and in North Africa. These attracted many new Shī‘ī followers due to their activist and messianic teachings. This new proto-Qarmaṭī movement continued to spread into Persia and then into Transoxiana.
(873–934), who founded the Fatimid Caliphate in North Africa in 909.
Nonetheless, the dissident group retained the name Qarmaṭī. Their greatest stronghold remained in Bahrain, which at this period included much of eastern Arabia as well as the islands that comprise the present state, was under Abbasid control at the end of the ninth century, but a slave rebellion
in Basra disrupted the power of Baghdad. The Qarmaṭians seized their opportunity under their leader, Abū-Saʿīd Jannābī, who captured Bahrain’s capital Hajr and al-Hasa
in 899, which he made the capital of his republic and once in control of the state he sought to set up a utopian society.
The Qarmaṭians instigated what one scholar termed a "century of terrorism" in Kufa.
They considered the pilgrimage to Mecca a superstition and once in control of the Bahraini state they launched raids along the pilgrim routes crossing Arabia: in 906 they ambushed the pilgrim caravan returning from Mecca and massacred 20,000 pilgrims.
Under Abu Tahir Al-Jannabi
(ruled 923–944) the Qarmaṭians came close to raiding Baghdad in 927 and sacked Mecca and Medina in 930. The assault on Islam's holiest sites saw the Qarmatians desecrate the Well of Zamzam
with corpses of Hajj pilgrims and take the Black Stone
from Mecca to Al-Hasa. Holding the Black Stone to ransom they forced the Abbasids to pay a huge sum for its return in 952.
The revolution and desecration shocked the Muslim world and humiliated the Abbasids. But little that could be done; for much of the tenth century the Qarmatians were the most powerful force in the Persian Gulf
and Middle East, controlling the coast of Oman
and collecting tribute from the caliph in Baghdad as well as from a rival Ismaili imam in Cairo, whom they did not recognize.
After their expulsion from Iraq by the Buyids in 985, a group of Qarmatians also settled in Multan
, Pakistan
where their beliefs have influenced the local interpretation of Islam.
The land they ruled over was extremely wealthy with a huge slave-based economy according to academic Yitzhak Nakash:
The sack of Mecca followed millenarian
fervour among the Qarmatians (as well as in Persia) over the conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter in 928—an event which happens every 960 years. The date of the conjunction, 27 October 928 CE, was interpreted in light of Islamic revelation, which they saw as heralding a new period as a return of Persian dominance.
in a young Persian former prisoner from Isfahan named Abu'l-Fadl al-Isfahani, but later he was removed due to a power struggle. Initially, he instituted the worship of fire
and burned religious texts, but eventually attempted to exterminate the aristocracy, and Abu Tahir denounced the false Mahdi to save himself. Religious and political decisions made during his term as caliph
were reversed.
In Bahrain
and eastern Arabia the Qarmatian state was replaced by the Uyunid dynasty, while it is believed that by the middle of the eleventh century Qarmatian communities in Iraq
, Iran
and Transoxiana
had either been won over by Fatamid proselytising or had disintegrated. The last contemporary mention of the Qarmatians is that of Nasir ibn Khosrau, who visited them in 1050, although Ibn Battuta
, visiting Qatif
in 1331, found it inhabited by Arab tribes whom he described as "extremist Shi`is" (rafidiyya ghulat
), which historian Juan Cole
has suggested is how a 14th Century Sunni would describe Ismailis.
Ismaili
' is a branch of Shia Islam. It is the second largest branch of Shia Islam, after the Twelvers...
group centered in eastern Arabia
Al-Hasa
Al-Ahsa is the largest governorate in Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province, named after Al-Ahsa oasis. The name Al-Ahsa is also given to the biggest city in the region, Hofuf. In classic Arabic, Ahsa means the sound of water underground. It has one of the largest oases in the world with Date Palms of...
, where they attempted to established a utopian republic in 899 CE. They are most famed for their revolt against the Abbasid Caliphate
Abbasid
The Abbasid Caliphate or, more simply, the Abbasids , was the third of the Islamic caliphates. It was ruled by the Abbasid dynasty of caliphs, who built their capital in Baghdad after overthrowing the Umayyad caliphate from all but the al-Andalus region....
. Mecca
Mecca
Mecca is a city in the Hijaz and the capital of Makkah province in Saudi Arabia. The city is located inland from Jeddah in a narrow valley at a height of above sea level...
suffered great indignity by the sect’s leader Ṭāhir Sulaymān, particularly with their theft of the Black Stone
Black Stone
The Black Stone is the eastern cornerstone of the Kaaba, the ancient stone building towards which Muslims pray, in the center of the Grand Mosque in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. It is revered by Muslims as an Islamic relic, which according to Muslim tradition dates back to the time of Adam and Eve.The...
and desecration of the Well of Zamzam
Zamzam Well
The Well of Zamzam is a well located within the Masjid al-Haram in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, east of the Kaaba, the holiest place in Islam...
with Muslim corpses during the Hajj season of 930 CE.
The Qarāmaṭah were also known as "the Greengrocers" (al-Baqliyyah) because of their strict vegetarian habits.
Early developments
Under the 'Abbāsid dynastyAbbasid
The Abbasid Caliphate or, more simply, the Abbasids , was the third of the Islamic caliphates. It was ruled by the Abbasid dynasty of caliphs, who built their capital in Baghdad after overthrowing the Umayyad caliphate from all but the al-Andalus region....
(750–1258 CE), various Shī‘ī groups organised in secret opposition to their rule. Among them were the supporters of the proto-Ismā‘īlī community, of whom the most prominent group were called the Mubārakiyyah.
According to Ismaili school of thought, Imām Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq
Ja'far al-Sadiq
Jaʿfar ibn Muhammad al-Sādiq was a descendant of Muhammad and a prominent Muslim jurist. He is revered as an Imam by the adherents of Shi'a Islam and as a renowned Islamic scholar and personality by Sunni Muslims. The Shi'a Muslims consider him to be the sixth Imam or leader and spiritual...
(702–765) designated his second son, Ismā‘īl ibn Ja‘far "al-Mubārak" (ca. 721–755), as heir to the Imamate
Imamate
The word Imamate is an Arabic word with an English language suffix meaning leadership. Its use in theology is confined to Islam.-Theological usage:...
. However, Ismā‘īl predeceased his father. Some claimed he had gone into hiding, but the proto-Ismā‘īlī group accepted his death and therefore accordingly recognized his eldest son, Muḥammad ibn Ismā'īl
Muhammad ibn Ismail
Muhammad ibn Ismail was the son of Ismail ibn Jafar and an Ismaili Imam. The majority of Ismaili follow his descendants through his son Wafi Ahmad / Abdullah ibn Mohammad who founded the Fatimid Empire, including the Nizari and Mustaali.- Biography :...
(746–809), as Imām. Muḥammad ibn Ismā'īl remained in contact with the Mubārakiyyah group, most of whom resided in Kūfah
Kufa
Kufa 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....
.
The split among the Mubārakiyyah came with the death of Muḥammad ibn Ismā‘īl (ca. 813 CE). The majority of the group denied his death; they recognized him as the Mahdi
Mahdi
In Islamic eschatology, the Mahdi is the prophesied redeemer of Islam who will stay on Earth for seven, nine or nineteen years- before the Day of Judgment and, alongside Jesus, will rid the world of wrongdoing, injustice and tyranny.In Shia Islam, the belief in the Mahdi is a "central religious...
. The minority believed in his death and would eventually emerge in later times as the Fāṭimid
Fatimid
The Fatimid Islamic Caliphate or al-Fāṭimiyyūn was a Berber Shia Muslim caliphate first centered in Tunisia and later in Egypt that ruled over varying areas of the Maghreb, Sudan, Sicily, the Levant, and Hijaz from 5 January 909 to 1171.The caliphate was ruled by the Fatimids, who established the...
Ismā‘īlī, the precursors to all modern groups.
The majority Ismā‘īlī missionary movement settled in Salamiyyah (in present-day Syria) and had great success in Khuzestan (southwestern Persia), where the Ismā‘īlī leader al-Husayn al-Ahwāzī converted the Kūfan man Ḥamdān in 874 CE, who took the name Qarmaṭ after his new faith. Qarmaṭ and his theologian brother-in-law ‘Abdān prepared southern Iraq for the coming of the Mahdi by creating a military and religious stronghold. Other such locations grew up in Yemen, in Bahrain
Bahrain (historical region)
Bahrain is a historical region in eastern Arabia that was known as the Province of Bahrain until the 16th Century. It stretched from the south of Basra along the Persian Gulf coast and included the regions of Kuwait, Al-Hasa, Qatif, Qatar, and the Awal Islands, now known as Bahrain. The name...
in 899 CE and in North Africa. These attracted many new Shī‘ī followers due to their activist and messianic teachings. This new proto-Qarmaṭī movement continued to spread into Persia and then into Transoxiana.
The Qarmatian Revolution
A change in leadership in Salamiyyah in 899 led to a split in the movement. The minority Ismā‘īlīs, whose leader had taken control of the Salamiyyah centre, began to proclaim their teachings - that Imām Muḥammad had died, and that the new leader in Salamiyyah was in fact his descendant come out of hiding. Qarmaṭ and his brother-in-law opposed this and openly broke with the Salamiyyids; when ‘Abdān was assassinated, he went into hiding and subsequently repented. Qarmaṭ became a missionary of the new Imām, Ubayd Allah al-Mahdi BillahUbayd Allah al-Mahdi Billah
Abdullah al-Mahdi Billah , often referred to as Ubayd Allah, is the founder of the Fatimid dynasty, the only major Shi'a caliphate in Islam, and established Fatimid rule throughout much of North Africa.- History :...
(873–934), who founded the Fatimid Caliphate in North Africa in 909.
Nonetheless, the dissident group retained the name Qarmaṭī. Their greatest stronghold remained in Bahrain, which at this period included much of eastern Arabia as well as the islands that comprise the present state, was under Abbasid control at the end of the ninth century, but a slave rebellion
Zanj Rebellion
The Zanj Rebellion was the culmination of series of small revolts. It took place near the city of Basra, located in southern Iraq over a period of fifteen years . It grew to involve over 500,000 slaves who were imported from across the Muslim empire and claimed over “tens of thousands of lives in...
in Basra disrupted the power of Baghdad. The Qarmaṭians seized their opportunity under their leader, Abū-Saʿīd Jannābī, who captured Bahrain’s capital Hajr and al-Hasa
Al-Hasa
Al-Ahsa is the largest governorate in Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province, named after Al-Ahsa oasis. The name Al-Ahsa is also given to the biggest city in the region, Hofuf. In classic Arabic, Ahsa means the sound of water underground. It has one of the largest oases in the world with Date Palms of...
in 899, which he made the capital of his republic and once in control of the state he sought to set up a utopian society.
The Qarmaṭians instigated what one scholar termed a "century of terrorism" in Kufa.
They considered the pilgrimage to Mecca a superstition and once in control of the Bahraini state they launched raids along the pilgrim routes crossing Arabia: in 906 they ambushed the pilgrim caravan returning from Mecca and massacred 20,000 pilgrims.
Under Abu Tahir Al-Jannabi
Abu Tahir Al-Jannabi
Abū-Tāhir Sulaymān Al-Jannābī was the ruler of the Qarmatian state in Bahrain and Eastern Arabia, who in 930 led the sacking of Mecca.The son of ‘Abu Sa’id al-Jannabi, the founder of the Qarmatian state, Abu Tahir became leader of the state in 923...
(ruled 923–944) the Qarmaṭians came close to raiding Baghdad in 927 and sacked Mecca and Medina in 930. The assault on Islam's holiest sites saw the Qarmatians desecrate the Well of Zamzam
Zamzam Well
The Well of Zamzam is a well located within the Masjid al-Haram in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, east of the Kaaba, the holiest place in Islam...
with corpses of Hajj pilgrims and take the Black Stone
Black Stone
The Black Stone is the eastern cornerstone of the Kaaba, the ancient stone building towards which Muslims pray, in the center of the Grand Mosque in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. It is revered by Muslims as an Islamic relic, which according to Muslim tradition dates back to the time of Adam and Eve.The...
from Mecca to Al-Hasa. Holding the Black Stone to ransom they forced the Abbasids to pay a huge sum for its return in 952.
The revolution and desecration shocked the Muslim world and humiliated the Abbasids. But little that could be done; for much of the tenth century the Qarmatians were the most powerful force in the Persian Gulf
Persian Gulf
The Persian Gulf, in Southwest Asia, is an extension of the Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.The Persian Gulf was the focus of the 1980–1988 Iran-Iraq War, in which each side attacked the other's oil tankers...
and Middle East, controlling the coast of Oman
Oman
Oman , officially called the Sultanate of Oman , is an Arab state in southwest Asia on the southeast coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by the United Arab Emirates to the northwest, Saudi Arabia to the west, and Yemen to the southwest. The coast is formed by the Arabian Sea on the...
and collecting tribute from the caliph in Baghdad as well as from a rival Ismaili imam in Cairo, whom they did not recognize.
After their expulsion from Iraq by the Buyids in 985, a group of Qarmatians also settled in Multan
Multan
Multan , is a city in the Punjab Province of Pakistan and capital of Multan District. It is located in the southern part of the province on the east bank of the Chenab River, more or less in the geographic centre of the country and about from Islamabad, from Lahore and from Karachi...
, Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
where their beliefs have influenced the local interpretation of Islam.
Qarmatian society
The Qarmatians aimed to build a society based on reason and equality. The state was governed by a council of six with a chief who was a first among equals. All property within the community was distributed evenly among all initiates. The Qarmatians were organized as an esoteric society but not as a secret one. Their activities were public and openly propagated, but new members had to undergo an initiation ceremony involving seven stages. In an echo of cyclical Mazdean thought, the Qarmatian world view was one where every phenomenon repeated itself in cycles, where every incident was replayed over and over again.The land they ruled over was extremely wealthy with a huge slave-based economy according to academic Yitzhak Nakash:
The sack of Mecca followed millenarian
Millenarianism
Millenarianism is the belief by a religious, social, or political group or movement in a coming major transformation of society, after which all things will be changed, based on a one-thousand-year cycle. The term is more generically used to refer to any belief centered around 1000 year intervals...
fervour among the Qarmatians (as well as in Persia) over the conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter in 928—an event which happens every 960 years. The date of the conjunction, 27 October 928 CE, was interpreted in light of Islamic revelation, which they saw as heralding a new period as a return of Persian dominance.
Mahdi-Caliph
In 931 Abu Tahir believed he had found the new MahdiMahdi
In Islamic eschatology, the Mahdi is the prophesied redeemer of Islam who will stay on Earth for seven, nine or nineteen years- before the Day of Judgment and, alongside Jesus, will rid the world of wrongdoing, injustice and tyranny.In Shia Islam, the belief in the Mahdi is a "central religious...
in a young Persian former prisoner from Isfahan named Abu'l-Fadl al-Isfahani, but later he was removed due to a power struggle. Initially, he instituted the worship of fire
Fire worship
Worship or deification of fire is known from various religions. Fire has been an important part of human culture since the Lower Paleolithic...
and burned religious texts, but eventually attempted to exterminate the aristocracy, and Abu Tahir denounced the false Mahdi to save himself. Religious and political decisions made during his term as caliph
Caliph
The Caliph is the head of state in a Caliphate, and the title for the ruler of the Islamic Ummah, an Islamic community ruled by the Shari'ah. It is a transcribed version of the Arabic word which means "successor" or "representative"...
were reversed.
Collapse
After defeat by the Abbasids in 976 the Qarmatians began to look inwards and their status was reduced to that of a local power. This had important repercussions for the Qarmatians' ability to extract tribute from the region; according to Arabist historian Curtis Larsen:In Bahrain
Bahrain
' , officially the Kingdom of Bahrain , is a small island state near the western shores of the Persian Gulf. It is ruled by the Al Khalifa royal family. The population in 2010 stood at 1,214,705, including 235,108 non-nationals. Formerly an emirate, Bahrain was declared a kingdom in 2002.Bahrain is...
and eastern Arabia the Qarmatian state was replaced by the Uyunid dynasty, while it is believed that by the middle of the eleventh century Qarmatian communities in Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
, Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
and Transoxiana
Transoxiana
Transoxiana is the ancient name used for the portion of Central Asia corresponding approximately with modern-day Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, southern Kyrgystan and southwest Kazakhstan. Geographically, it is the region between the Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers...
had either been won over by Fatamid proselytising or had disintegrated. The last contemporary mention of the Qarmatians is that of Nasir ibn Khosrau, who visited them in 1050, although Ibn Battuta
Ibn Battuta
Abu Abdullah Muhammad Ibn Battuta , or simply Ibn Battuta, also known as Shams ad–Din , was a Muslim Moroccan Berber explorer, known for his extensive travels published in the Rihla...
, visiting Qatif
Qatif
Qatif or Al-Qatif is a governorate and urban area located in Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia. It extends from Ras Tanura and Jubail in the north to Dammam in the south, and from the Persian Gulf in the east to King Fahd International Airport in the west...
in 1331, found it inhabited by Arab tribes whom he described as "extremist Shi`is" (rafidiyya ghulat
Ghulat
Ghulāt , is a term used in the theology of Shia Islam to describe some minority Muslim groups who either ascribe divine characteristics to a member of Muhammad's family , or hold beliefs deemed deviant by mainstream Shi'i theology...
), which historian Juan Cole
Juan Cole
John Ricardo I. "Juan" Cole is an American scholar, public intellectual, and historian of the modern Middle East and South Asia. He is Richard P. Mitchell Collegiate Professor of History at the University of Michigan. As a commentator on Middle Eastern affairs, he has appeared in print and on...
has suggested is how a 14th Century Sunni would describe Ismailis.
Religious beliefs
There is a general tendency in the Sunnite and Shiite sources, when referring to the Ismailis, often erroneously call them Qarmatians without perception of the distinction between them.See also
- Shanga, in the Lamu Archipelago, KenyaKenyaKenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
- History of BahrainHistory of BahrainBahrain is a island country in the Persian Gulf. Although Bahrain became an independent country in 1971, the history of these islands starts from ancient times...
- List of extinct Shia sects
- List of Shi'a Muslim dynasties