We found a match
Your institution may have access to this item. Find your institution then sign in to continue.
- Title
How to Make a Zaydi Imam: Zaydi Reports on the Revolt of Ṣāḥib Fakhkh ?usayn b. 'Alī (d. 169/786).
- Authors
HAIDER, NAJAM
- Abstract
This paper examines the Zaydi doctrine of the imamate through an analysis of historical depictions of the 169/786 revolt of Ḥusayn b. 'Alī at Fakhkh by three different authors: Aḥmad b. Sahl al-Rāzī (d. late third/ninth century), al-Nāṭiq Yaḥyā b. al-Ḥusayn (d. 424/1033), and 'Alī b. Bilāl al-Āmulī (d. fifth/eleventh century) . The classical model of the Zaydi imamate holds that a descendant of 'Alī b. Abī Ṭālib (through either Ḥasan or Ḥusayn) with the proper qualities becomes Imam by summoning supporters (da'wa), administering the oath of allegiance (bay'a), and rising up in rebellion (khurūj) against a tyrant. This article investigates the relative importance of these components in historical accounts composed after the establishment of Zaydi political power in Yemen and the Caspian region. It argues that the emergence of dynastic rule may have lessened the importance of rebellion while elevating a candidate's exemplary personal qualities and political skill. This change is potentially embedded in narrative differences between the three sources.
- Subjects
ZAYDIS; SHIITES; HISTORICAL research; IMAMS (Mosque officers); POWER (Social sciences); NARRATIVES
- Publication
Journal of the American Oriental Society, 2024, Vol 144, Issue 1, p1
- ISSN
0003-0279
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.7817/jaos.144.1.2024.a001