Q. & A. 711 to 1707 with solved Papers css 1971 to date

MAHDI
The First Fatimid Caliph (297-322 A.H.)
At the end of the period of the hidden Imams we come to the life and times of Mahdi, the first Fatimid Caliph. His early life was Passed in hiding and only at a much later stage could be establish the Fatimid Caliphate in North Africa. He was born in 260 A.H. in Salamiya in Syrai. When his father Hussain died in 268 A.H. he

754 Political and Cultural History of Islam

succeeded to the Imamat. But the entire control of the Fatimid organization was in the hands of his uncle Sa’id al-Khayr. By the time Mahdi became a young man, the sons of Sa’id had all died and Mahdi had married a daughter of Sa’id. Then he was able to take complete control in his own hands In Salamiya he lived in the guise of a rich merchant, where his followers from many parts of the Muslim v\orld used to come and meet him. The Dai Abdullah binHussain al-Ahwazi and Firuz.
Things were so secure for Mahdi that he thought the time had come for the establishment of his Caliphate, but a dispute arose among his Dais about the place where the Caliphate should be located. One suggestion was about Iraq, which would mean the overthrow of the Abbasid Caliphate, another suggestion was about Yaman which was an Arab country and also safe because of its mountains. The third suggestion was to establish the Caliphate in the remote non- Arab land of the Maghrib. However, Mahdi felt that pending a final decision he should leave Salamyia. His decision was further supported b> the fact that the Qarmatians were now raiding Mahdi’s estate. Qarmatians
The Qarmatians originated in the Ismaili movement and in their principles and doctrines they were more or less the same. But because of internal differences they separated in later history. They sometimes supported the Ismaili Fatimid Caliphate and at other times they opposed it. On the whole they were an extremist group. Their method was terroristic and their society was based on the principle of the community of land and property. Because they challenged many interests they were always represented in a hostile manner.
It was in the time of Imam Ismail himself that a Dai of his called Mubarak and converted a native of the Bahrain coast called Qarmatuya. Because this person separated from the main mission. His movement was called after his name as the Qarmatian. Later on, when various Dais kept revolting against Mahdi, they found it convenient to keep on joining the party of the Qarmatians. On the question of, where the Caliphate must be established, another Dai called Hamdan Qarmat defeated in 286 A H. in southern Iraq. He insisted that, first, the Abbasid Caliphate must be overthrown and only then the Fatimid Caliphate could be established. When Mahdi refused this, he joined the Qarmatians. It is said that the name Qarmatian also comes from his name.
The Fatinnds 755
The second group of Qarmatians separated from the Fatimid movement in 290 A.H. Under the leadership of Zakriya bin Mahduya, they made Kufa their centre. His successors began to raid Syria. They occupied Damascus ajid Hims. They also looted the treasures of Mahdi at Salamiya, just after Mahdi had left the town Mahdi was now determined never to return to Syria, nor to think of establishing himself in Iraq, which became the headquarters of the Qarmatians. The likely choice of Yaman was also abandoned because the Qarmatians had become active there. The farther away his destination the better, he thought, would it be. So he proceeded to the Maghrib. The Qarmatians had also established a small state of their own on the Bahrain coast where they were ruled by a Dai called Abu Zakairiya bin-Mahid. He was followed in the leadership by Abu Said al-Jainnabi, who became notorious later on in the eyes of both the Abbas.ids and the Fatimids.