Abd Allah al-Radi

Template:Short description Template:Template otherTemplate:Wikidata imageTemplate:Compare Template:Sidebar with collapsible lists Abu ʿAlī al-Ḥusayn ibn Aḥmad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad ibn Ismāʿīl (Template:Langx, c. 825 – 881), also known as al-Zakī (Template:Lit), al-Raḍī (Template:Lit) and al-Muqtadā al-Hādī (Template:Lit), was a descendant of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and the tenth of the Isma'ili Imams, succeeding his father, Muhammad al-Taqi (Template:Died in). Before his death in 881, he entrusted the care of his son and successor, Abd Allah al-Mahdi who was then around 8 years old to his full brother, Sa'id al-Khayr, also known as Abu'l-Shalaghlagh.

Historical background

With the death of Ja'far al-Sadiq in 765, Isma'il (Template:Died in) and Muhammad (Template:Died in), the gravity of the persecution of Isma'ili Imams and their supporters by the Abbasids had considerably increased.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn The Isma'ili Imams were compelled to hide, therefore, the first dawr al-satr ('period of concealment')Template:Efn came into force from 765 to 909. During this period, the Imams were known as al-a'imma al-masturin (Template:Lit).Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn The Imam's identity was hidden to protect the Imam from being persecuted by the Abbasids and the community continued to operate under the authority of Muhammad ibn Isma'il.Template:Sfn According to later tradition, these Imams were Abd Allah (the 8th Imam), Ahmad (the 9th Imam) and al-Husayn (the 10th Imam).Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Among the later Isma'ili historians, Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Naysaburi, the author of Istitār al-Imām, compiled under the Fatimid Imam, Caliph al-Aziz Billah (Template:Reign), seems to be first historian to mention the names of the three 'hidden' Imams.Template:Sfn

A modern historian of the Fatimid period, Shainool Jiwa, explains that during dawr al-satr Ismaili doctrine had spread as far as from Yemen to Ifriqiya (modern-day Tunisia and eastern Algeria), with its most prominent adherents being the Kutama Berbers of North Africa.Template:Sfn

Life

Husayn ibn Ahmad was born in 825 and assumed the Imamate in 840.Template:Sfn His hujjat was Ahmad, surnamed al-Hakim, a descendant of Husayn ibn Ali, to whom Abd Allah ibn Maymun al-Qaddah handed over his position.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Al-Radi's home was in Salamiyah, where he lived among the Hashimites and acted as if he was one of them.Template:Sfn He gave presents to the local governors and was lavish with hospitality.Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn He is said to have granted allowances from his wealth to the poor and disabled persons in Salamiyah without discrimination between the Isma'ilis and non-Isma'ilis.Template:Sfn His father Muhammad al-Taqi is remembered for his Encyclopedia of the Brethren of Purity (Rasāʿil Ikhwān al-ṣafā), which his son is said to have summarised in his Jāmiʿat al-Jāmiʿa. Al-Radi is remembered for his daʿwah or proselytising .Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn

He organised the propaganda, spread it further afield, broadcast instruction to his followers, making it manifest; he established proofs, explained the risalas (apparently the Encyclopedia of the Ikhwān al-ṣafā') and despatched his da'is everywhere. He thus made the true religion visible to those who were in search of it.Template:Sfn

— Template:Comma separated entries

Al-Radi travelled to Kufa, on pilgrimage to the tombs of Ali ibn Abi Talib and his son, Husayn.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn While there he met Abu al-Qasim ibn Hasan ibn Farah ibn Hawshab, who was of the Twelvers and was associated with Hasan al-Askari. He also met Ali ibn al-Fadl al-Jayshani. He sent both men to Yemen to establish the way of the Isma'iliyya there.Template:Sfn They reached Yemen, and conquered Sanaa, the capital of Yemen, and exiled the ruling tribe of Banu Laydir, and established Isma'ili authority in Yemen.Template:Sfn

Al-Radi died in 881 at Salamiyah while he was travelling in the vicinity. Before his death he appointed as his trustee his brother, Sa'id al-Khayr, also known as Abu'l-Shalaghlagh. He also made Abu'l-Shalaghlagh the guardian of his son, al-Mahdi.Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn It is stated in the Istitār al-Imām that the guardian, Abu'l-Shalaghlagh, the 'acting Imam', tried to usurp the Imamate for his own line, appointing one after another his sons successively as his heir, but that all of his sons died.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

See also

• Family tree of Muhammad
• List of Isma'ili imams
• Imamate in Nizari doctrine

Sources

• Template:Daftary-The Ismailis