Mahdis and Millenarians
Shiite Extremists in Early Muslim Iraq

Mahdis and Millenarians is a study of early extremist Shiites in Iraq and Iran.

William F. Tucker (Author)

9780521883849, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 7 January 2008

204 pages
22.2 x 14.8 x 2.2 cm, 0.4 kg

"In Mahdis and Millenarians, William F. Tucker examines the origins and theological doctrines of four early sectarian groups connected to the southern Iraq? city of K?fa during the Umayyad caliphate (661-750)." -Najam Haider, H-Levant

Mahdis and Millenarians is a discussion of Shiite groups in eighth- and ninth-century Iraq and Iran, whose ideas reflected a mixture of indigenous non-Muslim religious teachings and practices in Iraq in the early centuries of Islamic rule. It demonstrates the period's fluidity of religious boundaries. Particular attention is given to the millenarian expectations and the revolutionary political activities of these sects. Specifically, it seeks to define the term 'millenarian', to explain how these groups reflect that definition, and to show how they need to be seen in a much larger context than Shiite or even Muslim history. The author concentrates, therefore, on the historical-sociological role of these movements. The thesis of the study is that they were the first revolutionary chiliastic groups in Islamic history and, combined with the later influence of some of their doctrines, contributed to the teachings of a number of subsequent Shiite or quasi-Shiite sectarian groups.

1. Earlier movements. 'Abd Allah ibn Saba' and his followers. Al-Mukhtar and the Kaisaniyya
2. Bayan ibn Sam'an and the Bayaniyya
3. Al-Mughira ibn Sa'id and the Mughiriyya
4. Abu Mansur Al-'ijli and the Mansuriyya
5. 'Abd Allah ibn Mu'Awiya and the Janahiyya
6. Influence and significance of the four sects
Conclusion.

Subject Areas: Islamic studies [JFSR2], Early history: c 500 to c 1450/1500 [HBLC], Middle Eastern history [HBJF1]