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The death of Hussain and the quiescent attitude of his only surviving son, [[ʿAli b. al-Hussain|ʿAli Zayn al-ʿAbidin]], however, marked the first conflict over the leadership of the followers of the ahl al-bayt and their division into various groups. The Shiʿa in Kufa, especially the mawali (the non-Arabs and the downtrodden masses) wanted an active movement which could relieve them from the oppressive rule of the Umayyads. [[Mukhtar]] ibn Abi ʿUbaydah al-Thaqafi, a Shiʿa activist, began to promote ʿAli's third son, Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyah, born of a Hanafi woman, as the Mahdi, who would save the people from oppression. This is the first recorded reference to the Mahdi. The Shiʿa saw a ray of hope in the messianic role advocated by Mukhtar for Ibn al-Hanafiyah, and they followed him as their Imam-Mahdi, abandoning Zayn al-ʿAbidin. Mukhtar’s uprising was put down in 686, and Mukhtar himself was killed, but the propaganda on behalf of Ibn al-Hanafiyah continued, and when he died in 700 a group of his followers, known as Kaysaniyah, believed that he had not died but had gone into “occultation” or been “hidden” and would return. The idea of the Mahdi, often equated with the Imam, and the concepts of ghaybah (occultation) and [[rajʿah]] (return) thus became integral to Shiʿi thought. | The death of Hussain and the quiescent attitude of his only surviving son, [[ʿAli b. al-Hussain|ʿAli Zayn al-ʿAbidin]], however, marked the first conflict over the leadership of the followers of the ahl al-bayt and their division into various groups. The Shiʿa in Kufa, especially the mawali (the non-Arabs and the downtrodden masses) wanted an active movement which could relieve them from the oppressive rule of the Umayyads. [[Mukhtar]] ibn Abi ʿUbaydah al-Thaqafi, a Shiʿa activist, began to promote ʿAli's third son, Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyah, born of a Hanafi woman, as the Mahdi, who would save the people from oppression. This is the first recorded reference to the Mahdi. The Shiʿa saw a ray of hope in the messianic role advocated by Mukhtar for Ibn al-Hanafiyah, and they followed him as their Imam-Mahdi, abandoning Zayn al-ʿAbidin. Mukhtar’s uprising was put down in 686, and Mukhtar himself was killed, but the propaganda on behalf of Ibn al-Hanafiyah continued, and when he died in 700 a group of his followers, known as Kaysaniyah, believed that he had not died but had gone into “occultation” or been “hidden” and would return. The idea of the Mahdi, often equated with the Imam, and the concepts of ghaybah (occultation) and [[rajʿah]] (return) thus became integral to Shiʿi thought. | ||
After Mukhtar’s uprising, the first ʿAlid of the Hussainid line who rose against the Umayyads was Zayd, the second son of Zayn al-ʿAbidin. Zayd and his followers wanted no quiescent or Hidden Imam, like [[al-Baqir]] and Ibn al-Hanafiyah. In their eyes, the imam, although he had to be a descendant of [[ʿAli ibn Abi Talib|ʿAli]] and [[Fatima]], could not claim allegiance unless he asserted his [[imamate]] publicly and, if necessary, fought for it. Zayd's activist policy toward the imamate and his adoption of the rationalist Muʿtazilah theological doctrines secured him Shiʿi support, and his acceptance of the legitimacy of the first two caliphs gained him the full sympathy of traditionalist circles. Zayd's revolt, however, was unsuccessful. He and many of his followers were killed in 740, and his son Yahya, who continued his father's activities for three years, met the same fate in 743. | After Mukhtar’s uprising, the first ʿAlid of the Hussainid line who rose against the Umayyads was Zayd, the second son of Zayn al-ʿAbidin. Zayd and his followers wanted no quiescent or Hidden Imam, like [[Mohammad al-Baqir|al-Baqir]] and Ibn al-Hanafiyah. In their eyes, the imam, although he had to be a descendant of [[ʿAli ibn Abi Talib|ʿAli]] and [[Fatima]], could not claim allegiance unless he asserted his [[imamate]] publicly and, if necessary, fought for it. Zayd's activist policy toward the imamate and his adoption of the rationalist Muʿtazilah theological doctrines secured him Shiʿi support, and his acceptance of the legitimacy of the first two caliphs gained him the full sympathy of traditionalist circles. Zayd's revolt, however, was unsuccessful. He and many of his followers were killed in 740, and his son Yahya, who continued his father's activities for three years, met the same fate in 743. | ||
After the collapse of Zayd's revolt, the only serious Shiʿi uprising to take place during the [[Umayyad]] period was that of the Abbasids, which began as a manifestation of the Shiʿi cause. The agents of the Abbasids called the people to rise in the name of an imam to be chosen from among the ahl al-bayt. To the extremists of the Kaysaniyah—the followers of Ibn al-Hanafiyah and his son Abu Hashim—the activists of the [[Zaydiyah]], and the other groups of the Shiʿa, this implied an ʿAlid, so they supported the Abbasids wholeheartedly. The Abbasids thus succeeded in overthrowing the Umayyad regime. Once in power, they realized that the Shiʿa would not accept them as legitimate rulers, so they turned to the ahl al-hadith (people of the hadith, i.e., Sunnis) for their religious support and began to persecute the Shiʿa. The series of Zaydi revolts, particularly among ʿAlids of the Hasanid line, which had begun toward the end of the Umayyad era, continued into the Abbasid period. Muhammad al-Nafs al-Zakiyah, a great-grandson of Hasan who had long coveted the role of Mahdi for himself, rose against the Abbasids, but he and his brother Ibrahim were defeated and killed in 762. Some of al-Nafs al-Zakiyah's followers believed that he was not dead but had gone into occultation and would return. | After the collapse of Zayd's revolt, the only serious Shiʿi uprising to take place during the [[Umayyad]] period was that of the Abbasids, which began as a manifestation of the Shiʿi cause. The agents of the Abbasids called the people to rise in the name of an imam to be chosen from among the ahl al-bayt. To the extremists of the Kaysaniyah—the followers of Ibn al-Hanafiyah and his son Abu Hashim—the activists of the [[Zaydiyah]], and the other groups of the Shiʿa, this implied an ʿAlid, so they supported the Abbasids wholeheartedly. The Abbasids thus succeeded in overthrowing the Umayyad regime. Once in power, they realized that the Shiʿa would not accept them as legitimate rulers, so they turned to the ahl al-hadith (people of the hadith, i.e., Sunnis) for their religious support and began to persecute the Shiʿa. The series of Zaydi revolts, particularly among ʿAlids of the Hasanid line, which had begun toward the end of the Umayyad era, continued into the Abbasid period. Muhammad al-Nafs al-Zakiyah, a great-grandson of Hasan who had long coveted the role of Mahdi for himself, rose against the Abbasids, but he and his brother Ibrahim were defeated and killed in 762. Some of al-Nafs al-Zakiyah's followers believed that he was not dead but had gone into occultation and would return. | ||