ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Ḥasan ibn al-Ḥasan عبد الله بن الحسن بن الحسن | |
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| Born | 689 CE |
| Died | 762 CE |
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Abū Muḥammad ʿAbd Allāh ibnal-Ḥasan ibnal-Ḥasan ibnʿAlī ibnAbī Ṭālib al-Hāshimī al-Qurayshī (Arabic:أبو محمد عبد الله بن الحسن بن الحسن بن علي بن أبي طالب الهاشمي القریشي;c. 689 – 762, better known asʿAbd Allāh al-Maḥḍ (Arabic:عبد الله المحض) andʿAbd Allāh al-Kāmīl (Arabic:عبد الله الكامل), was anIslamic scholar,theologian andhadith narrator, grandson of bothHasan ibn Ali andHusayn ibn Ali (the grandsons of theIslamic prophetMuhammad). His sons includeMuhammad and Ibrahim, who rebelled againstAbbasid rule, andIdris, who rebelled in theMaghreb and established theIdrisid dynasty.
Considered a martyr among theShi'as, Abd Allah was imprisoned on the orders ofAl-Mansur after he refused to reveal the hiding place of his sons, and was assassinated three years later while in prison. His tomb in the city ofal-Shinafiyah,Iraq, is today the famous shrine of Abd Allah Abu Najm.
Abd Allah was born inMedinac. 689. His father wasHasan al-Muthanna and his mother Fatima bint al-Husayn, bothAli's grandchildren.[1][2] Abd Allah was the first child of the couple and was raised by his maternal uncleAli ibn Husayn Zayn al-Abidin,[3][4] who took charge of his education and instructed him theologically.[5] According to the narrations ofAbu al-Faraj al-Isfahani, Abd Allah had a great temper, aspired to exert control overBanu Hashim, and challengedUmar II. According to other Shi'a accounts, Abd Allah came to claim theimamate for himself and issuedfatwas contrary to the imams.[6][7][8][9]
After theAbbasidstook control of the government, Abd Allah's sons refused to recognize the new authority, sparking a crackdown on them and their followers. The Abbasids pressured Abd Allah to show them his hideout, but he refused.[10] The first caliphal-Saffah treated Abd Allah with respect and left him alone, but nevertheless whenal-Mansur came to power he imprisoned Abd Allah accusing him of being an accomplice to the rebellion by refusing to collaborate in the capture of his sons, for which remained in jail for three years.[11]
Some sources mention that Abd Allah was assassinated on the orders of al-Mansur in al-Hashimiyya prison, near Kufa in 762.[12][13]Ibn al-Jawzi claimed that his death was on the day ofal-Adha.[14] Abd Allah has a major shrine inAl-Qadisiyah, 9 kilometres west of the city of al-Shinafiyah and 70 kilometres south of the city ofNajaf.[15] InCairo, there is also a shrine to Abd Allah al-Mahd.
Abd Allah al-Mahd's sons are famous for their roles in the revolutions of the time, among themMuhammad who rebelled against the Abbasids in Medina, which led to his death along with many of his followers.[16] Ibrahim promoted a revolution inBasra after the murder of his brother and was supported by manyZaydis andMu'tazilas.[17] Therevolution was unsuccessful and Ibrahim and many of his supporters were massacred in the Bakhmra region in an incident known as the Bakhmra martyrdom. Abd Allah al-Mahd's other sons,Idris,Yahya andSulayman, participated in the revolution. Idris survived the battle and went to Morocco where he established the first Sharifian state. Yahya went toPersia and resided inDaylam[18] where he attempted to recruit people for a new rebellion against the Abbasid state, but was defeated and imprisoned by order ofHarun, dying of hunger, thirst or having been buried alive around 803.
According to some sources, Abd Allah disagreed withZayd's rebellion against theUmayyads, warningZayd before his revolution in Kufa that he should not be fooled by the promises of the Kufans. After Zayd's death, he became convinced of the need to end Umayyad rule by force, so he prepared his sons for the revolution.[19]
According to what was related by Abu al-Faraj al-Isfahani, some of Banu Hashim did not agree with him and told him: "Do not do that, because the time has not yet come. If you see that this son of yours is the Mahdi, then he is not with him and this is not his time." It was mentioned in the sources that the imam told Abd Allah that the caliphate would belong to al-Saffah and his brothers, and that Abd Allah and his sons would not have a share in it.
Abd Allah al-Mahd was imprisoned during the caliphate of al-Mansur, the second Abbasid caliph, for not revealing the hiding place of his son Muhammad. He stayed in prison for three years after that. Al-Mansur met him in his cell during the season of Hajj in 757, and asked him again to reveal his son's hiding place in exchange for his freedom, but he refused once more.[20]
