Editing Fatimid dynasty (section)

===The Fatimids and the early Isma'ili {{transliteration|ar|da'wa}}===
{{Ismailism|collapsed=1}}
Both the Twelvers and the Seveners held that their final imams were not dead, but had simply gone into concealment, and that they would soon return as a messiah, the {{transliteration|ar|[[mahdi]]}} ('the Rightly Guided One') or {{transliteration|ar|[[Qa'im Al Muhammad|qa'im]]}} ('He Who Arises'), to [[Islamic eschatology|usher in the end times]].{{sfn|Brett|2017|p=18}}{{sfn|Halm|1991|p=28}} The {{transliteration|ar|mahdi}} would rapidly overthrow the usurping Abbasids and destroy their capital [[Baghdad]], restore the unity of the Muslims, conquer [[Constantinople]], ensure the final triumph of Islam and establish a reign of peace and justice.{{sfn|Halm|1991|pp=28–29}} The Isma'ilis in particular believed that the {{transliteration|ar|mahdi}} would reveal the true, 'inner' ({{transliteration|ar|[[Batin (Islam)|batin]]}}) meaning of religion, which was until then reserved for a few select initiates. The {{transliteration|ar|mahdi}} would abolish the 'outer' ({{Transliteration|ar|[[Zahir (Islam)|zahir]]}}) forms and strictures of Islam, since henceforth the true religion, the religion of [[Adam in Islam|Adam]], would be manifested without the need for symbols and other mediating devices.{{sfn|Halm|1991|p=29}}

While the {{transliteration|ar|mahdi}} Muhammad ibn Isma'il remained hidden, however, he would need to be represented by agents, who would gather the faithful, spread the word ({{transliteration|ar|[[Dawah|da'wa]]}}, 'invitation, calling'), and prepare his return. The head of this secret network was the living proof of the imam's existence, the {{transliteration|ar|[[hujja]]}} ({{lit.|seal}}).{{sfn|Halm|1991|pp=29–30}} The first known {{transliteration|ar|hujja}} was Abdallah al-Akbar, a wealthy merchant from [[Askar Mukram]], in what is now southwestern [[Iran]]. Apart from improbable stories circulated by later anti-Isma'ili polemicists, his exact origin is unknown.{{sfn|Halm|1991|pp=16–18}} His teachings led to his being forced to flee his native city to escape persecution by the Abbasid authorities, and seek refuge in [[Basra]]. Once again, his teachings attracted the attention of the authorities, and he moved on to the small town of [[Salamiyah]] on the western edge of the [[Syrian Desert]].{{sfn|Halm|1991|pp=17–20}} There he settled as a merchant from Basra, and had two sons, [[Muhammad al-Taqi (Isma'ili)|Ahmad]] and Ibrahim. When Abdallah died {{circa|827/8}}, Ahmad succeeded his father as the head of the Isma'ili movement, and was in turn succeeded by his younger son, Muhammad, known as Abu'l-Shalaghlagh.{{sfn|Halm|1991|pp=22–24}} In later Fatimid doctrine, Abdallah al-Akbar was presented as the eldest son of Muhammad ibn Isma'il, and his successor as imam, followed by Ahmad.{{sfn|Daftary|2007|pp=99–100}} While Muhammad Abu'l-Shalaghlagh was the head of the {{transliteration|ar|da'wa}}, however, the imamate passed to another son, [[Radi Abdullah|al-Husayn]] (d. 881/2), and thence to al-Husayn's son, Abdallah or Sa'id, the future Caliph al-Mahdi, who was born in 873/4.{{sfn|Daftary|2007|p=100}} Isma'ili texts suggest that Abu'l-Shalaghlagh was the guardian and tutor of al-Mahdi, but also that he tried to usurp the succession for his own sons but failed, as the latter all died prematurely.{{sfn|Daftary|2007|p=100}}

During the late ninth century, [[Millenarianism|millennialist]] expectations increased in the Muslim world, coinciding with a deep crisis of the Abbasid Caliphate during the decade-long [[Anarchy at Samarra]], the rise of breakaway and autonomous regimes in the provinces, and the large-scale [[Zanj Rebellion]], whose leader claimed Alid descent and proclaimed himself as the {{transliteration|ar|mahdi}}.{{sfn|Brett|2017|p=17}} In this chaotic atmosphere, and with the Abbasids preoccupied with suppressing the Zanj uprising, the Isma'ili {{transliteration|ar|da'wa}} spread rapidly, aided by dissatisfaction among Twelver adherents with the [[Political quietism in Islam|political quietism]] of their leadership and the recent disappearance of their twelfth imam.{{sfn|Daftary|2007|p=108}} Missionaries ({{transliteration|ar|[[da'i]]}}s) like [[Hamdan Qarmat]] and his brother-in-law [[Abu Muhammad Abdan]] spread the network of agents to the area round [[Kufa]] in the late 870s, and from there to [[Yemen]] ([[Ibn Hawshab]], 882) and thence India (884), [[Eastern Arabia|Bahrayn]] ([[Abu Sa'id al-Jannabi]], 899), [[Persia]], and [[Ifriqiya]] ([[Abu Abdallah al-Shi'i]], 893).{{sfn|Halm|1991|p=47}}{{sfn|Daftary|2007|pp=108–110}} The real leadership of the movement remained hidden at Salamiyah, and only the chief {{transliteration|ar|da'i}}s of each region, such as Hamdan Qarmat, knew and corresponded with it.{{sfn|Daftary|2007|p=116}} The true head of the movement remained hidden even from the senior missionaries, however, and a certain Fayruz functioned as chief missionary ({{transliteration|ar|[[da'i al-du'at]]}}) and 'gateway' ({{transliteration|ar|[[bab (Shia Islam)|bab]]}}) to the hidden leader.{{sfn|Halm|1991|p=61}}