Editing Fatimid dynasty (section)

===Qarmatian schism and flight to the Maghreb===
In about 899, Abdallah ibn al-Husayn assumed the leadership of the {{transliteration|ar|da'wa}}. Soon, he began making alterations to the doctrine, which worried Hamdan Qarmat. Abdan went to Salamiyah to investigate the matter, and learned that Abdallah claimed that the expected {{transliteration|ar|mahdi}} was not Muhammad ibn Isma'il, as commonly propagated, but Abdallah himself, and that Abdallah's ancestors, far from being simply the {{transliteration|ar|hujja}}s of the imams, were actually the imams themselves. In a letter to the Yemeni community, Abdallah claimed that 'Muhammad ibn Isma'il' was actually a cover name assumed by each incumbent imam, and denied any particular role of Muhammad ibn Isma'il as the expected {{transliteration|ar|mahdi}} who was to usher in the end times.{{sfn|Daftary|2007|pp=116–119}} These doctrinal innovations caused a major rift in the movement, as Hamdan denounced the leadership in Salamiyah, gathered the Iraqi {{transliteration|ar|da'i}}s and ordered them to cease the missionary effort. Shortly after this Hamdan "disappeared" from his headquarters, and Abdan was assassinated by [[Zakarawayh ibn Mihrawayh]], who had remained loyal to Salamiyah.{{sfn|Daftary|2007|p=117}}

The schism left the early Isma'ili {{transliteration|ar|da'wa}} divided into two factions: those who accepted Abdallah's claims, and continued to follow him, and became the Isma'ilis proper, and those who rejected them and continued to believe in the return of Muhammad ibn Isma'il as {{transliteration|ar|mahdi}}, who became known as the [[Qarmatians]] (although anti-Fatimid sources also used the label for the Fatimids themselves).{{sfn|Daftary|2007|p=120}} In Iraq and Persia, the community was split between the two factions, but in Bahrayn, the local {{transliteration|ar|da'i}}s split off from Salamiyah and established an independent Qarmatian state that lasted into the 1070s.{{sfn|Daftary|2007|p=120}} On the other hand, Zakarawayh and his loyalists now began a series of anti-Abbasid uprisings in Iraq and Syria in 902–907, with the support of the [[Bedouin]] tribes. Calling themselves the {{transliteration|ar|Fatimiyyun}}, the uprisings enjoyed some ephemeral success, but were eventually suppressed by the still potent Abbasid army. Zakarawayh apparently moved without Abdallah's authorization or prior knowledge, and thus placed him in danger: the Abbasid authorities began a crackdown on the {{transliteration|ar|da'wa}}, and Zakarawayh's sons unwittingly revealed the location and identity of Abdallah to the Abbasids, who launched a man-hunt against him.{{sfn|Daftary|2007|pp=122–124}} Already in 902, Abdallah with his household left Salamiyah for [[Ramla]]. As the revolts instigated by Zakarawayh were suppressed, Abdallah moved to [[Tulunid]] Egypt in early 904. As the Abbasids recovered control of Egypt in the next year, the small party fled again. While his companions expected to head to Yemen, where the Isma'ili {{transliteration|ar|da'wa}} had enjoyed great success, Abdallah turned westward, and established himself at the oasis town of [[Sijilmasa]], in what is now southwestern [[Morocco]], in August 905.{{sfn|Canard|1965|p=852}}{{sfn|Daftary|2007|pp=123, 125}}