and then he struck a pose of god-fearing devotion and asceticism, stirring the people to yearn for the “Imam of the age.” A number of Berbers answered his call; he gathered troops, fought the ruler of the Maghrib, Ibn al-Aghlab, and defeated him more than once. When ʿUbayd Allah al-Mahdī arrived and took the throne, he assigned neither this propagandist nor his brother Abū al-ʿAbbās any major governorship. The two of them grew angry, sowed distrust against him, and waged war on him. Matters ran their course until al-Mahdī captured them and executed them both on the spot in the year 298 AH.

31 – al-Riywandī, Abū al-Ḥasan Aḥmad ibn Yaḥyā ibn Isḥāq*

The apostate and enemy of the religion, Abū al-Ḥasan Aḥmad ibn Yaḥyā ibn Isḥāq al-Riywandī, authored several works aimed at undermining the faith. He kept close company with the Rāfiḍīs and the freethinkers; when reproached he would say, “I only want to learn their doctrines.” In time he came into the open, engaged in public debates, and broadcasted doubts and misgivings.

Ibn al-Jawzī (1) said: “I kept hearing shocking reports about him until I personally encountered things one could never have imagined. I saw his book The Description of Wisdom, the book The Golden Staff, the book The Emerald (2), and the book The Crusher, which al-Jubbāʾī refuted. ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Muḥammad al-Khayyāṭ also refuted his Emerald.”