16
their sermons(1): “The infallible Imam, the known Mahdī, whose coming You foretold in the explicit terms of Your revelation, whom You encompassed with radiant light and manifest justice, and who filled creation with equity and justice just as it had been filled with oppression and tyranny.”
This man who bore the title al-Mahdī appeared sometime between 503 and 509 AH(2) and died in 524 AH. He claimed descent(3) from al-Hasan, for he was well versed in hadith and therefore claimed that he was the foretold one. But this was not so, nor did he fill the whole earth with equity or justice. Rather, he became involved in reprehensible matters, though he also did some good things.
Before him, Ubayd Allah(4) ibn Maymūn al-Qaddāh(5) had also claimed to be the Mahdī, but he did not
(1) (A) and (B) read: “in their sermon”; all other manuscripts read: “in the sermon.”
(2) (A), (B), (S), and (R) read: “509 AH”; (H) reads: “559 AH.” The biography of Ibn Tūmart appeared earlier, where I noted that his year of birth is disputed. He died in 524 AH, aged between fifty-one and fifty-five.
(3) (N) and (M) read: “was said to be descended.”
(4) (H) reads: “Abd Allah.”
(5) By this, Ibn Taymiyya means Ubayd Allah al-Mahdī, whom some historians consider a descendant of Abd Allah ibn Maymūn al-Qaddāh. Ibn Tāhir al-Baghdādī calls him “Saīd ibn al-Husayn ibn Ahmad ibn Abd Allah ibn Maymūn ibn Daysān al-Qaddāh.” It is reported that he changed his name and lineage and told his followers that he was “Ubayd Allah ibn al-Husayn ibn Ismāīl ibn Jafar al-Sādiq.” Others state that this Ubayd Allah was the son of a Jewish man who worked as a blacksmith in Salamiyya. After his father died, his mother married an Alid nobleman, who raised the child; when he grew up, he claimed Alid descent. Ubayd Allah was born in 259 AH and died in 322 AH. He founded his state in the Maghrib—known as the Fatimid state—in 297 AH, and his successors conquered Egypt under the Fatimid al-Muizz li-Dīn Allah in 358 AH. See: *al-Farq bayn al-Firaq*, p. [0–9] 70; Muhammad Kāmil Husayn, *Tāifat al-Ismāīliyya*, Cairo, 1959; Alī Sāmī al-Nashshār, *Nashat al-Fikr al-Falsafī fī al-Islām*, 2:478–511 (al-Maārif, Cairo, 1964); Muhammad Abd Allah Inān, *al-Hākim bi-Amr Allah*, pp. 47–75 (Lajnat al-Talīf wa-l-Tarjama wa-l-Nashr, Cairo, 1379/1959); and *al-Alām*, 4:286, 353.
خُطْبَتِهِمْ
(١)
: الْإِمَامُ الْمَعْصُومُ، الْمَهْدِيُّ الْمَعْلُومُ، الَّذِي بَشَّرْتَ بِهِ فِي صَرِيحِ وَحْيِكَ، الَّذِي اكْتَنَفْتَهُ بِالنُّورِ الْوَاضِحِ، وَالْعَدْلِ اللَّائِحِ، الَّذِي مَلَأَ الْبَرِيَّةَ قِسْطًا وَعَدْلًا، كَمَا مُلِئَتْ ظُلْمًا وَجَوْرًا ".
وَهَذَا الْمُلَقَّبُ بِالْمَهْدِيِّ ظَهَرَ سَنَةَ بِضْعٍ وَخَمْسِمِائَةٍ
(٢)
وَتُوُفِّيَ سَنَةَ أَرْبَعٍ وَعِشْرِينَ وَخَمْسِمِائَةٍ، وَكَانَ يَنْتَسِبُ
(٣)
إِلَى أَنَّهُ مِنْ وَلَدِ الْحَسَنِ، لِأَنَّهُ كَانَ أَعْلَمَ بِالْحَدِيثِ، فَادَّعَى أَنَّهُ هُوَ الْمُبَشَّرُ بِهِ، وَلَمْ يَكُنِ الْأَمْرُ كَذَلِكَ، وَلَا مَلَأَ الْأَرْضَ كُلَّهَا قِسْطًا وَلَا عَدْلًا، بَلْ دَخَلَ فِي أُمُورٍ مُنْكَرَةٍ، وَفَعَلَ أُمُورًا حَسَنَةً.
وَقَدِ ادَّعَى قَبْلَهُ أَنَّهُ الْمَهْدِيُّ عُبَيْدُ اللَّهِ
(٤)
بْنُ مَيْمُونٍ الْقَدَّاحُ
(٥)
، وَلَكِنْ لَمْ
(١) فِي خُطْبَتِهِمْ: كَذَا فِي (أ) ، (ب) ، وَفِي سَائِرِ النُّسَخِ: فِي الْخُطْبَةِ.
(٢) أ، ب، ص، ر: تِسْعٍ وَخَمْسِمِائَةٍ، هـ: تِسْعٍ وَخَمْسِينَ وَخَمْسِمِائَةٍ. وَسَبَقَتْ تَرْجَمَةُ ابْنِ التُّومَرْتَ، وَذَكَرْتُ أَنَّهُ قَدِ اخْتُلِفَ فِي سَنَةِ مَوْلِدِهِ وَلَكِنَّهُ تُوُفِّيَ سَنَةَ ٥٢٤ وَعُمُرُهُ يَتَرَاوَحُ مَا بَيْنَ ٥١ عَامًا، ٥٥ عَامًا.
(٣) ن، م: يُنْسَبُ.
(٤) هـ: عَبْدُ اللَّهِ.
(٥) يَقْصِدُ ابْنُ تَيْمِيَّةَ بِهِ عُبَيْدَ اللَّهِ الْمَهْدِيَّ، الَّذِي يَرَى بَعْضُ الْمُؤَرِّخِينَ أَنَّهُ مِنْ نَسْلِ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ مَيْمُونٍ الْقَدَّاحِ، وَيُسَمِّيهِ ابْنُ طَاهِرٍ الْبَغْدَادِيُّ: " سَعِيدَ بْنَ الْحُسَيْنِ بْنِ أَحْمَدَ بْنِ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ مَيْمُونٍ بْنِ دَيْصَانَ الْقَدَّاحُ " وَيُذَكَرُ أَنَّهُ غَيَّرَ اسْمَ نَفْسِهِ وَنَسَبَهُ وَقَالَ لِأَتْبَاعِهِ أَنَّهُ: " عُبَيْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ الْحُسَيْنِ بْنِ إِسْمَاعِيلَ بْنِ جَعْفَرٍ الصَّادِقِ ". وَيَذْكُرُ الْبَعْضُ أَنَّ عُبَيْدَ اللَّهِ هَذَا ابْنُ رَجُلٍ يَهُودِيٍّ كَانَ يَعْمَلُ حَدَّادًا بِسِلْمِيَّةَ، وَلَمَّا مَاتَ أَبُوهُ تَزَوَّجَتْ أُمُّهُ أَحَدَ الْأَشْرَافِ الْعَلَوِيِّينَ، وَقَامَ هَذَا الشَّرِيفُ بِتَرْبِيَةِ الطِّفْلِ حَتَّى إِذَا كَبِرَ ادَّعَى لِنَفْسِهِ نَسَبًا عَلَوِيًّا. وَقَدْ وُلِدَ عُبَيْدُ اللَّهِ سَنَةَ: ٢٥٩ وَتُوفِي سَنَةَ: ٣٢٢ وَهُوَ الَّذِي أَسَّسَ دَوْلَتَهُ بِالْمَغْرِبِ (الَّتِي عُرِفَتْ بِالدَّوْلَةِ الْفَاطِمِيَّةِ) سَنَةَ: ٢٩٧ وَتَمَكَّنَ خُلَفَاؤُهُ مِنْ فَتْحِ مِصْرَ فِي زَمَنِ الْمُعِزِّ لِدِينِ اللَّهِ الْفَاطِمِيِّ سَنَةَ: ٣٥٨. انْظُرْ: الْفَرْقَ بَيْنَ الْفِرَقِ، ص [٠ - ٩] ٧٠، كِتَابَ " طَائِفَةِ الْإِسْمَاعِيلِيَّةِ " تَأْلِيفُ الدُّكْتُورِ مُحَمَّد كَامِل حُسَيْن، ط. الْقَاهِرَةِ، ١٩٥٩، كِتَابَ " نَشْأَةِ الْفِكْرِ الْفَلْسَفِيِّ فِي الْإِسْلَامِ " الدُّكْتُور عَلِي سَامِي النِّشَار ٢/٤٧٨ - ٥١١، ط. الْمَعَارِفِ، الْقَاهِرَةِ، ١٩٦٤، " الْحَاكِمَ بِأَمْرِ اللَّهِ " لِلْأُسْتَاذِ مُحَمَّد عَبْد اللَّه عَنَان، ص ٤٧ - ٧٥، ط. لَجْنَةِ التَّأْلِيفِ وَالتَّرْجَمَةِ وَالنَّشْرِ، الْقَاهِرَةِ، ١٣٧٩/١٩٥٩، الْأَعْلَامَ ٤/٢٨٦، ٣٥٣.