Читать книгу A Short History of the Fatimid Khalifate онлайн

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(9) Finally we have another theory, mentioned by Ibn Khallikan, that the Mahdi was descended from Hasan, a brother of Jaʿfar as-Sadiq, and so an ʿAlid but not an Imam, and from this Hasan came ʿAbdullah, Ahmad, Hasan, and then ʿAli or ʿUbayd Allah the Mahdi. Back to ʿAbdullah this was the generally asserted genealogy of the Mahdi’s family, but Hasan, the brother of Jaʿfar, replaces Maymun.

The chief point is that there were so many alternative forms of the genealogy, and close scrutiny shows very weak points in every one of them. To the fully initiated this was a very small matter, as no importance was attached to the claim to the Imamate or to the descent from ʿAli at all. No doubt all these pedigrees served their purpose in dealing with the different types of proselytes, and their very diversity tends to prove that they were actually accepted and circulated in a sect which adapted its teachings to suit the opinions of the different classes with which it came into contact. It was not until the Fatimids became a political power that any need was felt to bring these various genealogies into any kind of agreement, and then, no doubt, the variant forms circulated by the different missionaries were a source of embarrassment.