Baha al-Din al-Muqtana
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Abu al-Hasan Ali ibn Ahmad al-Sammuqi (
Origin and early life
Al-Muqtana's life is largely unknown, apart from the information contained in his own writings.[1] His name was Abu al-Hasan Ali ibn Ahmad, and he was born in the village of Sammuqa, near Aleppo in northern Syria.[1][2] The familiarity with Christian theology and Christian literature exhibited in his writings suggests that he may have been originally a Christian.[1]
His early career is unknown. Sami Nasib Makarim identified him with the
Early career as Druze missionary
The name al-Muqtanā, by which he is known, was chosen by the original founder of the Druze faith,
Druze tradition mentions him among the twelve who, in June 1019 joined with Hamza, in resisting the attacks of a mob of supposedly more than 20,000 men against the Druze movement's headquarters, the Raydan Mosque in Cairo.[5][6] However, the first firm evidence on his life is the diploma of investiture issued by Hamza, which is dated 2 December 1020.[1]
Leadership of the Druze
On the night of 13 February 1021, Caliph al-Hakim disappeared during one of his usual nightly rides, likely the victim of a palace conspiracy. Power was seized by his sister,
Al-Muqtana survived the persecution, having gone in hiding. His first known writing bears the date July/August 1027 CE (
His numerous epistles show the extent of the Druze missionary network, which appears to have been present almost everywhere where the Fatimid-sponsored Isma'ili He even sent letters to the ruler of
Upper Egypt appears to have been one of the centres of the early Druze movement, as al-Muqtana installed a missionary (
As the long-standing feud with Sukayn shows, al-Muqtana's main concern was to keep the various Druze communities loyal and united in doctrine. In his epistles, he emphasized the imminence of the end times and the return of Hamza. The earthquakes that shook Palestine and Syria in 1034 were thus interpreted as signs of doom; just as the earthquakes brought down many churches, the same fate would soon befall Mecca, the "capital of satans and demons".[12] His conflicts with Sukayn and another dāʿī, Ibn al-Kurdi, led to the slackening of the Druze movement and its missionary effort.[13]
Retirement and aftermath
A shrine dedicated to Baha al-Din, probably identical with al-Muqtana, is located at the Druze village of Beitegen in Upper Galilee, Israel.
Al-Muqtana remained the head of the Druze missionary movement until 1042, when he issued his farewell epistle (Risālat al-Ghayba, 'Epistle of Occultation'), in which he announced his retirement into concealment (
This marked the end of the Druze "divine call", i.e., its active missionary phase. Since then, the Druze have been a closed community, in which neither conversion nor apostasy is allowed.[16] The 71 epistles of al-Muqtana, together with those of Hamza and the second minister, Isma'il ibn Muhammad al-Tamimi, that he compiled, form the scripture of the Druze faith, the Epistles of Wisdom (Rasāʾil al-Ḥikma) or Exalted Wisdom (al-Ḥikma al-Sharīfa). Of its six books, the first two contain the work of Hamza and others, while the remaining four encompass al-Muqtana's writings.[17][16]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Kratschkowsky & Halm 1993, p. 544.
- ^ a b c Makarim 1974, p. 26.
- ^ Halm 2003, p. 294.
- ^ Daftary 2007, pp. 189–190.
- ^ Halm 2003, p. 291.
- ^ Makarim 1974, pp. 20–22.
- ^ Halm 2003, pp. 294–309.
- ^ Halm 2003, pp. 324–326.
- ^ Halm 2003, pp. 326–327.
- ^ a b c d Halm 2003, p. 327.
- ^ a b Halm 2003, p. 328.
- ^ Halm 2003, pp. 328–329.
- ^ Daftary 2007, pp. 188–189.
- ^ Halm 2003, pp. 329, 330.
- ^ Halm 2003, p. 329.
- ^ a b Daftary 2007, p. 189.
- ^ Halm 2003, p. 326.
Notes
- ^ Al-Muqtana's Risālat al-Ghayba ('Epistle of Occultation', written in 1042) is not to be confused with a treatise of the same name written in 1021 by his master Hamza ibn Ali (on which, see De Smet 2017).
Sources
- Abu-Izeddin, Nejla (1993) [1984]. The Druzes: A New Study of Their History, Faith, and Society (Second ed.). Leiden, New York, Köln: Brill. ISBN 90-04-09705-8.
- ISBN 978-0-521-61636-2.
- De Smet, Daniel (2017). "Ḥamza b. ʿAlī". In Fleet, Kate; Krämer, Gudrun; Matringe, Denis; Nawas, John; Rowson, Everett (eds.). Encyclopaedia of Islam (3rd ed.). Brill Online. ISSN 1873-9830.
- ISBN 3-406-48654-1.
- ISBN 978-90-04-09419-2.
- Makarim, Sami Nasib (1974). The Druze Faith. Caravan Books. ISBN 978-0-88206-003-3.