Kaysanites

The Kaysanites were a Shi'i sect of Islam that formed from the followers of Al-Mukhtar. They are often described in later literature as ghulat – a kind of heretic.

The followers of Al-Mukhtar who emerged from his movement (including all subsequent sub-sects which evolved from his movement) who firstly upheld the Imamate of Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah and his descendants or any other designated successors were initially named the "Mukhtariyya" (after Al-Mukhtar), but were soon more commonly referred to as the "Kaysaniyya" (i.e. Kaysanites). The name Kaysaniyya seems to have been based on the kunya (surname) Kaysan, allegedly given to Al-Mukhtar by Ali, or the name of a freed Mawali of Ali who was killed at the Battle of Siffin called Kaysan, from whom it is claimed Al-Mukhtar acquired his ideas. However, it is much more probably named after Abu ‘Amra Kaysan, a prominent Mawali and chief of Al-Mukhtar’s personal bodyguard.

The Kaysanites were also known as "Hanifis" (after Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah (Banu Hanifah)), "Fourer Shi'a" (i.e. they recognized only 4 Imams after Muhammad) and "Khashabiyya" (i.e. men armed with clubs, because they were armed with wooden clubs or staffs).

The Kaysanites as a collective sect held the following common beliefs:

Furthermore, some Kaysanite sub-sects established their own unique beliefs, such as:

The Kaysanites pursued an activist anti-establishment policy against the Umayyads, aiming to transfer leadership of the Muslims to Alids and accounted for the bulk allegiance of the Shi'a populace (even overshadowing the Imamis) until shortly after the Abbasid revolution. Initially they broke away from the religiously moderate attitudes of the early Kufan Shi'a. Most of the Kaysanites support came from superficially Islamicized Mawalis in southern Iraq, Persia and elsewhere, as well as other supporters in Iraq, particularly in Kufa and Al-Mada'in (Ctesiphon).

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