SOAS Research Online

Abstract

This book is an study of the ʻAlids focuses on the crucial formative period from the Abbasid Revolution of 750 to the Saljuq period of 1100. Exploring their rise from both a religious point of view and as a social phenomenon, it investigates how they attained and extended the family's status over the centuries. The ʻAlids are the descendants of the Prophet Muṭammad, the elite family of Islam. The respect and veneration they are accorded is unparalleled in Islamic society, regardless of political or religious affiliation. And they have played a major role Islamic history, from famous early rebels to the founders and eponyms of major Islamic sects, and from ninth-century Moroccan and tenth-century Egyptian rulers to the current King of Jordan, the Ayatollah Khomeini, and the Aga Khan.