Muhammad al-Taqi
Ninth Ismaili Imam (790–840)
Abu al-Husayn Ahmad ibn Abd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn Isma'il (Arabic: أَبُو ٱلْحُسَيْن أَحْمَد ٱبْن عَبْد ٱللَّٰه ٱبْن مُحَمَّد ٱبْن إسْماعِيل, romanized: Abū al-Ḥusayn Aḥmad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad ibn Ismāʿīl; c. 790–840), commonly known as Muhammad al-Taqi (Arabic: مُحَمَّد ٱلْتَقِيّ, romanized: Muḥammad al-Taqī, lit. 'Muhammad the Pious'), was a descendant of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and the ninth of the Isma'ili Imams, succeeding his father, Ahmad al-Wafi (d. 828). Like his father, he lived primarily in Salamiyah, and Abd Allah ibn Maymun al-Qaddah, the chief missionary (da'i), continued to serve as the hijab (lit. 'cover') for him. Known by the title Ṣāḥib al-Rasāʾil (lit. 'lord of the epistles'), al-Taqi is said to have prepared with his followers an encyclopedic text called the Encyclopedia of the Brethren of Purity (Rasāʾil Ikhwān al-Ṣafā). He died in 840 in Salamiyah and was succeeded by his son al-Husayn.
With the death of Ja'far al-Sadiq in 148/765, Isma'il (d. 158/775) and Muhammad (d. 197/813), the gravity of persecutions of the Abbasids had considerably increased. The Isma'ili Imams were impelled to thicken their hiding, therefore, the first dawr al-satr came into force from 197/813 to 268/882, wherein the Imams were known as al-a'imma al-masturin (lit. 'the concealed Imams'). The concealment ended with the establishment of the Fatimid Caliphate (r. 909–1171).
Historical background
With the death of Ja'far al-Sadiq in 148/765, Isma'il (d. 158/775) and Muhammad (d. 197/813), the gravity of persecutions of the Abbasids had considerably increased. The Isma'ili Imams were impelled to thicken their hiding, therefore, the first dawr al-satr ('period of concealment') came into force from 197/813 to 268/882, wherein the Imams were known as al-a'imma al-masturin (lit. 'the concealed Imams'). During this time, the living Imam's identity was hidden for protection and the community continued to operate under the authority of Muhammad ibn Isma'il.
“Muhammad al-Taqi” enters the record as ninth Ismaili Imam (790–840). Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Muhammad, al-Taqi and Ninth can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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