Abu 'Abdullah al-Shi'i

Abu Abdallah al-Husayn ibn Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Zakariyya, better known as Abu Abdallah al-Shi'i, was an Isma'ili missionary (dāʿī) active in Yemen and North Africa. He was successful in converting and unifying a large part of the Kutama Berber tribe, leading them on the conquest of Ifriqiya from 902 to 909 and the overthrowing of the Aghlabid dynasty. This ultimately led to the establishment of the Fatimid Caliphate in Ifriqiya under the Imam–caliph Abdullah al-Mahdi Billah. However, Abdullah al-Mahdi Billah quickly fell out with Abu Abdallah and had Abu Abdallah executed on 28 February 911. Early life Abu Abdallah al-Shi'i was born al-Husayn ibn Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Zakariyya in Kufa in Iraq. According to the sources, he may have been an early Sufi or Twelver Shi'a adherent before being proselytized along with his brother, Abu'l-Abbas Muhammad, in 891 to Isma'ili Shi'ism by a local missionary, Abu Ali, or, according to other sources, by Hamdan Qarmat, the leader of the Iraqi branch of the Isma'ili missionary network. Abu Abdallah and Abu'l-Abbas became members of the Isma'ili missionary network themselves, inducted by Firuz, the representative of the hidden imam, and soon sent to missions abroad: Abu'l-Abbas to Egypt, and Abu Abdallah to Yemen. Abu Abdallah joined the Hajj caravan to Mecca, and joined the Yemeni pilgrims on their return to their homeland. He arrived there in April 892, and stayed and learned with the chief Isma'ili , in Yemen, Ibn Hawshab, in preparation for going on to lead a mission to the Maghreb. After less than a year, Ibn Hawshab sent Abu Abdallah again to Mecca, thence to go on to the Maghreb. Following usual practice, he was to be accompanied by another , Abdallah ibn Abi'l-Malahif, but the latter was replaced by Ibrahim ibn Ishaq al-Zabidi. Ibrahim became Abu Abdallah's lieutenant, becoming known as "the lesser lord" among Abu Abdallah's followers, and remained with him until the conquest of Ifriqiya in 909. At Mecca, Abu Abdallah came across a party of Kutama Berbers who were on the Hajj, to whom he presented himself as a native of Sana'a. According to later sources, after engaging them in discussion, he found out about the situation in their homeland, the feebleness of the Aghlabid government outside the core territories of Ifriqiya, and the Berbers' own military potential. Seeing an opportunity, he managed to convince them to invite him to come and teach them his doctrine.