Al-Khaṣībī

Abu ʿAbd-Allāh Al-Ḥusayn ibn Ḥamdān Al-Jonbalānī Al-Khaṣībī (Arabic: الحسين بن حمدان الخصيبي‎‎), mostly known as al-Khaṣībī (??–969) (Arabic: الخصيبي‎‎) He was originally from a village called "Jonbalā", between Kufa and Wasit in Iraq (region), which was the center of the Qarmatians. He was a member of a well-educated family with close ties to Eleventh Twelver Shia Imam Hasan al-Askari and a scholar of the Islamic sect known as the ‘Alawiyyah or Nusayrism, a branch of the Twelver Shi'a, which is now present in Syria, Southern Turkey and Northern Lebanon.

For a time, al-Khaṣībī was imprisoned in Baghdad, due to accusations of being a Qarmatian. According to the Alawites, after settling in Aleppo, under the rule of the Shi'ite Hamdanid dynasty, he gained the support and aid of the then ruler in spreading his teachings. He later dedicated his book Kitab al-Hidaya al-Kubra to his patron. He died in Aleppo and his tomb, which became a holy shrine, is inscribed with the name Shaykh Yabraq.

He taught several unique beliefs. One such belief was that Jesus was every one of the prophets from Adam to Muhammad, as well as other figures such as Socrates, Plato and some ancestors of Muhammad. Similarly, other historical figures were the incarnations of Ali and Salman al-Farisi. He also reported an authenticated hadith which allowed an Alawite woman to fornicate with a non-Alawite man if her purpose was to beget children.

He and his works were praised by the influential Iranian Shi'ite scholar Muhammad Baqir Majlisi.

See also

• ‘Alawi
• Ibn Nusayr

External links

• Encyclopædia Iranica, ḴAṢIBI