Editing Alids (section)

=== Abbasids era ({{Reign|750|1258}}) ===
To overthrow the Umayyads, the Abbasids had rallied the support of the Shia in the name of the [[Ahl al-Bayt]], that is, the family of Muhammad. But many Shias were disillusioned when the Abbasid [[As-Saffah|al-Saffah]] ({{Reign|750|754}}) declared himself caliph, as they had hoped for an Alid leader instead.{{Sfn|Donner|1999|pp=24{{ndash}}25}} The Abbasids soon turned against their former allies and persecuted the Alids and their Shia supporters.{{Sfn|Daftary|2008}}{{Sfn|Momen|1985|p=71}} In response, Shia doctrinally limited its leadership to the Alids, many of whom revolted against the Abbasids, including the Hasanid brothers [[Muhammad al-Nafs al-Zakiyya|Muhammad ibn Abd-Allah]] ({{Died in|762}}) and Ibrahim.{{Sfn|Lewis|2012}}{{Sfn|Lewis|2012}} Some Alids instead took refuge in remote areas and founded regional dynasties in the southern shores of the [[Caspian Sea|Caspian sea]], [[Yemen]], and western [[Maghreb]].{{Sfn|Daftary|2008}}{{Sfn|Donner|1999|p=26}} For instance, the revolt of the Hasanid [[Al-Husayn ibn Ali al-Abid|Husayn ibn Ali al-Abid]] was suppressed in 786 but his brother [[Idris I of Morocco|Idris]] ({{Died in|791}}) escaped and founded the [[Idrisid dynasty|first Alid dynasty]] in [[Morocco]].{{Sfn|Lewis|2012}}{{Sfn|Momen|1985|p=71}} Similarly, a number of Zaydite rules appeared in northern [[Iran|Persia]] and in Yemen, the latter of which has survived to the present day.{{Sfn|Momen|1985|p=50}}{{Sfn|Daftary|2008}}

Some quiescent imams of the Imamites were also probably killed by the Abbasids.{{Sfn|Pierce|2016|p=44}} For example, their seventh imam, [[Musa al-Kazim]] ({{Died in|799}}), spent years in the Abbasid prisons and died there, possibly poisoned by order of Caliph [[Harun al-Rashid]] ({{Reign|786|809}}), who also had "hundreds of Alids" killed.{{Sfn|Momen|1985|pp=39{{ndash}}40}} Caliph [[al-Ma'mun]] ({{Reign|813|833}}) later attempted a reconciliation by appointing in 816 as his heir [[Ali al-Rida]], the eighth imam of the Imamites. But other Abbasids revolted in opposition in [[Lower Mesopotamia|Iraq]], which forced al-Ma'mun to reverse his policies and Ali al-Rida died around that time, likely poisoned.{{Sfn|Madelung|1985}}{{Sfn|Momen|1985|pp=41{{ndash}}42}} [[Ali al-Hadi]] ({{Died in|868}}) and [[Hasan al-Askari]] ({{Died in|874}}), the tenth and eleventh imams of the Imamites, were held in the capital [[Samarra]] under strict surveillance.{{Sfn|Momen|1985|p=162}} Most Imamite sources report that both were poisoned by the Abbasids.{{Sfn|Momen|1985|p=44}} Their followers also believe that the birth of their twelfth imam, [[Muhammad al-Mahdi]], was hidden for fear of Abbasid persecution and that he remains in occultation by divine will since 874, until his reappearance at the end of time to eradicate injustice and evil.{{Sfn|Amir-Moezzi|1998}}{{Sfn|McHugo|2018|p=108}} They became known as the [[Twelver Shi'ism|Twelvers]].{{Sfn|McHugo|2018|p=107}}

Meanwhile, the only historic split among the Imamites happened after the death in 765 of their sixth imam, the quiescent [[Ja'far al-Sadiq]],{{Sfn|Daftary|2008}}{{Sfn|McHugo|2018|p=107}} who played a key role in formulating Imamite doctrines.{{Sfn|McHugo|2018|p=105}} Some claimed that his designated successor was his son [[Isma'il ibn Ja'far|Isma'il]], who had actually predeceased al-Sadiq. These followers permanently separated and later formed the [[Isma'ilism|Isma'ilites]].{{Sfn|Daftary|2008}} Some of them denied the death of Isma'il but their majority accepted the imamate of his son [[Muhammad ibn Isma'il]]. His death around 795 was denied by the majority of his followers, who awaited his return as the Mahdi, while a minority traced the imamate in his descendants.{{Sfn|Haider|2014|p=124}} The Isma'ilites actively opposed the Abbasids,{{Sfn|Daftary|2013|p=5}} and their efforts culminated in the establishment of the [[Fatimid Caliphate]] ({{Reign|909|1171}}) in [[North Africa]],{{Sfn|Daftary|2008}} although some have questioned the Isma'ilite ancestry of the Fatimid caliphs.{{Sfn|Lewis|2012}}

The abortive [[Zanj Rebellion|Zanj rebellion]] against the Abbasids was ignited in Iraq and [[Bahrain]] in the mid-ninth century by Ali ibn Muhammad Sahib al-Zanj, who claimed descent from Abbas ibn Ali. The poetry by descendants of Abbas ibn Ali is collected in {{Transliteration|ar|al-Awraq}}, compiled by the [[Turkic peoples|Turkic]] scholar [[Abu Bakr bin Yahya al-Suli|al-Suli]] ({{Died in|946{{ndash}}947}}). One of his descendants was Abbas ibn al-Hasan al-Alawi, who reached fame as a poet and scholar during the reigns of Harun al-Rashid and al-Ma'mun.{{Sfn|Bahramian|Bulookbashi|2015}}