Hamdan Qarmat ibn al-Ash'ath | |
|---|---|
حمدان قرمط بن الأشعث | |
| Personal | |
| Born | Furat Badaqla |
| Died | 899 or later |
| Religion | Shi'a Islam |
| Denomination | Isma'ilism |
| Sect | Qarmatians |
Hamdan Qarmat ibn al-Ash'ath (Arabic: حمدان قرمط بن الأشعث, romanized: Ḥamdān Qarmaṭ ibn al-Ashʿath; fl. c. 874–899 CE) was the eponymous founder of the Qarmatian sect of Isma'ilism. Originally the chief Isma'ili missionary (dā'ī) in lower Iraq, in 899 he quarreled with the movement's leadership at Salamiya after it was taken over by Sa'id ibn al-Husayn (the future first Fatimid Caliph), and with his followers broke off from them. Hamdan then disappeared, but his followers continued in existence in the Syrian Desert and al-Bahrayn for several decades.