The Nuqtavi ( fa, نقطویان Nuqṭawiyyah) movement was founded by Mahmūd Pasīkhānī ( fa, محمود پسیخانی) when he proclaimed himself the

Mahdi The Mahdi ( ar, ٱلْمَهْدِيّ, al-Mahdī, lit=the Guided) is a messianic figure in Islamic eschatology who is believed to appear at the end of times to rid the world of evil and injustice. He is said to be a descendant of Muhammad w ...

in 1397. The group is an offshoot of the Ḥurūfī movement, from which Pasīkhānī was expelled for arrogance. The group first arose in

Anjudan Anjudan ( fa, انجدان, also Romanized as Anjedān; also known as Andījān, Anjidān, and Injadān) is a village in Amanabad Rural District, in the Central District of Arak County, Markazi Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its populatio ...

near

Kashan Kashan ( fa, ; Qashan; Cassan; also romanized as Kāshān) is a city in the northern part of Isfahan province, Iran. At the 2017 census, its population was 396,987 in 90,828 families. Some etymologists argue that the city name comes from ...

an area known for its

Nizārī The Nizaris ( ar, النزاريون, al-Nizāriyyūn, fa, نزاریان, Nezāriyān) are the largest segment of the Ismaili Muslims, who are the second-largest branch of Shia Islam after the Twelvers. Nizari teachings emphasize independent ...

Ismā'īlī Isma'ilism ( ar, الإسماعيلية, al-ʾIsmāʿīlīyah) is a branch or sub-sect of Shia Islam. The Isma'ili () get their name from their acceptance of Imam Isma'il ibn Jafar as the appointed spiritual successor ( imām) to Ja'far al ...

Shia Islam Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his successor (''khalīfa'') and the Imam (spiritual and political leader) after him, m ...

. The group attempted to proclaim

Shah Tahmasp Tahmasp I ( fa, طهماسب, translit=Ṭahmāsb or ; 22 February 1514 – 14 May 1576) was the second shah of Safavid Iran from 1524 to 1576. He was the eldest son of Ismail I and his principal consort, Tajlu Khanum. Ascending the throne after t ...

as Mahdi after Pasīkhānī died.

Doctrines

Pasīkhānī never married and encouraged celibacy among his followers saying that the celibate have reached the rank of ''wāḥid'', which has the numerical value of nineteen. The Nuqtavis placed an exceptionally heavy emphasis on the number nineteen. They also advanced a cyclical view of time, which is reminiscent of the

. The Nuqtavis held that the total length of the Earth's existence is 64,000 years and that this is divided into four periods of 16,000 years and these in turn are subdivided into two sections of 8,000 years, one an

Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...

epoch and the other a

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

epoch.

Intellectual influences

The Nuqtavis owe most of their doctrines to the ḥurūfis. Most obviously the personal link between Pasīkhānī and Fażlallah Astarabādī (d.1394), founder of the Ḥurūfī movement. The notable influences were the obsession with the numerical and phonemic meanings of the letters of the

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

alphabet. Likewise Astarabādī had proclaimed himself

as well as Jesus returned. Like many of the Muslim splinter groups in Iran, the Ḥurūfiyyah believed that Fażlallah Astarabādī's ''Javedanname'' abrogated previous revelation (i.e. the

Qur'an The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , s ...

Modern influences

The writings of Ali Mohammad Shirazi, known as the

Báb The Báb (b. ʿAlí Muḥammad; 20 October 1819 – 9 July 1850), was the messianic founder of Bábism, and one of the central figures of the Baháʼí Faith. He was a merchant from Shiraz in Qajar Iran who, in 1844 at the age of 25, claimed ...

, contained many codified

chronogram A chronogram is a sentence or inscription in which specific letters, interpreted as numerals (such as Roman numerals), stand for a particular date when rearranged. The word, meaning "time writing", derives from the Greek words ''chronos'' (χ ...

s, cabbalistic interpretations, talismanic figures, astrological tables, and numerical calculations, some of which appear to be similar to Nuqtavi symbolism. ʿAlī Muḥammad Nāżim al-Sharī‘ah claims that the Báb was taught the Nuqtavi doctrines while imprisoned in Maku and that he incorporated them directly into his

Bayán In Bábism, Bayán ( ar, بیان), or exposition, denotes the whole body of the works of the Báb The Báb (b. ʿAlí Muḥammad; 20 October 1819 – 9 July 1850), was the messianic founder of Bábism, and one of the central figures of the ...

. Saiedi states, however, that while some elements found in the Nuqtavi school are confirmed in the writings of the Báb (''Nuqtaye Ula''), the literal emphasis that the Nuqtavi school placed on letters as direct elements of divine creation are foreign to the Báb's teachings; his teachings have little to do with the issue of the actual letters or their literal divine character, but instead, concern a mystical world view where the sacred character of human beings is the image of God.

Notes

External links

HORUFISMASTARĀBĀDĪ, FAŻLALLĀH (d. 796/1394), founder of the Ḥorūfī religion.ʿALĪ AL-AʿLĀ (d. 822/1419), also known as Amīr Sayyed ʿAlī, principal successor of Fażlallāh Astarābādī, founder of the Ḥorūfī sect.

References

Hamid Algar Hamid Algar (born 1940) is a British-American Professor Emeritus of Persian studies at the Faculty of Near Eastern Studies, University of California, Berkeley. He writes on Persian and Arabic literature and contemporary history of Iran, Turkey, the ...