Rawendis or Rwendi, 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 ...

sect that took its name from a town ( Rawend) near Isfahan. Its origin is unknown, but they held

Shi'ite 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, most ...

doctrines. Under the year 158 (AD 775)

Tabari ( ar, أبو جعفر محمد بن جرير بن يزيد الطبري), more commonly known as al-Ṭabarī (), was a Muslim historian and scholar from Amol, Tabaristan. Among the most prominent figures of the Islamic Golden Age, al-Tabari ...

says that a man of the Rwendis, called al-Ablaq (because he was

leprous Leprous is a Norwegian rock band from Notodden, formed in 2001. The group was founded by singer and keyboardist Einar Solberg and guitarist Tor Oddmund Suhrke. After releasing several demos with relatively unstable lineups, the band released th ...

), asserted that the spirit that was in

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was in

Ali ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib ( ar, عَلِيّ بْن أَبِي طَالِب; 600 – 661 CE) was the last of four Rightly Guided Caliphs to rule Islam (r. 656 – 661) immediately after the death of Muhammad, and he was the first Shia Imam ...

, then in the '' imams'' one after the other to '' Muhammad "al-Imām"'' and then finally to ''Ibrahim "al-Imām" ibn

Muhammad Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the mo ...

;'' and that thus these were gods.

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, then governor of Khorasan, put many of them to death. Under the year 135 (AD 752–3) the historian again mentions a rising of the Rwendis of Talaqan, and its suppression. Under 141 (AD 758–9) he gives a fuller account of them. They believed in

metempsychosis Metempsychosis ( grc-gre, μετεμψύχωσις), in philosophy, is the Reincarnation#Conceptual definitions, transmigration of the soul, especially its reincarnation after death. The term is derived from ancient Greek philosophy, and has be ...

, or the transmigration of souls, and asserted that the spirit of Adam was in Othman ibn Nahik; that the Lord who fed them and gave them drink was ''Abu Ja'far Abdallah ibn

Al-Mansur Abū Jaʿfar ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad al-Manṣūr (; ar, أبو جعفر عبد الله بن محمد المنصور‎; 95 AH – 158 AH/714 CE – 6 October 775 CE) usually known simply as by his laqab Al-Manṣūr (المنصور) w ...

,'' and that al-Haitham ibn Muawiya was

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. Accordingly they came to the palace of Mansur in

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and began to hail him as lord. Mansur, however, secured their chiefs and threw them into prison. By means of a mock funeral they succeeded in reaching the prison and delivering their leaders. They then turned in wrath against Mansur and almost succeeded in capturing him, but were defeated and slain by al-Haitham.

References

Shia Islamic branches {{islam-stub