Muhammad ibn Abd Allah al-Aftah ibn Ja'far al-Sadiq was a figure whose existence is contested: a portion of the
Fathite Shia Muslims (followers of
Abdullah al-Aftah ibn Ja'far al-Sadiq), believed that Muhammad was the son of Imam Abdullah al-Aftah (died 766 CE), whom they believed to be the
Imam
Imam (; ar, إمام '; plural: ') is an Islamic leadership position. For Sunni Muslims, Imam is most commonly used as the title of a worship leader of a mosque. In this context, imams may lead Islamic worship services, lead prayers, ser ...
after his father
Ja'far al-Sadiq. This assertion is contested by others, including many Fathites, who believe that Abdullah died without issue.
When Abdullah al-Aftah died without an issue to succeed him in the Imamate, a portion of his followers believed in the necessity of the continuation of the Imamate in the children and the grandchildren of the Imam through pure vertical inheritance. Due to this they could not shift to the belief in the Imamate of the brother of Abdullah al-Aftah,
Musa al-Kadhim
Musa ibn Ja'far al-Kazim ( ar, مُوسَىٰ ٱبْن جَعْفَر ٱلْكَاظِم, Mūsā ibn Jaʿfar al-Kāẓim), also known as Abū al-Ḥasan, Abū ʿAbd Allāh or Abū Ibrāhīm, was the seventh Imam in Twelver Shia Islam, after hi ...
. They therefore believed that Abdullah secretly had a son, claiming that this son was the
Mahdi. They argued: "His name corresponds to the famous Prophetic ''
hadith'' (of
Muhammad): 'His name (i.e. the Mahdi) is my name (i.e. Muhammad), the name of his father is the name of my father (i.e. Abdullah).'"
There maybe evidence that he had a son named Sayed Alawi.
Some of his ancestors and relatives
See also
*
Descendants of Ali ibn Abi Talib
References
Bibliography
*Al-Maqalat wa al-Firaq, by Sa'ad Ibn Abdillah al-Ash'ari al-Qummi (d. 301), pg.88
{{DEFAULTSORT:Muhammad Ibn Abdullah Al-Aftah
Arab people of Iranian descent
Family of Muhammad
Husaynids