Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition

Get access

Ḳarmaṭī
(5,644 words)

, pl. Ḳarāmiṭa, name given to the adherents of a branch of the Ismāʿīliyya [q.v.]. Originally it is generally reported to have referred to the followers of Ḥamdān Ḳarmaṭ [q.v.], an Ismāʿīlī leader in the sawād of al-Kūfa, whose surname Ḳarmaṭ (also Ḳarmaṭūya) is variously explained in the sources as meaning short-legged or red-eyed. It is to be noted, however, that the Imāmī scholar al-Faḍl b. S̲h̲ād̲h̲ān of Naysābūr, who died in 260/873-4, already wrote a refutation of the Ḳarāmiṭa ( al-Radd ʿalā ’l-Ḳarāmiṭa ). Thus either the missionary activity of Ḥamdān must have commenced…

Cite this page
Madelung, W., “Ḳarmaṭī”, in: Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition, Edited by: P. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C.E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel, W.P. Heinrichs. Consulted online on 19 March 2024 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/1573-3912_islam_COM_0451>
First published online: 2012
First print edition: ISBN: 9789004161214, 1960-2007



▲   Back to top   ▲