Page:Arabic Thought and Its Place in History.djvu/109

 Zayd had a body of followers who established themselves in North Persia where they held their own for some time, and a branch of their party still exists in South Arabia, still suspected of rationalist proclivities. Most of the Shi'ites, however, recognised Muhammad al-Bakir as the fifth Imam, and Ja'far as-Sadiq as the sixth. This latter also was a devoted follower of the "new learning," that is to say, of Hellenistic philosophy, and is generally regarded as the founder, or at least the chief exponent, of what are known as batinite views, that is to say the allegorical interpretation of the Qur'an, so that revelation is made to mean, not the literal statement, but an inner meaning, and this inner meaning generally shows a strong influence of Hellenistic philosophy. It is only the divinely directed Imam who can expound the true meaning of the Qur'an which remains a sealed book to the uninitiated. Ja'far was, it would appear, the first of the 'Alids who openly asserted that he was a divine incarnation as well as an inspired teacher: his predecessors had done no more than acquiesce in such claims when made by their followers, and very often had repudiated them.

Abu Hashim, the son of Muhammad b. al-Hanafiya, died in 98. A.H. poisoned, it was generally believed, by the Khalif Sulayman, and bequeathed his rights to Muhammad b. 'Ali b. 'Abdullah, a descendant of the house of Hashim, to which the Prophet and 'Ali had belonged, the rival clan of the Quraysh tribe opposed to the clan of the 'Umayyads. Abu Hashim assumed