The emergence of the niqāba, the ‘headship’ of the ʿAlid (or Ṭālibid) family, was a clear indication that the kinsfolk of the Prophet had come to be perceived as deserving special treatment on account of their genealogy. Within 100 years of their initial appearance in the late third/ninth century, nuqabāʾ (sing. naqīb) were found all over the Islamic world. In various ways, the office gave the family a certain self-determination over its affairs, not least in administering its privileges. No other social group could claim such exceptions and exemptions. While Morimoto has traced the rapid dispersion of the niqāba across the Islamic world, the origins and functions of the office are still poorly understood; moreover, there has been little discussion of the extent of a naqīb's power, his autonomy from the authorities or his duties towards the ʿAlids.

Part of the reason for the scarcity of studies on the establishment of the niqāba lies in the relative lack of information in the sources: Accounts concerning the appointment of the first ever naqīb and names and dates in office of early nuqabāʾ are virtually absent from the historical literature. This is perhaps not surprising. The non-ʿAlid and non-Shiʿite sources may not have cared much for this innovation or, if they did, may not have advertised it. Why these accounts appear so late in the Ṭālibid genealogies and why there are no ʿAlid claims to the first niqāba is more puzzling.