The Formation of Islam Religion and Society in the Near East, 600–1800

The partisans of cAli were not terribly successful at persuading the Muslim community to acknowledge the authority of their Imams. After the troubled caliphate of cAli himself, none of his descendants or close collateral relations, i.e., those whom the various proto-Shici groups recognized as the rightful leader of the community and instrument of God's will, secured the broad allegiance of the umma. Still, the late eighth and ninth centuries were fruitful ones for Shicism, as it was then that it acquired a more precise sectarian identity.

The success of the cAbbasids resulted in the proto-Shicis defining their expectations more sharply. The subversive movement had its roots in proto-Shicism, as it drew on the widespread but unfocused support for “the chosen one from the family of Muhammad.” But the chosen one turned out not to be a direct descendant of the Prophet, and eventually the cAbbasids had to deal with the disappointment of those who expected something more, or at least something different. By 762, the cAbbasids had the embarrassment of defending themselves against a revolt in the Hijaz, led by Muhammad ibn cAbdallah, al-Nafs al-Zakiyya (“the Pure Soul”), the great-grandson of Muhammad's grandson son al-Hasan, who rejected the cAbbasids explicitly on the grounds that they had usurped a position and power which rightfully belonged to a descendant of the Prophet.