The north of Iran and the difficult to reach regions of...

The north of Iran and the difficult to reach regions of Gilan and Mazandaran as well as the mountainous places and far-flung lands of Khurasan were considered secure places for the ‘Alawis. For the first time, during the time of Harun ar-Rashid, Yahya ibn ‘Abd Allah al-Hasani went to Mazandaran which was then called Tabaristan.

Although he held power and flourished in his work, through his vizier Fadhl ibn Yahya who brought a letter, Harun was able to convince him to conclude a peace treaty.[^9] Many ‘Alawis settled there after him and Shi‘ism spread there day by day. The people there embraced Islam through the ‘Alawis so much so that during the second half of the third century AH, the ‘Alawi rule in Tabaristan was established by Hasan ibn Zayd al-‘Alawi.

At the time, it is regarded as a conducive place for the sadat just as Ibn Asfandiyar says, …At the time, so many ‘Alawi and Hashimite sadat from Hijaz, suburbs of Sham, and Iraq went to him. Verily, he had so much authority there that whenever he would ride, three hundred ‘Alawis armed with swords were around him.[^10] When Imam ar-Ridha ( ‘a ) was appointed by Ma’mun as his heir-apparent, the brothers and relatives of the Imam went to Iran.

As Mar‘ashi writes: Because of the rumor of the heir-apparency spread by Ma’mun about the Imam ( ‘a ), many sadat came here (Iran) and the Imam had twenty one brothers. This group of the Imam’s brothers and {their} sons consisting of Hasani and Husayni sadat arrived in the villages of Rey (old Tehran) and Iraq. And as they heard of the treachery Ma’mun committed against Hadhrat Ridha, they took refuge in the mountainous Daylamistan and Tabaristan.

Some of them were martyred and their tombs and shrines are famous and since the people of Mazandaran were directly Shi‘ah when they embraced Islam and believed in the goodness of the descendants of the Prophet (S), sadat were held in high esteem there.[^11] After the failure of the uprising of Shahid Fakh, Husayn ibn ‘Ali al-Hasani during the time of ‘Abbasid caliph Hadi, Idris ibn ‘Abd Allah, brother of Muhammad Nafs az-Zakiyyah went to Africa.

The people there rallied around him and he set up the rule of the Idrisis in Maghrib. Although he was poisoned soon after that by ‘Abbasid agents, his sons ruled there for a period of about one century.[^12] As such, the sadat became familiar with the mentioned settlement.