MUSLIMS: DOCTRINESvision of guidance to them. The claim to provide proper guidance and
thereby justice occurs already in letters ascribed to al-J:Iusayn, and
Sulayman ibn Surad apparently regarded both al-J:Iusayn and his father,
'All, as "rightly guided" (Ar. mahdi). AI-Mukhtar's identification of
MUQammad ibn al-J:Ianafiyya as mahd'i shoud be understood in this
original meaning of this term.^96 The ideas associated with the move-
ment of al-Mukhtar seem to have been more prophetic than Messianic
in an eschatological sense and do not seem to have included an ex-
pectation of the imminent end of the world. The apocalyptic signifi-
cance acquired by the Mahdi later should not be read back into his
use of this term. Nor were such ideas unique to the supporters of
'All's family. Claims of right guidance and prophecy were also made
for the early Marwanis, and the idea of continuing revelation can be
found among the Khawarij. Supporters of 'All's family did not nec-
essarily subscribe to all of these ideas or support al-Mukhtar at Kufa.
'Ubaydullah ibn aI-Hurr al-Ju'fl opposed al-Mukhtar and joined the
army of Mu~'ab that overthrew him.^97
The prophetic claims made for the family of 'All led to the Judaic
affinities in the Qur'an. The significance of comparing 'All to Harun
lay in the Qur'anic description of Hariin as the waz'ir of the prophet
Miisa, implying that 'All was the waz'ir of MUQammad (Sura 25 :35).
By calling himself the waz'ir of the family of MUQammad, al-Mukhtar
evoked the same kind of Mosaic prophetic implications. 'All's chair
(kursi) seems to have had the same kind of significance for the followers
of al-Mukhtar who escorted it in battle. They compared it consciously
to the Ark of the Covenant (tiibut) of the Banii Isra'll, which contained
a remnant of things left behind by the families of Miisa and Hariin
(Sura 2:248). It is worth noting that the verse of the Qur'an quoted
by them also says that the Ark with the sak'ina (Heb. Shekina) was
given to Saul (Taliit) as a token of sovereignty and was borne by
angels, and that the Shekina is associated with God's judgment seat
in the Talmud.^98 It is natural to look for a YamanlJewish background
among those clans which accompanied the kurs'i. Their leader, J:Iawshab
al-Bursumi, belonged to the tribe of Hamdan, for which a Jewish
96 Cf. Qur'an, 17:97: "And whomever God guides, he is the rightly guided" (Ar. al-
muhtadi).
97 Baladhurl, Ansab, V, 260-61; Tabari, Ta'rzkh, Il, 733-34.
98 Rodkinson, Talmud, XVI, "Sanhedrin," 371; Tabari, Ta'rzkh, Il, 703-4. It might
also be noted that Elijah, as the forerunner of the Messiah, was identified with the
angel of the covenant (Mal. 3:1).