A pseudo-Christian discourse in AH third-century/ ninth-century CE Syria

Abstract This article shows that the Qarāmiṭa (a Muslim group) strategically adapted the Islamic concept of the Mahdī to align with the spiritual figure of Jesus in order to render their eschatological message more acceptable within the Christian milieu of Syria. More broadly, however, it argues that the Qarāmiṭa’s discourse engaged with Christian theology, which also involved ideas of divine manifestation, the identification of the Qarāmiṭa’s leader Yaḥyā b. Zikrawayh (d. 290/903) with John the Baptist, and even the symbolic redirection of the qibla and ḥajj towards Jerusalem. The article examines what may be described as a pseudo-Christian discourse surrounding the figure of Yaḥyā b. Zikrawayh in Syria. The study considers two pathways leading to the establishment of such pseudo discourse. First, such Christianised motifs may have been deliberately employed by the Qarāmiṭa themselves as a strategy to attract wider audiences and reinforce the legitimacy of their movement. This examination will offer a new perspective on the probability of how the Qarāmiṭa sought legitimacy via adapting their so-called Mahdīist discourse for a non-Muslim society and ideology. Second, this Christian colouring was later reinforced by sources seeking to demonise and marginalise those who stood outside the authorities’ official position. This article critically examines the development of this syncretic Mahdīist narrative by analysing the problematic nature of these sources that document these adaptations. The analysis therefore moves between the rhetoric of the preachers and the historiographical framing by their opponents, showing how both contributed to shaping the image of a pseudo-Christian Mahdīist movement in Syria.