Al-Muqanna

Hashim (Arabic/Persian: هاشم), better known as al-Muqanna‘ (Arabic: المقنع‎ "The Veiled", died ca. 783.) He was among the first few to resist the Arab-imposed religion "islam", and he organized many attacks on Arab armies and took back whatever they looted. He was a chemist, and one of his experiments caused an explosion in which a part of his face was burnt. For the rest of his life he used a veil and thus was known as "Almughanna" ("the veiled one"). Dr Nafisi and Aryanpoor have elaborated on Khorram dinan. A Persian man who claimed to be a prophet, he founded a religion which was a mix of Zoroastrianism and Islam. He is viewed as a heretic by mainstream Muslims.

Name and early life

Before he came to be known by the nickname of "al-Muqanna", he was called by his birth name, Hashim. Early scholars believed that he was born in Sogdia. However, it is now agreed that his birthplace was in Balkh, a city close to Sogdia.

Biography

Al-Muqanna‘ was an ethnic Persian from Merv named Hashim ibn Hakim, originally a clothes pleater. He became a commander for Abu Muslim of Khurasan. After Abu Muslim's murder, al-Muqanna‘ claimed to be an incarnation of God, a role, he insisted, passed to him from Abū Muslim, who received it via ‘Alī from the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Al-Muqanna‘ was reputed to wear a veil in order to cover up his beauty; however, the Abbasid Caliphate claimed that he wore it to hide his ugliness, being one-eyed and bald. His followers wore white clothes in opposition to Abbasid black. He is reputed to have engaged in magic to impress his followers as a maker of miracles.