Qarmatians

The Qarmatians (Arabic: قرامطة‎ Qarāmita; also transliterated Carmathians, Qarmathians, Karmathians) were a syncretic religious group that combined elements of the Ismaili Shi'i branch of Islam with Persian mysticism centered in Al-Hasa (Eastern Arabia), where they established a religious utopian republic in 899 CE. They are most famed for their revolt against the Abbasid Caliphate. Mecca was sacked by the sect’s leader Abū-Tāhir Al-Jannābī, outraging the Muslim world, particularly with their theft of the Black Stone and desecration of the Zamzam Well with corpses during the Hajj season of 930 CE.

The Qarāmiṭah were also known as "the Greengrocers" (al-Baqliyyah) because of their strict vegetarian habits.

Name

The origin of the name "Qarmatian" is uncertain. According to some sources, the name derives from the surname of the sect's founder, Hamdan Qarmat. The name qarmat probably comes from Aramaic, and means either "short-legged," "red-eyed," or "secret teacher". Other sources, however, say that the name comes from the Arabic verb قرمط (qarmat), which means "to make the lines close together in writing" or "to walk with short steps." The word "Qarmatian" can also refer to a type of Arabic script.