Abdullah al-Aftah

Who was Abdullah al-Aftah?

Abdullah al-Aftah ibn Ja'far al-Sadiq was the eldest surviving son of Ja'far al-Sadiq and the full-brother of Isma'il ibn Jafar. Abdullah’s title "al-Aftah" derives from the Arabic words "aftah al-ra’s" or "aftah al-rijlayn" used to describe his appearance.

During the lifetime of his father, Abdullah al-Aftah had supported the revolt of his relative Muhammad ibn Abdallah An-Nafs Az-Zakiyya.

Following Ja'far al-Sadiq’s death, the majority of Ja'far’s followers accepted Abdullah al-Aftah as their new Imam. These followers were known as the Fathites and, according to the Mu'tazili heresiographer Abul-Qasim al-Balkhi al-Ka‘bi, they were the biggest and most important section of the followers of Ja'far al-Sadiq. To support his claims, Abdullah al-Aftah seems to have claimed a 2nd Nass from his father and his adherents cited a supposed Hadith from Ja'far al-Sadiq to the effect that the Imamate must be transmitted through the eldest son of the Imam. However, when Abdullah al-Aftah died childless about 70 days after the death of his father, the bulk of his supporters went over to his brother Musa al-Kadhim. Other Fathites considered Abdullah al-Aftah the 7th Imam and Musa al-Kadhim the 8th Imam, while others believed the Imamate came to an end when Abdullah al-Aftah died. Another group invented a son for Abdullah al-Aftah, called Muhammad ibn Abdullah al-Aftah, because they unconditionally believed the Imamate could only be inherited from father to son, rather than from brother to brother. This group also claimed that Muhammad ibn Abdullah al-Aftah was the promised Mahdi.