- Narjis
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Narjis was the mother of Muhammad al-Mahdi the twelfth and last Imam of Shi'a Islam and the grand-daughter of Bardas (The Byzantine regent).
There are two traditions regarding her ancestry, one saying that she is African while the other saying she is Greek [1].
Her name has been recorded as Rayhana, Narjis, Sayqal or Sawsan in Shia's books. [2] There are a couple of narrations regarding the origin of his mother. One is that his mother, Narjis was a Byzantine slave.[2] Another narration says she was a black slave from Africa. Mohammad Ali Amir-Moezzi states that names like Sawsan, Narjis or Rayhana were common names for slaves at that times and his mother name supports this narration.[3] Other narration says that she was a Byzantine Prince who pretended to be a slave so that she might travel from her kingdom to Arabia.[4][5] Mohammad Ali Amir-Moezzi, in Encyclopedia of Iranica, suggests that the last version is "undoubtedly legendary and hagiographic".[3]
See also
References
- ^ <http://www.al-islam.org/gallery/sounds/RM2001/halgar10-18-2001.mp3>
- ^ a b Sachedina, Abdulaziz (1981). Islamic Messianism. Albany, NY, USA: State University of New York Press. pp. 72–74, 78. ISBN 87395-485-0.
- ^ a b Amir-Moezzi, Mohammad Ali. "ISLAM IN IRAN vii. THE CONCEPT OF MAHDI IN TWELVER SHIʿISM". Encyclopedia iranica. http://www.iranica.com/articles/islam-in-iran-vii-the-concept-of-mahdi-in-twelver-shiism. Retrieved 24-7-2011.
- ^ The Expected Mahdi
- ^ Online Islamic Courses
External links
Categories:- 9th-century people
- Women of the Byzantine Empire
- Slaves of the Muslim world
- Shi'a Muslims
- History of Islam
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