ZANDAQAH HERESY DURING THE EARLY ‘ABBÓSID ERA (750-850 C.E.) SOCIO-POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC FACTORS

Abstract

The present study, while discussing Zandaqah as a social and political phenomenon, deals with those individuals who were declared zindÊqs and were prosecuted and persecuted as heretics during the early ‘AbbÉsid Caliphate from 750 to 850 (C.E.). The movements and individuals whose religious beliefs and practices did not conform to the religious doctrine of the dominant religious and political elite, were branded as zindÊqs. The rebellious movements in Persia and their leaders, including, among others, UstÉdh SÊs, al-Muqanna‘, BÉbak al-KhurramÊ, AfshÊn and MazyÉr were declared heretics and were persecuted on the charges of having anti-Islamic Zoroastrian and Manichaean agendas. In fact, there were social, economic and political grievances of the people of these areas that prompted them to rebel against the central government, and they were branded as heretics as they were against political and economic interests of the ‘AbbÉsid Caliphate in these areas.