CARMATHIANS, a Muhammadan sect named after Ham dan Qarmat, who accepted the teaching of the Isma`ilites (see ISLAM: Sects) from Husayn al-Ahwazi, a missionary of Ahmad, son of the Persian `Abdallah ibn MaimUn, toward the close of the 9th century. For the political history of the Carmathians, their conquests, and their decay, see ARABIA : History; CALIPHATE and EGYPT : History (Muhammadan period).
In their religious teaching they claimed to be Shi'ites; i.e., they asserted that the imamate belonged by right to the descendants of Ali. Further, they were of the Ismailite branch of these, i.e., they acknowledged the claim to the imamate of Ismail the eldest son of the sixth imam. `Abdallah taught that from the creation of man there had always been an imam sometimes known, sometimes hidden. Ismail was the last known ; a new one was to be looked for. But while the imam was hidden, his doctrines were to be taught by his missionaries (da`is). Hamdan Qarmat was one of these, Ahmad ibn `Abdallah being nominally the chief. The ad herents of this party were initiated by degrees into the secrets of its doctrines and were divided into seven (afterwards nine) classes. In the first stage the convert was taught the existence of mystery in the Qur'an and made to feel the necessity of a teacher who could explain it. In the second stage the earlier teachers of Islam were shown to be wrong in doctrine and the imams alone were proved to be infallible. In the third it was taught that there were only seven imams and that the other sects of the Shi'ites were in error. In the fourth the disciple learnt that each of the seven imams had a prophet, who was to be obeyed in all things. The prophet of the last imam was `Abdallah. In the fifth stage the uselessness of tradition and the temporary nature of the precepts and practices of Muhammad were taught, while in the sixth the believer was in duced to give up these practices (prayer, fasting, pilgrimage, etc.). At this point the Carmathian had completely ceased to be a Mus lim. In the remaining degrees there was more liberty of opinion allowed and much variety of belief and teaching existed.
The last contemporary mention of the Carmathians is that of Nasir ibn Khusrau, who visited them in A.D. 1050. In Arabia they ceased to exercise influence. In Persia and Syria their work was taken up by the Assassins (q.v.). Their doctrines are said, how ever, to exist still in parts of Syria, Persia, Arabia and India, and to be still propagated in Zanzibar.
BIBLIOGRAPHY.-L. Massignon, "Esquisse dune bibliographie qarBibliography.-L. Massignon, "Esquisse dune bibliographie qar- mate," in Oriental Studies presented to E. G. Browne, pp. 329-338 (1922) ; M. J. de Goeje, Memoire sur les Carmathes du Bahrain (188o).