Ash arites and Establishment of the First Shiite City-State

The Ash’arites were the members of a Yemeni tribe converted to Islam before the conquest of Mecca. They actively participated in the battle of Hunayn and the conquests under the caliphs. When the Uthmān was murdered, they were, like other Muslims, involved in the Alawid-Uthmanid struggles and divided into two branches of Sunnite and Shiite Muslims. The Shiites among them were the offspring of Mālik bin ‘Āmir Ash’ari, one of Imam Ali’s companions, who were mostly inhabitants of Kūfa. However, when Hajjāj seized the power, this group migrated to Qom in the last years of the first century AH. After widespread economic improvements and using a tolerant policy, they managed to establish a city-state in Qom through their unity and with their large number of people and plenty of wealth. There, the Abbasid governors were only mediators between the rulers of that city-state and the higher levels of Abbasid caliphate. The governance of the city was in the hands of the Ash’arite aristocrats and elites. This government was dominant about three decades and finally it ended with the rise of Buwahids to the power; however, it left a great and unique heritage for the Imamiyya religious school.