A study on the antiquity and originality of Mohammad Hanafieh's Jangname

Muhammad ibn Ali ibn Abu Talib, known as Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah, has inadvertently become the central figure of a number of Ghali and extremist sects of moderate Shi'ism. The first of these sects is Kysanyh which has inspired the subsequent sects ideologically. There are several literary works (in prose and verse) on the life story of Muhammad ibn Hanafiya, which are generally known as Jangname-ha-ye Mohammad Hanafiyya. The manuscripts of these works are found to be very recent and even the evidence found in their text does not go further than the Safavid era. Regarding this as well as the cultural developments of the Safavid era, scholars assume that the formation and spread of such works can be attributed to the Safavid era. However, in ancient historical, sectarian and literary texts, there is some evidence testifying that the stories of Muhammad Hanafieh can be traced back several centuries before the Safavids. The present paper has sought to examine such evidence and its temporal origin. The researchers of this study hold that the activities of Ghulāt sects have some links with the popular culture and literature.