Rawendis

RawendisorRwendi,aPersiansect that took its name from a town (Rawend) nearIsfahan.Its origin is unknown, but they heldShi'itedoctrines. Under the year 158 (AD 775)Tabarisays that a man of the Rwendis, called al-Ablaq (because he wasleprous), asserted that the spirit that was inJesuswas inAli,then in theimamsone after the other toMuhammad "al-Imām"and then finally toIbrahim "al-Imām" ibnMuhammad;and that thus these were gods.Asad ibn Abdallah al-Qasri,then governor ofKhorasan,put many of them to death. Under the year 135 (AD 752–3) the historian again mentions a rising of the Rwendis ofTalaqan,and its suppression. Under 141 (AD 758–9) he gives a fuller account of them. They believed inmetempsychosis,or the transmigration of souls, and asserted that the spirit ofAdamwas inOthman ibn Nahik;that the Lord who fed them and gave them drink wasAbu Ja'far Abdallah ibnMuhammadAl-Mansur,and thatal-Haitham ibn MuawiyawasGabriel.Accordingly they came to the palace ofMansurinHashimiyyaand began to hail him as lord. Mansur, however, secured their chiefs and threw them into prison. By means of a mock funeral they succeeded in reaching the prison and delivering their leaders. They then turned in wrath againstMansurand almost succeeded in capturing him, but were defeated and slain by al-Haitham.