The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (84 page)

Ahl-i-Haqq
(‘People of the Truth’)
.

A secret religious sect found in W. Persia and Kurdistan, dating back to the 11th cent. It incorporates
Zoroastrian
,
Manichaean
, Jewish, Christian, and
S
f
ideas into a popular
messianic cult
.

 
Back
  -  
 
New Search

(
c.
1199/1200–1276 (AH 596–675)).
S
f
adept, immensely revered in Egypt. Boisterous in youth, he underwent some kind of inner conversion in
c.
627 and withdrew from human contact, including marriage, to seek God alone. He made pilgrimage to the tombs of many of the great S
f
s, e.g.
al-J
li
and al-
all
j. Settling finally at Tandit
in Egypt, he developed even more ascetic ways. After his death, ‘Abd al-‘
l became his
khal
fa
, and organized his followers under strict rule.