Aqir Zayti
Aqir Zayti contains the al-Hajj Khidr Tomb, an important Ismaili shrine. According to local Ismaili legend, which is partly rooted in historical facts, al-Hajj Khidr was an Ismaili religious sheikh from al-Qadmus who became popular in that area and was consequently forced out by that town's Ismaili emirs. Al-Hajj Khidr later represented the Ismaili community of Khawabi, where he and his supporters took refuge, on a delegation to meet the chief imam of the Ismailis in India. The imam in India assigned al-Hajj Khidr to become the chief missionary of Syria, replacing the aging Muhammad al-Suwaydani. Upon returning to Syria, al-Hajj Khidr's authority was rejected by the Ismaili emirs of al-Qadmus, Masyaf and Wadi al-Uyun. The two sides later clashed and al-Hajj Khidr and many of his partisans were killed. Due to reforms by Aga Khan III which forbade shrine worship, al-Hajj Khidr's shrine was dismantled in the early 20th century.
References
- ^ "General Census of Population 2004". Retrieved 2014-07-10.
- ^ Boulanger, 1966, p. 443.
- ^ Douwes, ed. Daftary 2011, pp. 24-25.
- ^ Douwes, ed. Daftary 2011, p. 37.
Bibliography
- Boulanger, Robert, ed. (1966). The Middle East, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Iraq, Iran. Hachette.
- Douwes, Dick (2011). "Modern History of the Nizari Ismailis of Syria". In Farhad, Daftary (ed.). A Modern History of the Ismailis: Continuity and Change in a Muslim Community. I. B. Tauris. ISBN 9781845117177.
