Genealogy of Neo-Mazdakism and Quasi-Mazdakite Currents in Post-Islamic Iran: A Critical Review of Sources and Identification of Key Issues

Shokri-Foumeshi, Mohammad; Shahhoseini, Fatemeh

doi:10.22103/jis.2026.25843.2765

Genealogy of Neo-Mazdakism and Quasi-Mazdakite Currents in Post-Islamic Iran: A Critical Review of Sources and Identification of Key Issues

Document Type : Scientific

Authors

University of Religions and Denominations

10.22103/jis.2026.25843.2765

Abstract

This article, through a critical investigation of the continuity and evolution of Mazdakite ideas within the religio-political movements of post-Islamic Iran, endeavors to demonstrate, via a historical-genealogical approach, which of the sects attributed to Mazdakite thought can be classified as “True Neo-Mazdakite” (heirs to Mazdakite ideas) and which fall into the category of “Quasi-Mazdakite” groups (currents influenced by Mazdakite ideas). This study also, by analyzing key movements such as the Khidāshiyya, Janāḥiyya, Bih’āfrīdiyya, Abū Muslimiyya, Sunbādhiyya, Ustādhsīsiyya, Mubayyiḍa (White-Robed), and Khorram-dīnān, shows that the term “Neo-Mazdakism” does not encompass all these diverse spectra. The Khorram-dīnān are the continuators of the fundamental doctrines (transmigration, incarnation, antinomianism) and the recreators of certain Mazdakite ideas, whereas movements like the Bih’āfrīdiyya and Janāḥiyya were rooted in Zoroastrianism and extremist Shi‘ism (ghulūw) respectively and have been erroneously placed in that category. The Abū Muslimiyya movement is identified as a quasi-Mazdakite phenomenon that strategically utilized the “revolutionary memory” of Mazdak. The originality of this research lies in presenting an analytical framework for distinguishing between these movements and moving beyond the generic labels of classical sources.

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