Muhammad al-Maktum

Muhammad ibn Isma'il al-Maktum (Arabic: مُحَمَّد ٱبْن إسْماعِيل ٱلْمَكتُوم, romanized: Muḥammad ibn Ismāʿīl al-Maktūm; c. 740–813) was the eldest son of Isma'il al-Mubarak and the seventh Imam in Isma'ili Shia Islam. When Isma'il died, his son Muhammad continued to live in Medina under the care of his grandfather Ja'far al-Sadiq until the latter's death in 148/765. After the death of Abd Allah al-Aftah, Muhammad was the senior most member of this Fatimid branch of al-Husayn's descendants. However, due to the rival group that recognized Musa al-Kazim and the Abbasid persecution of all Fatimids, Muhammad fled Medina with his sons for the east. For this reason, he was known as al-Maktum (lit. 'the hidden one'). He had two sons when living in Medina and then four more sons after his emigration, among whom was his successor Ahmad al-Wafi. Muhammad's descendants further founded the Fatimid dynasty, later called the Nizari and Musta'li.