Ali ibn Hanzala ibn Abi Salim al-Mahfuzi al-Wadi'i al-Hamdani (Arabic: علي بن حنظلة بن أبي سالم المحفوظي الوادعي الهمداني, romanized: ʿAlī ibn Ḥanẓala ibn Abī Sālim al-Maḥfūẓī al-Wādiʿī al-Hamdānī) was the sixth Tayyibi Isma'ili Dāʿī al-Muṭlaq in Yemen, from 1215 to his death in 1229.[1][2]
A member of the Banu Hamdan tribe,[1] Ali ibn Hanzala had been active within the Tayyibi daʿwa, already during the tenure of the third Dāʿī al-Muṭlaq, Hatim ibn Ibrahim (1162–1199).[2] Under the fifth Dāʿī al-Muṭlaq, Ali ibn Muhammad ibn al-Walid (1209–1215), he served as his senior deputy (maʾdhūn) and succeeded him when the latter died in 1215.[1][2] The position of Dāʿī al-Muṭlaq ("absolute/unrestricted missionary") was the supreme authority of the Tayyibi community in their capacity as vicegerents of the absent Imam, the eponymous at-Tayyib Abu'l-Qasim, who remained in occultation.[2][3]
Like most of his predecessors and successors, Ali enjoyed good relations with the Hamdanid dynasty ruling Sanaa and their Ayyubid overlords, which allowed him to reside both in Sanaa and in the Hatimid Hamdanid stronghold of Dhu Marmar.[1][2] He sent junior dāʿīs to assist the growing Isma'ili community in western India.[1][2] At the same time, he confronted the attempts of the rival Hafizi Isma'ili daʿwa and the Zaydi imams to expand their influence in his territories.[2]
His own chief aides (maʾdhūn) were both relatives of his predecessor, Ali ibn Muhammad: Ahmad ibn Mubarak, Ali's nephew, and Ali's son al-Husayn. Both would succeed him as Dāʿī al-Muṭlaq after his death on 8 February 1229.[1][2]
Ali ibn Hanzala was very well educated, with a particular interest in astrology and natural sciences.[2] He wrote two theological works on Tayyibi esoteric doctrine (ḥaqāʾiq):[2][4]
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