The Fathites are a now-defunct branch of Shia Muslims who were supporters of Abdullah al-Aftah ibn Ja'far al-Sadiq

Abdullah al-Aftah ibn Ja'far al-Sadiq

Abdullah al-Aftah ibn Ja'far al-Sadiq was the eldest surviving son of Ja'far al-Sadiq and the full-brother of Isma'il ibn Jafar...

, believing him to be Imam

Imamah (Shi'a doctrine)

Imāmah is the Shia doctrine of religious, spiritual and political leadership of the Ummah. The Shīa believe that the A'immah are the true Caliphs or rightful successors of Muḥammad, and further that Imams are possessed of divine knowledge and authority as well as being part of the Ahl al-Bayt,...

 after his father Ja'far al-Sadiq

Ja'far al-Sadiq

Jaʿfar ibn Muhammad al-Sādiq was a descendant of Muhammad and a prominent Muslim jurist. He is revered as an Imam by the adherents of Shi'a Islam and as a renowned Islamic scholar and personality by Sunni Muslims. The Shi'a Muslims consider him to be the sixth Imam or leader and spiritual...

, the sixth imam of Shiism, in 766 CE. Abdullah's inheritance of the imamate was contested, with varying stories stating that either that he died within 70 days of his father, or that he was not sufficiently competent.

One faction of Fathites believed that Abdullah al-Aftah had a son, Muhammad ibn Abdullah al-Aftah

Muhammad ibn Abdullah al-Aftah

Muhammad ibn Abdullah al-Aftah ibn Ja'far al-Sadiq was a figure whose existence is contested: a portion of the Fathite Shia Muslims , believed that Muhammad was the son of Imam Abdullah al-Aftah , whom they believed to be the Imam after his father Ja'far al-Sadiq...

, who inherited the Imamate. Others, however, believe Abdullah died without issue, and many Fathites later rejoined the Shia mainstream, becoming followers of Musa al-Kadhim

Musa al-Kadhim

' was the seventh of the Twelve Imams of Twelver Shi'a Islam. He was the son of Imam and his mother was Hamidah Khātūn, a student and former Zanjiyyah slave...

, Ja'far's other son who was recognized as the 7th Twelver Shia imam.