Duldul (mule)

File:The Battle of Nehrevan (658 A.D.), between Ali and the Havaric (Kharijites). Ali, mounted on Duldul, is wielding his double-bladed sword, Zulfikar. From a manuscript of Maktel-i Ali Resul, Ottoman Turkey, late 16th or early 17th century.jpg between Ali and the Kharijites. Ali, mounted on Duldul, is wielding his double-bladed sword, Zulfiqar. A miniature painting from a manuscript of Maktel-i Ali Resul, a mesnevi poem on the martyrdom of Husayn ibn Ali. Created in Ottoman Turkey, late 16th or early 17th century]]

Duldul was a mule owned by the Islamic prophet Muhammad.{{cite journal |last1=Bashear |first1=Suliman |title=Riding Beasts on Divine Missions: An Examination of the Ass and Camel Traditions |journal=Journal of Semitic Studies |date=1991 |volume=XXXVI |issue=1 |pages=37–75 |doi=10.1093/jss/XXXVI.1.37}}{{cite book |last1=Yardim |first1=Alı |last2=Uzun |first2=Mustafa İsmet |title=DÜLDÜL- An article published in Turkish Encyclopedia of Islam |date=1994 |publisher=TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi |location=Istanbul |pages=20–21 |volume=10 |url=https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/duldul |access-date=3 January 2022 |language=tr}}

{{quote|[Duldul was the] name of the white mule of the Prophet, which had been given to him by the Muḳawḳis [q.v.], at the same time as the ass called Yaʿfūr/ʿUfayr. After serving as his mount during his campaigns, she survived him and died at Yanbuʿ so old and toothless that in order to feed her the barley had to be put into her mouth. According to the S̲h̲īʿī tradition, ʿAlī rode upon her at the battle of the Camel and at Ṣiffīn.{{Encyclopaedia of Islam, New Edition|volume=|title=Duldul|page(s)=|first=|last=|authorlink=|url=https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-of-islam-2/duldul-SIM_2151?s.num=1}}}}

She is an Alid symbol in Shia Islam. The first Safavid Emperor, Ismail I, rose to power as the leader of Kizilbash, antinomian Sufi warriors who were fervently Alid. Ismail, a noted poet under the pen name Hatayi, justified his own divine role as leader by variously writing that he himself is Ali's offspring; he is Ali himself; he possesses Zulfiqar, Duldul and ‘Ali’s hat.{{cite book |last1=Karamustafa |first1=Ahmet T |authorlink1=Ahmet T. Karamustafa |editor1-last=Amir-Moezzi |editor1-first=Mohammad Ali |editor2-last=De Cillis |editor2-first=Maria |editor3-last=De Smet |editor3-first=Daniel |editor4-last=Mir-Kasimov |editor4-first=Orkhan |editor1-link=Mohammad Ali Amir-Moezzi |editor2-link=Maria Decillis |editor3-link=Daniel De Smet |editor4-link=Orkhan Mir-Kasimov |title=Ésotérisme Shi'ite, Ses Racines Et Ses Prolongements |date=2016 |publisher=Bibliothèque De l'École Des Hautes Études and The Institute of Ismaili Studies |location=Paris and London |isbn=978-2503568744 |pages=601–611 |chapter=In His Own Voice: What Hatayi Tells Us about Şah İsmail’s Religious Views}}