Abū Hilāl al-Dayhūri was a Manichaean leader. Of North African origin, he served as archegos, the traditional leader of the Manichaean sect seated in Seleucia-Ctesiphon some time during the mid-to-late eighth century.
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Origins
al-Dayhūri hailed from North Africa, once a major center of Manichaean activity. He then travelled to present-day Iraq. It is unknown, however, whether he converted to Manichaeism after his arrival there or had originally been a Manichaean in Africa. As such, it is difficult to use him to gauge the health of Manichaeism in eighth-century North Africa. He may have been a Berber.
Significance
During the reign (754-775) of the second Abbasid caliph, Al-Mansur, al-Dayhūri attained the status of archegos, "the traditional seat of the supreme head of the Manichaean church" in Seleucia-Ctesiphon.
He is most important for temporarily resolving a major rift in the sect between the followers of two previous archegos, those of the orthodox-minded Miqlās (the "Miqlāsijja") and those of the more compromising Mihr (the "Mihrijja").