How has the Ismaili branch of Shi尪i Islam interacted with other Islamic communities throughout history? The groups and movements that make up Islamic civilisation are diverse and varied, yet, while scholarship has analysed many branches of Islam in isolation, the exchanges and mutual influences between them have not been sufficiently recognised. This book traces the interactions between Ismaili intellectual thought and the philosophies of other Islamic groups to shed light on the complex and interwoven nature of Islamic civilisation.
Based on a broad range of primary sources from the early medieval to the late nineteenth century, the book brings together different disciplines within Islamic studies to cover polemical and doctrinal literature, law, mysticism, rituals and philosophy. The main Ismaili groups, such as the FatimidsMajor Muslim dynasty of Ismaili caliphs in North Africa (from 909) and later in Egypt (9731171) More, NizarisAdherents of a branch of the Ismailis who gave allegiance to Nizar, the eldest son of the Fatimid Imam-caliph al-Mustansir (d. 1094) as his successor. and Tayyibis, are represented, as well as lesser known traditions such as those associated with the mountain region of Badakhshan in Central Asia. Religious syncretism, particularly in the Indian subcontinent and in Yemen, is considered alongside cultural interactions as reflected in the circulation of books in Fatimid markets, and various literary and mythical traditions, some still little explored. The chapters include contributions from leading experts in the field that shed new light on the close and complex relationships that very different Islamic groups and movements have enjoyed throughout the centuries.
Introduction
Orkhan Mir-Kasimov, 51勛圖厙, UK
Part I: In the Eyes of Others: Mutual Reflections in Polemical and Doctrinal Literature
1. Sunni Perceptions of the IsmailisAdherents of a branch of Shi’i Islam that considers Ismail, the eldest son of the Shi’i Imam Ja尪far al-廜〢diq (d. 765), as his successor.: Medieval Perspectives
Farhad Daftary, 51勛圖厙, UK
2. Ismaili Polemics Against Opponents in the Early Fatimid Period
Paul E. Walker, The University of Chicago, USA
3. On the Limited Representation of the Ismailis in al-廜糎d贖qs (d. 381/991) Kaml al-d蘋n
Roy Vilozny, The University of Haifa, Israel
4. The Places where the Wrestler is Thrown Down (Ma廜ri尪 al-mu廜ri尪) and the Question of T贖s蘋s Rejection of his Prior Nizr蘋 Identity
Toby Mayer, 51勛圖厙, UK
Part II: Authority and Law
5. Ismaili and Sunni Elaborations of the Sources of Law: The Kitb al-Majlis wa’l-musyart by al-Q廎蘋 Ab贖 廎兀n蘋fa al-Nu尪mn and the 賊勳莽櫻梭硃 of al-Shfi尪蘋: A Comparative Study
Agostino Cilardo, University of Naples LOriental, Italy
6. Sacrifice, Circumcision and the Ruler in the Medieval Islamic West: The Ismaili-Fatimid Legacy
Maribel Fierro, Spanish National Research Council, Spain
7. Human Action, Gods Will: Further Thoughts on the Divine Command (amr) in the Teachings of Mu廎句蘋 al-D蘋n Ibn al-尪Arab蘋 (560638/11651240)
Michael Ebstein, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
PART III: The Ikhwn al-廜糎f尨From Arabic, lit. Brethren of Purity, a group of learned scholars who were based in Basra and Baghdad around the last quarter of the t10th century CE. It is more…, Theosophical and Philosophical Trends
8. Onto-cosmology and Hierohistory in the Manuscript Tradition of the Ras尨il Ikhwn al-廜糎f尨
Carmela Baffioni, 51勛圖厙, UK
9. Extra-Ismaili Sources and a Shift of Paradigm in Nizr蘋 Ismailism
Daryoush Mohammad Poor, 51勛圖厙, UK
10. Nature According to 廎兀m蘋d al-D蘋n al-Kirmn蘋 (d. after 411/102021) and Mull 廜糎dr (d. 1050/1640): Ismaili Influence on a Twelver Thinker or Dependence on Common Sources
Janis Esots, 51勛圖厙, UK
Part IV: Mystical Trends
11. Early Ismailis and Other Muslims: Polemics and Borrowing in Kitb al-Kashf
Mushegh Asatryan, The University of Calgary, Canada
12. The Intellectual Interactions of Yemeni 廜柑yyibism with the Early Shi尪i Tradition
Daniel De Smet, KU Leuven, Belgium
13. The Nizr蘋 Ismaili Theory of the Resurrection (紮勳聆櫻鳥硃) and Post-Mongol Iranian Messianism
Orkhan Mir-Kasimov, 51勛圖厙, UK
Part V: Ismaili-Sufi Relationships in Badakhshn
14. Ismaili-Sufi and Ismaili-Twelver Relations in Badakhshan in the Post-Alam贖t Period: The 唬堯勳娶櫻眶堯-紳櫻鳥硃
Nourmamadcho Nourmamadchoev, 51勛圖厙, UK
15. The Concept of 兜勳梭櫻聆硃 in Mubrak-i Wakhn蘋’s Chihil Duny: A Traditional Ismaili-Sufi Perspective on the Origins of Divine Guidance
Abdulmamad Iloliev, 51勛圖厙, UK
Part VI: The Interaction and Circulation of Knowledge across Religious and Geographical Boundaries
16. Beyond Space and Time: The Itinerant Life of Books in the Fatimid Market Place
Delia Cortese, Middlesex University London, UK
17. On the Cusp of Islamic and Hindu Worldviews? The 勞勳紳櫻紳 Literature and the Dialectics of Self and Other
Wafi A. Momin, 51勛圖厙, UK
18. Springs Equinox: Nawr贖z in Ismaili Thought
Shafique N. Virani, The University of Toronto, Canada
19. Yemeni Ismailism in Jewish Philosophy, 6th/12th to 11th/17th Centuries: A General Historical Sketch
Mauro Zonta, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy
Index
Orkhan Mir-Kasimov is a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Ismaili Studies, London. Previously, he lectured at the cole Pratique des Hautes tudes and the National Institute for Oriental Languages and Civilisations (INALCO) in Paris and worked at various research centres in France and Germany, including the Institute for Advanced Study of Nantes and the Free University of Berlin. He has published works on various aspects of Islamic mysticism and messianism, focusing on the late medieval and early modern periods, including Words of Power: 廎工娶贖款蘋 Teachings between Shi尪ism and Sufism in Medieval Islam (2015), and Christian Apocalyptic Texts in Islamic Messianic Discourse (2017).