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. represent an important Shi尪i Muslim community with rich intellectual and literary traditions. The complex history of the Ismailis dates back to the second/eighth century when they separated from other Shi尪i groups under the leadership of their own imams. Soon afterwards, the Ismailis organised a dynamic, revolutionary movement, known as the 餃硃尪滄硃Lit. ‘summons’, ‘mission’ or invitation to Islam. Amongst Shi’i Muslims, it was the invitation to adopt the cause of the Imamat. It also refers more specifically to the hierarchy of… or mission, for uprooting the Sunni regime of the AbbasidsMajor Muslim dynasty of Sunni caliphs that ruled in Baghdad (750-1258). and establishing a new Shi尪i caliphateThe Muslim political institution or state centred around the caliph, which came to an end, historically, in 1924 with the disappearance of the Ottoman Empire. headed by the Ismaili imamIn general usage, a leader of prayers or religious leader. The Shi’i restrict the term to their spiritual leaders descended from 尪Al蘋 b. Ab蘋 廜珀lib and the Prophet’s daughter, Fatima.. By the end of the third/ninth century, the Ismaili 餃硃尪勳莽, operating secretly on behalf of the movement, were active in almost every region of the Muslim world, from Central Asia and Persia to Yemen, Egypt and the Maghrib.
This book brings together a collection of the best works from Farhad Daftary, one of the foremost authorities in the field. The studies cover a range of specialised topics related to Ismaili history, historiography, institutions, theology, law and philosophy, amongst other intellectual traditions elaborated by the Ismailis. The collation of these invaluable studies into one book will be of great interest to the Ismaili community as well as to anyone studying Islam in general, or Shi尪i Islam in particular.
Introduction
I. Shi尪i Communities in History
II. The Study of the Ismailis: Phases and Issues
III. Ismaili History and Literary Traditions
IV. Idris 尪Imad al-Din and Medieval Ismaili Historiography
V. A Major Schism in the Early Isma尪ili Movement
VI. The Ismaili 餃硃尪滄硃 under the FatimidsMajor Muslim dynasty of Ismaili caliphs in North Africa (from 909) and later in Egypt (9731171) More
VII. The Concept of 廎只轍轍硃 in Ismaili Thought
VIII. Cyclical Time and Sacred History in Medieval Ismaili Thought
IX. ‘Ali in Classical Ismaili Theology
X. Al-Q廎蘋 al-Nu尪man, Ism尪蘋l蘋 Law and Imm蘋 Shi尪ism
XI. The Iranian School of Philosophical Ismailism
XII. The Medieval Ism尪蘋l蘋s of the Iranian Lands
XIII. The ‘Order of the Assassins’: J. von Hammer and the Orientalist Misrepresentations of the Nizari Ismailis
XIV. IsmailiSeljuq Relations: Conflict and Stalemate
XV. Sinn and the Nizr蘋 Ismailis of Syria
XVI. Hidden Imams and Mahdis in Ismaili History
XVII. Religious Identity, Dissimulation and Assimilation: The Ismaili Experience
Farhad Daftary is currently Director and Head of the Department of Academic Research and Publications at the Institute of Ismaili Studies in London. An authority in Ismaili studies, he has written more than 200 articles and encyclopaedia entries and 20 acclaimed books which have been translated into numerous languages.