Mediaeval Isma'ili History and Thought

This volume presents scholarship on Isma`ili history and thought from leading authorities in the field.

Farhad Daftary (Edited by)

9780521451406, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 9 May 1996

350 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 2.4 cm, 0.64 kg

'… an indispensable volume for any Islamic history collection … absorbing and scholarly collection of essays …'. Bulletin of the School of Oriental & African Studies

Until recently the Isma`ilis were judged almost exclusively on the basis of the hostile accounts of their Muslim enemies and the fanciful tales of the Crusaders. As a result, numerous misconceptions were disseminated about the teachings and practices of the Isma'ilis, known in European tradition as the Assassins. In the 1930s, however, authentic Isma`ili texts began to be recovered from private collections which shed new light on mediaeval Isma`ili history and thought. This collective volume brings together some of the original results of modern scholarship in the area, written by leading contemporary authorities, as well as distinguished Islamists.

1. Introduction: Isma`ilis and Isma`ili studies Farhad Daftary
Part I. The Classical Phase: 2. The Fatimids and the Qarmatis of Bahrayn Wilferd Madelung
3. The cosmology of the pre-Fatimid Isma'iliyya Heinz Halm
4. Abu Ya'qub al-Sijistani and the seven faculties of the intellect Wilfred Madelung
5. The Isma'ili oath of allegiance ('ahd) and the 'sessions of wisdom' (majalis al-hikma) in Fatimid times Heinz Halm
6. Al-Qadi al-Nu`man and Isma`ili jurisprudence Ismail K. Poonawala
7. A critique of Paul Casanova's dating of the Rasa'il Ikhwan al-Safa' Abbas Hamdani
8. Portraits of self and others: Isma`ili perspectives on the history of religions Azim A. Nanji
9. An Isma`ili version of the heresiography of the seventy-two erring sects Paul E. Walker
Part II. The Nizari Phase: 10. Hasan-i Sabbah and the origins of the Nizari Isma'ili movement Farhad Daftary
11. The power struggle between the Saljuqs and the Isma'ilis of Alamut, 487–518/1094–1124: The Saljuq perspective Carole Hillenbrand
12. The Isma'ilis of Quhistan and the Maliks of Nimruz or Sistan C. Edmund Bosworth
13. The philosopher/vizier: Khwaja Nasir al-Din al-Tusi and the Isma`ilis Hamid Dabashi
14. 'Sometimes by the sword, sometimes by the dagger': the role of the Isma'ilis in Mamluk-Mongol relations in the 8th/14th century Charles Melville
15. The Isma'ili ginans: reflections on authority and authorship Ali S. Asani
16. The Nuqtawi movement of Mahmud Pisikhani and his Persian cycle of mystical-materialism Abbas Amanat.

Subject Areas: Islamic studies [JFSR2], Early history: c 500 to c 1450/1500 [HBLC], Asian history [HBJF]