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Born in the 8th century, Ismailism is an offshoot of sevener Shiism. The philosophy brought to life by this movement allowed for the creation of some the most original texts of Shiism, including its nizarite branch, more commonly referred to by its detractors as the “Assassins.”
“I began to inquire about the Ismaili school of thought. But all I heard were derogatory comments.”
This is how the Persian scholar Nassir Al Din Al Tusi described the challenges — that arose as early as the thirteenth century — to anyone who wished to learn about the nizarite Ismailis.
Undermined and reduced to the dark legend of the Assassins, the history of the Ismailis is much more complex. A branch of sevener Shiism, Ismailism appeared in Kufa, Iraq, around the 10th century. The Du’at, or preachers, spoke of the imminent return of the Mahdi, “the hidden imam,” who is said to be the grandson of the sixth Shiite imam who died in 765.
The Streets of Kufa
Kufa, the cradle of this new movement, was a cosmopolitan city where Zoroastrians, Christians, Gnostics, Jews, and even Manicheans coexisted. But the Ismailis looked to Aristotle and studied Greek knowledge and the neoplatonic view of the universe to establish their own original doctrine.
The Ismailis’ openness to the Other can be sensed by reading their first scriptures, in which they explained the esoteric meaning of some non-Muslim religious practices, as in the chapter “On the meaning of the cross for the community of Jesus, peace be upon him” from the book ‘Kitab al-Yanabi’, written by Abu Ya’qub al-Sijistani. In it, al-Sijistani draws a parallel between the hidden meaning of the cross and that of the Muslim Shahada.
The persecuted Ismaili leaders left Kufa and settled in Syria, then sent their missionaries to remote areas of the Muslim world, avoiding direct control from the Abbasid caliphs.
A Hidden Meaning
The Ismaili philosophy evolved over the 1200 years of their existence. However, all Ismaili works include invariable doctrinal concepts, chief of which is the distinction between the “zâhir” — or exoteric meaning — and the “bâtin,” the esoteric meaning. Given that the Quranic Revelation is essentially imperceptible to the material world, the Prophet Muhammad translated its meaning into intelligible language. The 11th century Persian scholar Hamid al-Din al-Kirmani states it clearly: “Hence, he spoke of Paradise, which is the ultime abode, invisible and imperceptible to the senses, and mentioned gardens, rivers, trees, fruits, fountains (…) Because this was necessary, all that he said and did, and the calls he made that pertained to the Beyond were in the form of symbols (amthâl) and allegories (tashbîh).”
The Qur’an is, therefore, a symbolic text. Hence, the Sharia — or Quranic law — also contains an apparent meaning and a hidden one. To better comprehend the significance of these symbols, an exegesis (ta’wil) is needed. The imams are the only legitimate persons with a monopoly over ta’wil.
The Imam Caliph
By targeting the peripheral zones of the Muslim world, the Ismaili message soon influenced some bedouin tribes in Tunisia. Ubayd Allâh, the preacher who initiated the conquest of this particular area, even succeeded in establishing an imperial state based on Ismailism. Thus, the Fatimid dynasty was born. It lasted from 909 to 1171.
Despite the first “fitna” — sedition — between the Fatimids and the Qarmatians, this new empire would lay the foundations of political Ismailism. During that period, countless treaties and essays were written by missionaries, whose work left a mark on regimes in Iran and Asia later on.
It is the case of “The Pillars of Islam,” written by al-Qadi al-Nu’man shortly before Cairo became the new Fatimid capital in 969. The book suggested a proper demonstration of the imam’s legitimacy as governor:
“Hence, the sayings of the imam have been proven: that faith consists of profession (qawl), action (‘amal), and intention (niyya).”
Al-Qadi al-Nu’man’s book also sets the rules of conduct of the preachers who, as the vanguard of messianic Ismailism, travel the rest of the Muslim world looking for adequate spaces to spread their philosophy in.
Though elitist in essence, the Ismaili doctrine is binding insofar as it commands preachers to seek knowledge wherever it can be found and promotes humility. In his book ‘Brief but Sufficient Account of the Rules of Guidance for the Da’is’, Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Naysaburi recommends the following to the missionaries:
“Ignorants must not shy away from knowledge; and the knowledgeable, when asked about something he does not know, ought to say, ‘I don’t know’.”
Schisms
The schism with the Qarmatians would bring disgrace upon all of the Ismailis. In 930, they stole the Black Stone from the Ka’ba in Mecca. This event traumatized a large number of Muslims and deepened the rift between them and the more recent branches of Ismailism.
Yet another schism occurred around the year 1000, when several preachers proclaimed the so-called divine nature of the imam-caliph and the abolition of Islamic law. They would seek refuge in the mountains of Lebanon and Syria and would later form the Druze community.
Having broken ties with the Fatimids of Egypt, some of these preachers established Tayyibi Ismailism in Yemen. They were harshly persecuted and went on to live in exile in Sindh, Pakistan, where they are known as Bohras.
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