Orkhan Mir-Kasimov - Intellectual Interactions In The Islamic World: The Ismaili Thread

The Institute of Ismaili Studies

Shii Heritage Series, 6

Editorial Board: Farhad Daftary (general editor), Maria De Cillis (managing editor), Gurdofarid Miskinzoda (managing editor), Mohammad Ali Amir-Moezzi, Hermann Landolt, Wilferd Madelung, Orkhan Mir-Kasimov, Andrew Newman, Sabine Schmidtke, Paul E. Walker

Previously published titles:

1. Daftary, Farhad. A History of Shii Islam (2013).

2. Daftary, Farhad, and Gurdofarid Miskinzoda, eds. The Study of Shii Islam: History, Theology and Law (2014).

3. Mir-Kasimov, Orkhan. Words of Power: Hurufi Teachings Between Shiism and Sufism in Medieval Islam (2015).

4. Asatryan, Mushegh. Controversies in Formative Shii Islam: The Ghulat Muslims and their Beliefs (2017).

5. De Cillis, Maria. Salvation and Destiny in Islam: The Shii Ismaili Perspective of amd al-Dn al-Kirmn (2018).

The Institute of Ismaili Studies was established in 1977 with the object of promoting scholarship and learning on Islam, in the historical as well as contemporary contexts, and a better understanding of its relationship with other societies and faiths.

The Institutes programmes encourage a perspective which is not confined to the theological and religious heritage of Islam, but seeks to explore the relationship of religious ideas to broader dimensions of society and culture. The programmes thus encourage an interdisciplinary approach to the materials of Islamic history and thought. Particular attention is also given to issues of modernity that arise as Muslims seek to relate their heritage to the contemporary situation.

Within the Islamic tradition, the Institutes programmes promote research on those areas which have, to date, received relatively little attention from scholars. These include the intellectual and literary expressions of Shiism in general, and Ismailism in particular.

In the context of Islamic societies, the Institutes programmes are informed by the full range and diversity of cultures in which Islam is practised today, from the Middle East, South and Central Asia, and Africa to the industrialized societies of the West, thus taking into consideration the variety of contexts which shape the ideals, beliefs and practices of the faith.

These objectives are realised through concrete programmes and activities organized and implemented by various departments of the Institute. The Institute also collaborates periodically, on a programme-specific basis, with other institutions of learning in the United Kingdom and abroad.

The Institutes academic publications fall into a number of inter-related categories:

Occasional papers or essays addressing broad themes of the relationship between religion and society, with special reference to Islam.

Monographs exploring specific aspects of Islamic faith and culture, or the contributions of individual Muslim thinkers or writers.

Editions or translations of significant primary or secondary texts.

Translations of poetic or literary texts which illustrate the rich heritage of spiritual, devotional and symbolic expressions in Muslim history.

Works on Ismaili history and thought, and the relationship of the Ismailis to other traditions, communities and schools of thought in Islam.

Proceedings of conferences and seminars sponsored by the Institute.

Bibliographical works and catalogues which document manuscripts, printed texts and other source materials.

This book falls into category six listed above.

In facilitating these and other publications, the Institutes sole aim is to encourage original research and analysis of relevant issues. While every effort is made to ensure that the publications are of a high academic standard, there is naturally bound to be a diversity of views, ideas and interpretations. As such, the opinions expressed in these publications must be understood as belonging to their authors alone.

Shii Muslims, with their rich intellectual and cultural heritage, have contributed significantly to the fecundity and diversity of the Islamic traditions throughout the centuries, enabling Islam to evolve and flourish both as a major religion and also as a civilisation. In spite of this, Shii Islam has received little scholarly attention in the West, in medieval as well as modern times. It is only in recent decades that academic interest has focused increasingly on Shii Islam within the wider study of Islam.

The principal objective of the Shii Heritage Series, launched by the Institute of Ismaili Studies, is to enhance general knowledge of Shii Islam and promote a better understanding of its history, doctrines and practices in their historical and contemporary manifestations. Addressing all Shii communities, the series also aims to engage in discussions on theoretical and methodological issues, while inspiring further research in the field.

Works published in this series will include monographs, collective volumes, editions and translations of primary texts, and bibliographical projects, bringing together some of the most significant themes in the study of Shii Islam through an interdisciplinary approach, and making them accessible to a wide readership.

The system of transliteration used in this book for the Arabic and Persian scripts is that adopted in the third edition of the Encyclopaedia of Islam, with certain variations (for instance is transliterated as ch). The lunar years of the Islamic calendar are generally followed throughout the text and notes by the corresponding Gregorian solar years (for example, 11/632). The years of the Islamic era, initiated by the emigration (hijra) of the Prophet Muhammad from Mecca to Medina in July 622, commonly abbreviated in the Latin form AH (=Anno Hegirae), have been converted to the corresponding dates of the Christian era, abbreviated as AD (=Anno Domini), on the basis of the conversion tables given in Greville S. P. Freeman-Grenville, The Muslim and Christian Calendars (London, 1963). In Iran (called Persia in the West until 1936), a solar Islamic calendar was officially adopted in the 1920s. The Islamic dates of the sources published in modern Iran are, therefore, solar (Persian, Shamsi), coinciding with the corresponding Christian years starting on 21 March. For the transliteration of Indian languages/scripts, see the preliminary notes in individual chapters.

Orkhan Mir-Kasimov

Like any other Islamic group, in the course of history, the Ismailis were in permanent interaction with many of the other groups and movements that make up the complex fabric of Islamic civilisation. However, even if information concerning exchanges and mutual influences between various domains of Ismaili thought and other doctrinal trends in Islam is to be found in the secondary material, it is often dispersed and scattered through those studies which are more general in nature. The goal of the present volume is to bring this topic to the fore through a collection of articles reflecting the most recent scholarship in the relevant fields.