Glossary Terms

A rank in the Fatimid Ismaili da‘wa for ‘chief da‘i ’.

Lit. ‘House of wisdom’. A scholarly institution founded in Cairo by the Fatimid Caliph-Imam al–Hakim in 1005 CE. Its building housed a large library containing thousands of volumes and a public reading room. It was the meeting place for traditionists, grammarians, jurists, astronomers, logicians and mathematicians. The institution was also known as Dar al–‘ilm (The House of Knowledge).

Lit. ‘House of Knowledge,’ an institution of learning established in Cairo by the Fatimid Caliph-Imam al–Hakim (d. 1021). See also Dar al–Hikmah .

Lit. ‘House of Knowledge,’ an institution of learning established in Cairo by the Fatimid Caliph-Imam al–Hakim (d. 1021). See also Dar al–Hikmah .

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 the Ismaili religious organisation in the pre–Fatimid, Fatimid , and Alamut periods of Ismaili history.

A state or dynasty. Also used to refer to the domain of politics (siyasa).

Cycle, revolution, period. Together with kawr — a great age or aeon. It is a division of the cyclical religious history developed by some early Ismaili authors such as Ibn Hawshab (d. 914) and his son Ja‘far (d. 10th c.) as well as by Fatimid thinkers such as Abu Ya‘qub al–Sijistani (d. after 971), Qadi Nu‘man (d. 974) and al–Shirazi (d. 1048). These terms are also part of the Tayyibi mythical cosmology introduced by Ibrahim al–Hamidi (d. 1162). They held that history developed in seven cycles, each inaugurated by a speaking prophet (natiq). See also dawr al–satr.

The highlands in the province of Gilan, near the Caspian Sea in northern Iran.

A missionary in charge of invitation into the da‘wa during the Fatimid period.

Vicegerent and sole representative of the concealed Imam.

In Bohra doctrine the da‘wa is conceived as a spiritual kingdom. In the absence of the Imam the da‘i al mutlaq is the de facto head of the community, empowered with the absolute authority vested in the Imam. Belief in the unbreakable chain of da‘is and in the veracity and authority of the appointed da‘i is the basic criterion for membership in the Tayyabi Da‘wa and Bohra community.

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 the Ismaili religious organisation in the pre–Fatimid, Fatimid , and Alamut periods of Ismaili history.

A subdivision of Tayyibi Musta‘li Ismailis.

The 26^th Da‘i al-mutlaq of the Tayyibi Ismailis (d. 997 or 999 H/ 1589 or 1591 CE) was succeeded by his deputy in India, Da’ud Burhan al-Din b. Qutubshah. But, four years later, the deputy of the deceased da‘i in Yemen, Sulayman b. Hasan al-Hindi, claimed the succession to the leadership of the Tayyibi da‘wa. This heated succession dispute was brought before the Mughal emperor Akbar in 1005 AH / 1597 CE. A special tribunal decided in favour of Da’ud b. Qutubshah, but the dispute, with its Indian-Yemeni dimensions, was not resolved and led to a permanent schism in the Tayyibi da‘wa and community.

The majority of the Tayyibi Bohras acknowledged Da’ud b. Qutubshah as their 27^th Da‘i al-mutlaq and henceforth became known as Da‘udis. On the other hand, a majority of Tayyibis of Yemen and a small group of Bohras in India supported the succession of Sulayman b. Hasan and became designated as Sulaymanis. Thereafter, the Da’udis and Sulaymanis followed different lines of da‘is. The Da’udi da‘is have continued to remain in India, while the da‘is of the Sulaymanis have resided in Yemen and Saudi Arabia.

Lit. ‘the act of reminding’; ‘remembrance’. The Qur’an exhorts individuals to remember God: ‘Oh ye who believe! Remember (udhkuru) God with much remembrance (dhikran kathiran)’ (Q 33:41). Dhikr designates a kind of prayer, which consists in the constant repetition of a name or formula. It is performed either in solitude or collectively. For the mystic al–Hallaj (d. 922), it is a method that helps the soul to live in God’s presence, another method being fikr (discursive reflection). Later Sufis, such as Ibn ‘Ata Allah (d. 1309) emphasised that dhikr is a particular technique that guarantees access to higher states and wrote manuals on how to perform dhikr.

A social class of land–owning aristocrats in pre–Islamic Iran.

A government registry; ministry, department or office; a collection of poetry or prose.

A religious community that arose as an off shoot of the Fatimid Ismailis around 408 AH / 1017 CE.

The Druze emerged in Syria in the closing years of the reign of the Fatimid Imam-caliph al-Hakim (r. 386-411 AH / 996 AH-1021 CE). Starting with al-Darazi (or al-Darzi), after whom the group came to be known as al-Daraziyya (or al-Durziyya), they organised a movement in Cairo emphasising the messianic role of al-Hakim and attributing divinity to him. The consolidation of Druze doctrines began with their scholar and leader, Hamza b. ‘Ali, who also succeeded in developing a da‘wa organisation for the movement that spread across Syria.

The Druze teachings are mainly founded on the letters of al-Hamza, written between 1017-1020 CE, and transmitted within the community from generation to generation through initiated scholars. The Druze also refer to themselves as Muwahhidun or Unitarians. They have developed their own scholarship and have distinctive practices. The Druze live in various regions of Syria, Lebanon and Israel, with smaller settlements in the Americas, Australia and West Africa.