The Political Doctrine of the Ismailis: An edition and translation with introduction and notes of Abu'l Fawaris Ahmad ibn Ya'qub's `ar-Risala fi l-Imama'

97 Pages·1977·9.593 MB·English

by  Sami Makarem

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This booki s basedo n a 4th centuryA .H.( l0th-l lth
CenturyA .D.)t rcatiseb y Abfi-l-Fawiris Ahnrad Ibn
Ya'qfrb. Besidese diting and translatingt his important
treatiseP, rofessoSr ami N. Makaretnm adea comParative
studyo f the doctrineo f Imamatc as taught by the Fatimid
Ismd'ihs, the Sunru-st,h e Twelver Strr-'at,h e Khar,rdrij
and other Islamics ects.I n his introductiont o the hrook
and his commentarieso n the text, Prol. Makarem gives
a cleara nd deepa ccounto f the Isma'Ili doctrinea s
professedb y the Fdtimids in dreir goldena ge.
Dr. Makarem is a Professoor f IslamicT hotrght and
Arabic Languagea nd Literature,a nd Chairmano f the
Departrncnto f Arabic and Near Easternl ,anguagesa t
the Arnericanl Jnivemiryo f Beirut. He earnedh is Pn.D.
in Near East Studiesf rom the Univeniry of Michigan in
1963. He is author of ThcD ntzcF aith (A Caravan
publication, 197+); T-hcD octrirco f tlu Ismi'-dis( Beirut,
1972),S hihaba d-Din Abu Fir6s'sa sh-Sltnfy(aB eimq
'ald
l96i) , A(wfr' illaslaka t-Tauhid( ad-DurzlDa)[ lights
cn the Druz,eF aith,] (Beirut 1966);a nd rranslatoro f
Slirda: Madinfrtc tl-tltali,d'u ,as h-Shu'ord('S hiraz Penian
C:ityo f Saintsa nd Poets)b y AJ. Arberry'( Beirut, l96z).
COIWLNTIONS
additions'
orplanatory
Tnanslator's
[ ]
kry n transliteration
Cpnsonants
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tong von'els: Sl'rortv orvels: Dip thongs:
aw
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t tr -, u $- ' aY
g i . i
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- iyy (final form i)
t. t,
- tlWw
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o a; t (constructs tate apd after long vowel)
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CONTENTS
Acknon'ledgments .-. -.. vll
vlll
Conrrentions
Introductiotr
I
flrc Inrlnrtancc of nr-Ris-alaftl- lmdrnu
+
:lr-RisfiluJil -lmdnma nd its Atrthor. .
The Relationo f ar-Risftlaflt- lmdntato Other
6
Similar ContcnrporarvI stnifi h Works
f)escriptiono f the N{anuscriptUs scdi n ['dititlg. .
7
ar-Ri.ritlaJil -lmdma
B
i\'Ictlrodsin Editing and Translating
I
A Sumntar)' of'the Isnrii'ih Doctrirle
l9
Notes to thc Introcltrction
TheE pistleo nI mamate
(Englishtr .anslatioonf ar-RisA_lfoil -lnfimo. . ... ... ..... 2l
Csnrrnn Oxn (The necessittyo r the institutiono f Inramate) 22
CHnrre,RT lryo (Refutationo f the idea that the Qur':in, the l'raditions and the
25
Shafi'ac arrb e strbstitutcdfo r the Imam) '
Cu,lprsR'l.gRr,E( Rca.sonrsv hy the Imam must be installedb y divine appoint-
27
ment.r athcr than be electcdb y the Commtrnity) .
CHarren Foun (Proofsf or the validity of divinc appointment) . . . 28
Crrnrrs,RF rvE( Disparitya mongp eoplcn ecessitatedsiv ine appointment
33
ofianlmam) """
Cneprs,nS r.x( R"**ns why thc Imarn after thc Prophetc ould only be
'AIi 36
ibn Abi Talib) ,
Cnarren Snvr,x (Reasonsb chind 'Ali's refraining from claiming his right
40
to the Intamate) .
CHnrrr,n Etcn'r (Rcasonsw lrYi t is not possiblct o have morc onc Inram
4l
:tt the sanlet ime)
Cttaprnn NlNu (Reasonsrv hv it is not permissibleth atthe Imamate be
4l
transferrcdfr om'Ali's descendants)
u
'r.x
ClH,qrrr :n f (The institution of Irnamate being God's \Vill) +3
(ltt.tl't'r--nE r.r,vex (Rcasons lbr the imprtxsibility of the rightful Imarn not ro
lt;trr an heir) +3
-['wcr-ve,
(jnn,'r-ER
('fhe pos;-*ibilityo f the fmam's b.irg a rnirrur] .-- +5
(.H.'rt-l't:nT stHrp,Ex (Reasonsw hy l\{uhammad ibn Ism.r5l was thc rightfiui
lrnanr rather than lvffr,vl ibnJa'far) - - ,16
(irrnl/t-ER FouH'rEsx (Horv allegiance to a concezrledI marn is justified) . - - 48
Clrtet'rr:H lrtr-rurx (Reasons rvhv the names of thc oncealed Imarns
\f'erekeptsecret) .j-. +g
CIH-lI'ff:n Srx'nnx iFlov*' a rightful hnam crn be distinguished from a
prt.render). 49
Note.st o the Trarrslation 52
Bibliography. 93
,lr- Ri.sAflia l-Imdma( Arabic rext)
X
INTRODUCTION
THE IMPORTAI.{CEO, F AR-RISALAF I I.-|fu{AMA
Ar-Risdt-of i l-Imdmab y Abfr l-FarvdrisA l.rmadi bn Ya'c1frbd ealsr vith
one of the most important issuesi n Ismd'ilism. The questiono f
Imarnate occupies a paranrount position in the Ismd'Ili doctrinc.
This questioni s basiso n u'hich lies the {int of the sevenI smd'ill
$r"
pillan, naln ely Intdn.r
Iu dealingr vith the subjecto f Intantate,A b[ l-Fawirjs Ahmad ibn
Ya.qfrb usuallyr eliesf inion the Qur'dnic vcrscsa nd thc Tizditions
whicir he thinls support his thc.sisa, nd then introducesr ational argu-
mentsw hich substantiateh is theory.
After a brief introduction the author, i. sixteenc haptets,d iscusses
the necessitfyo r the institutiono f Imamatea lter the Prophet.T hen he
attemptst o refute the idea that the Qyr'dn, the Tradition.sa nd the
Shari'ac an be substitutcd{ br the Imam. He then oiplains rvhy the
Imam must be installedb y appointmentf rom above (^.t), rather
than be electedb y thc Cornmuniry.H enceh e triest o provet ltev aliclity
of nass.H e then goeso n to prove that the disi>ariryo *ong the people
makesi t r.c.t*ry that God appoint an Imam to guide mankind to
t5e rigfit path. After that he showsh ow this Imam, rvho] vasc hosenb y
'Ali
God through the Prophet, could only bc ibn Abi Talib, even
'Ali
though had refrained from claiming his right to the"Imamate
and had evenc lecidertJo rvaivci t. Here the author triest o explaint he
reasonb ehind 'Ali's actiorx. Then he proceedst o explain why it is
not permisiblc to havem ore than one Imam at one time. Having done
this the author proves that all Imams, other than thosed escending
from 'Ali, are usurpers. The author then proceedst o show,ho-wit is
categoricallyn ot permissibleto removet heln-*ate from'the descen-
dun[ of 'Aii. This leaclsh im to explain why it is i*po*ible for the
rightful Imam nor to havea n heir; this heir coulds till be citheri n his
rnoth.r's womb or a newborn baby. For when there is a child, even
thoughh e is still in his mother'sw omb, he is morc entitled,w henb orn,
'l-ltat
to be hisf ather'si nheritor thana nyo therp erson. isw hy, accondigt
-t'HE
poLrrICAL DocrRrNE oF THE nnaA'Itis
to the author, rVuhammad ibn IsmS'Il, rather than his uncle, Mrlsd
ilrrr (al-Kezirn), inherited the Imamate from Ism6'il ibnJa'far
Ja'far
rvho allegedlyd iccl during the life of his father,Ja'far q-tsdiq. From
this point the author goes on to prove that allegiance to the rightful
Imam, even if he goesi nto concealment,d oesn ot justifr thc Twelvers' o
allegiancet o their concealed Imam, M.rttarrunad al-Munta?ar. Then
the author proccedst o justif,v the fact that the narneso f the concealed
Imams ll,erc kept secrct even rvhen it lvas no lotrger necessaryt o do so.
Finally the author explains horv a rightful Imam can be distinguished,
fronr a pretender. He concltrdss that allegiance to the rightful Imarn
is imperativer vhet]rerh e is in concealmento r preseltta nd ac[ive.
It is intcrestirrgr o notice that when citing Traditiolrs the author of
ar-Risdln l-Infintl, was careful to rely on thosc Traditions which are
-fi
'Iraditionists.
trsually accepted by the Sunru This shorvst hat he was
rvell versedi n thc scicncco f Hadth. This is mqst probably why he was
appointecla dAl in Syrierw hose population had, and still h^, a largc
majority ofSunnls. Among tlie frvent,v-oneT raditions rvhich Ctea uthor
relied upon tlrroughotrt his Risdla,o nly four wcre considered unani-
mously by the Sunrrl Tr:rditionists to be inventedza nd trvo Traditions
to be rveak.3W hcreas trvelvc Traditions were unanimously accepted
bv the SunnrT 'raditionists,aa nd three lvere accept.d b)'.sonleo f them.5
This hct, however,C cesn ot mean drat thc Sunnl scholarsa greew ith
our Isnrd'11d1A 'l orl the intcrprctationso f drescT raditions. In hct,
there are radical diflcrcnces lrctwecn the Ismd.'Ih concept of Imamate
and that of the Srinnis. In thc notest o the translation of the RisAlaa n
aucrnpt rvas rnetclc{ br' ?Lc onrptrative stucly oi the trvo ccncepts and
sometinteso f tlrc corrccDtso l hnarnate in other sects, such as the
i(hawAttj, the Zaydts and thc'-fu'elt'els.
The importance ol ar-Risataji l-Intinm lies also in the fact that it
represenht he Ismi'IIi vierv-pointin the controversyt hat occurrcd among
the diffcrent Islamic factioru, ry'hetherS unni, Shfa or othes, on the
strbject of Imamate. In manv instancesw e even see that this Risdla
representst he viewpoint o[ all the Strfa, and not only that of the
Y :'e'o
lsma-ltrs. The dispute over the question of Imamate reached its
zenith during the 4th and 5th'cenruriesA .H. (l0th and llth centuries
A.D.) In this period the Fagimids were in their apogee, Their propa-
ganda was infiltrating dcep into the domain of their apponents: the
'Abbesids
Sunni and their vassals. It wzrsn atural, therefore, for the
INTRODUCTION
'Ni
Ismi.-rh Fatirniclst o emphasizet he right of the Flouseo f to the
Imarnatea nd to strcssd ivine appointrnento f the Imam. ,
On the other hand, the q,noiion of Imamate wasn ot in Sunni Islam
asp rincipal an issuea s it ouasin Shi'ism. As Sir Hamilton A'R' Gibb
poir,r,o .r, in his Snulieosn t lu Ciuilizatiuot f Islarn( ChapterB ,p p' l4l ft'),
the Sunnls ncver cicvclopecol ne universallya cceptedd octrine of the
Caliphate. In his book al-lqttsrldJit -ttiqa4@-234),.a l-Ghazdlls ays'
,.Know tirat ciealinsw ith the ptobl.- of Imamate is not oReo f the
It ii neithera parr ofphilosophyn or oWgh-" Howe'er.
*;i";
frour.*s.
in faceo f Shi.a propaganda,t he Strnnlsf ound themselvecso mpelledt o
orgrr. back orri rejec"tt he Shi'a claim of divine appointment. They
emphasiz ed in.steade lection of fie Imam by the community. AIso
'Ali
drey lvere keen to trnderminc any rislrj of ibn Abi Talib to the
Imamateo 'er r\br.rB akr',' Umar and 'Uthm6n, a^ws eli as to deny any
'Ah's
inheritecrl ighr ro the Imamateo f descendantsT. o makci t more
diffictrlti br"theF atimiclr ule to prospera nd nrn srnoothlyt,h e'Abbasids
evenc onrestctd5 ea uthcnticityo f theF admidsd' escenltr om'r\li. In his
book rtl-ytmpzum (7 :355-56j, Ibn al-Jayzi quotesa manifestoi ssired
in t5is effectb y U.ri- abbasid Caliph al-Qadir Billah in Rabid II, 402
f Of f This manifeslo* ur signedb y many of the rlsiraJ'
[November. 1.
descepdaprosf 'Ali) , thej udsestt hes cholarst,h ep iousp eoplea nd
itlre
ir,. prominerr persoralitiesi n Bagdada nd Basra.
ff'ris period of potitical struggle ideologicalc onflict beween
Tq
Sun'ism and Shr'ism, ffid in- particular Ismi'ilism, witnessedt he
rvriting of ar-Risdlafi l-lmnma and,o ther Shfa works on the subj_ccotf
Imamate. It also ivitnessedr vritings on the salne subject by Sunni
scholarssu cha sa l-Ash'an( d. A.H.32Alno.9 36),a l-Bdqillini (d. A.H.
403fn.o. l0l3), al-Baghdadif d. A.H. 4291n.o.l 03B), al-Mewardi
(d. A.H.a so/rr.o.l 05B), al-Juwayni( d. A.H. |7&le,.o.l 0B5) and al-
GhazAh(d . A.H.5 05/a.o.I I I )-
By studp g the aryunents rvhich appeared in Stri'a worls, such as
or-iirAbrt flnnma, und in thoseo f the Sunni scholarso n the subjecto f
Imamati, we seet hat aqgumentso f a logical nature were not restricted
to the domain s of Hafrth, theologya ndj urisprudence.T he controversy
ovcr Imamate was anotherd omain where such argumentat"iopnl ayecl
a lcading rolc. Imamate occupieda paramount importancea mong
advocateso f Shi'a Islarn. This is becauset hc question of Imamate
was a very influencial political weapon in either propagatingS hi'ism
THE POLII.ICAL DOCTRINE OF THE TSTTIA.IIIS
or attacking Sunnism. In this question lies the raison d'6tre of the
Shi'a theorieso f state. A{gumen[ation along this line could have a
lar r-eachinge ffect on the comrnonp eople; it could influence their
allegiarlceto their stateo r their hostilitvt o it'
fnir sometimesle d the Sunnl scholamf,f i a delensivem eans,t o use
methodso. f aryumentation follorvedb y the Shfa. In sornei rutances
th.y cvcnr esortedt o interpretationsr ernotcf rom the app_arenmt eanitg
of a religioust ext, despitet he fact that in principle the Sunnlsr ejected
such r.-otcness from the obviousm eani^g of any text. An example
of tlris *uy be found in al-Bdqilleni'sT wnlud (pp. 169 f0, and al-
lrshfrd( p. +22),lvhere theseS unnl'scholarsg ave the.r vord
.'ij,u**rvli ayri's
meaningsd iffcrent from its apparent and usual meaning of
master. (S.. tr.50.) Attother examplei s what al-Bayqlawim entioned
lateri n hisA twsdar t- TanzT(tl :387),a bouta Sunnli ntcrpretationo f the
verse,"' The secondo f two lvltcn the trvo were in the cave'
Q,trr'd,nic
'sorrorv
tuh.n he said to his companion, trot; surelyG d is with us.'
'l'hen
Go,Cs entd own or him the Shechina,a nd confirmed hirn with
le.qionyso ud id not see."( 9: 40). The receiv ero f thcS hcchinaa, ccorditg
to al-Baycliwiw, asn ot the Prophct,a so neI nay fint utrcierstanbdy the
verse.b ut tather Abfr Bakr. (Scen . 104).
AR IT]StrLFAI L-IMAMAA ND ITS AUTHOR
..lr-^RrsAtal -lmdtnab y Abir l-FarvarisA l.rnradi bn Yir'qfib is the
JT
ser,eltlro [ tfic treatisesin cl,rdedi n the secondv olutnc ol A'lajmii'n t-
Tarhiya( callecla lso Kitab al-Janahit) compiled lry N'{ultiurunadi bn
-l'alrii
ibn Ibrllrinr al-Hdrithi. L{ajmu' at-TarbiT-ius a collcction of
tjriitv-r\vuI spr5'ili treatisesin nvo volunres.T he first volutnei ncludes
tr.,,,,enty-fit1re,ea tiscsa nd the secondr lrirtcen. The compilgr ol this
h1ajnfi',\ {uhammad ibrr T'ahir, held thc rank of I{a'dluin (Licensee)
of ihe third'dA'f in Yemen,H atim ibn Ibrahim ibrr al-Huseyna l-
H.inridi.G Al-Mqid[' tells us that iVluhamnradi bn T'Ahir studied
under 'Ali ibn al-Husap ibn Al.rmadi bn al-Walid and lvas then dre
tcachero f l{atim ibn lbrihim al-Hdmidi belorcd rc latter becamet he
'fdhir
rlrindd d'1.M7 uhammad ibn diedo n 7 Sharwva5l 84 [29 Novem-
irer I I BBl.8
INTRODUC-TION
In the manuscriptsr elied upon in editing Ab0 l-Fawiris Ahmad ibn
Ya'qr1b's Rlsdtat here is no mention of anv de{inite title. However,
in hi; book, A Guillet n Imaili Likrattre, Wladimir Ivanow g}vest his
epistlet he title of ar-Risakfi l-Imimn +Z). In the seconda mplified
ln.
of his Gui^d, ee ntitled Imaiti Litnrature,h e also descfibest his
"edpiitsiotlne u nder the sarnet itle (p. 39).t But on p. 57_oft he salneb ook
lre simply calls this epistle Kifib Abi l-Faatdrisa d-Da'i bi-Jaarat ash-
Shnn book of Abfr l-Fawiris, the missionary in Syria]. fvanow
ffh.
alsog io an arnpled escriptiono f dris epistlei n his book Isnaili Traditinn
Coru"ernirtrlgu ri;tt of the Fatimids (pp. 145-46),_br! he mentions no
definite litle. For practical reasons-theti tle ar-Risfrlo-f i l-Imara ffhe
Epistlco n Imamate] h* beena doptedb y ther ,vriteroft he,presenwt ork.
fu shown at the beginnirg of the epistle, it was related'bYt he dfr'-t
Abtr l-Farvlris Ahmad ibn Ya'qtb to his own scribe ( kafib) .Lo The
narneo [ ttris scribe is not mentioneda nywherei n the epistle. All we
know is that Ab[ l-Fawiris Ahmad ibn Ya'qrlb rvasa dd'i (missionary)
of the sixth Fatimid Caliph-Imam, al-Hdkim bi-Amrillih in Syttu
(Jazint ash-Sham).N o date of this dd'l's,b irth or death is mentiotred,
por do we have any information about his origin. We do not know
whcther he authored any other work. Al-Majdfr', in his Frlrist, and
Ivanow, ip both his Grird i andI,s mailiL itcraturem, ention no OtJrewr ork
of his. Carl Brockelmannd ocsn ot mention Abu l-Faw:rrisa nywhere
in his Gesclfuhted er ArabbchenL itteratur, although he mentions
Mulrammad ibn Tahir's Mqjmtt' at-Tarbt2a.LFru at Sezgin men-
"1tf
tions AbLr l-Fawf,ris in relation to his Rkala. fi l-lmfrmn-LzN o other
;;;rl t the author is rnentionedi n any o{- the books cited above'
Moreover, neither do we have any knorvledgeo f the year in which
ur-RisakJ i l-lmamaw as rvritten. Since the iuthor r^'asa dal of al-
Hakim who assumedr he Fatimid Imamate in A.FI.3 86 [1."' ^990],
il;.. ir. describeda l-Hdkim ast he Imam of the dme (seefo l' 106r'),
we can only surmiset hai this Risdtam ust have been written 'during
the relgn of this Caliph. In oraminit€ this epistle\ r'es cet hat it neither
converysa ny Druze doctrines,m entiorn a"i Druze da,ns,n or does it
refute any br,rr. beliefs. We can thereforei nfer that it rvasp robably
rtritte' beforeA .r{. 4oB [o.p. l0l7J, t]re ycerrt he Druze Movement
,,o*J,especially bccaus.i t was,uiitt.n b)'one of al-Hd,kinr'dsf is in
Syria rvheret he brur. Movement found many adherents.l3