"The Ikhwan al-Safa' or Brethren of Purity were a highly secretive group of tenth-century Shi'ite thinkers, their identities remaining unclear even today. Renowned for creating the legendary Rasa'il Ikhwan al-Safa', an encyclopedia of philosophical…
The rapid success of the early Isma'ili dacwa, or religio-political mission, culminated in the establishment of the Fatimid caliphate in the year 909. Modern scholarship in Ismaʹili studies has revealed that the Ismaʹilis were also engaged from early…
A major Shi'i Muslim community with a long and eventful history, the Ismailis were until recently studied primarily on the basis of the accounts of their enemies, including the Sunni polemicists and the Crusader chroniclers. As a result, a host of…