Few Islamic doctrines have provoked as much division and disagreement as those bound up with the imamate: or the office of supreme leader of the Muslim community following the Prophet's death. In the medieval period, while the caliphate still existed, rivalry among claimants to that position was especially bitter and intense, causing an instability that required resolution. In the early 5th/11th century the great Ismaili thinker Hamid al-Din al-Kirmani was mandated to compose a treatise called Lights to Illuminate the Proof of the Imamate (al-Masabih fi ithbat al-imama) in the bold hope of...

This personal memoir by a medieval scholar reveals an important discourse with two Ismaili leaders who spearheaded the Fatimid revolution in North Africa in 909-910. By reporting the thoughts and activities of Abu 'Abdallah al-Shi'i and his brother Abu'l-Abbas over a period of seven months, Ibn al-Haytham in his Kitab al-Munazarat (The Book of Discussions ) provides us with an unparalleled insider's view to the foundations of the Fatimid state. As such, it is a unique document in the literature of early Islamic revolutionary movements as much as it represents one of the most valuable...

The Ismailis, among whom are the followers of the Aga Khan, rose to prominence during the fourth Islamic/tenth Christian century. They developed a remarkably successful intellectual programme to sustain and support their political activities, promoting demands of Islamic doctrine together with the then newly imported sciences from abroad. The high watermark of this intellectual movement is best illustrated in the writings of the Ismaili theoretician Abu Yaqub al-Sijistani. Using both published and manuscript writings of al-Sijistani that have hitherto been largely hidden, forgotten or...

Exploring an Islamic Empire is a detailed survey of different genres of source materials, including historiographical, epigraphic, and numismatic, on Fatimid history, and as such, it represents a first comprehensive treatment of the subject. It will be of great importance to students and academics alike.
Published in association with The Institute of Ismaili Studies.