The thirteen studies in this volume explore critical problems in Fatimid history and historiography, many specifically focused on the content of doctrinal writings produced by the Ismaili supporters and agents of this caliphate who worked on behalf of the dynasty both within the empire and outside. Several concern issues in disputes that separated the various factions of Medieval Islam and served to distinguish the Ismailis from the rest, often branding the Fatimids with the charge of heterodoxy. Others deal with the consequence of Shiite rule over a largely non-Shiite populace. Yet others...

Among the most outstanding Ismaili thinkers, Hamid al-Din al-Kirmani was at the forefront of the intellectual advances of his time and almost on a par with his famous contemporary, Ibn Sina, with whom he shared many philosophical ideas. His ideas on the intellect and the order of creation are a departure from those expressed by early Ismaili thinkers which he endeavoured to amend, thus providing insights into early Ismaili debates about philosophical and scientific concepts. This book presents a systematic investigation of al-Kirmani's life and thought. It focuses on the principal themes of...