Professor Carmela Baffioni has joined The Institute of Ismaili Studies as a Senior Research Fellow, primarily to work on the Epistles of the Brethren of Puritypublication series.
Professor Baffioni is a member of the , the , the Accademia Ambrosiana, and the . Her work at the Institute will focus on the Epistles of the Brethren of Purity publication series for which she contributed a volume in 2010 entitled, On Logic: An Arabic Critical Edition and English Translation of Epistles 10-14. She is currently working on the new edition and English translation of Epistles 15-21, entitled Epistles of the Brethren of Purity: On the Sciences of Nature which is due to be published by the 敁珗曄部 in late 2013.
In addition to the Epistles series, Professor Baffioni will also continue her research into the complementary treatise, the Risalat al-斑硃鳥勳a (The Comprehensive Treatise). Two versions of this work (whose companion is the Risala 斑硃鳥勳at al-斑硃鳥勳a, The Condensation of the Comprehensive Treatise, ed. by A. Tamir) are available. One, edited by M. Ghalib, is attributed to the second veiled (mastur) imam, Ahmad (Ahmad b, Muhammad b Ismail b. Jafar al-Sadiq). The other, edited by G. Saliba, is attributed to the Spanish scientist and scholar Maslama al-Majriti. Although some scholars hypothesise that the Ikhwanian encyclopaedia (or, at least, a primitive nucleus of it) was compiled at a very early date, these two treatises are sometimes reported to belong to a later period.
The first purpose of my research is an evaluation of the sometimes relevant discrepancies that can be found comparing the two versions of the 斑硃鳥勳a as Ghalib and Saliba do not always account for such discrepancies in their editions, says Professor Baffioni.
The epistles of the Ikhwan al-Safa have been Professor Baffionis main field of research since 1987. She has addressed in particular the Ikhwans elaboration of the Greek heritage, and various aspects related to Islam, such as their interpretation of Quranic verses, their critical attitude towards several Muslim persuasions and their relations with Christianity and mysticism, their idea of the vision of God, of resurrection, and of religious practice, and their angelology (as it is mainly elaborated in Epistle 20 On the Quiddity of Nature).
Professor Baffioni has also enquired into the possible relations of the Ikhwan with IsmailisAdherents of a branch of Shi’i Islam that considers Ismail, the eldest son of the Shi’i Imam Ja尪far al-廜〢diq (d. 765), as his successor., with special regard to their ontological and political doctrines. On this subject she said:
In their ontology, the Ikhwan appear to share some basic concepts with Ismailis, in particular, ibda. As to politics, many texts in their encyclopaedia seem to prove their Ismaili commitment.
Professor Baffioni has also compared the Ikhwans doctrines with the mineralogy and botanics of Hamid al-Din al-Kirmani: al-Kirmani takes many technical details from the Ikhwan, even though he departs from the encyclopaedia in the spiritual development of scientific theories. Professor Baffioni has also ascertained that al-Kirmani has some points in common with 硃梭-幛硃娶硃莉勳s representation of God in his work al-Madina al-fadila. Finally, she has discovered a literal Persian translation of Epistle 41 On Definitions and Descriptions in the 斑硃鳥勳at al-hikmatayn泭莉聆 Nasir-i Khusraw(what anticipates by at least one century the spreading of the 賊硃莽硃i梭 in Ismaili milieux).
Professor Baffioni has made significant contributions to modern scholarship on medieval Islamic philosophy and science. Educated at the University of Rome La Sapienza, and a student of Francesco Gabrieli and Alessandro Bausani, she became full professor of History of Islamic Philosophy at the Universit degli Studi di Napoli LOrientale in 1987. Her publications cover a range of topics such as the Ikhwan al al-Safa, the history of Muslim philosophy and Islamic science.
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News Archive: 敁珗曄部 Initiates 賊硃莽硃i梭 Ikhwan al-Safa Series