Few doctrines in Islam have engendered as much contention and disagreement as those surrounding the imamate, the office of supreme leader of the Muslim community after the death of the Prophet. In the medieval period while the caliphateThe Muslim political institution or state centred around the caliph, which came to an end, historically, in 1924 with the disappearance of the Ottoman Empire. still existed, rivalry among the claimants to that most lofty position was particularly intense. The early 5th/11th-century Ismaili 餃櫻尪蘋Lit. ‘summoner,’ a term for missionary amongst various Muslim communities, especially used among the Ismailis before and during the Fatimid period as well as in the Alamut period of Ismaili… 廎兀m蘋d al-D蘋n al-Kirmn蘋 worked for most of his life in the eastern lands of the Islamic world, principally within the hostile domain of the Abbasid caliphs and the Buyid amirs. At a critical point he was summoned by the 餃硃尪滄硃Lit. ‘summons’, ‘mission’ or invitation to Islam. Amongst Shi’i Muslims, it was the invitation to adopt the cause of the Imamat. It also refers more specifically to the hierarchy of… to Egypt where he taught and wrote for several years before returning once again to Iran and Iraq. About 405/1015, just prior to his move from Iraq to Cairo, he composed a treatise he called Lights to Illuminate the Proof of the Imamate (al-紼硃廜b蘋廎 f蘋 ithbt al-imm) in the bold hope of convincing Fakhr al-Mulk, the Shii wazir of the BuyidsSee Buwayhids in Baghdad, to abandon the AbbasidsMajor Muslim dynasty of Sunni caliphs that ruled in Baghdad (750-1258). and support the Fatimid caliphIn Arabic khal蘋fa, the head of the Muslim community. See caliphate. al-廎勾kim. For that purpose he produced a long, interconnected series of philosophically sophisticated proofs, all leading logically to the absolute necessity of the imamate. This work is thus unique both in the precision of its doctrine and in the historical circumstance surrounding its composition. The text appears here in a modern critical edition of the Arabic original with a complete translation, introduction and notes.
Preface and Acknowledgements
Introduction
The Imamate in Islamic Thought
Ismaili Writings on the Imamate
Al-廎勾kim and his Times
Al-Kirmn蘋: His Life and Works
Historical Circumstances that Prompted the 紼硃廜b蘋廎
The Relationship of the 紼硃廜b蘋廎 to the Rest of al-Kirmn蘋s Works
A Comparison with al-Naysb贖r蘋s Proof of the Imamate
Major Themes in the 紼硃廜b蘋廎
Quotations from the Hebrew and Syriac Bibles
The Manuscript Tradition behind the 紼硃廜b蘋廎
The Present Edition of the Arabic Text
A Note on the Title
Translation of al-紼硃廜b蘋廎 f蘋 ithbt al-imma: Lights to Illuminate the Proof of the Imamate
Part One: The Proof of the Premises
Part Two: The Proof of the Imamate
Bibliography
English Index
List of Tables and Plates
Tables and Plates
Arabic Text
Paul E. Walker is a historian of ideas with special interests in Fatimid history and Ismaili thought. He is currently a research associate in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at the University of Chicago. His previous books include: Early Philosophical Shi尪ism (1993), Ab贖 Ya尪q贖b al-Sijistn蘋: Intellectual Missionary (1996), 廎兀m蘋d al-D蘋n al-Kirmn蘋: Ismaili Thought in the Age of al-廎勾kim (1999), Exploring an Islamic Empire: Fatimid History and Its Sources (2002), and with Wilferd Madelung, The Advent of the FatimidsMajor Muslim dynasty of Ismaili caliphs in North Africa (from 909) and later in Egypt (9731171) More: A Contemporary Shi尪i Witness (2000).