as a native of Qaraj or Ispahan, who professed to be a Shiʿite, but was
really a Zindiq, _i.e._, a follower of the heresies of Marcion, Bar
Daisan, and Mani, or else a materialist (_Abu l-Feda, Annales Moslem_.,
ii. 311). Used in this sense “materialist” means an Aristotelian, _i.e._,
one who believed in the eternity of matter and so did not accept the
Qurʾanic teaching of creation _ex nihilo_. Ibn Khaldun states that Maymun
migrated to Jerusalem with a number of his disciples and became well
known as a magician, fortune teller, astrologist, and alchemist (cf.
Quatremère: _Journ. Asiatique_, Aug., 1836). The Fatimid advocates, as
represented by the Druze writers, fully admit the descent of the Fatimids
from Maymun, but claim that he was of the family of ʿAli (cf. De Sacy:
_Chrestom._, ii., note 3 on page 95), which seems as though Maymun’s
position as an ancestor of Abdullah’s family was beyond question.
In the passage already quoted Maqrizi describes ʿAbdullah as “learned
in all the canon law and customs and sects,” so that it seems that he,
the fortune teller’s son, was credited with being the original teacher
and founder of the sect. Perhaps Maymun himself was the founder of a
minor off-shoot of the Ismaʿilian body,—we hear of followers who went
with him to Jerusalem,—and ʿAbdullah succeeded him as head of this group
but, himself a student of philosophy like so many other Shiʿites, and
participating in rationalistic opinions, used his position to form a
kind of free-masonry, in which he developed more fully the principles
already indicated by Jaʿfar as-Sadiq, and so made the Aristotelian and
neo-Platonic teaching somewhat modified in a Persian guise, the “hidden
meaning” of the Qurʾan. Probably he too was responsible for the efficient
organizing of the sect, although its missionary propaganda was, as has
been noted, reproduced from that of the Hashimites. He is said to have
been the author of a book called _al-Mizan_, “the balance” (Abulfeda:
_Ann. Mus._, ii. 310). According to Nuwairi, who used the history of
Abu l-Hasan b. ʿAli Akhu-Muhsin, himself a descendant of Ismaʿil b.
Jaʿfar and a contemporary of the chief activity of the Ismaʿilian sect,
ʿAbdullah assumed Shiʿite views, not because he wanted to get men to
recognise the Imamate of Ismaʿil or his son Muhammad, but simply as a
device to attract adherents: such was Akhu-Muhsin’s view, no doubt a
prejudiced one, but of some weight as undoubtedly the judgment of many
contemporaries. It is, however, quite as probable that the ʿAlid theories
were derived from the existing sect of which Maymun had been head, and
were left unaltered by his son when he took it in hand.
In order to make proselytes, ʿAbdullah’s missionaries used to propose
obscure questions about the Qurʾan and the doctrines of traditional
Islam, with the object of showing that as generally held these doctrines
were contrary to reason, and so required an explanation. The revelation
of Islam, they said, was difficult, and hence there was much diversity
of opinion and many sects and schools of thought, all of which caused
an infinite amount of disedification and much trouble. The reason of
these diverse opinions is that each man follows his own private judgment
and forms his own conjectures, with the result that many end in utter
unbelief. But God would not give a revelation full of such obscurity
and ambiguity as the only guidance for men. It must be that there is
some available guidance, some authoritative teacher who can explain the
doctrine so that it may be both clear and certain, and such an infallible
teacher implies an Imam. The _daʿi_ then gave illustrations of the
obscurities and difficulties which men are not able to understand by the
light of their own reason. The pilgrims at Mecca throw stones and run
between the two hills, Safa and Merwa,—what is the purpose and meaning of
this? Why is it that a woman who has omitted a fast and prayer because
prevented by reasons of personal impurity is required to fast afterwards
to make up for her omission, but is not required to make up for the
omitted prayer? Why did God take six days to create the world when he
could quite well have created it in an hour? What does the Qurʾan mean
when he refers in a figurative manner to the “way”? What is the meaning
of the reference to the two angels who write and take note?—why cannot
we see them? What really are the torments of hell? What mean the words
“and over them on that day eight shall bear up the throne of thy Lord”?
(Qur., 69, 17). What is Iblis?—Who are Yajuj and Majuj (Qur., 18, 93),
and Harut and Marut (Qur., 2, 96)? Why have there been created seven
heavens, and seven earths, and why are there seven verses in the Fatha?
and many similar questions all designed to show that the Qurʾan is full
of references to things which are not explained and need explaining, but
to which the orthodox teachers are unable to give an explanation. All
these are the conventional arguments which are commonly employed to prove
that revelation is incomplete without an authorised teacher.
They then continued to ask other questions which throw a curious light
on the kind of problems which interested the Muslims of the day, or
which could be thought as deserving of attention. Why have men ten
fingers and ten toes?—why are four fingers on each hand divided into
three phalanges, whilst the thumbs have only two each?—why has the face
seven openings?—why are there twelve dorsal vertebrae and seven cervical
vertebrae? etc., constantly suggesting some mystic meaning as lying
under particular numbers. They cited “on earth are signs of men of firm
belief, and also in your own selves; will ye not then consider them?”
(Qur., 51, 20-21): “God setteth forth these similitudes to men that haply
they may reflect” (Qur., 14, 30), and “we will shew them our signs in
(different) countries and among themselves, until it become plain to them
that it is the truth.”
These suggestions produced doubt in the minds of many hearers, and
gave the impression that the missionary had thought more deeply on the
problems of religion than the ordinary teachers; and so the hearers were
induced to ask the _daʿi_ to instruct them and reveal the answers to
some of the problems he proposed. Forthwith he would begin a discourse
dealing with some of these questions, and then suddenly check himself:
the religion of God is too precious to be disclosed to those who are
not worthy and who may, perhaps, treat it with contempt: God has always
required a pledge of those to whom he has disclosed his mysteries. Thus
we read, “And remember that we have entered into covenant with the
prophets and with thee, and with Noah, and Abraham, and Moses, and Jesus
the son of Mary; and we formed with them a strict covenant” (Qur., 33,
7), and again “some there were among the faithful who made good what
they had promised to God” (id., 23),—“O believers, be faithful to your
engagements” (Qur., 5, 1),—“be faithful in the covenant of God when ye
have covenanted, and break not your oaths after ye have pledged them: for
now ye have made God to stand surety for you” (Qur., 16, 93), and many
similar passages. “So now,” the _daʿi_ said, “pledge yourself, putting
your right hand in mine, and promise me with the most inviolable oaths
and assurances that you will not betray our secret, that you will assist
no-one against us, that you are laying no snare for us, that you will use
the truth only in speaking with us, and that you will not join any of our
enemies against us.” By this means they discovered how far the would-be
proselyte was ready to be submissive and obedient, and accustomed him to
act in absolute conformity with his superiors. If the proselyte readily
took this pledge, the missionary next said, “Give us now an offering
from your goods and first fruits which shall be a preliminary to the
disclosure which we are about to make to you of our doctrine, and a
pledge which you will give for it.” By this they tested how far the
proselyte was prepared to make sacrifices to join the sect, and how far
he could be trusted to be a loyal and devoted member. Thus the proselyte
was admitted to the _First Grade_ which consisted of those who accepted
the principle that the Qurʾan has both an external literal sense and an
inner esoteric meaning which needs the help of an interpreter. The inner
meaning was termed _batin_, or _iman_, “faith,” as distinguished from the
external _islam_, and this distinction was justified by the words of Qur.
40, 14. “The Arabs of the desert say, ‘we believe.’ Say: ‘Ye believe not,
but rather say, ‘we profess Islam’; for the faith has not yet found its
way into your hearts.’”
The _Second Grade_. When the disciple had fully adopted the ideas
taught in the first grade, and was convinced that men have fallen into
error by accepting the traditional teachings of Islam, the _daʿi_ used
the ordinary arguments to persuade them that there was need of an
authoritative teacher, and without such a teacher men are unable to
please God or obey His laws. Great stress was laid upon the unreliability
of private judgment and the need of guidance and authoritative teaching.
_Third Grade._ The _daʿi_ next proceeds to point who can be accepted
as the desired teacher and infallible guide, the Imam of Islam. There
have been seven such Imams, as worthy of reverence by their religious
characters as by their number, for the most important things in the
universe, such as the planets, the heavens (Qur. 2, 29; 67, 3), the
earths (id. 65, 12, of Bukhari _Sahih_ 59, 2) are invariably in sevens.
He then enumerates the seven Imams, the first six being ʿAli to Jaʿfar
as-Sadiq, the seventh _al-Kaʾim_, “the chief,” whom some understand to be
Jaʿfar’s son Ismaʿil, others his grandson Muhammad, whilst others again
regard these two as but one. He next endeavoured to show that the other
Shiʿites, who regard Musa as the seventh Imam, cannot be correct as they
do not limit the Imams to the sacred number seven, but continue until
twelve are reckoned in all. He then was accustomed to speak against the
character of Musa, the son of Jaʿfar, asserting that Ismaʿil had deep
knowledge of secret things, whilst Musa possessed no such supernatural
enlightenment: he told anecdotes which placed Musa in an unfavourable
light, and even attributed to him grave sins, so that it was impossible
to regard him as the true Imam. Moreover it was agreed that, since
Husayn, the Imamate can only be passed by direct succession, so it is
not possible that it could be taken from one and given to his brother.
The Ismaʿilians alone have inherited the accurate knowledge of secret
mysteries bequeathed by Jaʿfar as-Sadiq to his son Ismaʿil.
_Fourth Grade._ In this grade instruction was given in the history of
God’s revelation. The age of the world is divided into seven stages, each
under the guidance of a prophet whose teaching surpassed that of his
predecessors and abrogated it. Between each pair there were but “silent”
guides who did not add to nor alter the revelation of the prophet who
inaugurated that age. Each of these seven prophets had a coadjutor who
was his authorised exponent to mankind at large. These seven prophets and
coadjutors were—
(_i._) Adam, with coadjutor Seth.
(_ii._) Noah, with coadjutor Shem.
(_iii._) Abraham, with coadjutor Ismaʿil.
(_iv._) Moses, with coadjutor, at first Aaron, then Joshua.
(_v._) Jesus, with coadjutor Simon Sifa (Cephas).
(_vi._) Muhammad, with coadjutor ʿAli.
(_vii._) al-Kaʾim, with coadjutor ʿAbdullah.
Thus the seventh prophet al-Kaʾim, _i.e._, Ismaʿil or his son Muhammad,
has abrogated the teaching of the Prophet Muhammad, and has given a new
revelation. At this point, therefore, the convert was entirely separated
from orthodox Islam which accepts Muhammad as the “seal of the prophets,”
that is to say, the final completer of revelation, and was taught to
regard his religion as obsolete.
_Fifth Grade._ In this grade it was taught that the traditional practices
of the religion of Islam were merely temporary, a concession to the
uninstructed multitude who could not yet understand the spiritual
principles of _iman_: they were useful as an educative influence with
the ignorant, but the Qurʾanic precepts on which some of them were based
had an esoteric meaning quite other than their literal form, whilst the
traditional rules which had added so much detail to the laws of the
Qurʾan were baseless and negligible. The disciple was taught to replace
the external precepts of Islam by inner convictions. If he was a Persian
he was reproached with the servile submission which the Persians had
rendered to an Arab Khalif: if he were an Arab he was instructed that
the privileges of the Arabs have now been transferred to the Persians.
In addition to this he was taught certain principles of geometry and the
properties of numbers, all applied in a mystical manner to the claims
of the Imamate. He was further informed that each prophet had twelve
_hujjaj_ corresponding to the twelve signs of the zodiac, to the twelve
months of the year, to the twelve tribes of Israel, and to the twelve
_nugabaʾ_ whom Muhammad chose from the _ansar_ or “helpers” at Madina.
These numerals “seven” and “twelve” which have been shown to possess
sacred meanings, were now cited to explain why men have twelve dorsal
vertebrae, seven cervical vertebrae, etc. It is as well to note that when
these teachings were first put forth the other Shiʿites who followed Musa
and his successors had not yet made up the number of twelve Imams.
_Sixth Grade._ The missionary did not admit the postulant to this grade
until he was perfectly assured as to his discretion and secrecy. In it
the teaching that the ritual precepts of Islam as generally understood,
were abrogated, was carried to its logical conclusion, and the convert
was instructed to abandon the observance of prayer, fasting, pilgrimage,
and all the other external practices of religion; or at least to observe
them only in so far as they served as a bond of social usage or as
expedient as a concession to their uninstructed companions. At the same
time the teacher professed the utmost veneration for the men who had
established these practices, and for the wisdom which had led them to
do so. The _daʿi_ then described to his pupil the doctrines of Plato,
Aristotle, Pythagoras, and other philosophers, and exhorted them not to
follow the traditions of religion which have been passed down as mere
hear-say, but to test them by the methods of philosophy and to accept
only those things which are endorsed by reason. Changing his former
attitude, he then began to criticize the Imams unfavourably, and to
contrast them with the philosophers to their disadvantage.
_Seventh Grade._ Some of the missionaries were not themselves instructed
in the doctrines of the highest grades, and only a select number were
able to initiate converts into this seventh stage. This serves as the
probable explanation of some events in the history of the sect which
appear strange at first sight such, for example, as the estrangement of
the most faithful and successful missionary Abu ʿAbdullah who, no doubt,
revolted when he found the difference between the actual beliefs of the
Mahdi ʿUbayd allah, and the doctrine which he himself had learned and
taught. In initiating a disciple into this highest grade the _daʿi_ first
pointed out that there are in this world always correlatives, of which
one is the cause, the other the result, as giver and recipient, teacher
and taught, etc. Thus the Qurʾan tells us of God that “when he decreeth
a thing he only saith ‘be’ and it ‘is’” (Qur., 3, 42), in which God, the
First Cause, is the greater, the thing created only derives its being
from him: and again, “all things have we created after a fixed decree”
(Qur., 54, 49), and again, “he who is God in the heavens is God in earth
also” (Qur., 43, 84). Hence, following a teaching of the philosophers, it
is clear that from a Being who is only One, only one thing can proceed:
but the world contains many things, so it cannot be the work of the One,
but needs at least two Beings. Moreover, creation is not the bringing
into being that which did not previously exist, but only the arrangement
and disposing of things. At bottom this was intended to be a statement of
the Aristotelian doctrine of the eternity of matter, and shows striking
resemblances with the speculations of the Muʿtazilites. Thus Abu Hudhayl
(d. circ. 226) held that before the creation the world existed, but in a
state of perfect quiescence; creation was the introduction of change and
movement, and this theory, in one modification or another, recurs in all
the speculations of the later Muʿtazilites. Very similar is the teaching
of al-Farabi (d. 339), who was himself a member of the Ismaʿilian
sect, and held that the world proceeded from God in an instant of the
immeasurable eternity which preceded time, but remained at rest until at
creation God introduced movement and so produced time and change.
Such was the teaching of the seven grades which formed the original
constitution of the sect. Later on two higher grades were added which,
for the sake of completeness, we may consider here although they were no
part of the original scheme.
_Eighth Grade._ In this the disciple learned that there are two
Principles, the original and primary Cause, without name or attribute,
the pre-existent (_as-sabiq_) who seems to be very much the same as “the
first God” of Plotinus, and a Second proceeding from this First Cause,
due to a thought in the pre-existent, _i.e._, as an emanation, just as
the spoken word proceeds from the thought in the mind of the speaker. Of
the pre-existent nothing can be stated but what is negative. The “Second”
seems to be very similar to the Reason or Active Intelligence as defined
by the philosophers on the basis of Alexander of Aphrodisias’ explanation
of the teaching in Aristotle’s _de Anima_; not, as in the Zoroastrian
system, a rival power, but an emanation which is an intermediary between
the unknowable God and man. The true prophet, the _daʿi_ declared, is
shown, not by working miracles which impress the vulgar, but by the
establishment of political institutions which equip a stable and well
disposed government, and by the teaching of spiritual doctrines which
give an explanation of the phenomena of nature. Then, as Nuwairi and
Maqrizi state, the Qurʾan, the resurrection, the end of the world, the
last judgment, and such like doctrines of Islam are explained away as
having allegorical meanings: according to the _batinite_ doctrine, all
these things signify only the revolutions of the planets and of the
universe in regular rotation, or the production and destruction of things
according to the arrangement and combination of elements, as explained in
the teachings of the philosophers.
_Ninth Grade._ In this grade the disciple was taught the doctrines of
the philosophers and what they have stated about the heavens, the stars,
the soul, the intelligence, and other like things: in all he was made
grades which were a later addition were more definitely based on the
teachings of the Greek philosophers which had been popularised in the
Muslim world. At the same time the disciple learned that Abraham, Moses,
and the other prophets were only founders of legal and social systems;
they had received their learning from Plato, and the other philosophers
who consequently are more important than the prophets commonly revered.
He was especially taught to abhor the Arabs because they had been
responsible for slaying Husayn, for which crime they were deprived of
all rights to the Khalifate and Imamate, which were transferred to the
Persians.
Maqrizi says that the members of ʿAbdullah sect who attained to the
highest grade became _muʿattil_ and _ibahi_ (Maq. i. 348). Strictly
speaking the former term denotes one who denies that the universe has
a creator, and therefore implies that the initiated held the doctrine
common to most of the Arabic “philosophers” of the eternity of matter.
This teaching was one of the leading charges brought by the orthodox
Muslims against Aristotle. The second term seems to mean “one who
admits as (or makes) allowable,” and implies what would be described as
antinomianism. Maqrizi continues that the initiated “did not any longer
recognize any moral law, nor expect either punishment or future reward”
(id.). The historian Nuwayri gives the same account of the Qarmatian
branch of the Ismaʿilian sect. Such antinomianism is not at all unknown
amongst Muslim devotees: thus Maqrizi (ii. 432) in another passage refers
to the Qalandariya darwishes as a type of Sufis who disregard fasting and
prayer, and have no reluctance to use any form of self-indulgence, saying
that it is sufficient that their hearts are at peace with God. These
darwishes were of Persian origin and appeared in Syria in the 7th cent.
A.H., but their order had its beginning in the 5th cent. Antinomian ideas
appear with the later Murjiʿites of the 2nd cent., and are represented in
the doctrines of Jahm b. Safwan, who was put to death about 131, and was,
characteristically enough, a Persian convert in rebellion against the
Arab Khalif. Amongst these Murjiʿites we find the doctrine to assume the
system of those who believed in the eternity of matter. Thus it will be
seen the two highest _taqiya_ or “concealment,” which afterwards became
common amongst the Shiʿites, the doctrine, namely, that profession of
faith means only the confession of the soul to God, it being allowable
that the true believer outwardly conforms to any religion.
Nuwayri also gives the form of contract proposed to a convert at the
time of his initiation. This appears in two parts, to each of which the
convert gives assent. They may be summarised thus:
(1) A promise before God, and before his Apostle, his prophets, angels,
and envoys, to inviolable secrecy as to all the convert knows about the
missionary, about the representative of the Imam in the district where he
lives, as well as regarding all other members of the sect. A pledge to
accept all the orthodox teachings of Islam, and to observe all its rites,
both matters which, as we have seen, were required of the lower grades
and disregarded by the higher ones.
(2) A pledge to loyalty towards the missionaries and the Imam, and the
invocation of the curse of Iblis if this pledge is broken. “If you have
any reservation, in will or thought, this oath nevertheless has full
binding force upon you, and God will take no satisfaction other than the
complete fulfilment of all it contains and of the agreements made between
you and me.”
This oath, it will be observed, is intended for those initiated into
the first grade, and so conforms to the idea of orthodox Islam, though
including the Shiʿite doctrine of an Imam, but covers all that is to be
taught later with a veil of secrecy. The plan was to adapt the earlier
teaching to the beliefs and capacity of the proselytes, and this method
is further illustrated by the _kitab as-siyasa_ or “book of policy,” a
manual for the guidance of the _duʿat_, which Nuwayri describes on the
authority of Abu l-Hasan.