Spirit & Life

Yunus, Abu al-Hasan ibn (950-1009)

Mathematician and astronomer, born in Egypt. His father was a historian, biographer and scholar of hadith, who wrote two volumes about the history of Egypt. In Cairo, he worked as an astronomer for the Fatimid dynasty for 26 years, first for the Caliph al-Aziz and then for al-Hakim. He dedicated his most famous astronomical work, al-Zij al-Hakimi al-kabir, to the latter. This handbook of astronomical tables contained very accurate observations, many of which may have been obtained with very large astronomical instruments. Yunus was also an astrologer, predicting the date of his own death in seven days. The Ibn Yunus crater on the Moon is named after him.

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Al-Mu’ayyad fi’l-Din al-Shirazi was an outstanding Ismaili scholar.

Born in about the year 1000 in Fars, Iran, al-Mu’ayyad spent most of his life serving the Caliph- Imam al-Mustansir bi’llah as dai (missionary). Al-Mu’ayyad was first active as the regional leader in his homeland of Fars in southern Iran. Al-Mu’ayyad eventually moved to Cairo in 1046, where he was appointed as the director of the Fatimid court of justice. Al-Mu’ayyad was later sent to Syria as head of a delegation dispatched to build an alliance with the local leaders. When he returned to Cairo, al-Mu’ayyad was appointed chief dai of the Fatimid dawa. As head of the central institution, al-Mu’ayyad devoted his life to administering the affairs of the dawa, teaching missionaries, and composing theological works.

Among al-Mu’ayyad’s writings, his Sira is of particular historical significance. Written between 1051 and 1063, the Sira is an authentic source, written by an eye-witness and an active participant of the political events of the eleventh century.

Al-Mu’ayyad passed away in 1078 in Cairo.

– Verena Klemm Memoirs of a Mission (New York: I.B. Taurus & Co. Ltd., 2003)

Article by By Dr. Abbas Hamdani, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee (U.S.A.)

Article by Mohamed Adra

Poetry has always been central to the spiritual life of Islam, particularly among the Sufis and other esoteric traditions of the faith. Through the ages, it has been composed in classical languages and local dialects to express love and devotion for God, and for Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). Although a large body of the great poetry of Islam has been translated into English, the poetry of the Ismailis, except for a small portion, is still only accessible in the original languages.

Among the arts, the cultivation of poetry was especially encouraged by the Fatimid Caliph-Imams. As was customary with most ruling Muslim dynasties, the Fatimids maintained a staff of a few professional poets, ranked according to their skills, who performed important roles in the court rituals and public ceremonials.

The most famous of the court poets was Muhammad ibn Hani al-Andalusi, who entered the service of the Fatimids in 958, after fleeing from persecution in Muslim Spain. He was reputed as the foremost Arabic poet of the Maghrib (present-day Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia) and his poetry was widely admired. He was the official court poet of Imam al-Mansur (alayhi-s-salam (a.s.)) and Imam al-Mu’izz (a.s.)

Reference:

Shimmering Light: An Anthology of Ismaili Poetry
By Faquir M. Hunzai (London, I.B. Taurus in association with the IIS, 1996)

www.iis.ac.uk/view_article.asp?ContentID=100721

Ismailis have long contributed to the advancement of science, mathematics, and architecture. In the tenth century, the Ismaili Imam al-Mahdi founded the Fatimid state in Tunisia in North Africa.  His successors spread the first Shia state to areas of North Africa including Egypt and parts of Arabia.  It was during the Fatimid Caliphate (909-1171) that the early contributions of Ismailis reached their peak, with founding of Cairo and the building of Al-Azhar Mosque (969-971) in that city. Dar al-Ilm, or the ‘House of Knowledge,’ a precursor of modern universities, was established in Cairo in 1005 by the Fatimid Imam-Caliph, al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah.  Studies there included jurisprudence, grammar, medicine, logic, mathematics, and astronomy.  The institution was open to everyone regardless of their religious backgrounds.

The Fatimids were noted for employing their officers based on merit rather than on heredity.  Sunnis Muslims, Christians, and Jews occupied high positions in the Fatimid government.  The Fatimids also encouraged the practice of private patronage of mosques and other religious buildings by Muslims of different persuasions.  The Muslim doctrine of justice and equality is an essential aspect of the faith and action of Ismailis.  When His Highness the Aga Khan speaks today of pluralism and acts to defend it, he is upholding a thousand-year-old tradition.  When he creates a university, as he has in Karachi and in Central Asia, he is also walking in the footsteps of his ancestors even as he looks to the future.

– Philip Jodidio. Under the Eaves of Architecture. The Aga Khan: Builder and Patron. (Prestel, 2007)

The Fatimid period was in a sense the ‘golden age’ of Ismaılism, when the Ismaılı imam ruled over a vast empire and Ismaılı thought and literature attained their apogee. It was during the Fatimid period that the Ismaılı da’ıs, who were at the same time the scholars and authors of their community, produced what were to become the classic texts of Ismaılı literature dealing with a multitude of exoteric and esoteric subjects. Ismaılı law,which had not existed during the pre-Fatimid secret phase of Ismaılısm,was also codified during the early Fatimid period. It was indeed during the Fatimid period that Ismaılıs made their important contributions to Islamic theology and philosophy in general and to Shı’ı thought in particular.

Modern recovery of their literature clearly attests to the richness and diversity of the literary and intellectual traditions of the Ismaılıs of the Fatimid times.

Farhad Daftary - The Ismailis - Their History and Doctrines

“My forefathers founded Al Azhar University in Cairo some 1,000 years ago, at the time of the Fatimid Caliphate in Egypt. Discovery of knowledge was seen by those founders as an embodiment of religious faith, and faith as reinforced by knowledge of the workings of the Creator’s physical world. The form of universities has changed over those 1,000 years, but that reciprocity between faith and knowledge remains a source of strength.”

Extract from the Commencement Address made by His Highness the Aga Khan at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, May 27, 1994

Al-Azhar: An Ancient Centre of Learning

Al-Azhar (The Luminous) was constructed as the central grand-mosque for Cairo by al-Qaid Jawhar al-Siqillí when he took Egypt for the Fatimid Imam-Caliph al-Mu‘izz li Dín Allah in 969 CE and founded Cairo as its capital city. It was inaugurated on 7 Ramadan 361 AH / 22 June 972 CE. Possibly so-named after Prophet Muhammad’s daughter Fatima al-Zahra, through whom the Fatimids traced their genealogy back to the Prophet.

Complete at the source.

Fatimid Caliph-Imams encouraged the cultivation of poetry.

Poetry has always been central to the spiritual life of Islam, particularly among the Sufis and other esoteric traditions of the faith. Through the ages, it has been composed in classical languages and local dialects to express love and devotion for God, and for Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family).

Although a large body of the great poetry of Islam has been translated into English, the poetry of the Ismailis, except for a small portion, is still only accessible in the original languages. Among the arts, the cultivation of poetry was especially encouraged by the Fatimid Caliph-Imams. As was customary with most ruling Muslim dynasties, the Fatimids maintained a staff of a few professional poets, ranked according to their skills, who performed important roles in the court rituals and public ceremonials. The most famous of the court poets was Muhammad ibn Hani al-Andalusi, who entered the service of the Fatimids in 958, after fleeing from persecution in Muslim Spain. He was reputed as the foremost Arabic poet of the Maghrib (present–day Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia) and his poetry was widely admired. He was the official court poet of Imam al-Mansur and Imam al-Mu’izz.

Source: Shimmering Light: An Anthology of Ismaili Poetry tr. By Faquir M. Hunzai (London, I.B. Taurus in association with the IIS, 1996)

Institute of Ismaili Studies http://www.iis.ac.uk/view_article.asp?ContentID=100721

The Fatimids were renowned for their policies regarding the education of women

The Fatimids, who established their Caliphate in North Africa(from 909) and later in Egypt (973–1171), were well known for their tolerance towards other religious communities, and employed meritorious non-Ismaili Muslims as well as non-Muslims in high offices of their state.

As part of their general concern with education, the Fatimids also adopted unprecedented policies for the education of women.

From early on in the reign of the founder of the dynasty Imam Abd Allah al-Mahdi (a.s.), the Fatimids organized formal instruction sessions called majalis al-hikma (sessions of wisdom) on Ismaili doctrines for women. These weekly sessions were delivered in various locations to men and women separately, under the direction of the chief dai, the administrative head of the Faitmid Ismaili dawa. The entire programme was closely scrutinized by the Fatimid Caliph-Imams.

Fatimid noble women received their lectures in a special hall at the Fatimid palace while other women generally received their instructions at the Al Azhar mosque. As a result of these education policies and the tolerant attitudes of the Fatimids, there were many educated women some acquiring political prominence such as Sayyida al-Hura (d. 1138), who was appointed by Imam Mustansir billah as his hujja in Yemen and subsequently in western India. She was the first woman to be appointed in the high rank in the Ismaili hierarchy.

Source: Farhad Daftary, Ismailis in Medieval Muslim Societies, (New York: IB Taurus & Co. Ltd, 2005) p 93-94

http://www.iis.ac.uk/view_article.asp?ContentID=101543

The Fatimid Caliphate and the first Shia state was established in 909 in North Africa, and soon extended into Sicily, Egypt, Palestine and Syria. This period of almost two centuries is often referred to as a ‘golden age’ in Ismaili history. The Fatimids placed a high value on intellectual activities and Cairo, their capital city, became a flourishing centre of scholarship and learning.

The Fatimid period was also noteworthy for its patronage of artistic activities (over 200 categories of artisans existed) and some of the finest works of art in the history of Muslim civilisation were produced during this period. The examples of carved woodwork, textiles, ceramics, stone and ivory, glass, metalwork and jewellery that have survived from this period provide a glimpse of the magnificence that once surrounded the Fatimid court. It is in recognition of these intellectual achievements and cultural contributions that the French Orientalist Louis Massignon designated the tenth century as the ‘Ismaili century’ of Islam. Not only did the Fatimid period mark a glorious age in Ismaili history, but also “one of the greatest eras in Egyptian and Islamic histories [and] a milestone in the development of Islamic civilization.”

From the website of the Institute of Ismaili Studies
http://www.iis.ac.uk/view_article.asp?ContentID=105703