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Early Ismi'Ii Thought on Prophecy According to the Kitab al-lslah by Abu l.Iitim al-Riz (d. ca. 322/934-5)by

ShinNomotoInstitute of Islamic Stuclies

McGill University, Montral December 1999

A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies, McGill University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Islamic Studies

SHIN NOMOTO, 1999

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ABSTRACTAulhar:Title of Dissertation:

ShinNomotoEarly IsmaclliThought on Prophecy According to the Kitdb al-1lldlz by Ab I:fatim al-Riz (d. ca. 322/934-5).

Department:

Institute of Islamic Studies, McGill University. Doetor of Phllosophy

Degree Sought:

This dissertation attempts to elucidate early Ismal:w thought on various aspects of prophecy during the 4th AH./IOth C.E. century in the light of Kittbal-l~Ia~

(Book of Correction) by Abu 1:Iitim. al-RiZi (d. ca. 322/934-5), one of the

leading dat:s (missionaries) in the Iran of bis day. Al-Illal}. is on one level an early

example of Neoplatonist influence on Ismicili thought, taking the form of a polemic aimed at bis coreligionist, M~ammad al-Nasaf. However, al-l.#ii~ aIso shows a new doctrinal formulation of early Ismal:ili discourse on prophetology, especially concerning the messianic figure of the Qi:)im. In al-li/iil,l. al-Razi discusses the missions of each of the enunciator-prophets(nu!aqii;') using the terminology of Greek-Hellenistic sciences, thereby implying

that the Qa:)im possesses a rank higher than any other prophet. In addition, whereas he appears to assign the Qa3 im's political role to the leaders of the Ismacilicommunity in the present age, al-Riz desaibes a newera to be inauguratedby the figure, constituting a purified version of this world. In this way the figure

of the Qa:lim is depoliticized and spiritualized. It is thus suggested that aI-Razi's thought on prophecy in al-l~la~, while theorizing the place of the Qi:)im in sacred history, represents a response to the crisis in bis own time engendered by the postponement of the Qa:)im's final advent and victory.

i

RsUMAuteur:Titre de la thse:

ShinNomoto La pense ismicle primitive sur la prophtie d'aprs le Kitab al-Illa~ de Abu l:Iitim al-Rz (m. ca. 322/934-5). Institut d'. tudes Islamiques Universit McGill Docteur en Philosophie

Dpartement:

Grade:

Cette thse tente d'lucider la pense ismiile du IVe A.H./Xe A.D. sicle au sujet des divers aspects de la prophtie; en s'appuyant sur le Kitab al-/#tiJ:& (Livre de Correction) de Ab I:fitim al-Raz (m. ca. 322/934-5) - un des prominent dacis

(missionnaires> de son poque en Iran. D'une part, al-/#tfl. est un des premiers exemples de l'influence noplatonidenne sur la pense ismane, et ce, sous la forme d'une polmique dirige l'encontre de son co-religionisteM~ad

al-Nasafi. D'autre part,al-/#tfz. rvle aussi une nouvelle formation doctrinale de la pense ismiC:we sur la prophtologie, notamment en ce qui concerne la figure messianique du Qi~im. Dans al-lllt~, al-RiZi discute les missions de chacun des prophtes-nondateurs(nu!aqif')

en utilisant la terminologie des sciences grco-hellniques; insinuant

ainsi que le Qi~im possde un rang plus lev que n'importe quel autre prophte.

En outre, alors qu' semble attributuer le rle politique du Qa~im aux leaders de la communaut smlc lle de son poque, al-Razi dcrit une nouvelle re tre inaugure par cette figure - une version purifie de ce monde. Ainsi, la figure duQa~im est

dpolitise et spiritualise. n est donc suggr que, tout en thorisant

la place du Qi:lli\ dans l'Histoire sacre, la pense d' al-lUz sur la prophtie,

telle qu'exprime dans al-/#t/;l, reprsente une rsponse la crise de son temps engendre par l'ajournement de la venue et victoire finales du Qa~im.

1978) ).

PrefaceNearly twenty years have passed since 1first became fascinated by the doctrine and history of the Shilj sect known as the Ismillis. The first genuinely academic studies that attracted my attention to this subject were Japanese translations of H. Corbin's Histoire de la philosophie islamique (Islam Tetsugalcushi, translated by T. Kuroda and H. Kashiwagi (Tokyo, 1974) ) and B. Lewis' The Assassins: A Radical

Sect in Islam (Ansatsu Kydan: Islam no Kageki Ha, translated by K. Kat (Tokyo,

Based on these works and others 1 was able to trace the course of the history of Ismalilism from its birth in the mid-8th century C.E. to the culmination of its

radicalism in the mid-12th century C.E. Starting at first as a small group split from a wing of ShiJism which later developed into the IthnaJasharis (or Twelvers), the members of this ShiJ, Ismi.Jl sect" were eventually able to establish theirII

own "Caliphate" in North Africa and, later on, Egypt. From the very initial phase of their founding this state they daimed that their supreme leaders were the sole legitimate imims in a direct line from the household of the Prophet (ablal-bayt). They thus threatened the very existence of the Abbisid Caliphate and1

the Sunni establishment it championed. However, in the late Ilth century C.E., i.e., after the heyday of its political power, the FiPmid Ismi.ljl community was split into two wings: the Musta llis, who inherited the Fi\imid tradition, and the Niziris, who recognized Nizir, the defeated claimant of the office of mim, as its legitimate heir. The followers of

the latter branch retreated to the remote mountainous regions of Syria and Iran where an independent movement developed. It was likewise the Niziris whoili

voiced one of the most radical and shocking daims ever to come to the notice of Muslims, whether Sunni or Sh'. This was the declaration of the Resurrection(al-Qiyimah ) in 1164 C.E., which abolished the sacred law of Islam.

The history of the Isma.'ws outlined above is emblematic of the diversity of religious expression at the heart of the Islamic tradition. It aIso suggests to us the diversity that existed within early Ismi'lism, which is perhaps most clearly represented in the conflict between the current which tried to balance the exoteric aspect(~a1Jir

) of the religion, particularly the .1Jar'ah or sacred law, with its

esoteric aspect (ba!i11 ), and the current which laid so much emphasis on the esoteric that the exoteric virtually paled in significance. In real terms, the latter tendency was characteristic of the Niziri wing, while the former describes the policy of equilibrium adopted by the Fipmids.

Of these two currents in Ismi.'ilism, it was the esoteric inclination which influenced the movement thatI chose ta focus on for my sotsugy robun or graduation thesis, which is obligatory in sorne departments at Japanese universities. 1 focused particularly on the development of the esoteric tenency from the 8th centuryC.E. to the collapse of the Niziri state in Iran (13th eentury C.E.). This study

however was based entirelyon seeondary sources. For my master's thesis, which by eontrast was based largely on primary sources, 1 chose the topie of the concept of the immate according to al-Qi4 al-Nu'man (d. 974), an Ismi.'il jurist-theologian who served the Fi;mids and is thought to have adhered to the equilibrium. between exoterism, especially represented by sacred law, and esoterism. That study traced the outline of alNu'min's doctrine of the imamate, and confirmed that bis theory of the office of

the imamate eoincided substantially with official FiPmid doctrine.As the topic of my Ph.D. dissertation, the present work, 1 chose to study Abu

iv

l;Ii.tm al-Ra2, a Ilmission11'Y'-thinker who is believed to have flourished during the fust half of the 1Dth century C.E., and who therefore represented a slightly earlier phase of Ismi.'ili history than that of al-Nu'min's time. Sorne major studies on al-Rizi hold that he was a propagandist for a dissident Isma'iB group opposed to the Fi.;mid daim to the imamate. On the other hand, he can be said to have manifested a somber" or "conservative" approach as a thinker; he was, forII

instance, opposed to the esoteric-inclined antinomianism of bis peers and seems to have been more prudent or even a little r eluctant," when it came to introducingII

Neoplatonist philosophical concepts into Ismi.'lism.In the course of researching and preparing the text of this thesis, guided by the

many outstanding scholars mentioned in my acknowledgments, 1 came across severa! different layers beneath the IIconservative" surface of al-Rizi's thought,

including a more "radical" layer opposed to the common idea ranking of the prophets with respect to the Prophet M~mmad and introduced by the nature of the messianic figure of the Qi.'im (the rising one). This is one of the senses in which the diversity of IOth century Ismi.'ilism may be said to be reflected in the thought of al-RiZi.. Yet even this, seemingly straightforward, conclusion necessitated a series of preliminary studies, among which the following may be cited:1. ''The Prophetie Figure of Jesus in Fi.~d Ismi.'ilism" (in Japanese), Reports of

Keio lnstitute of Cultural and Liguistic Studies 24 (1992): pp. 281-313;2.Il

An Essay on Early Isma'iB View of Dther Religions Based on a Chapter from

the Book of the Correction (Ki" al-#lilJ ) by AbU I;fi.tim al-Rizi (d. 322/934-5)"(in Japanese), Reports of Keio Institute of Cultural and Linguistic Studies 26 (1994):

pp. 231-252; 3. "The Prophets' Encounter with the Angelic Beings according to al-Razi, anv

Early Ism'1 Thinker" (in Japanese), in Transcendence and Mystery: the Gedankenwelten ofChina, India and Islam, ed. by S. Kamada and H. Mori (Tokyo,1994), pp. 231-52;

4. "The Cosmos and the Prophets: The Prophetology in The Book of Correction byAb I;fatim al-RaZi" (in Japanese), Orient 38 (1995): pp. 271-83; S. "Early Isma'li View of Salvation History according to Ab l:Iatim al-Rizi (d.

322/934-5)" (in Japanese), a paper read at the Annual Meeting of the Mita Society of History (Keio University), at Keio University, Tokyo aune, 1995);6. 'The Place of Ab ~atim al-Rz' s Kitaba1-1~1~

in the History of Isma. 'Di

Thought 1: The Theory of the Prophets and the Qi.im" (in Japanese), Reports of

Keio Institute of Cultural and Linguistic Studies 28 (1996): pp. 223-41;7. "The Place of Ab l:Ii.tim al-RiZi's Kitab a1-1~1~ in the History of Ismi.'Di

Thought 2: Some Problems in the Study of al-Rizi's Life" (in Japanese), Reports

of Keio Institute of Cultural and Linguistic Studies 29 (1997): pp. 135-54;8. "Introduction," in Al l:Iitim A~ad ibn l;Iamelin al-Razi, Kiti.b a1-1~J~, ed.l:I. Minchelui and M. Mohaghegh (Tihran, 1377A.H.S./1998C.E.), pp. 1-34.

It should therefore be noted that the earlier versions of chapter 2 of this work are based on papers 7 and 8 above, that chapter 4 4 is based on papers 4, 5, 6, and 8, chapter 5 4 on paper 2, a part of chapter 6 1 on paper 8, a part of chapter 6 3 on paper 3, and a part of chapter 7 2-1 on paper 1. On being incorporated into the dissertation itself, however, the contents of these studies were, of course, extensively revised.

vi

AbstractThis dissertation studies the dynamics behindsudde~

negative shifts in the

corporate reputations of business firms, through three independent but related papers, a phenomenon that we refer to as a reputational crisis. This issue is of critical importance because the corporate reputation of a tinn is one of its most valuable but potentially volatile intangible resources. Therefore, a better understanding of the situations where business firms suffer significant reputational losses within relatively short periods of time can contribute to both strategic management and business and society. From a strategic management perspective, the examination of sudden major losses in corporate reputation is an examination of the loss of what is potentially one of the most important intangible

finn resources, if not the most important intangible resource of the fmn. While, from a business and society perspective, an examination of sudden drops in corporate reputation could reveal the reputational impact that such sudden events have in the network of stakeholders(Freem~

1984) who surround the firm and are, in a sense, the 'evaluators'

of its reputation. The first paper of this dissertation consists of a theoretical exploration of the management of reputational crises caused by sudden and unexpected incidents like industrial accidents, scandais, and product failures. Drawing on the stakeholder and crisis management literatures, a model useful in providing a better understanding of reputational crises is developed. The second paper is an empirical investigation into the impact that accidents can have on the corporate reputation of business firms. More

specifically the impact that a number of accident characteristics have on the reputational

v

re-evaluations of two particular stakeholder groups, industry executives and financial analysts, is investigated with data drawn from Lexis-Nexis and the America's Most Admired Corporations (AMAC) survey of FORTUNE magazine. Finally, the third paper of the dissertation examines the Brent Spar controversy to investigate two issues of importance in the management of reputational crises: the reasons behind a company's decisions to buffer or bridge when faced with a reputational crisis; and, the raie of stakeholder salience in this decision.

vi

A cknowledgm.entsAs was brief1y alluded to in the preface, this study needed not only time but

aIso the guidance, help and moral support of several people from bath the academic and the non-academic worlds. It is my pleasure and honor to mention their names here and express my gratitude to them for all their assistance. First of aIl, 1 would like to express my humble but very deep gratitude ta Professor Hermann Landolt, my academic supervisor at the Institute of Islamie Studies, Mc.Gill University, for his painstakingly thorough reading, for bis keen criticism of the draft of this work in its various stages, and for his generosity in spending bis precious time discussing with me the problems presented by the

Arabie and Persian texts and my own interpretation of these latter. 1 am aIso most grateful for the invaluable ideas and suggestions he unstintingly offered me, without which 1 could never have solved the problems encountered while researching and writing this dissertation. Among the faculty at the Institute of Islamic Studies 1 would like to single out for acknowledgment Professor A. ner Turgayand Professor Donald P. Little, each of whom rendered me invaIuable assistance. Prof. Turgay was very supportive in helping me overcome various obstacles, both administrative and academic, which lay before me, while Prof. Little was my first Arabie instructor and history teacher at the Institute, and was director when 1 first came ta McGill. Over the years 1 have come to admire bis uncompromising scholarsbip and to appreciate bis warm personality.

1 am. aIso deeply grateful to two prominent former members of the teaching staff at the Institute, Dr. Paul E. Walker and Professor Mahdi Mohaghegh (thev

latter now with the University of Tehran and Director of the Tehran Branch of the McGill Institute of Islamic Studies). As my fast supervisor at McGill, Dr. Walker helped me to develop a more serious study of Isma'ilism during the academic years 1988-90. Even after he left the Institute (to its enormous loss!) he generously helped to obtain for me copies of invaluable manuscripts. Prof. Mohaghegh offered me the precious opportunity to write an introduction ta the first critical edition of Ahii I:fatim al-Rizi's Kita6a1-1~1~.

This was excellent preparation for

before the aetual drafting of the dissertation. Moreover, he kinclly sent me a copy of the printed edition, which greatly helped my reading of the text and analysis of the complexity of its contents. 1 would a1so like to extend my gratitude to Mrs. Ann Yaxley, the administrative secretary of the Institute, and to Mrs. Dawn Richards, her assistant, for their

expert help in resolving the official complications that stood in the way of my submitting this dissertation and in facilitating the reinstatement of my student status at Mct:;ill. The support received from individuais and academic institutions outside McGill were aiso crucial to this project. Let me first of all mention here the names of scholars of Keio University, Tokyo. 1am deeply grateful for the academic and personal advice of my former supervisor and now vice-president of the University, Professor Takeshi Yukawa, my former teacher and the one who introduced me to the field of Islamic studies. 1 would like to thank Professor Sei'ichi Sumi, the director of the Institute of Cultural and Linguistic Studies, and the deputy director of the same institution, Professor Yji Nishiyama, whose remarkable generosity in granting me two years' leave of absence (1998-2000) and whose constant encouragement were instrumental in the completion of this

study. Also 1 am very much grateful to my senior colleagues at the Institute,vi

Prof. Michio Takahashi, Prof. Yukio Otsu, Prof. Naomitsu Mikami, Prof. Hisatsugu Kitahara and Prof. Minoru Shimao, for their understanding of the necessity of my completing the present work and for offering their constant moral support. 1 would like aIso to thank Prof. Tsutomu Sakamoto, my former teacher, and my colleagues at the Faculty of Letters, Prof. Satoru Horie and Prof. Fumihiko Hasebe, for their constant academic advice and encouragement to my work. Another name, that of Mrs. Hiroko Endo, the Secretary of the Institute, cannot be omitted here. 1 very much appreciated her constant and sincere efforts in helping me to maintain good communications with Keio University in Tokyo. Several other scholars were extremely generous to me in a variety of ways. 1 would like to thank most sincerely Professor Abbas Hamdani (University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee) for generously allowing me to use precious manuscripts

and other materials essential to my research from bis personal collection. My deep gratitude aIso extends to Prof. Shigeru Kamada (University of Tokyo), who introduced me to McGill's Institute of Islamic Studies as weIl as to the field of Shi' ah studies, and who offered unstnting acad,~c guidance and moral support. Thanks are also due to Professor Andrew Rippin (University of Calgary) and Dr. B. Todd Lawson for their generous assistance to me in the drafting of my dissertation proposai in the academic year 199192. Every person working in academia, especially in the field of humanities owes a great debt to libraries and their staff for providing the "raw materials" essential to research. Therefore my special and deep gratitude must be expressed with aIl sincerity to the staff of Islamic Studies Library, Mc.Gill University, particularly Mr. Adam Gacek, Ms. Salwa Ferahian, Mr. Stephen Millier and Mr. Wayne St. Thomas. Special thanks must also go ta the staff of Keio University Media

Centre, the University of Tbingen Library, and the University of Tokyo Library,ix

for searching out and providing the source materials for my research. 1 would like ta express my deep thanks to Institute of Islamic Studies, McGill University for its generous offer of the Institute of Islamic Studies Fellowship during the academic year 1989-90, and ta the World University Service of Canada and the International Council for Canadian Studies for their remarkably generous offer of the "Govemment of Canada Award" which was initially administered by the former in 1990 and then transferred to the latter in the same year. It is my great honour to have been a redpient of this prestigious scholarship offered by Canadian government during the academic years 1990-1994. Without this financiaI support, not only my studies and research but even everyday life in Montreal would have been made extremely difficult. It is my special pleasure to mention with most sincere gratitude my wonderful

friends in Montreal who supported me morally and academically: Mr. Stephen Millier (for his sincere frlendship and aIso bis painstaking, devoted proofreading of the draft in its various stages!); Professor John Calvert (Creighton University, Omaha); Dr. Rizvi Faizer; Dr. Jeff Burke; the disciples of "the Landoltian School," especially Ms. Roxanne Marcotte, Mr. Abdul Muttalib and Mr. Perwaiz Hayat; Mr. Khaja Misbahuddin; Mc. Mohammad Ghoussemi-Zavieh; Mr. Hyondo Park; Ms. Patricia Kelly; Ms. Melanie Freeman and her family; Professor Teruko TaketoHosotani (Royal Victoria Hospital Laboratory); Prof. Yoshio Takane (Department of Psychology, McGill University); Prof. Yuriko Oshima-Takane (of the same department); Prof. YahiroHirakawa ;ili) i~ifah is not romanized in the cases of persona! names exeept either when it is

indieated in script (as (,$ or ~) or when it represents a filial relationship of sonship or eonnects an adjective to mu~.

5) For other rules, see pp. 5-13 (on Arabie) and pp. 145-51 (on Persian) respectively

in ALA-Le Romanization Tables.

2. Translation

Each and every translation of the passages from primary sources (in Arabie or Persian) is ours, exeept in the case of verses from the Qur'an, for which we followxili

A. J. Arberry (translator), The Koran Interpreted (originally published in two volumes, London, 1955; reprint, Oxford, 1998). However, we occasionally modify Arberry's translation of certain words according to the context of the discussion.

3. Signs and abbreviations used in the dissertation

1) The following signs are used in the quotations:i) [ ] enclosing a word or a phrase which is either a suggested

reconstruction of the text or a supplement to a translation;u ) ...

..

indicating a word or a phrase omitted from a translation;

ili) ...(. .. )... indicating one or more lines are omitted from translation.

2) We expIain the signs and abbreviations other than those mentioned above in afootnote when these appear for the first tinte in the main text of the dissertation.

4. Other RemarksThe technical terms da 1wa1J and since they appear 50 frequently.

umm are not italicized

in the dissertation,

xiv

Table of ContentsAbstract Rsum Preface Acknowledgments Technical Notes Table of Contentsi

iii

vii xiixv

Chapter 1. Introduction 1. Preliminary Remarks on Prophecy and uProphetic Thought": Revelation and Sacred History 2. Ismi. lili uProphetic Thought" and Abii lJatim al-Rizi 3. Modern Western Studies on al-Ri.z 4. Scope of Study Chapter 2. The Historlcal Setting: Al-Kizi's Life and Works 1. Ab ~i,tim al-BiBi's Life 1-1. Al-Ri.zi and the Beginning of the Ismi. 'ili Movement in the Ray Region of North-Western Iran: From a Report by Nqi,m al-Mulk 1-2. Identifying uAbii ~i.tim" and UAhii ~i.timal-Ri.zi" in Sources 1-3. Al-Razi and the Qarmatian Movement 2. Al-Ri.z's Works Chapter 3. The Text vf .1-1,li~

11

27

10

1717 17

22

26 29

36

xv

1. The Text of aI-l,lilI and the Hamdani and Tbingen Manuscripts~ and the Printed Edition 1-1. Introductory Remarks to the Text of .'-I,I.~ 1-2. A Description of the Two Manuscripts 1-3. The Two Manuscripts in Comparison with the Printed Edition of .1-l.li1J 2. The Contents of .1-1,lill 2-1. Table of Contents of .1-1,lalJ Keyed to the Hamdani MS., the Tbingen MS., and the Printed Edition (Tihrin, 1377

36 36

40 4S56 56

. .

A.H.SJ1988 c.E.)

2-2. Cosmology and Pmphetology: General Remarks Chapter 4. Ri.zian Prophetology and the Doctrine of the Qi. tint 1. Prophetology and Sacred History in Islamic Tradition 2. Early Ismi. 'ilis on Sacred History and Prophetology 3. The Framework of Sacred History According to aI-Razi, al-NasaB, and al-Sijisti.l: Adam and the Qi 'int 4, Al-Ri.zi on the Qi tint and His Place in Sacred History: Rizian Qi'imology Chapter 5. Various Prophets and Religious Communities in Sacred History 1. The Ismi. 'ili Notion of the Unity of Religions According ta al-Rizi 2. Patterns of the History of the Prophets According to al-Kazi 3. The Idea of "Interval" and al-Rizi's View of Sacred History 4. Prophets and Religious Communities in Sacred History Chapter 6. The Prophets and the Cosmic Hierarchies 1. Cosmology in .'-l,li~ 1-1. Al-Nasafi and al-Razi on the Procession of and the Nature of the Soul 1-2. Bazian Cosmogonyand Cosmology 1-3. Bazian Anthropology: The Place of Human Being in xvi

64

707084

95106

123123

133 140 156

171171

171 175 181

the Cosmos 2. The Encounter with the Angelic Seings in the History of the Prophets 3. The Making of the Nu,.,i' (Enunciator-prophets) in their Encounter with the Angelic Beings Chapter 7. Hierarchies and Sacred History: Christology and Qi. 'imology 1. The Contact of the Ni';, and the A.i. with the Highest Angelic Heings in Sacred History 2. Rizian Christology 2-1. Crucifixion and Typology 2-2. Jesus' Contact with the Angelic beings and His Typological Relation to Adam and the Messianic Qi. 'im 3. The Contact with the Angelic Beings and Sacred History: Qi. 'imology Revisited 1

185 215

237237 248 248 263270

Chapter 8. The Parousia of the Qi 'int in Sacred History: 285 Qi. 'imology Revisited 2 1. Ri.zian Religio-Politics: Al-Rizi's Attitude to the Current Leadership of the Community? 285 2. Al-Ri.zj's View of the Mode of the Parousia of the Qi. 'int 305 Chapter 9. Conclusion Bibliography330 341

xvii

1

Chapter 1 Introduction1. Preliminary Remarks on Prophecy and ITrophetic Thought": Revelation and Sacred HistoryThe concept of prophecy, that is, of the reve1ation of God's guidance and will to humankind through the prophets or divinely chosen individuals, is an indispensable e1ement of each of the monotheistic Abrahamic religious traditions represented by Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Therefore, the discourse on prophecy, or more specifically "prophetic thought," touches upon one of the

most pivotai doctrines in religious traditions of this type. In the Abrahamic faiths "prophetie thought" is concerned with the vertical dimension of the phenomenon of prophecy, name1y, the revelation referred to above. However, prophetic thought" is aIso concerned with the developmentII

of this revealed guidance in the chronological or horizontal dimension, that is, in history. In the monotheistic tradition history follows a linear path towards its goal, or telos, which is essentially that at the end of time those who have obeyed the Divine guidance will escape the calamity of earthly life and/or eternal damnation. This type of history can be called Heilsgeschichte , that is, salvation history or sacred history directed toward salvation.1 It is a concept that contrasts1 In a strict sense some types of llsaaed history/' i.e., a type of history which is ordered by sacred rules or laws conveyed by number, lime, organization, etc., do not include the concepts

of salvation and the end of lime (see e.g. speculation on history in the andent Greek or Hellenistic world and India). However the demarcation between l'sacred history" and "salvation history" is often not dear. In the intellectual history of any monotheistic tradition there are sorne examples of historical theory which include symbolic speculation on time, number, etc., as well as the concepts of saIvation and of the telos of the progression of the events. Consider for example

2

sharply with the notion of the past in Greek or Hellenistic thought, where history is seen in non-linear terms. In Greek thought there is no notion of the telas of history, only that of its cydical and recurrent nature operating within the framework of the etemal cosmos.2

2. Ismi. ili ITrophetic Thought" and Ab al-Rzi

~i.tim

Ismi.lili-Shi 1 ism likewise features these two dimensions of "prophetic thought." For Ismi.'ilis, the horizontal dimension of history leading toward salvation, or more simply,~acred

history, is represented in the Sh'j notion of lmi.mah, the

office of the imims or legitimate leaders of the Community. AlI of the imims sprang from the ab1 al-IJayt (the people of the household of the Prophet) and represented the sole historical, authoritative continuation of prophecy, that is,Joachim of Fiore's decision ta base bis theory of three ages of history on the doctrine of the trinity. Cf. F. Heiler, chapters entitled '~ie heilige Zeil" and "Di~ heilige ZahI," in Erscheinungsformen und Wesen der Religion (Stuttgart, 1961), pp. 150-75. As will be seen in the chapters below, Isma1w speculation on history also has a strong tendency ta include the ideas of salvation and the end of time, a periodicity based on the number seven, and the idea of hierarchy at the same time. Therefore, in the present study, in order ta represent the type of historical speculation which is focused on the elements of salvation and the end of history, we do not use the sPecific term "salvation history" or Heilsgeschichte but adapt the tenn " sacred history [directed] toward salvation," or simply "sacred history" for the sake ofbrevity.2 This represents a contrast not ooly between two notions of history, but aise between two types of cosmology, one positing an etema1 cosmos and other a cosmos with a beginning -God's creation- and end. This contrast is depicted, for example, in I