The Organizational Structure Of The Fatimid Da 'Wa' By Abbas Hamdani

The Fatimids, a dynasty founded also with the ideology of the Isma‘ilis, came into prominence in the history of North Africa and Egypt when a certain Ubayd Allah (909-934) or Ubaydullah claimed that he was the Mahdi descending from the Shi‘ite line of Ali and Fatima. His claim has received much scrutiny equally by Muslim, European and American scholars. For sure, his genealogy has remained quite obscure. There is also the question of whom might be the real Mahdi, as the second Fatimid Caliph, Muhammad Abu l'-Kasim al-Kaim bi-Amr Allah (934-936), had the right characteristics and also may not have been the son of Ubayd Allah! The ‘Abbasids, of course, did all in their power to discredit another rival to their legitimacy(not forgetting the Umayyad
², 850-862 (M. Canard) ; see also the article “The Organizational Structure of the Fatimid Da'wa,” by Abbas Hamdani, presented to the M.E.S.A. Annual Meeting at Ohio State University(November, 1970), 1-16. Dr. Abbas Hamdani has published a number of studies related to this subject. In fact, his succinct summation of Isma’ili doctrine is based on his major publication, Abbas Hamdani, The Fatimids: Karachi, Pakistan, Pakistan Publishing House, 1962. In his earlier study, he discusses the apparent meaning of the Quran (al-Zahir) and the hidden meaning(al-Batin) developed by the Isma’ilis. I give credit here to a brilliant student essay, about 1973 by William Bean, “the Fatimids and the Qarmatians ,”1-39. Paul E. Walker, in his intricate article, “The Isma’ili Da’wa and the Fatimid Caliphate, “ in Carl F. Petry, ed., The Cambridge History of Egypt:I (640-1517) Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1998, 120-150, has traced theorigins of the Da’wa up to its modern survival in the devotion to the Aga Khan. It is also important to study Professor Sumaiya A. Hamdani, Between Revolution and State: The Path to Fatimid Statehood: Qadi al-Numan and the Construction of Fatimid Legitimacy : London, I.B. Taurus and Co. Ltd., 2006,
‘Abbas Hamdani, is the current Doyen of Isma’ili Studies. His daughter, Sumaiya represents the third generation of Isma’ili Studies in the Hamdani Family. I give credit to Dr. Kamil Taha for a seminar essay he wrote detailing the Zanj Revolt, N.Y.U., 1973, in which he usedAl-Tabari ( vols. 12 and 13, Beirut, 1962) and Ibn Al-‘Athir, (vol. 7, Beirut, 1965) as his main sources. Above all, Cf. A. Hamdani, loc.cit., 2.
24 A. Hamdani, loc.cit., 3; see also, Bernard Lewis, “An Interpretation of Fatimid History,” in From Babel to Dragomans, Interpreting the Middle East:New York, Oxford University Press, 66-78. One should also consult the details provided by W. Ivanow in the article, “Isma’iliya,” in H.A.R. Gibb and J.H.Kamers, in the Shorter Encyclopaedia of Islam, 1953, 179-183.
25 This abbreviated summary of the Qarmatians follows “Karmatis,” E.I.² , IV(W. Madelung), 660-665; and Bean, loc.cit., passim. It is of interest to note that B. Lewis did his Ph.D. Thesis on The Origins of Isma’ilism: Cambridge, W.Heffer & Sons,