MEDIEVAL MUSLIM SCHOLARS: TEACHERS,

MISSIONARIES AND THEORETICIANS,

QĀDI AL-NU'MĀN AS A CASE STUDY

Tahraoui Ramdane
Merah Souad

Abstract
One distinct character of education in medieval Islam is the fact that
teaching and learning activities were not regarded by both the
shuyūkh (master scholars) and talaba or tullāb (students) as a
waẓīfah (job) for the former and potential source of income after
graduation for the latter. On the contrary, both segments took
teaching and learning as a noble mission in life, which promised
social veneration in this life and God’s reward in the other. Apart
from the religious drive, the dedication and zeal of both, the shuyūkh
and their tullāb was somtimes stimulated by sectarian motives. The
truth is that in those ages, it was customary for Muslim states,
whether from the Sunni mainstream or from the minority Shī’ato
manage and supervise intellectual activities, including institutions of
learning, curriculum, human capitals (scholars, and students) in a
flexible way. For instance, intellectual life was not run by one
particular office, although educational policies were largely
politicized in the case of the Fatimids. Due to such dynamic
intellectual ambiance, many prominent scholastic figures emerged
during this period and played a crucial role in the dissemination of
knowledge, religious propaganda and sectarian dogmatic debate.
This paper highlights the role and the contribution of medieval
scholars through the case of qādī al-Nu'mān, one of the most
influential and notable medieval Ismā’īli scholars who served under
the reign of the Fatimids. It also aims to analyze the complicated role
of thisscholar and his influence on the Intellectual life. The results of
this study showedthat al-Nu'māndevotedly served the Ismā’īli
mazhab with the heart of a candid believer and the mind of a sholar.

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He used his intellect and pen to defend the Ismā’īlī cause on many
fronts.

Keywords: Qādī al-Nu'mān, teachers, da’wah, theoreticians

Introduction
Becoming a regional and a military puissance in medieval Islam was
not the ultimate strategic goal of the Fatimids1 (969AD/358AH-1171
AD/567AH) when they succeeded in establishing for the first time in
the history of Islam a Shī’ī dynasty in North Africa. Their ambition
was to rule the Islamic orient not only through military might but
through the dissemination of their religious mazhab (denomination)
using da’wah (call) and education. Interestingly, the Fatimid reign of
the Maghreb 2 (910/969 AD) did not witness serious attention
towards learning activities, even though the Maghreb constituted an
important state of wide domains. Possibly because the Fatimids in
North Africa were practically concerned with the affairs of the
Ismā’īli revolutionary religio-political da’wah rather than
establishing a long lasting policy of education for their dawlah
(state). They were primarily preoccupied with the consolidation of
their power in the Maghreb against the constant threats of the local
inimical forces such as the remnants of the RustamidIbādi Kharijites3
and the Sunnī Berber confederations, in addition to the external
hazards of the Abbasids, Sunnī Umayyads in Andalusia who
controlled nearby Morocco, and the Byzantines in Sicily, Pisa and
1
Also called the Ismā’īlis. They get this name from their acceptance of Ismā’īl bin
Ja’far, as the divinely appointed spiritual successor (imām) to Ja’far Al-sādiq,
wherein they differ from the Twelvers, who accept Mūsa Al-Kāẓim, younger brother
of Ismā’īl as the true imām.
2
Maghreb, refers to the Northwest African region which includes the present
Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya. Here, the term “Maghreb” is essentially used
in historical sense. The Fatimids controlled most of the Maghreb except the western
area that is presently called Morocco.
3
The Rustamid dynasty of Ibadi Kharijite Imāms ruled the central Maghrib for a
century and a half from their capital Tahert , until destroyed by the Fatimids. Their
state's extent is not entirely clear, but it stretched as far east as Jabal Nafusa in Libya.
See, http://www.fact-archive.com/encyclopedia/Rustamid

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Genoa. Following the capture of their jewel Egypt in 969 AD, and
the stabilization of their state for two centuries, they succeeded in
creating a great state and building a civilization which encompassed
all aspects of medieval life. They invested heavily in education and
da’wah as tools of expansion.
For the Fatimids, education and da’wah were inseparable;
attaining knowledge and disseminating it was fundamentally a divine
injunctionthat must be undertaken by man. They held that it was
inappropriate for man to selfishly keep knowledge for himself. On
the contrary, he shall spare no effort to disseminate what he knows to
others because that knowledge is a trust which God consigned to him
and ordained him to deliver. As such, the two-dimensional obligation
of education and da’wah shall never cease to work whether the state
was one of fear or security.4
Historically, the Ismā’īli da’wah was instrumental in
paving the way to the establishment of the Fatimid
dynasty. When in power, the dynasty, unlike other
dynasties before it (such as the Abbasids) did not get rid
of its propaganda especially with regard to education.5
They considered education as a vessel which ensures the spread and
survival of their dogma. The Fatimid’s ambition was to extend
beyond their political mastery over the Maghreb and Egypt and
ultimately control the entire Muslim world, displacing the
predominant Sunni religious and political authority. Education was
one major instrument which they heavily relied upon to engineer
such an ambitious plan. Thus the role played by scholars was
fundamental. Many names of prominent scholars marked the
religio-intellectual life during the Fatimid’s rule. There is no shortage
on the list of Ismā’īlī scholars and theologians, which included names
4
Because The Ismā’īlis of Egypt were in their own view, the mu’minūn (believers)
as opposed to the uninitiated masses who were simply muslimūn (Muslims),
therefore the religious call shall always continue. See, Petry F. Carl, ed. (1988).
The Cambridge History of Egypt. Article: ‘The Isma’ili Da’wa and the Fatimid
Caliphate’ by Paul Ernest Walker. Cambridge, New York: Cambridge University
Press, 1998), 140.
5
Calderini Simonetta, ‘Cosmology and Authority in Medieval Ismailism’. Diskus,
Vol 4, No 1 (1996), 11-22.

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like qādīal-Nu'mān, al-Mu’ayyad fī al-dīn al-Shīrāzī, abu Ya’qūb

al-Sījistānī, and Hamīd al-Dīn al-Kīrmanī, who played influential
roles, and contributed to the efforts of the regime’s consolidation and
madhhab’s substantiation.
The mixture of education, politics and da’wah, shaped the
identity of the Fatimid state. This threefold became vital for the
survival of the caliphate to the point that no Fatimid caliph thought to
do without them. That is why some researchers could not find better
to describe the Ismā’īli da’wah than by stating that it “invites to the
union of God (tawhīd), rational and thinking through.”6 For this
reason, it is extremely hard to separately discuss the intellectual,
political or religious role of any scholar. It is a three dimensional
mélange.

Role of jurists and scholars

In the relative absence of official educational agencies which
supervised, developed, and assessed the teaching and learning of
pedagogical processes, medieval Muslim shuyūkh and fuqaha’
(jurists) filled that vacuum and exercised authoritative influence over
their students. They enjoyed extensive power to choose what, when
and how to teach.
The pious scholars of Islam, men and women
collectively known as the ulamā, were the most
influential element of society in the fields of Sharia law,
speculative thought and theology. Their pronouncements
defined the external practice of Islam, including prayer,
as well as the details of the Islamic way of life. They
held strong influence over government, and especially
the laws of commerce. They were not rulers themselves,
but rather keepers and upholders of the rule of law.7
The triumph of learning and the mark of precedence between

6
Mustapha Ghaleb ed., Kitāb of Rāhat Al-‘Aql li Hamid Al-Dīn Al-Kīrmāni [Book
of Peace of Mind, or Comfort of Reason of Hamid Al-Dīn Al-Kīrmāni] (Beirut: Dar
Al-Andalus li Al-Tiba’ah wa Al-Nashr, 1st edn., 1967), 22.
7
Marshall Hodgson, The Venture of Islam; Conscience and History in a World
Civilization Vol 1. The University of Chicago, 1974, 238

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graduates were always about the personal connection one graduate

got with a prominent shaykh. As an evidence of their authority,
attestation of graduation in the Islamic middle ages was not attributed
to the institution which the students attended, but was an ijāzah
(license) that only the master scholar can grant to the students who
satisfactorily completed intensive training in one particular subject or
text. The name and reputation of this scholar determines the value of
the graduate’s ijāzah (diploma).
This method of learning from a teacher, who learned
from his teacher, who learned from his teacher,
illustrates the fundamental importance that Medieval
Muslims placed on direct personal interaction between
teacher and pupil. Once a scholar determined that a
student has mastered a given text, he granted him (or
her) an ijāzah certifying that he (or she) was now
qualified to teach that particular text or others. In part
because of the emphasis on the interpersonal, we find
scholars and students travelling hundreds, even
thousands of miles to study with the leading lights
throughout the Medieval Islamic world.8
Apparently, teaching and learning in Medieval Islam was not
regarded by both shuyūkh and tullāb as a job for the former and
potential source of income after graduation for the latter. On the
contrary, they took teaching and learning as a noble mission in life,
which brought social veneration in this life and Allāh’s reward in the
other. The dedication and zeal of both was–in most cases–stimulated
by the religious drive, and even by sectarian motives sometimes.
They were willing to embark upon their way of education even if it
gave them the minimum financial gains necessary to support life.
“Education was considered a ministry within Islam and those who
entered it did so out of dedication and a genuine interest in the life of
the mind.”9

8
James E. Lindsay, Daily Life In The Medieval Islamic World (Westport, CT:
Greenwood Press, 1st edn., 2005), 196.
9
Charles Stanton, Higher Learning in Islam: The Classical Period A.D 700-1300.
(Maryland: Rowman and Littlefield Publishers. 1990), 33.

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The modesty of the shuyūkh and tullāb does not imply by any
means negligence, and lack of genuine interest in the life of the mind
from the part of the medieval Muslim khulafa’ (caliphs) and notables.
In those ages, it was customary for Muslim states, both Sunni and
Shī’a to manage and supervise the intellectual activities, including
institutions of learning, curriculum, scholars, and students in a
flexible way. For instance, intellectual life was not run by one
particular office, though educational policies were largely politicized
in the case of the Fatimids.
Similarly, financing educational institutions, particularly,
teachers’ remunerations and students’ stipends had never been under
one particular office of the state. The sources were more individual
and less formalized. From an Islamic point of view, financing
projects which target the general welfare of the community is
normally based on religious and moral obligation in the first place.
Such commitment conforms to the Islamic principle that wealth is
from Allah and shall be spent in the way that pleases Him. However,
financing education was not in any way an opportunity to totally
censor the thought or reduce its freedom.Formal institutions of
education never replaced persons as the focus of intellectual life.
Indeed, medieval Muslims themselves seem to have
been remarkably uninterested in where an individual
studied. The only thing that mattered was with whom
one had studied, a qualification certified not by an
institutional degree but by a personal license (ijāza)
issued by a teacher to his pupil.10
Informal and formal instruction was available for pupils in their own
homes or in the private houses of learned scholars and wealthy
individuals; however, politicizingeducation, and the ever growing
spirit of sectarian affiliation were clear signs of what would latere be
knpwn as ’asr al-jumūd (age of stagnation) of all Muslim branches of
knowledge. The Fatimids territories were not spared thetaqlīd

10
Hefner W. Robert and Muhammad Qasim Zaman, eds., “Schooling Islam: The
Culture and Politics of Modern Muslim Education” in ‘Madrasas Medieval and
Modern: Politics, Education, and the Problem of Muslim Identity’ by, Jonathan
Berkey (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2006), 43

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(imitation) which killed the spirit of ijtihad. However, the general

trend was that:
In the golden centuries of Islam, religion encouraged
freedom of inquiry. Scholarship and intellectual
excellence were regarded most highly. Students were
encouraged to debate their views with their teachers.
Libraries, both public and private, even the courts of the
caliphs and the palaces of kings were centers of open
and free inquiry by scholars, who often received
financial aid to pursue their interests.11
The state paid salaries not only to its officials and
political supporters but also to people of the religious
class. This type of payment had a long history in
medieval Islam and expressed the state’s wish to extend
its patronage over both the religious class and religious
life in general. On the other hand, such payments
created an ideology of disassociation from the state and
its corruptive powers in some religious circles.12
In the Fatimid era, sources of spending on educational institutions
were diverse; they ranged from donations, to grants, and pious
endowments. Imāms13, khulafa’ (caliphs), wuzara’ (viziers), a’yān
11
Mehdi Nakosteen, History of Islamic Origins of Western Education (Boulder,
Colorado: University of Colorado Press, 1964), 57.
12
Lev Yaacov, Charity, Endowments, and Charitable Institutions in Medieval
Islam, (Florida: University Press of Florida, 2005), 14.
13
Imamate literally means 'to lead '; al-imām means 'the leader'. For Sunni Muslims,
the term is derived from Imām, which refers to the leader in the Friday prayer at the
mosque; any pious Muslim may function as Imām. The term has also been used as a
synonym for caliph. The Shī’a, with their numerous denominations throughout
history have developed specific meanings for the term. Zaydi Shiites recognize as
Imam any pious descendant of ‘Ali and Fatima who earns his recognition as a leader
through struggle. Twelve-Imām Shī’adogma restricts the Imams to ‘Ali, his sons
Hasan and Husayn, and nine direct linear descendants of Husayn. Twelve-Imām
Shī’adoctrine presents the Imāms as infallible intermediaries between the human and
the divine. The continuous presence of the Imams being a prerequisite for human
salvation, al-Mahdi, the last Imām, is considered in occultation (hidden from
humanity) since 874 only to return near the end of creation as a messiah like figure.
For Ismā’īli Shī’a, the succession of the Imāms breaks off from the Twelve- Imāms

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(notables) and wealthy people have traditionally been the main

contributors to these projects. Some researchers argued that the
methods of expenditure on education in the Muslim world developed
along the changes that Muslim educational arena witnessed. In fact,
in the early phase of Islam, teaching and learning activities were
regarded as part of piety; hence, conducted on a voluntary basis.
Taking material compensation in return was thought to be a shameful
act as far as the early phase of Islam is concerned. However, after
regulating the educational activities into institutions like maktabs,
libraries and madrasas, remuneration policies became regulated as
well. Accordingly, teachers and administrative staff in medieval
educational institutions acquired fixed salaries in exchange of their
services.
It is very important to note that in Fatimid Egypt, there existed
two groups of shuyūkh and learners. The first were Sunni master
scholars who represented the Egyptian majority population. The
second group represented the Ismā’īli masters and learners.
Obviously, for sectarian and political reasons, the latter group was
more fortunate than the former; it benefited from the state’s full
support and unlimited sponsoring. Certainly, the state was financing
educational activities but in a non-institutionalized manner.Taking
this factor into consideration, we can generally say that compensation
for teaching activities in Fatimid Egypt took the following forms:
a. Compensation coming directly from students who “agreed with
the teacher upon the amount of the fee to be paid, and this was in
accordance with the number of students in the group.”14This form

line with Ismā’īl, the son of Ja’far al-Sādiq. At present the Nizari subgroup of the
Ismā’īlis is the only group whose members claim a living and visible Imām in the
person of Shah Karim al-Husayn, Aga Khan IV. The use of the title "Imām " by the
Iranian revolutionary leader Ruhollah Khomeini and by the LebaneseShī’a leader
Musa al-Sadr signaled a new development in Twelve- Imām Shiite doctrine, since
neither could not claim to be the Hidden Imām returned, reflecting the desire to
transcend the passive waiting for the reappearance of the Mahdi and promote the
reincorporation of political activism into Shiite religious life. See: Lagasse Paul,
Goldman Lora, Hobson Archie, R. Susan and Norton eds., The Columbia
Encyclopedia, (New York: Columbia University Press, 6th edn., 2007), 23601.
14
Goerge Makdisi, The Rise of Colleges: Institutions of Learning in Islam and in
the West. (Edinburgh: University Press, dn., 1981), 160.

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of deals were mostly common in maktabs, where children

received training on the Qur’an and some principles of the
religion. The financial package that the mu’addibs earned in
maktabs was generally meager, in contrast to the lucrative salaries
that their fortunate colleagues may earn once they obtained the
chance to tutor the children of wealthy or influential families.
b. Compensation from donations and grants accorded to the learning
institutions by princes, viziers, and wealthy philanthropists. As
stated earlier, this practice developed later on to the appropriation
of pious endowments. George Makdisi attests that wealthy men
and princes volunteered to spend on kuttābs, and endowed them
with properties to survive.15
c. “Pensions were offered by the sovereign to juris-consults, learned
men generally and students.”16

To manipulate popular support, man and women from the Fatimid

court financed the three brackets of education; professors, students
and physical structures in lavish extravagance. Interestingly, the
Fatimid caliph, in person, supervised the discharge of monthly
professional salaries for professors, du’āt and learned men.
In addition to the social status and prestige, scholars
were also honoured and rewarded by the state.
Al-Maqrīzi’s second volume of al-Khitat, pages, 401 -
402, and al-Qalqashandi’s third volume of
Subhal-A‘sha, pages, 525 - 526 provided information of
great value on financial wages of important
office-bearers in the Fatimid state, they were fixed as
follows:
Viziers earned 5000 dīnārs monthly. Children of viziers,
earned from 200 to 300 dīnārs monthly. kātib al-dast
al-sharīf (clerk of the honored bench) earned 150
monthly. sāhib al-bāb (master of the gate, or, caliph’s
door keeper) earned 120 dīnārs monthly. qādī al-qudāt
15
Ahmad Fuad Al-Ahwani, Al-Tarbiyah fi Al-Islam [Education in Isla]. (Cairo: Dār
Al-Ma’arif, 1980), 103.
16
Makdisi, The Rise of Colleges, 162.

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TAHRAOUI RAMDANE

(chief judge), dā’i al-du’āt (chief missionary)…,

al-ustādhūn al-muhannakūn (princes of the palace,
wearing distinctive turbans that are wound under the
chin), sāhibbayt al-māl (chief of the treasury), hāmil
al-risāla (the message carrier), and sāhib al-daftar (the
director of the palace offices), earned all 100 dīnārs.
Sāhib al-sayf (the master of the sword), sāhib al-Rumh
(the master of the spear), and ra’isdiwān al-nadhar
(chief of the bureau of inspection), earned all 70 dīnārs.
al-tabīb al-khās (royal private physician), and ra’is
diwān al-tahqīq (chief of the bureau of investigation),
both earned 50 dīnārs. Ra’is diwān al-majlis (chief of
the bureau of council), earned 40 dīnārs. Al-wā’idh bi
al-masjid (the preacher in the mosque) and shā’ir
al-khalīfa (the poet of the caliph), earned between 10 to
20 dīnārs monthly.Other physicians, who worked in the
court, earned 10 dinārs.17
The generous patronage of learning activities by the Fatimids was
driven by the conviction that learning and money could buy influence
and loyalty; thus, they used both to the edge in their ultimate aim to
transform the Egyptian population into Ismailism.
The Fatimid royal family amassed immense wealth and
held vast properties. Special administrative organs dealt
with the management of the private property of the
imam and other members of the family.18
To attract people to their mosques and disseminate their da’wah, the
Fatimid court, in coordination with the institution of da’wah overdid
in decorating and furnishing mosques. Al-Hākim’s mosque for
example was excessively decorated.

17
Abdullah Abd Al-Daim, Al-Tarbiyah ‘abra Al-Tārīkh: Min Al-‘Usūr
Al-QadīmahhattaAwā’il Al-Qarn Al-‘Eshrīn[Education across History: From the
Ancient Ages up to the Twentieth Century]. (Beirut: Dār Al-‘Ilm li
Al-Malayeen.1973), 170.
18
Yaacov Lev, State and Society in Fatimid Egypt, (E.J.Brill, Leiden. New York.
Kobenhaven, Kolen 1991), 65.

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In Jumada II of this year he resolved to furnish the

mosque which bears the name of Hakim’s mosque. A
preliminary estimate of the cost of the lamps, chains,
mats, etc. came to 5,000 pieces of gold. Early in
Ramadan he presented a tannūr of large candelabrum to
the old Mosque in Fustat. This tannūr weighed 100,000
drams and had 1,200 lights... the Khalif presented the
mosque at the same time with 1,290 copies of the
Qur’an, some of which were written in letters of gold.19
Historians held that the state’s possession of the learning institutions
was a step towards its full control and manipulation of education.
Similarly, many historians reported that commitment to learning was
a central element in the Fatimid culture.
As it was the case of al-mu’izz li-dinllāh al-fātimi, who
limited learning in al-Azhar for the teaching of fiqh
(law) according to the Fatimid madhhab, religious
Fatimid doctrine, philosophy and tawhīd (theology). For
this purpose, he assigned thirty senior professors and
jurists of his time. He gave them generously and built
luxurious homes for them which later on have been
annexed to al-Azhar and became part of its galleries.
They commenced to teach and develop more profound
knowledge according to Fatimid madhhab and
teachings.20
It is not strange that the Fatimid court paid attention to learning and
learned men; they were aware that only through the tireless efforts of
their early du’āt in Egypt before the establishment of their state, the
ideological foundation was laid down, and the way was paved for
military commanders to invade Egypt and set up the Fatimid
caliphate. The interest in the intertwined da’wah-learning activities
continued with the same zeal and enthusiasm even after their political

19
De Lacy O’Leary, A Short History of the Fatimid Khalifate (London: Routledge,
2nd edn., 2000), 167.
20
Muhammad Abd Al-Mun’im Khafaji, Al-Azhar fi Alfi ‘Ām [The Azhar in One
Millennium]. (Cairo: ‘Ālam Al-Kutub, Maktabat Al-Kulliyah Al-Azhariyah, 2ndedn,
1988), Vol 1, 28.

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TAHRAOUI RAMDANE

and military victory. Interestingly, many contemporary Ismā’īli

thinkers attribute the success of their madhhab and its large-scale
dissemination in the middle ages to the encouragement that the
imāms accorded to education and intellectual activities. This strategy
was summarized by Arif Tamer,
The reason that prompted the Fatimids to support
learning and learned men is found in the Fatimid
mazhab. The latter was essentially based on knowledge
and action of the intellect in every aspect. By means of
knowledge, argumentation, and debates, the Fatimid
teachings were disseminated throughout the Muslim
world and Egyptian territories in particular.21
The Ismā’īlī da’wah relied heavily on the debating skills of the du’āt,
as well as the dictation method that they followed, and the huge
amount of knowledge they carried. In fact:
The Fatimid du’āt were authorities not only in their
respective religious knowledge of fiqh, hadīth, tafsīr,
and ta’wīl, they exceeded that intellectual boundaries, to
master principles of the other old doctrines altogether,
Jewish, Christian and pagan. Equally, the Fatimid have
not forgotten other disciplines such as the Arabic
language and what is related to it, from narrating,
explaining and criticizing the classic Arabic literary.
These sciences were advancing side by side with other
disciplines, and were undertaken by scholars and learned
men in Egypt. The latter became like the ka’bah
(direction) to whom seekers of knowledge from other
Muslim region have sought in order to benefit from their
knowledge and quote from them.22
In the meantime, some historians think that the literal prescription of
Ismā’īlī scholars to their mazhab and the dogmatic restriction of
ta’wīl to some limited circles and elites, who exclusively drew the

21
Aref Tame, Tārīkh Al-Ismā’īliyah [History of Isma’ilism] (Beirut: Riad
El-Rayyes li Al-Kutubwa Al-Nashr. 1st edn., 1991) Vol.2. 184.
22
Ibid.

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scope of what is allowed, approved, and recommended for learners,

have indeed led to the spread of taqlīd (imitation) that killed the spirit
of ijtihād and ultimately led to stagnation. Meanwhile, the rigorous
activity of the agency of Ismā’īli da’wah “contributed to the creation
of a new discipline that was called ādāb al-bahth (art of research),
that many books were written about its rules. Assemblies of thought,
debates, and argumentation became widespread.”23

Qādi al-Nu'mān: A biography

He is Abu Hanīfah al-Nu'mān b. Abi 'Abdillāh Muhammad b. Mansūr
b. Ahmad b. Hayūn al-Tamīmi al-Ismā’īli al-Maghribi. He was a
great Ismā’īlī jurist, historian and theoretician of the early Fatimids in
North Africa and Egypt. al-Qādi al-Nu'mān (as he was known),
appears to have sprung from amāliki school in Qairawān, adopting
the Ismā’īli faith early in life after the conversion24 of ‘his father to
Ismaili shi’ism before the establishment of the Fatimid state in
(296/909). Al-Nu'mān himself joined the service of the Fatimids in
(313/925). 25 The exact date of his birth is not known, but it is
probable that he was born in the last decades of the third century of
the Islamic Lunar calendar (al-tārīkh al-hijrī). His connections with
the Fatimids began when he entered the service of imāmal-Mahdī
(the first Fatimid Caliph), and continued to work for him for the last
nine years of his life (313-322 AH). Thereafter, he served
imāmal-Qā'im (the Second Fatimid Caliph) for the whole of his life.
During the time of this imām, al-Nu'mān was concerned chiefly with
the study of history, philosophy, jurisprudence, and the composition
of his numerous works. Just prior to imām al-Qā'im's death, which
occurred in 946 AD / 335 AH, al-Nu'mān was appointed as a Qādi
23
Muhammad Abd Al-Mun’im Khafaji, Al-Azhar fi Alfi ‘Ām [The Azhar in One
Millennium]. (Beirut, Lebanon,Cairo: ‘Ālam Al-Kutub, Maktabat Al-Kulliyyah
Al-Azhariyah, 2ndedn., 1988), 34.
24
Although some other medieval biographical dictionaries such as Ibn Khalikan’s
“Wafayāt al – ay’ān” suggest that al-Nu’mānconverted from māliki Sunnism to
Twelver Sh’ism, an assertion found in many other sources. See, Hamdani , Between
Revolution and the State. 47.
25
Hamdani Sumaiya, Between Revolution and State, Qadi al-Nu’man and the
Construction of Fatimid Legitimacy. (I.B.Tauris Publishers. London. New York in
association with The Institute of Ismaili Studies London. 2006), 46.

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(judge). His rank was further elevated during the time of

imāmal-Mansūr (the third Fatimid Caliph) and he reached the zenith
at the time of imām al-Mu'izz(d. 365 AH). During the reign of the
latter, al-Nu'mān became the highest judicial functionary of the
Fatimid state and one of the most important figures in the hierarchy
of the da'wah.26
Because of al-Nu'mān's self-motivation and the support
rendered to him by the Fatimid imāms -who themselves were
considered as treasures of knowledge and wisdom- he was able to
writeoeuvres, believed to be 44 works in different fields of
knowledge.
According to the Ismaili tradition, he wrote nothing
without consulting the Imams. Nu’man tells us in his,
‘Majālis-wal’-Musāerat’ “, the Imam al-Mu’izz often
used to invite me to address the people on the
knowledge of the Fatimid Faith. I used to write books
and read them to the Imam, chapter by chapter, before I
read them to the people. At one time Al-Mu’izz gave me
the subject matter of a book in nut-shell and explained to
me everything that pertained to this matter to my fullest
satisfaction.27
Eventually, we can conclude that Qādī al-Nu’mānwas the father of
both, the Ismā’īli jurisprudence and the official history of the Fatimid
caliphate. He faithfully served four Fatimid caliphs until he died in
old Cairo in the year of 974 AD / 363 AH. As a gestureof respect to
the devoted believer and servant of the Ismā’īli cause, caliph
al-Mu’izz in person led the funeral prayer. 28 Such prestige and
stature was evidenced in the fact that “his sons and other relatives
continued to hold important positions in the Fatimid state,”29 after
his death.

26
See, Daftary, ed. (1996). Mediaeval Isma'ili History and Thought, Article
‘Al-Qadi Al-Nu’man and Isma’ili Jurisprudence’, by Ismail. K. Poonawala, 117-143.
27
Asaf A. A. Fyzee, Qadi an-Nu'man, http://www.ismaili.net/hero/hero8.html
28
Hamdani Sumaiya, 132.
29
Hamdani. 47.

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Qādi al-Nu’mān: The teacher, the missionary and the

theoretician
Islam value prized knowledge and attributed great significance to it.
The’ulamaare regarded as heirs and successors of the prophets. 30
Historically, the learned man enjoyed prestigious stature within the
society.
The bearer of knowledge was naturally honored in a
society which showed great reverence to knowledge
itself. The person of a scholar was regarded as a blessing
from God for the whole world and even the fishes in the
water and birds in the air mourn his death along with
mankind.31
In such sublime distinction, learning and learners were elevated by
the Islamic tradition. Seeking knowledge was an unmatched
honorable task that does not require forcible effort from the state. On
the contrary, it was regarded as a genuine individual right and
individuals were free to choose what, when, and where to learn. If
assessed by the devotion of scholars and tullāb in the pursuit of
knowledge and its dissemination, such liberal, informal and flexible
traditions of teaching and learning in the early and medieval Muslim
world were extensively successful.
Al-Nu’mān was a distinguished scholar who enjoyed a special
place in the Fatimid annals. He was a seminal figure in the

30
Related by Ahmad,al-Dārimi, al-Tirmizi, Abu Dawud, Ibn Majah, and Ibn
Hibbān. Abu al-Dardānarrated, "I heard the Messenger of Allah ( ) 
saying,'Whoever treads a path seeking knowledge, Allah will make easy for him the
path to Paradise. Indeed, the Angels lower their wings for the seeker of knowledge
out of contentment for the seeker of knowledge. Verily, all those in the heavens and
on earth, even the fish in the depths of the sea ask forgiveness for him. Verily, the
virtue of the scholar over the worshipper is like the virtue of the moon on the night
of al-Badr over all of the stars. Indeed, the scholars are the inheritors of the Prophets,
for the Prophets do not leave behind dinar or dirham for inheritance, but rather, they
leave behind knowledge. And he who acquires it, has in fact acquired an abundant
portion.'"
31
Munir-ud-Din, ‘Muslim Education and the Scholar’s Social Status up to the 5th
Century Muslim Era (11th Century Christian Era) in the Light of Ta’rikh Baghdad,
194.

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Ismā’īlimazhab, as well as a founder of their legal system.

Al-Nu’mān did not just execute his duties as a qādi, a dā’i or a
teacher for the Fatimid imāms, he was on top of all of that, the
supreme guru of the ismā’īli law. This was culminated in the decision
of al-mu’izz to adopt da’āimal-Islam as the official Fatimid Code.32
In fact “al-Nu’mān who had faithfully served the first four imāms and
composed massive legal works with their explicit approval, was
finally commissioned by the fourth caliph al-Mu’izz to compile his
da’āim Islam… which was given official recognition”.33 He was a
prolific and versatile scholar, and during his life time, he wrote many
intellectual books, although most of them are now lost. The Ismā’īlī
trend of keeping their most important intellectual works at a very
high level of secrecy and limiting their access to khasah al-khasah
(the special of the special ones) could have contributed to the loss of
many of al-Nu’mān’s works. Another reason could be the persecution
endured by the Ismā’īlis after the fall of their state in Egypt. The
historians of this period agreed unanimously that Salāh al-Dīn had
laid out a well coordinated plan to wipe out the Ismā’īli influence in
Egypt. They were a combination of political, military and educational
measures which included among other things, the removal of Ismā’īlī
judges from their offices and the disposal of the Shī’a books. The
historical sources reported that:
When the Kurd Salāh al-Dīn won power in Egypt, he
was quite happy at finding the Fatimid libraries, for they
offered a means to pay his soldiers, and he dismembered
the collections with few scruples, as he meant to cleanse
the premises of Shiism. All that remained in the caliphal
book-cases was 120.000 volumes, and the collection
was still considered “one of the wonders of the world.34
As stated earlier, al-Nu’mān was a versatile scholar who wrote many

32
Ismail. K. Poonawala, “Al-Qadi Al-Nu’man and Isma’ili Jurisprudence’, in
Daftary, ed. Mediaeval Isma'ili History and Thought, (1996), 118.
33
Ibid, 119.
34
Polastron X. Lucieu, Books on Fire; The Destruction of Libraries throughout
History, Translation by Graham John (Rochester, Vermont (USA): Inner Traditions,
1stedn., 2007), 63.

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books in various fields of Ismā’īli Islamic theology and

jurisprudence. They could be classified into fiqh (law), munāẓara
(controversy), ta’wīl (allegorical interpretation of the Qur’an),
haqā’iq (esoteric philosophy), ‘aqā’id (dogmas), akhbār and sīra
(tradition and biography), tārīkh (history) and wa’ẓ (sermons).35The
most famous is his prominent work, da’āimal-Islam (The Pillars of
Islam), and his historical account related to the establishment of the
Fatimid caliphate entitled, kitāb iftitāh al-da‘wah wa-ibtidā’
al-dawlah (Book on the Inception of the da‘wah and Establishment
of the Reign), ikhtilāf usul al-madhāhib (Book on the Differences in
the Principles of the Legal Schools), kitāb al-majālis
wa’l-musāyarāt ma'aal-Mu'izz li-dīni Allāh (The Book of Audiences
and Rides with al-Mu'izz li-dīni Allāh) and kitāb al-himmah fi adāb
atbā‘ al-a’immah (The Book of Zeal Concerning the Etiquette of the
Followers of the Imāms)36, and a compilation of legal hadīths called
kitāb al-’īdāh (Book of Elucidation), written when he was serving
imāmal-Mahdi. Also, kitāb al-ikhtisār li sahīh al-āthar ’an
al-a’immah al-athār (Summary of the Traditions Related from the
Pure Imams). To refute the legal views of the rival Sunni ’ulama in
fiqh, al-Nu’mān wrote al-risālah al-misriyyah fi al-radd ’ala
al-Shāfi’i (The Egyptian Epistle in Refutation of al-Shāfi’i) and
al-risālah zāt al-bayān fi al-radd ’ala ibn Qutaibah (Epistle in
Refutation of ibn Qutaibah) as well as kitāb ikhtilāf al-mazāhib
(Book on Differences in the Principles of Legal Schools). His legal
writings were culminated in hismaster piece da’āimal-Islam.
Da’āimal-Islam is “an exposition of the Fatimid
jurisprudence. The work that was finally completed
during the reign of the fourth caliph, al-Mu'izz li-din
Allah (r. 953-975 CE/ 341-365 AH), was accepted in its
time as the official code of the Fatimid state, and serves

35
Fyzee A. A, Qadi an-Nu'man, http://www.ismaili.net/hero/hero8.html
36
For further information on the writings of qādi al-Nu'mān, see: The Founder of
Cairo: The Fatimide Imam-Caliph al-Mu'izz and his Era (An English translation of
the text on al-Mu'izz from Idrīs ‘Mād al-Dīn's ‘Uyun al-Akhbār. Translated with
annotations by Shainool Jiwa (I.B. Tauris & Co Ltd, 2013), 88-99. Also see,
Professor Wladimir Ivanow, “Guide to the Ismaili Literature”, Royal Asiatic society,
1933.

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to this day as the primary source of law (sharia) for

some Mustaali Isma'ili communities, especially
the Tayyibis. Iran has incorporated Daim-ul-Islam into
their constitution.”37
Besides being the book of the Ismā’īlī Law, da’āimal-Islam
“represented the isma’ili theory of the state.”38 It intellectually and
religiously documented the most important pillar of the state;
al-walayah, ahl al-zikr, uli’l-amr and imamate to legitimate the
Fatimid claim for the political leadership of the ummah. Indeed
“Da’im represents not only the paramount divine constitution of the
Fatimid state but also its civil constitution.”39
It is crucial to mention here that while introducing his books
and explaining the circumstances in which they were written,
al-Nu’mān stressed on the fact that they were produced in light of
ideas, guidance and editing from Ismā’īlī imāms, for the latter were
divinely granted exclusive rights to interpret the Qur’an and were
regarded as an ultimate repository of ’ilmand hikmah. imāms' consent
and endorsement of any religious script renders it legitimate in the
eyes of the faithful, a matter that Qādī al-Nu’mān was keen to
observe and remind his readers all the time. It was also a form of
propaganda “which would rally men to the cause of the imam and
thus contribute to the implementation of their doctrines.” 40 In
reference to his kitāb al-ikhtisār li sahīh al-āthar ’an al-a’immah
al-athār he “states that not only did he consult the caliph regularly
while composing this work but the caliph himself also scrutinized the
whole book, made several corrections and suggested its title.
Al-Mu’izz then permitted him to relate the whole book on his
authority and that of his forefathers.”41
Many scholars highlighted the significance of al-Nu’mān's

37
Refer to Fyzee, Asaf A. A. The Book of Faith: Translated from the `Da'im
al-Islam' of Qadi Nu'man. Bombay: Nachiketa Publication Ltd., 1974.; Brief History
of the Life of Syedna Qadi Nauman , by Shaikh Saifuddin Rashid
38
Poonwala, 127.
39
Wadad al-Qadi , “An Early Fatimid,” 104, mentioned in Poonwala, 127.
40
Ann K.S. Lambton, State and Government in Medieval Islam: An Introduction to
the Study of Islamic Political Thought: The Jurists.(Routledge, 2013), 290.
41
Poonwala, 127.

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da’āimal-Islāmto the Ismā’īli jurisprudence. According to Sumaiya

Hamdani, the book has been characterized as a well-organized
dogmatic presentation of the tenets of Ismā’īlipositive law.42 Others,
like Poonwala claimed that Qādi al-Nu’mān was in fact the father of
the ‘Ismā’īlī Law’ without rival, “Ismā’īlī law began with Nu’mān
and ended with him. Before him, there was no independent Ismā’īli
Law and what came after him was nothing but repetition and
restatement.”43 In fact, we can assuredly say that Qādī al-Nu’mān
was not only a father for the Ismā’īli Law, he was to a large extent a
reflection of that type of medieval holistic Islami scholar, who
dwelled on different fields of knowledge.
In medieval Islam, the sciences, which included
philosophy, were viewed holistically. The individual
scientific disciplines were approached in terms of their
relationships to each other and the whole, as if they were
branches of a tree. In this regard, the most important
scientists of Islamic civilization have been
the polymaths, known as hakim or sages. Their role in
the transmission of the sciences was central.”44
It is very hard to draw a fine line to separate the roles undertook by
the 'ālim in his society’s affairs, and the different disciplines or fields
of specialization. The medieval 'ālim could be on top of his vast
religious knowledge a historian, a philosopher, an astronomer, a poet,
a physician, a judge, a teacher, and even a vizier in some cases.Qādī
al-Nu’mānwas not an exception to the practices of his time. He was
active in many fields of knowledge, and held many executive
portfolios in the Fatimid bureaucracy. Probably the position of Qādī
was the most agglutinating to his name.
In addition to the legal and political significance of the title
Qādī, it also carried prominent intellectual and scholastic distinction.
Imām al-Qā'im handed the paramount post of Qādī al-Qudāt (chief
judge) over Ifrīqiya to al-Nu’mān in 336/948, a sensitive office

42
Hamdani Sumaiya, Between Revolution and State, 63.
43
Daftary, ed. Mediaeval Isma'ili History and Thought, 132.
44
Seyed Hossein Nasr, Science and Civilization in Islam. (Harvard University Press,
1968), 41.

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usually bestowed onlyupon trusted men of knowledge and virtue.

“The Fatimid Qādi’l-Qudāt generally had jurisdiction over all the
territories held by the Fatimids… the Qādi’s competence can be
extended to include religious attributions such as leadership of the
prayers and administration of mosques and sanctuaries, as well as
extraordinary attributions such as directorships of the mint (dar
al-darb) inspectorate of the standard of weights and measures
(mi’yār) and supervision of the administration of the treasury, (bayt
al-māl). He could also be invested with attributions of extraordinary
45
jurisdiction such as inspectorate of the mazālim of the hisbah.”
Usually, “Both the chief qādi (qādi’l-qudāt) and the professor of law
were scholars of the religious law.”46 In his capacity as a chief judge,
he was ruling in accordance with the sharī’a law, and had a
jurisdiction over all legal matters involving Muslims. While
delivering his duties, Qādī al-Nu’mān was doing two functions,
making Ismā’īli laws and implementing those laws.
“Al-Nu’mān was further charged with supervising the mazalim
(complaints) and ‘matters related to the royal entourage,…the various
classes of the caliph’s bondsmen, [and] the soldiers stationed in the
capital. …In addition to this, he was also authorized by the caliph to
hold the majalis al-hikmah 47 (sessions of wisdom) every Friday
following the noon prayer, in the royal palace to instruct the Ismaili
congregation in the religious sciences of the da’wa, especially the
batini48 (esoteric) sciences.”49 Caliph al-Mu’izz himself issued an

45
Islamic Law (RLE Politics of Islam): Social and Historical Contexts , edited Aziz
al Azmeh, Routledge Library Editions; Politics of Islam, Amin Haji (Institut of
Ismaili Studies) Institutions of Justice in Fatimid Egypt, 200.
46
Makdisi, The Rise of Colleges, 155.
47
The majālis (séances) of learning literature, which represent an extensive
collection of lectures given by dā’is. The collection comprises segments in doctrine,
history, contemporary social issues and problems. The most famous works of this
school are Kitāb al-Majālis wal-Musāyarāt (The Book of Sessions and Excursions)
and Kitāb al-Majālis al-Mu’ayyidiya (Book of Mu’ayyid Sessions).
48
SessionsThe bātin (esoteric) literature that is based on esoteric interpretation of
haqā’iq Works of famous dā’is, such as, AbūYa’qūb al-Sijistāni, Ja’far b. Mansūr
al-Yamān, Hamid al-Dīn al-Kīrmani and AbūHātim al-Rāzi represent most
significant literature of this school.
49
To that end, Paul E. Walker’s recent Exploring an Islamic Empire: Fatimid
History and its Sources (London, 2002) reviews the source material for the study of

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official proclamation of al-Nu’mān's duties. The latter’s “edict

clearly states that al-Nu’mān was given wide authority and his
jurisdiction extended to every case wherein the mazalim matters were
brought to him directly or as an appeal from any corner of the
domain.”50 In medieval Islam, judgeship required looking into all
complaints of religious nature. Hence, it was bestowedon individual
faqihs whopossessed extensive shari’ah knowledge. Still, it is quite
difficult to consider such an office purely religious; the notions of
dīnī (religious) and dunyawī (worldly) were hardly separated. In any
case, the qādi’soffice during the Fatimid reign was sponsored and
monitored by the caliph/imam, and the qādī was directly designated
by him.
Historical sources51 inform that Qādīal-Nu’mān used to hold
teaching sessions every Friday after the congregational prayer at the
al-Azhar mosque52 until the ‘asr prayer, profiting from the gathering
of a big crowd of people at that particular time. The main purpose
behind al-Nu’mān's sessions was to slowly disseminate the legal
doctrine of ahl al-Bayt among the masses, in the hope that it will
gradually become the leading legal doctrine of the state. According to
the Ismā’īlī classification of knowledge, these teaching sessions
belonged to zāhir (exoteric) learning, a lower ranked religious
knowledge in comparison to the higher bātin (esoteric) haqāiq
knowledge.53

Fatimid history in particular, and provides a valuable bibliography of primary and

secondary sources on the Fatimids. See also Daftary’s Isma’ili Literature: A
Bibliography of Sources and Studies (London, 2004). Reported in Sumaiya
Hamdani, Between Revolution and State, 47.
50
Farhad Daftary (ed.), Mediaeval Ismai’li History and Thought, (Cambridge
University Press, 1996); Poonawala, Al-Qadi al-Nu’man and Ismai’li Jurisprudence,
120.
51
Refer to Farhad Daftary’s Isma’ili Literature, Sumaiya Hamdani “Between
Revolution and State” and Heinz Halm, The Fatimids and Their Traditions of
Learning”.
52
Founded by the Fatimid Ismaili Caliph, Imam Mu‘izz li-Din Allah in newly built
city capital of Cairo in 969-973 CE. The mosque was named Fatima al-Zahra, the
daughter of the Prophet and the wife of the first Shi‘a Imam, ‘Ali, from whom
the Fatimids claimed direct descent.
53
For further info on the Ismā’īli classification of religious knowledge, see : Wilferd
Madelung, Aspects of Ismaili Theology: The Prophetic Chain and the God Beyond

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Teaching at al-Azhar, the first mosque erected by the Fatimids

in Egypt, was another indication of the special position that
qādīal-Nu’mān enjoyed in the religio-intellectual sphere of his time.
Until the reign of al-Hākim bi-Amr Allāh (386/996-411/1021
C.E.)al-Azhar was in the eyes of the Fatimid caliphs, an exclusive
seat of learning and a symbol of authority through which they
interacted with their subjects. They accorded it special care and spent
on it from both, state public treasury and their personal wealth.
Apart from his prolific status in the Fatimd legal echelon Qādī
al-Nu’mān excelled in the sensitive field of Ismā’īli da’wah
(propaganda). He was a dā’i by sectarian affiliation, and dā’i
al-du’āt54 by hierarchical ranking, a position bestowed only on the
most committed devotees in the Ismā’īli propaganda machinery.
In the Ismā’īlī clerical hierarchy the term dā’i was formally
used to refer to important religious leaders other than the hereditary
imāms. From its early years, da’wah was considered integral for an
Ismā'īli faith which regards the imām as Godly appointed head. The
latter, whether an asās (founder), mustaqar (permanent), or
mustawda’ (temporarily entrusted) occupied the highest rank and was
privileged with the right for ta’wīl. Second to the imām was
al-hujjah 55 (the proof) who represented and deputized him in
unattainable regions. Third in their hierarchical order was dā’i
al-du’āt. By such glorification given to their imāms, hujjahs and
du’āt, the Ismā’īlis created a matchless hierarchy of religious ranking
which never existed in the mainstream Sunni Islam. “Though it is
widely assumed that Sunni Islam does not have an equivalent to the
Christian ecclesiastical hierarchy, Shi’i groups such as the medieval
Ismailis did have an organized teaching, spiritual and temporal

Being. Also see, Aziz Esmail and Azim Nanji, The Ismailis in History. Ismaili
Contributions to Islamic Culture, eds. Seyyed Hossein Nasr (1977), Imperial Iranian,
Academy of Philosophy, Tehran
54
Asaf.A. A Fyzee (Annotator). da’āimal-Islamof qādī al-Nu’mān. (Dār al-Ma’ārif,
Cairo, 1963), 11.
55
A Qur’anic term, meaning both ‘proof’ and ‘presentation of proof’ In Shī’a
Islam, it designates Prophets and Imāms as ‘proofs’ of God’s presence on
earth. In the Ismā’ī’ili da’wah of the pre-Fatimid and Fatimid periods, it was
also applied to senior dā’is, and in the Alamut period of Ismā’īli history, it
came to be applied to those representing the Imām.

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hierarchy.”56
The chief dā’i in this hierarchy represented the will of the
Fatimid authorities and the caliph himself. In the fourth chapter of his
academic piece, The Fatimids and Their Traditions of Learning,
Heinz Halm quotes Ibn al-Tuwayr 57 who revealed the extreme
importance of the rank and role of dā’i al-Du’āt in Fatimid state in
Egypt:
The dā’i al-Du’āt immediately follows the qādi al-qudāt
in rank and wears thesame attire and other insignia. He
has to know the entire jurisprudence of the holy family
(madhāhib ahl al-bayt) and hold lectures about it; he
must administer the oath (‘ahd) to anyone converting
from his own madhhab to their madhhab. He has twelve
stewards (nuqaba’) of the faithful under his command;
in addition, he has deputies (nuwwāb) in all cities like
deputy judges. The jurists of the dynasty (fuqaha’
al-dawla) appear before him…He holds sessions in the
palace to read it out to the faithful, and he does this at
two different places: for the men on the pulpit of the
mission (kursi al-da’wa) in the great hall (al-īwān
al-Kabīr), and for the women in the room (majlis) of the
dā’i, one of the largest and most spacious buildings in
the palace.58
Profiting from his affiliation to the Ismā’īli da’wah, and due to his
early ranking and promotion later as a dā’I and dā’ial-du’āt
respectively, qādial-Nu’mān got the privilege of frequently meeting
the royal imāms. He worked under the direct patronage of four of
them; a position which allowed him further access to the ruling elites.
Despite their political and military might, the Fatimids faced
the thorny domestic challenge of their population that was

56
Calderini Simonetta, ‘Cosmology and Authority in Medieval Ismailism’, 11-22.
57
Ibn Al-Tuwayr was a high-ranking official and historian of the late Fatimid period
[1130-1220 AD).
58
Heinz Halm, The Fatimids and Their Traditions of Learning, (London: I. B.
Tauris & Co. Limited in association with the Institute of Ismaili Studies, 1st edn.,
1997), 48.

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predominantly Sunni, and often hostile towards the minority

Ismā’īlis. Qādi al-Nu’mān and other Fatimid da’wah apparatus were
fully aware of that fact and adopted a strategy which included among
manymeasures maintaining Ismā’īli confidential knowledgeand
limiting its access. To accentuate the deep disdainthat Sunni scholars,
jurists, and public harbored towards the Ismā’īlis, branded as ghulāt
(heretical exaggerators), al-Nu’mān in particular –probably acting
underFatimid imāms’ commands– adopted a da’wah reconciliatory
approach which tried hard to win the hearts and minds of the Sunnis
and avoid inflamingthem against the authorities.
To serve that purpose Qādi al-Nu’mān wrote kitāb al-himmah
fi adāb atbā’ al-a’immah. It provided “something of a blueprint
ideological basis that informed relations between the Fatimid
imām-caliph and his subjects.” 59 In the introduction of the book
al-Nu’mān states that:
The purpose of his work is to instruct all the
followers/subjects of the state in the proper forms of
obedience to the imām. Some of these followers, of
course, come from the elites of the Ismā’īli community,
but many are clearly non-Ismā’īli employees of the
Fatimid state or members of society who are
nevertheless expected, on some level, to view their new
rulers as imams.60
It is clear that Qādī al-Nu’mān in particular, and the Ismā’īlis in
general were convinced that a limited effort that focused on
formulating an ideology only would not by any means guarantee the
survival or the expansion of the Ismā’īlī da’wah, the more practical
business was to find an effective strategy of disseminating it. One
fundamental principle in al-Nu’mān’s da’wah strategy was his
persistence on utilizing the concept of devotion to the imāms.
Those who are well acquainted with the true position of
the Imams and have a firm faith in their Imamat, look
upon the duties they owe to them and obedience to their
59
Al-Numan, Kitab al-Himma fi adab atba’al-a’imma, ed. M.Kamil Hsayn (Cairo,
1948), 33-36. Cited in Hamdani Between Revolution and State, 113.
60
Hamdani Sumaiya, Between Revolution and State, 116.

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commands as the duties enjoined on them by God. They

should have a greater regard for the glory and sublimity
of the Imams than the followers and the officeholders of
the temporal kings have for their masters. They should
stand in greater awe of the Imams than these officers
stand in awe of their kings. God has laid down in His
Holy Book that it is our duty to obey them. He has
associated the devotion to the Imams with devotion to
Him and devotion to the Prophet by saying "Obey God,
the Prophet and your Spiritual Leaders."61
In the same book Qādī al-Nu’mān elaborated on the qualities that
every dā’i shall possess in order to deliver his duties.
In case of the 'daa-ee' his first and foremost duty is to
live in strict adherence to the principleslaid down by his
faith. He should be pious to the extreme and he should
carry on the propaganda with skill and prudence. God
says to His Prophet "Invite the people to the path of your
Lord by using your descretion and preaching to them in
the best possible manner'." Not unlike the Prophet, the
'daa-ee' is expected to be very discrete in his
propaganda. He should maintain contact with the people
and he should know all those whom he intends to preach
from man to man. He should study their minds and sort
them out according to their intelligence. He should deal
with them individually and preach to every one of them
according to his intelligence and his power of
assimilation. He should know how to approach him and
how to infuse his ideas into his mind.62
Unfortunately, we do not know much about al-Nu’mān’s guidelines
with regard to the more significant rank of dā’I al-Du’āt, but we can
assume that in such momentous position the person must be versatile,

61
Abū Ḥanīfah Nuʻmān ibn Muḥammad, Transl, Jawad Muscati. Selections from
Qazi Noaman's Kitab-ul-Himma Fi Adabi Ataba-el-a'emma; Code of Conduct for the
Followers of Imam Ismailia Association W. Pakistan, 1950. Original from: the
University of Michigan. Digitized: 2 Jul 2009), 17.
62
Ibid, 135.

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and have;
Extensive educational qualifications, combined with
extraordinary moral and intellectual attributes, as well as
excellent organizational abilities. He needed to have
sufficient knowledge of the zāhir and bātin to be able to
explain them to many different types of people on
various intellectual levels. He was also often trained in
jurisprudence. He was expected to be knowledgeable not
only in the Koran, but well versed in other non-religious
subjects such as philosophy and history, as well as the
teachings of non-Islamic religions. In total, the supreme
dā’i was a highly learned and cultured individual.63
Flexibility and pragmatism were two peculiar aspects of the Ismā’īli
da’wah. Although in power, the Ismā’īli imāms and their ruling elite
were cautious in dealing with their Sunni subjects. One important
guideline of their domestic policy was to be firm, yet to avoid and
prevent confrontation with the predominantly Sunni public, the
’ulamā in particular.
The Sunni ulamā were very often the prime focus of the
Fatimid intervention in Egyptian society. Given their
presence and influence in both mosque and marketplace,
this should be no surprise. Unlike the now discredited
officials of the dīwān, the ulamā had roots of ancient
provenance among the Muslim masses.64
To counter the high defiance of the Sunni ulamā, Ismā’īli du’āt used
different styles of debate and persuasion. The mechanisms of
argumentation varied according to the prevailing state of affairs.
Hence, they never adopted one single formula to address the
community.
The Ismā’īli missionaries brought a message of comfort

63
Anderson Bill, ‘Great Libraries Centers of Civilization: Dar al-‘Ilm, The House of
Knowledge in Cairo’, Rosicrucian Digest, Vol 84, 1 (2006), 8-13.
64
Gellens Sam Isaac, “Scholars and Travellers: The Social History of Early Muslim
Egypt 218-487/833-1094”. (PhD Dissertation, New York: Graduate School of Arts
and Sciences, Columbia University, 1986).

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and hope, appropriate to the needs of each; for the pious,

a deep, spiritual faith, sustained by the example of the
suffering of the Imams and the self-sacrifice of their
followers; for the intellectual, a comprehensive
explanation of the universe, synthesizing the data of
revelation and philosophy, science and mysticism; for
the rebellious, a well-organized and widespread
movement, supported by a rich and powerful ruler far
away, and offering a seductive prospective of radical
change. One of the important functions of the
missionaries, where conditions were favorable, was
what one might now call subversion.65
Lewis Bernard believes that the overtly legal knowledge of the
Ismā’īlis was not contradictory to the Sunni legal doctrine. In
contrast, he considered it generally harmonious:
If we review the books of the Ismā’īlī jurisprudence
produced during the Fatimid period, such as, the book of
Da’ayim Al-Islam (Pillars of Islam), or Al-Iqtisar (The
Abridged) written by qādi Al-Nu’mān, we will find
them very close to Shafiite and Malikite Jurisprudence,
except on what have been written in these books about
the walāyah (love and devotion for the imām) and the
necessity of his obedience. That was in front of the
public, as among the prominent of dā’isand elites of the
state…they were able to listen to these confidential
opinions delivered by the Chief dā’i, they involved
al-‘Ibādah al-‘Ilmiyya (intellectual worship), that is ‘ilm
al-Bātin (esoteric science.)66
The homogeneousness of Ismā’īlī jurisprudenc –written mainly by
Qādī al-Nu’mān – and the Sunni jurisprudence could be attributed to
Nu’mān’s early upbringing in the predominant māliki town of
Qāirawān, requirements of his job as a qādi, or as part of his
65
Bernard Lewis, Interpretation of Fatimid History, 7.
66
Mohammad Kamil Hussain, Al-Tā’ifah Al-Ismā’īiliyah: Tārīkhuha, Nudhuomuha,
wa ‘Aqā’iduha. [The Ismā’īliSect: History, Systems, and Doctrines]. (Cairo:
Maktabat Al-Nahdhah Al-Masriyah, Cairo, 1st edn, 1959),154-155.

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propaganda strategy.
It is significant to point that unlike most of theSunnishuyūkh
who traditionally kept a considerable distance from the
caliphs’courts, the Fatimid Ismā’īlireligious authorities, –dā’is in
particular– were an integral part ofthe government’s machinery and
the political regime of the state. Such an alliance is possibly due to
the fundamental tenet of the Ismā’īli doctrine, that is the belief in
imāmah (imamate), which involvesthe absolute allegiance and
devotion to the imām (walāyah).
Some historians think that Ismā’īlī scholars’literal prescription
to the mazhab and the dogmatic restriction of ta’wīl to some limited
authoritative elite, which exclusively drew the scope of maqbūl
(lawful) and mardūd (unlawful) for learners, have indeed led to the
spread of taqlīd (imitation) which killed the spirit of ijtihād and
ultimately led to stagnation. In contrast to that, the Ismā’īli
da’wahrigorous activities “contributed to the creation of a new
discipline that was called ādāb al-Bahth (art of search), that many
books were written about its rules. Assemblies of thought, debates,
and argumentation became widespread.” 67 The acute association
between religion, education and politics in Fatimid Egypt contributed
immensely to the creation of a new discipline unknown before, called
‘ilm al-da’wah (science of propaganda). For the Ismā’īli scholars
da’wahis a fundamental part of their doctrine; a point well
documented by al-Maqrīzi, “They composed many books in da’wah,
and became one of the written disciplines then it vanished and
disappeared after the disappearance of its holders.”68

CONCLUSION
From what we have explored in this paper, we can conclude that
Qādī al-Nu’mān had devotedly served the Ismā’īli mazhab. He used
his intellect and pen to defend the Ismā’īlī cause on many fronts.
With the heart of a candid believer and the mind of a scholar, he
served his mazhab. His success in establishing a proper Ismā’īlī set of
law, as well as writing the early history of Fatimid da’wah can be

67
Khafaji, Al-Azhar fi Alfi ‘Ām, 34.
68
Ibid., 29

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counted among al-Nu’mān's chief intellectual contributions. He

tirelessly carried out his duties as a judge, conducted hikmah
sessions, and debated with Sunni scholars. Out of his devotion to the
Ismā’īlī, Qādī al-Nu’mān was keen to spread the da’wah to all
imām's subjects, even to the most remote geographical domains. Such
zeal, devotion and distinction prompted imām al Mu’izz to describe
him as the alīm of his time, who rises to fight harmful innovations.69
A statement that showed how close and confidant Qādī al-Nu'mān
was to the caliphs he served.
“Nu’mān rise to such a lofty position was not by accident. He
was very close to the third and the fourth caliphs and had won their
confidence. While holding office as supreme qādi he must have given
an exemplary image of both competence and high moral qualities.
But, above all, he had distinguished himself as a most prolific author
and the founder of a judicial system not only accessible to the masses
but conforming to the Universalist concept of the Fatimid
imamate.”70

69
Daftary, Mediaeval Isma'ili History and Thought, 126.
70
Poonwala, 120.

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