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A renowned poet, philosopher and traveller of the 11th century, Nasir-i Khusraw was also a major Ismaili thinker and author of the Iranian lands. His Ismaili writings, exclusively in Persian, have been preserved through the centuries by the Ismaili communities of the upper Oxus and Badakhshan, now situated in Tajikistan and Afghanistan. This is a study of Nasir-i Khusraw's life and aspects of his theological and philosophical thought in the context of his times. The author has devoted more than...

The Assassins is a comprehensive, readable, and authoritative account of history's first terrorists. An offshoot of the Ismaili Shi'ite sect of Islam, the Assassins were the first group to make systematic use of murder as a political weapon. Established in Iran and Syria in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, they aimed to overthrow the existing Sunni order in Islam and replace it with their own. They terrorized their foes with a series of dramatic murders of Islamic leaders, as well as of some...

Nasir al-Din Tusi, the renowned Shi'i scholar of the 13th century, produced a wide range of writings in different fields of learning under Ismaili patronage and later under the Mongols. "Contemplation and Action" is his autobiography, in which he recounts details of his early education, his search for knowledge and his eventual conversion to Ismaili faith. It is also a clear and vivid elaboration of the Ismaili doctrine of "ta'lim", the need for an authoritative teacher in spiritual knowledge. T...

The four volumes of this set bring together key contributions to the study of Shi'ism, giving access to material that has hitherto been scattered and difficult to locate. While the majority of the material stems from the past fifty years, earlier studies are included, providing insight into the field's development. This collection reflects the increasingly interdisciplinary nature of today's Shi'ite studies. Volume One covers the birth of Shi'ism and traces its development. The emphasis is on t...

Al-Tusi was the author of over 100 works dealing with astronomy, philosophy, Shi-ite theology, history and mysticism. This collection of his treatises examines such topics as free will and moral responsibility within the framework of his sophisticated determinism. Its approach employs his mathematical skills in the service of philosophical issues, and argues against atomism and in favour of the indivisibility of substances.

Ibn Babawayh – also known as al-Shaykh al-Saduq – was a prominent Twelver Shi'i scholar of hadith. Writing within the first century after the vanishing of the twelfth imam, al-Saduq represents a pivotal moment in Twelver hadith literature, as this Shi'i community adjusted to a world without a visible imam and guide, a world wherein the imams could only be accessed through the text of their remembered words and deeds. George Warner’s study of al-Saduq’s work examines the formation of Shi'i hadith...

The Isma'ilis represent the second largest Shii Muslim community after the Twelvers, and are today scattered throughout more than twenty-five countries in Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Europe and North America. This 2007 second edition of this authoritative book traces the history and doctrinal development of the Isma'ilis from their origins in the formative period of Islam to the present day, a period of more than twelve centuries. All the major phases of Isma'ili history are covered, includin...