Al-Abdul Jader, Adel Salem

2018-01-31T11:21:14Z

2018-01-31T11:21:14Z

1998

This thesis is a study of the history of the establishment of the independent Ismä i1i states in Yemen, which arose out of the Fatimid empire. It also analyses Ismá`ili doctrines and some of their literature and focuses in particular on two little - known manuscripts which are anti- Ismá`fli refutations. The Introduction presents a critical survey of the primary and secondary sources used in this study. The first chapter is an attempt to summarise the origins of Shiism and to present the development of Ismá`ilism as a result of the fragmentation of the Shiite entity into three groups: the Zaydis, the Twelvers and the Ismá`ilis. The second is an historical analysis of the consequences in Yemen of the decline of Abbasid authority, and of its impact on the tribal powers, the Ziyddids, the Manákhids and the Yu`firids. It also mentions the arrival of the two Ismá`ili dá cs in Yemen, their success in establishing the first Ismá`ili state there, and the end of that state as a result of conflict between these two (id 'is. The third chapter gives an edition of an early Zaydi manuscript with an introductory section concerning the manuscript and its author. This work is an example of the way in which after the downfall of the Ismá`ili state in Yemen and the spread of the Ismá`ili da'wa in the Islamic regions, the enemies of the Ismá`ilis began by the fourth /tenth century to attack the Ismá`ilis in their books. The Zaydis were one such Muslim group. The fourth chapter shows how during the fifth /eleventh century, the Ismá`ilis organized themselves and united their forces under the command of `Ali ibn Muhammad al- Sulayhi, who together with his successors ruled Yemen for almost a century. The fifth chapter presents an edition with selected translations of some unknown Sunni texts of the sixth /twelfth century which attack Ismá`ili doctrines. Particular attention is given to the work entitled Mukhtasar fi `Agá'id al- Thaldth wa Sab`in Firqa by Abú Muhammad.

http://hdl.handle.net/1842/26590

The University of Edinburgh

Annexe Thesis Digitisation Project 2017 Block 15

Studies in the history and thought of the ismāʻīlī states in mediaeval Yemen

Thesis or Dissertation

Doctoral

PhD Doctor of Philosophy