The Fatimids and Their Traditions of Learning

The Fatimid period was the golden age of Ismaili thought and literature, when the Shi'ite Ismaili Imams ruled over vast areas of the Muslim world as the Fatimid caliphs and the Ismailis made important contributions to Islamic civilization. In this book, Heinz Halm investigates from a historical perspective the intellectual traditions that developed among the Ismailis from the rise of the Fatimid state in North Africa to the cultural brilliance of what the author calls 'one of the great eras in Egyptian history and in Islamic history in general.'. The topics discussed include the training of the Ismaili da'is or missionaries, the establishment of academic institutions such as al-Azhar and the Dar al-Ilm (House of Knowledge) through which the Fatimids encouraged learning, and the special 'sessions of wisdom' (majalis al-hikma) for advanced instruction in Ismaili esoteric teachings.

First sentence: At the edge of the Syrian desert, 30 kilometres south-east of Hamah, lies the small town of Salamiyya (originally Salamya, from the Greek Salamias).

Year

1997

Language

English

Publisher

I. B. Tauris

Editions

1

Pages

128

ISBN

9781860643132

Data source: Wikidata