Since the emergence of modern Ismaili studies in the 1930s, there have been many scholarly investigations of different aspects of Fatimid history and thought. This book by Professor Heinz Halm is the first publication to focus mainly on the Fatimids’ varied contributions to Islamic culture and civilization and their patronage of learning. It examines in a historical perspective the intellectual and learning traditions 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 primary vehicle of this cultural renaissance was the Ismaili da‘wa or mission. Professor Halm devotes a good portion of his text to examine the institutional features of the da‘wa which contributed to its creativity and dynamism, such as its structure and organization, its pedagogy of instruction and training, the personal and intellectual qualities required of individual da‘is, as well as the duties and responsibilities they were called upon to perform in remote areas of the Muslim world. In his portrayal of the da‘i as “the most characteristic figure of the Ismaili movement”, the author gives interesting vignettes of prominent Ismaili da‘is, theologians and philosophers such as al–Qadi al–Nu‘man, Hamid al–Din al–Kirmani, al–Mu’ayyad fi’l–Din al–Shirazi and Nasir–i Khusraw, and scientists such as Ibn al–Haytham.
Another important aspect of Fatimid intellectual life considered by Professor Halm is that which centered around its academic and educational institutions such as al–Azhar and the dar al–‘Ilm or the “House of Knowledge.” The former was concerned mainly with the religious sciences, in particular the teaching of the Shari‘a according to Ismaili law, and offered free public education to all Muslims, including women for whom special classes were held; the latter provided research facilities for scholars in the non–religious sciences, such as medicine, astronomy, mathematics, philology, logic, and the like. Both institutions were liberally endowed by the state and their teaching staff received regular remuneration.
In this short but highly informative assessment of Fatimid intellectual traditions, it becomes clear that the promotion of learning and scholarship was a planned, premeditated policy which the Fatimids pursued vigorously from the onset of their rule in Egypt. In fact, many of their cultural policies and educational institutions introduced in Egypt were prefigured on a smaller scale during the early period when the Fatimids were based in north–west Africa. Furthermore, the priority accorded to the intellect by the Fatimids was intentionally pluralistic and meritocratic, open equally to all Muslims, Ismailis and others, Christians and Jews, enabling the original thinker, creative scientist or talented poet, as much as the astute politician and military strategist, to rise high in the offices of court and state.
