Author's note: I would like to thank Professors Stephen Humphreys, Jan Vansina, and Paula Sanders for their many comments and criticisms during the writing of this article. Of course any errors are my own.

¹ Non-Ismaʿili sources use the diminutive ʿUbayd Allah as a pejorative reference to the first Fatimid imam. Ismaʿili sources refer to him as ʿAbd Allah. I have chosen to follow their practice.

² There are two published editions of this text, Farhat, Dachraoui'sLes commencements du califat fatimide au Maghreb: Kitāb iftitāḥ aldaʿwa du Cadi Nuʿman (Tunis, 1975),Google Scholar and Wadad, al-Qadi'sRisāla iftitāḥ al.daʿwa (Beirut, 1971). For other, less detailed accounts of Abu ʿAbd Allah's career,Google Scholar see Stern, S. M., “Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Shiʿi,” in Encyclopaedia of islam, 2nd ed.Google Scholar

³ Marius, Canard, “L'impérialisme des Fatimides et leur propagande,” Annales de l'institut d'Etudes Orientales, 6 (1942–1947), 156–93;Google Scholaridem “Daʿwa” and “Fāṭimids,” in Encylopaedia of Islam, 2nd ed. Farhat, Dachraoui, “Contribution à l'histoire des Fatimides en Ifriqiya,” Arabica, 8 (1961), 189–203;Google Scholaridem, “Les commencements de la prédication ismaelienne en Ifriqiya,” Studia Islamica, 20 (1963–1964), 89–102;Google Scholaridem, , Le califat fatimide au Maghreb (296–365 H./909–975 Jc.) histoire politique et institutions (Tunis, 1981); “ʿUbayd Allāh al-Mahdi,”Google Scholar in Encyclopaedia of Islam, 2nd ed.Tilman, Nagel, FrÜhe Ismailiya und Fatimiden im Licht der Risālat iftitāḥ ad-daʿwa: eine religionsgeschictliche Studie (Bonn, 1972).Google Scholar See also James, E. Lindsay, “A Discussion of Abū ʿAbd Allāh's Mission among the Kutāma Berbers (893–910)” (M.A. thesis, University of Wisconsin, 1987). Included therein is a critical translation of the portions of the Iftitāḥ pertinent to this discussion; Iftitāḥ,Google ScholarDachraoui, , pp. 79–132; al-Qadi, pp. 93–134.Google Scholar

⁴ Al-QāḍĪ, al-Nuʿmān, Daʿāʾim al-islām, 2 vols. Fyzee, A. A. A., ed. (Cairo, 1951). For a catalogue and description of al-QāḍĪ al-Nuʿmān's works,Google Scholar see idem, “QāḍĪ an-Nuʿmān the Fatimid Jurist and Author,” Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society (Jon. 1934), 1–32; Ismail, K. Poonawala, Biobibliography of Ismaili Literature (Malibu, Calif., 1977), pp. 48–68.Google Scholar

⁵ Fyzee, “QāḍĪ an-Nuʿmān, 21; see also al-QāḍĪ, al-Nuʿman, in Muḥammad, al-YaʿlawĪ et al., eds., Kitāb al-majālis wa-al-musāyarĪt (Beirut, 1978), intro., pp. 5–17.Google Scholar

⁶ See Ismail, K. Poonawala, “A Reconsideration of al-QāḍĪ al-Nuʿman's Madhhab,” Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, 37 (1979), 572–79.Google Scholar Therein Professor Poonawala discusses in detail the various opinions as to al-QāḍĪ al-Nuʿmān's madhhab prior to his employment at the Fatimid court (Maliki, Hanifi, lthna ʿAshari). He then presents an admittedly tentative argument that al-Qāḍ al-Nuʿmān was in fact raised in an lsmaʿili home, his father having been a convert to Ismaʿilism who subsequently practiced taqiyya. Professor Poonawala's argument is based on al-KhushanĪ's, Ṭabaqāt ʿulamāʾ ifrĪqiyā (Paris, 1915–1920),Google Scholar written after he had emigrated to Spain. Al-KhushanĪ speaks of a certain Muḥammad b. Ḥayyān as one of the learned men of Qayrawan who adopted Shiʿism. Professor Poonawala equates him with al-QāḍĪ al-Nuʿmān's father, Muḥammad b. Ḥayyūn, referred to by Ibn, Khallikān in his Wafayāt al-aʿyān (Beirut, 1972), and attributes the name differences to an orthographical error. He then argues that since al-KhushanĪ's Muḥammad b. Ḥayyān practiced taqiyya he must have converted prior to 909 when the Fatimids came to power. This would in turn mean that al-QāḍĪ al-Nuʿmān (born between 896 and 905, according to Professor Poonawala) would have been brought up as an Ismaʿili.Google Scholar

⁷ Al-Majālis, p. 79. Al-QāḍĪ al-Nuʿmān states that he served al-Mahdi (d. 934) during the last nine years and some months of his life. He does not tell us what type of service he rendered.Google Scholar

⁸ Fyzee, in his introduction to Daʿāʾim al-islām, states that under al-Muʿizz, a1-QāḍĪ al-Nuʿmān “was appointed Chief Qadi, and had the powers but not the title of QāḍĪ al-Quḍāh and Chief Propagandist, Dāʿh” al-Duʿāh (p. 4). The first Fatimid qadi to have the title qāḍĪ al-quḍāh was al-QāḍĪ alNuʿ mān's son, Ali, who held the position in Egypt. See Richard, Gottheil, “A Distinguished Family of Fatimid Cadis (al-Nuʿman) in the Tenth Century,” Journal of the American Oriental Society 27 (1907), 217–96.Google Scholar

⁹ Fyzee, , “QāḍĪ anNuʿmān,” p. 12.Google Scholar

¹⁰ See Jacob, Lassner, The Topography of Baghdad in the Early Middle Ages: Texts and Studies (Detroit, 1970);Google Scholaridem, , The Shaping of Abbasid Rule (Princeton, 1980), pp. 139–247.Google Scholar

¹¹ See Roger, Le Tourneau, “La révolte d'Abū YazĪd au Xe siècle,” Cahiers de Tunisie, 1 (1953), 103–25;Google Scholar and Dachraoui, , Le califat fatimide au Maghreb, pp. 165–82.Google Scholar

¹² The Fatimids had had designs on Egypt since the early years of the regime. They conducted two major, though unsuccessful, campaigns against Egypt at the behest of ʿAbd Allah al-Mahdi (914−15; 919x2212;20). For a discussion of Fatimid military designs on Egypt, see Yaacov, Lev, “The Fatimids and Egypt 301–358/914–969,” Arabica, 35 (1988), 186–96.Google Scholar

¹³ Daʿāʾim al-islām, 1:1–120. For an English translation, see al-QāḍĪ, al-Nuʿmān, The Book of Faith: Translated from the Daʿāʾim al-Islām of QāḍĪ Nuʿmān, trans. Fyzee, A. A. A. (Bombay, 1974). See also Wilferd Madelung, “Imāma,” and “IsmāʿĪliyya,” in Encyclopaedia of Islam, 2nd ed.Google Scholar

¹⁴ The use of the written word was not limited to al-QāḍĪ; al-Nuʿmān's works alone. In fact, essential to the effectiveness of monumental architecture were the inscriptions which adorned them. Creswell, K. A. C., Muslim Architecture of Egypt, 2 vols. (Oxford, 1952)Google Scholar remains the fundamental starting place for any study of Fatimid monuments. See also Jonathan, M. Bloom, “Meaning in Early Fatimid Architecture: Islamic Art in North Africa and Egypt in the Fourth Century A.H. (Tenth Century A.D.)” (Ph.D. diss., Harvard University, 1980);Google Scholar “The Mosque of al-Ḥākim in Cairo,” Muqarnas, 1 (1983), 15–36;Google ScholarCaroline, Williams, “The Cult of ʿAlid Saints in the Fatimid Monuments of Cairo, Part I: The Mosque of al-Aqmar,” Muqarnas, 1 (1983), 37–52;Google Scholaridem, , “Part 11: The Mausolea,” Muqarnas, 3 (1985), 39–60;Google Scholaridem, , “The Qurʾānic Inscriptions on the Tābūt of al-Ḥusayn,” Islamic Art, 2 (1987), 3–13.Google Scholar Regarding the Fatimids' use of ceremonial as a medium to legitimate their rule, see Marius, Canard, “Le cérémonial fatimide et le cérémonial byzantine; essai de comparaison,” Byzantion, 21 (1951), 355–420;Google ScholarPaula, Sanders, “The Court Ceremonial of the Fatimid Caliphate in Egypt” (Ph.D. diss., Princeton University, 1984);Google Scholaridem, , “From Court Ceremony to Urban Language: Ceremonial in Fatimid Cairo and Fustat,” in Bosworth, C. E. et al., eds., The Islamic World from Classical to Modern Times: Essays in Honor of Bernard Lewis (Princeton, N.J., 1989), pp. 311–21.Google Scholar

¹⁵ Iftitāḥ, Dachraoui, , pp. 327–28; al-Qadi, pp. 275–76; al-Majālis, p. 542;Google Scholaral-MaqrĪzĪ, , Ittiʿāẓ al-ḥunafā, 3 vols. (Cairo, 1967, 1971, 1973), vol. 1, pp. 70–71.Google Scholar See also Golvin, L., “Mahdiyya à la périod fatimide,” Revue de l'Occident musulman et de la Méditerranée, 27 (1979), 75–97;CrossRefGoogle ScholarMuhammad, Talbi, “al-Mahdiyya,” in Encyclopaedia of Islam, 2nd ed.; and Dachraoui, “al-MahdĪ ʿUbayd Allāh,” in Encyclopaedia of Islam, 2nd ed.Google Scholar

¹⁶ Ibn, ʿdhārā, Bayān al-mughrib, 4 vols. (Beirut, 1967), vol. 1, pp. 218–21;Google ScholarIdrĪs, ʿImād al-DĪn, ʿUyūn al-akhbār, vols. 4–6 (Beirut, 1986), vol. 5, p. 237;Google ScholarDachraoui, , “al-Manṣūr Biʾllāh,” in Encyclopaedia of islam, 2nd ed.Google Scholar

¹⁷ Ittiʿāẓ, 1: pp. 102–19;Google Scholar see also Jomier, J., “al-Ḳāhira,” in Encyclopaedia of Islam, 2nd ed.; Creswell, K. A. C., Muslim Architecture of Egypt, 2 vols. (Oxford, 1952). vol. 1, pp. 19–35;Google ScholarJanet, L. AbuLughod, Cairo: 1001 Years of the City Victorious (Princeton, N.J., 1971), pp. 16–19. Both al-Mansuriyya and al-Qahira mean “the Victorious”: al-Mansur and al-Muʿzz saw fit to give their new palace cities names which would commemorate their successes and demonstrate their sovereignty in the region. Al-Mansuriyya (like al-Mahdiyya) of course also commemorates the name of its founder.Google Scholar

¹⁸ Ibn ʿIdhārĪ's (d. early 14th century) account of Abu ʿAbd Allah's career in his Bayān al-mughrib is the only account I know which is not based on the Iftitāḥ The Ismaili dāʿ Idris ʿImād al-Din (d. 1488), in his ʿUyūn al-akhbār, draws on many sources for the later history of the dynasty, but his account of Abu ʿAbd Allah's career is based on the Iftitāḥ. See Stern, “Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-ShiʿĪ” in Encyclopaedia of Islam, 2nd ed.

¹⁹ For a discussion of the make-up of the Fatimid military, see Beshir, J. Beshir, “Fatimid Military Organization, ” Der Islam 55 (1978), 37–56.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

²⁰ Al-QḍĪ, al-Nuʿmān, al-Majālis wa-al-musāyarāt (Tunis, 1978).Google Scholar

²¹ See al-Majālis, pp. 95, 192.Google Scholar Elsewhere al-QāḍĪ al-Nuʿmān draws a parallel between al-Mansur and alMuʿizz on the one hand and David and Solomon on the other, al-Majālis, pp. 63, 441.Google Scholar

²² See Marshall, G. S. Hodgson, “Dāʿ,” in Encyclopaedia of Islam, 2nd ed.; see also Wilferd Madelung, “Imama” and “IsmāʿĪliyya.”Google Scholar

²³ Abu Muslim was the brilliant architect of the Abbasid military machine that ultimately was able to overthrow the Umayyad house and establish al-Saffah as the first Abbasid caliph in 749. The traditions concerning Abu Muslim prior to his involvement in the Abbasid daʿ wa are very cloudy, leading people to speculate that he was originally a slave or free man, an Arab, Iranian, or of some other nation. What is known about him is that he had spent time in Kufa where he accepted and received training in the Abbasid daʿwa. In 746, he was commissioned to lead the already established Abbasid daʿwa in Khurasan, arriving there in 747. For a discussion of the many pertinent issues involved in the Abbasid revolution and the relevant literature available, see Humphreys, R. Stephen, Islamic History: A Framework for Inquiry (Minneapolis, 1988), pp. 99–119; rev. ed. (Princeton, N.J., 1991), pp. 104–27.Google Scholar See also Elton, Daniel, The Political and Social History of Khurasan under Abbasid Rule, 747–820 (Minneapolis, 1979);Google ScholarFrye, R. N., “The Role of Abu Muslim in the Abbasid Revolt,” Muslim World 37 (1947), 28–38;CrossRefGoogle ScholarJacob, Lassner, Islamic Revolution and Historical Memory: An Inquiry into the Art of ʿbbasid Apologetics (New Haven, Conn., 1986);Google Scholaridem, , The Shaping of Abbasid Rule (Princeton, N.J., 1980);Google ScholarSabatino, Moscati, “Abū Muslim,” in Encyclopaedia of Islam, 2nd ed.; Tilman, Nagel, Unterschungen zur Entstehung des abbasidischen Kalifates (Bonn, 1972);Google ScholarFarouk, Omar, The Abbasid Caliphate 132/750−170/786 (Baghdad, 1967);Google ScholarMoshe, Sharon, Black Banners from the East: The Establishment of the Abbasid State–Incubation of a Revolt (Jerusalem, 1983).Google Scholar

²⁴ The Abbasid daʿwa was conducted in the name of al-riḍā min āl muḥammad (the approved or acceptable one from the house of Muhammad). In the Iftitāḥ, Abu ʿAbd Allah is presented as conducting his daʿwa in the name of the Mahdi. Al-MaqrĪzĪ, citing Ibn, Khaldūn'sKitāb al-ʿibar wa-dĪwān al-mubtadaʾ wa-al-khabar (Tunis, 1984), has Abu ʿAbd Allah conducting his daʿwa in the name of al-riḍā min āl muḥammad as well. Ittiʿāẓ 1:45. See Canard, Daʿwa,” for an excellent comparison of the two movements' daʿwas.Google Scholar

²⁵ Lassner, , Abbasid Rule, pp. 59–67.Google Scholar

²⁶ Iftitāḥ, Dachraoui, 317; al-Qadi, , p. 268; al-Majālis, pp. 183–86. I am familiar with the Abbasid portrayal of Abu Muslim only from secondary sources, but he seems to be portrayed in a positive light in Abbasid sources at least until the period of the consolidation of Abbasid rule under al-Mansur. Al-QāḍĪ al-Nuʿmān portrays Abu ʿAbd Allah in a very favorable light in his Iftitāḥ and Majālis, as the few passages quoted herein demonstrate. It is only after he challenged the legitimacy of ʿAbd Allah's claim to the imamate that he fell Out of favor and received his eternal reward for services rendered earlier than he probably had hoped for.Google Scholar

²⁷ The best discussion of the ʿAbd al-Rahman b. Rustam and the Rustamids can be found in Tadeusz, Lewicki's “a1-lbāiyya,” in Encyclopaedia of Islam, 2nd ed.;Google Scholaridem, , “The Ibadites in Arabia and Africa,” Cahiers d'histoire mondiale, 13 (1971), 3–130.Google Scholar

²⁸ Ibn, ʿIdhārĪ, Bayān al-mughrib, p. 153;Google ScholarLewicki, , “The Ibadites in Arabia and Africa,” pp. 109–13.Google Scholar

²⁹ A significant North African example of an appeal to return to the true Islam of the Prophet that postdates Abu ʿAbd Allah is that of the Almohad founder Ibn Tumart (d. 1130). See Roger, Le Tourneau, The Almohad Movement in North Africa in the Twelfth and Thirteenth Century (Princeton, N.J., 1969).Google Scholar

³⁰ Ibn Hawshab is referred to as Mansur al-Yaman in other sources. Al-QāḍĪ al-Nuʿmān calls him al-Mansur bi-al-Yaman. Iftitāḥ, Dachraoui, , p. 3; al-Qadi, p. 32.Google Scholar

³¹ In 762−63, Abu ʿAbd Allah Jaʿfar b. Muhammad (Jaʿfar al-Sadiq) is said to have sent two daʿĪs, Abu Sufyan and al-Hulwani, to the Maghrib. Both men are said to have established themselves there, married local women, built mosques, and been successful in converting some of the local inhabitants to Shiʿism; Abu Sufyan at Marmajana and al-Hulwani at Sujmar. Al-Hulwani is said to have converted many of the Kutama, Nafza. and Sumata Berbers. See Iftitāḥ. Dachraoui, , pp. 26–30; al-Qadi, pp. 54–58; Ittiʿāẓ 1:41;Google ScholarDachraoui, , Le califat fatimide au Maghreb, pp. 57–58.Google Scholar

³² Iftitāḥ, Dachraoui, , p. 30; al-Qadi, p. 59.Google Scholar

³³ Iftitāḥ, Dachraoui, , p. 47; al-Qadi, p. 71; ʿUyūn al-akhbār, 5:48;Google ScholarStern, , “Abū ʿAbd Allāh”;Google ScholarDachraoui, , Le califat fatimide au Maghreb, p. 62.Google Scholar

³⁴ Wa-la-qad jāsup;a fi al-ḥadith: inna li'l-mahdĪ hijratan tanbū ʿan al-awṭān/ fi zamān miḥnatin Waiftitān/ yanṣuruhu fihā al-akhyār min ahl dhālika al-zamān/ qawmun mushtaqqun ismuhum min al-kitmān. Fa-antum hum kutāma, wa-bi-khurūjikum min hādhā al-fajj yusammā fajj al-akhyār. lftitāh, Dachraoui, , 48; al-Qadi, 73.Google Scholar In n. 3 on p. 44 Dachraoui includes the variant versions of this hadith given in Ibn, al-AthĪr'sal-Kūil fi al-tārĪkh (Beirut, 1965–1967);Google Scholar al-MaqrĪzĪ's Ittiʿāaẓ; and Ibn Khaldūn's Kitāb al.ʿibar. See also ʿUyūn al-A khbār, 5:48; Dachraoui, , Le califat fatimide au Maghreb, p. 62.Google Scholar

³⁵ Iftitāḥ, Dachraoui, , p. 76; al-Qadi, p. 91; ʿUyūn al-akhbār, 5:50–51.Google Scholar

³⁶ Iftitāḥ, Dachraoui, , pp. 79, 114, 115; al-Qadi, pp. 93, 120, 121.Google Scholar

³⁷ Dachraoui, , p. 86;Google Scholaral-Qadi, , p. 100.Google Scholar

³⁸ idem

³⁹ Iftitāḥ, Dachraoui, , p. 82–83;Google Scholaral-Qadi, , p. 96;Google ScholarJames, E. Lindsay, “Kitāb Iftitāḥ al-Daʿwa by al-Qāḍi al.Nuʿmān: Section II, chapters VIII and IX,” al-ʿArabiyya, 22 (1989), 161–62.Google Scholar

⁴⁰ See Nagel, . Frühe Ismailiya, pp. 25–27, for a discussion of the role of Abu ʿAbd Allah's awliyāʾ.Google Scholar

⁴¹ Iftitāḥ,Dachraoui, pp. 84–87;Google Scholaral-Qadi, , pp. 97–99; ʿUyūn al-akhbār, 5:53–54.Google Scholar

⁴² Iftitāḥ, Dachraoui, , p. 87;Google Scholaral-Qadi, , p. 99;Google ScholarLindsay, , “Kitāb iftitāḥ al-daʿwa,” p. 165.Google Scholar

⁴³ Iftitāḥ, Dachraoui, , pp. 87–90;Google Scholaral-Qadi, , pp. 99–102; ʿUyūn al-akhbār, 5:55.Google Scholar

⁴⁴ See Serjeant, R. B., “The Sunnah Jamiʿa Pacts with the Yathrib Jews and the taḥrĪm of Yathrib: Analysis and Translation of the Documents Comprised in the So-called ‘Constitution of Medina’,” Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, 41(1978), 1–42.CrossRefGoogle Scholar See also Professor Serjeant's contribution “Ṣanʿāʾ the ‘Protected’, Hijra,” in Serjeant, R. B. and Ronald, Lewcock, Ṣanʿāsup;: An Arabian City (London, 1983), pp. 39–43.Google Scholar

⁴⁵ Qurʾan, 2:250; The Koran, trans. Dawood, N. J. (New York, 1974), p. 360.Google Scholar

⁴⁶ Iftitāḥ, Dachraoui, , p. 102;Google Scholaral-Qadi, , p. 111.Google Scholar

⁴⁷ Iftitāḥ, Dachraoui, , p. 103;Google Scholaral-Qadi, , p. 112.Google Scholar

⁴⁸ The Muzata were one of the more prominent tribes among the Zanata Berbers. The Zanata at this time were adherents to Kharijism. See Dachraoui, , Le califat fatimide au Maghreb, pp. 63, 76.Google Scholar

⁴⁹ Iftitāḥ, Dachraoui, , pp. 87–90;Google Scholaral-Qadi, , pp. 99–102.Google Scholar

⁵⁰ Iftitāḥ, Dachraoui, , p. 105;Google Scholaral-Qadi, , p. 113.Google Scholar

⁵¹ Iftitāḥ, Dachraoui, , p. 106;Google Scholaral-Qadi, , p. 114.Google Scholar

⁵² Guillaume, , The Life of Muhammad (Oxford, 1955), p. 504;Google ScholarIbn, Hishām, al-Sira al-nabawiyya, 4 vols. (Cairo, 1978), vol. III, pp. 330–31.Google Scholar

⁵³ Iftitāḥ, Dachraoui, , p. 105;Google Scholaral-Qadi, , p. 113.Google Scholar

⁵⁴ Iftitāḥ, Dachraoui, , p. 103;Google Scholaral-Qadi, , p. 112.Google Scholar

⁵⁵ Guillaume, , The Life of Muhammad, pp. 450–58; Ibn Hishām, al-Sira, 3:141−45; Iftitāḥ,Google ScholarDachraoui, , pp. 99–109;Google Scholaral-Qadi, , pp. 109–17.Google Scholar For an account of an unsuccessful “Battle of the Trench,” see Jacob, Lassner, The Shaping of Abbasid Rule (Princeton, N.J., 1980), pp. 69–70, where he discusses the ill-fated revolt of the ʿAlid pretender Muhammad b. ʿAbd Allah in 762. “Encouraged by the example of the Prophet and anxious, no doubt, to be identified with him, the rebel reestablished the trench surrounding al-Madinah, as if the older stratagem were applicable to this current situation and would repel the army of the Abbasid house. Within a short time, the defensive perimeter was breached and Muhammad b. ʿAbd Allah was seized and executed.”Google Scholar

⁵⁶ Iftitāḥ, Dachraoui, , pp. 117–32; al-Qadi, pp. 122–34.Google Scholar

⁵⁷ Amr: al-Qāḍi alNuʿman at times uses amr when referring to Abu ʿAbd Allah's movement. I have translated it “affair” as well.

⁵⁸ Amr.

⁵⁹ Dakhala dhālika.

⁶⁰ “Discretion” seems the best translation in this instance. Al-QāḍĪ alNuʿmān is not using taqiyya here in the usual sense of Shiʿite taqiyya.

⁶¹ Qurʾan 3:152.

⁶² Qurʾan 2:201.