The Brethren of Purity

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The Brethren of Purity (Arabic: اخوان‌الصفا‎ ikhwãn al-safã; also The Brethren of Sincerity) were a secret society[1] of Muslim philosophers in Basra, Iraq, in the 10th century CE.
The structure of this mysterious organization and the identities of its members have never been clear.[2][3] Theiresoteric teachings and philosophy are expounded in an epistolary style in the Encyclopedia of the Brethren of Purity (Rasa'il Ikhwan al-safa'), a giant compendium of 52 epistles that would greatly influence later encyclopedias. A good deal of Muslim and Western scholarship has been spent on just pinning down the identities of the Brethren and the century in which they were active.

Name[edit]

The Arabic phrase Ikhwan al-Safa (short for, among many possible transcriptions, Ikhwān aṣ-Ṣafāʾ wa Khullān al-Wafā wa Ahl al-Ḥamd wa abnāʾ al-Majd,[4] meaning "Brethren of Purity, Loyal Friends, People worthy of praise and Sons of Glory") can be translated as either the "Brethren of Purity" or the "Brethren of Sincerity"; various scholars such as Ian Netton prefer "of Purity" because of the group's ascetic impulses towards purity and salvation.
A suggestion made by Goldziher, and later written about by Philip K. Hitti in his History of Arabs, is that the name is taken from a story in Kalilah wa-Dimnah, in which a group of animals, by acting as faithful friends (ikhwan al-safa), escape the snares of the hunter. The story concerns a ring-dove and its companions who get entangled in the net of a hunter seeking birds. Together, they leave themselves and the ensnaring net to a nearby rat, who is gracious enough to gnaw the birds free of the net; impressed by the rat's altruistic deed, a crow becomes the rat's friend. Soon a tortoise and gazellealso join the company of animals. After some time, the gazelle is trapped by another net; with the aid of the others and the good rat, the gazelle is soon freed, but the tortoise fails to leave swiftly enough and is himself captured by the hunter. In the final turn of events, the gazelle repays the tortoise by serving as a decoy and distracting the hunter while the rat and the others free the tortoise. After this, the animals are designated as the "Ikwhan al-Safa".
This story is mentioned as an exemplum when the Brethren speak of mutual aid in one rasa'il, a crucial part of their system of ethics that has been summarized thus:
In this Brotherhood, self is forgotten; all act by the help of each, all rely upon each for succour and advice, and if a Brother sees it will be good for another that he should sacrifice his life for him, he willingly gives it.[5]

Meetings[edit]

The Brethren regularly met on a fixed schedule. The meetings apparently took place on three evenings of each month: once near the beginning, in which speeches were given, another towards the middle, apparently concerning astronomy and astrology, and the third between the end of the month and the 25th of that month; during the third one, they recited hymns with philosophical content.[6] During their meetings and possibly also during the three feasts they held, on the dates of the sun's entry into the Zodiac signs "Ram, Cancer, and Balance"), besides the usual lectures and discussions, they would engage in some manner of liturgy reminiscent of the Harranians.[7]

Ranks[edit]

Hierarchy was a major theme in their Encyclopedia, and unsurprisingly, the Brethren loosely divided themselves up into four ranks by age; the age guidelines would not have been firm, as for example, such an exemplar of the fourth rank as Jesus would have been too young if the age guidelines were absolute and fixed. Compare the similar division of the Encyclopedia into four sections and the Jabirite symbolism of 4. The ranks were:
  1. The "Craftsmen" – a craftsman had to be at least 15 years of age; their honorific was the "pious and compassionate" (al-abrār wa 'l-ruhamā).
  2. The "Political Leaders" – a political leader had to be at least 30 years of age; their honorific was the "good and excellent" (al-akhyār wa 'l-fudalā)
  3. The "Kings" – a king had to be at least 40 years of age; their honorific was the "excellent and noble" (al-fudalā' al-kirām)
  4. The "Prophets and Philosophers" – the most aspired-to, the final and highest rank of the Brethren; to become a Prophet or Philosopher a man had to be at least 50 years old; their honorific compared them to historical luminaries such as Jesus, Socrates, or Muhammad who were also classified as Kings; this rank was the "angelic rank" (al-martabat al-malakiyya).[8]

Identities[edit]

There have been a number of theories as to the authors of the Brethren.
Since style of the text is plain, and there are numerous ambiguities, due to language and vocabulary, often of Persian origin, it is believed the authors were of Persian descent.[9]

Ismaili[edit]

Among the Isma'ili groups and missionaries who favored the Encyclopedia (as Paul Casanova shows in his 1898 work attempting to date the Brethren),authorship was sometimes ascribed to one or another "Hidden Imam"; this theory is recounted in Ibn al-Qifti's biographical compendium of philosophers and doctors, the "Chronicle of the Learned" (Ahkbār al-Hukamā or Tabaqāt-al-Hukamā).[10][11][12]
The compiler of Ikhwan as-Safa concealed his identity so skillfully that modern scholarship has spilled much ink in trying to trace the members of group.Using vivid metaphor, the members referred to themselves as "sleepers in the cave" (Rasail 4th, p. 18). In one place they gave as their reason for hiding their secrets from the people, not fear of earthly rulers nor trouble from the common populace, but a desire to protect their God-given gifts (Rasail 4th, p. 166). Yet they were well aware that their esoteric teachings might provoke unrest, and the calamities suffered by the successors of the Prophet were a good reason to remain hidden until the right day came for them to emerge from their cave and wake from their long sleep (Rasail 4th, p. 269). To live safely, it was necessary for their doctrines to be cloaked. Ian Richard Netton, however writes in "MusIim Neoplatonists" (London, 1982, p. 80) that, "The Ikhwan's concepts of exegesis of both Quran and Islamic tradition were tinged with the esoterism of the Ismailis." Strangely enough, in dealing with the doctrines of Qadariya and Sabaeans of Harran, the Epistles do not mention the Ismailism. Yet it was the Ismailis, perhaps more than any other, which had the most profound effect on the structure and vocabulary of the Epistles. Almost the average scholars have attempted to show that the Ikhwan (brothers) were definitely Ismailis. A.A.A. Fyzee,born and died a sulaimani, (1899–1981), for instance, writes in "Religion in the Middle East", (ed. by A.J. Arberry, Cambridge, 1969, 2nd vol., p. 324) that, "The tracts are clearly of Ismaili origin; and all authorities, ancient and modern, are agreed that the Rasail constitute the most authoritative exposition of the early form of the Ismaili religion." According to Yves Marquet, "It seems indisputable that the Epistles represent the state of Ismaili doctrine at the time of their compositions" (vide, "Encyclopaedia of Islam", 1960, p. 1071) Bernard Lewis in "The Origins of Ismailism" (London, 1940, p. 44) was more cautious than Fyzee, ranking the Epistles among books which, though "closely related to Ismailism" may not actually have been Ismaili, despite their batini inspiration. Ibn Qifti (d.646/1248), reporting in the 7th/13th century in "Tarikh-i Hukama" (p. 82) that, "Opinions differed about the authors of the Epistles. Some people attributed to an Alid Imam, proffering various names, whereas other put forward as author some early Mutazalite theologians."
Among the Syrian Ismailis, the earliest reference of the Epistles and its relation with the Ismailis is given in "Kitab Fusul wa'l Akhbar" by Nurudin bin Ahmad (d. 233/849). Another important work, "al-Usul wa'l-Ahakam" by Abul Ma'ali Hatim bin Imran bin Zuhra (d. 498/1104), quoted by Arif Tamir in "Khams Rasa'il Ismailiyya" (Salamia, 1956, p. 120), writes that, "These dais, and other dais with them, collaborated in composing long Epistles, fifty-two in number, on various branches of learning." It implies the Epistles being the product of the joint efforts of the Ismaili dais.
Among the Yamenite traces, the earliest reference of the Epistles is found in "Sirat-i Ibn Hawshab" by Garar bin Mansur al-Yamen, who lived between 270/883 and 360/970, and writes, "He (Imam Taqi Muhammad) went through many a difficulty and fear and the destruction of his family, whose description cannot be lengthier, until he issued (ansa'a) the Epistles and was contacted by a man called Abu Gafir from among his dais. He charged him with the mission as was necessary and asked him to keep his identity concealed." This source not only asserts the connection of the Epistles with the Ismailis, but also indicates that the Imam himself was not the sole author (sahibor mu'allif), but only the issuer or presenter (al-munsi). It suggests that the text of the philosophical deliberations was given a final touching by the Imam, and the approved text was delivered to Abu Gafir to be forwarded possibly to the Ikhwan in Basra secretly. Since the orthodox circles and the ruling power had portrayed a wrong image of Ismailism, the names of the compilers were concealed. The prominent members of the secret association seem to be however, Abul Hasan al-Tirmizi, Abdullah bin Mubarak, Abdullah bin Hamdan, Abdullah bin Maymun, Sa'id bin Hussain etc. The other Yamenite source connecting the Epistles with the Ismailis was the writing of Sayyadna Ibrahim bin al-Hussain al-Hamidi (d. 557/1162), who wrote "Kanz ul-Walad." After him, there followed "al-Anwar ul-Latifa" by Sayyadna Muhammad bin Tahir (d. 584/1188), "Tanbih al-Ghafilin" by Sayyadna Hatim bin Ibrahim Al Hamidi (d. 596/1199), "Damigh al-Batil wa hatf ul-Munaazil" by Sayyadna Ali bin Muhammad bin al-Walid al-Anf (d. 612/1215), "Risalat al-Waheeda" by Sayyadna Hussain bin Ali al-Anf (d. 667/1268) and "Uyun'ul-Akhbar" by Sayyadna Idris bin Hasan Imaduddin (d. 872/1468) etc.
According to "Ikhwan as-Safa" (Rasail 21st., p. 166), "Know, that among us there are kings, princes, khalifs, sultans, chiefs, ministers, administrators, tax agents, treasurers, officers, chamberlains, notables, nobles, servants of kings and their military supporters. Among us too there are merchants, artisans, agriculturists and stock breeders. There are builders, landowners, the worthy and wealthy, gentlefolk and possessors of all many virtues. We also have persons of culture, of science, of piety and of virtue. We have orators, poets, eloquent persons, theologians, grammarians, tellers of tales and purveyors of lore, narrators of traditions, readers, scholars, jurists, judges, magistrates and ecstatics. Among us too there are philosophers, sages, geometers, astronomers, naturalists, physicians, diviners, soothsayers, casters of spells and enchantments, interpreters of dreams, alchemists, astrologers, and many other sorts, too many to mention."

al-Tawhīdī[edit]

Al-Qifti, however, denigrates this account and instead turns to a comment he discovered, written by Abū Hayyān al-Tawhīdī (d. 1023)[10] in his Kitāb al-Imtā' wa'l-Mu'ānasa (written between 983 and 985),[13] a collection of 37 seances at the court of Ibn Sa'dān, vizier of the Buyid ruler Samsam ad-Dawla. Apparently, al-Tawhīdī was close to a certain Zaid b. Rifa'a, praising his intellect, ability and deep knowledge – indeed, he had dedicated his Kitāb as-Sadiq was-Sadaqa to Zaid – but he was disappointed that Zaid was not orthodox or consistent in his beliefs, and that he was, as Stern puts it:
...frequenting the society of the heretical authors of the Rasa'il Ikhwan as-Safa, whose names are also recorded as follows: Abu Sulaiman Muhammed b. Ma'shar al-Bisti al-Maqdisi, Abu'l-Hasan 'Ali b. Harun az-Zanjani and Abu Ahmad al-Mihrajani, and al-'Aufi. At-Tauhidi also reports in this connection the opinion expressed by Abu Sulaiman al-Mantiqi, his master, on the Rasa'il and an argument between a certain al-Hariri, another pupil of al-Mantiqi, and Abu Sulaiman al-Maqdisi about the respective roles of Revelation and Philosophy.[14]
For many years, this was the only account of the authors' identities, but al-Tawhīdī's comments were second-hand evidence and so unsatisfactory; further, the account is incomplete, as Abu Hayyan mentions that there were others besides these 4.[15]
This situation lasted until al-Tawhīdī's Kitāb al-Imtā' wa'l-Mu'ānasa was published in 1942.[14] This publication substantially supported al-Qifti's work, although al-Qifti apparently toned down the description and prominence of al-Tawhīdī's charges that the Brethren were Batiniyya, an esoteric Ismaili sect and thus heretics, possibly so as to not tar his friend Zaid with the same brush.
Stern derives a further result from the published text of the Kitāb al-Imtā 'wal-Muanasa, pointing out that a story al-Tawhīdī ascribes to a personal meeting with Qādī Abu'l-Hasan 'Alī b. Hārūn az-Zanjāni, the founder of the group, appears in almost identical form in one of the epistles.[16] While neat, Stern's view of things has been challenged by Tibawi, who points out some assumptions and errors Stern has made, such as the relationship between the story in al-Tawhīdī's work and the Epistles; Tibawi points out the possibility that the story was instead taken from a third, independent and prior source.[17]
al-Tawhīdī's testimony has also been described as thus:
The Ikhwan al-Safa' remain an anonymous group of scholars, but when Abu Hayyan al-Tawhīdī was asked about them, he identified some of them: Abu Sulayman al-Busti (known as al-Muqaddasi), 'Ali b. Harun al-Zanjani, Muhammad al-Nahrajuri (or al-Mihrajani), al-'Awfi, and Zayd ibn Rifa'i.[18]
The last contemporary source comes from the surviving portions of the Kitāb Siwan al-Hikma (c. 950) by Abu Sulaiman al-Mantiqi (al-Tawhīdī's teacher; 912-985),[19] which was a sort of compendium of biographies; al-Mantiqi is primarily interested in the Brethren's literary techniques of using parables and stories, and so he says only this little before proceeding to give some extracts of the Encyclopedia:
Abū Sulaimān al-Maqdisī: He is the author of the fifty-two Epistles inscribed The Epistles of the Sincere Brethren; all of them are full with Ethics and the science of... They are current among people, and are widely read. I wish to quote here a few paragraphs in order to give an idea of the manner of their parables, thus bringing my book to an end.[20]
al-Maqdisī was previously listed in the Basra group of al-Tawhīdī; here Stern and Hamdani differ, with Stern quoting Mantiqi as crediting Maqdisi with 52 epistles, but Hamdani says "By the time of al-Manṭiqī, the Rasā'īl were almost complete (he mentions 51 tracts)."[21]
The second near-contemporary record is another comment by Shahzúry or (Shahrazūrī) as recorded in the Tawārikh al-Hukamā or alternatively, theTawárykh al-Hokamá; specifically, it is from the Nuzhat al-arwah, which is contained in the Tawárykh, which states:
Abū Solaymán Mah. b. Mosh'ir b. Nasby, who is known by the name of Moqadisy, and Abú al-Hasan b. Zahrún Ryhány, and Abú Ahmad Nahrajúry, and al-'Aufy, and Zayd b. Rofá'ah are the philosophers who compiled the memoirs of the Ikhwán al-cafâ, which have been recorded by Moqaddisy.[22]
Hamdani disputes the general abovegoing identifications, pointing out that accounts differ in multiple details, such as whether Zayd was an author or not, whether there was a principal author, and who was in the group or not. He lays particular stress on quotes from the Encyclopedia dating between 954 and 960 in the anonymous (Pseudo-Majriti) work Ghāyat al-Hakīm; al-Maqdisi and al-Zanjani are known to have been active in 983, He finds it implausible they would have written or edited "so large an encyclopedia at least twenty-five to thirty years earlier, that is, around 343/954 to 348/960, when they would have been very young."[21] He explains the al-Tawhidi narrative as being motivated by contemporary politics and issues of hereticism relating to the Qarmatians, and points out that there is proof that Abu Hayyan has fabricated other messages and information.[23]
Amusingly, Aloys Sprenger mentions this in a footnote:
Since I wrote the first part of this notice I found one of the authors of these memoirs mentioned in the following terms: 'Zayd b. Rofa, one of the authors of the Ikhwan al safa, was extremely ignorant in tradition, and he was a liar without shame.'"[24]

The Epistles of the Brethren of Purity[edit]

Main article: Encyclopedia of the Brethren of Purity
The Rasa’il Ikhwan al-Safa’ (Epistles of the Brethren of Purity) consist of fifty-two treatises in mathematics, natural sciences, psychology (psychical sciences) and theology. The first part, which is on mathematics, groups fourteen epistles that include treatises in arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, geography, and music, along with tracts in elementary logic, inclusive of: the Isagoge, the Categories, De Interpretatione, the Prior Analytics and thePosterior Analytics. The second part, which is on natural sciences, gathers seventeen epistles on matter and form, generation and corruption, metallurgy, meteorology, a study of the essence of nature, the classes of plants and animals, including a fable. The third part, which is on psychology, comprises ten epistles on the psychical and intellective sciences, dealing with the nature of the intellect and the intelligible, the symbolism of temporal cycles, the mystical essence of love, resurrection, causes and effects, definitions and descriptions. The fourth part deals with theology in eleven epistles, investigating the varieties of religious sects, the virtue of the companionship of the Brethren of Purity, the properties of genuine belief, the nature of the Divine Law, the species of politics, and the essence of magic.[25]
They define a perfect man in their Rasa'il as "of East Persian derivation, of Arabic faith, of Iraqi, that is Babylonian, in education, Hebrew in astuteness, a disciple of Christ in conduct, as pious as a Syrian monk, a Greek in natural sciences, an Indian in the interpretation of mysteries and, above all a Sufi or a mystic in his whole spiritual outlook". There are debates on using this description and other materials of Rasa'il that could help with determination of the identity, affiliation (with Ismaili, Sufism, ...), and other characteristics of Ikhwan al-Safa.[26]
The Rasa’il Ikhwan al-Safa’ are available in print through a variety of Arabic editions, starting from the version established in Calcutta in 1812, then followed by the edition of Bombay of 1887–1889), then by the edition of Khayr al-Din al-Zirikli in 1928 in Cairo, and the Beirut Sadir edition by Butrus Bustani in 1957 and the version set by ‘Arif Tamir in Beirut in 1995. All these editions are not critical and we do not yet have a complete English translation of the whole Rasa’il encyclopedia.
The first complete Arabic critical edition and fully annotated English translation of the Rasa’il Ikhwan al-Safa’ is being prepared for publication by a team of editors, translators and scholars as part of a book series that is published by Oxford University Press in association with the Institute of Ismaili Studiesin London; a project currently coordinated by the series General Editor Nader El-Bizri.[27] This series is initiated by an introductory volume of studies edited by Nader El-Bizri, which was published by Oxford University Press in 2008, and followed in 2009 by the voluminous Arabic critical edition and annotated English translation with commentaries of The Case of the Animals Versus Man Before the King of the Jinn (Epistle 22; eds. trans. L. Goodman & R. McGregor), then Epistle 5: On Music (ed. trans. O. Wright, 2010), Epistles 10-15: On Logic (ed. trans. C. Baffioni, 2010), Epistle 52a: On Magic(eds. trans. G. de Callatay & B. Halflants, 2011), Epistles 1-2: Arithmetic and Geometry (ed. trans. N. El-Bizri, 2012), the voluminous Epistles 15-21:Natural Sciences (ed. trans. C. Baffioni, 2013).[28]

The Encyclopedia of the Brethren of Purity (Arabic: رسائل اخوان الصفا‎) also variously known as the "Epistles of the Brethren of Sincerity", "Epistles of the Brethren of Purity" and "Epistles of the Brethren of Purity and Loyal Friends" was a large encyclopedia[1] in 52 treatises (rasā'il) written by the mysterious[2] Brethren of Purity ofBasra, Iraq sometime in the second half of the 10th century CE (or possibly later, in the 11th century). It had a great influence on later intellectual leading lights of the Muslim world, such as Ibn Arabi,[3][4] and was transmitted as far abroad within the Muslim world as Al-Andalus.[5][6] The Encyclopedia contributed to the popularization and legitimization of Platonism in the Arabic world.[7]
The identity and period of the authors of the Encyclopedia have not been conclusively established,[8] though the work has been linked with as varied groups as theIsma'ili, Sufi, Sunni, Mu'tazili, Nusairi, Rosicrucians, etc.[9][10][11]
The subject of the work is vast and ranges from mathematics, music, astronomy, and natural sciences, to ethics, politics, religion, and magic—all compiled for one, basic purpose, that learning is training for the soul and a preparation for its eventual life once freed from the body.[12]
“Turn from the sleep of negligence and the slumber of ignorance, for the world is a house of delusion and tribulations. –Encyclopedia of the Brethren of Sincerity[13]”

Authorship[edit]

Main article: Brethren of Purity § Identities
Authorship of the Encyclopedia is usually ascribed to the mysterious "Brethren of Purity" (Persian: akhavan al-Safa), a group of Persian scholars placed in Basra, Iraqsometime around 10th century CE.[14][15] While it is generally accepted that it was the group who authored at least the 52 rasa'il,[16] the authorship of the "Summary" (al-Risalat al-Jami'a) is uncertain; it has been ascribed to the later Majriti but this has been disproved by Yves Marquet (see the Risalat al-Jami'a section). Since style of the text is plain, and there are numerous ambiguities, due to language and vocabulary, often of Persian origin, it is believed the authors were of Persian descent.[17]
Further perplexities abound; the use of pronouns for the authorial "sender" of the rasa'il is not consistent, with the writer occasionally slipping from third person to first-person (for example, in Epistle 44, "The Doctrine of the Sincere Brethren").[18] This has led some to suggest that the rasa'il were not in fact written co-operatively by a group or consolidated notes from lectures and discussions, but were actually the work of a single person.[19] Of course, if one accepts the longer time spans proposed for the composition of the Encyclopedia, or the simpler possibility that each risala was written by a separate person, sole authorship would be impossible.

Contents[edit]

The subject matter of the Rasa'il is vast and ranges from mathematics, music, logic, astronomy, the physical and natural sciences, as well as exploring the nature of the soul and investigating associated matters in ethics, revelation, and spirituality.[9][20]
Its philosophical outlook was Neoplatonic and it tried to integrate Greek philosophy (and especially the dialectical reasoning and logic of Aristotelianism) with variousastrological, Hermetic, Gnostic and Islamic schools of thought. Scholars have seen Ismaili[21] and Sufi influences in the religious content, and Mu'tazilite acceptance of reasoning in the work.[10] Others, however, hold the Brethren to be "free-thinkers" who transcended sectarian divisions and were not bound by the doctrines of any specific creed.[9]
Their unabashed eclecticism[22] is fairly unusual in this period of Arabic thought, characterised by fierce theological disputes; they refused to condemn rival schools of thought or religions, instead insisting that they be examined fairly and open-mindedly for what truth they may contain:
“...to shun no science, scorn any book, or to cling fanatically to no single creed. For [their] own creed encompasses all the others and comprehends all the sciences generally. This creed is the consideration of all existing things, both sensible and intelligible, from beginning to end, whether hidden or overt, manifest or obscure . . . in so far as they all derive from a single principle, a single cause, a single world, and a single Soul." - (from the Ikhwan al-Safa, or Encyclopedia of the Brethren of Purity; Rasa'il IV, pg 52) [13]”
In total, they cover most of the areas an educated person was expected to understand in that era. The epistles (or "rasa'il") generally increase in abstractness, finally dealing with the Brethren's somewhat pantheistic philosophy, in which each soul is an emanation, a fragment of a universal soul with which it will reunite at death;[23] in turn, the universal soul will reunite with Allah on Doomsday. The epistles are intended to transmit right knowledge, leading to harmony with the universe and happiness.

Organization[edit]

Further information: List of rasa'il in the Encyclopedia of the Brethren of Purity
Organizationally, it is divided into 52 epistles. The 52 rasa'il are subdivided into four sections, sometimes called books (indeed, some complete editions of theEncyclopedia are in four volumes); in order, they are: 14 on the Mathematical Sciences, 17 on the Natural Sciences, 10 on the Psychological and Rational Sciences, 11 on Theological Sciences.[20]
The division into four sections is no accident; the number four held great importance in Neoplatonic numerology, being the first square number and for being even. Reputedly, Pythagoras held that a man's life was divided into four sections, much like a year was divided into four seasons. The Brethren divided mathematics itself into four sections: arithmetic was Pythagoras and Nicomachus' domain; Ptolemy ruled over astronomy with his Almagest; geometry was associated with Euclid, naturally; and the fourth and last division was that of music. The fours did not cease there- the Brethren observed that four was crucial to a decimal system, as 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 = 10; numbers themselves were broken down into four orders of magnitude: the ones, tens, hundreds, and thousands; there were four winds from the four directions (north, south, east, west); medicine concerned itself with the four humours, and natural philosophers with the four elements of Empedocles.
Another possibility, suggested by Netton is that the veneration for four stems instead from the Brethren's great interest in the Corpus Hermeticum of Hermes Trismegistus (identified with the god Hermes, to whom the number four was sacred); that hermetic tradition's magical lore was the main subject of the 51st rasa'il.
Netton mentions that there are suggestions that the 52nd rasa'il (on talismans and magic) is a later addition to the Encyclopedia, because of intertextual evidence: a number of the rasa'ils claim that the total of rasa'ils is 51. However, the 52nd rasa'il itself claims to be number 51 in one area, and number 52 in another, leading to the possibility that the Brethren's attraction for the number 51 (or 17 times 3; there were 17 rasa'ils on natural sciences) is responsible for the confusion. Seyyed Hossein Nasr suggests that the origin of the preference for 17 stemmed from the alchemist Jābir ibn Hayyān's numerological symbolism.

Risalat al-Jami'a[edit]

Besides the fifty-odd epistles, there exists what claims to be overarching summary of the work, which is not counted in the 52, called "The Summary" (al-Risalat al-Jami'a) which exists in two versions. The Summary, interestingly enough, has been claimed to have been the work of Majriti (d. circa 1008), although Netton states Majriti could not have composed it, and that Yves Marquet concludes from a philological analysis of the vocabulary and style in his La Philosophie des Ihwan al-Safa(1975) that it had to have been composed at the same time as the main corpus.

Style[edit]

Like conventional Arabic Islamic works, the Epistles have no lack of time-worn honorifics and quotations from the Qur'an,[24] but the Encyclopedia is also famous for some of the didactic fables it sprinkled throughout the text; a particular one, the "Island of Animals" or the "Debate of Animals" (embedded within the 22nd rasa'il, titled "On How The Animals and their Kinds are Formed"), is one of the most popular animal fables in Islam. The fable concerns how 70 men, nearly shipwrecked, discover an island where animals ruled, and began to settle on it. They oppressed and killed the animals, who unused to such harsh treatment, complained to the King (or Shah) of Djinns. The King arranged a series of debates between the humans and various representatives of the animals, such as the nightingale, the bee, and the jackal. The animals nearly defeat the humans, but an Arabian ends the series by pointing out that there was one way in which humans were superior to animals and so worthy of making animals their servants: they were the only ones Allah had offered the chance of eternal life to. The King was convinced by this argument, and granted his judgement to them, but strongly cautioned them that the same Qur'an that supported them also promised them hellfire should they mistreat their animals.

Philosophy[edit]

More metaphysical were the four ranks (or "spiritual principles"), which apparently were an elaboration of Plotinus' triad of Thought, Soul, and the One, known to the Brethren through the Theologia of Aristotle (a version of Plotinus' Enneads in Arabic, modified with changes and paraphrases, and attributed to Aristotle);[25] first, the Creator (al-Bārī) emanated down to Universal Intellect (al-'Aql al-Kullī), then to Universal Soul (al-Nafs), and through Prime Matter (al-Hayūlā al-Ūlā), which emanated still further down through (and creating) the mundane hierarchy. The mundane hierarchy consisted of Nature (al-Tabī'a), the Absolute Body (al-Jism al-Mutlaq), the Sphere (al-Falak), the Four Elements (al-Arkān), and the Beings of this world (al-Muwalladāt) in their three varieties of animals, minerals, and vegetables, for a total hierarchy of nine members. Furthermore, each member increased in subdivisions proportional to how far down in the hierarchy it was, for instance, Sphere, being number seven has the seven planets as its members.
“The Absolute Body is also a form in Prime Matter as we explained in the Chapter on Matter. Prime Matter is a spiritual form which emanated from the Universal Soul. The Universal Soul also is a spiritual form which emanated from the Universal Intellect which is the first thing the Creator Created." [26]
Not all Pythagorean doctrines were followed, however. The Brethren argued strenuously against transmigration of the soul. Since they refused to accept transmigration, then the Platonic idea that all learning is "remembrance" and that man can never attain to complete knowledge whilst shackled in his body must be false; the Brethren's stance was rather that a person could potentially learn everything worth knowing and avoid the snares and delusion of this sinful world, eventually attaining to Paradise, Allah, and salvation, but unless they studied wise men and wise books - like their encyclopedia, whose sole purpose was to entice men to learn its knowledge and possibly be saved - that possibility would never become an actuality. As Netton writes, "The magpie eclecticism with which they surveyed and utilized elements from the philosophies of Pythagoras, Plato, Aristotle and Plotinus, and religions such as Nestorian Christianity, Judaism and Hinduism,[18] was not an early attempt at ecumenism or interfaith dialogue. Their accumulation of knowledge was ordered towards the sublime goal of salvation. To use their own image, they perceived their Brotherhood, to which they invited others, as a "Ship of Salvation" that would float free from the sea of matter; the Ikhwan, with their doctrines of mutual cooperation, asceticism, and righteous living, would reach the gates of Paradise in its care."[27]
”
Another area in which the Brethren differed was in their conceptions of nature, in which they rejected the emanation of Forms that characterized Platonic philosophy for a quasi-Aristotelian system of substances:
“Know, O brother, that the scholars have said that all things are of two types, substances and accidents, and that all substances are of one kind and self-existent, while accidents are of nine kinds, present in the substances, and they are attributes of them. But the Creator may not be described as either accident or substance, for He is their Creator and efficient cause.[28]”
“The first thing which the Creator produced and called into existence is a simple, spiritual, extremely perfect and excellent substance in which the form of all things is contained. This substance is called the Intellect. From this substance proceeds a second one which in hierarchy is below the first and is called the Universal Soul (al-nafs al-kullīyah). From the Universal Soul proceeds another substance which is below the Soul and which is called Original Matter. The latter is transformed into the Absolute Body, that is, into Secondary Matter which has length, width and depth." [29]”
The 14th edition (EB-2:187a; 14th Ed., 1930) of the Encyclopædia Britannica described the mingling of Neoplatonism and Aristotelianism this way:
“The materials of the work come chiefly from Aristotle, but they are conceived of in a Platonizing spirit, which places as the bond of all things a universal soul of the world with its partial or fragmentary souls."[11]”

Evolution[edit]

The text in the "Encyclopedia of the Brethren of Purity" describes biological diversity in a manner similar to the modern day theory of evolution. The contexts of such passages are interpreted differently by scholars.
In this document some modern day scholars note that “chain of being described by the Ikhwan possess a temporal aspect which has led certain scholars to view that the authors of the Rasai’l believed in the modern theory of evolution”.[30] According to the Rasa’il “But individuals are in perpetual flow; they are neither definite nor preserved. The reason for the conservation of forms, genus and species in matter is fixity of their celestial cause because their efficient cause is the Universal Soul of the spheres instead of the change and continuous flux of individuals which is due to the variability of their cause”.[31] This statement is supporting the concept that species and individuals are not static, and that when they change it is due to a new purpose given. In the Ikhwan doctrine there are similarities between that and the theory of evolution. Both believe that “the time of existence of terrestrial plants precedes that of animals, minerals precede plants, and organism adapt to their environment”,[32] but asserts that everything exists for a purpose.
Muhammad Hamidullah describes the ideas on evolution found in the Encyclopedia of the Brethren of Purity (The Epistles of Ikhwan al-Safa) as follows:
"[These books] state that God first created matter and invested it with energy for development. Matter, therefore, adopted the form of vapour which assumed the shape of water in due time. The next stage of development was mineral life. Different kinds of stones developed in course of time. Their highest form being mirjan (coral). It is a stone which has in it branches like those of a tree. After mineral life evolves vegetation. The evolution of vegetation culminates with a tree which bears the qualities of an animal. This is the date-palm. It has male and female genders. It does not wither if all its branches are chopped but it dies when the head is cut off. The date-palm is therefore considered the highest among the trees and resembles the lowest among animals. Then is born the lowest of animals. It evolves into an ape. This is not the statement of Darwin. This is what Ibn Maskawayh states and this is precisely what is written in the Epistles of Ikhwan al-Safa. The Muslim thinkers state that ape then evolved into a lower kind of a barbarian man. He then became a superior human being. Man becomes a saint, a prophet. He evolves into a higher stage and becomes an angel. The one higher to angels is indeed none but God. Everything begins from Him and everything returns to Him."[33]
English translations of the Encyclopedia of the Brethren of Purity were available from 1812, hence this work may have had an influence on Charles Darwin and his inception of Darwinism.[33]

Literature[edit]

The 48th epistle of the Encyclopedia of the Brethren of Purity features a fictional Arabic narrative. It is an anecdote of a "prince who strays from his palace during his wedding feast and, drunk, spends the night in a cemetery, confusing a corpse with his bride. The story is used as a gnostic parable of the soul's pre-existence and return from its terrestrial sojourn".[34]

Editions & translations[edit]

Complete editions of the encyclopedia have been printed at least thrice:[35]
  1. Kitāb Ikhwān al-Ṣafā' (edited by Wilayat Husayn, Bombay 1888)
  2. Rasā'il Ikhwān al-Ṣafā' (edited by Khayr al-din al-Zarkali with introductions by Tāha Ḥusayn and Aḥmad Zakī Pasha, in 4 volumes, Cairo 1928)
  3. Rasā'il Ikhwān al-Ṣafā' (4 volumes, Beirut: Dār Ṣādir 1957)
The Encyclopedia has been widely translated, appearing not merely in its original Arabic, but in German, English, Persian, Turkish, and Hindustani.[4] Although portions of the Encyclopedia were translated into English as early as 1812, with the Rev. T. Thomason's prose English introduction to Shaikh Ahmad b. Muhammed Shurwan's Arabic edition of the "Debate of Animals" published in Calcutta translated excerpt,[19] a complete translation of the Encyclopedia into English does not exist as of 2006, although Friedrich Dieterici (Professor of Arabic in Berlin) translated the first 40 of the epistles into German;[36] presumably, the remainder have since been translated. The "Island of Animals" have been translated several times in differing completion;[37] the fifth rasa'il, on music, has been translated into English[38]as have the 43rd through the 47th epistles.[39]
The first complete Arabic critical edition and fully annotated English translation of the Rasa’il Ikhwan al-Safa’ is being prepared for publication by a team of editors, translators and scholars as part of a book series that is published by Oxford University Press in association with the Institute of Ismaili Studies in London; a project currently coordinated by the series General Editor Nader El-Bizri. [2] This series is initiated by an introductory volume of studies edited by Nader El-Bizri, which was published by Oxford University Press in 2008, and followed in 2009 by the voluminous Arabic critical edition and annotated English translation with commentaries ofThe Case of the Animals Versus Man Before the King of the Jinn (Epistle 22).[3] - Additional volumes have since been published: ‘On Logic’, ‘On Music’ and ‘On Magic’. [4]

See also[edit]

  • The Qur'an - (in most studies and this article, the Greek base of the Encyclopedia is emphasized; but the foundation of the Brethren's beliefs and writings is still fundamentally Islamic and deeply Qur'anic)
  • Magic squares - (apparently within the Ikhwan was recorded the first nine magic squares, including the first known example of a 6 by 6 magic square)
  • Socrates - (The Brethren venerated Socrates' stoic self-sacrifice)

References[edit]

  1. Jump up^ "The work only professes to be an epitome, an outline; its authors lay claim to no originality, they only summarize what others have thought and discovered. What they do lay claim to is system and completeness. The work does profess to contain a systematized, harmonious and co-ordinated view of the universe and life, its origin and destiny, formed out of many discordant, incoherent views; and it does claim to be a 'complete account of all things' - to contain, in epitome, all that was known at the time it was written.
    Textt
    Main article: Ikhwan al-Safa
    It refers to more profound and special treatises for fuller information on the several sciences it touches upon, but it does claim to touch on all sciences, all departments of knowledge, and to set forth their leading results. In effect, it is, by its own showing, a 'hand-encyclopedia of Arabian philosophy in the tenth century'. It is not easy to exaggerate the importance of this encyclopedia. Its value lies in its completeness, in its systematizing of the results of Persian study." Stanley Lane-Poole (1883), pages 190, 191.
  2. Jump up^ "Having been hidden within the cloak of secrecy from its very inception, the Rasa'il have provided many points of contention and have been a constant source of dispute among both Muslim and Western scholars. The identification of the authors, or possibly one author, the place and time of writing and propagation of their works, the nature of the secret brotherhood the outer manifestation of which comprises the Rasa'il - these and many secondary questions have remained without answer." Nasr (1964), pg 25.
  3. Jump up^ "It is probable that they have influenced some of the most prominent thinkers of Islam, such as al-Ghazzali (d. 1111A.D.) and Ibn al'Arabi (d. 1240 A.D.)." van Reijn (1995), pg. "v".
  4. ^ Jump up to:a b "The Rasa'il were widely read by most learned men of later periods, including Ibn Sina and al-Ghazzali, have continued to be read up to our own times, and have been translated into Persian, Turkish, and Hindustani. From the number of manuscripts present in various libraries in the Muslim world, it must be considered among the most popular of Islamic works on learning." Nasr (1964), pg. 36
  5. Jump up^ Van Reijn (1945), pg "v"
  6. Jump up^ "But they produced this enormous encyclopaedia, and um, everybody read it and we know that it was widely read by mathematicians in Spain, and by philosophers in Spain. Most crucially of all, it was read by Muhyi-I-din - ibn-al-Arabi, er, the most famous Sufi that Spain produced, or indeed one of the most famous Sufis in the history of Islamic mysticism - er, he died in 1240. Er, he absorbed a lot of their ideas and he was in turn read by these ministers of the Nasrid monarch ibn-al-Khratib, and ibn-al-Zamrak, both of whom had strong, mystical tendencies." Robert Irwin; "In the Footsteps of Muhammad", transcript of a BBC program
  7. Jump up^ "George Sales observes that this uncreated Qur'an is nothing but its idea or Platonic archetype; it is likely that al-Ghazali used the idea of archetypes, communicated to Islam by the Encyclopedia of the Brethren of Purity and by Avicenna to justify the notion of the Mother of the Book." From "On the Cult of Books", Selected Non-Fictions,Jorge Luis Borges; ed. Eliot Weinberger, trans. Ester Allen, Suzanne Jill Levine, and Eliot Weinberger; 1999. ISBN 0-670-84947-2. See: Origin and development of the Qur'an#"Created" vs. "uncreated" Qur'an for the concept of the "uncreated Qur'an".
  8. Jump up^ Ikhwan as-Safa'. (2007). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved April 25, 2007, from Encyclopædia Britannica Online
  9. ^ Jump up to:a b c Brethren of Purity, Nader El-Bizri, an article in Medieval Islamic Civilization, an Encyclopedia, Vol. I, p. 118-119, Routledge (New York-London, 2006). Retrieved from[1].
  10. ^ Jump up to:a b "Ibn al-Qifti, giving his own view, considers the Ikhwan as followers of the school of the Mu'tazilah...Ibn Tamiyah, the Hanbali jurist, on the other hand, tends towards the other extreme in relating the Ikhwan to the Nusairis, who are as far removed from the rationalists as any group to be found in Islam." Nasr (1964), pg 26.
  11. ^ Jump up to:a b Isma'ili, Yezidi, Sufi. "The Brethren Of Purity". Retrieved 2006-05-17.
  12. Jump up^ Walker, Paul E. "EḴWĀN AL-ṢAFĀʾ". In Encyclopædia Iranica. December 15, 1998.
  13. ^ Jump up to:a b Rasa'il Ikhwan al-Safa', 4 volumes (Beirut, Dar Sadir, 1957). A complete untranslated edition of the 52 rasa'il.
  14. Jump up^ Ikhwan al-Safa', Routledge Encyclopaedia of Philosophy
  15. Jump up^ "Not everyone accepts the contemporary evidence that gives the Brethren as inhabitants of Basra. V. A. Ivanov, in The Alleged Founders of Ismailism (Bombay, 1946), says that "I would be inclined to think that this was a kind of camouflage story being circulated by the Ismailis to avoid the book being used as a proof of their orthodoxy. [sic]". As quoted by Nasr (1964), pg 29.
  16. Jump up^ Unsurprisingly, other authors have been proposed: "Between these two extremes there have been the views expressed over the centuries that the Rasa'il were written by 'Ali ibn Abi Talib, al-Ghazzali, Hallaj, Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq, or various Isma'ili da'is, or "missionaries"." Nasr (1964), pg 26
  17. Jump up^ Baffioni, Carmela. "Ikhwân al-Safâ’", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Summer 2012 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), First published April 22, 2008; Retrieved May 12, 2012.
  18. ^ Jump up to:a b "The Prophets and those of the Philosophers who have the right view...maintain that the body is only a prison of the soul, or a veil, an intermediary path or an isthmus...The sages of India called Brahmins cremate the bodies of the dead, but ignorant and cunning as they are, they do not do it for the reasons I have given. It would be proper to say that the term "sages" applies to only a few among them." van Reijn (1995), pages 24-25.
  19. ^ Jump up to:a b "Ikhwan as-Safa and their Rasa'il: A Critical Review of a Century and a Half of Research", by A. L. Tibawi, as published in volume 2 of The Islamic Quarterly in 1955; pgs. 28-46
  20. ^ Jump up to:a b From the introduction of Muslim Neoplatonists: An Introduction to the Thought of the Brethren of Purity, Ian Richard Netton, 1991. Edinburgh University Press, ISBN 0-7486-0251-8
  21. Jump up^ Some have claimed that the Brethren were Ismaili, though this may be unlikely because of their very lukewarm embrace of the Imamate and other aspects of Ismailian theology, in addition to the lack of solid evidence in favor of such a hypothesis.
    • This is not to say that there aren't some suggestive links between the Brethren and the Isma'ili. Heinz Halm notes in his "The cosmology of the pre-Fatimid Isma'iliyya" (as printed in Medieval Isma'ili History and Thought, ed. Farhad Daftary, 1996, ISBN 0-521-45140-X) that the Sunni theologian Ibn Taymiyya (d. 1328) asserted that the doctrines of the Brethren were exactly identical to the Ismaili's in one of his fatwas. Halm further notes that Paul Casanova had shown that the infamous Hashshashin had approved of the Encyclopedia and that their missionaries in Yemen even made use of it. Other sects apparently drew upon the Encyclopedia as well: "The theological treatises of the Tayyibi Ismailis of the Yemen contain ample quotations from the Rasa'il Ikhwan al-Safa', and in the 'Uyun al-akhbar by the Yemenite da'i Idris 'Imad al-Din (d. 1468), Ahmad b. 'Abd Allah b. Muhammad b. Isma'il b. Ja'far al-Sadiq, the ninth imam and the second of the leaders of the Isma'ili da'wa residing in Salamiyya, is explicitly named as the author as the Rasa'il." (pg 76) Indeed, the respect of some Ismaili was great indeed, some referring to it as "a Quran after the Quran" (Nasr, 1964, pg. 26). V. A. Ivanov remarks in his The Alleged Founders of Ismailism (Bombay, 1946), that "the work is accepted by the Isma'ili as belonging to their religion, and is still regarded as esoteric..."
    • But there are more reasons to reject an identification of the Brethren with Isma'ili, such as the failure of Hamid al-Din al-Kirmani, an extremely important Islamic theologian, to make any mention of them. And other authors agree with this: "...the well-known modern Isma'ili scholar, H. F. al-Hamdani, although emphasizing the importance of theRasa'il in the Isma'ili mission in the Yemen, disclaims Isma'ili authorship of the work and instead attributes the treatises to the 'Alids." (Amusingly, V. A. Ivanov attributes sponsorship of the work to the 'Alids' enemies, the Fatimids, instead, in his A Guide to Ismaili Literature, London 1933) From pg 26-27 of Nasr (1964).
    • From pg 8 of Tibawi: "There is sufficient evidence in the tracts themselves to prove Isma'ili sympathies. Indeed, such sympathies have long been pointed out by Muslim authors, medieval and modern, who tried to turn sympathy into actual relationship. However, the balance of evidence tends to show that such relationship was a later development. There is as yet no proof that the formation of Ikhwan as-Safa and the publication of their Rasa'il was an Isma'ili movement, or even a movement concerted with any of the contemporary agitation of the Shi'a." From page 9: "A glaring example of the Ikhwan's independence is their advocacy of the principle that the office of imamneed not be hereditary, for they argue that if the desired good qualities are not found in one single person but scattered among a group, then the group and not the individual should be 'the lord of the time and the imam. More surprising still is the denouncement of the belief in a concealed imam as painful to those who hold it and the discredit of the significance of 'number seven' and those who believe in it as contrary to the Ikhwan's creed."
    • Compare this extract from one of the later rasa'il Netton provides on pg 102 of his Muslim Neoplatonists: "Know, O Brother, that if these qualities are united simultaneously in one human being, during one of the cycles of astral conjunctions, then that person is the Delegate (al-Mab'uth) and the Master of the Age (Sahib al-Zaman) and the Imam for the people as long as he lives, If he fulfills his mission and accomplishes his allotted task, advises the community and records the revelation, codifies its interpretation and consolidates the holy law, clarifies its method and implements the traditional procedures and welds the community into one; if he does all that and then dies and passes away, those qualities will remain in the community as its heritage. If those qualities, or most of them, are united in one in his community, then he is the man suited to be his successor in his community after his death. But if it does not happen that those qualities are united in one man, but are scattered among all its members, and they speak with one voice and their hearts are united in love for each other, and they cooperate in supporting the faith, preserving the law and implementing the sunna, and bearing the community along the path of religion, then their dynasty will endure in this world and the outcome will be happy for them in the next."
  22. Jump up^ "No one system satisfied these Brethren. They were too well acquainted with other creeds, and too well trained in the logical use of thought, to accept the common orthodox Islam which had contented the desert Arabs. Yet all other creeds and systems equally appeared open to doubt or refutation. In this confusion they found their satisfaction in an eclectic theory. All these conflicting views, they said, must be only different ways of looking at the same thing..." or "These fragments of truth were to be found in every system of faith and every method of philosophy; if men failed to detect them, the fault lay in their own imperfect intelligence - it was only the skill to read between the lines that was wanted to build up a harmonious whole out of the fragments of truth scattered about in sacred books and the writings of wise men and the mystic doctrines of saints." Stanley Lane-Poole (1883), pgs. 189, 190.
  23. Jump up^ "The world in relation to Allah is like the word in relation to him who speaks it, like light, or heat or numbers to the lantern, sun, hearth or the number One. The word, light, heat and number exist by their respective sources, but without the sources could neither exist nor persist in being. The existence of the world is thus determined by that of Allah..." Nasr (1964), pg 54-55 (based on "Dieterici, Die Lehre von der Weltseele, R., III, 319.")
  24. Jump up^ "But in spite of the anthropomorphic image of a Creator sitting on his Throne and looking down on his creation, the thought of the Sincere Brethren repeatedly breaks through the structures of traditional Islamic theology- a fact the numerous Qur'anic quotations (sometimes quite unrelated to the subject under discussion) barely disguise...." van Reijn (1945), pg vii
  25. Jump up^ "Isma'ilism developed a complex and rich theosophy which owed a great deal to Neoplatonism. In the 9th century, Greek-to-Arabic translations proliferated, first by the intermediary of Syriac then directly. The version of Plotinus' Enneads possessed by Muslims was modified with changes and paraphrases; it was wrongly attributed to Aristotle and called Theologia of Aristotle, since Plotinus (Flutinus) remained mostly unknown to the Muslims by name. This latter work played a significant role in the development of Isma‘ilism." From the article at the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
  26. Jump up^ pg 234-235 of vol. 3, Rasa'il Ikhwan al-Safa', 4 volumes (Beirut, Dar Sadir, 1957)
  27. Jump up^ volume 4, pg 685-688 of the 1998 edition of the The Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy; ed. Edward Craig, ISBN 0-415-18709-5
  28. Jump up^ pg 41 of vol 1, Rasa'il Ikhwan al-Safa', 4 volumes (Beirut, Dar Sadir, 1957)
  29. Jump up^ from page 52 (whose translation is based on "Dieterici, Die Lehre von der Weltseele, p. 15. R., II 4f") of Nasr (1964).
  30. Jump up^ Nasr (1992) p71: Der Darwinisimuseim X and XI Jarhhundert (Leipzig, 1878)
  31. Jump up^ See Nasr (1992) p72 wherein the text has been quoted from Carra
  32. Jump up^ Iqbal, Muzaffar Islam and Science (Great Britain: MPG Books Ltd, 1988) 117
  33. ^ Jump up to:a b Muhammad Hamidullah and Afzal Iqbal (1993), The Emergence of Islam: Lectures on the Development of Islamic World-view, Intellectual Tradition and Polity, p. 143-144. Islamic Research Institute, Islamabad.
  34. Jump up^ Hamori, Andras (1971), "An Allegory from the Arabian Nights: The City of Brass", Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies (Cambridge University Press) 34 (1): 9–19 [18], doi:10.1017/S0041977X00141540
  35. Jump up^ 345, Hamdani
  36. Jump up^ Die Philosophie der Araber im zehnten Jahrhundert, F. Dieterici, published in Berlin and Leipzig between 1865 and 1872; bibliographic information courtesy of The Epistles of the Sincere Brethren, by Eric Van Reijn, 1945, Minerva Press, ISBN 1-85863-418-0
  37. Jump up^ Such as L. E. Goodman's The Case of the Animals Versus Man Before the King of The Jinn, in Boston 1978
  38. Jump up^ van Reijn (1945) - The epistle on music of the Ikhwan al-Safa, Amnon Shiloah. Published by Tel-Aviv University, 1978
  39. Jump up^ van Reijn (1995)
  • Lane-Poole, Stanley (1883, 1966), Studies in a Mosque (1st ed.), Beirut (1966): Khayat Book & Publishing Company S.A.L ; based on Dieterici's outline and translations.
  • Nasr, Seyyed Hossein (1964), An Introduction to Islamic Cosmological Doctrines: Conceptions of nature and methods used for its study by the Ihwan Al-Safa, Al-Biruni, and Ibn Sina, Boston, Massachusetts: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, LCCN 64-13430
  • Van Reijn, Eric (1995), The Epistles of the Sincere Brethren: an annotated translation of Epistles 43-47 1 (1st ed.), Minerva Press, ISBN 1-85863-418-0; a partial translation
  • Netton, Ian Richard (1991), Muslim Neoplatonists: An Introduction to the Thought of the Brethren of Purity 1 (1st ed.), Edinburgh, England: Edinburgh University Press, ISBN 0-7486-0251-8
  • Ivanov, Valdimir Alekseevich (1946), The Alleged Founder of Ismailism., The Ismaili Society series,; no. 1; Variation: Ismaili Society, Bombay.; Ismaili Society series ;; no. 1., Bombay, Pub. for the Ismaili Society by Thacker, p. 197, LCCN: 48-3517; OCLC: 385503
  • Ikhwan as-Safa and their Rasa'il: A Critical Review of a Century and a Half of Research, by A. L. Tibawi, published in volume 2 of The Islamic Quarterly in 1955
  • Rasa'il Ikhwan al-Safa' 4, Beirut: Dar Sadir
  • Johnson-Davies, Denys (1994), The Island of Animals / Khemir, Sabiha, ; (Illustrator - Ill.), Austin: University of Texas Press, p. 76, ISBN 0-292-74035-2
  • "Notices of some copies of the Arabic work entitled "Rasà yil Ikhwà m al-cafâ"", written by Aloys Sprenger, originally published by the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal (in Calcutta) in 1848 [5]
  • "Abū Ḥayyan Al-Tawḥīdī and The Brethren of Purity", Abbas Hamdani. International Journal Middle East Studies, 9 (1978), 345-353

Further reading[edit]

  • (French) La philosophie des Ihwan al-Safa' ("The philosophy of the Brethren of Purity"), Yves Marquet, 1975. Published in Algiers by the Société Nationale d'Édition et de Diffusion

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Brethren of Sincerity.
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Notes[edit]

  1. Jump up^ They are generally considered a secret society because of their closed & private meetings every 12 days, as mentioned in the Rasa'il.
  2. Jump up^ "Having been hidden within the cloak of secrecy from its very inception, the Rasa'il have provided many points of contention and have been a constant source of dispute among both Muslim and Western scholars. The identification of the authors, or possibly one author, the place and time of writing and propagation of their works, the nature of the secret brotherhood, the outer manifestation of which comprises the Rasa'il – these and many secondary questions have remained without answer." pg 25, Nasr (1964)
  3. Jump up^ William Bayne Fisher, Richard Nelson Frye, John Andrew Boyle, The Cambridge History of Iran, Published by Cambridge University Press, 1975, ISBN 0-521-20093-8, p. 428
  4. Jump up^ إخوان الصفاء وخلان الوفا وأهل الحمد وأبناء المجد
  5. Jump up^ pg 199, 189 of Lane-Poole 1883
  6. Jump up^ "The liturgy of the first night consisted of personal oratory; that of the second of a 'cosmic text', read under the starry heavens facing the polar star; and that of the third night of a philosophical hymn (implying a metaphysical or metacosmic theme) which was a 'prayer of Plato', 'supplication of Idris', or 'the secret psalm of Aristotle'." pg 35 of Nasr 1964
  7. Jump up^ "...the liturgy described by the Ikhwan seems to be more closely related to the religion of the heirs of the prophet Idris, that is, the Harranians who were the principal inheritors in the Middle East of what has been called "Oriental Pythagoreanism" and who were the guardians and propagators of Hermeticism in the Islamic world." pg 34 of Nasr 1964
  8. Jump up^ pg 36, Neton 1991
  9. Jump up^ Baffioni, Carmela (Summer 2012). "Ikhwân al-Safâ" (in The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy). Edward N. Zalta (ed.). Retrieved May 12, 2012.
  10. ^ Jump up to:a b pg 193 of Lane-Poole's Studies in a Mosque
  11. Jump up^ pg. 25 of Nasr 1964
  12. Jump up^ pg 1; "It can be easily understood too that the Ismā'ilis, among whom theRasa'il enjoyed a quasi-canonical authority, ascribed to someone or other of their "Hidden Imams"." Here Stern is drawing upon Dr. H. Hamdānī's "The Rasail Ikhwan al-Safa in the Ismaili Literature", published in Der Islamin 1936. Compare also this quote from pg 7 of the "Ikhwan as-Safa and their Rasa'il: A Critical Review of a Century and a Half of Research" (by A. L. Tibawi,as published in volume 2 of The Islamic Quarterly in 1955; pgs. 28–46): "It tends, however, to prove one thing, namely, that theRasa'il were popular with later Isma'ili missionaries who read, copied, and summarized them to suit their own purpose. But, as stated above, it has yet to be proved that Isma'ili bent of the tracts and of the genuine ar-Risāla al-Jāmi'awas itself a proof of early Isma'ili connexion. Indeed, the tracts speak in two voices on this Isma'ili bent." Stern (1947)
  13. Jump up^ pg 345, Hamdani
  14. ^ Jump up to:a b pg. 3, Stern 1947
  15. Jump up^ 348, Hamdani
  16. Jump up^ pg. 4, Stern 1947
  17. Jump up^ pg 12-13 of "Ikhwan as-Safa and their Rasa'il: A Critical Review of a Century and a Half of Research", by A. L.Tibawi, as published in volume 2 of The Islamic Quarterly in 1955;pgs. 28–46
  18. Jump up^ http://www.hallagulla.com/vb3/philosophy/ikhw-n-al-saf-108780.html
  19. Jump up^ 349, Hamdani
  20. Jump up^ pg. 5, Stern 1947
  21. ^ Jump up to:a b 350, Hamdani
  22. Jump up^ "Notices of some copies of the Arabic work entitled "Rasàyil Ikhwàm al-cafâ" by Aloys Sprenger, originally published by the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal (Calcutta) in 1848 Islamic Philosophy volume 20
  23. Jump up^ 351, Hamdani
  24. Jump up^ Image:Brethren8.png
  25. Jump up^ "The Institute of Ismaili Studies - From the Manuscript Tradition to the Printed Text: The Transmission of the Rasa’il of the Ikhwan al-Safa’ in the East and West". Iis.ac.uk. Retrieved 2012-08-23.
  26. Jump up^ Seyyed Hossein Nasr, An Introduction to Islamic Cosmological Doctrines: Conceptions of Nature and Methods Used for Its Study by the Ikhwān Al-Ṣafāʼ, Al-Bīrūnī, and Ibn Sīnā, Edition: revised, Published by SUNY Press, 1993, ISBN 0-7914-1515-5. Chapter 1. (Pages 31–33)
  27. Jump up^ "The Institute of Ismaili Studies". Iis.ac.uk. 2010-10-14. Retrieved 2012-08-23.
  28. Jump up^ "Epistles of the Brethren of Purity. The Ikhwan al-Safa' and the - Oxford University Press". Oup.com. 2008-12-04. Retrieved 2014-03-04.

References[edit]

  • 1998 edition of The Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy; ed. Edward Craig, ISBN 0-415-18709-5
  • Nasr, Seyyed Hossein (1964). An Introduction to Islamic Cosmological Doctrines: Conceptions of nature and methods used for its study by the Ihwan Al-Safa, Al-Biruni, and Ibn Sina. Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. LCCN 64-13430.
  • Lane-Poole, Stanley (1883). Studies in a Mosque (1st ed.). Khayat Book & Publishing Company S.A.L. Retrieved 2007-04-28.
  • Netton, Ian Richard (1991). Muslim Neoplatonists: An Introduction to the Thought of the Brethren of Purity (1st ed.). Edinburgh University Press.ISBN 0-7486-0251-8.
  • "The authorship of the Epistles of the Ikhwan-as-Safa", by Samuel Miklos Stern, published by Islamic Culture of Hyderabad in 1947
  • "Abū Ḥayyan Al-Tawḥīdī and The Brethren of Purity", Abbas Hamdani. International Journal Middle East Studies, 9 (1978), 345–353
  • El-Bizri, Nader (2008). Epistles of the Brethren of Purity. Ikhwan al-Safa' and their Rasa'il (1st ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-955724-0.

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Brethren of Sincerity.
Wikisource has the text of the 1905 New International Encyclopedia article Sincere Brethren.

Ikhwan al-Safa’

Ikhwān al-safā’ (the Brethren of Purity) are the authors of the Rasā’il al-Ikhwān al-safā’ (Treatises of the Brethren of Purity), an Islamic encyclopedia consisting of fifty-two treatises and an additional comprehensive treatise (Risālat al-jāmi‘a) on various philosophical sciences interpreted by Ismā‘īlī Shī‘ī scholars. It covers the mathematical, natural, psychological/rational, and theological sciences and was written in the tenth or eleventh century C.E. The Ikhwān al-safā’ were an anonymous group of authors who resided in Basra (current day Iraq), influenced by Neoplatonic and Aristotelian thought and linked to the early Ismā‘īlī da‘wa (literally: to call; missionary preaching), which belongs to Shī‘ī Islam. The group’s attempt at maintaining anonymity does not come as a surprise given that the distinguishing aspect of Ismā‘īlism (branch from Shī‘ism) is a deep esotericism concerned with the inner dimensions of Islam.
This Ismā‘īlī esotericism fused with ancient Greek philosophy and produced the Ikhwan’s unique analysis of mathematics, epistemology, and metaphysical cosmology. The Ikhwān drew from Pythagoreanthought to explain the Ismā‘īlī belief in a hierarchal world, Hellenistic metaphysical concepts of actuality and potentiality to describe how the human soul acquires knowledge, and they were inspired by Democritus’ worldview.
The present article provides an outline to assist readers in attaining a bird’s eye-view of this vast encyclopedia composed by brilliant Muslim scholars, who mastered all branches of knowledge in its manifold external and internal aspects.

Table of Contents

  1. Historical Background
  2. Short Description of the Work
  3. Philosophical Sciences
  4. Twofold in the Creation
  5. References and Further Reading

1. Historical Background

One of the main obstacles preventing a proper understanding of the Isma’ili movement is the paucity of historical material exemplified by the fact that only Sunni sources relating Isma‘ili history survived. The early part of Isma‘ili history has two important phases. It is in this complex pre-Fatimid period that Jabir ibn Hayyan (d. C.E. 815) wrote many treatises on alchemy and on the mystical science of treatises. The Encyclopedia of the Ikhwan al-safa’ was composed by authors who had a vast knowledge of Hellenic literature and the various contemporary sciences.
Isma’ilism developed a complex and rich theosophy which owed a great deal to Neoplatonism. In the 9TH century, Greek-to-Arabic translations proliferated, first by the intermediary of Syriac then directly. The version of Plotinus’ Enneads possessed by Muslims was modified with changes and paraphrases; it was wrongly attributed to Aristotle and called Theologia of Aristotle, since Plotinus (Flutinus) remained mostly unknown to the Muslims by name. This latter work played a significant role in the development of Isma‘ilism
The Ikhwan al-Safa’ remained an anonymous group of scholars, but when Abu Hayyan al-Tawhidi was asked about them, he identified some of them: Abu Sulayman al-Busti (known as al-Muqaddasi), ‘Ali b. Harun al-Zanjani, Muhammad al-Nahrajuri (or al-Mihrajani), al-‘Awfi, and Zayd ibn Rifa‘i. The complete name of the group is Ikhwan al-Safa’ wa Khullan al-Wafa’ wa Ahl al-Hamd wa Abna’ al-Majd. The majority of scholars agree that the Ikhwan and their rasa’il belongs to the Isma‘ili movement. (cf. Nasr, 1978, p. 29; Marquet, 1971, p. 1071; Poonawala, p. 93)

2. Short Description of the Work

The Encyclopedia is divided into fifty-two epistles (rasa’il) of varying lengths, which make up four books. Each book develops different topics:
Book 1: the mathematical sciences (14 rasa’il) include theory of number, geometry, astronomy, geography, music, theoretical and practical arts, ethics and logic.
Book 2: the natural sciences (17 rasa’il) comprehend matter, form, motion, time, space, sky and universe, generation and corruption, meteorology, minerals, plants, animals, human body, perception, embryology, man as microcosm, development of souls in the body, limit of knowledge, death, pleasure, and language.
Book 3: the psychological and rational sciences (10 rasa’il) comprehend intellectual principles (Pythagoras and Ikhwan), universe as macrocosm, intelligence and intelligible, periods and era, passion, resurrection, species of movement, cause and effect, definitions and descriptions.
Book 4: the theological sciences (11 rasa’il) include doctrines and religions, way to God, doctrine of Ikhwan, essence of faith, divine law and prophethood, appeal to God, hierarchy, spiritual beings, politics, magic and talisman.

3. Philosophical Sciences

The incorporation of philosophical and theological doctrines in their writings were done teleogically. They were also influenced by neo-Pythagorean arithmetical theories, the authors based their theosophy on this Pythagorean principle: “the beings are according to the nature of the number.” (Steigerwald, p. 82) They were inspired by the assertion attributed to Pythagoras: “In the knowledge of the properties of numbers and in the way they are classified and ranked in grades resides the knowledge of the beings of God.” (Steigerwald, p. 82) The Ikhwan al-safa’ realized that each number depends on the one which precedes it. We can decompose the number unit by unit till we reach the first. But to the One “we can not withdraw anything […] because it is the origin and the source of number.”(Steigerwald, p. 82) According to them, beings are like numbers: they come from God and return finally to Him. This is a good example of how they adapted Pythagorean theories to their fundamental belief in a hierarchical world.
The metaphysics of the Ikhwan al-Safa’ are built upon Hellenic philosophy. They share common terminology with the Aristotelian scheme, but the concepts (matter and form, substance –in Greek ousia— and accidents, potentially and actuality, and the four causes) vary slightly. For them, learning is the reminiscence of knowledge already contained in the soul; the soul is ‘potentially knowledgeable’ and becomes ‘actually knowledgeable’.--Orphic/Pythagorean tenets
The Ikhwan hold that substance is self-existent and capable of receiving attributes. But form is divided into two kinds: substances and accidents. They conceive four causes: material, formal, efficient, and final. The material cause of plants is the four elements (fire, air, water, and earth) and their final cause is to provide food for animals. (rasa’il Ikhwan al-Safa’, vol. 2 p. 79; cf. rasa’il Ikhwan al-Safa’, vol. 2 p. 115, vol. 3, p. 358) Here the Ikhwan ascribe for material cause the raw material (i.e. bronze or silver); for the formal cause, they give the example of an apple pip which is expected to produce an apple; the efficient cause indicates the origin, for example a father is the efficient cause of a child, and the final cause shows the purpose of something.

4. Twofold in the Creation

The process of creation is divided twofold: first, God creates ex nihilo the Intellect; immediately after the Intellect’s emanation (fayd), it proceeds gradually, giving shape to the present universe. The order and character of emanation are described below. (rasa’il Ikhwan al-Safa’, vol. 1 p. 54; cf. rasa’il Ikhwan al-Safa’, vol. 3 pp. 184, 196-7; 235)
(1) Al-Bari’ (Creator, or God) is the First and only Eternal Being, no anthropomorphic attribute is to be ascribed to Him. Only the will to originate pertains to Him. The Ikhwan present an Unknowable God (Deus Absconditus) at the top of the hierarchy while the Qur’anic God (Deus Revelatus), another facet of God, guides people on the right path.
(2) Al-’Aql (Intellect or Gr. Noûs) is the first being to originate from God. It is one in number as God Himself is One. God created all the forms of subsequent beings in the Intellect, from which emanated the Universal soul and the first matter. It is clear, in the opinion of the Ikhwan, that the Intellect, a counterpart of God, is the best representative of God.
(3) Al-Nafs al-Kulliyya (The Universal Soul) is the Soul of the whole universe, a simple essence which emanates from the Intellect. It receives its energy from the Intellect. It manifests itself in the sun through which is animated the whole sublunary (material) world. What we call creation, in our physical world, pertains to the Universal Soul.
(4) Al-Hayula al-Ula (Prime Matter, arabicized from Gr. hyle), is a spiritual substance that is unable to emanate by itself. It is caused by the Intellect to proceed from the Universal Soul which helps it to emanate and accept different forms.
(5) Al-Tabi’at (Nature) is the energy diffused throughout all organic and inorganic bodies. It is the cause of motion, life, and change. The influence of intellect ceases at this stage of Nature. All subsequent emanations tend to be more and more material and defective.
(6) Al-Jism al-Mutlaq (The Absolute Body) comes about when First matter acquires physical properties, and it is the physical substance of which our world is made.
(7) The World of the Spheres (of the fixed stars, Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, the Sun, Venus, Mercury, and the Moon) appears in the seventh stage of emanation. All the heavenly bodies are made up of a fifth element (ether), and are not subject to generation and corruption.
(8) The Four Elements (fire, air, water, and earth) come immediately under the sphere of the moon where they are subjected to generation and corruption. The Ikhwan adopted the view of Thales (d. c. B.C.E. 545) and the Ionians that the four “elements” change into one another, water becomes air and fire; fire becomes air, water, earth, etc.
(9) The Three Kingdoms are the last stage of emanation. The three kingdoms (mineral, plant, and animal) are made of proportional intermixture of the four elements.
The Ikhwan al-Safa’ took over the theory of Democritus of Abdera (d. c. B.C.E. 370) which considered man as a reduced model of the universe (microcosm), and the universe as an enlarged copy of man (macrocosm). They regard the human being as a miniature world. (Netton, pp. 14-15) The individual souls (al-nafs al-juz’iyya), representing the infinite powers of the Universal Soul, began to form. During a very long time, these souls filled the world of spheres and constituted the angels, who animated heavenly bodies. In the early stage, the angels contemplated the Intellect and performed the worship due to God. After a lapse of time, some of these individual souls began to forget much about their origin and office. Their inattention caused the fall of the souls into the physical earth. This explains the metaphysical origin of life on earth.

5. References and Further Reading

  • De Callataÿ, Godefroid. “The Classification of the Sciences according to the rasa’il Ikhwan al-Safa’.”
  • Corbin, Henry. History of Islamic Philosophy. Translated from French by Liadian Sherrad and Philipp Sherrad. London: Kegan Paul International, 1993: 133-136.
  • Fakhry, Majid. A history of Islamic Philosophy. Second Edition. New York: Columbia University Press, 1983.
  • Farrukh, Omar A. “Ikhwan al-Safa’.” In A History of Muslim Philosophy. Edited and Introduced by M.M. Sharif. Wiesabaden: Otta Harrassowitz, (1963): 289-310.
  • Hamdani, Abbas. “Abu Hayyan al-Tawhidi and the Brethren of Purity.” International Journal of Middle East Studies, Vol. 9 (1978): 345-353.
  • Ikhwan al-Safa’. Rasa’il Ikhwan al-Safa’ (Epistles of the Brethren of Purity). Beirut: Dar Sadir, 4 vols., 1957 (The complete text of the fifty-two epistles in the original edited by Arabic Butrus Bustani).
  • Ikhwan al-Safa’. Al-Risala al-Jami’a. Edited by J. Saliba. Damascus, vol. 1, 1387/1949, vol. 2 n:d.
  • Maquet, Yves. “Ikhwan al-Safa’.” Encyclopaedia of Islam. Vol. 3 (1971): 1071-1076.
  • Marquet, Yves. La philosophie des Ihwan al-Safa’. Algers: Société Nationale d’Édition et de Diffusion, 1975.
  • Marquet, Yves. “Les Épîtres des Ikhwan as-Safa’, œuvre ismaïlienne.” Studia Islamica. Vol. 61 (1985): 57-79.
  • Marquet, Yves. “Ihwan as-Safa’, Ismaïliens et Qarmates.” Arabica. Vol. 24 (1977): 233-257.
  • Marquet, Yves. “Les Ihwan as-Safa’ et l’ismaïlisme.” In Convegne sugli Ikhwan as-Safa’. Rome, 1971.
  • Marquet, Yves. La Philosophie des alchimistes et l’alchimie des philosophes: Jabir ibn Hayyan et les Ihwan al-Safa’. Paris: Maisonneuve et Larose, 1988.
  • Poonawala, Ismail K. “Ikhwan al-safa’.” Vol. 7. The Encyclopedia of Religion. (1987): 92-95.
  • Nasr, Seyyed Hossein. Islamic Cosmological Doctrines. London: Thames Hudson, 1978: 23-96.
  • Nasr, Seyyed Hossein and Mehdi Aminrazavi (ed.). An Anthology of Philosophy in Persia. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001: 201-279.
  • Netton, I.R. Muslim Neoplatonists: An Introduction to the Thought of the Brethren of Purity (Ikhwan al-Safa’). London: Allen & Unwin; 1982.
  • Steigerwald, Diana. “The Multiple Facets of Isma’ilism.” Sacred Web: A Journal of Tradition and Modernity. Vol. 9 (2002): 77-87.
  • Tamir, ‘Arif. La réalité des Ihwan as-Safa’ wa Hullan al Wafa’. Beirut, 1957.

Ikhwân al-Safâ’

First published Tue Apr 22, 2008; substantive revision Thu May 3, 2012
The Ikhwân al-Safâ’ or “Brethren of Purity”, as their name is commonly translated, are the authors of one of the most complete Medieval encyclopedias of sciences, antecedent at least two centuries to the best known in the Latin world (by Alexander Neckham, Thomas de Cantimpré, Vincent de Beauvais, Bartholomaeus Anglicus, all dating back to the 13th century). The “encyclopedia” is a collection of Epistles, the Arabic title of which is Rasâ’il Ikhwân al-Safâ’ wa Khullân al-Wafâ’ (Epistles of the Pure Brethren and the Sincere Friends). It consists of extremely heterogeneous materials, reworked to represent the whole educational training intended for an élite (see later). It is very well known, and a great deal of research into it has been done by Eastern and Western scholars, but the variety of topics addressed and the questions raised as to the identity and ideology of its authors remain unsolved. In an isolated form, and under a false attribution, some of these treatises came to the Latin Middle Ages through the Spanish version by Maslama al-Majrîtî, which is traditionally placed at the beginnings of the 11thcentury. This chronology has been recently discussed (Carusi 2000, 494–500).

1. Authorship

The authors introduce themselves as a kind of “brotherhood” (ma‘âshara) of sages. Their work is addressed to “beginners”, who may thereby increase their knowledge. The literary scholar Abû Hayyân al-Tawhîdî (922-32/1023), basing his work on the ideas of his master Abû Sulaymân al-Mantiqî (c. 912/c. 985), and the mu‘tazili theologian ‘Abd al-Jabbâr al-Hamadânî (c. 936/1025) have identified the names of these authors. They are understood to be the qâdî Abu ’l-Hasan ‘Alî b. Hârûn al-Zanjânî and his three friends, Abû Sulaymân Muhammad b. Ma‘shar al-Bustî, called al-Maqdisî, Abû Ahmad al-Nahrajûrî and al-‘Awfî. All of these men came from Basra and were linked to the Chancellery secretary Zayd b. Rifâ‘a (cf. Stern, 1946; Stern, 1964).

2. Naming and Dating

With regard to the common denomination of “Ikhwân al-Safâ’”, the old hypothesis by I. Goldziher deserves mention: according to which the name could have been borrowed from the famous collection of fables of indo-persian origin Kalîla wa Dimna to indicate a group of loyal friends. Stern (1964, 421), however, considers the name as a way of hinting at Ismâ‘îliyya. The most convincing hypothesis seems to be that which links the name to the content and goals of the encyclopedia – the salvation of soul through attainment of knowledge and purification of heart (Diwald, 1975, 16–22).
As to the date, in the 19th century F. Dieterici proposed 961 to 986, basing his estimate on the work of the seventeenth century lexicographer Hâjjî Khalîfa and on the presence in the treatises of verses by the famous poet al-Mutanabbî (d. 965). Massignon (1913, 324) used a verse by the poet Ibn al-Rûmî (d. 896) to establish these years as the earliest possible date, and took the latest possible date to be that indicated by the definition of sine given by the Ikhwân (he referred to the Bombay edition, vol. I, p. 46). The “expected event” frequently mentioned in the encyclopedia would then be the Fatimid conquest of Egypt, which can be traced back to those years. On the basis of astronomical data, Casanova (1915) moved the dates about a century forward, assigning the work to the years 1047–51. Marquet reconfirmed Dieterici's earlier hypothesis, placing the compilation of the work between 961 and 980 (al-Tawhîdî's testimony is dated 981), but he also brought the date forward to 909. Consequently, the “expected event” might have been the proclamation of the Fatimid caliph ‘Ubaydallâh al-Mahdî in Ifriqiyya, which happened in that year.
The traces of classical thought in the encyclopedia, as well as their literary form, give an indication that the work was assembled in the course of the century and a half from 840 to about 980. See the updated Hamdani 2008 for a very early chronology of the Epistles (from around 903 to 980) based on internal references and an Isma‘ili interpretation. Such a collective enterprise can be considered as the result of a “stratified” compilation. The supposed reworking of the whole by members of the Brotherhood might also have shifted some Epistles from their original to their present place. Even the headings of the four sections of the encyclopedia are misleading. The way in which the treatises follow one another is often inconsistent. The authors must have planned a special use of the enormous amount of foreign philosophical and scientific knowledge that is explained in the treatises and to develop it in relation to the doctrinal conflicts and political changes that were occurring in their own times. In this sense the presentation of the encyclopedia as a “popular” work (recently, Rudolph, 2004, 39) should be rejected.

3. Ideological commitment

Because their aim is clearly salvation, it has often been supposed that the Rasâ’il were inspired by the Shî‘ites, or perhaps even the Ismâ‘îlis, both of whom claim the ideological commitment of the encyclopedia. In 1150, the Sunni orthodoxy in the person of the caliph al-Mustanjid judged the work heretical and sent the existing versions to be burnt. Yet in spite of this, the encyclopedia survived and was translated into Persian and Turkish (Corbin, 1964, 193–194). A harsh judgment on the Ikhwân was delivered by the famous Mamlûk muftî and theologian Taqî al-Dîn Ahmad ibn Taymiyya (d. 1328). He considered them as Shî‘i esotericists whose doctrines contradict the religion of Islam. For this reason, he rejected the attribution of the Rasâ’il to such an eminent religious scholar as Ja‘far al-Sâdiq (Michot 2008).
Attempts to define the Ikhwân's ideological commitment have been made, but there has been no consensus on the matter. The Ikhwân's view of ‘Alî as the Prophet's legitimate legate (walî) persuaded some scholars to link them to the Shî‘a, though scattered references in negative terms to the “hidden” imâm appear contrary to twelver Shî‘ism. Other elements have been alleged as proofs of the Ikhwân's Isma‘ili inspiration, such as the hierarchical structure of universe, references to septenary cycles, distinction between elect and masses, the use of Isma‘ili symbols (e.g., the bee as symbol of the imâm, etc.). Corbin (1964, 190; 1950) openly and radically affirmed that the Ikhwân belonged to Ismâ‘îlism. He was followed by Marquet (1968, 1071) who stressed their attacks on Mu‘tazili and Ash‘arite ideas. Stern (1964, 416–417) and Diwald (1975, 26ff.) remarked that the Epistles exercised their influence on the Ismâ‘îlis only from the twelfth century. The concepts and historical ideas that are at least close to those of the Shî‘a – such as deprecation of the slaughter of Karbalâ’, the allegorical interpretation of the Qur’ân and prophecy, or the aversion to political governments and the hope that they will fall when the present septenary cycle comes to an end – show according to Stern (1964, 421) and later Bausani (1978, 14–16) that the authors were representative of an Isma‘ili tendency, but not of the officialda‘wa (propaganda). Marquet 1973, on the other hand, recognizes in the encyclopedia the official Isma‘ili organization at the time. He remarks that the propaganda appeals here to philosophers, mystics, and rulers. However, non-Isma‘ili ideas can also be found in the work, for example the invitation to celibacy proper of Sufism and the mention of feasts linked to Sabean rituals in addition to those established by Muslim law. The authors have also been placed in an earlier age, under the Qarmat influence (Marquet 1977; Qarmats were the opponents of the Fatimid caliph ‘Ubaydallâh al-Mahdî), or confined to a Mu‘tazilite approach. In general, the evidence supporting such theories derives mostly from doctrines or parts of doctrines hinted at in the encyclopedia. The enormous variety of its contents and, often, their inconsistency seem to have hindered scholars from reaching unanimous conclusions on the authors' religious (or rather ideological) commitment and, consequently, on their goals.

4. The extant corpus

The encyclopedia consists of 52 treatises divided into four sections on the introductory (al-riyâdiyya), natural, psycho-rational and metaphysical-theological sciences.
Two additional Epistles, entitled “Comprehensive Epistle” (al-Risâla al-Jâmi‘a) and “Supercomprehensive Epistle” (Risâla Jâmi‘a al-Jâmi‘a) are thought to complete the corpusand explain its esoteric (hidden) meanings. Two versions of the Jâmi‘a are extant. One is ascribed to al-Majrîtî, the Spanish scientist and astronomer who is alleged to have transmitted the Epistles to Spain. The other is ascribed to Ahmad ibn ‘Abd Allâh ibn Muhammad ibn Ismâ‘îl ibn Ja‘far al-Sâdiq, the second of the three “veiled” (mastûr) imâms who were intermediate between Muhammad ibn Ismâ‘îl and ‘Ubaydallâh, the founder of the Fatimid dynasty. The Risâla Jâmi‘a al-Jâmi‘a is also (Tamir s.d., 18) ascribed to Ahmad, which strengthens the link of the corpuswith the Isma‘ili tradition. Hamdani (2008) hypothesizes a more recent compilation for theRisâla al-Jâmi‘a. At present, scholars take the study of the manuscript tradition of this text, including an inquiry into its use and evidence in Isma‘ili literature, to be an urgent task. Epistle 52On magic is the last in the corpus, missing in some editions and considered by some scholars (Bausani, 1978, 12) as spurious, and of little value, so the Risâla al-Jâmi‘a would be the true fifty-second one (cf. de Callataÿ 2011, 3). However, de Callataÿ inclines to the view that the ‘short version’ of this treatise, namely, the part approximately corresponding to the first thirty pages of the Beirut edition, is genuine (de Callataÿ 2011, 5ss).
Each Epistle starts by stating its particular goal. All of them contain a core of technical teachings and a conclusion regarding the haqîqa, the inner meaning of the contents. The texts contain frequent invocations to the learning “brethren” – that is, the elect who are studying the sciences – that enhance their didactical and exhortative style; these invocations mean that the students will be awakened “from the sleep of matter and the negligence of ignorance” if they apply themselves assiduously to study “with the assistance (ta’yyid) of a spirit coming by God”.
The Epistles vary in length and their style is plain. There are, however, numerous ambiguities, due to language and vocabulary, often of Persian origin, and to mistakes in the transmission of the text. Bausani (1978, 11) thinks the authors were of Persian origin. In general, however, the doctrines are fully and clearly exposed, with repetitions where necessary to the didactic function of the treatises.
Diwald (1975, 12–15) has even wondered whether there were in fact several authors of the encyclopedia because of the use at times of the first person singular. The basic question, of course, is whether the authors unify the doctrines of more numerous groups, as suggested by the different contexts and even their inconsistencies.
The Ikhwanian encyclopedia is typical of the changes in Greek science and philosophy during the tenth century as a result of the increasing Shî‘a influence. In the ninth century and at the beginnings of the tenth century, the prominent philosopher Abû Yûsuf Ya‘qûb b. Ishâq al-Kindî (d. ca. 870) had already developed single philosophical doctrines (e.g. in cosmology or psychology). Though elaborating them in an original way, he had not tried to combine such doctrines with the basics of Muslim faith. Theological considerations remain parallel with philosophical issues. The physician Muhammad ibn Zakariyyâ’ al-Râzî (d. ca. 925), mainly interested to natural philosophy, had even questioned the legitimacy of prophecy.
At the time of the Ikhwân al-Safâ’ and of al-Fârâbî (d. 950), ancient knowledge was considered as an organic whole – not only a sum of theoretical elaborations, but as a real encyclopedia of sciences. It should provide at every level, from the most elementary to the most complex, the necessary premises for the acquisition of ultimate knowledge – the knowledge of God. Then, authentically Muslim thought – religious in the strict sense – begins with the substitution of the schemes of Greek philosophy for those of the Sacred Text. This is what I. Netton (1989) defined as “the progressive estrangement from the Qur’anic Creator Paradigm”. Ancient knowledge is the basis on which the patrimony of faith is built: sciences are significant not merely in themselves so much as a partial reflection of the single and unique divine Being. See Heck (2008, 2002) for interesting articles that focus on both the Ikhwân’s and al-Fârâbî’s ‘willingness to turn to philosophy to explain religion and trace its boundaries.’
The sense of truly “Muslim” science is largely a product of the ideological commitment of the authors. The Ikhwân al-Safâ’ see the ultimate goal of each religious experience as separating the soul from the ties of matter and purifying it to achieve happiness in the hereafter. As purification can be reached by following prophetic revelation with the help of reason, the ancient sciences – the study of which was considered by orthodox theologians to be vehicle of heresy and even atheism – are fully legitimized. For the authors of the encyclopedia, the sciences explain the deep reality of universe and so allow rational understanding of the contents of Revelation and of religious Law. From the standpoint of Muslim religion, the encyclopedia represents a possible solution to the problem of reconciling reason and faith, philosophy and religion.
The blending of scientific and religious issues is evident from the beginning. Sciences should be the main topic in the first and the second sections and, partially, in the third, and theology in the rest of the corpus. In spite of the fact that ancient texts are always quoted with great accuracy from a philological point of view, the Ikhwân deeply rework the Greek sources in line with their goals that are completely different from those of the ancients. Thus religion should not be underestimated in order to attain the best comprehension of its various contents and real aims.

5. The classical heritage

Let us approach the first feature of the encyclopedia, that is, its reworking the of foreign “scientific” contents. Various cultural elements come together in the Epistles: Babylonian, Indian and Iranian astrology, Indian and Persian narrative, biblical quotations and cabbalistic influences, references to the New Testament and Christian gnosis (A good survey of these contents can be found in Netton, 1991, 53ff., 89ff.). Most attention, however, seems to be paid to the Greeks, from the so-called “pre-socratics” to Plato, Aristotle, Plotinus and the Stoics. The encyclopedia can thus be considered a compendium of foreign sciences, deserving attention even by those who are only interested to ascertain the extent of what the Arabs knew of ancient doctrines at that time.
Comparisons between the Ikhwân's quotations and the extant Arabic versions of classical works often show that they might have used the same translations at our disposal now. When such comparisons are not possible, the ancient excerpta usually correspond to the extant original texts. We should conclude, then, that in quoting, reporting –and, perhaps, translating – ancient sources the Ikhwân display the same philological and philosophical expertise associated with the scholars to whom we owe the flourishing of the translation movement in Baghdâd. In some cases, they have even preserved the only Arabic fragments of Greek authors known to us, as exemplified by the well-known case of the story of Giges from Plato's Republic in Epistle 52. (The story of Giges is analyzed in Baffioni 2001, 168–170, 175–178). Platonic references in the encyclopedia are also scarce. The majority of them are found in the fourth section and concern the trial and death of Socrates. There is also a hint at the doctrine of reminiscence, that is seldom mentioned in Muslim sources; cf. for the Ikhwân al-Safâ’ Epistle 42, III, 424, 15). The Ikhwân are also informed about the Platonic view on pleasures and about Plato's conception of the soul as consisting of three distinct parts: the rational soul, which resides in the head; the irascible soul, which resides in the heart and is the seat of courage; and the appetitive soul, the seat of desire, which resides in the abdomen (III, 68, 4–6). The Platonic references are religiously rather than philosophically oriented. That can perhaps be explained by the influence of the Hellenisticcurricula scientiarum (courses of study) designed for philosophers. These began by a reflection on the Stoic bios theoretikòs (the philosophical attitude towards life), continued with Aristotelian works representing the “scientific” side of knowledge, and ended with Platonic writings, representing the “theological” knowledge (D’Ancona Costa 1996, 30–31). The religious approach to ancient heritage leads the Ikhwân to consider philosophy as an “imitation of God according to human capacity”. This definition immediately clarifies Hellenism as the authors' first theoretical and historical reference. Their source is here Plato or, rather, his Hellenistic reading (Kraus 1986, 99, note 4).
Although the Ikhwân appear mostly Aristotelian (for instance, for their presentation of the terrestrial world or the theory of knowledge rooted in sensation), the wealth of the available sources led the “Pure Brethren” to support their doctrines by a variety of theoretical models, often melted together.
The first topic addressed in the first section are the so-called “quadrivium” (a Latin term meaning “the four ways”) sciences (arithmetic, geometry, astronomy and music): Epistle 1 deals with arithmetic, Epistle 2 with geometry, Epistle 3 with astronomy and Epistle 5 with music. Arithmetic, geometry and music are later approached together in Epistle 6 On proportions. Between these two treatises another one is added, Epistle 4 On geography: ‘ilm al-hay’a(literally “cosmography”) was evidently considered part of astronomy.
References for the various sciences are, generally identifiable: Euclid, Nicomachus and sometimes even Archimedes for mathematical tenets (Epistles 1, 2 and 6); Ptolemy supports astronomy and geography (Epistles 3 and 4); the Pythagoreans and again Nicomachus are the sources for musical theory (Epistles 5 and 6). The Greeks already saw arithmetic and geometry as the necessary, though not unique, means of attaining philosophical knowledge.
Much of this section is devoted to logic, the “instrument” of sciences according to Aristotle and a view widely shared by Muslims (see Epistles 10–14). These treatises take the place of grammar, logic and rhetoric, that in Middle Ages constituted the “trivium” (in Latin: “the three ways”) sciences and were the basis of a “liberal arts” education. There is no place for poetry or for rhetorical devices in the encyclopedia. Dialectics increases damaging opposition among the learned. Although the Ikhwân appear interested in spoken language and even in phonetics, they never approach grammar as a science. Rather, they examine the technique of the “universal” form of language – logic. In the well-known 10th century debate on the superiority of grammar or of logic, they might have sided with the Christian logician Abû Bishr Mattâ ibn Yûnus more than with the grammarian Abû Sa‘îd al-Sirafî (cf. Heck 2008, 11 for a new perspective on this issue). “Trivium” was considered preparatory for the “quadrivium”, which was in turn considered preparatory for the study of philosophy and theology. The “trivium” and “quadrivium” sciences are described in the encyclopedia in an original way as distinct from that of other Muslim writers as well as the Latin west (de Callataÿ 2005, 61–62). Hellenistic influence is remarkable even when the Ikhwân rely on Aristotelian logic. The logical treatises include paraphrases of Porphiry'sIsagoges, which the later Greeks considered to be the first book of Organon (Rhetoric andPoetics were taken to be its last books). It is followed by Aristotle's Categories, De interpretatione, Prior and Posterior Analytics.
This choice of texts shows that the Ikhwân conform to the “old” tradition that restricted research to the first Books of the Organon, not to that of their great contemporary al-Fârâbî, who expanded it to the whole logical corpus. This might be due to the religious aims of the encyclopedia. Religious matters can only be treated by relying on the sound (sahîh) method for knowledge, while procedures aiming at mere persuasion or linked to the attainment of that which is useful (and not true) are not to be employed. Logic is no longer a simple instrument of science as it was for Aristotle, but a true science, perhaps the most important one. The Brethren call it “the scale of sciences” through which the wise men are able to discern “true from false in speeches, right from wrong in opinions, truth from vanity in beliefs and good from evil in acts” (cf., e.g., Epistle 7, I, 268, 14–16).
Epistle 7 On the theoretical arts carefully sketches the Ikhwân's epistemological vision. A sort of “table” of human sciences is given (I, 266, 14–274, 21). There are three kinds of sciences in hierarchical progression: the “propaedeutical” (or preparatory, al-riyâdiyya again), those imposed by religious Law (al-shar‘iyya al-wad‘iyya) and the “philosophical sciences allowing the full comprehension of truth” (al-falsafiyya al-haqîqiyya, higher than the religious sciences). The sciences listed first in the table are labelled “propaedeutical” just as the “trivium” and “quadrivium” sciences of the encyclopedia, but here the term is used in a totally different sense. It concerns matters of practical utility, such as reading and writing, grammar and poetry (someway close to the “trivium” sciences), but also magic, mechanics, arts, trades, history and so on. Although the Ikhwân state that the sciences of the third group – the “philosophical” in the higher sense of the word – are the object of their Epistles, they do not coincide exactly with the contents of the encyclopedia, at least, with those of the corpus now available. So, the table can be considered as evidence of the fact that the whole encyclopedia has been produced during a very long period of time. On the one hand, it might have been retained as a first draft of the future enterprise; on the other, it shows the further elaborations of the corpus over the centuries.
Epistles 7 and 8 explicitly recall the Aristotelian division of the theoretical and practical sciences. Epistle 7 is extensively based on Aristotle (when the Ikhwân introduce the nine “philosophical questions”, they are thinking of the Aristotelian categories, cf. I, 262, 14–266, 7; Epistle 29, III, 35, 6–7; Epistle 40, III, 345, 6–346, 6; Epistle 42, III, 513, 14–16 and 514, 13–516, 5). However, the ultimate goal of the scientific investigation is identified with the path towards hereafter and even connected to asceticism where scientists and prophets follow the same way: Aristotelian science is linked to the Isma‘ili teaching (ta‘lîm, cf. I, 274, 20–275, 4). The “programmatic” aim of Epistle 7 leads us to consider it as the ideal introduction to the wholecorpus. On the other hand, the authors' Isma‘ili commitment is proven by the fact that in the complementary treatise On the practical arts the ancient “banausic” (utilitarian) activities are dealt with which were held in high esteem in Ismâ‘îlism (cf. Lewis, 1943; Marquet, 1961; Daftary, 2007, 115).
Although the content of the first section is the most “uniform”, inconsistencies are found already in it. This is especially clear in Epistle 9, which portrays the “ideal wise man” from the standpoint of the encyclopedia, where moral edification is never separated from theoretical teaching. The approach is more than an echo of the well known Aristotelian division of philosophy: it stems from the view of the Ikhwân that he who searches for true wisdom must be endowed with a true mind as well as a pure heart. Epistle 9 breaks the series of the scientific treatises. Various moral behaviours are considered, with the support of a long series of anecdotes about prophets and wise men. There is also textual evidence that the Ikhwân may in practice have found asceticism (Sufism?) as another way of attaining or “enhancing” purification (cf. Epistles 6, 16 and 24).
The composed and eclectic character of the whole is even more evident in the three other sections. In the second section, the Epistles 15–22 follow the Hellenistic arrangement of Aristotle's works on physics. Epistle 15 echoes the themes addressed in the Physics. In Epistle 16, entitled, “On the heaven and the world”, the Ikhwân are shown to be in line with the Muslim tradition which transformed the ancient De caelo into a new book De caelo et mundo. Epistle 17 deals with De generatione and corruptione. Epistle 18 about meteorological phenomena and Epistle 19 about minerals recall the contents of Meteorology I-III and IV respectively. Meteor.IV, sometimes considered spurious and “the first chemical work in ancient world” according to scholars, was the basis of the theories of “chemical” or “alchemical” transformations in Islamic sciences and of mineralogy. The Ikhwanian treatise deals with mineralogy, geology and gemmology and in the correspondence established between the celestial and sub-lunar worlds, between the stars and minerals, it expresses one of the main tenets of alchemy. Further Aristotelian echoes are found in Epistle 24 On sense and sensation, to which Epistle 35 On intellect and intelligible corresponds in the third section. After topics concerning nature, such as the human body in Epistle 23, conception in Epistle 25, and man as microcosm in Epistle 26, the most important topic for the Ikhwân, the human spiritual dimension is addressed. It is discussed in terms of the relation between soul and body in Epistles 27 e 28, life and death in Epistle 29, and pleasures in Epistle 30. The Aristotelian theory of the immovable mover, which is introduced in Epistle 37 On love, to explain the movement imparted to stars by the heavenly Universal Soul accomplishes its religious meaning. It serves to confirm the love human beings feel for permanence and their hatred for death: God is the most beloved as the everlasting cause of all beings.
On the other hand, natural treatises reflect the availability of the rich range of mineralogical, botanical and agricultural works, but none of the works by Aristotle on minerals or plants were known to the Arabs. The corpus aristotelicum on animals reached them (apart from the De partibus and the De generatione animalium) in an abridged form under the title of kitâb al-hayawân, but Epistle 22 On animals is quite far in its content and goals from the Aristoteliancorpus. In fact, it places the whole matter within the well-known metaphysical dispute on the superiority of man on animals.
The authors' view of embryology (Epistle 25) is also a collection from different sources. On the one hand, the Ikhwân were not physicians, though they display extensive knowledge of anatomy and share the Aristotelian thesis of the origin of the embryo from the sperm and menstrual blood, while they did not accept the ancient Hippocratic theory as developed by Galen, of a female sperm coexisting with that of the male in the formation of the human being. On the other hand, they emphasize an astronomical/astrological approach to embryology that was not in Greek sources. It is considered to be a new idea introduced by Islamic scientists, from whom it passed into the Latin world. Greek sources for Epistle 37 on love also vary.
The real deviation from Aristotelianism is Epistle 20 On nature. In that it shows how nature as taught by Aristotle was received and theorized by the authors, this treatise could serve as the perfect introduction to the section on natural sciences. However, its main part regards angelology. It also introduces a Neoplatonically inspired conception of Nature, suggestive of Isma‘ili philosophical positions, as Abû Ya‘qûb al-Sijistânî's representation of Nature as “agent power” and “principle of movement”.
Though the Ikhwân never mention Plotinus explicitly, the third section opens with two treatises that deal with rational beings as understood by the Pythagoreans (Epistle 32) and the Ikhwân al-Safâ’ (Epistle 33). These treatises demonstrate beyond doubt that these authors considered themselves true Muslim Pythagoreans. Pythagoras is said to be “a monotheist from Harrân”. The Pythagorean idea of the one as the principle of numbers, and not as a number itself explains that God is the origin of beings, and not a being like others. If God is like the one, the Active Intellect is compared to number 2, the Universal Soul to number 3 and Nature (or Matter) to number 4 (cf. e.g. Epistle 40, III, 347, 5). The encyclopedia resumes Pythagorean mathematical and musical theories and adopts a numerological approach on the basis of the Pythagorean tenet that “existing beings correspond to the nature of number”. The whole reality is considered under a numerological perspective. Every aspect of nature – and even of religion – follows a numeric pattern. This should demonstrate that the cosmos – also introduced as a “macranthropos” (man as the pattern of the external world as a whole) in Epistle 34 – is organized according to recurrent and well-determined quantitative models, being at the same time completely dependent on God, the principle of everything just as one is the root of each number.
Among the other philosophical schools and doctrines quoted in the encyclopedia an important role is played by hermetism (the religion of the philosophical elite in Ancient Egypt, founded by Hermes Trismegistus), as in Epistle 3 On astronomy and, more broadly, in Epistle 52 (Marquet 1973, 1988). Ancient theories on the movements of the stars will finally evolve in Epistle 36 On cycles and revolutions into that which, following Cumont, G. de Callataÿ (1996, 36–37) has defined as a “fatalisme astral”.

6. The religious component

Just like philosophy, as a way towards salvation, is an imitation of God and implies that the disciple is provided not only of an acute mind, but also of a pure heart (through which God will be recognized as the sole and the supreme teacher in knowledge and deeds, as the Holy Book demonstrates, cf., e.g., Qur., II, 31: ‘And He taught Adam the names', mentioned in Epistle 28, III, 18, 14–16 and in Epistle 31, III, 112, 19 and 141, 13–14; cf. also Epistle 23, II, 381, 17), the Ikhwân consider prophetic message (both esoteric and exoteric, hidden and clear) as the second necessary means for human salvation and happiness. This brings us back to the second aspect of the encyclopedia, its religious commitment.
We already saw that the Ikhwân rework the classical heritage in religious terms. They also deal with doctrinal questions linked to religion. Epistle 42 On opinions and religions, the other “programmatic” treatise of the encyclopedia that opens the fourth section, is a discussion of the basic ideas of the Brotherhood such as the multifaceted epistemological problems, the origin of the world, morals and theodicy and the imamate as well as the various doctrines critically considered by the Ikhwân, such as eternalism and dualism. It also develops the apologetic side of Ikhwanian thought. From Epistle 43 onwards, the Ikhwân build their own system from a religious point of view, often in the fragmentary style typical of Muslim esoteric writings. Epistle 43 considers the way towards God through purification; then the beliefs of the Ikhwân al-Safâ’ and of the so-called “Divines”, the heirs of a prophetic tradition whose origin is ascribed to the ancient wise men (Epistle 44). Epistle 45 expounds the organization of the Brotherhood based on mutual help. Epistle 46 considers the faith, not only of Islam, but also of the former monotheistic religions and of the ancient wise men. Epistle 47 considers prophecy and the imamate. Epistle 48 discusses propaganda. Epistle 49 deals with the so-called “spiritual beings”, that is the angels charged with the motion of the spheres. And Epistle 50 discusses the kinds of political governments. Epistle 51 duly gathers up the threads of the whole, followed by Epistle 52 on magic.
Epistle 40 On causes and effects addresses the crucial problem of the origin of the world. The Ikhwân subvert to religious purposes Aristotle's teleological approach that “nature does not make anything in vain.” Understanding creation, one of the basic Muslim tenets, is recognized as the highest attainment of knowledge. So, the ancients are defended from the charge of eternalism (cf. III, 356, 11–18) and, for the sake of the masses, creation is even explained through the comparison of God with a confectioner. However the Ikhwân – like the Ismâ‘îlis – adopt Neoplatonic views as the best explication of the origin of the world by God. The world, then, emanates from God through the hypostases of Intellect and Soul. Emanationism is the philosophical expression of creation; it also explains the encyclopaedic structure of the treatises. The various levels of reality down to the three kingdoms of the generated beings (animal, vegetable and mineral) originate continuously through intermediaries from the One. For this reason, by acquiring all the sciences from the lowest to the highest it is possible to attain the common source of everything, the ‘science of God’ in the double sense of pertaining to God and concerning God – the ancient metaphysics (metà ta physikà) no longer indicates what comes “after” physics but what is “beyond” it. Thus, rather than a mere foreign source, Neoplatonism (merged with Neopythagorism) can be considered as the Ikhwân's proper philosophy. Philosophy as imitation of God continues as the guiding principle of the Ikhwân's system, together with equal emphasis on divine revelation.
The corpus addresses other main religious issues in Muslim faith: the unity and uniqueness, and the attributes of God, angels, human destiny, good and evil, resurrection. Divine will and power are also considered when trying to explain evil in the world, though, of course, Muslim faith does not allow identifying God as the cause of evil (Epistle 19). Ultimately, the Ikhwân attribute it to human responsibility, or, better, to the responsibility of creatures in general and they do so in quite a Mu‘tazilite perspective. In the hierarchical disposition of universe there are “intermediate” beings to which everything that happens in the world may be related. God, a quite remote “first beloved” is beyond all this, like the kings, whose orders are behind everything built during their reigns. Epistle 39 On the kinds of movement considers the movement of the whole cosmos, from that of the stars down to those (natural and voluntary) of human beings. Its aim is to demonstrate the existence of a God who created the world and who will bring it to an end. In Epistle 27 souls (that are self-subsistent according to the ancient doctrine) unite themselves to human bodies in order to ensure human salvation; hence wise men and prophets are said to be the “physicians of the souls” (III, 13, 7 ff.). The main religious topic is, however, resurrection, thoroughly examined in Epistle 38 where it is also considered as the supreme science (III, 288, 3–5). The theme was already addressed in Epistle 29 (wisdom is recognizable in death in that it allows the vision of God, hence the highest sorrow is damnation). On the same line, Epistle 30 states that the real “Hell” is earth, “Paradise” is heaven. However, the Ikhwân deem as “providential” the ignorance of the beauties of the afterlife, which might urge people to desire death before the natural end of life. In doing so, they are far from the Pythagorean doctrine that considered the soul as a fallen divinity imprisoned within the body as in a “tomb”.
In conclusion, whereas in Ihsâ’ al-‘ulûm (“The Enumeration of the Sciences”), al-Fârâbî deals with Muslim sciences such as theology (kalâm) and law (fiqh), the Ikhwân mainly stress religion. In the Rasâ’il, the usual distinction between philosophy/sciences (the rational or ‘aqliyyaknowledge) and theology (the received or naqliyya knowledge), or between reason and faith is not valid as both are combined.
On the formal side, the religious commitment appears in the frequent Qur’anic quotations in support of ancient doctrines, sometimes through interpretations that are not in line with the theological ones. Above all, the Ikhwân appropriate the Muslim ideal of attaining happiness in this world and the hereafter and indicate in the treatises how to reach it. In physical terms it is by caring for the body, which when healthy and balanced is the condition of the purification of the soul. In metaphysical terms, the purified soul is said to be capable of knowledge, so of being saved – even though, like the Ismâ‘îlis, the Ikhwân deny salvation as attainable through solely philosophy.
Prophethood is an undeniable part of the theoretical experience featured by the Ikhwân. Their political vision is linked to this and implies that attainment of happiness is considered in political terms, too, where it results in examination of what has to be accomplished to be worthy of entering the entourage of the imâm. In Epistle 40 the science of the esoteric interpretation of the Qur’ân (explaining its hidden meaning) is emphasized as the highest divine gift (in doing this the Ikhwân give an interpretation of Qur., III, 7 which precedes that, much more well-known, given by Averroes two centuries later, cf. III, 344, 10–345, 5).
The second pivot of the Ikhwân's philosophy in addition to creation is their discussion of the imamate. It has its first origin in Epistle 31 On the diversity of languages. Here the Ikhwân show that religious creeds change as a result of language transformations. More particularly, differences and contrasts within the umma due to changes in the Arabic language are linked to the debate regarding the identity of the Messenger's deputy, which is the main cause of schism in Islam “until their time”, the Ikhwân say (cf. Epistle 31, III, 153, 8–10 and 165, 8–12). While everybody agrees on the tasks of the imâm, there is a disagreement as to his identity. This is because imamate is of two kinds: prophetic and regal. Usually the tasks of the ruler are neatly distinguished from those of the prophet, because governance is a mundane business and prophecy is related to the life to come (III, 497, 5–6). On occasion these qualities are combined in a single person, who is then the delegated prophet and also the ruler (III, 495, 18–19). While the Prophet Muhammad was both prophet and ruler of the Muslim umma, so ensuring its best defence, his possible successors did not always match him in nobility. Subsequently, prophecy and governance are sometimes found in two different persons, one of whom is the prophet delegated to that community and the other the person who has been given power over them. They support one another (III, 495, 19–21). The real problem seems, then, to be the dignity of the person appointed as the caliph, which alone is the condition of a legitimate prophetical succession. The Ikhwân's specific idea on the identity of such a person is not clear. In addition, there is apparently no distinction between the prophet, the imâm or the ruler with regard to the required qualities, as Epistle 47 On the essence of divine Law demonstrates. The sole “doctrinal” solution offered in the encyclopedia seems that a ruler with ascetic tendencies can legitimately take the place of theimâm.
The political ideas of the Ikhwân al-Safâ’ have not been extensively analyzed by scholars, except when they have been considered as a political movement. (The Ikhwân's interest in political issues is mainly emphasized by Eastern scholars who in general incline towards the hypothesis of their being [“filo]-Isma‘ili”. Cf. Hijab, 1982; Tamir, 1983, 89–108). In fact, the “Pure Brethren” are contrasted with the “philosophers”, who were understood to have taken an alienist position with regard to the political expectations of the society in which they lived, as a consequence of their evaluation of Plato's Republic (cf. e.g. Kraemer, 1987 and more recently Stroumsa, 2003). However, the Ikhwân do not fail to approach policy from a theoretical standpoint and the philosophical doctrines developed in their Epistles can be understood to be a functional element of their political vision. In the encyclopedia, a madîna al-fâdila (perfect city) is featured – less known but no less worthy than that proposed by al-Fârâbî. This time the Ikhwân do not hide themselves behind the ancient Platonic heritage: they openly adapt a Greek idea to a Muslim situation.
Were the Ikhwân Ismâ‘îlis? This of course opens the way to the second side of the argument – the Isma‘ili commitment of the Ikhwân.
The saying “dîn and mulk are twins” in reference to the prophet and the king empowered to perform the functions of the imâm in the sense preached by the Ikhwân perfectly fits the Fatimid rulers. If this hypothesis is tenable, the debated “traditions” mentioned in Epistle 31 with reference to the misunderstandings due to the diversity of languages might be understood as the Fatimid versions of the divine Law. If the Ikhwanian “Lawgiver” is identified with the historical incarnation of the Isma‘ili faith, that is, with the Fatimid caliph, and if the “perfect city” is the one ruled by these caliphs, then the Ikhwân al-Safâ’ are his du‘â’. Epistle 48, with the mention of the term da‘wa in the title, might further support the hypothesis of a project of concrete militancy by the Ikhwân.
The Ikhwân appear as the learned people who have the task of promoting propaganda (da‘wa). Sometimes they even seem to appropriate the qualities of the king-imâm; in Epistle 47 they introduce themselves as the best guides for the defence of Islam in terms of al-hukamâ’ wa al-falâsifa wa al-fudalâ’ (“wise men, philosophers and excellent people”) and of the anbiyâ’,khulafâ’ al-anbiyâ’ wa al-a’imma al-mahdiyûn (“prophets, successors of the prophets and well-guided imams”, IV, 126, 5-17). That the Ikhwân aim to be the guides of the elect community is further confirmed by a passage in Epistle 9. The ascetics are described as those “who know the shortcomings [of the world], who crave for the hereafter and are convinced of it, firmly rooted in its science, that is the sincere Friends of God, [His] faithful servants, the cream of all [His] creatures, whom the Creator – may [He] be exalted – called ‘persons of understanding, persons of view, persons of mind’” (I, 357, 5–9). These qualities correspond to those of the Ikhwân engaged, as the leaders of their community, in their philosophy of salvation; but they also fit the prophets and the imâms perfectly. From this point of view the reading of the Holy Book our authors have in mind – rather than a Shi‘i or Isma‘ili perspective – might be the ta’wîl performed in their own encyclopedia, where God's Word is continually quoted and commented. And they refer to the spiritual city as “our spiritual city”, which coincides with Paradise.
In Epistle 47 the legacy of the Prophet is said to be inherited by “the most intelligent” (al-‘uqalâ’ al-akhyâr) which emphasizes the epistemological function of the Shi‘ite caliph. In this case a temporal ruler, the “ruler imâm”, is no longer necessary because the rational Law is the real guide, “incarnated” in the “rightly guided” imâm and in his reason and knowledge. In contrast to Baffioni 2006, 149–150, Heck (2008, 205–209) seems to side with Netton's reading of the intellect-guide in terms of a rational intellect.
Further elements allow a better defining of the Ikhwân's political position. The history of early Islam is approached from a Shi‘i perspective; some important events of the prophet Muhammad's life and mission are recalled; soon attention shifts to two fatal events which led to the defeat of Shî‘ism, the battle of Siffîn and the slaughter of Karbalâ’. In a passage on the struggles for imamate, the “representatives of the Muhammadic (Muhammadiyya) Law and of the Hashimi federation” (cf. Epistle 31, III, 165, 11–12) are opposed. If the latter are the ‘Abbasids (or even the supporters of Abû Hâshim, son of Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyya), the former should be understood as the direct descendants of the Prophet through Fâtima, whence the Ikhwân's strict ‘Alid militancy should be demonstrated.
Another passage from Epistle 31 (III, 153, 11–156, 9) might urge to suppose that the authors' target was the caliph al-Ma’mûn, in spite of his pro-‘Alid policy (and political support of Mu‘tazilism). The Ikhwân report on a ruler, who encouraged politico-religious controversies among the ‘ulamâ’ (learned) of different persuasions, claiming for himself the right to interpret the Law on the basis of the mu‘tazili doctrine of the created Qur’ân. Juxtaposed to him is ahl bayt al-nubuwwa (the immediate family of the Prophet: Muhammad, his daughter Fâtima, his cousin and son-in-law ‘Alî and their sons, al-Hasan and al-Husayn) as the guarantors of the true tradition concerning prophetic succession. The Ikhwân could then still be identified with the supporters of the strict ‘Alid conception of the imamate, according to which the science of caliphate belongs to the family of the Prophet only.
If this hypothesis is tenable, Epistle 31 contains not only the core of the Ikhwân's political thought, but also of their Isma‘ili commitment. Their presentation of the “perfect city”, in which mutual love is the basis and the goal of the community, does not help us to ascertain whether the Ikhwân have in mind spiritual rule or a true government such as that of the Fatimid caliph, of whom they might be the du‘â’. Scholars tend to consider this “perfect city” as utopian as the Farabian (cf. e.g. Marquet, 1973, 153; Hamdani, 1999, 81). The defeat of evil people is also often foreshadowed in the encyclopedia (cf. e.g. Epistle 31, III, 154, 19–24 and 156, 2–3). In Epistle 4 the Ikhwân present a cyclical conception of ruling dynasties, and state that “the dynasty of the evil reached its apex”, hence only decline and diminution are to be expected in future. (According to A.L. Tibawi (1955, 37, note 4), the Ikhwân forebode here the fall of the ‘Abbasids. Cf. also Tibawi, 1978, 60.) The dynasty of the good begins when the learned agree “on a unique doctrinal school and a single religion”, commit themselves to mutual help, and desire the vision of God and doing God's will as their [sole] reward (I, 181, 14–182, 2).
On the basis of his previous researches, ‘Abbas Hamdani introduced the Ikhwân al-Safâ’ as a “group of intellectuals working as a think-tank for the Fatimid da‘wa and preaching an activist philosophy of change needed in the Muslim world”. Moh. Jalub Farhan, however, describes the Ikhwân as opposed to the Buyid regime, in spite of the fact that it supported science (1999, 30, 31). The Brethren who cooperated in the final version of the encyclopedia in the tenth century might have been disguised adversaries of the Buyids, who were Shî‘ites, not Ismâ‘îlis.
On the whole, the political vision outlined above is founded on doctrinal elements of Isma‘ili nature. The division between the “elect” and the “masses” destines the former only for investigation of the curriculum studiorum at the basis of the “philosophy of salvation”. A rigid hierarchy of universe links each level of existence, physical and spiritual, to that which precedes and that which follows it where the beings that belong to the various levels cannot go beyond them. (It should be noted that this may question the idea of “evolution” in the Ikhwân that some scholars have ascribed to them; cf. e.g. Vernet Ginés, 1990, 190; Marquet, 1992). The didactic aims of the ruler mirror the aspect of Isma‘ili propaganda known as ta‘lîm (lit.: “teaching”).
The influence of the Epistles on later Isma‘ili literature has been widely recognized (Daftary 2007, 236). Their content has been transmitted and developed by subsequent thinkers of various persuasions. It is noteworthy, however, that extended literal quotations (and even translations) from the Ikhwân al-Safâ’ are found in the famous Isma‘ili thinker and missionary Nâsir-e Khosrow (1004-1074). This may be a proof of the use of the Rasâ’il in 11th century Isma‘ili authors, in contrast to Diwald 1975, 27. If the Ikhwân al-Safâ’ were Ismâ‘îlis or in someway linked to Ismâ‘îlism, then Ismâ‘îlism influenced a much wider part of Islamic thought and culture than previously recognized.
With regard to an Isma‘ili commitment to the Ikhwân al-Safâ’, some aspects of their philosophy of nature (geology, mineralogy, and botany) have been recently examined (Baffioni 2008, 2009, 2010; de Callataÿ, 2008). Mineralogy and botany have been explored in order to find similarities with Isma‘ili philosophy, in particular with the Isma‘ili thinker and missionary Hamîd al-Dîn al-Kirmânî. The result is that they share many basic views, but the Ikhwân has greater detail. Moreover, some aspects of the Ikhwân’s cosmology, and in particular their use of the term and concept of ibdâ‘, are relevant in identifying the similarities (Baffioni 2011). One final interesting question is how the meaning of abâlisa and shayatîn in the Risâla al-Jâmi‘a is related to the interpretation of those terms in other esoteric writings such as the Shajarat al-Yaqîn (probably, of Qarmatian origin).

Bibliography

Texts

  • Rasâ’il Ikhwân al-Safâ’ wa Khullân al-Wafâ’, 1957, Mustafâ Ghâlib (ed.), Beirut: Dâr al-Sâdir, 4 vols. I indicate the volume, page(s) and line(s) of each quotation or reference; addings in square brackets. (Other eds.: Bombay 1887–89, 4 vols.; Khayr al-Dîn al-Ziriklî, Cairo 1928, 4 vols.; ‘Ârif Tâmir, Beirut – Paris 1995, 5 vols.).
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Translations

  • Baffioni, C., 1989, L’Epistola degli Ihwan al-Safâ’ «Sulle opinioni e le religioni», Napoli: Istituto Universitario Orientale.
  • –––, 1994, Frammenti e testimonianze di autori antichi nelle Rasâ’il degli Ihwân al-Safâ’, Roma: Istituto Nazionale per la Storia antica.
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  • Shiloah, Amnon, 1964, “L’épître sur la musique des Ikhwân al-Safâ’”, Revue des Etudes islamiques, 32: 125–162.
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