Methods and Forms of the Earliest Ismā'īlī Da'wa

WhiletheaimofIsma'l1ipropagandawasnottodestroyIslam,asits opponentstriedtomaketheworldbelieve,itdidintendtheoverthrowofthe existingpoliticalsystemandconsequentlyhadtouseconspiratorialtactics. Thisledtomuchspeculationconcerningthemethodsusedbythedu'at towinsouls.Astherewasnoauthenticinformation,sinistersuspicions andhostileinsinuationsproliferated.SeveralArabauthorsquotelengthy passagesfromaKitabal-siyiisa("BookofGuidance"),whichwasalleged tohavebeensentby'UbaydAllah(correctly:'AbdAllah)al-Mahdi,the

first Fatimid, to Sulayman ibn al-Ijasan ibn Sa'id al-Jannabi, the leader of the da'wa in al-Ba~rayn (124] (other names for the alleged sender and addressee are mentioned as well). In this text, the da'f is advised how he could, in cynical dissimulation, win followers of other religions-Shi'Is and Sunnis, Sabians, Zoroastrians, Jews, Christians, Manichaeans, dualists and philosophers-for the alleged Isma'I1I licentiousness and sheer unbelief.4