ABSTRACT
The central aim of the early Ismaili da'wa was to install the 'Alid imam recognised by the Ismaili Shi'is to the position of leadership over all Muslims, in rivalry with the 'Abbasid caliph in Baghdad. The rapid success of the early Ismaili da'wa culminated in the foundation of the Fatimid caliphate in 297/909 in North Africa. The basic framework of an Ismaili system of religious thought was, however, already laid down during the pre-Fatimid phase of Ismaili history. In fact, the Ismaili intellectual traditions had acquired their distinctive forms and expressions by 286/899 when the Ismaili da'wa and community were split into rival Fatimid Ismaili and Qarmati factions. The centrality of ta'wil for the early Ismailis is attested by the fact that the bulk of their literature comprises the ta'wil genre of writing which seeks justification for Ismaili doctrines in Qur'anic verses.
