## 1. Authorship



The authors introduce themselves as a kind of
"brotherhood" (*ma'ashara*) of sages.
Their work is addressed to "beginners," who may thereby
increase their knowledge. The literary scholar Abu Hayyan
al-Tawhidi (922-32/1023), basing his work on the ideas of
his master Abu Sulayman al-Mantiqi (c. 912/c. 985),
and the mu'tazili theologian 'Abd al-Jabbar
al-Hamadani (c. 936/1025) have identified the names of
these authors. They are understood to be the *qadi*
Abu 'l-Hasan 'Ali b. Harun
al-Zanjani and his three friends, Abu Sulayman
Muhammad b. Ma'shar al-Busti, called al-Maqdisi,
Abu Ahmad al-Nahrajuri and al-'Awfi. All
of these men came from Basra and were linked to the Chancellery
secretary Zayd b. Rifa'a (cf. Stern, 1946; Stern,
1964).The text of al-Tawhidi is accurately examined in
Kraemer 1986, 136, 230 ff. This authorship is now questioned by
several scholars, because the learned who transmitted the Epistles to
al-Andalus appears to be Maslama al-Qurtubi
al-Majriti, not later than the first half of the
10th century.


## 2. Naming and Dating



With regard to the common denomination of "Ikhwan
al-Safa'," 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
*Kalila wa Dimna* to indicate a group of loyal friends.
Stern (1964, 421), however, considers the name as a way of hinting at
*Isma'iliyya*. 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). Recently, Poonawala hypothesized
"Ikhwan al-Safa'" to be a pseudonym
hiding the identity of the authors (Poonawala 2015a, 264 and 272).



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 Hajji Khalifa and on the presence in
the treatises of verses by the famous poet al-Mutanabbi (d.
965). Massignon (1913) used a verse by the poet Ibn
al-Rumi (d. 896) to establish these years as the earliest
possible date (cf. also Hamdani 1999, 76; Hamdani, Soufan 2019, 12;
28-29), and took the latest possible date to be the one
indicated by the definition of sine (*al-jayb*) given by the
Ikhwan. Such definition is not yet the one provided by
al-Battani (d. 929; reference to vol. I, p. 46 of the
Bombay ed., 1887-1889, corresponding to I, 86, 14-15 of the
Beirut edition referred to in this article). 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.



Until some decades ago, the almost universally accepted dating was the
one deduced from the testimonies of al-Tawhidi and
'Abd al-Jabbar al-Hamadani (see above, 1.
Authorship). Marquet reconfirmed Dieterici's earlier hypothesis,
placing the compilation of the work between 961 and 980
(al-Tawhidi's testimony is dated 981), but he also brought
the date back to 909, depending on the hypothesis of an
Isma'ili affiliation of the authors. Two
treatises have given rise to the idea of an Isma'ili
interpretation: Epistle 48 *On the invitation (da'wa) to
God* and Epistle 50 *On the kinds of administration*. The
encyclopedia would therefore be the oldest exposition of the
Isma'ili doctrine, and consequently, the
"expected event" might have been the proclamation of the
Fatimid caliph 'Abd Allah al-Mahdi in
Ifriqiyya, which happened in that year (Marquet 1981, 95; Marquet
1972, 66). Hamdani summarizes various opinions concerning the dates of
the encyclopedia, and establishes that it was composed in its whole
between 873 and 909 (Hamdani 1978; Hamdani 1999, 78; Hamdani
2008; Hamdani, Soufan 2019, 15-16; Poonawala sides with
Hamdani's chronology in Baffioni, Poonawala 2017,
307-308). Hamdani also thinks that the Ikhwan awaited the
advent of the Fatimids, the Fatimid character of the
*Rasa'il* not being in question (Hamdani 1979, 62);
he configures a precise role of the *imam* in this epistle
(Hamdani, Soufan 2019, 6). The fourth section, apart from the first
and the last treatises, is claimed to be the core around which the
first three sections have been composed (Marquet 1998, 5), as well as
the culmination of the epistles, which demonstrates the importance of
the mystery of prophecy and of imamate (Marquet 1998, 8-9
and note 21). Also Madelung recently sided with the hypothesis of
an Isma'ilism of the Ikhwan
al-Safa'. Recalling that the Isma'ilis
of Mashriq, Iraq and Iran did not recognize the claims of 'Abd
Allah to be the expected *imam*, being rather
committed to the Qarmat mission, Madelung hypothesizes that the
Isma'ilis of Basra recognized as *imam*the member of the family who had remained hidden in
Khurasan, the same person who would also become the
founder of the secret brotherhood of the Ihwan
al-Safa' (Madelung in print; but cf. De Smet 2017,
152, note 1). Madelung's claim that the epistles are
"under the auspices of the hidden seventh imam" is
rejected by Poonawala, since "Muhammad b.
Isma'il's name is never mentioned in the
*Rasa'il*" (Baffioni, Poonawala 2017,
303-305, also on the basis of Hamdani's opinions).



A quite different chronology is proposed for astronomical cycles by de
Callatay based on Epistle 36 *On cycles and revolutions*. He
distinguishes three "medium conjunctions" of Saturn and
Jupiter occurring every 240 years and a longer conjunction occurring
approximately every 960 years. The year 571 (birth of the Prophet
Muhammad) marks a "longest conjunction" (from Libra to
Scorpio); the first "medium conjunction" in 809 is of no
importance to the Ikhwan; the second (from Sagittarius to
Capricorn) should take place in 1047, and would be the "imminent
conjunction" described in Epistle 48; the third (from Capricorn
to Aquarius) is awaited in 1286; and the "longest
conjunction" (from Aquarius to Libra) will take place in 1524
and will correspond to the rising of the *qa'im* of
the Resurrection (de Callatay 2005, 55-57; Walker *et
al.* 2015, 150-152, 156, 204-206).



The authors of the encyclopedia have also been confined to a
Mu'tazilite approach, or placed in an earlier age, under the
Qarmat influence (Marquet 1977; Qarmats were the opponents of the
Fatimid caliph 'Abd Allah al-Mahdi). So did
Madelung many years ago; but considering his recent opinion, that the
*Rasa'il* repudiate the Fatimids' claim to the
imamate on the basis of the fact that a new-born of eight months
does not survive (that meaning that Muhammad ibn
Isma'il did not reach the Prophet's rank; the
relevant texts are studied in Baffioni 2016 and 2018), Poonawala
wonders how he could ascribe the epistles to the Qaramita, since
this is a a repudiation of the Qaramita's belief
(Baffioni, Poonawala 2017, 305-307).



More recent studies, on the line of a seminal article by Fierro
(Fierro Bello 1996; cf. Hamdani, Soufan 2019, 11-12, but also
Carusi 2000), have identified Maslama b. Qasim al-Qurtubi,
called al-Majriti (d. 964, previously confused with the
scientist Maslama al-Majriti, d. 1007) as the author
of the encyclopedia (cf. Hamdani 1999, 75; de Callatay 2013,
Kacimi 2014a, b, de Callatay, Moureau 2015). However, the one who
introduced in Spain the whole work is still to be considered Abu
'l-Hakam al-Kirmani, d. 1066). Because of this
new discovery, the timing of the *Ras**a'il* has
been anticipated of several decades at least. So, the old attribution
of al-Tawhidi and 'Abd al-Jabbar was revoked
in doubt, beginning with de Callatay who had previously accepted
it (de Callatay 2014; cf. Hamdani, Soufan 2019, 14-15; a
reconstruction of the journey, material and intellectual, of Maslama
al-Qurtubi in al-Andalus is in de Callatay, Moureau 2017).
Maslama al-Qurtubi has been also recognized as the author of
*Rutbat al-hak**im* ('The level of the
wise man') and *Gh**ayat al-hakim*
('The goal of the wise man', being known in Latin as
*Picatrix*), two important works on alchemy and magic
respectively that are now both to be reported to the first half of the
10th century. Scholars have also emphasized the impact of
the encyclopedia on these two works, and it has even been hypothesized
Maslama to be one of the authors of the epistles (Carusi 2000), which
should not date later than 950. In the light of this new chronology,
de Callatay 2014 examines the possible influence of the
Ikhwan on Ibn Masarra (d. 931), especially on his cosmology,
reporting this author to the Andalusi batini context
of the first half of the tenth century. If the epistles were
circulating in al-Andalus already before 950, and their compilation
must have begun some time before in the East, another consequence is
that the Ikhwan influenced al-Farabi and not
vice versa, as it was believed so far (Hamdani 2011). According to
Poonawala, the encyclopedia was composed after al-Kindi (d.
between 864 and 870) but before al-Farabi (d. 950;
Poonawala 2011, Introduction, 59). Among those who sustain the
attribution of the epistles to Maslama al-Qurtubi is also
Madelung who, therefore, rejects a too high dating of the epistles.
The scholar has speculated that Maslama not only brought the
encyclopedia to Spain, but also contributed to its composition: there
would have been a first version, no longer existing, compiled not long
before 937, the one described by al-Tawhidi, and
consisting of previously existing epistles and of epistles especially
composed for the purpose; the Brotherhood would have been founded a
few decades earlier (Madelung 2018, 404).



In recent times, al-Tawhidi's and 'Abd
al-Jabbar's attribution has been reconsidered by
emphasizing the Fatimid militancy of some among the pretended authors
of the encyclopedia (Reymond 2011, 124-125). Hamdani recalls
that, according to al-Tawhidi, such personages were
Qarmats, so that al-Tawhidi could accuse of eresy Zayd b.
Rifa'a, too (Hamdani, Soufan 2019, 7-8, where the
testimony of al-Qifti is also discussed - that the alleged
authors were followers of the *imam* 'Ali).
Hamdani even exploits al-Tawhidi's observation that
the *Rasa'il* were widely read, as further evidence
that they would have been written long before (cf. also de Vaulx
d'Arcy 2019b). Poonawala shares historians' doubts on
al-Tawhidi's reliability and concludes that his one
"is certainly a hostile witness" that implies the
authors' affiliation with the Qaramita of Basra (Baffioni,
Poonawala 2017, 294). Following Hamdani's
"deconstruction", the witness is considered to be
"very suspicious", all the more so if one considers that
most medieval authors and modern scholars are used to equate the
Qaramita with the Isma'ilis (Poonawala in
Baffioni, Poonawala 2017, 298). Poonawala also emphasizes
Stern's remark on the *qadi* Abu
'l-Hasan 'Ali b. Harun
al-Zanjani - that 'Abd al-Jabbar writes
against the Isma'ilis without mentioning the
Brethren at all (Baffioni, Poonawala 2017, 301-302).



A new hypothesis on the real author of the
*Ras**a'il* has been formulated in Guillaume de
Vaulx d'Arcy's doctoral dissertation. The author tries to
demonstrate that Ahmad b. al-Tayyib al-Sarakhsi, a pupil of
al-Kindi, composed the whole encyclopedia in about 894 in the
form in which we read it now (de Vaulx d'Arcy 2016, partially
reelaborated in de Vaulx d'Arcy 2019a [*non vidi*]).



But the questions of the identity and ideology of the Ikhwan
al-Safa' still remain unsolved. In recent times, Kacimi
2016 has come back to the relationship between the Ikhwan and
the Sufi thought. Poonawala refuses them to have been Sufi, though
some MSS, included the MS Atif Efendi 1618 (dated 1182, on which the
new edition of the Institute of Ismaili Studies is based), bear in the
title the mention of the Sufi school - or doctrines. Mayer
thinks that to result from a later, Sunni manuscript tradition,
"in which the acceptance, or at least toleration, of esoteric
material was made likelier by presenting it as proper to
Sufi circles, whose respectability [...] had been
established by a figure of the magnitude of Ghazali."
(Traboulsi et al. 2016, 7).



The traces of classical thought in the encyclopedia, as well as their
literary form, equally give an indication that the work was assembled
in the course of several decades between the 9th and the
first half of the 10th century, and that it may have
undergone further elaborations. 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 (Rudolph, 2004, 39)
should be rejected.


## 3. Ideological commitment



Because their aim is clearly salvation, it has often been supposed
that the *Rasa'il* were inspired by the
Shi'ites, or perhaps even the Isma'ilis,
both of whom claim the ideological commitment of the encyclopedia. For
Marquet (1975, 585) the encyclopedia is the most ancient general
exposition of the Isma'ili doctrine. 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 Ikhwan was delivered by the famous Mamluk mufti
and theologian Taqi al-Din Ahmad ibn Taymiyya (d. 1328).
He considered them as Shi'i esotericists whose doctrines
contradict the religion of Islam. For this reason, he rejected the
attribution of the *Rasa'il* to such an eminent
religious scholar as Ja'far al-Sadiq (Michot 2008).



Attempts to define the Ikhwan's ideological commitment have been
made, but there has been no consensus on the matter. The
Ikhwan's view of 'Ali as the Prophet's legitimate
legate (*wali*) persuaded some scholars to link them to
the *Shi'a*, though scattered references in
negative terms to the "hidden" *imam* appear
contrary to twelver Shi'ism. Other elements have been
alleged as proofs of the Ikhwan'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 *imam*, etc.). Already Stanislas Guyard in 1874
published a fragment of the Ikhwan reporting it to
Isma'ilism; and so Paul Casanova in 1898,
discovering a manuscript of *Risala al-Jami'a*(Daftary 2007, 28 and 235; Hamdani, Soufan 2019,
10-11). Corbin (1964, 190) openly and radically affirmed
that the Ikhwan belonged to Isma'ilism. He
gave an esoterical interpretation of the religious, philosophical, and
the Brotherhood rites described in Epistle 50 *On the kinds of
administration* (Corbin 1950). Hamdani (1996, 146) considers this
treatise to be "the most explicitly Shi'i or
Isma'ili" of the entire encyclopedia. The main lines
of Corbin's presentation are shared, though in more nuanced terms, by
Mattila 2016. Corbin 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 Isma'ilis
only from the twelfth century. The concepts and historical ideas that
are at least close to those of the *Shi'a* -
such as deprecation of the slaughter of Karbala', the
allegorical interpretation of the Qur'an and prophecy, or
the aversion to political governments and the hope that they will fall
when the present septenary cycle comes to an end (cf. Baffioni 2019b)
- show according to Stern (1964, 421) and later Bausani that the
authors were representative of an Isma'ili tendency,
but not of the official *da'wa* (propaganda) (Bausani
1978, 14-16; Bausani 1977, 323; Bausani 1978-1, 267, note 1).
Considering Epistles 50 and 48, Bausani agrees, albeit cautiously, on
the hypothesis of an Isma'ilism of the Ikhwan
(Bausani 1978-1, 270; 278 and note 2), identified in their
"encyclopedic" approach to knowledge (Bausani 1985, 145;
cf. also Daftary 1998, 2 and 83). Marquet 1973, on the other hand,
recognizes in the encyclopedia (in Epistle 48 in particular, *On
the invitation (da'wa) to God*) the official
Isma'ili organization at the time (see also Marquet
1981, 95; Marquet 1998, 5, 7-8), and remarks that the propaganda
appeals here to philosophers, mystics, and rulers. According to
Hamdani (1996, 150), the event expected by the Ikhwan is the
advent of the Fatimids. Epistle 48, Marquet claims, was written before
910, and almost entirely preserved in its original form; but even if
it was composed after the advent of the Fatimids, its meaning would
not have been perverted (Marquet 1984, 77-78). Other scholars
have remarked that even when discussing number seven, so linked to
*Isma'iliyya*, the Ikhwan criticize the
"supporters of the seven" (Hamdani 1979, 68; Netton 1996,
28-29). Non-Isma'ili ideas can also be found
in the work, for example the invitation to celibacy proper of Sufism
(but for contrary views see above). In general, the evidence
supporting such theories derives mostly from doctrines or parts of
doctrines hinted at in the encyclopedia. In denying the Brethren's
Isma'ili commitment, for instance, Netton (1996, 28)
remarks that, if the issue of such an allegiance is widely debated,
scholars have much less addressed the "broader topic [...] of whether
the Ikhwan al-Safa' should even be considered to be
Muslims." 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. The main lines of
research in this field were resumed in Kraemer 1992, 165-178;
cf. Hamdani 1999, 79 ; Hamdani, Soufan 2019, 10ff.).


## 4. The extant *corpus*



The encyclopedia consists of 52 treatises divided into four sections
on the introductory (*al-riyadiyya*), natural,
psycho-rational and metaphysical-theological sciences.



Two additional Epistles, entitled "Comprehensive Epistle"
(*al-Risala al-Jami'a*) and
"Supercomprehensive Epistle" (*Risala
Jami'a al-Jami'a*) are thought to complete
the *corpus* and explain its esoteric (hidden) meanings. Two
versions of the *Jami'a* are extant. One is
currently ascribed to al-Majriti, the Spanish scientist
and astronomer who is alleged to have transmitted the Epistles to
Spain. Godefroid de Callatay (2014, 200) identifies this
personage with Maslama al-Qurtubi (see above). The other is
ascribed to Ahmad ibn 'Abd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn
Isma'il ibn Ja'far al-Sadiq, the second
of the three "veiled" (*mastur*)
*imam*s who were intermediate between Muhammad ibn
Isma'il and 'Abd Allah, the founder of
the Fatimid dynasty. Recent studies on aspects of this work by
Baffioni (2011b, 2012). According to De Smet, however, the existence
of the *imam* Ahmad is not grounded on any reliable
historical evidence (De Smet 2017, 154-155). The attribution of
the *Rasa'il Ikhwan al-Safa'* and
of *Risala al-Jami'a* to one of the
"hidden *imam*" would also be a late forgery
dating not beyond the 13th century (De Smet 2017, 157 and
160). The *Risala Jami'a
al-Jami'a* is also (Tamir s.d., 18) ascribed to Ahmad,
which strengthens the link of the *corpus* with the
Isma'ili tradition. While one cannot deny formal and
substantial relationship between the encyclopedia and the
"Comprehensive" Epistle, the
"Supercomprehensive" Epistle is never cited in the
*Ras**a'il*, and it has been recognized by
Kacimi 2015, 331 as an outcome of the Isma'ilization
of the Ikhwanian corpus. Hamdani 2008 hypothesizes a more recent
compilation for the *Risala al-Jami'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. 



Each Epistle starts by stating its particular goal. All of them
contain a core of technical teachings and a conclusion regarding the
*haqiqa*, 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 (cf. now
Hamdani, Soufan 2019, 5). 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
*Shi'a* influence. In the ninth century and at the
beginnings of the tenth century, the prominent philosopher Abu
Yusuf Ya'qub b. Ishaq al-Kindi (d. ca.
870) had already developed single philosophical doctrines (e.g. in
cosmology or psychology; an examination of the contents of Epistle 41
*On definition and descriptions* in the light of
al-Kindi's treatise with the same title is made by
Poonawala in Baffioni, Poonawala 2017, 277 ff.). Though elaborating
them in an original way, al-Kindi had not tried to combine such
doctrines with the basics of Muslim faith. Theological considerations
remain parallel with philosophical issues. The physician Muhammad ibn
Zakariyya' al-Razi (d. ca. 925), mainly
interested to natural philosophy, had even questioned the legitimacy
of prophecy.



At the time of al-Farabi (d. 950), ancient knowledge
will be 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 Ikhwan's and
al-Farabi'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. Consequently, scholars
arrived to consider the Ikhwan al-Safa' as
representatives of a "humanistic approach" to Islam (e.g., Albert
Reyna 2007). This view, however, is challenged by their attitude, to
see the ultimate goal of their gnosiological experience as an attempt
of separating the soul from the ties of matter and purifying it to
achieve happiness in the hereafter (see also Reymond 2012, 126;
Raymond 2014, 150). For them, purification can be reached by following
prophetic revelation with the help of reason. Certainly, the study of
ancient sciences is not viewed, as by "orthodox theologians", as a
vehicle of heresy and even atheism. Rather, sciences explain the
underlying reality of the universe and so allow rational understanding
of the contents of Revelation and of religious Law. As Reymond (2012,
143) puts it, the Brethren's intellectual attitude demonstrates "une
mentalite en construction," announcing "une avancee
dans une mentalite forgee par le *terminus ad
quem* previsible d'une autorite du dogme achronique
et indepassable."



The blending of scientific and religious issues is evident from the
beginning in the encyclopedia. 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 Ikhwan 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. More recently, the scholar has
emphasized as "Philosophically, the *Rasa'il* 
[...] constitute a marvelous epitome of the mixing of Aristotelianism
and Neoplatonism in the caldron of Islamic intellectual endeavour"
(Netton 2009, 109). In spite of the commixtion of Aristotelian and
Neoplatonic ideas - e.g., for identifying Aristotle's active
cause with the faculties of the Universal Soul, "Aristotle's
terminology is all-pervasive in the
*Rasa'il*" (ibid., 111-112). Most
attention is 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 Ikhwan'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 Ikhwan display the same philological and philosophical
expertise associated with the scholars to whom we owe the flourishing
of the translation movement in Baghdad. 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 Ikhwan
al-Safa' Epistle 42, III, 424, 15). The Ikhwan 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 Hellenistic *curricula scientiarum* (courses
of study) designed for philosophers. These began by a reflection on
the Stoic *bios theoretikos* (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 Ikhwan 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 Ikhwan appear widely 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 (which even
affects the consistence of the Ikhwanian idea of God, Islamic and
Neoplatonic at the same time, Netton 2009, 108).



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 - but Epistles 4 and 5 are copied in an inverted
order in some MSS.



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 Ikhwan 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
Abu Bishr Matta ibn Yunus more than with the
grammarian Abu Sa'id al-Sirafi (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 Callatay
2005, 61-62). Hellenistic influence is remarkable even when the
Ikhwan rely on Aristotelian logic. The logical treatises include
paraphrases of Porphiry's *Isagoges*, which the later Greeks
considered to be the first book of *Organon* (*Rhetoric*
and *Poetics* 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 Ikhwan conform to the
"old" tradition that restricted research to the first
Books of the *Organon*, not to that of their great contemporary
al-Farabi, 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 (*sahih*) 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
Ikhwan'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-riyadiyya* again; "a designation not absolutely
unambiguous" according to de Callatay in El-Bizri; de
Callatay 2017, 78 ff.), those imposed by religious Law
(*al-shar'iyya al-wad'iyya*) and the
"philosophical sciences allowing the full comprehension of
truth" (*al-falsafiyya al-haqiqiyya*, 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 Ikhwan 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 Ikhwan 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'lim*, cf. I, 274,
20-275, 4). The "programmatic" aim of Epistle 7
leads us to consider it as the ideal introduction to the whole
*corpus*. 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 Isma'ilism (cf. Lewis
1943; Marquet 1961; and, more recently, Yasien 2006 and 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 Ikhwan 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, which
provide textual evidence that the Ikhwan 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 Ikhwan 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 [on the relationship
between micro- an macrocosm see Maukola, 2009 and, in quite a new
perspective, Nokso-Koivisto, 2011) the most important topic for the
Ikhwan, the human spiritual dimension is addressed. It is
discussed in terms of the relationship 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 *Kitab
al-hayawan*, but Epistle 22 *On animals* is quite far
in its content and goals from the Aristotelian *corpus*. In
fact, it places the whole matter within the well-known metaphysical
dispute on the superiority of man on animals (besides some attempts of
viewing it even in an "ecological perspective"; see, more recently,
Darraz 2012; Raymond 2014, 151). .



The authors' view of embryology (Epistle 25) is also a collection from
different sources. On the one hand, the Ikhwan 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 Abu
Ya'qub al-Sijistani's representation of Nature
as "agent power" and "principle of
movement".



Though the Ikhwan 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 Ikhwan
al-Safa' (Epistle 33). These treatises demonstrate beyond
doubt that these authors considered themselves true Muslim
Pythagoreans. Pythagoras is said to be "a monotheist from
Harran." 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. According to de Callatay,
Aristotelian themes are "reshaped", for didactic purposes,
in a Neoplatonic frame (El-Bizri; de Callatay 2017, 88), so that
those who organized the corpus in its final version "are
definitely to be ranged amongst hard-line Neoplatonists in medieval
Islam" (El-Bizri; de Callatay 2017, 89).



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
Callatay (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 Ikhwan 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 Ikhwan 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 Ikhwan, such as
eternalism and dualism. It also develops the apologetic side of
Ikhwanian thought.



Epistle 40 *On causes and effects* addresses the
crucial problem of the origin of the world. The Ikhwan 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 Ikhwan - like the
Isma'ilis - 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 (*meta ta physika)* 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
Ikhwan's proper philosophy. Philosophy as imitation of God
continues as the guiding principle of the Ikhwan's system,
together with equal emphasis on divine revelation.



From Epistle 43 onwards, the Ikhwan 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 Ikhwan
al-Safa' 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 a key theme in
the encyclopedia - the existence of disembodied agents in the
world, based on the Ikhwan's idea that the full truth of
the Qur'an, obscured in their time by ignorance and
distortions, could only be restored thanks to the study of the
rational sciences developed by the Greek philosophers. In the
surviving manuscript tradition, Epistle 49 appears in two versions, a
short and a long one. The short one clearly preserves an older text.
The long one contains a detailed elaboration of part of the short one.
The short version also consists of two parts; the second is a
commentary on the Epistle by an author other than that of the first,
namely Maslama al-Qurtubi al-Majriti, during
his stay at Basra in 936-7. At the same time, Maslama should have also
composed what de Callatay identified as the "short
version" of *Epistle on Magic*, to which Epistle 49 was to
be an introduction. In fact, both treatises aim to prove the existence
of spiritual beings: magic in all its forms consists precisely in the
acts of such spiritual beings. The long version would have been
composed by Maslama after his return to Cordoba. In the printed
editions, the final part of the short version is added to the text of
the long version, but the addition is not found in any of the MSS
examined in the new edition, while it might be found in the MS on
which the first printed edition was based (that of Bombay, 1887-1889);
but we do not know if such MS still exists (Madelung et al. 2019,
1-3). Epistle 49 is a complex exposition of Ikhwanian cosmology,
remarkably different and richer than that exposed in any other
epistle. This exposition is merged with the authors' religious
vision on the relationship between God and the world (Uy in Madelung
et al. 2019, 8). A new vision of the Ikhwan's magic as the
"conceptual and practical pivot" of their
religious-political reform based on inclusion and tolerance is in Saif
2019; a study of the so-called "longer version" of Epistle
52 in Saif 2020. Epistle 50 discusses the various kinds of
'administration' (physical, spiritual, personal, familiar, etc.), the
core of the Epistle being the religious and philosophical approach to
God. In the new edition, the treatise appears purged of all the
passages that led Corbin to his esoteric interpretation (Baffioni in
Madelung et al. 2019, 148 ; Baffioni 2019d). Some MSS provide
additions and/or versions radically different from those reported in
the other consulted manuscripts and in the printed versions available
(Baffioni in Madelung et al. 2019, Appendices A-D,
237-364; with regard to additions to other epistles see Baffioni
2019a, 2019c). Noteworthy is the addition in MS Esad Efendi 3638 that
explains the story of Adam meant as the progenitor of huimankind, the
first speaking prophet and the heavenly *imam* (ed. and tr.
by Baffioni in Madelung et al. 2019, 237-277; cf. also Baffioni
2020b). Apparently, Epistle 51 duly gathers up the threads of the
whole (often repeating contexts of previous treatises), but its
recent editor has also ascertained the existence of two versions of
it, maybe even three (Alshaar in Madelung et al. 2019, 381ff.).
Epistle 52 *On magic* is the last in
the *corpus*, missing in some editions and considered by
some scholars (Bausani 1978, 12 and 279) as spurious, and of little
value, so the *Risala
al-Jami'a* would be the true fifty-second one
(cf. de Callatay 2011, 3). However, de Callatay 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 Callatay 2011, 5ff).



That a text exists in different versions is not an isolated case. Two
versions of Epistles 32 have been found by Walker (Walker et al. 2015,
5, 7-8). Similarly, there are two versions of Epistle 48; one is
based on a group of MSS that appear to have been copied from an
Isma'ili specimen; the other is based on a second
group of MSS, including Atif Efendi 1618. Despite the permanence of
Shi'ite elements, Hamdani believes that the material in
the second version has been rearranged in order to provide a version
acceptable to Sunni-Sufi readers. Although one must believe to the
story handed down by al-Tawhidi, there must have been an
earlier shi'i version of the *Rasa'il*
(Alshaar in Madelung et al. 2019, 383).



The existence of different versions of a same epistle raises questions
about the history of its transmission and about how such existence
should be interpreted. Which version should have priority? Should the
various versions be considered to be different stages or different
aspects of the same authorial project? On what basis should they be
assessed? The date of a MS, although of considerable importance for
determining its value, cannot be taken as the sole criterion for
deciding the authenticity or the greater antiquity of a textual
tradition, since a late MS may have been copied from a very ancient
one. Also, due to problems related to the transmission of MSS
themselves, to their dating, and to the nature of the various
epistles, it is difficult to decide which versions is older or more
authentic (Alshaar in Madelung et al. 2019, 382-383).



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 Ikhwan 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 Ikhwan 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 *Ihsa'
al-'ulum* ("The Enumeration of the
Sciences"), al-Farabi deals with Muslim
sciences such as theology (*kalam*) and law
(*fiqh*), the Ikhwan mainly stress religion. In the
*Rasa'il*, the usual distinction between
philosophy/sciences (the rational or *'aqliyya*
knowledge) 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 Ikhwan 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 Isma'ilis, the Ikhwan deny
salvation as attainable through solely philosophy.



Prophethood is an undeniable part of the theoretical experience
featured by the Ikhwan. 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
*imam.* In Epistle 40 the science of the esoteric
interpretation of the Qur'an (explaining its hidden
meaning) is emphasized as the highest divine gift (in doing this the
Ikhwan 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 Ikhwan'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* (now considered
from the standpoint mentioned in the title by Albert Reyna 2009). Here
the Ikhwan 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 Ikhwan say (cf. Epistle 31, III, 153,
8-10 and 165, 8-12). While everybody agrees on the tasks
of the *imam*, 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 Ikhwan's specific idea on
the identity of such a person is not clear. In addition, there is
apparently no distinction between the prophet, the *imam*
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 the *imam*.



The political ideas of the Ikhwan al-Safa' have not
been extensively analyzed by scholars, except when they have been
considered as a political movement. (The Ikhwan'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 outsider 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 Stroumsa 2003). However, the Ikhwan 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 Epistle 48 *On the invitation
to God*, a *madina fadila* (perfect city) is
featured - less known but no less worthy than that proposed by
al-Farabi. This time the Ikhwan do not hide
themselves behind the ancient Platonic heritage: they openly adapt a
Greek idea to a Muslim situation, and various aspects of the
'Ismailism' of the treatise have been highlighted in Baffioni,
2014a.



Were the Ikhwan Isma'ilis? This of course
opens the way to the second side of the argument - the
Isma'ili commitment of the Ikhwan.



The saying "*din* and *mulk* are
twins" in reference to the prophet and the king empowered to
perform the functions of the *imam* in the sense preached
by the Ikhwan 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 Ikhwan al-Safa'
are his *du'a'*. 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
Ikhwan.



The Ikhwan 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-*imam*; in
Epistle 47 they introduce themselves as the best guides for the
defence of Islam in terms of *al-hukama' wa
al-falasifa wa al-fudala'* ("wise men,
philosophers and excellent people") and of the
*anbiya'*, *khulafa'
al-anbiya' wa* *al-a'imma
al-mahdiyun* ("prophets, successors of the prophets
and well-guided *imams*," IV, 126, 5-17). That the
Ikhwan 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 Ikhwan engaged, as the leaders of
their community, in their philosophy of salvation; but they also fit
the prophets and the *imam**s* 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'wil* performed
in their own encyclopedia, where God's Word is continually quoted and
commented (Baffioni 2012b; Gobillot 2013). 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-'uqala'
al-akhyar*) which emphasizes the epistemological function of
the Shi'ite caliph. In this case a temporal ruler, the
"ruler *imam*," is no longer necessary
because the rational Law is the real guide, "incarnated"
in the "rightly guided" *imam* 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 Ikhwan'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 Shi'ism, the
battle of Siffin and the slaughter of Karbala'. 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
Abu Hashim, son of Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyya), the former
should be understood as the direct descendants of the Prophet through
Fatima, whence the Ikhwan'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'mun, in spite of his pro-'Alid policy (and
political support of Mu'tazilism). The Ikhwan report on a
ruler, who encouraged politico-religious controversies among the
*'ulama'* (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'an.
Juxtaposed to him is *ahl bayt al-nubuwwa* (the immediate
family of the Prophet: Muhammad, his daughter Fatima, his cousin
and son-in-law 'Ali and their sons, al-Hasan and
al-Husayn) as the guarantors of the true tradition concerning
prophetic succession. The Ikhwan 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 Ikhwan'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
Ikhwan have in mind spiritual rule or a true government such as
that of the Fatimid caliph, of whom they might be the
*du'a'*. 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 Ikhwan
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 the future. According to
Tibawi (1955, 37, note 4), the Ikhwan 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). In Epistle 48, the Ikhwan
declare that the one whose advent in the world is expected is coming,
and it will be a wonderful event (IV, 190, 13), in which the welfare
of both religion and the world will be gathered. Magic, astronomy and
true dreams helped them establish even the year and month of the
advent of the "lord of the cycle" (*sahib
al-amr*) - but, of course, the date is not mentioned in the
encyclopedia.



Grounding himself on the *Sirat ibn Hawshab* of the
Fatimid *da'i* Ja'far b. Mansur
al-Yaman (d. second half of the 10th century), Hamdani
hypothesizes the epistles to have been written under Ahmad b.
'Abd Allah b. Muhammad b.
Isma'il's imamate, who was considered as
the expected *imam*. Ahmad, however, was not their author,
but their *munshi'* ("issuer"). Therefore, the
Ikhwan al-Safa' would have been a think-tank at the
service of the Fatimid propaganda, a secret organization with the
function of gaining support from the non-initiates (Hamdani, Soufan
2019, 1-2). Moh. Jalub Farhan, however, describes the
Ikhwan 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
Shi'ites, not Isma'ilis. Poonawala
also proposes the *Rasa'il* to have been written by
propagandists belonging to the entourage of Ahmad, half a century
after al-Ma'mun (Walker et al. 2015, 66; De Smet 2017,
157-158). More recently, Hamdani has noted in the encyclopedia
also Sunni-Sufi elements; thereby, the Ikhwan would be a secret
think-tank made up of *tafdili* Sunnis (that
is, they assert the superiority of 'Ali over all the
successors of the Prophet), who hoped to replace the 'Abbasids
with a 'alid caliphate, displaying in their work also liberalism
and religious tolerance (Hamdani, Soufan 2019, 32-33).



On the whole, the political vision outlined above appears to
be 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 Ikhwan that some scholars
have ascribed to them; cf. e.g. Vernet Gines 1990, 190; Marquet
1992). The didactic aims of the ruler mirror the aspect of
Isma'ili propaganda known as
*ta'lim* (lit.: "teaching").



The influence of the *Epistles* on later (after the
12th century) Isma'ili literature
has been widely recognized (Stern 1964, 416-417; Diwald 1975, 26
ss.; 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 Ikhwan al-Safa' are found in
the famous Isma'ili thinker and missionary
Nasir-e Khosrow (1004-1074) (see Saccone 2007,
67-68; Baffioni 2013c and Poonawala in Baffioni, Poonawala
2017, 285 ff.): this may be a proof of the use of the
*Rasa'il* in 11th century
Isma'ili authors. If the Ikhwan
al-Safa' were Isma'ilis or in someway
linked to Isma'ilism, then
Isma'ilism influenced a much wider part of Islamic
thought and culture than previously recognized.



With regard to an Isma'ili commitment to the
Ikhwan al-Safa', some aspects of their philosophy of
nature (geology, mineralogy, and botany) have been recently examined
(Baffioni 2008, 2009, 2010b; de Callatay 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 Hamid
al-Din al-Kirmani. The result is that they share
many basic views, but the Ikhwan has greater detail. Moreover,
some aspects of the Ikhwan's cosmology, and in particular
their use of the term and concept of *ibda'*, are
relevant in identifying the similarities (Baffioni 2011a; 2013b;
2013d).



However, the radical change of hypotheses about the dating of the
epistles after the identification of the role that Maslama
al-Qurtubi would have played in them, also led to rethinking the
political (and possibly messianic) beliefs of the Ikhwan and the
attempts to identify the polemical targets of their assertions.
Madelung remarks that while the Fatimids were used to see both
Umayyads and 'Abbasids as usurpers and enemies of
'Ali, the Ikhwan had no longer contacts with any
hidden *imam*, as they believe that the advent of the
Mahdi has been delayed to a remote future. Therefore, they
adopted a quietist attitude towards the existing regimes: their
purpose was only to purify Islam through the study of ancient thought,
thus preparing humanity for the advent of the true *Mahdi*.
Maslama al-Qurtubi remained a loyal subject of the Umayyad
governor of Andalus, 'Abd al-Rahman III. Hence, the
Ikhwan no longer regarded the Umayyads as the inveterate enemies
of the Family of the Prophet. The *imam*, direct
descendants of the Prophet, are instead described as the only ones
entitled to rule humanity, and for this purpose divinely chosen; but
their persecutors - although denounced as tyrants - are
not identified. Kacimi 2019 returns on the anti-'Abbasid polemic
of the Ikhwan.