Discussions of Taqiyya, Legitimacy and Mysticism Relationships in Nizārī Ismā͑īlīs

Abstract

Nizārī Ismā͑īlīs, who established an autonomous structure centered in Alamūt by organizing in the geographies of Rudbar, Quhistan, Daylam, and Syria between 1090 and 1257, have been one of the movements practicing the method of taqiyya most strictly. This method they practiced against all Sunni or non-Sunni authorities was utilized as a way of protecting their lives, property, doctrine, and traditions both within themselves and against the outside. It was also seen as a suitable way for their achievement of political legitimacy, association, and gaining power. Taqiyya in the history of Nizārī Ismā͑īlīs started first in the form of hiding the imam who would come from the lineage of Nizār, the son of the Fātimid Caliph al-Mustansir Billāh, with the separation that started through conflicts about the Imāmate following the death of the Caliph (1036-1096). Hasan-i SabbāH, who took on the authority of the imam until the expected imam arrived, aimed to get his legitimacy recognized when he made invitations in the name of Nizār with the doctrine of Ta‘līm (teaching). When the hiding of the imam during the periods of Hasan-i SabbāH and his first two successors put the Alamūt government in a bind in the political and theological sense, in the period of Hasan II in 1162, Qiyāmāt was proclaimed. In the context of custody-mentorship linked from Hujjat (proof) to the lineage of the Imāmate, the Nizārī Ismā͑īlī community continued their association. At the same time, with the arrival of the imam, legitimacy was reinforced, and defence was launched against Sunni authorities. The proclamation of Qiyāmāt that attracted objections and pressure from the world of Islam created a new source of oppression on the Nizārī community, while it also led them to shut themselves from the outer world politically and doctrinally. To change this practice that had not gained general acceptance, this time, an outward and reconciliatory policy was chosen, and the Satr period started, that is, a new taqiyya process started with a Sunnification policy. While the reconciliatory policy was being maintained, between 1221 and 1258, Sunni practices started to be gradually abandoned, and a return to the community’s fundamental identity took place. Nizārī Ismā͑īlīs, who experienced another doctrinal recuperation, entered a new, imperative taqiyya process with the capture of the entirety of their dār al-hijra by the Īlkhānate, now due to reasons that were not in their control. Nizārī imams were hidden again, and until the 19th century, Nizārīs were not able to convene with their imams in terms of politics, doctrine, and legitimacy. In this article, it is aimed to discuss the taqiyya methods of Nizārī Ismā͑īlīs in the period between the 12th and 16th centuries, the Ta‘līm doctrine, the proclamation of Qiyāmāt, the Satr period, and periods of hiding inside sūfī circles with causes and outcomes in political, doctrinal and sectarian contexts.