Hibatullah ibn Musa Abu Nasr al-Mu'ayyad fi d-Din ash-Shirazi | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1000 CE / 390 AH |
| Died | 1078 CE / 470 AH |
| Philosophical work | |
| Era | Medieval era |
| Region | Islamic philosophy |
| School | Isma'ili |
Al-Mu'ayyad fid-din Abu Nasr Hibat Allah b. Abi 'Imran Musa b. Da'ud ash-Shirazi (c. 1000 CE/390 AH – 1078CE/470 AH) was an 11th-centuryIsma'ili scholar, philosopher-poet, preacher and theologian ofPersian origin. He served theFatimid Caliph-Imāmal-Mustansir Billah as aDa'i in varying capacities, eventually attaining the highest rank ofBab al-Abwab "The Gate of Gates" andDa'i al-du'at "Chief Missionary" in the FatimidDa‘wah. In his theological and philosophical writings he brought the Isma'ili spiritual heritage to its pinnacle.[1]
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Al-Mu'ayyad was born inShiraz not later than 387/997 and died in Cairo in 470 AH/1078 AD. He lived during the time of the Fatimid Caliphs Al-Hakim (386–412 AH / 996–1021 AD), Al-Zahir (412–427 AH / 1021–1036 AD) and Al-Mustansir (427–48AH / 1036–1094AD). He was buried in the Dar al-ilm where he had resided, worked and died.[2]
Al-Muayyad's real name was Hibatullah ibn Musa, born in the town ofShiraz, capital of theFars province (thenPersia, now in modern-dayIran), in the year 1000CE. His father, Musa ibn Dawud, served under the Fatimid Caliph-Imamal-Hakim bi Amr Allah as theChief Missionary of the province of Fars, where the Isma'ili mission was active. Al-Muayyad was "contemporary with the changeover from the Buyid to the Saljuq Sultanate under the Abbasid Caliphate, as well as the Arab bedouin Hilalian invasion of North Africa, the Fatimiid encouraged invasion of Baghdad by al-Basasiri, the Battle of Manzikert in Anatolia, the rise of the Sulayhids of Yaman and the advent of the Armnenian GeneralBadr al-Jamali in Egypt".
During the reign of the Fatimid Caliph-Imamal-Zahir li-i'zaz Din Allah, Hibatullah ibn Musa was permitted to take over theda'wah office from his father. His title,Al-Mu'ayyad fi d-Din ('The one aided in religion') was probably accorded to him around this time.
Al-Mu'ayyad was appointed to the Diwan al-insha' (secretariat) in 440 AH / 1048 AD on a monthly salary of 1000 dinars and wrote the religious sermons (al-Majalis) for al-Yazuri (as-Sira 89–90). Al-Mu'ayyad gives us an interesting information about the presence of a Buyid Prince Abu 'Ali in the Fatimid Court (as-Siras 87).[3]
Al-Muayyad (Hibatullah) gradually worked his way up the hierarchy of theda‘wa and was eventually appointed Chief Missionary under the Caliph-Imamal-Mustansir Billah. He was appointed the head of the Academy of Science (Dar al-'Iim, originally been founded by the Caliph al-Hakim in Cairo), which was also the headquarters of the Da'wa and became the residence of al-Mu'ayyad. He directed the Da'wa affairs throughout the Fatimid sphere of influence particularly Persia, Yaman, Bahrayn and Northern and Western India ('Uyun – ms. – fols. 59–63, 65). In this position, he worked teaching missionaries from both inside and outside the Fatimid Empire and composing his theological works until the end of his life in 1078CE. He founded the dynamic tradition ofFatimid daʿwa ('religious mission') poetry that flourished after him for a thousand years through the succeedingTaiyabi daʿwa and continues to thrive today. His poetry uses a unique form of esoteric tāwīl-based religious symbolism – metaphor, in fact, as manifestation, where what appears to be metaphor is the theological reality of the Imam.[4]
The primary source for details of Al-Mu'ayyad's life are his own memoirs, theSirat al-Mu'ayyad fi d-Din, which was written in three stages between the years 1051 and 1063CE. He is also mentioned in the works ofNasir Khusraw, another prominent Isma'ili scholar of the time, who had learned under al-Mu'ayyad. In a poem written in 455/1063 (Diwan, 173–177) Nasir praises al-Mua-yyad as his master (teacher) and refers to him as the "Warden of the Gate" ('Bab'). There are other direct references in Nasir's Diwan (313–314). Al-Mu'ayyad also taughtHassan-i Sabbah.
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