A Critical Analysis of the Historical-Intellectual Relationship between Ikhwān Al-Ṣafā and ʾIsmāʿīlīyah

The authors of the Rasā'il Ikhwān Al-Ṣafā (The Epistles of the Brethren of Purity) never mentioned their names, so their identity is unknown. There has been much speculation concerning their association with some sects and religions, especially the ʾIsmāʿīlīyah. For a long time, the Ismailis believed that Rasā'il was written by Aḥmad ibn ʿAbdallāh ibn Muḥammad ibn Ismāʿīl, one of the leaders of the group. Some recent orientalists also attribute the Rasā'il to ʾIsmāʿīlīyah. In this study, using a descriptive-analytic method, first, we give a brief introduction to the Rasā'il, and we discuss the arguments of those who attribute Rasā'il to ʾIsmāʿīlīyah. Then we evaluate the arguments of the opposite side, the scholars who don't see a relationship between Rasā'il and ʾIsmāʿīlīyah. The implicit evidence and reference to Arabic and Persian poems in Rasā'il challenge severely the idea of those who attribute the authorship of the work to Aḥmad ibn ʿAbdallāh ibn Muḥammad ibn Ismāʿīl. On the other hand, Ikhwān Al-Ṣafā's attitude towards other religions and sects, which shows a high degree of tolerance is not in accordance with the Ismaili views. The historical evidence such as the report of Abū Ḥayyān al-Tawḥīdī, al-Sijistānī, al-Qifṭī, and Ibn al-Nadīm, besides two centuries of ignoring Ikhwān Al-Ṣafā by Ismaili authors, raise some doubts on attributing the authorship of Rasā'il to ʾIsmāʿīlīyah.