A forgotten copy of Abū Muḥammad al-Yamanī’s Mukhtaṣar fī ‘aqā’id al-thalāth wa-sab‘īn firqa a

Abstract

In his 1929 article “Muslim Heresiography,” Helmut Ritter revealed the existence of a ms. entitled ‘Aqāʾid al-thalāth wa-sab‘īn firqa in ‘Āṭif Efendi library by Abū Muḥammad al-Yamanī. It was composed in 540 A.H. The author had access to genuine Bāṭinī/Ismā‘īlī works and it contains the most elaborate refutation of the Ismā‘īlī doctrines known so far. Muḥammad al-Ghāmidī edited this ms., transcribed in 1095 A.H., collated with another copy, derived from the same ms. Recently, I discovered another copy of it, ascribed to al-Ghazālī, in the library of Āstāna-i Quds, transcribed in 793 A.H. Thus, this copy is three centuries older than the ‘Āṭif ms. and is more reliable.