Sayyid Ḥaydar Āmulī (d. ca. 787/1385) and Ismailism

Abstract

Abstract Sayyid Ḥaydar Āmulī (d. ca. 787/1385) was a significant Twelver Shiʿi philosopher. This paper argues that his work reveals major similarities with Ismaili Shiʿism in two crucial aspects: soteriology and negative theology. The first section explores several parallels between Ḥaydar Āmulī’s soteriological concept of the seven major prophets and the seven cycles of prophecy in the Ismaili tradition. The following sections demonstrate that his theorization of God’s transcendence (tanzīh) reflects Ismaili negative theology as articulated by Abū Yaʿqūb al-Sijistānī (fl. 4th/10th c.) and Ḥamīd al-Dīn al-Kirmānī (d. after 411/1021), two doyens of Fāṭimid Ismaili literature. Āmulī’s idea of transcendence parallels that of the Ismaili thinkers as he similarly attempts to deny the applicability of all attributes to God, even if they presumably exalt Him. Similar to Ismaili writers, Āmulī also uses the technique of double negation to express his negative theology. The final section, based on Āmulī’s Naqd al-nuqūd (The Critique of the Critiques), sheds light on a similar form of negative theology in the Akbarian school and Twelver Shiʿi thought, which helps appreciate the larger intellectual milieu in which Āmulī produced his ideas. The paper provides new evidence for significant intellectual similarities between Ismaili Shiʿism, Twelver Shiʿism, and Sufism in the period succeeding the destruction of the fortress of Alamut.