The Isrna’ilis

Abstract

Abstract We have said that the Babakis were defeated and died as a socialist party, although they lived on as a group until the days of the Seljuks. Since the legacy they left to the rulers of Khwarazm was a religious sect of only minor importance, the Baghdad government paid no attention to them. They [simply] put in charge of them religious leaders and writers of religious tracts who challenged their school and order, alleged lies against them, and at times incited ignorant and fanatical people against them. In this way they forced the Babakis to go into hiding, to conceal their call, and to spread it secretly, as every religion or social idea which is prohibited is suppressed. Accordingly, they became more of a threat to the government and to Islam than when they had openly called people to their principles. Far from becoming futile, their movement be came a source of great benefit: many people learned from it and from their mistakes. Most important among these were the Isma‘ilis, or Batinis, the people closest to the Babakis in dogma and goals, and most dependent upon socialist principles. This will be clear to all intelligent thinkers from the following discussion regarding the Isma‘ili movement and its doctrine, the works of writers of the East and West on the Batinis and Isma‘ilis, and the ideological relationship between these two groups.