The Grand Temple - Rosicrucian Order, AMORC

He was expected to be knowledgeable not only
in the Koran, but well versed in other nonreligious
subjects such as philosophy and history,
as well as the teachings of non-Islamic religions.
In total, the Supreme Da’i was a highly learned
and cultured individual.
Rosicrucian
Digest
No. 1
2006
A medieval map of Cairo.
da’a’im al-Islam (“The Interpretation of the
Pillars of Islam”). Each of its 120 chapters is
termed a “session.” Part of their esoteric
teachings seems to have been the descending
triangle from the universal intellect down to
humans, and an ascending triangle showing the
progression of the individual soul on its way
back upwards to the creator, a theme familiar to
many later European mystical traditions.
The Supreme Da’i personally taught the
initiates, who addressed one another as Ikhwan
or brothers. As we have said, although unusual
for the times, women were also allowed into
these esoteric lectures. The discourses took place
in the palace of the Imam-Caliphs, where the
men were taught in the iwan or audience hall,
while women received their instruction in another
palace audience hall called al-Muhawwal.
The Supreme Da’i had to have his
manuscripts personally authorized by the Imam-
Caliph before he delivered them at the Sessions
of Wisdom. He also had to have extensive
educational qualifications, combined with
extraordinary moral and intellectual attributes,
as well as excellent organizational abilities. He
needed to have sufficient knowledge of the záhir
and bátin to be able to explain them to many
different types of people on various intellectual
levels. He was also often trained in jurisprudence.
Page 12
Under the Imam-Caliph al-Mustansir, Egypt
was plagued by a series of crises, food shortages,
and even famine due to the Nile’s low water
levels for seven consecutive years. In November
1068, the palaces and the library of the Dar al-
Ilm—consisting of forty rooms full of priceless
books and other objects—were plundered by the
Imam-Caliph’s Turkish guard and some high
officials during a complete breakdown of law
and order. The works of classical authors alone
that disappeared comprised 18,000 volumes,
along with 2,400 Korans decorated with gold
and silver. Of these books, twenty-five camel
loads found their way to the palace of the vizier
Abu l’Faraj Mohammed ibn Jafar! A month later
he had to flee from Egypt, his house was
plundered and the books strewn to the wind.
Other books from the House of Knowledge
ended up with a certain Imad ad-Daula Abu
l’Fadl ibn al-Mukhtariq in Alexandria, and when
he was murdered, the books were dispersed all
across North Africa. Many books were just
thrown into the Nile, but others found their way
to the other great Islamic cities.
Saladin, the Sunni Kurdish general from
Iraq, who had become vizier of Egypt, overthrew
the last Fatimid Imam-Caliph al-Adid (1160-
1171) on September 10, 1171. A few days later,
the 14th and last Fatimid Imam-Caliph died
after a brief illness. Saladin placed the remaining
members of the Fatimid family in permanent
captivity in various districts of Cairo. The
immense treasures of the Fatimids, including
their vast libraries were pillaged or sold. The Dar
al-Ilm was turned into a hospital. In 1174,
Saladin went a step further and proclaimed
himself Sultan, under the auspices of the Abbasid
Caliph in Baghdad, and thus began the Ayyubid
dynasty that ruled Egypt, Syria, and the Holy
Land, and got drawn into the Third Crusade
with Richard the Lionheart.
Although the medieval Islamic world was
superior to Europe in the same period in all
scientific disciplines, there was no such thing as