Fatima.Mernessi_The-Forgotten-Queens-of-Islam-EN

Notes 209
37 Metz, Al-hadara al-Islamiyya.
38 On Abu 'Abdallah the Shi'ite, see his biography (no. 199) in Ibn
Khallikan, Wafayat al-a'yan (Beirut: Dar al-Thaqafa, n.d.), vol. 2, p.
192. On his connection to Ibn al-Fadl Ibn Hawshab, see Ibn al-Athir,
Kamil, vol. 6, p. 449; and Ibn al-Nadim, Fihrist, pp. 264ff.
39 The biography of 'Ali is in vol. 3 of Ibn Khallikan's Wafayat, which
is a biographical dictionary of famous people. Ibn Khallikan did not
wait for the Anglo-Saxons to invent the form for describing the leading
figures on the historical scene. The biography of a 'lam (celebrities) is
a classical genre in Arab history, and it included both men and women.
Ibn Khallikan is one of the most brilliant writers in this form. His
short, concise sketches crammed with information have won him great
fame, and he is a source constantly used by other writers. He died in
year 681 of the Hejira (thirteenth century).
40 Ibid.
41 According to Ibn Khallikan, the da'i of 'Ali was called al-Zawahi,
while all the other biographers and historians give his name as al-
Rawahi. So I conclude that the edition of Ibn Khallikan had a typographical
error.
42 See also other biographies of 'Ali al-Sulayhi in Zarkali, A'lam, vol.
4, p. 328; Hanbali, Shazarat (see ch. 1 n. 31 above), vol. 3, p. 346;
Thawr, Hadhihi, p. 27; Kamil, Yaman, p. 167; Salah Ibn Hamid al-
'Alawi, Tarikh Hadramawt (n.p.: Maktaba al-Irshad, n.d.), pp. 340ff.
The career of Ibn Hawshab, who was a native of Kufa, takes us
straight back to the source of Shi'ite propaganda, 'Abdallah al-
Qaddah. Ibn Hawshab was the companion, friend, and disciple of
the son of al-Qaddah, the brains of the Shi'ite movement at the end
of the third century. Ibn al-Athir names Ibn Hawshab among the
central figures in the Shi'ite propaganda effort at that time (Kamil,
vol. 6, p. 449).
43 Lisan al-'Arab, section on 'da'i'.
44 Ibid.
45 Ibn al-Nadim, Fihrist. Ibn al-Nadim died in year 385 of the Hejira.
His book was published in 388.
46 Confusion, ambiguity, and contradictions reign regarding the details
of the initiation process. But everyone agrees on one point: we know
little about the initiation, and this is because of the secrecy that
surrounded it and was an integral part of the doctrine. See Metz, Alhadara
al-Islamiyya, vol. 2, p. 76; Encyclopedia of Islam, article on
'Isma'iliyya'; Henry Corbin, Histoire de la philosophic islamique (Paris:
Gallimard, 1964), pp. 66ff.
47 Corbin, Histoire de la philosophic islamique, pp. 67, 68.
48 Ibn Khallikan, Wafayat, vol. 3, p. 411. Some others also affirm that
he was Sunni: Zarkali, A'lam, vol. 4, p. 328; 'Alawi, Tarikh Hadramawt,
p. 340.
49 Ibn Khallikan, Wafayat, vol. 3, p. 411; Hanbali, Shazarat, vol. 3, p.
346.