Document Type : Original Article

Authors

• Ali Rezaeyan ¹
• Alireza Fazeli ²
• Qasem Salari ³

¹ Assistant Professor at Yasouj University

² Associate Professor at Yasouj University

³ Assistant Professor of Yasouj University

Abstract

Following the emergence and spread of Ismailism in Islamic lands and their claim to the caliphate, the Sunni community, led by the Abbasid caliphs, confronted them in various ways. One such confrontation was through refutation writing. One of the reasons presented in these refutations was that heresy, although it had different names throughout history, had its roots in a single current, and the Ismailis were the continuation of this current. This article examines two books that, based on the equation of all heretics, proceed to refute them. To this end, the context and time of writing of these books are examined to approach the purpose of the authors of Seyar al-Moluk and al-Mustazhari using a hermeneutical method. Therefore, the main issue of this research is what factors have led to the formation of the claim of the sameness and the single origin of heresy throughout history, focusing on the two books mentioned? Their time coincided with the emergence of the Nizari and their assassinations, which caused widespread fear among the Sunnis and led to a more severe confrontation with them in refutation writings, declaring them outright infidels and attributing them to a unique heresy that is the opposite of true religion. This article shows that although finding a single historical and theological root for all ideas that oppose the dominant religious current is unattainable, the authors of the two works in question, and perhaps similar works, in order to conform to the dominant discourse of the time, both construct a theological belief to excommunicate the Ismailis and distort history in favor of their claim.

Keywords

• Seyar al-Moluk
• al-Mustazhari
• equation of heresy
• Ismailis
• Nizari