The ʿAhd of ʿAlī in Al-Qāḍī Al-Nuʿmān’s Daʿāʾim Al-Islām Under Microscopic Scrutiny: New Disclosures

In his celebrated book on Ismāʿīlī law entitled Dāʿāʾim al-Islām (The Pillars of Islam), al-Qāḍī al-Nuʿmān has incorporated the full version of a document called the ʿāhd of ʿAlī.  It is a long document placed around the middle of the last chapter titled kitāb al-jihād (the book on jihād) in the first volume of the Daʿāʾim which deals with the primary section of Islamic law, viz., ʿibādāt, (Acts of Devotion and Religious Observances). Although it is an important early Muslim political document which expresses Islamic concepts of rulership, it is not easily accessible to ordinary readers even in its English translation since it is not published separately.
Keywords: Ismāʿīlī, Dāʿāʾim al-Islām, al-Qāḍī al-Nuʿmān, The Pillars of Islam.