Hamīd ad-Dīn Kirmānī and his Role in Management of Fatimid Crisis

During the rule of Fatimid caliph al-Hakim (311-386 A.H.), certain social and cultural crises challenged the Fatimid dynasty. It seems this critical situation has been the main cause of the Hamīd ad-Dīn Kirmānī’s presence in Fatimid Cairo. Kirmānī was a prominent Persian figure in Isma’īlīte ideological hierarchy and was nominated as the Hujjah, a high ranked position in this hierarchy. His active presence in al-Hakim’s court as the representative of Persian school contributed effectively to defense of Isma’īlīte ideology. Growth of extremist trends and Abbāsīd propaganda were the most important threats. This survey has paid attention to this critical situation of Fatimid history and Kirmānī’s role in managing it. The main questions of it are: What was/were the cause/causes of the internal crises which during this period entangled Fatimid state and Hamid ad-Din’s presence in Cairo seemed to be was an answer to them? What were Kirmānī’s devises to control these crises and what characteristics merited him, among numerous Isma’īlīte Dā’īs, to be elected for this mission?  To answer these questions, there are two hypotheses. First, it seems the main causes of critical situation of Kirmānī’s period have been an internal challenge of Isma’ilite doctrine as well as the appearance of some extremist trends. To answer the second question it seems Kirmānī who had developed a kind of synthetic ontology, succeeded to manage this critical situation in three phases: recognizing the crisis, rethinking of the theoretical bases of Isma’ilite doctrine with the purpose of finding functional devises to control the crisis, and finally, providing a theoretical framework for Isma’ilite Imamate to strengthen the doctrine. To answer the third question, the brilliant background of Kirmānī and his active presence in the theoretical dialogues of Isma’ilies with theologians who represented the other sects has been surveyed. The results of this research show that, Kirmānī‘s presence in Fatimid Cairo and his activities were crucial for managing this critical point of Isma’īlīte history. Not only had he played a really efficient role to save Fatimid dynasty from its sooner collapse, but also he was successful to propose a masterfully manipulated theory of Imamate for Isma’īlīte sect. Based on an analytic-descriptive methodology, this study has tried to use textual data gleaned mostly from Isma’īlīte written material in history and theology to attain its goals.