2024-01-03 03:00:12
Syedna Mufaddal Saifuddi, leader of the Dawoodi Bohra community (a religious denomination within the Ismaili branch of Shiite Islam), leads a ceremony in Kuwait City, September 24, 2022. YASSER AL-ZAYYAT / AFP
The latest opus of the famous video game series produced by Ubisoft, Assassin’s Creed Mirageis presented as a “back to basics” of the saga. No more wanderings in ancient Greece or medieval England: as with the first episode, the story takes place in the Levant, during the first centuries of Islam. The player plays the member of a mysterious sect, the “Assassins”, sometimes also called “those we don’t see”due to their remarkable concealment and infiltration capabilities.
If this scenario and its characters are fictional, they are inspired by a very real esoteric current of Islam: Ismailism which, despite the preponderant role it may have played in the history of the Middle East, has always been the source of a multitude of legends and fantasies. Here are five keys to understanding it better.
How was Ismailism born?
Ismailism is a movement originating from Shiite Islam. As a reminder, according to the Shiites, temporal and spiritual power must return to the imams, the « guides », designated among the descendants of Fatima, daughter of the prophet Mohammed, and Ali, her son-in-law. The Ismailis, for their part, distinguished themselves from other Shiite currents around the year 765.
Read the decryption: What are the differences between Sunnis and Shiites?
At this time, in Medina, the sixth imam and descendant of Ali, Ja’far al-Sâdiq, designated his son Ismaïl as successor. Problem: Ismaïl disappears before his father’s death. “He also had a very bad reputation. He was accused of drinking and having bad morals, or on the contrary of associating with extremists. Still, his father ended up appointing another successor”says the Islamologist and philosopher Daniel De Smet, author of Fatimids. Esotericism in Islam (Cerf, 2022).
Now this turnaround poses a major theological problem: isn’t an imam supposed to be infallible and anticipate all events? Can he change his mind? The Ismailis are the descendants of Muslims who, at the time, continued to see Ismail as the legitimate imam, and following him his son, Muhammad ibn Ismail. According to them, Ja’far al-Sâdiq pretended to appoint a second and false successor to protect his lineage from the Sunnis.
Read also: Article reserved for our subscribers An aperitif with Serge Tisseron: “I stay up late to play “Assassin’s Creed””
For Ismailis, the spiritual quest, guided by the teachings and devotion to their imam, is far more important than the legal prescriptions of Islam, including the five pillars. Many Sunnis saw this as a relativization of Islamic law, thus forcing the Ismailis to adopt an attitude of extreme discretion in order not to be persecuted. Founding attitude that they will maintain throughout their history: the Ismailis are considered the inventors of the famous taqiyyathe art of dissimulation and double dealing, a concept today used for certain Islamist activities.
You have 75% of this article left to read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.
1704252545
#Ismailism #fascinating #esoteric #current #Islam #inspired #video #game
