The Use of the Term 鈥樁俨光榠鈥
(He who summons), a term used by several Muslim groups, especially the IsmailisAdherents of a branch of Shi’i Islam that considers Ismail, the eldest son of the Shi’i Imam Ja士far al-峁⒛乨iq (d. 765), as his successor., to designate their missionaries. It was adopted by the聽Seljuk聽鈥楢bbasid聽da鈥榳a, or mission, in聽Khurasan聽and by the early聽Mu鈥榯azila, but it soon became particularly identified with certain Shi鈥榠 groups, for example, the聽Zaydis聽and some Shi鈥榠 extremists (ghulat), notably the Khattabiya.
The term acquired its widest application in connection with the Ismailis, though early Ismaili authors in Persia sometimes substituted other designations, like聽janah聽(pl. ajniha: see the excerpt from Abu Hatim Razi, Kitab al-islah, in Hamdani, p. 109; Sijistani, pp. 91, 100, 128).
The term聽da鈥榠聽(pl. du鈥榓t) came to be applied to any authorised representative of the Ismaili聽al-da鈥榳a al-hadiya聽(rightly guiding mission), a missionary responsible for spreading the Ismaili doctrine and winning followers for the聽imamIn general usage, a leader of prayers or religious leader. The Shi’i restrict the term to their spiritual leaders descended from 士Al墨 b. Ab墨 峁乴ib and the Prophet’s daughter, Fatima..
Different ranks of da鈥榠s emerged during the history of the Ismailis and among different branches. In fact, the聽da鈥榠聽was the unofficial agent of the Fatimid state (297-567/909-1171), operating secretly in many territories outside Egypt and Syria in efforts to promote recognition of the Ismaili Fatimid聽caliph聽as the Ismaili聽imam.
Author
Dr Farhad Daftary
Co-Director and Head of the Department of Academic Research and Publications
An authority in Shi’i studies, with special reference to its Ismaili tradition, Dr. Daftary has published and lectured widely in these fields of Islamic studies. In 2011 a Festschrift entitled聽Fortresses of the Intellect聽was produced to honour Dr. Daftary by a number of his colleagues and peers.
