“We ought not to be ashamed of appreciating the truth and of acquiring it wherever it comes from, even if it comes from races distant and nations different from us...”
Abu Yusuf Ya'qub ibn Ishaq al-Kindi (c. 800-866)
Mr Pabani, graduate student at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland opens his paper on 'The Intellectual Tradition of Shia Ismaili Islam' with the quote above.
He contends that Ismailis have a long tradition of adapting and co-opting the knowledge and philosophies of other traditions and civilisations, using them to re-shape and re-articulate the Ismaili faith.
Pabani writes that the statement above
"appears as a calling; a calling to the truth, a truth which is enshrined within the knowledge of those who may indeed have been, and may continue to be,'races distant and nations different from us'."
The message is inescapable: “[t]he purpose of the Ismaili mission was [and still is - Ed.] to locate the truth” wherever it may be found. (Walker, '96, as quoted by Pabani)
As proof, Pabani notes what happened when Ismaili philosophy peaked just as as the Islamic world first encountered the Ancient Greeks. The great debate of the time was revelation vs. reason; the question was, what constituted a better source of knowledge, spiritual revelation or the rational arguments and discoveries of mankind? The Ismaili answer was to take the best of both worlds and fuse them in the one person of the Imam.
Intriguingly, Pabani quotes Daftary saying,
"they chose to express their theology in terms of the then most modern and intellectually fashionable philosophical themes, without compromising the essence of their religious message ..."
This looks almost identical to the approach modern-day Ismailis take. Pabani argues that in the 10th Century, Ismailis selected Neoplatonism "as their medium through which to spread the daʿwa", that is, their religious and political message. Today that medium is pluralism.
A Christian Response
We should praise our Ismaili friends for their earnest search for truth. Certainly their efforts shouldn't surprise us. Paul explained this human inclination to search for the truth to the same Greeks who, 800 years later, would so heavily influence the Ismailis:
"From one man [God] made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us." (Acts 17:26-7)
As Christians we can believe that it is God who is moving Ismailis to seek Him. We can ask ourselves what we can do to help our Ismaili friends in their pursuit of truth.
Let's encourage our Ismaili friends with these words of Pabani,
"truth can indeed be found in places far and wide. Consequently therefore, wherever the truth resides, it must be actively sought out and pursuit of it must be encouraged."
None of us need be afraid of the Truth.
Image credits: Top, by 'Hafiz M.' via Hussein Charania's photo blog. Used with permission.
Originally published August 2015