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The Evolution of al-Qāḍī al-Nuʿmān’s Theory of Ismaili Jurisprudence

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by Isamail K. Poonawala●Sep 28, 2016

Shiʿi Ismaili law, codified by al-Qāḍī al-Nuʿmān (hereafter referred to as Nuʿmān) in his enduring work Daʿāʾim al-Islām (The Pillars of Islam) with the approval of the fourth Fatimid Imam-caliph al-Muʿizz li-Dīn Allāh, is almost a millennium old.1 Ever since its promulgation, most probably in 349/960 as the official code of the Fatimid empire, the Daʿāʾim has reigned supreme, particularly with the Mustaʿlī- Ṭayyibī Ismailis of Yemen and the Indian subcontinent after the fall of the Fatimids in Egypt in 561/1171.

The Evolution of al-Qāḍī al-Nuʿmān’s Theory of Ismaili Jurisprudence as Reflected in the Chronology of his Works on Jurisprudence (PDF).

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