The title of this book – an expanded version of a PhD dissertation at McGill University supervised by Hermann Landolt – is somewhat misleading. The reader who is expecting a general survey about the concept of walāya in the Fāṭimid Ismaili tradition will be disappointed: the study is almost exclusively based on the work of one single author, the Majālis al-Mu'ayyadiyya, a large collection of lessons or sermons (majālis) compiled by the Fāṭimid dā ʿ ī al-Mu'ayyad fi l-Dīn al-Shīrāzī (d. c. 470/1078). On the other hand, scholars who after Verena Klemm's study of al-Mu'ayyad's autobiography (Memoirs of a Mission, London, 2003) and Tahera Qutbuddin's exploration of his poetry (Al-Mu'ayyad al-Shirazi and Fatimid Da ʿ wa Poetry, Leiden, 2005) were waiting for the first monograph about the dā ʿ ī’s philosophical and theological system, will be delighted by the publication of this book.

Indeed walāya (“loyalty, fidelity”), as it is developed in al-Mu'ayyad's Majālis, covers a wide range of issues: the relation of the Ismaili initiates to the Imam and his “mission” (da ʿ wa) as an esoteric-political organization; the link between the Prophet or his Imams and the higher principles of the Intelligible world (Intellect, Soul); the Prophet/Imam as insān muṭlaq and his soteriological role in the gradual purification of the human soul; the preparation of the advent of the “Resurrector” (Qā’im) and the final Resurrection. Studying walāya in al-Mu'ayyad thus implies an in-depth investigation of his cosmology, Imamology and “Qā’imology” (a nice neologism used throughout the book). Alexandrin presents an impressive analysis of this complex system of thought, so that her study can be welcomed as a valuable first contribution to a better understanding of al-Mu'ayyad's position in the doctrinal evolution of Ismailism, for which he appears to be a key figure. For some reason, he did not adopt the philosophical system of his famous predecessor Ḥamīd al-Dīn al-Kirmānī, but reverted to the Neoplatonism of the so-called “Persian School” (in particular al-Sijistānī). Alexandrin shows in a convincing way that al-Mu'ayyyad depends on al-Sijistānī and other earlier Ismailī authorities, such as Jaʿfar b. Manṣūr al-Yaman and Qāḍī al-Nuʿmān. She is also referring to al-Mu'ayyad's influence on later Ṭayyibī authors, although in this field much further research is needed.

This well documented book, based mainly on the edited part of the Majālis al-Mu'ayyadiyya (which covers less than one-third of the entire corpus), contains many new elements and stimulating insights, clarifying al-Mu'ayyad's role inside the Fāṭimid da ʿ wa of the mid-fifth/eleventh century, and his conception of Ismaili orthodoxy. However, it is not easy to summarize all of its contents. In broad outlines, the first chapter is an attempt to contextualize the notion of walāya in al-Mu'ayyad by comparing it with earlier Ismaili and Twelver Shii authors or Sufi texts (in particular al-Ḥakīm al-Tirmidhī); chapter 2 is about the composition, aims and nature of the Majālis al-Mu'ayyadiyya; chapter 3 focuses on the figure of the Imam and his function, whereas the chapter 4 is devoted to the eschatological dimension of walāya and Resurrection. Unfortunately, there is a lack of coherence in the overall structure of the chapters: the relation between their different parts is not always evident or well articulated; numerous digressions and preliminary considerations confuse the reader; unnecessary repetitions and the dispersion of individual topics over several chapters do not aid easy access to the contents of the book.

I give some examples to illustrate this structural problem. The bio-bibliographical data about al-Mu'ayyad are scattered all over the introduction and the first two chapters, so that the reader has to collect them and put them together as pieces of a puzzle. In the introduction and first chapter, the author raises the fascinating question of the possible influence of the Shii concept of walāya on Sufism, or vice versa, even suggesting that al-Ḥakīm al-Tirmidhī could have influenced Ismaili authors (p. 40). Although the Sufi master takes a prominent place in the opening parts of the book, he disappears in the later sections, his relevance for al-Mu'ayyad's thought remaining unexplained and unclear to me. The final section of the fourth chapter is about the esoteric interpretation of Ramadan and Laylat al-Qadar. This is announced in a subtitle on p. 188, but we have to wait until p. 193 before this topic is discussed. The same issue had already been treated on pp. 53–5 and elsewhere (see the index). Gathering into one section all the material about the ta'wīl of Ramadan would have clarified the argument. The same is true for al-Mu'ayyad's position against the ghulāt, scattered throughout chapters 3 and 4: if treated in a more systematic way, it would have been easier for the reader to understand what exactly al-Mu'ayyad considered as ghuluww and hence as Fāṭimid “orthodoxy”. Chapter 1 is particularly heterogeneous, perhaps because part of it was previously published in a journal. The confusion is even increased by a technical problem with the footnotes. So, for instance, note 116 on p. 46 (a quote from Alibhai) refers in fact to note 115 on p. 245. This goes on until the end of the chapter (note 251 on p. 77 = note 250 on p. 259).

The transcriptions of the Arabic and the translations are not always accurate. I wonder why the author, consistently throughout the book, quotes al-Nuʿmān's Ta'wīl al-Da ʿ ā’im as Ta'wīl al-Da ʿ ā’im al-Islām, which is a grammatical mistake for Ta'wīl Da ʿ ā’im al-Islām. The same type of grammatical error occurs in khātim al-awliyā’ Allāh (p. 1). The translation of ḥadd al-quwwa ilā ḥadd al-fi‘l as “[and to go beyond] the limit of potentiality to the limit of actual potentiality” (p. 200) makes no sense, al-fi ʿ l meaning simply “act, actuality”.

To sum up, we are grateful to Elizabeth Alexandrin for this highly innovative and stimulating book, which contains many interesting elements and opens new perspectives for further research. Thanks to her work, it is much easier now to situate al-Mu'ayyad in the historical evolution of Ismaili doctrine and also to evaluate his originality and lasting influence on the later Ṭayyibī tradition. However, it is a difficult book, due partly to the complexity of Ismailism, but also to a lack of structure and systematization in the presentation of the material. “Dispersion of science” (tabdīd al- ʿ ilm) may be a widespread technique in esoteric writing, but for academic purposes rigour and clarity are still the best path to knowledge.