The Nizari da'wa's graded recruitment

درجات استمالة المريد في الدعوة النزارية

The arsenal the Nizari da'wa gave its da'is to win recruits: tafris — 'reading' the soul's depths and the will's pliability; ta'nis — kindling trust and feeding each bent; tashkik — the boldest step, unsettling the recruit's creed; ta'liq — leaving him suspended and yearning for the doctrine; tadlis — deceit and false claims to whet him; ta'sis — fixing the taught 'facts' until they settle in his mind; khal' — casting off the Sunni rites for good by illicit ta'wil.

Overview

Hasan Ibrahim Hasan describes seven degrees that the missionaries of the Nizari mission followed in winning over the one they invited. The author's description is of what he sees as the missionaries' weapons. ¹

The degrees

Probing (tarassum): the missionary's inward reading of the invitee's thoughts, and the strength of his will.
Reassurance (ta'nis): instilling security in him and satisfying his inclinations.
Doubt (tashkik): unsettling his belief, which the author considers the most dangerous of the steps.
Suspension (ta'liq): leaving him in suspense, longing to learn the doctrine.
Deception (tadlis): concealment and false claims, in the author's description.
Foundation (ta'sis): fixing information in his mind until it is settled.
Dismissal (khal'): removing him from the Sunni schools entirely by discarding the obligations through interpretation.

This is the account of a single author, and the description needs a further source. It would be well to compare it with what the Ismailis themselves wrote.

Da'i al-Du'at — the chief missionary

The da'i al-du'at, the great official to whom the headship of the Ismaili da'wa was entrusted under the Fatimids: ranking just below the qadi al-qudat and wearing his dress, the two offices often held by one man. Twelve nuqaba' assisted him in spreading the doctrine and deputies represented him in the provinces — the link between caliph and adherents — administering the oath to initiates directly or by proxy and overseeing the lectures delivered in the majlis al-da'wa, which were submitted to the caliph for approval before being taught; he also collected the najwa of 'believing men and women' at three and a third dirhams, and whoever paid thirty-three dinars received a Fatimid chit bearing the caliph's signature.

The Nizari da'wa's graded recruitment

At a glance

Overview

The degrees

Connections

People and things also explored

Sources

Ideas

Da'i al-Du'at — the chief missionary