As to 31ohamnied, the son of Ismitil, of whom the proselyte is told at first that he will reappear in this world—he is afterwards represented to him as merely destined to reappear in his doctrine, by means of the propagation of his pure philosophy by the mouth of his disciples and apostles. As to the Arabs themselves, the missionaries teach that God abhors them, on account of their having killed Ilusein, the son of Ali, and that he has therefore taken from the caliphs the Imamat, as he took from the Israelites the prophetical succession, when they had killed their prophets.
Thus the creed of the Ismailis had been gradually built up. Many changes were introduced into it at different times, and among them this very important one: that the person of Mohammed, the son of Ismail, itself was changed for another, a descendant of Abdallah, the son of Maimun Kaddah.
The two principal writers on this subject are Makrizi and Nowairi; to the latter of whom the greater part of the foregoing information is due. He has preserved for ns at length the very curious oath imposed upon the proselytes at the beginning of the initia tion; and also certain instructions reserved for the missionary himself, which simply teach him to "be all things to all men." The following is a characteristic sample: "Then, again, there will be those to whom you must preach the belief in a living Imam. Say Mohammed ben Ismail is alive at this moment. Be very gentle and very modest with them: pretend to despise gold and silver; make them recite 50 prayers a. day: recommend them to abstain from lying and other vices, also from wine. These people arc of the utmost use to us. Leave them in their special -creed, only just telling them some of the mysteries of the number Seven; but break their spirit by the surcharge of prayer. These will be our best proofs against any assertions of an advanced disciple,
if he should betray us. Furthermore, these people, when properly managed, arc sure to leave you at their death all their money, as they would, during their lifetime, give you everything they possessed without a murmur. The more advanced you may at once inform of the abrogation of Mohammedanism by our Imam—of the worthlessness of the Koran and its laws in their literal sense. To the still higher disciples you may confide the entirely spiritual nature of the ` life' in such a manner that their belief in the dogma of the resurrection is practically destroyed by it. From this stage you will conduct some to the renunciation of the belief in the existence of those heavenly beings, the `angels,' and the creation of Adam as the first man on earth, while there were many before him. Having arrived at this point, you will find it marvelously easy to destroy the dogma of the existence of God and the mission of angels to the prophets, and to substitute for all this our own truth—i.e., the eternity of the universe. The last step is the abolition of both Mohammed ben Ismail and Ismail, who are only the ' gates' to knowledge." So far the doctrines of the Ismailis, who, doubtless, aimed—apart from an original desire of purifying and allegorizing Mohammedanism, and elevating it to a philosophical system—at political power. How far one of their principal branches, the KARMATBIANS, succeeded in this, will be found under that heading. See Makrizi, Nowairi, Silvet-tre de Sacy, Religion des .Drnses, etc.