388 Italian Renaissance
(ghaybah), and destined to return to his faithful followers
in the future. Influenced by Persian Gnostic theories, as
well as Neoplatonism and Eastern MYSTICISM, they inter-
preted the QURANallegorically (batin). They considered
spiritual exercises more important than sacred practices,
a religious and political radicalism that required them to
organize secretly and, when necessary, to defend them-
selves by developing efficient PREACHINGtechniques.
In the ninth and 10th centuries they prospered in
Persia or IRAN,IRAQ, and parts of Arabia, where the Kar-
matians, Bedouins from eastern Arabia near modern
Bahrain, converted to Ismailism and created a powerful
state. During the same periods another, less radical,
Ismaili group, the FATIMIDS, established an empire in
North AFRICAand conquered EGYPTin 974, ruling it until
1169 as CALIPHS. After the fall of the Karmatians in the
12th century, most Ismailis recognized the Fatimids as
the true IMAMS.
An Ismaili sect in Persia developed its own theology
at the end of the 11th century and opposed the Fatimids
and their supporters, the Nizaris, on the grounds that
their conformity was not compatible with true Ismaili
beliefs. This more extremist sect became the ASSASSINSin
the 12th and 13th centuries, known for their recourse to
murder and terrorism in diffusing and protecting their
faith. Ismailis were active during the 12th century over
large parts of the Muslim world. However, they lacked
any central unifying political or theological core. Their
numerous sects soon grew apart from one another but
have survived to the present.
Further reading:Anthony Black, The History of Islamic
Political Thought: From the Prophet to the Present(New
York: Routledge, 2001); Farhad Daftary, The Isma’ilis: Their
History and Doctrines(Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 1990); Farhad Daftary, ed., Mediaeval Isma’ili History
and Thought (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
1996); Bernard Lewis, The Origins of Isma’ilism: A Study of
the Historical Background of the Fatimid Caliphate(1940;
reprint, New York: AMS Press, 1975).Italian Renaissance SeeRENAISSANCE AND REVIVALS
IN ART.Italy Medieval Italy was a peninsula in southern
Europe, bordered on the north by the Alps and on the
west, south, and east by the Tyrrhenian, Mediterranean,
and Adriatic Seas. Italy was one of the most important