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MARSHALL G. S. HODGSON: The Secret Order of Assassins: The Struggle of the Early Nizr Ismls against the Islamic World. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2005; pp. 368. Hodgson traces the long and tortuous history of the Ismaili branch of Islam, an independent group that carried the name of Ismail, the son of great Shi ite imam Jafar as Sadiq. The Ismailis interpret the sacred books inwardly and allegorically (ta wil ), and, as such, represent a different religious position to the Sunni orthodoxy. With the decline of the Sunni Caliphal power, the Zaydi established their power in the mountains south of the Caspian Sea and in Yemen. The Fatimid Empire, whose centre was Cairo, gave a great impetus to the Ismaili call (da wa) in the tenth and eleventh centuries. With the decline of the Fatimid dynasty towards the end of the eleventh century, the Nizari Ismailis carved out their own small and unique states in present day Syria, Iraq, and Iran. The separation of the Nizari Ismailis from mainstream Islam was propelled by the split of the Ismailis into Musta liyya and Nizariyya when al-Mustali succeeded his father on the Fatimid throne instead of al-Mustansirs eldest heir designate, Nizar. Hodgson asserts that the word assassin was originally a nickname to the sect, and had nothing to do with killing. The term assassin is etymologically derived from a variant of the Arabic word hashishi, a product of hemp. Once their leader Hasan Sabbah had consolidated his control over the famous fortress of Alamut in 1090, he gladly took advantage of the social atomisation of the times to conquer one fortress after another, piece by piece, and to use occasional assassination against military chiefs and sultans who attacked the Nizaris in order to advance their power. The Nizari Ismailis reached their pinnacle between 1163 and 1193 under the reign of Sinan, known as the old man of the mountains. The Nizaris sought always to protect themselves in a very hostile environment using a shrewd policy of attempting to maintain balance of power between the newly arrived Frankish crusaders in 1097 and the Saljuq chieftains. The leaders of this community were able to maintain their independence for a period against not only the Fatimid Empire but also the surrounding Saljuq power. They maintained that independence in mountain strongholds and surrounding villages until the destruction of Alamut by the Mongols in AD 1256. In addition to a detailed sketch of their epic history, Hodgson expounds Hasan al Sabbahs teaching on ta lim (instruction), which is part of the special Ismaili emphasis on the religious authority of the imam as the guide of his followers in their temporal and spiritual affairs. Hasans religious and philosophical teachings were combated by no less than the greatest theologian and legist of the time, al Ghazzali. Hodgson presents the intellectual debates between the Sunni majority and Ismailis in matters of doctrine and interpretation with clarity and subtlety. The issues of contention and opposition between them are elaborated throughout the text, especially with regard to Resurrection, the role of the Imam, and the dissimulation (taqiyya) practiced by this inward sect. The declaration of the resurrection or qiyama in 1164 was intended to be a revelation of the truth and the hidden principles behind the literal interpretation of the revealed text in the person of the Imam of the time. It is a spiritual event coinciding with a movement from the outward to the inward truth, which would liberate all believers to their true destiny. In the appendix, Hodgson translates The Haft Bab-I Baba Sayyid-na written during Muhammad IIs period about the complex doctrine of Resurrection (Qiyama). Hodgsons book, The Secret Order of Assassins, represents a genuine historical study of the Nizaris, based on Ismaili original sources, which penetrates the outward veil of legends, myths, and sinister portrayal circulated by outside observers and enemies of the Nizaris. Hodgson draws the reader towards the evolving intricacies of political,
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religious, and spiritual revolts that the Nizaris led against their numerous enemies. One can see the special bond of loyalty and the elaborate ceremonial initiations that kept the community together in times of crisis. The book succeeds in canvassing a ne picture of the overall historical period and the evident heroic struggle of the community to survive and practice their religion. It is truly a classic work of ne scholarship. EDWARD KASAMANIE Independent Scholar North Sydney

DAVID F. FORD and C. C. PECKNOLD, eds.: The Promise of Scriptural Reasoning. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 2006; pp. xi + 216. Scriptural reasoning (SR) is a movement of interfaith interaction and engagement that has been developing internationally since the 1990s. It operates by bringing together scholars in collective reection on the sacred texts of Jewish, Christian, and Islamic traditions. To date, this volume provides perhaps the clearest synthesis of the driving philosophical and theological principles behind the movement of which David Ford, Regius Professor of Theology at Cambridge, has been one of the key gures, along with Peter Ochs, of the University of Virginia and other contributors to this volume. As David Ford explains in his introductory essay on SR as an Interfaith Wisdom, the theological impetus behind this movement is in part inuenced by a desire to go beyond a conventional polarity between foundationalist claims for the authority of any one scripture and academic approaches to the scripture that limit themselves to reecting on tyranny and oppression without deeper theological engagement. Ford observes that, too often, theological reection has been marginalised from secular academic disciplines within a university milieu, fostering a narrowing of perspective both within and outside of theology, contrary to the intention of the university reforms promulgated at Berlin in 1810 that laid the foundation of the contemporary academy. His introductory essay nicely summarises the sense of excitement that drives the SR movement, as scholars seek to share their insights between different traditions. The key principles of the movement are spelled out by Steven Kepnes. Given that interfaith activities have blossomed more broadly over the last decade (with added urgency after the experience of 9/11), there is great value in any effort to theorise the way in which those well versed in one scripture can benet from collective reection. As Kepnes explains, its rst goal is to build sociality among its practitioners and release sources of reason, compassion and divine spirit for healing our separate communities and for repair of the world. Rather than fall back on religious versus secular polarities, SR is driven by a sense that respectful dialogue between interpreters of different religious traditions can help us overcome the narrowness of focusing only on a single scripture. The movement depends on the willingness of its participants to cooperate, as well as a degree of shared planning of which texts to study. Nicholas Adams and Ben Quash also reect on this process from experience of shared reasoning through a diversity of scriptures. Quash usefully compares the process with open-ended literary criticism, arguing that SR offers a promising way out of the limitations of impersonal and purely phenomenological approaches to the study of religion. A common theme emphasised by all the contributors to the volume is that the participant in SR is not simply a detached observer but someone who cannot escape a community of reection, shaped by a library of the mind.
2010 The Authors Journal compilation 2010 Association for the Journal of Religious History