Ritual ablution and cultic purity in an Ismaili context: the Sijistanian view

The paper , which is a continuation of my last researches on the Sijistanian view of the “pillars of islam", aims at analysing the interpretation of ritual ablution and cultic purity according to the 10th century's Ismaili “missionary" Abu Ya qub al-Sijistani. In the last of his works, the Kitab al-Iftikhar (The Book of the Boast), this outstanding da'i also devoted attention to the Islamic ritual prescription. These obbligatory duties, whose performance al-Sijistani fully recognized, concelead an inner meaning that can be inveìled through the tradition of the ta'wil, the esoterici interpretation that, according to the Ismaili doctrine , allows the mu'min to achieve his salvation.