Abalisa e Shayatin: a Qarmatian-Isma?ili interpretation. The case of the Kitab Shajarat al-Yaqin.

This paper attempts to discuss how Qarmatism attributed the deviating function of shaytan to those who usurped the legitimate power of the ‘rightly guided’ imām by analyzing some passages taken from a 4th/10th century Qarmatian treatise, the Kitab shajarat al-yaqin. According to the Qur’an, God puts near every prophet an ‘enemy’ (ʽadu), defined as shayṭān (satan), who aims to lead him astray from the right path. The tempting function of this evil being is also admitted by some heterodox (in the sense of minority) Islamic doctrines of Shiʽite derivation, such as Qarmatian Ismāʽlism. Qarmatism, however, appears to have developed a kind of demonology that is quite different from the ‘orthodox’ (majority) view, since it ascribes the same deviating function of the Qur’anic ‘adu or shaytan to humans. This demonology was probably influenced by the historical and political circumstances that played a part in the establishment of this important branch of Ismāʽilism.