their written undertakings to that effect, stipulating that should they ever violate the pledge, such punishment and retribution would befall them as would make their likes take heed.
Yamīn al-Dawlah, Amīn al-Millah Abū al-Qāsim Maḥmūd—namely, the son of Sebüktegin, may Allah strengthen his victory—(1) complied with the directive of the Commander of the Faithful al-Qādir bi-llāh (2) and adopted his precedent in the territories over which he had been deputized, in Khurasan and elsewhere. He put to death the Muʿtazilites, Rāfiḍites, Ismāʿīlites (3), Qarmaṭites, Jahmites, and Mushabbihites; he crucified them, imprisoned them, and banished them (4). He also ordered that they be publicly cursed from the pulpits of the Muslims, that every faction of the people of innovation be driven away, and that they be expelled from their lands. This remained the case throughout the Islamic world until Allah inherits the earth and all who are upon it, for He is the best of inheritors in every realm.
(1) In Sharh Usul Iʿtiqad Ahl al-Sunnah: al-Nuṣrah. Its introduction was given above (p. 710).
(2) The text enclosed in quotation marks is an addition taken from S, T, and Sharh Usul Iʿtiqad Ahl al-Sunnah.
(3) One of the Imami Shi‘i sects, tracing its lineage to Isma‘il b. Ja‘far al-Sadiq. Since Isma‘il predeceased his father, the sect divided into two branches:
– The “Pure” Isma‘ilis, who assert that the Imamate passed from Ja‘far to his son Isma‘il and deny that he died during his father’s lifetime—interpreting his death as a concealment (taqiyya) from the Abbasid caliphs—and who await the return of Isma‘il b. Ja‘far.
– The “Mubārakiyya,” who maintain that the Imamate passed to Ja‘far’s grandson Muḥammad b. Isma‘il b. Ja‘far.
The Isma‘ilis hold erroneous doctrines concerning God and His attributes, the Companions, reward and punishment, the resurrection, and other matters too numerous to detail here. For further information, see:
• al-Firaq bayna al-Firaq (al-Baghdādi), pp. 62–63.
• al-Millal wa al-Niḥal, vol. 1 (al-Shahrastānī), pp. 167–168, 191–198.
• Mazāhib al-Islāmiyyīn, vol. 2 (ʿAbd al-Raḥmān Badawī), pp. 87–91.
• al-Qaramita (Maḥmūd Shākir), pp. 39–41.
• Isma‘iliyyah: History and Doctrines (Iḥsān al-Hayẓ Zāhir), pp. 267–592, which treats their beliefs in detail based on their own sources.
(4) In Sharh Usul Iʿtiqad Ahl al-Sunnah wa al-Jamā‘ah: the chapter “Wa Nafyihim” (Their Denial).