Beyond the Quran: Early Ismaili ta'wil and the Secrets of the Prophets

Ismailism, one of the three major branches of Shiism, is best known for ta’wil, an esoteric, allegorizing scriptural exegesis.Beyond the Qur’?n: Early Ismaili ta’wil and the Secrets of the Prophets is the first book-length study of this interpretive genre.Analyzing sources composed by tenth-century Ismaili missionaries in light of social-science theories of cognition and sectarianism, David Hollenberg argues that the missionaries used ta’wil to instill in acolytes a set of symbolic patterns, forms, and “logics.” This shared symbolic world bound the community together as it created a gulf between community members and those outside the movement.Hollenberg thus situates ta’wil socially, as an interpretive practice that sustained a community of believers. An important aspect of ta’wil is its unconventional objects of interpretation.Ismaili missionaries mixed Qur’?nic exegesis with interpretation of Torah, Gospels, Greek philosophy, and symbols such as the Christian Cross and Eucharist, as