The Formation of the Ikhwānian Corpus

A Philological Study of the Epistles and Two Summaries Attributed to the Brethren of Purity

Series: 

Author:
Janne Mattila
The Epistles of the Brethren of Purity (9th-10th cent.) constitute one of the most enigmatic works in the history of Islamic philosophy. This book presents an in-depth study of the Epistles and its two summaries. Mattila argues that the Ikhwānian corpus evolved from a mainly philosophical encyclopedia of the Epistles to the largely religious treatises of its summaries. Based on philological analysis, the book's first part shows the gradual transformation of the contents of the Epistles. The second part demonstrates that the Comprehensive Epistle was not composed by the same authors but instead represents an Ismāʿīlī adaptation of the encyclopedia.
Copyright Year:
2026
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Published
ISBN:
978-90-04-69014-1
Publication:
01 Dec 2025
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Published
ISBN:
978-90-04-69013-4
Publication:
10 Dec 2025
Cover The Formation of the Ikhwānian Corpus

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About MyBook
Janne Mattila, Ph.D. (2011), is a research fellow at the Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies. He has published extensively on the history philosophy in the Islamic world, including the monograph, The Eudaimonist Ethics of al-Fārābī and Avicenna (Brill, 2022).
Acknowledgements
List of Tables

Introduction
 1 The Nature of the Epistles
 2 Authorship
 3 Dating
 4 Comprehensive and Super-Comprehensive Epistles
 5 Sources

Part 1 Redaction History of the Epistles



1 Gradual Redaction
 1 Rationale for the Order of the Epistles
 2 Curricular Passages
 3 Large-Scale Manuscript Variation
 4 Fihrist

2 Methods of Redaction
 1 Epistle Titles
 2 Epistle Transitions

3 Relative Chronology
 1 Cross-References
 2 Hypothesis of Redaction History

Part 2 The Comprehensive Epistle



4 The Relation between the Comprehensive Epistle and the Epistles
 1 Final Epistle
 2 References from the Epistles to the Comprehensive Epistle
 3 The Comprehensive Epistle and the Fihrist

5 Structure of the Comprehensive Epistle
 1 Epistle Commentaries
 2 Central Themes

6 Doctrine of the Comprehensive Epistle
 1 God and Creation
 2 Prophecy and imāmate
 3 Brethren of Purity
 4 From the Epistles to the Comprehensive Epistle

Epilogue: Super-Comprehensive Epistle

Tables
Bibliography
Index
Researchers of the Brethren of Purity, history of Islamic philosophy, and Ismāʿīlism; students with interest in these subjects; academic libraries, the Institute of Ismaili studies, etc.
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