Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Nasafi

Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Nasafi
TitleChief da'i of Khurasan and Transoxiania
Personal
Died943/944/945
ReligionIsma'ili Shi'a Islam
Flourished937–943
Home townNasaf
ChildrenMas'ud
Notable work(s)Kitāb al-Maḥṣūl
Known forConversion of Nasr II, introduction of Neoplatonism into Isma'ili theology
Senior posting
PredecessorHusayn ibn Ali al-Marwazi

Abu'l-Hasan Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Bazdawi al-Nasafi (or al-Bazdahi, al-Nakhshabi) (died 943/945) was an early 10th-century Isma'ili missionary (da'i) and theologian. In c. 937 he succeeded in converting the Samanid emir, Nasr II, to Isma'ilism, and ushered in a period of Isma'ili dominance at the Samanid court that lasted until Nasr's death. In the subsequent persecution of the Isma'ilis, launched by Nuh I, al-Nasafi himself fell victim. As a theologian, he is generally credited with being among those who introduced Neoplatonic concepts into Isma'ili theology. His doctrines dominated indigenous Isma'ilism in the Iranian lands in the 9th–10th centuries, but were denounced as antinomian by Isma'ili theologians aligned with the Fatimid Caliphate.


Developed by StudentB