The Brethren of Purity, also known as The Brethren of Sincerity, were a secret society active during the reign of the Buyid dynasty.They are generally considered a secret society because of their closed and private meetings every 12 days, as mentioned in the Rasa'il.
Presumably composed of Muslim philosophers centered in the Buyid port city of Basra,Al-Fārūq?, I. R. (1960), "On the Ethics of the Brethren of Purity", The Muslim World, 50: 109–121. the structure of the organization and the identities of its members have never been clear."Having been hidden within the cloak of secrecy from its very inception, the Rasa'il have provided many points of contention and have been a constant source of dispute among both Muslim and Western scholars. The identification of the authors, or possibly one author, the place and time of writing and propagation of their works, the nature of the secret brotherhood, the outer manifestation of which comprises the Rasa'il – these and many secondary questions have remained without answer." pg 25, Nasr (1964)William Bayne Fisher, Richard Nelson Frye, John Andrew Boyle, The Cambridge History of Iran, Published by Cambridge University Press, 1975, , p. 428 Their esoteric teachings and philosophy are expounded in an epistolary style in the Encyclopedia of the Brethren of Purity (Rasā'il Ikhwān al-Ṣafā'''), a giant compendium of 52 epistles that would greatly influence later encyclopedias. A good deal of Muslim and Western scholarship has been spent on just pinning down the identities of the Brethren and the century in which they were active.
Name The Arabic phrase Ikhwān aṣ-Ṣafāʾ (short for, among many possible transcriptions, , meaning "Brethren of Purity, Loyal Friends, People worthy of praise and Sons of Glory") can be translated as either the "Brethren of Purity" or the "Brethren of Sincerity"; various scholars such as Ian Netton prefer "of Purity" because of the group's ascetic impulses towards purity and salvation.
A suggestion made by Ignác Goldziher, and later written about by Philip Khuri Hitti in his History of the Arabs, is that the name is taken from a story in Kalilah waDimnah, in which a group of animals, by acting as faithful friends (ikhwān aṣ-ṣafāʾ), escape the snares of the hunter. The story concerns a Barbary dove and its companions who become entangled in the net of a hunter trapping birds. Together, they betake themselves, still entangled in the net, to a nearby rat, who is gracious enough to gnaw the birds free of the cords in which they have become enmeshed. Impressed by the rat's altruistic deed, a crow strikes up a friendship with him. Soon afterward a tortoise and gazelle also join the company of animals. Some time later, the gazelle becomes trapped in another net; but with the aid of the kind rat and the other animals, it is soon freed. The tortoise, however, is too slow in making his escape and finds himself captured by the hunter. In the final turn of events, the gazelle repays the tortoise by serving as a decoy and distracting the hunter while the rat and the others free the tortoise. After this, the animals are designated as the "Ikhwān aṣ-Ṣafāʾ".
This story is mentioned as an exemplum when the Brethren speak of mutual aid in one risāla (epistle), a crucial part of their system of ethics that has been summarized thus:
Meetings The Brethren regularly met on a fixed schedule. The meetings apparently took place on three evenings of each month: once near the beginning, in which speeches were given, another towards the middle, apparently concerning astronomy and astrology, and the third between the end of the month and the 25th of that month; during the third one, they recited hymns with philosophical content."The liturgy of the first night consisted of personal oratory; that of the second of a 'cosmic text', read under the starry heavens facing the polar star; and that of the third night of a philosophical hymn (implying a metaphysical or metacosmic theme) which was a 'prayer of Plato', 'supplication of Idris', or 'the secret psalm of Aristotle'." pg 35 of Nasr 1964 During their meetings and possibly also during the three feasts they held, on the dates of the sun's entry into the Zodiac signs "Ram, Cancer, and Balance" (which doubled as the March equinox, summer solstice, and September equinox), beyond the usual lectures and discussions, they would engage in some manner of liturgy reminiscent of the Sabians of Harran."[T]he liturgy described by the Ikhwan seems to be more closely related to the religion of the heirs of the prophet Idris, that is, the Harranians who were the principal inheritors in the Middle East of what has been called "Oriental Pythagoreanism" and who were the guardians and propagators of Hermeticism in the Islamic world." pg 34 of Nasr 1964
Ranks Hierarchy was a major theme in the Encyclopedia, and unsurprisingly, the Brethren loosely divided themselves up into four ranks by age; the age guidelines would not have been firm: for example, such an exemplar of the fourth rank as Jesus would have been too young if the age guidelines were absolute and fixed. Compare the similar division of the Encyclopedia into four sections and the Jabirite symbolism of 4. The ranks were: The "Craftsmen" – a craftsman had to be at least 15 years of age; their honorific was the "pious and compassionate" (al-abrār wa 'l-ruhamā). The "Political Leaders" – a political leader had to be at least 30 years of age; their honorific was the "good and excellent" (al-akhyār wa 'l-fudalā) The "Kings" – a king had to be at least 40 years of age; their honorific was the "excellent and noble" (al-fudalā' al-kirām) The "Prophets and Philosophers" – the most aspired-to, the final and highest rank of the Brethren; to become a Prophet or Philosopher a man had to be at least 50 years old; their honorific compared them to historical luminaries such as Jesus, Socrates, or Muhammad, who were also classified as Kings; this rank was the "angelic rank" (al-martabat al-malakiyya).pg 36, Neton 1991
Identities There have been a number of theories as to the authors of the Brethren. Though some members of the Ikhwān are known, it is not easy to work out exactly who, or how many, were part of this group of writers. The members referred to themselves as "sleepers in the cave" (rasā'il 4, p. 18); a hidden intellectual presence. In one passage they give as their reason for hiding their secrets from the people, not a fear of earthly violence, but a desire to protect their God-given gifts from the world (rasā'il 4, p. 166). Yet they were well aware that their esoteric teachings might provoke unrest, and the various calamities suffered by the successors of the Prophet may have seemed good reason to remain hidden.
Non-sectarian connection According to professor Nader El-Bizri, many scholars hold the Brethren of Purity to be "free-thinkers" who transcended sectarian divisions and were not bound by the doctrines of any specific creed, thus categorising them as non-sectarian Muslims. Besides founding their views on the Qur'an, the Ikhwan also appealed in their Epistles to the Torah (Tawrat) and the Gospel (Injeel). While it is generally accepted that their literature belonged to a Shi'ite legacy that had strong connections with the Isma'ili tradition, the Ikhwan were also inspired by the works of Pythagoras, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Plotinus, Euclid, Ptolemy, Porphyry, and Iamblichus. Their syncretism, as a result, overcame the sectarian discords of their time.
Sunni-Sufi connections Among the theories of the origins of the Ikhwān is that they were Sunnis and that their batini teachings were sufi in nature. The Encyclopedia contains hadith narrated by Aisha, which is something Shia scholars would not do. Susanne Diwald asserts that the Encyclopedia is sufi, thus implying a Sunni character. Alessandro Bausani also presented theories of the work being Sunni sufi in nature. The Encyclopedia contains reference to the Rashidun Caliphate, which is associated with Sunni Islam, and also contains a passage in it that denounces the Rafidhi, a slur used to describe the non-Zaydi Shia, including Isma'ilis.
According to Louis Massignon, the Arab scholar ibn Sab'in of al-Andalus asserted that the Encyclopedia has a Sunni sufi orientation. According to Palestinian historian Abdul Latif Tibawi, the Encyclopedia contains a passage that states that if an ideal Imam dies, then the community can still be governed by consensus (ijma), which is a Sunni concept. According to Tibawi, this idea rejects the Imamate in Shia doctrine.
Mu'tazilite connections The ontology of the Ikhwan is based on Neo-Platonism, linking ideas to a higher reality than sensory things. In line with the Mu'tazilite, they link human free will with God's justice. As evident from The Case of the Animals versus Man, spiritual entities frequently acknowledged by Muslim beliefs, such as angels, jinn, and spirits, function as figures representing Platonic intellects, showing further resemblance to the Mu'tazilite cosmology.Goodman, L. E., & McGregor, R. (Eds.). (2012). The case of the animals versus man before the king of the Jinn. Oxford University Press. p. 10-13
Ismaili Connections Among the Isma'ili groups and missionaries who favored the Encyclopedia, authorship was sometimes ascribed to one or another "Hidden Imam"; this theory is recounted in al-Qifti's biographical compendium of philosophers and doctors, the "Chronicle of the Learned" (Akhbār al-Hukamā or Tabaqāt-al-Hukamā).pg 193 of Lane-Poole's Studies in a Mosquepg. 25 of Nasr 1964pg 1; "It can be easily understood too that the Ismā'ilis, among whom the Rasa'il enjoyed a quasi-canonical authority, ascribed to someone or other of their "Hidden Imams"." Here Stern is drawing upon Dr. H. Hamdānī's "The Rasail Ikhwan al-Safa in the Ismaili Literature", published in Der Islam in 1936. Compare also this quote from pg 7 of the "Ikhwan as-Safa and their Rasa'il: A Critical Review of a Century and a Half of Research" (by A. L. Tibawi, as published in volume 2 of The Islamic Quarterly in 1955; pgs. 28–46): "It tends, however, to prove one thing, namely, that theRasa'il were popular with later Isma'ili missionaries who read, copied, and summarized them to suit their own purpose. But, as stated above, it has yet to be proved that Isma'ili bent of the tracts and of the genuine ar-Risāla al-Jāmi'a was itself a proof of early Isma'ili connexion. Indeed, the tracts speak in two voices on this Isma'ili bent." Stern (1947)
Some modern scholars have argued for an Ismaili origin to the writings. Ian Richard Netton writes that: "The Ikhwan's concepts of exegesis of both Quran and Islamic tradition were tinged with the esoterism of the Ismailis."Muslim Neoplatonists (London, 1982), p. 80. According to Yves Marquet, "It seems indisputable that the Epistles represent the state of Ismaili doctrine at the time of their compositions".Encyclopaedia of Islam, 1960, p. 1071. Bernard Lewis was more cautious, ranking the Epistles among books which, though "closely related to Ismailism" may not actually have been Ismaili, despite their batini inspiration.The Origins of Ismailism (London, 1940), p. 44. Ibn Qifti (d.646/1248), reporting in the 7th/13th century in Taʾrīkh ḥukamāʾ al-islām (p. 82) that, "Opinions differed about the authors of the Epistles. Some people attributed to an Alid Imam, proffering various names, whereas other put forward as author some early Mutazilite theologians."