The Events of Paradise: Facts and Eschatological Doctrines in Medieval Ismāʽīlī History

The purpose of this article is no more than a brief analysis of two episodes of Medieval Ismāʽīlī history which, although taking place in quite different historical periods and geographical regions, display a number of shared features, in particular the occurrence of the notion of Paradise as a structuring principle. One of these episodes is the attempt by the Qarāmiṭa of Baḥrayn (273/886-470/1078), or dissident Ismāʽīlīs , to restore the “original religion of Paradise” in the opening decades of the 4th/10th century, while the other is the use of the concept of Paradise as manifested in the declaration of Resurrection (qiyāma) by the Nizārī Ismāʽīlīs during the Alamūt period (483/1090-654/1256) in the second half of 6th/12th century.