Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Nasafi | |
|---|---|
| Title | Chief da'i of Khurasan and Transoxiania |
| Personal | |
| Died | 943/944/945 |
| Religion | Isma'ili Shi'a Islam |
| Flourished | 937–943 |
| Home town | Nasaf |
| Children | Mas'ud |
| Notable work(s) | Kitāb al-Maḥṣūl |
| Known for | Conversion of Nasr II, introduction of Neoplatonism into Isma'ili theology |
| Senior posting | |
| Predecessor | Husayn ibn Ali al-Marwazi |
| Part of a series on Islam Isma'ilism |
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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.