The only way open to me...

The only way open to me, and probably to other research scholars also, is to refer to whatever has been collected in our Shi‘i sources from the literature and books of the Isma‘iliyyah. It is on this that I shall base my discussion comparing what we have from the Isma‘iliyyah with what exists in the non-Shi‘ah sources.

However, the responsibility to expose what has been kept secret, to publicly declare what has been believed privately for some many centuries, to confirm what is their true belief and what is untrue, and to explain the difference between az-zahir that they have declared and al-batin that they have hidden (if there is any truth to such division) lies entirely upon the Isma‘iliyyah themselves.

Yet, I apologize to the Isma‘ilis and other Muslim brethren for I do not intend – and Allah is my witness – to insult any Muslim brother, to diminish his personality and honour, or to put down their ideas and views when I present the difference in the opinions and analyze them. I surely do not intend that especially when it comes to those brethren…