Closely connected with the “Epistles” is al‑Risalat...

Closely connected with the “Epistles” is al‑Risalat al‑Jami'ah (the Com­prehensive Epistle) which was a summarium and summa of the original “Epis­tles.” It was also intended for private circulation among the more advanced members of the group.

The Jami'ah discards much of the scientific information originally the backbone of the “Epistles,” and expounds more fully and frankly the ideas which the Ikhwan al‑Safa intended to inoculate into their followers.[^5] The Jami’ah was further summarized in Risalat al‑Jami'at al‑Jami'ah au al‑Zubdah min Rasa'il Ikhwan al‑Safa (the Condensation of the Comprehen­sive Epistle or the Cream of the Epistles of Ikhwan al‑Safa), called also al-Risalat al‑Jami'ah .[^6] The scientific information as well as chapters of the “Epistles” are eliminated, while the symbolic and esoteric interpretation of the verses of the Qur'an are brought out vigorously.

The Ikhwan al‑Safa made arrangements for holding meetings everywhere they had followers. In these meetings, which were held once every twelve days and were restricted to the members and followers of the group, subjects of metaphysical and esoteric nature were discussed.[^7] There were also occasional meetings for the initiation of young people.[^8] Apparently, some of the followers were given, during these meetings, to singing, drinking, and other indulgences for which the Ikhwan al‑Safa rebuked them indirectly.[^9] The Ikhwan al‑Safa were a secret group.

They were recruited through per­sonal and confidential contacts. The emissaries were advised to work among the youth, as old people are usually rigid and unfit for any movement.[^10] The group had four grades in which its members were placed generally according to their age. The first and most inferior grade was that of those who had attained their fifteenth year; the second of those between thirty and forty years of age; the third of those between forty and‑fifty.

The fourth, last and highest grade, was that of those who were already fifty years of age.[^11]. The Ikhwan al‑Safa were Muslims. But they had a special interpretation of religion in general, and of Islam in particular. The Shi`ite colouring, which is very conspicuous in their missionary work, is only dramatic because it helped them to play cleverly upon the emotions of the masses. In the strict historical sense, the Ikhwan al‑Safa did not belong to any sect.