Fatimids’ ideological isolation guaranteed their own eventual defeat.

Evidence

The Fatimids did not abandon their distinctive doctrines, but on the contrary gave them a central importance in their whole political system. Isma ili theology provided the basis on which the Fatimids rested their claim to the Caliphate and denied that of the Abbasids. As long as the Abbasids survived, the Fatimids were engaged in a religious—i.e., an ideological conflict, in which doctrine was one of their most powerful weapons. In a sense, they were caught in a vicious circle. Because of their initial failure to win over all Islam, they were obliged to maintain their ideological challenge; yet, by so doing, they isolated themselves from the central consensus of Islam, and thus ensured their own ultimate defeat and disappearance. — Bernard Lewis, From Babel to Dragomans, 392 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: A movement’s founding ideology can become a trap that ensures its defeat — Bernard Lewis, From Babel to Dragomans: Interpreting…, 392

Broader Connections

• A movement’s founding ideology can become a trap that ensures its defeat #corroborates (0.95) — Bernard Lewis, From Babel to Dragomans, 392