Risalah Arabic (ñóÃÂçÃÂÃÂé) is the Arabic word for a treatise or philosophical prose within Islam. In Tayyibi Isma'ilism, RasÃÂþil Ramaá¸ÂÃÂniyya refers to the works composed by the Da'i al-Mutlaq for the most part during the month of Ramadan.
Each Risalah is essentially divided into two sections: the first contains supplication and eulogy, and the second, a variety of topics that generally conforms to the overarching theme of the Risalah. Each Risalah (epistle) is given a title gematrically equivalent to the Hijri year of its publication: "The context of the quoted texts is not left to the reader to determine, as in the two above-mentioned anthologies. Each text is preceded or followed by a commentary placing it within a specific theme or issue, such as the daÿwa hierarchy under the imams and dÃÂÿës, the nature of the authority of the dÃÂÿë and the daÿwa dignitaries (ḥudà «d), and the role and place of the believers in this world. In addition, each RisÃÂla begins with the traditional introductory taḥmëd, original poems in praise of the Prophet and the imams, and extensive supplications showing a rhetorical mastery of the Arabic language. The RisÃÂlas typically end with opinions on legal matters by the author or by previous dÃÂÿës and daÿwa dignitaries."
Syedna Taher Saifuddin "probably had more IsmÃÂÿëlë texts at his disposal than any other Ṭayyibë scholar before him. The wealth and variety of quoted texts make the RasÃÂþil al-Ramaá¸ÂÃÂniyya a treasure trove of writings, which are otherwise inaccessible to non-initiates and low-ranking daÿwa officials."
A set of the RasÃÂþil were presented to the Bodleian Library in the University of Oxford on behalf of Syedna Taher Saifuddin 12 July 1949.