The term Dā'ī al-Mutlaq or ad-Da'i ul-Mutlaq (Arabic: الداعي المطلق‎) (pl. Du'at Mutlaqeen دعاة مطلقين) literally means "the absolute or unrestricted missionary" pl. Du'aat-دعاۃ. The office of Da'i al-Mutlaq is a spiritual rank in the Isma'ili Da'wah which became more explicit and operational after the seclusion of the 21st Fatimid Imam of Cairo, At-Tayyib Abu'l-Qasim in 528 AH/1134 AD. According to Tayyibi-Ismaili tradition, the Da'i al-Mutlaq is the highest authority in the faith in the absence of the imam; in other words, the Da'i al-Mutlaq has the same authority as the imam (in the same sense that at a university, a dean could be a professor and professor could be a dean). Before the seclusion of the 21st Imam, the Da’i al-Mutlaq operated under the direct orders of the Imam and his tru