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Isma'ilism

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The Ismāʿīlī (Urdu: اسماعیلی Ismāʿīlī, Arabic: الإسماعيليون al-Ismāʿīliyyūn; Persian: اسماعیلیان Esmāʿīliyān) branch of Islam is the second largest part of the Shī'a community, after the Twelvers (Ithnāʿashariyya). The Ismāʿīlī get their name from their acceptance of Ismāʿīl ibn Jaʿfar as the successor-Imām to Jaʿfar aṣ-Ṣādiq, wherein they differ from the Ithnāʿashariyya, who accept Musa al-Kazim, younger brother of Ismail, as their Imam.

Though there are several sub-groupings within the Ismailis, the term in today's vernacular generally refers to the Nizārī Ismāʿīlī community, who are followers of the Aga Khan and the largest group among the Ismailis.

History

The Ismāʿīlī are found primarily in the South Asia, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, China, Tajikistan, Afghanistan and East Africa, but have in recent years emigrated to Europe and North America. The Ismāʿīliyya and the Twelvers both accept the same initial Imams from the descendants of Muḥħammad through his daughter Fāṭima az-Zahra and therefore share much of their early history. However, a dispute arose on the succession of the Sixth Imam, Jaʿfar as-Sadiq. The Ismāʿīlī became those who accepted Jaʿfar's eldest son Ismāʿīl as the next Imam, whereas the Twelvers accepted a younger son, Mūsā-l-Kāzim. Jafar's son had died and they wanted his grandson, Muhammad, to succeed as the next Iman and not his brother.

A branch of the Ismāʿīlī known as the Sabaʿiyyīn "Seveners" hold that Ismāʿīl's son, Muḥammad, was the seventh Imām and, after Muḥammad ibn Ismāʿīl, the spiritual authority of Imāms continues until the present day. A small Sevener community remains in parts of Saudi Arabia.

In the face of persecution, the bulk of the Ismāʿīlī continued to recognize Imāms who secretly propagated their faith through Dāʿiyyūn "Callers to Islām" from their bases in Syria. However, by the 10th century, an Ismāʿīlī Imām, ʿUbaydullāhu-l-Mahdī Billāh, correctly known as ʿAbdullāhu-l-Mahdī, had emigrated to North Africa and successfully established the new Fatimid state in Tunisia. His successors subsequently succeeded in conquering much of North Africa (including highly-prized Egypt) and parts of Arabia.

The capital for the Fatimid state hence shifted to the newly-founded city of Cairo, from which the Fatimid Caliph-Imāms ruled for several generations.

A group of followers of the 16th Imām, al-Ḥakīm bi-Amrillāh, broke away from the mainstream Ismāʿīlī to form the Druze religion.

A more fundamental split amongst the Ismāʿīlī occurred on the dispute of which son should succeed the 18th Imam, Mustansir. Aḥmadu-l-Mustaʿlī, his younger son, was installed as Imam in Cairo with the help of Vizier Badr al-Jamali. However, Imam Mustansir's elder son, Nizar, contested this claim and was imprisoned; he gained support from an Ismāʿīlī dāʿī based in Iran, Hassan as-Sabba. As-Sabba is noted by Western writers to be the leader of the legendary "Assassins" (see Nizārī).

The Fatimid state eventually collapsed after Imām al-Mustaʿlī's successor Amīr was assassinated, but Imām al-Mustaʿlī held that Amīr had left a son named Ṭayyib who had gone into seclusion and that the imamate continued in his progeny during this time. They also regarded a succeeding chain of Yemeni Dāʿiyyūn as representatives of the Imām.

In time, the seat for one chain of Dāʿiyyūn was transferred to South Asia as the community split several times, each recognizing a different Dāʿī. Today, the Dawoodi Bohras, which constitute the majority of the "Mustaʿliyya" Ismāʿīliyya accept Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin as the 52nd Dāʿī. The Dawoodi Bohras are based in India. While lesser known and smallest in number, Alavi Bohras accept as the 44th Dāʿī al-Mutlaq, H.H. Saiyedna Abu Haatim Taiyeb Ziyauddin Saheb.

There has been, in recent years, a rapprochement between the Yemeni Mustaʿliyya and the followers of the Dāʿiyyūn based out of Mumbai. The Bohra are noted to be the more traditional of the two main groups of Ismāʿīlī, maintaining rituals such as prayer and fasting more consistently with the practices of other Shīˤa sects, although a reformist movement led by Asghar Ali Engineer (Progressive Dawoodi Bohras) has emerged within the sect, challenging the authoritarian Dawoodi Bohra clergy in India.

The largest part of the Nizārī Ismāʿīlī community today accepts Prince Karim Aga Khan IV as their 49th Imam. The 46th Imam, Aga Hassan Ali Shah, fled Iran to South Asia in the 1840s after a failed coup against the Shah of the Qajar dynasty. Aga Hassan Ali Shah settled in Mumbai in 1848. The "Aga Khan" was recognized as the legitimate Imam over Shīʿa Ismāʿīlī Muslims in Mumbai through a legal case at the Bombay High Court in 1866. The Judge in this case, Sir Joseph Arnold, ruled that the Khoja Muslim community was Ismāʿīlī (and not Sunni), that the "Aga Khan" was its leader, he was due the traditional tithes of the community and that community property belonged to his Imamate.

Sub-sects

The Shia Ismaili are divided into the following major sects:

Imams

The following are the Ismāʿīlī Imāms[1]:

1. ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib ألإمام علي إبن ابي طالب

2. al-Ḥussayn ibn ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib ألإمام الحسین إبن علي إبن ابي طالب

3. ʿAlī Zayn al-ʿĀbidīn ألإمام علي زین العابدین

4. Muḥammad al-Bāqir ألإمام محمد الباقر

5. Jaʿfar aṣ-Ṣādiq ألإمام جعفر الصادق

6. Ismāʿīl ibn Jaʿfar ألإمام إسماعیل إبن جعفر

7. Muḥammad ibn Ismāʿīl ألإمام محمد إبن إسماعیل

8. ʿAbdullāh ألإمام عبد الله / Wafī Aḥmad ألإمام وفي أحمد

9. Aḥmad ألإمام أحمد / Taqī Muḥammad ألإمام تقي محمد

10. al-Ḥussayn ألإمام الحسين / Raḍiyu-d-Dīn ʿAbdullāh ألإمام رضي الدين عبد الله

11. 1st Fāṭimid caliph-imam ʿUbaydullāh al-Mahdī billāh ألإمام عٌبَيد الله المهدي بالله

12. 2nd Fāṭimid caliph-imam Muḥammad al-Qāʾim bi-ʾAmrillāh ألإمام محمد القائم بأمر الله

13. 3rd Fāṭimid caliph-imam Ismāʿīl al-Manṣūr ألإمام إسماعيل المنصور

14. 4th Fāṭimid caliph-imam Maʿād al-Muʿizz li-Dīnillāh ألإمام مَعَاد المُعِزّ لدين الله

15. 5th Fāṭimid caliph-imam Abū Manṣūr Nizār al-ʿAzīz billāh ألإمام أبو منصور نزار العزيز بالله

16. 6th Fāṭimid caliph-imam Al-Ḥakīm bi-Amrillāh ألإمام الحاكم بأمر الله (Druze split off)

17. 7th Fāṭimid caliph-imam ʿAlī az-Zāhir li-Iʿzāz Dīnillāh ألإمام علي الظاهر لإعزاز دين الله

18. 8th Fāṭimid caliph-imam Al-Mustanṣir billāh ألإمام المستنصر بالله

See also

References & Notes

  1. ^ Farhad Daftary. The Ismāʿīlīs: Their history and doctrines. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 1990, pp. 551-553.

Further Reading

  • The Ismailis: Their History and Doctrines; Farhad Daftary; Cambridge University Press, 1990
  • A Short History of the Ismailis: Traditions of a Muslim Community; Farhad Daftary; Edinburgh University Press, 1998
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