Ismaili
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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.
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[edit] History
The Ismāʿīlī are found primarily in South Asia, Syria, Saudi Arabia,[1] Yemen, China, Tajikistan, Afghanistan and East Africa, but have in recent years emigrated to Europe and North America.[2] 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 Imam and not his brother.[2]
A branch of the Ismāʿīlī known as the Sabaʿiyyīn "Seveners" hold that Ismāʿīl's son, Muhammad, was the seventh Imām and, after Muḥammad ibn Ismāʿīl, the spiritual authority of Imāms continues until the present day.[3].
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.[4] 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.[5] His successors subsequently succeeded in conquering much of North Africa (including highly-prized Egypt) and parts of Arabia.[6][7][5] 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.[5]
During the rein of the 16th Imām, al-Ḥakīm bi-Amrillāh, a movement emerged known as the Darziyya or Druze (after one of their leaders, al-Darzi).[8] Led by al-Akhram, Hamza and al-Darzi, they believed in the divinity of al-Ḥakīm, and urged others to join them.[8] The Imam himself never claimed divinity, and the leadership of the daʿwa categorically opposed the movement, denouncing its doctrine.[8] The movement's adherents went on to establish a stronghold in Syria where they developed their body of doctrine and sacred scriptures. Today, the Druze community lives mainly in Lebanon and Syria.[8]
A 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.[9] 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.[9] 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 His Holiness the Syedna Dr. Mohammed Burhanuddin TUS as the 52nd Da'i al-Mutlaq. 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 Dawoodi Bohra clergy in India and the movement has been largely unsuccessful.
The largest part of the Nizārī Ismāʿīlī community today accepts Prince Karim Aga Khan IV as their 49th Imam.[6] 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.[10] Aga Hassan Ali Shah settled in Mumbai in 1848.[10]
In 1866 a minority faction from among the Khoja Muslim community of Mumbai sought a court decree to deny the Aga Khan's authority and position as Imam (spiritual leader) of the community. They tried to re-cast the Khojas as a Sunni community, and thereby take control of all property held in trust for the community.[11] 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, that he was due the traditional tithes of the community, and that community property belonged to his Imamate.[10] He described the community as a having been "converted to and throughout abided in the faith of the Shi'a Imami Ismailis and which has always been and still is bound by ties of spiritual allegiance to the hereditary Imams of the Ismailis."[12][13]
[edit] Sub-sects
The Shia Ismaili are divided into the following major sects:
- Nizārī, the largest community among the Isma'ilis, whose present Imam is Aga Khan IV
- Mustaʿliyya, also known as 'Bohra', are further split into three communities:
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- Dawoodi Bohra, the largest branch of the Musta'liyya, whose current da'i is Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin
- Sulaimani Bohra, named after their 27th da'i, Sulayman ibn Hassan, they are mostly concentrated in Yemen.
- Alavi Bohra, the smallest group among the Bohras, they accept Saiyedna Abu Haatim Taiyeb Ziyauddin Saheb as their present da'i.
- Druze, a community found mostly in the Middle East, which split off from the Isma'ilis after the disappearance of the Fatimid caliph and Isma'ili imam, al-Hakim. Today, the Druze consider themselves an independent religion, distinct from Islam, though they may occasionally identify themselves as Muslims under taqiyya (religious dissimulation).
- Qarmatians, now believed to be extinct. The last known mention of them was in the 11th century by the Persian-Isma'ili da'i, Nasir Khusraw.
[edit] Imams
A list of the Ismāʿīlī Imāms can be found here.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Graphical illustration of the sects of Shi'a Islam
- History of Imams from the Nizarī point of view.
- Ismaili Web
- Institute of Ismaili Studies
- Ismaili Portal
- Dawoodi Bohras
- Aga Khan Development Network
- First Ismaili Electronic Library and Database
- Alavi Bohra: The Smallest Sect of Ismā'īlī Mustaˤlī Faith
- Isma'ilism, in the Encyclopedia of the Orient
[edit] References and notes
- ^ Congressional Human Rights Caucus Testimony - NAJRAN, The Untold Story. Retrieved on 2007-01-08.
- ^ a b Daftary, Farhad (1998). A Short History of the Ismailis. Edinburgh, UK: Edinburgh University Press, 1-4. ISBN 0-7486-0687-4.
- ^ Daftary, Farhad (1990). The Ismāʿīlīs: Their history and doctrines. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 104. ISBN 0-521-42974-9.
- ^ Daftary, Farhad (1998). A Short History of the Ismailis. Edinburgh, UK: Edinburgh University Press, 36-50. ISBN 0-7486-0687-4.
- ^ a b c Daftary, Farhad (1998). "3", A Short History of the Ismailis. Edinburgh, UK: Edinburgh University Press. ISBN 0-7486-0687-4.
- ^ a b (1996) in Azim A. Nanji (ed.): The Muslim Almanac. USA: Gale Research Inc., 170-171. ISBN 0-8103-8924-X.
- ^ Daftary, Farhad (1998). A Short History of the Ismailis. Edinburgh, UK: Edinburgh University Press, 34-36. ISBN 0-7486-0687-4.
- ^ a b c d Daftary, Farhad (1998). A Short History of the Ismailis. Edinburgh, UK: Edinburgh University Press, 100-101. ISBN 0-7486-0687-4.
- ^ a b Daftary, Farhad (1998). A Short History of the Ismailis. Edinburgh, UK: Edinburgh University Press, 106-108. ISBN 0-7486-0687-4.
- ^ a b c Daftary, Farhad (1998). A Short History of the Ismailis. Edinburgh, UK: Edinburgh University Press, 196-199. ISBN 0-7486-0687-4.
- ^ Khoja Case before Justice Sir Joseph Arnould, High Court of Bombay, 1886. Retrieved on 2007-01-08.
- ^ Fyzee (1965). Cases in the Muhammadan Law of India and Pakistan. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
- ^ Nanji, Azim (1978). The Nizaril Ismaili Tradition in the Indo-Pakistan Subcontinent. Delmar, New York, USA: Caravan Books, 3. ISBN 0-88206-514-9.
[edit] 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
