Ismaili Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description
The Isma'ili ( اسماعيلي, Farsi Esmaa'ili) branch of Islam is the second largest Shi'a community, after the Twelvers who are dominant in Iran. The Ismailis are found primarily in the Indian subcontinent, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Yemen and East Africa but have in recent years emigrated to Europe and North America. The Ismailis and Twelvers both accept the same initial Imams from the descendants of Muhammad through his daughter Fatima and therefore share much of their early history. However, a dispute arose on the succession of the Sixth Imam, Ja'far as-Sadiq. The Ismailis became those who accepted Ja'far's eldest son Ismail as the next Imam, whereas the Twelvers accepted a younger son, Musa al-Kazim.A branch of the Ismaili known as the Saabiyin or Seveners held that Ismail's son, Muhammad, was the seventh and final Imam (a belief inaccurately but commonly ascribed to Ismailis as a whole). There is still a small persecuted Sevener Ismaili community in parts of Saudi Arabia to this date.
In the face of persecution, the bulk of the Ismailis continued to recognize imams who secretly propagated their faith through missionaries (da'is) from their bases in Syria. However by the 10th century, an Ismaili Imam, Abdullah am-Mahdi, had emigrated to North Africa and had successfully established the new Fatimid state in Tunisia. His successors subsequently succeeded in conquering much of North Africa (including the 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-Imams ruled for several generations.
A group of followers of the 16th Imam Hakim bi-Amr-Allah broke away from the mainstream Ismailis to form the Druze religion.
A more fundamental split amongst the Ismaili occurred on the dispute of which son should succeed the 18th Imam, Mustansir. Mustaali, his younger son, was installed as Imam in Cairo with the help of Vizier Badr al-Jamali. However, Mustansir's elder son Nizar contested this claim and was imprisoned; he gained support from an Ismaili da'i based in Iran, Hasan as-Sabbah. Sabbah is noted by Western writers to be the leader of the legendary Assassins.
The Fatimid state eventually collapsed after Mustaali's successor Amir was assassinated, but Mustaali Ismaili held that Amir had left a son named Tayyib who had gone into seclusion and that the imamate continued in his progeny during this time. They also regarded a succeeding chain of Yemeni da'is as representatives of the imam. In time, the seat for one chain of dais was transferred to India as the community split several times, each recognizing a different da'i.
Today the majority of the Mustaali Ismailis accept as the 52nd da'i, Syedna Muhammad Burhanuddin, based in India. This group is also known as Dawoodi Bohras. There has been, in recent years, a reapprochment between the Yemeni Mustaalis and the followers of the da'i based out of Mumbai. The Bohras are noted to be the more traditional of the two main groups of Ismaili, maintaining rituals such as prayer and fasting more consistently with other Muslim and Shi'a sects, although a reformist movement has emerged within the sect challenging the authoritarian Dawoodi Bohra clergy.
The largest part of the Nizari Ismaili community today accepts Prince Karim Aga Khan IV as their 49th Imam. Because of political developments in Iran in the late 1830s and early 1840s, the 46th Imam, Aga Hasan Ali Shah, emigrated to the Indian subcontinent. He was the first Imam to bear the title Aga Khan, which had been previously bestowed on him by Fath Ali Shah of Iran. Aga Hasan Ali Shah settled in Bombay in 1848, where he established his headquarters, a development that had an uplifting effect on the community in India and on the religious and communal life of the whole Nizari Ismaili world. It helped the community in India gain a greater sense of confidence and identity as Shi'a Ismaili Muslims and laid the foundations for its social progress.
The Aga Khans have been in contacts with various Nizari Ismaili communities and several have accepted them as their Hazar Imam or 'Present Imam'. Deputations came to Mumbai to receive the Imam's guidance from as far afield as Kashgar in China, Bokhara in Central Asia, and all parts of Iran and the Middle East.
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