Ismailis

{is-mah-eel'-eez}

The Ismailis are members of a sect of Muslim Shiites who recognize Ismail as the seventh and last Imam until the return of his son at the end of time. They are also called Sabiyah, or Seveners. The sect originated after the death (765) of the sixth Shiite imam, Jafar ibn Muhammad. Most Shiites accepted his younger son, Musa al-Kazim, as his successor; the Ismailis were those who supported his older, disinherited son, Ismail. The sect attained its greatest influence under the Fatimids, who claimed descent through Ismail's son from Fatima, daughter of the Prophet Muhammad. This dynasty, established in Tunis in 908, ruled in Egypt from 969 to 1171.

Late in the 11th century a split occurred between the Mustalis, who recognized al-Mustali as the caliph-imam (concentrated in Egypt, Yemen, and India), and the Nizaris, named for Mustali's brother Nizar, with strongholds in Iran and Syria. The latter, who became known as the Assassins in Crusader stories, remained in power until the late 13th century. A subsection, under the Aga Khan, moved to India in 1840. In their interpretation of the Koran, the Ismailis distinguish between exoteric and esoteric knowledge, that is, between knowledge for the public and knowledge for the initiated. The same distinction finds organizational expression in the Ismaili hierarchy from the imam, who alone has perfect knowledge, by way of the dais (missionaries) to the believers at various levels of knowledge and insight.

Willem A. Bijlefeld

Bibliography:
Daftary, F., The Ismailis (1990); Lewis, Bernard, The Assassins (1967; repr. 1980) and The Origins of Ismailism (1940; repr. 1974); Ridley, A., The Assassins (1980).

Ismailis

Ismailis, sect of Shiite Muslims, most important from the 10th to the 12th century. The Ismailis emerged from a dispute in 765 over the succession of Jafar al-Sadiq, whom Shiites acknowledged as the sixth imam, or spiritual successor to Muhammad. The Ismailis recognized Ismail, the eldest son of Jafar, as his legitimate successor. On Ismail's death they acknowledged his son Muhammad as the seventh and last imam, whose return on Judgment Day they await. The Ismailis are also known as Seveners, because they accept only 7 imams, rather than the 12 who are recognized by other Shiites.

Although Ismailis subscribe to basic orthodox Islamic doctrines, they also maintain esoteric teachings and corresponding interpretations of the Qur'an (Koran). Developed in the 9th and 10th centuries under the influence of Gnosticism and Neoplatonism, these posit the creation of the universe by a process of emanation from God.

In the late 9th century an Ismaili state was organized on communistic principles in Iraq by Hamdan Qarmat; his followers became known as Qarmatians. His state soon disintegrated, but some of his followers combined with other Ismaili groups to form the Fatimid dynasty of North Africa in the 10th century. The Fatimids conquered Egypt in 969 and developed a strong and culturally brilliant state that flourished until the 12th century. During the reign of the Fatimid dynasty the Ismailis gradually lost their original revolutionary fervor. A splinter group of Ismailis, known to Westerners as Assassins, established a stronghold in the mountains of northern Iran in the 12th century and carried out terrorist acts of assassination against important religious and political leaders of Sunni Islam.

The two main branches of Ismailis today are the Bohras, with headquarters in Mumbai (formerly Bombay), India, and the Khojas, concentrated in Gujarāt State, India. Another subsect, headed by the Aga Khan, has followers in Pakistan, India, Iran, Yemen, and East Africa.

Fazlur Rahman