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The Isma'ili school of
Islam is the second largest
Shi'a
school of jurisprudence after
the
Ithna Ashari school. The
Ismailis are found primarily
in the South Asia,
Pakistan, Syria, Lebanon,
Tajikistan, Turkey, Iran,
Saudi Arabia, Yemen, India
and East Africa but have in
recent years emigrated to
Europe and North America.
The Ismailis and Ithna Asharia
both accept the same initial
Imams from the descendants
of Prophet Muhammad through
his daughter Hadrat 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 Ithna Asharia
accepted a younger son, Musa
al-Kazim.
A branch of the Ismaili known as the
Saaabiyin 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 Sevener Ismaili,
Sulaimani Bohra or Makramis,
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 school. The main
theologians of Druze were
Tariq al-Hakim (meaning Ruler),
also known as al-Hakim bi-Amr
al-Lah or Ruler in the Name
of God, and Hamza ibn-'Ali
ibn-Ahmad, the main architect
of the movement. It was Hamza
who first publicly proclaimed
that Hakim was the Ruler in
the Name of God. Hakim was
opposed by orthodox Muslims
for what was considered apostasy.
The founder of the
Alawi school was Abu Shu'ayb
Muhammad ibn Nusayr (d.874),
the disciple of the eleventh
Shi'a
Imam Hasan al-'Askari. He
deified Hadrat Ali and his
successors in his teachings
which started in Persia and
Iraq but was brought to Syria
by al-Khasibi (d. 957) in
the second part of the tenth
century. Due to Ismaili influence
this school conformed to many
Ismaili beliefs.
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 Dawoodi
Bohras,
a majority of the Mustaali
Ismailis accept as the 52nd
Da'i, Syedna Muhammad Burhanuddin,
based in South Asia. This
group is also known as Dawoodi
Bohras. The
Sulaimani Bohras are based
in Yemen. While lesser known
- smallest in number, Alavi
Bohras accept as the 44th
"Da'i" : Da'i-e-Mutlaq,
H.H. Saiyedna Abu Haatim Taiyeb
Ziyauddin Sahib (TUS).
There has been, in recent years, a rapprochement
between the Yemeni Mustaalis
and the followers of the Da'i
based out of Mumbai. The Bohras
are noted to be the more orthodox
of the two main groups of
Ismaili, maintaining rituals
such as Salat and fasting
in Ramadan more consistently
with other
Sunni 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. The 46th Imam,
Aga Hasan Ali Shah, fled Iran
to the South Asia in the 1840s
after a failed coup against
the Shah of the Qajar dynasty.
Aga Hasan Ali Shah settled
in Bombay in 1848. The Aga
Khan obtained his authority
over
Shia Ismaili Muslims in
Bombay through a legal case
at the Bombay high Court in
1866 when Sir Joseph Arnold
ruled that the
Khoja Muslim community
must recognize the authority
of the Aga Khan over all their
affairs including transfer
of their property to the Aga
Khan. Many Khoja had declared
in the court that they are
Sunni
Hanafi
Muslims but have adopted some
Ismaili beliefs.
Ismaili subsects :
Page last updated:
Saturday, February 18, 2006 15:45:30 -0500 |
