Ismaili
The Ismaili 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 Ismaili as the next imam whereas the Twelvers accepted a younger son, Musa al-Kazim.A branch of the Ismailis known as the Saabiyin or Seveners (and inaccurately ascribed to Ismailis as a whole) held that Ismail's son, Muhammad, was the seventh and final imam. The group is not thought to have survived today.
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 al-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 Ismaili imam, al-Hakim, broke away from the mainstream Ismailis to form the Druze religion.
A more fundamental split amongst the Ismailis occurred on the dispute of which son should succeed the 18th imam al-Mustansir. Al-Mustaali, the younger son was installed as the imam in Cairo with the help of the vizier Badr al-Jamali. However, the elder son Nizar contested this claim and was imprisoned but gained support from an Ismaili dai Hasan al-Sabbah based in Iran. Al-Sabbah is noted by Western writers to be the leader of the legendary Assassins.
The Fatimid state eventually collapsed after Mustaali's successor, al-Amir, was assassinated but Mustaalid Ismailis held that al-Amir had left a son named at-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 dais as representatives of the imam. In time, the seat of the dai was transferred to India and the community split several times, each recognizing a different dai. Today the majority of the Mustaalid Ismailis are known as Dawoodi Bohras and are headed by the 52nd dai, Syedna Muhammad Burhanuddin, based in India. The Bohras are noted to be the more traditional of the two main groups of Ismailis, maintaining rituals such prayer and fasting more consistently with other Muslim and Shia sects, although a reformist movement has emerged within the sect challenging the authoritarian Bohra clergy.
The Nizari Ismaili community are today headed by their 49th imam, Prince Karim Aga Khan IV. 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 of Aga Khan, which had been previously bestowed on him by the Persian Emperor, Fath Ali Shah. He 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 Shia Ismaili Muslims, and laid the foundations for its social progress. It also marked the beginning of an era of more regular contacts between the imam and his widely dispersed followers. Deputations came to Bombay to receive the imam's guidance from as far afield as Kashgar in China, Bokhara in Central Asia, all parts of Iran, and the Middle East.
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