| Isma'ilism | |
|---|---|
| Arabic: الإسماعيلية, Persian: اسماعیلیان | |
 Ismaili Center in Dushanbe, Tajikistan | |
| Classification | Shia Islam |
| Scripture | Quran |
| Theology | Imamate |
| Imam | Aga Khan IV; current Imam of Nizari Ismailism[1] |
| Branches and sects | Branches and sects of Isma'ilism |
| Region | Ismāʿīli communities can be found in Pakistan, India, Central Asia, Syria, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Eastern Africa, and North America[2] |
| Origin | 9th century[3] Middle East |
| Separations | Druze[4][5][6] |
| Members | c. 2.5 million,[7] or between 5 million to 15 million[8] |
| Part of a series on Islam Isma'ilism |
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Isma'ilism (Arabic: الإسماعيلية, romanized: al-Ismāʿīliyya) is a branch or sect of Shia Islam.[9] The Isma'ili (/ˌɪzmɑːˈɪliː/)[10] get their name from their acceptance of Imam Isma'il ibn Jafar as the appointed spiritual successor (imām) to Ja'far al-Sadiq, wherein they differ from the Twelver Shia, who accept Musa al-Kazim, the younger brother of Isma'il, as the true Imām.[11]
After the death of Muhammad ibn Isma'il in the 8th century CE, the teachings of Ismailism further transformed into the belief system as it is known today, with an explicit concentration on the deeper, esoteric meaning (batin) of the Islamic religion. With the eventual development of Usulism and Akhbarism into the more literalistic (zahir) oriented, Shia Islam developed into two separate directions: the metaphorical Ismaili, Alevi, Bektashi, Alian, and Alawite groups focusing on the mystical path and nature of God, along with the "Imam of the Time" representing the manifestation of esoteric truth and intelligible divine reality, with the more literalistic Usuli and Akhbari groups focusing on divine law (sharia) and the deeds and sayings (sunnah) of Muhammad and the Twelve Imams who were guides and a light to God.[12]
Isma'ilism rose at one point to become the largest branch of Shia Islam, climaxing as a political power with the Fatimid Caliphate in the 10th through 12th centuries. Ismailis believe in the oneness of God, as well as the closing of divine revelation with Muhammad, whom they see as "the final Prophet and Messenger of God to all humanity". The Isma'ili and the Twelvers both accept the same six initial Imams; the Isma'ili accept Isma'il ibn Jafar as the seventh Imam. Isma'ili thought is heavily influenced by Neoplatonism.[13][14]
The larger sect of Ismaili are the Nizaris, who recognize Aga Khan IV[15] as the 49th hereditary Imam, while other groups are known as the Tayyibi branch. The community with the highest percentage of Ismailis is Gorno-Badakhshan,[15] but Isma'ilis can be found in Central Asia, Afghanistan, India, Pakistan, Yemen, Lebanon, Malaysia, Syria, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Iraq, Kuwait, East Africa, Angola, Bangladesh, and South Africa, and have in recent years emigrated to Europe, Russia, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the United States, and Trinidad and Tobago.[16][17][18]
- ^ "World View – Aga Khan". Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 15 September 2010.
- ^ "Ismāʿīliyyah". Encyclopaedia Britannica. 20 January 2017.
- ^ "Ismāʿīliyyah". Encyclopaedia Britannica. 20 January 2017.
- ^ Hunter, Shireen (2010). The Politics of Islamic Revivalism: Diversity and Unity: Center for Strategic and International Studies (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown University. Center for Strategic and International Studies. University of Michigan Press. p. 33. ISBN 9780253345493.
Druze – An offshoot of Shi'ism; its members are not considered Muslims by orthodox Muslims.
- ^ Yazbeck Haddad, Yvonne (2014). The Oxford Handbook of American Islam. Oxford University Press. p. 142. ISBN 9780199862634.
While they appear parallel to those of normative Islam, in the Druze religion they are different in meaning and interpretation. The religion is considered distinct from the Ismaili as well as from other Muslims belief and practice... Most Druze do not identify as Muslims..
- ^ "Ismāʿīliyyah". Encyclopædia Britannica. 20 January 2017.
The Druze, who live mostly in Syria, Lebanon, and Israel, are also Ismāʿīlī in origin.
- ^ Steinberg, Jonah (2011). Isma'ili Modern: Globalization and Identity in a Muslim Community. University of North Carolina Press. p. 35. ISBN 9780807834077.
- ^ "Ismāʿīliyyah". Encyclopaedia Britannica. 20 January 2017.
- ^ Spencer C. Tucker & Priscilla Roberts 2008, p. 917.
- ^ "Definition of Ismaili". www.dictionary.com. Retrieved 29 March 2023.
- ^ Foundation, Encyclopaedia Iranica. "Welcome to Encyclopaedia Iranica". iranicaonline.org.
- ^ "Shaykh Ahmad al-Ahsa'i". Retrieved 25 April 2007.
- ^ "Ismaili Philosophy | Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy". www.iep.utm.edu. Retrieved 1 April 2016.
- ^ "Early Philosophical Shiism". Cambridge University Press. Retrieved 1 April 2016.
- ^ a b Aga Khan IV Archived 6 November 2011 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Sarfaroz Niyozov (March 2010). "Shi'a Ismaili Tradition in Central Asia – Evolution, Continuities and Changes". Simerg. Retrieved 20 March 2012.
- ^ Daftary, Farhad (1998). A Short History of the Ismailis. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. pp. 1–4. ISBN 0-7486-0687-4.
- ^ Kalandarov, T. C. (2005). Памирские мигранты-исмаилиты в России [Pamir Ismaili Migrants in Russia] (PDF). Исследования по прикладной и неотложной этнологии Института этнологии и антропологии РАН [Research in applied and urgent ethnology of the Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology of the Russian Academy of Sciences] (in Russian). Moscow: Nauka. ISBN 5-201-13758-X.