ISMAILIS

ĭsmäēlˈēz, Muslim Shiite sect that holds Ismail, the son of Jafar as-Sadiq, as its imam. On the death of the sixth imam of the Shiites, Jafar as-Sadiq (d. 765), the majority of Shiites accepted Musa al-Kazim, the younger son of Jafar, as seventh imam. Those who remained faithful to Ismail, the eldest son, soon evolved the belief that Ismail was endowed with an infallible gift for interpreting the inner meaning of the revelation.

Ismailism developed an understanding of Islam and promoted it through an active missionary system. Although the early history remains obscure, Ismailism incorporated elements of Gnosticism, Neoplatonism, and Hindu thought to explain its concept of the imam. Over time it came to stress the importance of the esoteric aspects of the faith over the exoteric. The first success of the Ismaili movement was the establishment of the Qarmat state (see Karmathians) in E Arabia. Ismaili missionaries and its political organization also mobilized a network of N African tribes to support the Fatimid claim to the caliphate in Egypt and several regions of the Mediterranean. An offshoot, the Assassins, established a state in NE Iran, which survived until the 13th cent. In 1094 the Ismailis split into Nizaris and Mustalis. Today, though a minority community that is not politically active, the Ismailis are spread in small pockets in parts of the Middle East, central and S Asia, and increasingly North America and Europe. The family of the Aga Khan, the Nizari imam, traces its descent from Ismail.

See S. M. Stern, Studies in Early Ismailism (1983); F. Daftary, The Ismailis (1990).

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The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright© 2004, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Lernout & Hauspie Speech Products N.V. All rights reserved.

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Questia Books and Articles on: Ismailis
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books on: Ismailis  - 326 results

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...Chapter 3 The Ismailis in Tanzania 41...especially necessary when interviewing Ismailis because it enabled me to defuse tensions...dimensions of civil society in Africa. The Ismailis are a Shia Muslim community whose present...
...stress is placed upon the role of the Aga Khan in guiding the jamat khana as the chief organizational expression of the Ismailis in North America. In addition, he sketches how the Councils function and why they play such an important part in the growth...
...Muslims 94 Ismailis 104 Sikhs...Muslims 144 Ismailis 148 Sikhs...Publications concerned with the 25,000 to 30,000 Ismailis in America 9 are sparse. One would...
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journal articles on: Ismailis  - 38 results

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...Construction of Fatimid Legitimacy: The Ismailis in the Middle Ages: A History of Survival...Pp. xxvi + 210. pounds sterling25. The Ismailis in the Middle Ages: A History of Survival...study of the history and doctrines of Ismailism has become a growth industry, researched...
...Badri-vakili Controversy among Indian Ismailis by Yoginder Sikand Indias Muslims...Nizari (Aga Khani) and Mustalia (Bohra), Ismailis have long been neglected by scholars...and society. Referring to the Indian Ismailis, Khan notes that they have "failed to...
...Ismaili Community The twenty million Ismailis who live in over twenty countries in...Judgement Day (Nanji, 1974:124). The Ismailis, on the other hand, trace the Imamat...Because the Aga Khan is believed by the Ismailis to be their Imam, he has the power and...
...obliteration of the tiny rival enclave of the Ismailis, a Shii sect centered at the mountain...of Alamut and the extermination of the Ismailis. Many of the Persian historians, led...recently, the complete extermination of the Ismailis in the face of the Mongol behemoth was...
...mountain fortresses that belonged to the Ismailis of that region, such as Masyaf and Qadmus...Ismaili. The Idah was proof that the Ismailis had retained in Syria a strong attachment...Khans. Locally they are known as Jafari Ismailis. Among them, apparently, a tradition...
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magazine articles on: Ismailis  - 12 results

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...farther south). Hunza is the home of the Ismailis, a tolerant people who hold themselves...succession to the Prophet Mohammed. The Ismailis spiritual leader is the Aga Khan, the...Khan, its hardly surprising that the Ismailis come across as an amiable and contented...
...doctorates at Oxford, and will return as senior faculty members. Both are women, both are Pakistani and Muslim, neither are Ismailis. While Muslim totalitarians discourage or outlaw many Muslim artistic traditions, the Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC) recognizes...
...south end of the Caspian Sea. Its ruins still may be seen today. Alamut was, like al-Qaeda, the base for a secret society, the Ismailis. Hasans goal was to return Islam to its fundamental roots, and he sent preachers throughout the region, to Baghdad, Damascus...
...country is 74 per cent Sunni Muslim, 10 per cent Christian, and the remainder is made up of a scattered mosaic of sects: Druze, Ismailis, Twelver Shias and Bashar al-Assads own minority, the Alawites. The Alawites were once confined to the poor mountainous areas...
...old name of Karimabad, which chose to retitle itself when the present Aga Khan (Prince Karim) came into the leadership of the Ismailis. The whole area on both sides of the great mountains is largely Ismaili. 3 Details of the fort are taken from Hughes, Richard...
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newspaper articles on: Ismailis  - 3 results

 
 
...controlled substance and drug paraphernalia after the officer found an Ectasy pill and marijuana pipe in his car, reports added. Ismailis Skokie court date was set for Oct. 10; Dauti received a Skokie court date of Oct. 17. - Isreal Moreno, 20, 1370 Harding Ave...
...to Muhammad. They are a large majority in Iran. ISMAILIS: Ismailism is a branch of Shiite Islam that traces its founding...should succeed the sixth Imam in the eighth century. Ismailis can be found in parts of India, Egypt, Syria, the...
...his operations. The Aga Khans diverse business interests in this country include 43 prayer and business centres run by the Ismailis all over Britain, from which he receives tribute money. He owns three private executive jets, several yachts - one worth...


 

encyclopedia articles on: Ismailis  - 6 results

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ISMAILIS ismael ez, Muslim Shiite sect that holds Ismail, the...for interpreting the inner meaning of the revelation. Ismailism developed an understanding of Islam and promoted it through...missionary system. Although the early history remains obscure, Ismailism incorporated elements of Gnosticism , Neoplatonism...
...7th cent. and built up under the early Abbasid caliphate. The Ismailis chose the town as their center c.860. It was later destroyed...the 16th cent., the town declined until it was resettled by Ismailis in the 19th cent. The name also appears as Selemiya...
...the Imams breaks off from the Twelve-Imams line with Ismail, the son of Jafar al-Sadiq (see Ismailis ). At present the Nizari subgroup of the Ismailis is the only group whose members claim a living and visible Imam in the person of Shah Karim...
...Dam complex), south of the city, are found ancient Egyptian and Roman ruins. Aga Khan III (1877 1957), leader of the Muslim Ismailis , is buried in Aswan. The Aswan Dams The Aswan Dam, 3 mi (4.8 km) south of the city, was built by the British and completed...
...Shiites (notably in Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, India, and Pakistan). Others are Zaydis (in Yemen), and the Ismailis (in India, Pakistan, Syria, and Yemen). The central belief of Twelve-Imam Shiites is the occultation (or disappearance from...
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