History of the Shī‘a Imāmī Ismā'īlī Ṭarīqah (Nizari)

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The History of the Shī‘a Imāmī Ismā'īlī Ṭarīqah (Nizari) from the founding of Islam covers a period of over 1400 years. It begins with the mission of the Islamic prophet Muhammad to restore to humanity the universality and knowledge of the oneness of the divine within the Abrahamic tradition, through the final message and what Shia believe was the appointment of Ali Ibn Talib as successor and guardian of that message in both the spiritual and temporal authority of Muhammad, through the institution of Imamate.
A few months before his death, Muhammad who resided in the city of Medina made his first and final pilgrimage (Al Hajj) to Mecca, a journey referred to as The Farewell Pilgrimage. There, atop Mount Arafat, he addressed the Muslim masses in what came to be known as The Farewell Sermon. After completion of the Hajj pilgrimage, Muhammad journeyed back toward his home in Medina with other pilgrims.
During the journey, Muhammad stopped at the desert oasis of Khumm, and requested other pilgrims gather together, and there he addressed them with the famous words:
Following Muhammads death the Shiat Ali (Party of Ali) believed Ali had been designated not merely as the political successor to Muhammad (Caliph) but also his spiritual successor. And looked toward Ali and his most trusted supporters for both political and spiritual guidance. Ali's descendants were also the only descendants of Muhammad as Ali had married Muhammads only surviving progeny in the person of Fatima Az-Zahra. And through the generations the mantle of leadership of the Shi'at Al-Ali would pass through the progeny of Ali and Fatima known as the Ahl al-Bayt the (Household of Muhammad), embodied in the head of the family, the Imam. Among the Shia both the Ismāʿīli andTwelvers accept the same initial Imāms from the descendants of Muħammad through his daughter Fāṭima az-Zahra and therefore share much of their early history.[1]
Further information: Nizārī Ismā'īlī and Imamah (Nizari Ismaili doctrine)

Imāmi Shia[edit]

Imam Ja‘far as-Sadiq was acknowledged as leader of the Shi'at al-Ali, and head of the Ahl al-Bayt (Household of Muhammad). A highly accomplished theologian Ja'far tutored Abu Hanifawho would go onto found the Hanafi Madh'hab (school of jurisprudence), the largest Sunni legal school in practice today, Malik Ibn Anas founder of the Maliki Sunni Madh'hab (school of jurisprudence), and Wasil ibn Ata who founded the Mu'tazilah school of thought which all major Sunni Jurisprudence schools follow.
During a period of rapid change, when Muslims no longer threatened were beginning to concern themselves with questions like "what does it mean to be a Muslim?". Most sought answers from the new learned classes which would eventually develop into Sunni Islam, but for some the answers to such questions were always sought from Muhammad's family the Ahl al-Bayt as led by Imam Jaʿfar Saddiq; who saw the need for a systematic school of thought for those who sought guidance, and were loyal to Muhammad's family, as distinct from the new scholar schools which would synthesis into Sunni Islam. His answer was the Imāmiyyah or Jā‘fariyyah Madh'hab (School of jurisprudence). This period marks the founding of the distinct religious views of both the Shia and Sunni.

Imāmi Schism[edit]

A fresco by Raphael depicting Aristotle and Plato, Greek philosophy played a pivotal role in the formation of the Isma'ili school of thought.
Imām Ja'far as-Sadiq was married to Fāṭima, herself a member of the Ahl al-Bayt. Together they had two sons, Ismā'īl al-Mubarak (the blessed) and his younger brother Abd-Allah. Following Fatima's death Imām Ja'far as-Sadiq was said to be so devastated he refused to ever remarry.
The majority of available sources - both Ismā'īli and Twelver as well as Sunni - indicate that Imam Jafar as-Sadiq designated Ismā'īl as his successor and the next Imam after him by the rule of "nass" and there is no doubt concerning the authenticity of this designation. However, it is controversially believed that Ismā'īl predeceased his father. However, the same sources report Ismā'īl being seen three days after in Basra. His closest supporters believed Ismail had gone into hiding to protect his life. Therefore, upon as-Sadiq's death, a group of Jafar A'Sadiq's followers turned to the eldest surviving son of al-Sadiq, Abd-Allah, because he was the son of the daughter of the Khalifa, and because he was the oldest son of Jafar al-Sadiq after Ismā'īl's death. He claimed a second designation following Ismā'īl's disappearance. Later most of them went back to the doctrine of the Imamate of his brother, Musa, together with the evidence for the right of the latter and the clear proofs of his Immmate (i.e. his character) When Abd-Allah died within weeks without an heir, many more turned again to another son of as-Sadiq, Musa al-Kazim a son from a slave named Umm Hamida, who Ja'far had taken after his wife's death. While some had already accepted him as the Imam following the death of Jafar as-Sadiq, Abd-Allah's supporters now aligned themselves with him giving him the majority of the Shia.
Ismā'īlīs argue that since a defining quality of an Imām is his infallibility, Ja'far as-Sadiq could not have mistakenly passed his nass on to someone who would be either unfit or predecease him. Therefore, the Imam after Ismā'īl was his eldest son Muhammad b. Ismā'īl - known as al-Maktūm.

Establishment of the Alevī-Ismā'īlī school of jurisprudence[edit]

Tasawwufī-Batiniyya aqidah of "Maymūn’al-Qāddāhī" fiqh of the Alevīs and Ismā'īlīs was established by "Maymūn’al-Qāddāh" and his son "ʿAbd Allāh ibn Maymūn" on the principles of Batiniyya aqidah.

The Early Imams[edit]

Callers to Islam[edit]

Main article: Brethren of Purity
Arabic manuscript from the 12th century for Brethren of Purity (Arabic, Ikhwan al-Safa اخوان الصفا)
Imam Muhammad al-Maktūm, retained Ismā'īl s closest supporters, who were few in number but highly disciplined, consisting of philosophers, scientists, and theologians; like his father Imam Muhammad retained an interest in Greek philosophy, political, and scientific thought. Muhmmad al-Maktūm was himself several years the senior of his half uncle Mūsā al-Kādhim. Muhammad al-Maktūm reconciled with his uncle Mūsā l-Kādhim, and left Medina with his father's most loyal supporters, effectively disappearing from historical records and instituting an era of Dar al-Satr (epoch of veiling) when the Imams would vanish from public view. There followed a period when mysterious intellectual writings of an Ismā'īlī character appeared, most famously the Rasa'il Ikhwan al-safa' (the epistles of Brethren of Purity) an enormous compendium of 52 epistles dealing with a wide variety of subjects including mathematics, natural sciences, psychology (psychical sciences) and theology. Isma'ili leadership also produced an array of propaganda attacking the political and religious establishments with calls for popular revolution, through a Dāʻwa propagation machine called "Callers to Islām".
This distinctive characteristic of the Ismāʿīlī to challenge established social, economic, and intellectual norms with their vision of a just society was opposed directly opposed to Twelver quietism and political apathy and would be a hallmark of Ismāʿīlī history.[1][2]

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