States
25-748: States People Centers Other This is a list of the Imams as recognized by the different sub-sects of the Ismai'li sect of Shia Islam . Imams are considered members of the Bayt (Household) of Muhammad through his daughter Fatima . All Isma'ili sects roughly share the first four Imams with the Zaydi Shia, and the first six Imams with the Twelver Shia. The Nizari and Musta'li are collectively also known as Fatimid Isma'ili, in contrast to
50-852: A Nizari Ismaili intellectual of the Alamut period , the Imams are the Possessors of the Command, upon whom obedience is ordered by God in Sura an-Nisa , Ayah 59: "Obey God and obey the Messenger and the Possessors of the Command". An old command may be superseded by a newer one, and therefore those who hold to the command rather than the Commander, in the Ismaili view, may go astray. Through this framework,
75-453: A series of Seven law-announcing prophets called ūlul’l-ʿazm, namely, Nūh , Ibrāhīm , Mūsā , ʿIsā , Muhammad bin ʿAbd Allāh , Ali ibn Abu Tālib , and Muhammad bin Ismā‘īl , who was the seal of the series. According to the early Ismāʿīlis, God sent Seven great prophets , known as nātiq "speakers", in order to disseminate and improve Islam. All of these great prophets has an assistant,
100-597: Is a title held by the Imām of the Nizari Ismāʿīli Shias . Since 1957, the holder of the title has been the 49th Imām, Prince Shah Karim al-Husseini, Aga Khan IV (born 1936). Aga Khan claims to be a direct descendant of Muhammad , the last prophet according to the religion of Islam . The title is made up of the titles " agha " and " khan ". The Turkish "agha" is "aqa" (Āqā) in Persian . The word " agha " comes from
125-706: Is the true vice-regent. The largest branch are the Dawoodi Bohra , and there are also the Sulaymani Bohra and Alavi Bohra . The Hafizi recognized Imams: The Hafizi Ismaili sect lived on until the 14th century in Egypt and Syria but had died out by the end of the 14th century. Ibn Ali al-Hadi ("hidden") Following the death of Shams al-Din Muhammad, the Nizari Isma'ili split into two groups:
150-679: The Old Turkic and Mongolian "aqa", meaning "elder men", and means something like "master" or "lord." " Khan " means king or ruler in Turkish and Mongolian languages. According to Farhad Daftary , a scholar of the Isma'ili movement, Aga Khan is an honorific title bestowed on Hasan Ali Shah (1800–1881), the 46th Imām of Nizari Ismai'lis (1817–1881), by the Iranian king Fath-Ali Shah Qajar . However, Daftary apparently contradicts what
175-960: The Sevener Isma'ili . After Ali ibn Husayn Zayn al-Abidin , the Zaydis consider Zayd ibn Ali to be their next Imam rather than his older brother Muhammad al-Baqir who is considered the next Imam by the Isma'ili and Twelvers. After Ja'far al-Sadiq , the Twelvers consider Musa ibn Ja'far to be their next Imam, whereas Fatimid Isma'ilis consider his older brother Isma'il ibn Ja'far to be their next Imam, followed next by his son Muhammad ibn Isma'il . The Sevener Isma'ilis consider either Isma'il ibn Ja'far or his son Muhammad ibn Isma'il to be their final Imam and occulted Mahdi. The Seveners propagated their faith from their bases in Syria through Da'iyyun . In 899, Abd Allah al-Mahdi Billah announced that he
200-835: The Aga Khan III noted in a famous legal proceeding in India: that Aga Khan is not a title but instead an alias that was given to the Aga Khan I when he was a young man. During the latter stages of the First Anglo-Afghan War (1841–1842), Hasan Ali Shah and his cavalry officers provided assistance to General Nott in Kandahar Province and to General England in his advance from Sindh to join Nott. For these and for other diligent efforts made by him in
225-806: The Ismailis give primacy to the living Word, or the Imam of the Time, over the recorded word. The Nizari and Musta'li have several Imams in common; the Nizari consider Ali the first Imam and his son Hasan a pir while the Musta'li label him al-Asās or "the Foundation" and call Hasan the first Imam. Aga Khan States People Centers Other Aga Khan ( Persian : آقاخان , Arabic : آغا خان ; also transliterated as Aqa Khan and Agha Khan )
250-596: The Mu'mini Nizari (or, Muhammad-Shahi Nizari) who considered his elder son Ala al-Din Mu'min Shah to be the next Imam followed by his son Muhammad Shah, and the Qasimi Nizari (or, Qasim-Shahi Nizari) who consider his younger son Qasim Shah to be the next Imam Following the dissapearence of Amir Muhammad al-Baqir, some of the Mu'mini Ismaili believed he had gone into occultation. In any case, the Mu'mini Ismaili sect died out by
275-590: The Sāmad (Silent) Imam. After six silent imams, a nātiq was sent to reinvigorate Islam. After Adam and his son Seth , and after six “Nātiq” (Speaker) – “Sāmad” (Silent) silsila ( Noah – Shem ), ( Abraham – Ishmael ), ( Moses – Aaron or Joshua ), ( Jesus – Simeon ), ( Muhammad bin ʿAbd Allāh – Ali ibn Abu Tālib ); the silsila of “Nātıqs and Sāmads have been completed with ( Muhammad bin Ismā‘īl as-ṣaghīr ( Maymūn al-Qaddāh ) – ʿAbd Allāh Ibn-i Maymūn and his sons). Early Ismāʿīlis believed that hierarchical history of
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#1732775686838300-579: The first Fatimid Caliph with his empire spanning Egypt and the eastern Maghreb. Sevener communities continued to exist in Eastern Arabia and Syria, and for a while in northern Iran but where it was gradually replaced by Fatimid Isma'ilis and other Shiʿi communities. In the Fatimid and its successor Isma'ili traditions, the Imamate was held by the following. Each Imam listed is considered the son of
325-595: The foundation Imam of the Isma'ili branch of Shia Islam , to be the Mahdi and to be preserved in hiding, which is referred to as the Occultation . Qarmatians believed that Muhammad ibn Isma'il was Imām al-Qā'im al-Mahdi , and the last of the great messenger–prophets. On his reappearance, he would bring a new religious law by abrogating the one conveyed by the Islamic prophet Muhammad . Qarmatians recognized
350-734: The head of Islam as recognized by the Sunni sects. The Aga Khan was the only religious or community leader in British India granted a personal gun salute . When Hasan Ali Shah , the first Aga Khan, came to Sindh (which is now in Pakistan ) from Afghanistan , he and his army were welcomed by Mir Nasir Khan Noori of Baluchistan . In 1866, the Aga Khan won a court victory in the High Court of Bombay in what popularly became known as
375-510: The mankind is created in Seven Eras of various durations each one inaugurated by "speaker- prophet " (known as nātiq ). In the first Six Eras of human history, nātiqs or ūlul’l-ʿazm had been Adam , Nūh , Ibrāhīm , Mūsā , ʿIsā , Muhammad bin ʿAbd Allāh . Qarmatians, on the other hand, originally included Ali ibn Abu Tālib instead of Adam in their list of law-announcing prophets. Later substitution of Adam in place of Ali as one of
400-456: The nātiqs, and the reduction of Ali's rank from a prophet level to that of Muhammad's successor indicate the renouncement of their extremist views. Furthermore, they believed that each of the first six nātiqs were succeeded by a spiritual legatee called wāsi or foundation asās or silent sāmit, who interpreted the inner esoteric ( batin ) meaning of the revelation. Each sāmit in turn was followed by Seven Imāms called atimmā', who guarded
425-522: The post-Mongol period of Ismaili history , by an anonymous author, there has been a chain of Imams since the beginning of time, and there will continue to be an Imam present on the Earth until the end of time. The worlds would not exist in perfection without this uninterrupted chain of Imamate . The proof ( hujja ) and gate ( bāb ) of the Imam are always aware of his presence and are witness to this uninterrupted chain. According to Nasir al-Din al-Tusi ,
450-662: The preceding Imam by mainstream accounts. After his death, the succession was disputed. The regent Malik al-Afdal placed Mustansir's younger son Al-Musta'li Billah on the throne. This was contested by the elder son Nizar al-Mustafa li-Din Allah , who was defeated and died in prison. This dispute resulted in the split into two branches, lasting to this day, the Nizari and the Musta'li . The Musta'li recognized Imams: Hafizi Ismaili Muslims claimed that al-Amir died without an heir and
475-592: The rightful Imam after his father, Ja'far al-Sadiq . The Ismailis believe that whether Imam Ismail did or did not die before Imam Ja'far, he had passed on the mantle of the imamate to his son Muhammad ibn Isma'il as the next imam. Including: According to some early Isma'ilis, the Seveners , as well as the Qarmatians , a splinter group, the number of imams was fixed, with seven Imams preordained by God. These groups consider Muhammad ibn Isma'il ,
500-572: The service of the Empire, the British Raj recognised him as a "Prince". This title was less extraordinary in that time and place than it seems today, because the British while consolidating their hold on India, had been handing out similar titles liberally to any large landowner or tribal chieftain with local influence who made himself useful to them. The Aga Khan was exceptional in that, while it
525-595: The start of the 20th century. The Qasimi Ismaili imams has used the Aga Khan title since 1817. Imamate in Ismaili doctrine People Centers Other The doctrine of the Imamate in Isma'ilism differs from that of the Twelvers because the Isma'ilis had living Imams for centuries after the last Twelver Imam went into concealment. They followed Isma'il ibn Ja'far , elder brother of Musa al-Kadhim , as
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#1732775686838550-597: The true meaning of the scriptures and the laws. In the Ismaili interpretation, the Imam is the guide and the intercessor between humans and God, and the individual through whom God is recognized. He is also responsible for the interpretation ( ta’wil ) of the Quran . He is the possessor of divine knowledge and therefore the “Prime Teacher”. According to the “Epistle of the Right Path”, a Persian Ismaili prose text from
575-603: Was succeeded as Caliph and Imam by his cousin al-Hafiz. The Musta'li split into the Hafizi, who accepted him and his successors as an Imam , and the Tayyibi , who believed that al-Amir's purported son At-Tayyib was the rightful Imam and had gone into occultation. The Tayyibi recognized Imam: The Tayyibi branch continues to this day, headed by a Da'i al-Mutlaq as vice-regent in the imam's occultation. The Tayibbi have broken into several branches over disputes as to which Da'i
600-486: Was the "Imam of the Time" being also the fourth direct descendant of Muhammad ibn Isma'il in the very same dynasty, and proclaimed his previous three descendant Da'is to have been "hidden Imams". This caused a split between his Sevener followers accepting his claim and the Qarmatian who continued to dispute his claim and considered Muhammad ibn Isma'il as the Imam in occultation. Abdallah al-Mahdi Billah eventually became
625-464: Was the local tribal influence that had enabled him to serve the British and gain their favour, his claim to nobility was based upon his claim to leadership of an entire sect of Islam. Imperial Britain saw great possibilities in having under their control and patronage the head of a major Shia sect; it could even be used at some later stage to counterbalance the influence of the Ottoman Caliph ,
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