Encyclopedia of Islam

Further reading: John L. Esposito, The Islamic Threat: 

Myth or Reality? 3d ed. (New York: Oxford University 

Press, 1999); Fawaz A. Gerges, The Far Enemy: Why 

Jihad Went Global (New York: Cambridge University 

Press, 2005); Bruce B. Lawrence, Shattering the Myth: 

Islam beyond Violence (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton Uni-

versity Press, 2000); Ali Rahnema, Pioneers of Islamic 

Revival (London: Zed Books, 2005); Malise Ruthven, A 

Fury for God: The Islamist Attack on America (London: 

Granta, 2004).

Ismaili Shiism

 

(Sevener Shiism and Seven-

Imam Shiism)

s

hiism

 is a sectarian form of Islam, and Ismaili Shi-

ism is one of its major subdivisions. It is named 

after Ismail (ca. 721–755), the elder son of J

aaFar

al

-s

adiq

 (699–765), the sixth Shii i

mam

. Ismailis 

believe that Ismail was the rightful heir to the 

imamate after Jaafar’s death, instead of Jaafar’s son 

Musa al-Kazim (ca. 745–799), who is regarded as 

the seventh Imam by the Twelve-Imam Shia. The 

doctrines and law of the Ismailis are similar to 

those of other major Shii sects, but they differ sig-

nificantly in their concepts of 

aUthority

. They are 

also known for the emphasis they place on the dif-

ference between outward (zahir) and inner secret 

(

batin

) meanings of the q

Uran

 and other religious 

texts and symbols. Because of periods of persecu-

tion in the past, they practiced taqiyya and dis-

guised themselves as Sunnis, Twelve-Imam Shiis, 

Sufis, and Hindus. Although precise statistics are 

lacking, some estimates say there are about 15 

million Ismailis (compared to about 150 million 

Twelve-Imam Shiis and about 1.2 billion Muslims 

total). Prior to the 19th century, they resided 

mainly in the Indian subcontinent, y

emen

,  i

ran

, 

a

Fghanistan

, and mountainous areas of Central 

Asia. They established merchant communities in 

e

ast

  a

Frica

  during the 19th century. Now they 

can be found in many countries of the world, 

including immigrant communities in the United 

Kingdom, c

anada

, and the U

nited

 s

tates

.

Four major forms of Ismaili Shiism developed 

during the Middle Ages. They all spread secret 

Ismaili teachings by means of missionaries known 

as  dais who challenged the authority of Sunnis 

and Twelve-Imam Shiis. The first form was that of 

the Qaramatians, which appeared in southern i

raq

in the late ninth century and spread to eastern 

Arabia, Bahrain, and Yemen. It was named after 

Hamdan Qaramat, who, together with his aides, 

announced that Ismail’s son Muhammad was the 

promised m

ahdi

 (a messianic savior) who would 

abrogate the 

sharia

 and rule the world in 

JUstice

.

Claiming they acted on his behalf, they recruited 

converts from among the b

edoUin

 tribes and orga-

nized small communities that practiced collective 

ownership of property. Challenging the legitimacy 

of the a

bbasid

 c

aliphate

 in the early 10th century, 

they attacked cities in s

yria

 and Iraq as well as 

pilgrim caravans. The Qaramatians plundered 

m

ecca

 in 930 and carried away the k

aaba

’s b

lack

s

tone

. The second form of Ismailism was that of 

the Fatimids, a movement based in North Africa 

that broke with the Qaramatians on the basis of 

their claim that Abd Allah (also known as Ubayd 

Allah, d. 934), a leading Ismaili missionary, was 

related to Muhammad ibn Ismail through a line