The History of Nizari Isma'ilism from the founding of Islam covers a period of over 1400 years. It begins with Muhammad's mission to restore to humanity the universality and knowledge of the oneness of the divine within the Abrahamic tradition, through the final message and what the Shia believe was the appointment of Ali as successor and guardian of that message with both the spiritual and temporal authority of Muhammad through the institution of the Imamate.
A few months before his death, Muhammad, who resided in the city of Medina, made his first and final pilgrimage to Mecca, 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 the 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: "Whose mawla (master) I am, this Ali is also his mawla. O God, befriend whosoever befriends him and be the enemy of whosoever is hostile to him." This is known as the event of Ghadir Khumm, which is remembered in the hadith of the pond of Khumm.
Following Muhammad's death the Shia or "Party" of Ali believed he had been designated not merely as the political successor to Muhammad ("Caliph") but also his spiritual successor ("Imam"). 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 Muhammad's only surviving progeny, his daughter Fatimah. Through the generations, the mantle of leadership of the Shia passed through the progeny of Ali and Fatimah, the Ahl al-Bayt, embodied in the head of the family, the Imam. Both Ismaʿili and Twelver Shia accept the same initial Imams from the descendants of Muhammad through his daughter Fatimah and therefore share much of their early history; the Zaydi are distinct.
The modern Nizari faith refers to itself as a tariqa or "path", the term for a Sufi order, following centuries hiding from oppression as a Twelver Nimatullahi tariqa.
Imami Shia Ja'far al-Sadiq was acknowledged leader (Imam) of the Shia and head of the Ahl al-Bayt. A highly accomplished theologian, Ja'far tutored Abu Hanifa, who would go on to found the Hanafi madhhab ("school of jurisprudence"), the largest Sunni legal school practiced today; Malik ibn Anas, founder of the Maliki Sunni madhhab; and Wasil ibn Ata, who founded the Muʿtazila theology.
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 the Ahl al-Bayt led by Imam Jaʿfar; 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 synthesize into Sunni Islam. His answer was Ja'fari jurisprudence, a madhhab "school of jurisprudence" distinct to the Shia. This period marks the founding of the distinct religious views of both the Shia and the Sunni.
Imami Schism
Ja'far al-Sadiq was married to Faṭimah, herself a member of the Ahl al-Bayt. Together they had two sons, Ismā'īl al-Mubarak and his elder brother, Abdullah al-Aftah. Following Fatimah's death, Ja'far al-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 through nass ("a clear legal injunction") 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 al-Sadiq's followers turned to his eldest surviving son, Abdullah because he was the son of the daughter of the Caliph and 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-Kadhim, 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, Abdullah's supporters now aligned themselves with him giving him the majority of the Shia.
Isma'ilis argue that since a defining quality of an Imam 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 ibn Ismā'īl, known as al-Maktūm.
The Early Imams Ali (599–661) Hasan ibn Ali (625–670) Husayn ibn Ali (626–680) Ali ibn Husayn Zayn al-Abidin (659–712) Muhammad al-Baqir (676–743) * Offshoot of Zaydiyyah Ja'far al-Sadiq (702–765) * Offshoot of Twelvers Isma'il ibn Jafar (721–762) Muhammad ibn Ismail (740–813) * Offshoot of Sevener Qarmatians
Callers to Islam
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, Musa al-Kadhim. Muhammad al-Maktūm reconciled with Musa al-Kadhim 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 Isma'ili 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 dāʻwah propagation machine called "Callers to Islam". This distinctive characteristic of the Isma'ili 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 Isma'ili history.
First Period of Concealment: The Isma'ilis leave Mecca and propagate their faith in secret, and produce literature against the established state.
8. Abdallah al Wafī Aḥmad, son of Muhammad.
9. Aḥmad at Taqī Muḥammad, son of ʿAbd Allāh.
10. Ḥusayn ar Radhī ad-dīn ʿAbd Allāh, son of Aḥmad.
The Fatimid Caliphate
In the face of persecution, the bulk of the Isma'ili continued to recognize Imams who, as mentioned, secretly propagated their faith through Duʻāt (singular, dāʻī) "Callers to Islām" from their bases in Syria. However, by the 10th century, an Isma'ili Imam, Abdullah al-Mahdi Billah, correctly known as ʻAbdu l-Lāh al-Mahdī, had emigrated to North Africa and successfully established the Fatimid Caliphate in Tunisia. His successors subsequently succeeded in conquering all of North Africa (including highly prized Egypt) and the Fertile Crescent, and even holding Mecca and Medina in Arabia. The capital for the Fatimid state subsequently shifted to the newly founded city of Cairo (al-Qāhirah, meaning "The Victorious"), in honour of the Isma'ili military victories, from which the Fatimid Caliph-Imams ruled for several generations, establishing their new city as a centre for culture and civilization. It boasted the world's first university, Al-Azhar University and the House of Knowledge, where the study of mathematics, art, biology, and philosophy reached new heights in the known world.
A fundamental split amongst the Isma'ili occurred as the result of a dispute over which son should succeed the 18th Imam and Fatimid caliph al-Mustansir Billah. While Nizar was originally designated Imam, his younger brother al-Musta'li was promptly installed as Imam in Cairo with the help of the powerful Armenian vizier, Badr al-Jamali, whose daughter he was married to. Badr al-Jamali claimed that Imam Mustansir had changed his choice of successor upon his death bed, appointing his younger son.
Although Nizar contested this claim, he was defeated after a short military campaign and imprisoned; however, he did gain support from an Isma'ili Dāʿī based in Iran, Hassan-i Sabbah. Hassan-i Sabbah is noted by Western writers to have been the leader of the legendary "Assassins".
Fatimid Caliphs The Nizari Ism'ailis recognize only the first eight Fatimid caliphs from the nine listed below:
Abdullah al-Mahdi Billah (909–934), founder of the Fatimid dynasty al-Qa'im bi-Amr Allah (934–946) al-Mansur bi-Nasr Allah (946–953) al-Mu'izz li-Din Allah (953–975) Egypt is conquered during his reign al-Aziz Billah (975–996) al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah (996–1021) * Offshoot of the Druze Ali az-Zahir (1021–1036) al-Mustansir Billah (1036–1094) al-Musta'li (1094–1101) Quarrels over his accession led to the Nizari split. For further information see Musta'li Isma'ilism and Tayyibi Isma'ilism Nizar ibn al-Mustansir (1045–1095) Fled to Alexandria and rose in revolt but was defeated and executed in Cairo.
Alamut
Most Isma'ilis outside North Africa, mostly in Iran and the Levant, came to acknowledge Imam Nizar ibn Mustansir Billah's claim to the Imamate as maintained by Hassan-i Sabbah, and this point marks the fundamental split. Within two generations, the Fatimid Caliphate would suffer several more splits and eventually implode.
Hassan began converting local inhabitants and much of the military stationed at the fortress to the Isma'ili ideals of social justice and free thinking as he plotted to take over the fortress. During the final stages of his plan, he is believed to have lived within the fortress – possibly working as a chef – under the pseudonym "Dihkunda." He seized the fortress in 1090 AD from its then-ruler, a Zaidi Shia named Mahdi. This marks the founding of the Nizari Isma'ili state. Mahdi's life was spared, and he later received 3,000 gold Dinars in compensation.
Hassan-i Sabbah termed his doctrine al-Dawa al-Jadida ("The New Preaching") to contrast the Fatimid "Old Preaching". He was viewed as the Hujjah or "Proof" of the Imam, having direct secret contact with Imam Nizar and his rightful successors. Hassan-i Sabbah is also known as the first of the "Seven Lords of Alamut Castle", as he chose this secluded fortress as his base.
Under the leadership of Hassan-i Sabbah and the succeeding lords of Alamut, the strategy of covert capture was successfully replicated at strategic fortresses across Iran, Iraq, and the Fertile Crescent. Nizaris created a state of unconnected fortresses, surrounded by huge swathes of hostile territory, and managed a unified power structure that proved more effective than either that in Fatimid Cairo or Seljuq Bagdad, both of which suffered political instability, particularly during the transition between leaders. These periods of internal turmoil allowed the Isma'ili state respite from attack, and even to have such sovereignty as to have minted their own coinage.