The Nizaris ( ar, النزاريون, al-Nizāriyyūn, fa, نزاریان, Nezāriyān) are the largest segment of the
Ismaili Muslims, who are the second-largest branch of
Shia Islam
Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his successor (''khalīfa'') and the Imam (spiritual and political leader) after him, m ...
after the
Twelver
Twelver Shīʿīsm ( ar, ٱثْنَا عَشَرِيَّة; '), also known as Imāmīyyah ( ar, إِمَامِيَّة), is the largest branch of Shīʿa Islam, comprising about 85 percent of all Shīʿa Muslims. The term ''Twelver'' refers t ...
s. Nizari teachings emphasize independent reasoning or ''
ijtihad''; pluralism—the acceptance of racial, ethnic, cultural and inter-religious differences; and
social justice
Social justice is justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, Equal opportunity, opportunities, and Social privilege, privileges within a society. In Western Civilization, Western and Culture of Asia, Asian cultures, the concept of social ...
. Nizaris, along with Twelvers, adhere to the
Jaʽfari school of
jurisprudence
Jurisprudence, or legal theory, is the theoretical study of the propriety of law. Scholars of jurisprudence seek to explain the nature of law in its most general form and they also seek to achieve a deeper understanding of legal reasoning a ...
. The
Aga Khan, currently
Aga Khan IV
Shāh Karim al-Husayni (born 13 December 1936), known by the religious title Mawlānā Hazar Imam by his Ismaili followers and elsewhere as Aga Khan IV, is the 49th and current Imam of Nizari Ismailis, a denomination within Shia Islam. He ha ...
, is the spiritual leader and
Imam of the Nizaris. The global seat of the Ismaili Imamate is in
Lisbon,
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...
.
Early history
Nizari Isma'ili history is often traced through the unbroken hereditary chain of guardianship, or ''
walayah
Welayah or Walaya (, meaning "guardianship" or “governance”) is a general concept of the Islamic faith and a key word in Shia Islam that refers, among other things, to the nature and function of the Imamate.
Welayah is a word which a powe ...
'', beginning with
Ali Ibn Abi Talib, who was declared
Muhammad's successor as Imam during the latter's
final pilgrimage to
Mecca
Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow ...
, and continues in an unbroken chain to the current Imam,
Shah Karim Al-Husayni, the Aga Khan.
Fatimid usurpation, schism, and the flight of the Nizari
![Nizari-Hafizi-Tayyibi schism family tree](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8b/Nizari-Hafizi-Tayyibi_schism_family_tree.svg)
From early in his reign, the
Fatimid Caliph-Imam Al-Mustansir Billah had publicly named his elder son
Nizar as his heir to be the next Fatimid Caliph-Imam.
Dai Hassan-i Sabbah, who had studied and accepted Ismailism in Fatimid Egypt, had been made aware of this fact personally by al-Mustansir. After Al-Mustansir died in 1094,
Al-Afdal Shahanshah
Al-Afdal Shahanshah ( ar, الأفضل شاهنشاه, al-Afḍal Shāhanshāh; la, Lavendalius/Elafdalio; 1066 – 11 December 1121), born Abu al-Qasim Shahanshah bin Badr al-Jamali was a vizier of the Fatimid caliphs of Egypt. According to a ...
, the all-powerful Armenian Vizier and Commander of the Armies, wanted to assert, like his father before him, dictatorial rule over the Fatimid State. Al-Afdal engineered a
palace coup
A palace is a grand residence, especially a royal residence, or the home of a head of state or some other high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin name palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome which ...
, placing his brother-in-law, the much younger and dependent
Al-Musta'li, on the Fatimid throne. Al-Afdal claimed that Al-Mustansir had made a deathbed decree in favour of Musta'li and thus got the Ismaili leaders of the Fatimid Court and Fatimid Dawa in
Cairo
Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the Capital city, capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, List of ...
, the capital city of the Fatimids, to endorse Musta'li, which they did, realizing that the army was behind the palace coup.
In early 1095, Nizar fled to
Alexandria
Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandri ...
, where he received the people's support and where he was accepted as the next Fatimid Caliph-Imam after Al-Mustansir, with gold
dinars
The dinar () is the principal currency unit in several countries near the Mediterranean Sea, and its historical use is even more widespread.
The modern dinar's historical antecedents are the gold dinar and the silver dirham, the main coin o ...
being minted in Alexandria in Nizar's name (one such coin, found in 1994, is in the collection of the
Aga Khan Museum
The Aga Khan Museum (french: Musée Aga Khan) is a museum of Islamic art, Iranian (Persian) art and Muslim culture located at 77 Wynford Drive in the North York district of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The museum is dedicated to Islamic art and ob ...
). In late 1095, Al-Afdal defeated Nizar's Alexandrian army and took Nizar prisoner to Cairo where he had Nizar executed.
After Nizar's execution, the Nizari Ismailis and the
Musta'li Ismailis parted ways in a bitterly irreconcilable manner. The schism finally broke the remnants of the Fatimid Empire, and the now-divided Ismailis separated into the Musta'li following (inhabiting regions of Egypt, Yemen, and western India) and those pledging allegiance to Nizar's son
Al-Hadi ibn Nizar
Abū Muḥammad Mūsā ibn al-Mahdī al-Hādī ( ar, أبو محمد موسى بن المهدي الهادي; 26 April 764 CE 14 September 786 CE) better known by his laqab Al-Hādī (الهادي) was the fourth Arab Abbasid caliph who succee ...
(living in regions of Iran and
Syria). The latter Ismaili following came to be known as ''Nizari Ismailism''.
Imam Al-Hadi, being very young at the time, was smuggled out of Alexandria and taken to the Nizari stronghold of
Alamut Castle in the
Elburz Mountains
The Alborz ( fa, البرز) range, also spelled as Alburz, Elburz or Elborz, is a mountain range in northern Iran that stretches from the border of Azerbaijan along the western and entire southern coast of the Caspian Sea and finally runs nort ...
of northern Iran, south of the
Caspian Sea
The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water, often described as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. An endorheic basin, it lies between Europe and Asia; east of the Caucasus, west of the broad steppe of Central Asia ...
and under the regency of Dai
Hasan bin Sabbah
Hasan-i Sabbāh ( fa, حسن صباح) or Hassan as-Sabbāh ( ar, حسن بن الصباح الحميري, full name: Hassan bin Ali bin Muhammad bin Ja'far bin al-Husayn bin Muhammad bin al-Sabbah al-Himyari; c. 1050 – 12 June 1124) was the ...
.
The offshoot of these Muhammad-Shahi Nizari Ismailis recognize the elder son of Shamsu-d-Dīn Muḥammad, the 28th Qasim-Shahi Imam, named ''Alā'' ad-Dīn Mumin Shāh (the 26th Imam of the Muhammad-Shahi Nizari Ismailis). They recognize this line of Imams down to the disappearance of the 40th Imam, Amir Muhammad al-Baqir, in 1796. There are followers of this line of Nizari Imams in Syria today, locally called the Jafariyah.
Origin of the Fidai
Followers of the young Imam Hadi who wished to be fighters were trained as
Fidai
Fedayeen ( ar, فِدائيّين ''fidāʼīyīn'' "self-sacrificers") is an Arabic term used to refer to various military groups willing to sacrifice themselves for a larger campaign.
Etymology
The term ''fedayi'' is derived from Arabic: '' ...
(Fedayeen), whose bravery and self-sacrificing spirituality was due to their belief that the Nizari ''Imam-ul-waqt'' ("Imam of the time") had the ''
noor'' (light) of God within him. As such it became a religious duty for the Fidai to obey every dictate of their ''Imam-ul-waqt'' and to protect him and their community of believers without compromise even to the extent of dying for their cause.
Under
Hassan-i Sabbah in Iran, and
Rashid ad-Din Sinan
Rashid al-Din Sinan ( ar, رشيد الدين سنان ''Rashīd ad-Dīn Sinān''; 1131/1135 – 1193) also known as the Old Man of the Mountain ( ar, شيخ الجبل ''Shaykh al-Jabal'', la, Vetulus de Montanis), was a ''da'i'' (missionary) a ...
in Syria, the Nizari Fidai targeted the most powerful enemy leaders faced by these new Nizari Ismaili communities in the Elburz Mountains of northern Iran and in the mountains of the
Levant
The Levant () is an approximate historical geographical term referring to a large area in the Eastern Mediterranean region of Western Asia. In its narrowest sense, which is in use today in archaeology and other cultural contexts, it is ...
ine coast, the
Jabal Bahra
The Coastal Mountain Range ( ar, سلسلة الجبال الساحلية ''Silsilat al-Jibāl as-Sāḥilīyah'') also called Al-Anṣariyyah is a mountain range in northwestern Syria running north–south, parallel to the coastal plain.Federal ...
, overlooking the eastern
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ...
.
Assassins
The Fidai were feared as the
Assassins, but did not
assassinate for payment. Although they were trained in the art of
spying
Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering is the act of obtaining Secrecy, secret or Confidentiality, confidential information (Intelligence assessment, intelligence) from non-disclosed sources or divulging of the same without the Consent ...
and
combat, they also practiced Islamic
mysticism
Mysticism is popularly known as becoming one with God or the Absolute, but may refer to any kind of ecstasy or altered state of consciousness which is given a religious or spiritual meaning. It may also refer to the attainment of insight in ...
at the highest level. This religious ardor turned them into formidable foes, as in the anecdote of
Count Henry of Champagne. Returning from
Armenia
Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ' ...
, Henry spoke with Grand Master
Rashid ad-Din Sinan
Rashid al-Din Sinan ( ar, رشيد الدين سنان ''Rashīd ad-Dīn Sinān''; 1131/1135 – 1193) also known as the Old Man of the Mountain ( ar, شيخ الجبل ''Shaykh al-Jabal'', la, Vetulus de Montanis), was a ''da'i'' (missionary) a ...
(known to
the West
West is a cardinal direction or compass point.
West or The West may also refer to:
Geography and locations
Global context
* The Western world
* Western culture and Western civilization in general
* The Western Bloc, countries allied with NATO ...
as "The Old Man of the Mountain") at one of his castles,
al-Kahf
Al-Kahf ( ar, الكهف, ; The Cave) is the List of chapters in the Quran, 18th chapter (sūrah) of the Quran with 110 verses (āyāt). Regarding the timing and contextual background of the revelation (''asbāb al-nuzūl''), it is an earli ...
, in Syria. Henry pointed out that since his army was bigger by far than Sinan's, Sinan should pay him an annual tribute.
Sinan refused, asserting that his army was far stronger, in spirit and unquestioning obedience if not in numbers. He invited Henry to witness this obedience and sacrificial spirit of his Fidai. Sinan signalled to a Fidai standing on the parapet of a high wall of his castle, to jump. The Fidai called out "
God is Great" and unhesitatingly took a headlong death dive into the rocks far below.
The bewildered Henry asked Sinan the cause for the suicidal jump. Sinan pointed once again to the Fidai who had taken the place of the now dead Fidai. Again Sinan gave a signal to the Fidai to jump and the second Fidai also called out "God is Great" and jumped to his death. Henry was visibly shaken by the experience of witnessing the two Fidais' total disregard for their own lives. He accepted Sinan's terms of peace on a non-tribute-paying basis. The Nizaris thus averted debilitating wars against them because of their Fidais' feats of self-sacrifice and assassinations of powerful enemy leaders to demonstrate the will and commitment of the community to live free from being a vassal to any Levantine power.
The Fidai were some of the most feared assassins in the then known world.
Sinan ordered assassinations against politicians and generals such as the great Kurdish general and founder of the
Ayyubid dynasty,
Saladin
Yusuf ibn Ayyub ibn Shadi () ( – 4 March 1193), commonly known by the epithet Saladin,, ; ku, سهلاحهدین, ; was the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty. Hailing from an ethnic Kurdish family, he was the first of both Egypt and ...
. A sleeping Saladin had a note from Sinan delivered to him by a Fidai planted in his entourage. The note was pinned to his pillow with a dagger, and it informed Saladin that he had been spared this once and should give up his anti-Nizari militancy. A shaken Saladin quickly made a truce with Sinan.
Subsequently, the Fidai aided the Muslim cause against the Christian
Crusaders
The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were in ...
of the
Third Crusade
The Third Crusade (1189–1192) was an attempt by three European monarchs of Western Christianity (Philip II of France, Richard I of England and Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor) to reconquer the Holy Land following the capture of Jerusalem by ...
which included
Richard the Lionheart
Richard I (8 September 1157 – 6 April 1199) was King of England from 1189 until his death in 1199. He also ruled as Duke of Normandy, Aquitaine and Gascony, Lord of Cyprus, and Count of Poitiers, Anjou, Maine, and Nantes, and was overl ...
of England. Saladin having by now established a friendly relationship with Sinan, the Nizari Fidai themselves joined Saladin's forces to defeat the Crusaders in the last great battle between the two forces. Later on, when "the Nizaris faced renewed
Frankish
Frankish may refer to:
* Franks, a Germanic tribe and their culture
** Frankish language or its modern descendants, Franconian languages
* Francia, a post-Roman state in France and Germany
* East Francia, the successor state to Francia in Germany ...
hostilities, they received timely assistance from the Ayyubids".
The Fidais' apparent lack of fear of personal injury or even death could not be understood by the Crusaders, who propagated the black legends of the so-called
Assassins. According to Daftary, these were "fictions ... meant to provide satisfactory explanations for behavior that would otherwise seem strange to the medieval Western mind".
These black legends were then further popularized in the Western world by
Marco Polo, the Venetian storyteller who had, in fact, never investigated Sinan, in contradiction to his claim that he had. Polo asserted that Sinan fed
hashish to his drugged followers, the so-called ''Hashishins'' (Assassins), so as to fortify them with the type of courage to commit the assassinations of the most intrepid kind.
This tale of the "Old Man of the Mountain" was assembled by Marco Polo and accepted by
Joseph von Hammer-Purgstall
Joseph Freiherr von Hammer-Purgstall (9 June 1774 – 23 November 1856) was an Austrian orientalist and historian. He is considered one of the most accomplished Orientalists of his time. He was critical of the trend of ascribing classical or a ...
, a 19th-century
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
n
orientalist responsible for much of the spread of this legend. Until the 1930s, Hammer-Purgstall's retelling of Marco Polo's fiction served as the standard description of the Nizari Ismailis across Europe. "The
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...
n orientalist
Vladimir Alexeyevich Ivanov ... gained access also to Nizari literature preserved in Central Asia, Persia, Afghanistan and elsewhere ... compiled the first detailed catalogue of (Nizari and Fatimid) Ismaili works, citing some 700 separate titles attesting to the hitherto unknown richness and diversity of (Nizari and Fatimid) Ismaili literature and literary traditions".
Succession
As with all
Shia Muslims
Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his successor (''khalīfa'') and the Imam (spiritual and political leader) after him, mos ...
, the
succession of leadership following the death of the prophet Muhammed is of major importance to Nizaris. Nizaris believe that at
al-Ghadir Khumm, by God's direct command, Muhammad designated his cousin and son-in-law
Ali
ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib ( ar, عَلِيّ بْن أَبِي طَالِب; 600 – 661 CE) was the last of four Rightly Guided Caliphs to rule Islam (r. 656 – 661) immediately after the death of Muhammad, and he was the first Shia Imam ...
—the husband of his daughter
Fatimah
Fāṭima bint Muḥammad ( ar, فَاطِمَة ٱبْنَت مُحَمَّد}, 605/15–632 CE), commonly known as Fāṭima al-Zahrāʾ (), was the daughter of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and his wife Khadija. Fatima's husband was Ali, ...
—as his successor. As such, Ali became the spiritual successor and the first Imam in the continuing line of hereditary Imams that leads up to the present 49th imam
Prince Shah Karim Al Hussaini.
The Nizari Ismaili tradition is unique in that it is the only tradition that has this continuity of hereditary divine authority vested in the Imamim-Mubeen. In all the Sunni traditions, the Imamim-Mubeen is interpreted as the Quran itself; and in all the Shia traditions, except the Shia Nizari, the Imamim-Mubeen is the last Imam of a dynasty that went into
occultation
An occultation is an event that occurs when one object is hidden from the observer by another object that passes between them. The term is often used in astronomy, but can also refer to any situation in which an object in the foreground blocks ...
. However, in Nizari Ismailism, the Imamim-Mubeen is a living human Imam who is never in occultation, who will never ever be absent from this world but will always be perpetually present and physically alive, and who is designated as the inheritor of an
Imamate passed down from father to son. This tradition has continued for almost 1400 years.
Further schisms
The Ismailis and the Twelvers split over the succession to Imam
Ja'far al-Sadiq
Jaʿfar ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī al-Ṣādiq ( ar, جعفر بن محمد الصادق; 702 – 765 CE), commonly known as Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq (), was an 8th-century Shia Muslim scholar, jurist, and theologian.. He was the founder of th ...
. Ismailis contend that Jafar had designated his son
Isma'il ibn Jafar
Abū Muḥammad Ismāʿīl ibn Jaʿfar al-Mubārak ( ar, إسماعيل بن جعفر; c.719 AD – c.762 AD) was the eldest son of Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq. He is also known as Isma'il al-Ãraj ibn Ja'far al-Sadiq (اسماعيل الاعرج ...
as his heir and the next Imam in the hereditary line, and thus the Isma'ilis follow the Imamate of Isma'il and his progeny. Although Imam Ismail predeceased his father, Isma'il supposedly had designated his own son Muhammad ibn Ismail as the next hereditary Imam to follow. In opposition to this belief, the Twelvers believe that Imam Ismail's younger brother
Musa al Kadhim was, from the beginning, the rightful successor to Imam Jafar and that Ismail was never a contender.
The Nizari Ismailis have since split from others, initially from the
Qarmatians,
Druze,
Musta'li Ismailis, Muhammad Shahi Nizari Ismailis, and
Satpanth
Satpanth is a Sanskrit term used initially by Nizari Isma'ilis and Ismaili Sufis to identify their faith formed over 700 years ago by Pir Sadardin (1290-1367 CE). Although the term is today used mainly by its subgroup formed in the 15th century ...
is, the last two splitting from the Nizari branch of Ismailism in the 14th and 15th centuries.
The ''Nizari Ismailis'' have always maintained that the
Imamah
{{expand Arabic, date=April 2021
The term imamate or ''imamah'' ( ar, إمامة, ''imāmah'') means "leadership" and refers to the office of an ''imam'' or a state ruled by an ''imam''.
Theology
*Imamate, in Sunni doctrine the caliphate
:* Naqshb ...
(also known as 'Imamat') can only be inherited from the current Imam to a direct descendant in a father-to-son (or grandson) ''hereditary lineage'' starting with Imam Ali and then to Imam Hussain and so on until their present and living 49th Imam,
Prince Karim al-Husayni Aga Khan IV.
The Nizaris regard Hassan bin (son of) Ali as a Trustee Imam (imam al-mustawda) as opposed to a Hereditary Imam (imam al-mustaqarr). This fact is clearly demonstrated in the recitation of the Nizari Ismailis’ daily prayers three times a day in which although Hassan bin Ali is revered as part of the Prophet's personal family (Ahl al-Bayt), his name is not included in the
hereditary lineage from their first Imam, Imam Ali, to their 49th Imam Prince Karim al Hussaini. If Hassan bin Ali's name were to be included as one of the Ismaili Imams in their prayer recitation then the present Imam Prince Karim of the Nizari Ismailis would have to be the 50th Imam and not the 49th Imam - the way he has identified himself and is known to the world.
Contemporary history
All Nizārī Ismā'īlīs now accept Prince Shah Karim Al-Husayni, the
Aga Khan IV
Shāh Karim al-Husayni (born 13 December 1936), known by the religious title Mawlānā Hazar Imam by his Ismaili followers and elsewhere as Aga Khan IV, is the 49th and current Imam of Nizari Ismailis, a denomination within Shia Islam. He ha ...
, as their Imām-i-Zaman (Imam of the Time). He is referred to in Persian as ''Khudawand'' (Lord of the Time), in Arabic as ''Maulana'' (Master) or ''Hāzar Imām'' (Present Imam). Karim succeeded his grandfather Sir Sultan Muhammad Shah
Aga Khan III
Sultan Muhammad Shah (2 November 187711 July 1957), commonly known by his religious title Aga Khan III, was the 48th Imam of the Nizariyya. He played an important role in British Indian politics.
Born to Aga Khan II in Karachi, Aga Khan II ...
as Imām in 1957, when he was just 20 and still an undergraduate at Harvard University. He was referred to as "the Imam of the
Atomic Age
The Atomic Age, also known as the Atomic Era, is the period of history following the detonation of the first nuclear weapon, The Gadget at the ''Trinity'' test in New Mexico, on July 16, 1945, during World War II. Although nuclear chain reaction ...
". The period following his accession can be characterized as one of rapid political and economic change. Planning of programs and institutions became increasingly difficult due to the rapid changes in the newly emerging post-colonial nations where many of his followers resided. Upon becoming Imām, Karim's immediate concern was the preparation of his followers, wherever they lived, for the changes that lay ahead. This rapidly evolving situation called for bold initiatives and new programs to reflect developing national aspirations in the newly independent nations.
In Africa, Asia, and the Middle East, a major objective of the community's social welfare and economic programs, until the mid-1950s, had been to create a broad base of businessmen, agriculturists, and professionals. The educational facilities of the community tended to emphasize secondary-level education. With the coming of independence, each nation's economic aspirations took on new dimensions, focusing on industrialization and the modernization of agriculture. The community's educational priorities had to be reassessed in the context of new national goals, and new institutions had to be created to respond to the growing complexity of the development process.
In 1972, under the regime of the then President
Idi Amin
Idi Amin Dada Oumee (, ; 16 August 2003) was a Ugandan military officer and politician who served as the third president of Uganda from 1971 to 1979. He ruled as a military dictator and is considered one of the most brutal despots in modern w ...
,
Ismā'īlīs and Asians were expelled from
Uganda
}), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The sou ...
, despite being citizens of the country and having lived there for generations. The Imam took urgent steps to facilitate the resettlement of Ismāʿīlīs displaced from Uganda, but also Tanzania, Kenya, and from Burma. Owing to his personal efforts, most found homes, not only in Asia, but also in Europe and North America. Most of the basic resettlement problems were overcome remarkably rapidly. This was due to the adaptability of the Ismāʿīlīs themselves—helped in particular by their education—their linguistic abilities, the efforts of the host countries, and the moral and material support from Ismāʿīlī community programs.
In view of the importance that Islām places on maintaining a balance between the spiritual well-being of the individual and the quality of his life, the Imām's guidance deals with both aspects of the life of his followers. The Aga Khan has encouraged Ismā'īlī Muslims settled in the industrialized world to contribute towards the progress of communities in the developing world through various development programs. ''
The Economist
''The Economist'' is a British weekly newspaper printed in demitab format and published digitally. It focuses on current affairs, international business, politics, technology, and culture. Based in London, the newspaper is owned by The Eco ...
'' noted that Isma'ili immigrant communities integrated seamlessly as immigrant communities, and did better at attaining graduate and post-graduate degrees, "far surpassing their native, Hindu, Sikh, fellow Muslims, and Chinese communities".
Silver Jubilee
From July 1982 to July 1983, to celebrate the present Aga Khan's Silver Jubilee marking the 25th anniversary of his accession to the Imamate, many new social and economic development projects were launched. These ranged from the establishment of the US$450 million international
Aga Khan University with its Faculty of Health Sciences and
teaching hospital
A teaching hospital is a hospital or medical centre that provides medical education and training to future and current health professionals. Teaching hospitals are almost always affiliated with one or more universities and are often co-located ...
based in Karachi; the expansion of
schools
A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes compulsor ...
for girls and
medical centers in the
Hunza region, one of the remote parts of Northern Pakistan bordering on China and Afghanistan; the establishment of the Aga Khan Rural Support Program in
Gujarat
Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...
, India; and the extension of existing urban hospitals and primary health care centers in
Tanzania
Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands ...
and
Kenya
)
, national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"()
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
, capital = Nairobi
, coordinates =
, largest_city = Nairobi
...
. These initiatives form part of an international network of institutions involved in fields that range from education, health, and rural development, to architecture and the promotion of private sector enterprise and together make up the
Aga Khan Development Network
The Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) is a network of private, non-denominational (de jure) development agencies founded by the Aga Khan that work primarily in the poorest parts of Asia and Africa. Aga Khan IV succeeded to the office of the 49t ...
.
Golden Jubilee
From 2007 to 2008, during the Golden Jubilee marking 50 years of his Imamate, the Aga Khan commissioned a number of projects: renowned
Pritzker Prize winning Japanese architect
Fumihiko Maki
is a Japanese architect who teaches at Keio University SFC. In 1993, he received the Pritzker Prize for his work, which often explores pioneering uses of new materials and fuses the cultures of east and west.
Early life
Maki was born in Tokyo. ...
was commissioned to design a new kind of community structure, resembling an embassy, in Ottawa, Canada; and the
Delegation of the Ismaili Imamat, to be composed of two large interconnected spaces an atrium and a courtyard, opened on 8 December 2008. The atrium is an interior space, to be used all year round. It is protected by a unique glass dome made of multi-faceted, angular planes assembled to create the effect of rock crystal; the Aga Khan asked Maki to consider the qualities of "rock crystal", which was valued by the Imams of the Fatimid Empire, in his design. Within the glass dome is an inner layer of woven glass-fibre fabric which will appear to float and hover over the atrium. The delegation building is located on Sussex Drive near the Canadian parliament. Future delegation buildings are planned for other capitals, beginning with Lisbon, Portugal.
In addition to primary and secondary schools, the Aga Khan academies, were set up to educate future leaders in the developing world. The Aga Khan Museum, in Toronto, Canada, is the first museum in the West dedicated to Islamic civilization. Completed in 2013, it is dedicated to the "acquisition, preservation and display of artefacts – from various periods and geographies – relating to the intellectual, cultural, artistic and religious heritage of Islamic communities". A series of new Isma'ili centres are underway: including in Toronto, Ontario; Houston, Texas; Dushanbe and the Pamir, Tajikistan.
Diamond Jubilee
During 2017–2018 the Ismaili Muslim community commemorated 60 years since the Aga Khan became the 49th hereditary Imam on 11 July 1957.
Seat of the Ismaili Imamate
Following an agreement with the
Republic of Portugal in 2015, on 11 July 2018, the Aga Khan officially designated the Henrique de Mendonça Palace, located on Rua Marquês de Fronteira in
Lisbon, as the "
Diwan (seat) of the Ismaili
Imamat" ( pt, Divã do Imamato Ismaeli).
Theology
God
Nizari Ismaili theology is the pre-eminent negative or
apophatic theology of Islam because it affirms the absolute Oneness of God (''
tawhid
Tawhid ( ar, , ', meaning "unification of God in Islam (Allāh)"; also romanized as ''Tawheed'', ''Tawhid'', ''Tauheed'' or ''Tevhid'') is the indivisible oneness concept of monotheism in Islam. Tawhid is the religion's central and single m ...
'') through negating all names, descriptions, conceptions, and limitations from God. The Ismaili theology of tawhid goes back to the teachings of the early Shi‘a Imams, especially Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib (d. 661), Imam Muhammad al-Baqir (d. 743), and Imam Ja‘far al-Sadiq (d. 765). Additionally, a number of eminent Ismaili Muslim philosophers—Abu Ya‘qub al-Sjistani (d. 971), Ja‘far ibn Mansur al-Yaman (d. 960), Hamid al-Din al-Kirmani (d. 1021), al-Mu’ayyad al-Din Shirazi (d. 1077), Nasir-i Khusraw (d. 1088), Abd al-Karim al-Shahrastani (d. 1153), Nasir al-Din al-Tusi (d. 1273)—consolidated and refined the Ismaili theology of tawhid using the strongest philosophical arguments of their time. Even in the present age, Imam Shah Karim al-Husayni Aga Khan IV, the present and 49th hereditary Imam of the Shi‘a Ismaili Muslims, continues to stress the absolute and utter transcendence of God. At the 1975 All-Ismailia Paris Conference, the Ismaili Imam endorsed and approved the following resolution concerning the contemporary Ismaili position on the concept of God:
The absolute transcendence of God to be emphasized, and the Ismaili belief in God to be expounded in association with the general stress on the transcendence of God in the Qur’an, as exemplified particularly in the Surat al-Ikhlas.
The Ismaili Concept of tawhid can be summarized as follows:
*God is beyond all names and attributes (including every name and attribute mentioned in the Qur’an, such as the Powerful, the Living, the First, the Last, etc.);
*God is beyond matter, energy, space, time and change;
*God is beyond all human conceptions of the imagination and intellect;
*God is beyond both positive and negative qualities—He is not knowing and not not knowing and He is not powerful and not not powerful;
*God is beyond all philosophical and metaphysical categories—spiritual/material, cause/effect, eternal/temporal, substance/accident, essence/attributes, and existence/essence—God is above existence and non-existence;
*When God is associated with a name or attribute in scripture, ritual or everyday speech, e.g. "God is knowing", the real meaning of this statement is that God is the source and originator of that power or quality, i.e. God is the originator of all knowledge but He Himself is beyond actually possessing knowledge as an attribute;
*God's Creative Act is called His Word or Command—this Command is a single, eternal, and continuous act which continually gives existence to and sustains all created or conditioned realities in every moment of their existence.
The full recognition of tawhid, in a mode beyond human rational discourse, is a spiritual and mystical realization in the human soul and intellect called ''ma'rifah''. In the Ismaili ''tariqah'' of Islam, the ''ma‘rifah'' of the ''tawhid'' of God is attained through the Imam of the Time. The perfect soul of the Imam of the Time always experiences the fullness of the ''ma‘rifah'' of God and his ''murids'' reach that recognition through the recognition of the Imam. This is the essential role of the Imam of the time and embodied in the Ismaili Muslim daily prayer called ''
du'a'''. The Aga Khan III also alluded to this when he said that the "real miracle of ''
Hazrat'' Ali is that he brought people to the Truth".
Quran
Nizaris, like all Muslims, consider the
Quran
The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , s ...
, the central
religious text
Religious texts, including scripture, are texts which various religions consider to be of central importance to their religious tradition. They differ from literature by being a compilation or discussion of beliefs, mythologies, ritual pr ...
of Islam, to be the word of God. Nizaris employ ''
tafsir
Tafsir ( ar, تفسير, tafsīr ) refers to exegesis, usually of the Quran. An author of a ''tafsir'' is a ' ( ar, مُفسّر; plural: ar, مفسّرون, mufassirūn). A Quranic ''tafsir'' attempts to provide elucidation, explanation, in ...
'' (the science of Quranic commentary) for ''
zahir'', or exoteric understanding, and ''
tawil'' (the Quranic poetic metre), for ''
batin'', or esoteric understanding.
Tawil stems from the Quranic root word "to return to" the original meaning of the Quran. While acknowledging the importance of both, the ''zahir'' and the ''batin'' in religion, the ''batin'' informs on how the ''zahir'' is to be practiced. More importantly, the ''batin'' guides the believer on a spiritual journey of discovery of the intangible truth (''
haqiqa
Haqiqa (Arabic "truth") is one of "the four stages" in Sufism, '' shari’a'' (exoteric path), ''tariqa'' (esoteric path), ''haqiqa'' (mystical truth) and '' marifa'' (final mystical knowledge, ''unio mystica'').
The four stages
Shariat
Shar ...
'') that engages both the intellect ('
'aql
‘Aql ( ar, عقل, meaning "intellect"), is an Arabic language term used in Islamic philosophy or theology for the intellect or the rational faculty of the soul or mind. It is the normal translation of the Greek term '' nous''. In jurisprudence ...
'') and the spirit (''
ruh'') with the ultimate destination being that of gnostic enlightenment (''
marifa
Maʿrifa (Arabic: “interior knowledge”) is the mystical knowledge of God or the “higher realities” that is the ultimate goal of followers of Sufism. Sufi mystics came to maʿrifa by following a spiritual path that later Sufi thinkers categ ...
'' or ''
fana-fillah'').
The word ''Quran'' means "recitation". When Muslims speak of "the Quran" in the abstract, they usually mean the scripture as recited rather than the printed work or any translation of it. For the Nizari Ismaili, the ''tafsir'' and ''tawil'' of the Quran are embodied most perfectly in the being of the ''Imam-i-Zaman'' (the Imam of the Time), due to his divinity as "the Imam from God Himself" as expressed in the third part of their
Shahada
The ''Shahada'' ( Arabic: ٱلشَّهَادَةُ , "the testimony"), also transliterated as ''Shahadah'', is an Islamic oath and creed, and one of the Five Pillars of Islam and part of the Adhan. It reads: "I bear witness that there i ...
.
Pillars of Islam
Isma'ilism holds that there are
seven pillars in Islam, each of which possesses both an exoteric ("outer" or ''zahir'') expression and an esoteric ("inner" or ''batin'') one.
The Foundation:
Ismailis believe in the basic principle of One God, and Prophet Muhammed is the final messenger. However, they believe that Muhammed's progeny are the rightful successors of Islam, hence, they seek guidance from "the living imam", who is a living descendant of Muhammed's family.
The Seven Pillars consist of:
#
Walayah
Welayah or Walaya (, meaning "guardianship" or “governance”) is a general concept of the Islamic faith and a key word in Shia Islam that refers, among other things, to the nature and function of the Imamate.
Welayah is a word which a powe ...
Guardianship ( ar, ولاية): cultivating a pure loving, affectionate attachment to, and intimacy with, God—manifested in the Prophets and the Imams by their continually offering loyalty, allegiance, devotion and obedience to God—and to those who manifest divine guardianship—the Prophets and Imams. For the Nizari, God is the true desire of every soul.
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Taharah
Purity ( ar, طهارة, ''ṭahāra(h)'') is an essential aspect of Islam. It is the opposite of ''najāsa'', the state of being ritually impure. It is achieved by first removing physical impurities (for example, urine) from the body, and then ...
Purity ( ar, طهارة): physical cleanliness, keeping a hygienic home, and personal presence, but also purity of the heart and the soul.
#
Salat Prayer ( ar, صلاة): Nizari Isma'ili, as do Imami Shia, practice the Salaah as outlined by the Ja'farī ''
madhhab
A ( ar, مذهب ', , "way to act". pl. مَذَاهِب , ) is a school of thought within ''fiqh'' (Islamic jurisprudence).
The major Sunni Mathhab are Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi'i and Hanbali.
They emerged in the ninth and tenth centuries CE a ...
'', the prayer being performed to mark important festivals. Nizari more generally perform a ritual ''
du'a
In Islam, ( ar, دعاء , plural: ' ) is a prayer of invocation, supplication or request, even asking help or assistance from God.
Role in Islam
Muslims regard this as a profound act of worship. Muhammad is reported to have sa ...
'' three times a day. The Nizari, like the Sufi, practice ''
dhikr
''Dhikr'' ( ar, ذِكْر}, , also spelled ''Zikr'', ''Thikr'', ''Zekr'', or ''Zikar'', literally meaning "remembrance, reminder" or "mention") is a form of Islamic meditation in which phrases or prayers are repeatedly chanted in order to remem ...
''—"remembrance" of God, the Prophets, and the Imams—which can take the form of a melodic communal chant or be performed in silence.
#
Zakah Charity ( ar, زكاة): voluntarily share one's own knowledge or skills, as well as tithing. Nizari are encouraged to actively volunteer in the running of community spaces, and offering their specialized knowledge to the wider community—including legal, medical, or other vocational expertise. Zakah also refers to tithing—Islamic tradition holds that Muhammad was designated to collect ''zakāt'' from believers and it is now the duty of believers to give alms to the Imām or his representative, to be redistributed to support local and international development.
#
Sawm
In Islam, fasting (known as ''Sawm'', ar, ; . Or ''Siyam'', ar, ; , also commonly known as Rūzeh or Rōzah, fa, روزه in non-Arab Muslim countries) is the practice of abstaining, usually from food, drink, smoking, and sexual activity. ...
Fasting ( ar, صوم): Fasting during the month of
Ramadan and to mark the new moon is believed to be beneficial for those who are overwrought with the base ego—desire, rage, and the self. Isma'ili who are following the ''tariqa'' (path) seek to transcend the base ego so as to attain an inner being that is in harmony. They absorb food as nourishment for a healthy, peaceful, body and mind, as the more important fast is that of mind and heart, where one abstains from unworthy concerns and worldly thoughts, and can be broken by succumbing to the base ego, and its insatiable desires.
#
Hajj Pilgrimage ( ar, حج): There are two different kinds of Hajj for Nizari Isma'ilis. The first is the ''Hajj-i-Zahiri'' - which is the pilgrimage to the physical Ka‘bah in Mecca that all able Muslims must complete at least once in their lives. The second is the ''Hajj-i-Batini'' - which is a pilgrimage to see the Imam of the Time, who is held to be the "Esoteric Ka‘bah". In addition, pilgrimage to other cities such as
Medina
Medina,, ', "the radiant city"; or , ', (), "the city" officially Al Madinah Al Munawwarah (, , Turkish: Medine-i Münevvere) and also commonly simplified as Madīnah or Madinah (, ), is the second-holiest city in Islam, and the capital of the ...
,
Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
,
Najaf
Najaf ( ar, ٱلنَّجَف) or An-Najaf al-Ashraf ( ar, ٱلنَّجَف ٱلْأَشْرَف), also known as Baniqia ( ar, بَانِيقِيَا), is a city in central Iraq about 160 km (100 mi) south of Baghdad. Its estimated popula ...
, and
Karbala is also encouraged (see also:
Holiest sites in Shia Islam).
#
Jihad Struggle ( ar, جهاد) The definition of jihad is controversial as it has two meanings: "the Greater Struggle" and "the Lesser Struggle", the latter of which means a confrontation with the enemies of the faith. The Nizari interpret "adversaries" of the faith as personal and social vices and those individuals who harm the peace of the faith and avoid provocation and use force only as a final resort only in self-defense.
Rationalism
Various rival approaches to the challenge that Greek rationalism posed to Quranic revelation permeated early Islamic society. The
Athʿaris considered ''
Kalam
''ʿIlm al-Kalām'' ( ar, عِلْم الكَلام, literally "science of discourse"), usually foreshortened to ''Kalām'' and sometimes called "Islamic scholastic theology" or "speculative theology", is the philosophical study of Islamic doc ...
'' (reason) as contradictory to Islam, and ''
falsafa
Islamic philosophy is philosophy that emerges from the Islamic tradition. Two terms traditionally used in the Islamic world are sometimes translated as philosophy—falsafa (literally: "philosophy"), which refers to philosophy as well as logic, ...
'' (philosophy) as antagonistic to faith, which asserts the absolute supremacy of revelation, and the abandonment of reason in the spiritual and secular space (which are interconnected within orthodox Islam). The
Mu'tazilis took a less absolutist approach, allowing for a limited role of reason (Kalam).
Isma'ili
Isma'ilism ( ar, الإسماعيلية, al-ʾIsmāʿīlīyah) is a branch or sub-sect of Shia Islam. The Isma'ili () get their name from their acceptance of Imam Isma'il ibn Jafar as the appointed spiritual successor ( imām) to Ja'far al- ...
s adopted an altogether more philosophical approach, in which only through reasoned discourse could one attain understanding of revelation, social structure, and individualism, as well as the functioning of the natural world. For this reason
Isma'ili
Isma'ilism ( ar, الإسماعيلية, al-ʾIsmāʿīlīyah) is a branch or sub-sect of Shia Islam. The Isma'ili () get their name from their acceptance of Imam Isma'il ibn Jafar as the appointed spiritual successor ( imām) to Ja'far al- ...
s produced a relatively scant collection of theological discourse in comparison to other Shia, and the Sunni. Yet they had a leading place in the development of philosophical discourse within the Islamic world.
While Nizaris subscribe to the
Imami jurisprudence, they also follow in part the ''
Ja'fāriyya'' ''Madhhab'' (school of Jurisprudence), which is believed by Shias to have been founded by Imam
Ja'far as-Sadiq
Jaʿfar ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī al-Ṣādiq ( ar, جعفر بن محمد الصادق; 702 – 765 CE), commonly known as Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq (), was an 8th-century Shia Muslim scholar, jurist, and theologian.. He was the founder of th ...
. Nizaris adhere to supremacy of ''Kalam'' in the interpretation of scripture, and in the temporal relativism of understanding, as opposed to ''
fiqh
''Fiqh'' (; ar, فقه ) is Islamic jurisprudence. Muhammad-> Companions-> Followers-> Fiqh.
The commands and prohibitions chosen by God were revealed through the agency of the Prophet in both the Quran and the Sunnah (words, deeds, and ...
'' (traditional
legalism), which adheres to an
absolutist approach to
revelation
In religion and theology, revelation is the revealing or disclosing of some form of truth or knowledge through communication with a deity or other supernatural entity or entities.
Background
Inspiration – such as that bestowed by God on the ...
.
For Nizaris, there exists a dialectic between revelation and human reasoning, based on a synergy of Islamic scripture and classical Greek philosophy, in particular
Aristotelian reasoning and
neoplatonic
Neoplatonism is a strand of Platonic philosophy that emerged in the 3rd century AD against the background of Hellenistic philosophy and religion. The term does not encapsulate a set of ideas as much as a chain of thinkers. But there are some id ...
metaphysics. It seeks to extend an understanding of religion and revelation to identify the outwardly apparent (''zahir''), and also to penetrate to the roots, to retrieve and disclose that which is the inner underlying (''
batin''). This process of discovery engages both the intellect (''
'aql
‘Aql ( ar, عقل, meaning "intellect"), is an Arabic language term used in Islamic philosophy or theology for the intellect or the rational faculty of the soul or mind. It is the normal translation of the Greek term '' nous''. In jurisprudence ...
'') and the spirit (''
ruh''), generating an integral synergy to illuminate and disclose truths (''
haqi'qat'') culminating in ''
gnosis
Gnosis is the common Greek noun for knowledge ( γνῶσις, ''gnōsis'', f.). The term was used among various Hellenistic religions and philosophies in the Greco-Roman world. It is best known for its implication within Gnosticism, where it ...
'' (''
ma'rifat''). Parallels have also been noted between the Nizari version of ''Imamah'' and the Platonic idea of a
philosopher king.
Eschatology
Over the many phases of Nizārī Ismāʿīlī history – pre-Fāṭimid, Fāṭimid, Alamūt, Post-Alamūt, Anjudan, etc., there has never been a single unified view of eschatology. While there are certainly eschatological ideas from the Pre-Fāṭimid period that have been carried unto the present day, particularly those of Abū Ya’qūb al-Sijistānī and his intellectual disciples, each phase has brought in original ideas and renewed those of the past. The academic field of Ismāʿīlī eschatology is one that has been rarely studied in western secondary literature, and the little work that has been done on Ismāʿīlī eschatology primarily surrounds the event of the proclamation of a qiyāmah during the Alamūt period. Otherwise, there have been zero studies published on the eschatologies of pre-Fāṭimid Ismāʿīlī thinkers and post-Alamūt Ismaili thinkers. Furthermore, no work done has been done on the eschatology of the South Asian traditions of Nizārī Ismāʿīlism.
The Ismāʿīlīs, like the ''falāsifa'' (Islamic Neoplatonic-Aristotelian philosophers), have understood resurrection, paradise, and hell through ''taʾwīl'' (esoteric interpretation) and, thus, have all argued that these are spiritual realties and not physical, material realities. On the rewards of Paradise, al-Sijistānī writes in the ''Kitāb al-Yanābīʿ'':
لما كان قصارى الثواب انما هي اللذة ، وكانت اللذة الحسية منقطعة زائلة ، وجب ان تكون التي ينالها المثاب ازلية غير فانية ، باقية غير منقطعة . وليست لذة بسيطة باقية على حالاتها غير لذة العلم . كان من هذا القول وجوب لذه العلم للمثاب في دار البقاء ، كما قال الله عز وجل : اكلها دائم وظلها تلك عقبى الذين اتقوا
“''Because the limit of reward is pleasure, and sensual pleasure is ephemeral, and it is necessary that the reward which is obtained be eternal and not ephemeral, everlasting and not discontinuous. And there is no simple, everlasting pleasure except the pleasure of knowledge. From this statement, it necessarily follows that the pleasure of knowledge is the reward in the hereafter, as God, glorified and sublime, said: “Its fruit is everlasting and its shade, that is the destination of those who are righteous'' (Qurʾān 13:35)”
According to al-Sijistānī, the most important piece of knowledge to acquire is the recognition of the one who initiates the resurrection, whom he calls ''Ṣāḥib al-Qiyāmah'' (Lord of Resurrection). Al-Sijistānī writes in the ''Kitāb al-Yanābīʿ'':
فترى الناس على طبقتين : طبقة ممن آمنوا به وصدقوه وانتظروا ظهور، فهم بذلك النور مقتبسون، متنعمون ، مستبشرون . وطبقة ممن كذبوا به وغفلوا عن حده ۲ ، فهم بذلك النور ايضاً متحرقون ، معاقبون
“''So you will see people divided into two classes: One class consists of those who believe in the Lord of Resurrection, pronounce his Truth, and await his appearance. They are in that Light, acquiring knowledge, blessed, and rejoicing. The other class consists of those who deny him and ignore his rank. They are in the Light also, but are burned and punished''”
Paradise and Hellfire in the Nizārī Ismāʿīlī tradition, thus, are not characterized by material forms, sensual pleasures, and physical burning, rather Paradise is understood to be the presence of knowledge of real truths while Hellfire is understood to be ignorance. The Nizārī Ismāʿīlī philosopher-theologians, as can be seen in the passage quoted above, did not believe that Paradise and Hellfire were “places” that souls inhabit, rather – because the rewards and punishments are spiritual – they are something the soul directly experiences in itself. Al-Sijistānī explicitly says in the passage above that both classes of people are exposed to same Light (فهم بذلك النور ايضاً), however one class experiences this Light as blessings whilst the other experiences it as burning. These states correspond not to location, but to the level of knowledge in the soul. Additionally, the most famous intellectual disciple of al- Sijistānī – Nāṣir-i Khusraw – writes in the ''Shish Fasl'':
“'' is inevitable that the human soul should return to the Universal Soul. The question only concerns the manner in which it will return...If, however, the return of the individual soul to its source is not in harmony, it will meet with suffering hardships whose painfulness is described by being placed in the midst of fire, the position which will never come to an end''”
Thus, for Nāṣir-i Khusraw, all souls return to the same spiritual abode but those souls which are ignorant will experience pain, as if “''being placed in the midst of fire''”. While Nāṣir-i Khusraw suggests here the suffering is eternal, he has in another text – specifically the ''Wajh-i Dīn'' – indicated that the pains of Hell are temporary and that the Prophet will come on the Day of Resurrection to blow out the fires of Hell and rescue its inhabitants. While both infernalist and universalist positions have existed as legitimate views in the community, annihilationist views have existed as well, specifically being introduced by Naṣīr al-Dīn al-Ṭūsī. Like both al-Sijistānī and Nāṣir-i Khusraw, Naṣīr al-Dīn al-Ṭūsī believed that paradise and hell were spiritual and mental states that the soul experiences and not physical places or sensual pains and desires.
While Naṣīr al-Dīn al-Ṭūsī believed that the punishment of ignorant, damned souls was eternal, he believed this eternal punishment took the form of annihilation, i.e. permanent non-existence. He writes:
“''There is also only one real Hell, and that is eternal punishment, everlasting disappointment and eternal non-existence; the meaning of all this is being outcast from God in every sense of the word''”
The last most public eschatological view espoused by any Ismāʿīlī was written by the 48th Ismāʿīlī Imām – Sulṭān Muḥammad Shāh Āgā Khān III – who endorses a universalist position in regards to salvation and specifically states in his Memoirs that he prays “''that all may be reconciled in Heaven in a final total absolution''”. The position of Āgā Khān III can be said to be generally in line with classical Ismāʿīlī views, as well as the views of the ''falāsifa'' and Sunnī-Sufīs like Ibn ʿArabi (such as in his ''Futūḥāt al-Makkiyya'') and those of the Shīʿī ʿIrfān tradition, like Mullā Ṣadra (such as in his ''Tafsīr Sūrat al-Fātiḥa'').
Community
World Constitution
The present Aga Khan continued the practice of his predecessor and gave constitutions to Ismā'īlī communities in the US, Canada, several European countries, the Persian Gulf, Syria, and Iran, following a process of consultation within each constituency. In 1986, he promulgated a World Constitution that, for the first time, brought the social governance of the worldwide Ismā'īlī community into a single structure with built-in flexibility to account for diverse circumstances of different regions. Served by volunteers appointed by and accountable to the Imam, the Constitution functions to enable individual creativity in an ethos of group responsibility to promote the common well-being.
Like its predecessors, the present constitution is founded on adherence to the basic principles of Islam, belief in one God and Muhammad as the seal of the prophets, and on each Ismā'īlī's spiritual allegiance to the Imām of the Time, which is separate from the secular allegiance that all Ismā'īlīs owe as citizens to their national entities. The present Imam and his predecessor emphasized every Ismāʿīlī's allegiance to his or her country as a fundamental obligation. These obligations are discharged not by passive affirmation but through responsible engagement and active commitment to uphold national integrity and contribute to peaceful development.
Places of Worship
Jama'at Khana
Jamatkhana (from fa, جماعت خانه , literally "congregational place") is an amalgamation derived from the Arabic word ''jama‘a'' (gathering) and the Persian word ''khana'' (house, place). It is a term used by some Muslim communities a ...
( fa, جماعتخانه, from the Arabic ''Jamaat'' (congregation) and the Persian ''Khaneh'' (house)) are Isma'ili houses of prayer, study, and community. They usually contain separate spaces for prayer and a social hall for community gatherings.
There are no principle architectural guidelines for Jama'at Khana, although inspiration is drawn from Islamic architecture and local architectural traditions to seamlessly and discreetly blend them with the local architectural environment, informed by a minimalist design aesthetic.
Larger Jama'at Khana are referred to as ''Darkhanas'', or "Isma'ili Centers" in the West, and have been referred to as "Isma'ili Cathedrals" by observers. While containing prayer and social infrastructure albeit on a larger scale, they may also contain auditoriums and lecture spaces, libraries, offices, and council chambers, as they act as the regional or national governing centers for community administration.
Jama'at Khana, particularly the larger centers, offer their spaces to the community at large, and arrange guided tours. However, during the obligatory prayer (''
Holy Du'a'') only Isma'ili are allowed to enter the prayer hall (''
masjid'').
From the ''Encyclopaedia of Ismailism'' by Mumtaz Ali Tajddin:
In the Ismaili tariqah, the guardian of each Jamatkhana is called mukhi Mukhi (''mukhia'') is the title used for a head of community or village elitesIndia's Villages. Development Department, West Bengal, 1955 and their local government in Western India and the Sindh.Peasant Pasts: History and Memory in Western India. ...
(in the South-Asian tradition) or Sheikh (in the Arab tradition) there are also other names that are applied based on the cultural context of the Jamat, mukhi is a word derived from mukhiya means foremost. Since the Imam physically is not present all the times in the Jamatkhana, the Mukhi acts s thetangible symbol of the Imam's authority. In the big jamat, the Mukhi was assisted by a caretaker called tha'nak. Later, the office of kamadia (from kamdar eaningaccountant) was created. The Mukhi and Kamadia are the traditional titles going back to the pre-Aga Khan period when they enjoyed considerable local power. Their responsibilities include officiating over the daily rituals in the Jamatkhana, but they are primarily lay officials. Since the wholesale reorganizations undertaken by the Imams, the local committees are now tied into an elaborately hierarchical administrative structure of boards and councils.
Symbols
![Ismaili flag](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2f/Ismaili_flag.svg)
The Fatimids adopted Green (''akhdar'') as the colour of their standard, which symbolized their allegiance to Ali, who, in order to thwart an assassination attempt on Muhammad, once wrapped himself in a green coverlet to appear to be Muhammad. When
Hassan I Sabbah captured Alamut, it is said he hoisted the green standard over the fortress, it was later reported that Hassan I Sabbah prophesied that when the Hidden Imam made himself known he would hoist a red flag, which Hasan II did during his appearance. Following the destruction of Alamut, Isma'ili hoisted both green and red flags above the tombs of their Imams. Green and Red were combined in the 19th century Isma'ili flag known as "My Flag".
The Fatimids also used a white standard with gold inlays, and the Caliph Imams often wore white with gold, as Isma'ili Imams do today. Isma'ili use a gold crest on white standard to symbolize the authority of Imamate, and often wear white in the presence of their Imam.
The
Rub el Hizb
The Rub-el-Hizb ( ar, ربع الحزب, '), also known as the Islamic Star, is an Islamic symbol. It is in the shape of an octagram, represented as two overlapping squares. It has been found on a number of emblems and flags. The main purpose of ...
, an eight pointed star, is often used by Isma'ilis as a symbol.
Practices
Marriage
Marriage (''urs'', عرس) is a legal wedding contract (''
Nikah
In Islam, nikah is a contract between two people. Both the groom and the bride are to consent to the marriage of their own free wills. A formal, binding contract – verbal or on paper – is considered integral to a religiously valid Islam ...
'', النكاح) between a consenting adult man and a woman. As a contract, it allows both parties to add certain conditions. Nizari ideals of marriage envision a long-term union.
Since marriage is not considered a sacrament, Nizari Isma'ili consider secular court marriages in the West as valid legal contracts. However many Isma'ili couples opt to have both a court marriage to secure legal recognition as well as a ''Nikah'' ceremony performed at a Jama'at Khana.
Unlike many other groups, inter-faith marriages are recognized by the community. In addition to the other Abrahamic faiths, the prevalence of Nizari Ismailis of South Asian descent has resulted in growing numbers married to those of
Dharmic faiths, such as
Hinduism
Hinduism () is an Indian religion or '' dharma'', a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global p ...
,
Buddhism
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religions, Indian religion or Indian philosophy#Buddhist philosophy, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha. ...
, and
Jainism
Jainism ( ), also known as Jain Dharma, is an Indian religion. Jainism traces its spiritual ideas and history through the succession of twenty-four tirthankaras (supreme preachers of ''Dharma''), with the first in the current time cycle bein ...
, as well as other Indian religions, such as
Sikhism
Sikhism (), also known as Sikhi ( pa, ਸਿੱਖੀ ', , from pa, ਸਿੱਖ, lit=disciple', 'seeker', or 'learner, translit=Sikh, label=none),''Sikhism'' (commonly known as ''Sikhī'') originated from the word ''Sikh'', which comes fro ...
and
Zoroastrianism
Zoroastrianism is an Iranian religion and one of the world's oldest organized faiths, based on the teachings of the Iranian-speaking prophet Zoroaster. It has a dualistic cosmology of good and evil within the framework of a monotheisti ...
. The
Aga Khan IV
Shāh Karim al-Husayni (born 13 December 1936), known by the religious title Mawlānā Hazar Imam by his Ismaili followers and elsewhere as Aga Khan IV, is the 49th and current Imam of Nizari Ismailis, a denomination within Shia Islam. He ha ...
has said that he has no objection to increasingly-common mixed marriages, and has met non-Ismaili spouses and children during his various ''
deedars'' throughout the world. In fact, many members of his family, including his daughter
Princess Zahra Aga Khan, have married non-Ismailis in inter-faith ceremonies.
Child marriages are strictly prohibited. The Aga Khan IV also condemned
polygamy
Crimes
Polygamy (from Late Greek (') "state of marriage to many spouses") is the practice of marriage, marrying multiple spouses. When a man is married to more than one wife at the same time, sociologists call this polygyny. When a woman is ...
, except in certain circumstances.
Offerings
''
Nāndi
Nāndi is a Nizari Isma'ili ceremony during which food offered to the Imām-e Zamān is sold off at auction to people attending the Jamatkhana (the Ismaili place of worship). The money obtained through the sale of Nāndi is sent to the Imām by a ...
'' is a ceremony in which food is symbolically offered to the
Imām-e Zamān, and is subsequently auctioned to the congregation. Money obtained is used for the expenses incurred in JammatKhana. The ceremony is conducted by volunteers from the community. The food is prepared at home and is brought to the Jama'at Khana; the
Mukhi Mukhi (''mukhia'') is the title used for a head of community or village elitesIndia's Villages. Development Department, West Bengal, 1955 and their local government in Western India and the Sindh.Peasant Pasts: History and Memory in Western India. ...
(congregation head) blesses the food offering, known as ''Mehmāni'', at the end of prayers, informing the congregation that it has been offered to the Imam and the benefits of it are for the whole Jamat. If no physical food offering has been brought to the Jama'at Khana, then a symbolic plate called the "Mehmāni plate", which serves as a substitute, can be touched during the ''
Du'a Karavi'' ceremony.
The origins of ''Nāndi'' are said to be in the Prophet
Muhammad
Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the mo ...
's time when a similar practice occurred.
Calendar
Nizari use an arithmetically based lunar calendar to calculate the year, unlike most Muslim communities, which rely on visual sightings. The Isma'ili calendar was developed in the Middle Ages during the Faitmid Caliphate of Imam Al-Hakim.
A lunar year contains about 354 11/30 days, Nizari Isma'ili employ a cycle of 11 leap years (''kasibah'') with 355 days in a 30-year cycle. The odd-numbered months contain 30 days and the even numbered months 29 days; the 12th and final month in a leap year contains 30 days.
Fasting
Unlike the other branches of Islam, Nizari Isma'ilis divide the
Ramadan fast into two separate, but closely related, kinds: ''ẓāhirī ṣawm'' (exoteric fasting) and ''bāṭinī ṣawm'' (esoteric fasting). The former refers to the abstention food, drink and sensual pleasure. The latter refers to the abstention from communicating the esoteric knowledge of revelation (''tanzīl'') and interpretation (''ta’wīl'') to those who are not ready to receive it.
A third kind of fasting known as ''ḥaqīqī ṣawm'' (real fasting) is the abstention from anything (in thought, word, or deed) which is contrary to the Command of God. This kind is observed year-round.
Aga Khan Development Network
The Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) was set up by the Imamate and the Ismaili community as a group of private, non-denominational development agencies that seek to empower communities and individuals, regardless of ethnicity or religious affiliation, and seek to improve living conditions and opportunities within the developing world. It has active working relationships with international organizations such as the
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...
(UN) and the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...
(EU), and private organizations such as the
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Governmental bodies the AKDN works with include the
United States Agency for International Development
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is an independent agency of the U.S. federal government that is primarily responsible for administering civilian foreign aid and development assistance. With a budget of over $27 b ...
, the
Canadian International Development Agency
The Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) was a federal Canadian organization that administered foreign aid programs in developing countries. The agency was merged into the Department of Foreign Affairs in 2013 by the federal governmen ...
, the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
's
Department for International Development, and
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
's
Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development.
It's also known that the Aga Khan Development Network is funded by donations and offerings given by the followers of the Aga Khan.
Agencies
*
Aga Khan Agency for Microfinance (AKAM)
*
Aga Khan Education Services
Aga Khan Education Services (AKES) is one of the agencies of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) supporting activities in the field of education. The others are the Aga Khan Foundation (AKF), the Aga Khan University (AKU), the University of C ...
(AKES)
*
Aga Khan Foundation
The Aga Khan Foundation (AKF) is a private, not-for-profit international development agency, which was founded in 1967 by Shah Karim Al Hussaini, Aga Khan IV, the 49th Hereditary Imam of the Shia Ismaili Muslims. AKF seeks to provide long-term ...
(AKF)
*
Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development
Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development SA is a Swiss for-profit entity and international development finance institution which invests in countries of East Africa, West Africa, Central Asia, and South Asia. It is based in Geneva, Switzerland.
I ...
(AKFED)
*
Aga Khan Health Services
The Aga Khan Health Services is an agency of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) that supports activities in the health field, and manages more than 200 health facilities, including a network of Aga Khan Hospitals.
It works closely with the ...
(AKHS)
*
Aga Khan Planning and Building Services
The Aga Khan Planning and Building Service was established in 1980 as an agency of the Aga Khan Development Network . The agency works to improve the built environment, particularly housing design and construction, village planning, natural haz ...
(AKPBS)
*
Aga Khan Trust for Culture
The Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC) is an agency of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN), a family of institutions created by Aga Khan IV with distinct but complementary mandates to improve the welfare and prospects of people in the developin ...
(AKTC)
*
Aga Khan University (AKU)
*
Focus Humanitarian Assistance
Focus Humanitarian Assistance is an international group of agencies established in Europe, North America and South Asia to complement the provision of emergency relief, principally in the developing world. It helps people in need reduce their depe ...
(FOCUS)
*
University of Central Asia
The University of Central Asia (UCA) ''(russian: Университет Центральной Азии) i''s a secular, non-profit, research university in Central Asia. It was founded by an international charter between the governments of Tajiki ...
(UCA)
See also
*
Nizari Ismaili state
The Nizari state (the Alamut state) was a Shia Nizari Ismaili state founded by Hassan-i Sabbah after he took control of the Alamut Castle in 1090 AD, which marked the beginning of an era of Ismailism known as the "Alamut period". Their people we ...
*
Batiniyya
Batiniyya ( ar, باطنية, Bāṭiniyyah) refers to groups that distinguish between an outer, exoteric ('' zāhir'') and an inner, esoteric ('' bāṭin'') meaning in Islamic scriptures. The term has been used in particular for an allegoristi ...
*
Fatimid
The Fatimid Caliphate was an Ismaili Shi'a caliphate extant from the tenth to the twelfth centuries AD. Spanning a large area of North Africa, it ranged from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Red Sea in the east. The Fatimids, a dyna ...
*
Ginans
*
Hashshashin
The Order of Assassins or simply the Assassins ( fa, حَشّاشین, Ḥaššāšīn, ) were a Nizārī Ismāʿīlī order and sect of Shīʿa Islam that existed between 1090 and 1275 CE. During that time, they lived in the mountains of P ...
*
Imamah (Ismaili doctrine)
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-Kadhi ...
*
Imamah (Nizari Ismaili doctrine)
The Imamate in Nizari Isma'ili doctrine ( ar, إمامة) is a concept in Nizari Isma'ilism which defines the political, religious and spiritual dimensions of authority concerning Islamic leadership over the nation of believers. The primary fun ...
*
Nūram Mūbin
*
Shi'a Imam
In Shia Islam, the Imamah ( ar, إمامة) is a doctrine which asserts that certain individuals from the lineage of the Islamic prophet Muhammad are to be accepted as leaders and guides of the ummah after the death of Muhammad. Imamah further ...
*
Shi'a in Africa
*
Sufism
References
Further reading
For a list of Ismaili Imams: Daftary, Farhad (1990). ''The Ismailis: Their history and doctrines''. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press. pp. 551–553. .
External links
* of the Isma'ili Muslim Community.
Aga Khan Development Network a group of development agencies with mandates ranging from health and education to architecture, culture.
Introductory Academic Lecture on the Ismaili MuslimsAcademic Interview on the Ismaili IslamInstitute of Ismaili Studies Promotes scholarship and learning on Islam, Shi'ism and the Ismaili Tariqah in particular.
First Ismaili Electronic Library and DatabaseWho Are the Shia Ismaili Muslims?: A Primer with Visual ChartsThe Shia Ismaili Nizari Qasim-Shahi Imamat: A Timeline of Major Divisions and DevelopmentsThe Aga Khan's Direct Descent from the Prophet Muhammad: Historical ProofBranches of Shia Islam
{{Shia Imams
Shia Islamic branches
Nizari Ismailism
History of Ismailism