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Satr (Isma'ilism)
Satr ( ar, ستر, , concealment) is a term used by the Isma'ili Shi'a for various periods in their history where the true imam was hidden () and represented through agents. These periods of concealment () might end with the renewed public manifestation of the imam, or continue until the present day. Entering into concealment did not mean that the line of imams stopped with the hidden imam; the Isma'ili concept is thus different from the concept of occultation () as conceived by the Twelver Shi'a. History Pre-Fatimid Isma'ilism The first period of concealment () for the Isma'ilis began in 765, with the death of the imam Ja'far al-Sadiq, and lasted until the proclamation of the Fatimid Caliphate in 909, when Abdallah al-Mahdi Billah came forth as imam and caliph. In the meantime, the Isma'ili imam was hidden (), and his return was expected by the Isma'ili faithful as the ('the Rightly Guided One') or ('He Who Arises'), a messiah-like figure that would usher in the end times. F ...
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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-Sadiq, wherein they differ from the Twelver Shia, who accept Musa al-Kadhim, the younger brother of Isma'il, as the true Imām. Isma'ilism rose at one point to become the largest branch of Shia Islam, climaxing as a political power with the Fatimid Caliphate in the 10th through 12th centuries. Ismailis believe in the oneness of God, as well as the closing of divine revelation with Muhammad, whom they see as "the final Prophet and Messenger of God to all humanity". The Isma'ili and the Twelvers both accept the same six initial Imams; the Isma'ili accept Isma'il ibn Jafar as the seventh Imam. After the death of Muhammad ibn Isma'il in the 8th century CE, the teachings of Ismailism further transformed into the belief system as it is k ...
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Al-Mustansir Billah
Abū Tamīm Maʿad al-Mustanṣir biʾllāh ( ar, أبو تميم معد المستنصر بالله‎; 2 July 1029 – 29 December 1094) was the eighth Fatimid Caliph from 1036 until 1094. He was one of the longest reigning Muslim rulers. His reign, otherwise mixed, was the twilight of the Fatimid state. The start of his reign saw the continuation of competent administrators running the Fatamid state ( Anushtakin, al-Jarjara'i, and later al-Yazuri), overseeing the state's prosperity in the first two decades of al-Mustansir's reign. However, the break out of court infighting between the Turkish and Berber/Sudanese court factions following al-Yazuri's assassination, coinciding with natural disasters in Egypt and the gradual loss of administrative control over Fatamid possessions outside of Egypt, almost resulted in the total collapse of the Fatamid state in the 1060s, before the appointment of the Armenian general Badr al-Jamali, who assumed power as vizier in 1073, and beca ...
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Hassan II Of Alamut
Ḥasan ʿAlā Zikrihi's-Salām ( Persian/ ar, حسن على ذكره السلام) or Hassan II was the hereditary Imam of the Nizari Isma'ilis of the Alamut Period from 1162 until 1166. From his capital of Alamut he ruled parts of Persia and Syria. His chief subordinate in Syria was Rashid ad-Din Sinan, the Old Man of the Mountain. Biography In 1164 Hassan, leading the Nizari sect of Ismaili Islam, proclaimed the '' Qiyamat'', the abrogation of Sharia law. The concept of ''Qiyamah'' in exoteric Islam means the End of the World and the Day of Judgment. But in the esoteric interpretations of Ismaili Islam, Qiyamah is the beginning of an era of spiritual renaissance where the spiritual dimensions of Islam will be practiced openly, spiritual truths will become widely known, and certain ritualistic aspects of Islam will be abrogated. Fatimid Ismaili texts from the 10th-11th century describe the anticipated arrival of the ''Qiyamah'' era by a future Fatimid Ismaili Imam. These exp ...
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Hassan Al-Qahir
Al-Qāhir ibn al-Muhtadī bi-Quwwat Allāh ( ar, القاهر بن المهتدي بقوة الله) or Ḥasan al-Qāhir was the 22nd Imam of the Shia Nizari Ismailis. He is believed to have lived in occultation in the Nizari Ismaili state centrered around Alamut Castle. He is believed to have been represented externally by Kiya Buzurg-Ummid, and later on by Muhammad ibn Buzurg-Ummid. There is not a great deal known about al-Qahir except that which is recorded traditional doctrine of the Nizari Isma'ili; he was the father of their 23rd Imam, Hasan 'Ala Zikrihi's-Salam., and according to tradition, revealed himself to his followers in 1164 as the son of "Muhammad al-Muhtadi". However, the existence of al-Qahir and his two predecessors is considered obscure. On the one hand, because they are said to have lived in secrecy and, on the other hand, because contemporary historiographical works by the Ismailis were destroyed in the Middle Ages. The oldest genealogies of the imams foll ...
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Al-Muhtadi (Nizari Imam)
Muhammad (I) al-Muhtadi ( ar, محمد المهتدي, Muḥammad al-Muhtadī), was the 21st Imam of the Nizari Ismailis. He was a concealed Imam. According to Ismaili historiography, al-Muhtadi (the Rightly Guided) was the elder son of the 20th Nizari Imam, al-Hadi, who moved around 1094 from Egypt to Northern Persia close to the region around Alamut. Here he was under the protection of the Nizari leaders Hassan-i Sabbah (d 1124) and Kiya Buzurg-Ummid (d 1138). Life Muhammad bin Ali, surnamed al-Muhtadi is reported to have born in 502/1109 at the castle of Lambsar. He was the first Ismaili Nizari Imam to be born in Persia. He is also known as Muhtadi and Muhammad I. He became the Imam of the Nizari Ismailis after the death of his father, Imam al Hadi, in the year 530 AH. His first move was to shift his headquarter to the fortress of Alamut and he focused on developing the Ismaili Army (Fidai) to be able to defend the Ismaili fortresses from the invaders. He also paid attenti ...
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Ali Al-Hadi Ibn Nizar
Abū ʿAlī Ḥasan, or ʿAlī, surnamed Al-Hādī (Arabic: علي الهادي بن نزار) (470 AH/1076 CE - 530 AH/1136 CE) was the 20th Ismaili Nizari Imam. Born in Cairo, he was about 17 years old when his predecessor, Imam al-Mustansir, died and 20 years old during the assumption of his Imamate in 490 AH/1097 CE. Henceforward, the seat of Ismaili Imamate was transferred from Egypt to Persia owing to the division among the Ismailis, where Hasan bin Sabbah had founded the Nizari Ismaili state. Name ''Abu Ali Al-Hasan'' son of Nizar son of Al-Mustansir Billah. Syrian resources mention his name as Ali Al-Hadi Ibn Nizar, علي الهادي بن نزار commonly referred to by the title al-Hadi الهادي meaning ''The Guide.''  According to a copy of a letter from the 21st Imam Al-Muhtadi to the Syrian Ismaili, the proper name was Al-Hadi Ali. A careful reading of this important letter composed by his son the 21st Ismaili Nizari Imam Al-Muhtadi may imply that he had ...
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Nizari Isma'ili 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 were also known as the ''Order of Assassins, Assassins'' or ''Hashashins''. The state consisted of a nexus of strongholds throughout Greater Iran, Persia and Syria (region), Syria, with their territories being surrounded by huge swathes of hostile territory. It was formed as a result of a religious and political movement of the minority Nizari sect supported by the anti-Seljuq Empire, Seljuk population. Being heavily outnumbered, the Nizaris resisted adversaries by employing List of Ismaili castles, strategic, self-sufficient fortresses and the use of unconventional tactics, notably List of assassinations by the Assassins, assassination of important adversaries and psychological warfare. Despite Nizari–Seljuk conflicts, being occupied with ...
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Alamut Castle
Alamut ( fa, الموت, meaning "eagle's nest") is a ruined mountain fortress located in the Alamut region in the South Caspian province of Qazvin near the Masoudabad region in Iran, approximately 200 km (130 mi) from present-day Tehran. In 1090 AD, the Alamut Castle, a mountain fortress in present-day Iran, came into the possession of Hassan-i Sabbah, a champion of the Nizari Ismaili cause. Until 1256, Alamut functioned as the headquarters of the Nizari Ismaili state, which included a series of strategic strongholds scattered throughout Persia and Syria, with each stronghold being surrounded by swathes of hostile territory. Alamut, which is the most famous of these strongholds, was thought impregnable to any military attack and was fabled for its heavenly gardens, library, and laboratories where philosophers, scientists, and theologians could debate in intellectual freedom. ited in The stronghold survived adversaries including the Seljuq and Khwarezmian em ...
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Hasan-i 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 founder of the Nizari Isma'ili state and its ''fidā'i'' military groupLewis, Bernard (1967), ''The Assassins: a Radical Sect of Islam'', pp 38-65, Oxford University Press known as the Order of Assassins, often referred also as the ''Hashshashin''. Since Marco Polo, he has been known in the West as the Old Man of the Mountain. He later seized a mountain fortress called Alamut. Sources Hasan is thought to have written an autobiography, which did not survive but seems to underlie the first part of an anonymous Isma'ili biography entitled ''Sargozasht-e Seyyednā'' ( fa, سرگذشت سیدنا). The latter is known only from quotations made by later Persian authors. Daftary, Farhad, ''The Isma'ilis'', p. 311. Hasan also wrote a treatise, ...
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Musta'li
The Musta‘lī ( ar, مستعلي) are a branch of Isma'ilism named for their acceptance of al-Musta'li as the legitimate nineteenth Fatimid caliph and legitimate successor to his father, al-Mustansir Billah. In contrast, the Nizari—the other living branch of Ismailism, presently led by Aga Khan IV—believe the nineteenth caliph was al-Musta'li's elder brother, Nizar. Isma'ilism is a branch of Shia Islam. The Musta'li originated in Fatimid-ruled Egypt, later moved its religious center to Yemen, and gained a foothold in 11th-century Western India through missionaries. The Tayyibi and the Hafizi Historically, there was a distinction between the Tayyibi and the Hafizi Musta'lis, the former recognizing at-Tayyib Abu'l-Qasim as the legitimate heir of the Imamate after al-Amir bi-Ahkam Allah and the latter following al-Hafiz, who was enthroned as caliph. The Hafizi view lost all support following the downfall of the Fatimid Caliphate: current-day Musta'lis are all Tayy ...
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Nizari
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 after the Twelvers. Nizari teachings emphasize independent reasoning or '' ijtihad''; pluralism—the acceptance of racial, ethnic, cultural and inter-religious differences; and social justice. Nizaris, along with Twelvers, adhere to the Jaʽfari school of jurisprudence. The Aga Khan, currently Aga Khan IV, is the spiritual leader and Imam of the Nizaris. The global seat of the Ismaili Imamate is in Lisbon, Portugal. Early history Nizari Isma'ili history is often traced through the unbroken hereditary chain of guardianship, or '' walayah'', beginning with Ali Ibn Abi Talib, who was declared Muhammad's successor as Imam during the latter's final pilgrimage to Mecca, and continues in an unbroken chain to the current Imam, Shah Karim Al-Husayni, the Aga Khan. Fatimid usurpation, schism, an ...
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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, Alexandria grew rapidly and became a major centre of Hellenic civilisation, eventually replacing Memphis, in present-day Greater Cairo, as Egypt's capital. During the Hellenistic period, it was home to the Lighthouse of Alexandria, which ranked among the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, as well as the storied Library of Alexandria. Today, the library is reincarnated in the disc-shaped, ultramodern Bibliotheca Alexandrina. Its 15th-century seafront Qaitbay Citadel is now a museum. Called the "Bride of the Mediterranean" by locals, Alexandria is a popular tourist destination and an important industrial centre due to its natural gas and oil pipelines from Suez. The city extends about along the northern coast of Egypt, and is the large ...
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