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The Occultation
Occultation (, ') in Shia Islam refers to the Islamic eschatology, eschatological belief that the Mahdi, a descendant of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, has already been born and he was subsequently concealed, but he will reemerge and he will establish justice and peace on earth at the end of time. The signs of his (re)appearance are largely common in Shia and Sunni, Sunni, (although Sunni do not believe the Mahdi has already been born and is in occultation), and the belief in the eschatological Mahdi remains popular among all Muslims, possibly owing to numerous traditions to this effect in canonical Sunni and Shia sources. However, the Islamic schools and branches#Shīʿa Islam, branches of Shia Islam that believe in it differ with regard to the identity of the Mahdi. The #Twelver_Shia, mainstream Shia identifies him as Muhammad al-Mahdi, the twelfth imam, who is believed to be responsible for the affairs of men and, in particular, their inward spiritual guidance during the occult ...
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Shia Islam
Shia Islam is the second-largest Islamic schools and branches, branch of Islam. It holds that Muhammad in Islam, Muhammad designated Ali ibn Abi Talib () as both his political Succession to Muhammad, successor (caliph) and as the spiritual leader of the Muslim community (Imamah (Shia doctrine), imam). However, his right is understood to have been usurped by a number of Companions of the Prophet, Muhammad's companions at the meeting of Saqifa where they appointed Abu Bakr () as caliph instead. As such, Sunni Muslims believe Abu Bakr, Umar (), Uthman () and Ali to be 'Rashidun, rightly-guided caliphs' whereas Shia Muslims only regard Ali as the legitimate successor. Shia Muslims assert imamate continued through Ali's sons Hasan ibn Ali, Hasan and Husayn ibn Ali, Husayn, after whom different Shia branches have their own imams. They revere the , the family of Muhammad, maintaining that they possess divine knowledge. Shia holy sites include the Imam Ali Shrine, shrine of Ali in Naj ...
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Abu Al-Qasim Al-Husayn Ibn Ruh Al-Nawbakhti
Abu al-Qasim al-Husayn ibn Ruh Nawbakhti (, ') was the third of the Four Deputies, who are believed by the Twelvers to have successively represented their Hidden Imam, Muhammad al-Mahdi, during his Minor Occultation (874–941 CE). Ibn Ruh in this role succeeded Abu Ja'far Muhammad ibn Uthman in 917 CE. After some twenty years in office, Ibn Run died in 937 CE and was succeeded by Abul Hasan Ali ibn Muhammad al-Samarri, the fourth and final deputy. Historical background Until their deaths, the tenth and eleventh Shia Imams ( Ali al-Hadi and Hasan al-Askari, respectively) were held in the garrison town of Samarra under close surveillance (or house arrest) by the Abbasids, who are often responsible in Shia sources for poisoning the two Imams. The two Imams witnessed the deterioration of the Abbasid caliphate, as the imperial authority rapidly transitioned into the hands of the Turks, particularly after al-Mutawakkil. Contemporary to the tenth Imam, the Abbasid al-Mutawakki ...
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Fatimid Caliphate
The Fatimid Caliphate (; ), also known as the Fatimid Empire, was a caliphate extant from the tenth to the twelfth centuries CE under the rule of the Fatimids, an Isma'ili Shi'a dynasty. Spanning a large area of North Africa and West Asia, it ranged from the western Mediterranean in the west to the Red Sea in the east. The Fatimids traced their ancestry to the Islamic prophet Muhammad's daughter Fatima and her husband Ali, the first Shi'a imam. The Fatimids were acknowledged as the rightful imams by different Isma'ili communities as well as by denominations in many other Muslim lands and adjacent regions. Originating during the Abbasid Caliphate, the Fatimids initially conquered Ifriqiya (roughly present-day Tunisia and north-eastern Algeria). They extended their rule across the Mediterranean coast and ultimately made Egypt the center of the caliphate. At its height, the caliphate included—in addition to Egypt—varying areas of the Maghreb, Sicily, the Levant, and the Hej ...
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Da'i Al-Mutlaq
(; pl. , ) is the most senior spiritual rank and office in Tayyibi Isma'ilism. The Da'i al-Mutlaq has headed the Tayyibi community since the occultation (Islam), seclusion of the 21st Tayyibi Imamate in Ismaili doctrine, Imam, at-Tayyib Abu'l-Qasim, traditionally placed in 528 Anno Hegirae, AH/1134 AD. According to Tayyibi Isma'ili tradition, in the Imam's absence, the Da'i al-Mutlaq is the faith's highest authority; i.e., the Da'i al-Mutlaq holds the same authority as the Imam. Before the seclusion of al-Tayyib, the Da'i al-Mutlaq operated under the direct orders of the Imam and his trusted associates in regions where Isma'ili faithful were present, either living openly propounding their faith, or secretly due to fear of persecution. In Yemen, after the 21st Tayyibi Imam went into seclusion, the Da'i was given the authority of Itlaaq (إطلاق), or free conduct, and absolute religious and social authority, under the governing principles of the Tayyibi Isma'ili faith. His com ...
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Aga Khan V
Prince Rahim al-Hussaini Aga Khan (; born 12 October 1971), known as the Aga Khan V (), is a religious leader, businessman, and socialite best known as the 50th hereditary Imam of the Shia Nizari Isma'ili Muslims who claim descent from Muhammad through his daughter, Fatima, and his cousin and son-in-law, Ali. Today, the Ismailis are the only Shi'i community who are led by a living and present hereditary Imam. He is the second of the Aga Khan IV's four children, and succeeded his father as per his testament, upon his death on 4 February 2025, at his palace in Lisbon. He is also known by the religious title ''Mawlānā Hazar Imām'' (the present Imam) by his followers. He is the fifth Nizari imam to hold the title Aga Khan. Early life and education Prince Rahim Aga Khan was born on 12 October 1971, in Geneva, Switzerland. He is the eldest son and second oldest of three children born to the Aga Khan IV (Prince Karim Al-Husseini) and his first wife Princess Salimah Aga Kh ...
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Musta'li Ismailism
Musta'li Isma'ilism () is a branch of Isma'ilism named for their acceptance of al-Musta'li as the legitimate ninth Fatimid caliph and legitimate successor to his father, al-Mustansir Billah (). The Nizari the other living branch of Ismailism, led by Aga Khan V believe the ninth caliph was al-Musta'li's elder brother, Nizar. 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: later Musta'lis are all Tayyibi. Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin was the 52nd Da'i al-Mutlaq of the Dawoodi Bohra community ...
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Nizari Isma'ilism
Nizari Isma'ilism () are the largest segment of the Ismailis, who are the second-largest branch of Shia Islam after the Twelvers. Nizari teachings emphasise 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 V, 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, whom Shias believe the prophet Muhammad declared his successor as Imam during the latter's final pilgrimage to Mecca, and continued in an unbroken chain to the most recent Imam, Shah Rahim Al-Husayni, the Aga Khan. Fatimid usurpation, schism, and the flight of the Nizari From early in his ...
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Muhammad Ibn Isma'il
Muhammad ibn Isma'il al-Maktum (; ) was the eldest son of Isma'il al-Mubarak and the seventh imam in Isma'ilism. When Isma'il died, his son Muhammad continued to live in Medina under the care of his grandfather Ja'far al-Sadiq until the latter's death in 148/765. After the death of Abd Allah al-Aftah, Muhammad was the senior most member of the Husaynid branch of the Alids. However, due to the rival group that recognized Musa al-Kazim as their imam, and the Abbasid Caliphate's persecution of all Alid partisans, Muhammad fled Medina with his sons for the east. For this reason, he was known as (). He had two sons when living in Medina and then four more sons after his emigration, among whom was his successor Ahmad al-Wafi. Muhammad's descendants became the Fatimid dynasty that ruled Ifriqiya and later Egypt and much of the Levant, and founded Cairo. Life Muhammad was the eldest son of Isma'il ibn Ja'far, and the eldest grandson of the Shi'a imam, Ja'far al-Sadiq. Muhamma ...
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Ja'far Al-Sadiq
Ja'far al-Sadiq (; –765) was a Muslim hadith transmitter and the last agreed-upon Shia Imam between the Twelvers and Isma'ilis. Known by the title al-Sadiq ("The Truthful"), Ja'far was the eponymous founder of the Ja'fari school of Islamic jurisprudence. In the canonical Twelver hadith collections, more traditions are cited from Ja'far than that of the other Imams combined, although their attribution to him is questionable, making it hard to determine his actual teachings.. Among the theological contributions ascribed to him are the doctrine of '' '' (divinely inspired designation of each Imam by the previous Imam) and '' '' (the infallibility of the Imams), as well as that of (religious dissimulation under persecution). Al-Sadiq is also revered by Sunni Muslims as a reliable transmitter of hadith, and a teacher to the Sunni scholars Abu Hanifa and Malik ibn Anas, the namesakes of the Hanafi and Maliki schools of jurisprudence. Al-Sadiq also figures prominently i ...
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Isma'il Ibn Ja'far
Isma'il ibn Ja'far () was the eldest son of Ja'far al-Sadiq and the sixth Imam in Isma'ilism. He carried the epithet of al-Mubarak, on the basis of which one of the earliest Isma'ili groups became designated as the Mubarakiyya. It seems likely that the Mubarakiyya were originally supporters of Isma'il before acknowledging Muhammad ibn Isma'il as their Imam. At any rate, Mubarakiyya was thus one of the original names of the nascent Isma'iliyya, a term coined by later heresiographers. A faction of the Mubarakiyya later developed into the Fatimid Isma'ilis, upholding the continuity of the Imamate in the progeny of al-Mubarak, acknowledging al-Mubarak himself as their sixth Imam. This enumeration was subsequently retained by the various branches of the Isma'ili. A major crisis arose among the Shia after the death of Ja’far al-Sadiq, who had five sons. Abd Allah al-Aftah and Isma'il al-Mubarak were the eldest sons by his first wife Fatima, a granddaughter of Hasan Ibn Ali. Al-Muba ...
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Isma'ilism
Ismailism () is a branch of Shia Islam. The Isma'ili () get their name from their acceptance of Imam Isma'il ibn Jafar as the appointed spiritual successor (Imamate in Nizari doctrine, imām) to Ja'far al-Sadiq, wherein they differ from the Twelver Shia, who accept Musa al-Kazim, the younger brother of Isma'il, as the Imamah (Shia doctrine), true Imām. 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 known today, with an explicit concentration on the deeper, esoteric meaning () of the Islamic religion. With the eventual development of Usulism and Akhbarism into the more literalistic () oriented, Shia Islam developed into two separate directions: the metaphorical Ismaili, Alevism, Alevi, Bektashi Order, Bektashi, Alians, Alian, and Alawites, Alawite groups focusing on the mysticism, mystical path and nature of God in Islam, God, along with the "Imam of the Time" representing the mani ...
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Musa Al-Kazim
Musa al-Kazim (; 745–799) was a descendant of the Prophets and messengers in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad and the seventh Twelve Imams, imam in Twelver Shi'ism, Twelver Shia Islam. Musa is often known by the title al-Kazim (), apparently a reference to his patience and gentle disposition. He was born in 745 in Medina to Ja'far al-Sadiq, the sixth Shia imam, who died in 765 without publicly designating a successor to save his heir from the wrath of the Abbasid Caliphate, Abbasid caliphs. The subsequent crisis of succession was eventually resolved in favor of al-Kazim, with a dissenting group, now known as the Isma'ilism, Isma'ilis, separating from the mainstream Shia. After the death of al-Sadiq, Musa al-Kazim remained in Medina, where he kept aloof from politics and devoted himself to religious teachings. He was nevertheless tightly restricted by the Abbasid caliphs and spent much of his adult life in their prisons. To counter these restrictions, he established an undergr ...
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