Nizari Isma'ilism
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The Nizārī (Arabic النزاريون Al-Nizarin) is the largest branch of Ismā'īlī (in Persian: اسماعیلیه)Shīˤa Islām and make up over half of Ismaili Muslims.
The Nizāriyya differ from the Mustaˤliyya in that they believe that the successor-Imām to the Fatimid caliph al-Mustansir was his elder son al-Nizār. However, the Fatimid Regent appointed al-Mustansir's younger son al-Mustaˤlī as caliph and as a result, an-Nizār died in prison when he attempted to claim the throne by rebellion.[1]
The Nizāriyya are the spiritual decendants of "Assassins" of Alamūt under the leadership of Dāˤī Hassan as-Sabbaħ ((c. 1034-1124)).
The current Nizārī Imām is Prince Karim Aga Khan IV.
History
- See also: Isma'ili history
The Founding of Imāmi Shia Theology
Imām Jaʿfar was the acknowledged head of the Ahl-Al-Bayat or Household of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), he was also a highly accomplished theologian during a period of change when Muslims were begining to ask questions like "what does it mean to be a Muslim"? Many sought answers from the new learned classes which would eventually develop into Sunni Islam, but for some the answer had always remained in the house of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). Imām Jaʿfar being the head of the Ahl-Al-Bayat had even tutored Imām Abu Hanifa, who whould go onto found the largest Sunni Theological school in practice today.
Imām Jaʿfar saw the need for there to be a systematic school of thought for those who sought guidence from the Prophets family, as distinct from the new scholor schools that were being founded in his day. His answer was the Imāmi or Jāfāriyya school of thought.
One of the most important aspects of this school was that the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) was given a divine spark that dated back to the founding of the universe, this Noor Din Muhammad, or Light of Muhammad had been passed onto Imām Ali Ibn Talib who had in turn passed it on to his decendants through the concept of Nass; where divinly inspired, the Imām appoints his successor. Religious guidence could thus only come from the designate Imām, who would remain a constant guide from God. The term Imām thus took on new meaning and significance for the Shia; Where as in Sunni schools the Imām was any member of the congregation who leads prayer.
The Imāmi Shia Split
Both branchs of the Imāmi Shia; The Ismāʿīliyya or Sabiyya (Seveners) and the Ithna' Ashariyya (Twelvers ), accept the same initial Imāms from the descendants of Muħammad through his daughter Fāṭima az-Zahra and therefore share much of their early history. However, a dispute arose on the succession of the Seventh (Sixth) Imām, Jaʿfar as-Sadiq.[2]
Imām Jaʿfar and his wife Fatima (the great grandaughter of Imām Hassan ibn Ali), had two sons, the eldest Ismāʿīl Al-Mubarak and his younger brother Abd' Allah.
Imām Jaʿfar is acknowledged as declaring Ismāʿīl Al-Mubarak his sucessor however what occured next was to cause division and controversy. Ismāʿīlī Al-Mubarak seems to have predecessed his father, however many of Ismāʿīlī's supporters claimed he was went into hiding to protect his life. Not long after Imām Jaʿfar himself passed on and many refused to accept his death, most Shia however followed Ismāʿīlī's younger brother Abd' Allah but he too died not long after.
Another would be Imām was Musa Al-Kazim, a son from a slave concubine named Umme Hamida whom Imam Jaʿfar had taken after his wifes death. Following the death of Imām Abd' Allah, and looking to have guidence from an orthodox member of the prophets family, most then looked to Musa Al-Kazim as their Imām; and those who followed him would eventually become the Ithna' Ashariyya or Twelver shia.
Ismāʿīlī's argue that since a defining quality of an Imām is his infallibility; Imam Jaʿfar could not have mistakingly passed his Nass onto somone who would be either unfit, or predecease him. So the natural choice should be Imam Muhammad Al-Maktoumn; Ismāʿīlī's son who was himself several years the senior of Imām Musa Al-Kazim.
However Imām Muhammad Al-Maktoumn made his peace with Imām Musa Al-Kazim, and left for unknown destinations with his fathers most loyal supporters, effectivly dissappearing from historical records. However there followed a period when mysterious intellectual writings of an Ismāʿīlī character appeared, challenging the political and religious establishments with calls for revolution, through the Dāʿiyyūn, "Callers to Islām" propergation machine. This distinctive charateristic of the Ismāʿīlī to challenge established social, economic, and intellectual norms, with their vision of a just society was opposed directly opposed to Twelver Shia quietism, and political apathy, and would mark Ismāʿīlī high points, and low. Ismāʿīl as Mūsā-l-Kāzim.[3][2]
The Fatimid Empire
In the face of persecution, the bulk of the Ismāʿīlī continued to recognize Imāms who as aforementioned secretly propagated their faith through Dāʿiyyūn "Callers to Islām" from their bases in Syria.[4] However, by the 10th century, an Ismāʿīlī Imām, ʿUbaydullāhu-l-Mahdī Billāh, correctly known as ʿAbdullāhu-l-Mahdī, had emigrated to North Africa and successfully established the new Fatimid state in Tunisia.[5] His successors subsequently succeeded in conquering all of North Africa (including highly-prized Egypt) and the fertile creasent and even holding Mecca and Medina in Arabia.[3][5] The capital for the Fatimid state hence shifted to the newly-founded city of Cairo(Al-Qarhira) meaning the victorious in honour of the Ismāʿīlī military victories, from which the Fatimid Caliph-Imāms ruled for several generations, establishing their new city as a centre for culture and civilization; with for example the worlds first University, The Al Azhar University, and the Dar Al-Hikma.[5] and from where mathematics, art, biology, and philosphy reached new heights in the known world.
The Nizari-Mustalli Split
A fundamental split amongst the Ismāʿīlī occurred during a period of decline on which son should succeed the 18th Imam Mustansir Aḥmadu-l-Mustaʿlī, While Nizar was orginally designated Imam, he was in Alexandria when he heard of his farthers death, and his younger brother was installed as Imam in Cairo with the help of the powerful Vizier Badr al-Jamali, who claimed that Imam Mustansir Aḥmadu-l-Mustaʿlī had changed his choice on his death bed, and had insteed appointed his younger son.[1]
However Nizar contested this claim, but was defeated after a short campaign and imprisoned; however he did gain support from an Ismāʿīlī Dāʿī based in Iran, Hassan as-Sabba.[1] Hasan-i Sabbah|As-Sabba is noted by Western writers to be the leader of the legendary "Assassins".
Fatimid Caliphs recognised by the Nizari
- Abū Muḥammad ˤAbdu l-Lāh (ˤUbaydu l-Lāh) al-Mahdī bi'llāh (909-934) founder Fatimid dynasty
- Abū l-Qāsim Muḥammad al-Qā'im bi-Amr Allāh (934-946)
- Abū Ṭāhir Ismā'il al-Manṣūr bi-llāh (946-953)
- Abū Tamīm Ma'add al-Mu'izz li-Dīn Allāh (953-975) Egypt is conquered during his reign
- Abū Manṣūr Nizār al-'Azīz bi-llāh (975-996)
- Abū 'Alī al-Manṣūr al-Ḥākim bi-Amr Allāh (996-1021)
- Abū'l-Ḥasan 'Alī al-Ẓāhir li-I'zāz Dīn Allāh (1021-1036)
- Abū Tamīm Ma'add al-Mustanṣir bi-llāh (1036-1094)
- al-Musta'lī bi-llāh (1094-1101) Quarrels over his succession led to the Nizari split.
The Lords Of Alamut
Most Ismāʿīlī's outside North Africa; in Persia and the Levant, came to acknowledge Imam Nizar b. Mustansir Bi'llahs claim to the Imamate as maintained by Hassan as-Sabba, and this point marks the fundermental split. Within two generations the Fatimid Empire would suffer several more splits, and eventually implode.
Hassan as-Sabba termed his doctrine "The New Preaching" or Al-Dawa al Jahida, in stark contrast to the Fatimid "Old Preaching". He was viewed as the Hujjah or proof of the Imam; having direct secret contact with Imam Nizar and his rightful sucessors. Hassan as-Sabba is also known as the first of the Seven Lords of Alamut, as he chose this secluded fortress as his base.
Hassan began converting local inhabitants, and much of the military stationed at the fortress to the Islamic ideals as invisoned by the Ismāʿīlī of social justice and free thinking, he is believed to have spent the last stage of his plan living within the fortress possibly as a chef under pseudonym Dihkunda. He seized the fortress in 1090 AD from Mahdi it's then Zaidi Shia ruler, which marks the founding of the Nizari Ismāʿīlī state. Mahdi's life was spared and he later recieved 3,000 gold Dinars in compensation. Hassan and the suceeding Lords of Alamut created a state of unconnected fortresses, surrounded by huge swathes of hostile territory, and surprizingly even created a unified power structure that proved more effective then that in Fatimid Cairo, and Seljuq Bagdad; both of whom suffered political instability, particularly during the transition between leaders, which allowed the Ismāʿīlī state respite from attack, and even to have such soverignty as to have minted their own coinage.
The Fortress of Alamut was thought inpreganable to any miltary attack, was fabled for its heavenly gardens, impressive libraries, and laboratories where philosophers, scientists, and theologians could debate all matters in intellectual freedom. Daftary, Farhad (1998). The Ismailis History; their History and Doctrines. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-42974-9.
The Seven Lords of Alamut
- Hassan Sabbah (1090–1124)
- Buzurg-Ummid (1124–1138)
- Muhammad I of Alamut (1138–1162)
- Hassan II of Alamut (1162–1166)
- Muhammad II of Alamut (1166–1210)
- Hassan III of Alamut (1210–1221)
- Mohammed III (1221–1255)
- Ruknud-Dīn Khurshāh (1255–1256)
The fortress was destroyed on December 15 1256, by Hulagu Khan as part of the Mongol offensive on Islamic southwest Asia. The last Lord Ruknuddin Khor-shah surrendered it as part of a deal with Hulagu, however the Monguls slaughtered the inhabitants, burning the libraries, and brought down the fortifications.
Anjudān Renaissance
The Ismāʿīlī Imāms would wonder Iran for several centuries in concealment, often taking on the garb of a tailor, or mystic. During this period Iranian Sufism, and Ismāʿīlīsm would form a close bond. Suffi Orders would eventually contribute to the Shi'ization of Iran, from a Sunni nation. By the 16th century there would be an Ismāʿīlī revival, and the begining of new ideas and fresh literature, a first since the fall of Alamut.
This revival is commonly termed the "Anjudān Renaissance" after the town where it began. These small steps would eventually lead to the open reappearence if the Imāms by the 19th century, and their attempts to reunite the scattered and dwinderling communities once more; asserting their ancient position; as Imām of the Time.
The Agha Khans
Almost all Nizārī Ismāʿīlī today accept His Highness Prince Shah Karim Al-Husayni, The Agha Khan IV as their Imām-I-Zaman (Imam of the Age), but for about 30,000 in western Syria.[3]
The 45th Imam Shah Kalīl Allāh was murdered while giving refuge to his followers by a Twelver Shia mob lead by local religious leaders. His wife took her young 13 year old son in new Imām Aga Hassan Ali Shah to the then Qajah ruler in Tehran to seek justice. Although there was no serious penalty brought against those involved; Emperor Fath'Ali Shah gave his daughter Princess Sarv-I Jahan in marrage to the new Imām, and awareded him the title Agha Khan (Lord Cheif).
Agha Khan I
The 46th Imām Aga Hassan Ali Shah, The Agha Khan I, ruled as governor of Iranian province of Khorosan, but fled Iran to South Asia in the 1840s after a failed coup following a dispute with the new Emperor Shah of the Qajar dynasty.[6] Aga Hassan Ali Shah settled in Mumbai in 1848.[6]
In 1866 a minority faction from among the Khoja Muslim community of Mumbai sought a court decree to deny the Aga Khan's authority and position as Imam (spiritual leader) of the community. They tried to re-cast the Khojas as a Sunni community, and thereby take control of all property held in trust for the community.[7] The Judge in this case, Sir Joseph Arnold, ruled that the Khoja Muslim community was Ismāʿīlī (and not Sunni), that the "Aga Khan" was its leader, that he was due the traditional tithes of the community, and that community property belonged to his Imamate.[6] He described the community as having been "converted to and throughout abided in the faith of the Shi'a Imami Ismailis and which has always been and still is bound by ties of spiritual allegiance to the hereditary Imams of the Ismailis."[8][9]
Agha Khan III
Under the leadership of Sir Sultan Muhammad Shah, Aga Khan III, the first half of the twentieth century was a period of significant development for the Ismāʿīlī community. Numerous institutions for social and economic development were established in South Asia and in East Africa.[10] Ismailis have marked the Jubilees of their Imāms with public celebrations, which are symbolic affirmations of the ties that link the Ismāʿīlī Imām and his followers. Although the Jubilees have no religious significance, they serve to reaffirm the Imamat's world-wide commitment to the improvement of the quality of human life, especially in the developing countries.[10]
The Jubilees of Sir Sultan Muhammad Shah, Aga Khan III, are well remembered. During his 72 years of Imamat (1885-1957), the community celebrated his Golden (1937), Diamond (1946) and Platinum (1954) Jubilees. To show their appreciation and affection, the Ismā'īliyya weighed their Imam in gold, diamonds and, symbolically, in platinum, respectively, the proceeds of which were used to further develop major social welfare and development institutions in Asia and Africa.
In India and Pakistan, social development institutions were established, in the words of the late Aga Khan, "for the relief of humanity". They included institutions such as the Diamond Jubilee Trust and the Platinum Jubilee Investments Limited which in turn assisted the growth of various types of cooperative societies. Diamond Jubilee Schools for girls were established throughout the remote Northern Areas of what is now Pakistan. In addition, scholarship programs, established at the time of the Golden Jubilee to give assistance to needy students, were progressively expanded. In East Africa, major social welfare and economic development institutions were established. Those involved in social welfare included the accelerated development of schools and community centres, and a modern, fully-equipped hospital in Nairobi. Among the economic development institutions established in East Africa were companies such as the Diamond Jubilee Investment Trust (now Diamond Trust of Kenya) and the Jubilee Insurance Company, which are quoted on the Nairobi Stock Exchange and have become major players in national development.
Sir Sultan Muhammad Shah also introduced organizational forms that gave Ismāʿīlī communities the means to structure and regulate their own affairs.[10] These were built on the Muslim tradition of a communitarian ethic on the one hand, and responsible individual conscience with freedom to negotiate one's own moral commitment and destiny on the other. In 1905 he ordained the first Ismāʿīlī Constitution for the social governance of the community in East Africa. The new administration for the Community's affairs was organized into a hierarchy of councils at the local, national, and regional levels. The constitution also set out rules in such matters as marriage, divorce and inheritance, guidelines for mutual cooperation and support among Ismāʿīlīs, and their interface with other communities. Similar constitutions were promulgated in the South Asia, and all were periodically revised to address emerging needs and circumstances in diverse settings.[10]
Following the Second World War, far-reaching social, economic and political changes profoundly affected a number of areas where Ismāʿīlīs resided. In 1947, British rule in the South Asia was replaced by the two sovereign, independent nations of India and Pakistan, resulting in the migration of at least a million people and significant loss of life and property. In the Middle East, the Suez crisis of 1956 as well as the preceding crisis in Iran, demonstrated the sharp upsurge of nationalism, which was as assertive of the region's social and economic aspirations as of its political independence. Africa was also set on its course to decolonization, swept by what Harold Macmillan, the then British Prime Minister, aptly termed the "wind of change". By the early 1960s, most of East and Central Africa, where the majority of the Ismāʿīlī population on the continent resided (including Tanganyika, Kenya, Uganda, Malagasy, Rwanda, Burundi and Zaire), had attained their political independence.
Agha Khan IV
This was the world in which the present Aga Khan acceded to the Imāmat in 1957. 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 newly-emerging nations. Upon becoming Imām, the present Aga Khan'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.[11]
In Africa, Asia and the Middle East, a major objective of the Community's social welfare and economic programs, until the mid-fifties, 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 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, Ismāʿīlīs and other Asians were expelled despite being citizens of the country and having lived there for generations. The Aga Khan had to take urgent steps to facilitate the resettlement of Ismāʿīlīs displaced from Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya and also 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 and in particular to their educational background and their linguistic abilities, as well as the efforts of the host countries and the moral and material support from Ismāʿīlī community programs.
Spiritual allegiance to the Imām and adherence to the Shīʿa Imāmī Ismāʿīlī ṭariqat (persuasion) of Islām according to the guidance of the Imām of the time, have engendered in the Ismāʿīlī community an ethos of self-reliance, unity, and a common identity notwithstanding centuries of being marginalized and persecuted by native and established societies. The present Aga Khan continued the practice of his predecessor and extended constitutions to Ismāʿīlī communities in the US, Canada, several European countries, the Gulf, Syria and Iran following a process of consultation within each constituency. In 1986, he promulgated a Constitution that, for the first time, brought the social governance of the world-wide Ismāʿīlī 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 Imām, the Constitution functions as an enabler to harness the best in individual creativity in an ethos of group responsibility to promote the common well-being.
Like its predecessors, the present constitution is founded on each Ismāʿīlī's spiritual allegiance to the Imām of the Time, which is separate from the secular allegiance that all Ismāʿīlīs owe as citizens to their national entities. The present Imām and his predecessor emphasized Ismāʿīliyya's allegiance to his or her country as a fundamental obligation. These obligations discharged not by passive affirmation but through responsible engagement and active commitment to uphold national integrity and contribute to peaceful development.
The Nizārī Ismāʿīlī community today
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 Ismāʿīlī Muslims, settled in the industrialized world, to contribute towards the progress of communities in the developing world through various development programs. In recent years, Ismāʿīlī Muslims, who have come to the US, Canada and Europe, mostly as refugees from Asia and Africa, have readily settled into the social, educational and economic fabric of urban and rural centers across the two continents. As in the developing world, the Ismāʿīlī Muslim community's settlement in the industrial world has involved the establishment of community institutions characterized by an ethos of self-reliance, an emphasis on education, and a pervasive spirit of philanthropy.
From July 1982 to July 1983, to celebrate the present Aga Khan's Silver Jubilee, marking the 25th anniversary of his accession to the Imāmat, many new social and economic development projects were launched, although there were no weighing ceremonies. These range from the establishment of the US$300 million international Aga Khan University with its Faculty of Health Sciences and teaching hospital based in Karachi, the expansion of schools for girls and medical centers in the Hunza region, one of the remote parts of Northern Pakistan bordering on China and Afghanistan, to the establishment of the Aga Khan Rural Support Program in Gujarat, India, and the extension of existing urban hospitals and primary health care centers in Tanzania and Kenya.
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.
It is this commitment to man's dignity and relief of humanity that inspires the Ismāʿīlī Imāmat's philanthropic institutions. Giving of one's competence, sharing one's time, material or intellectual wherewithal with those among whom one lives, for the relief of hardship, pain or ignorance is a deeply ingrained tradition which shapes the social conscience of the Ismāʿīlī Muslim community.
Imams
A list of the Ismāʿīlī Imāms can be found here.
References
- ^ a b c Daftary, Farhad (1998). A Short History of the Ismailis. Edinburgh, UK: Edinburgh University Press. pp. 106–108. ISBN 0-7486-0687-4.
- ^ a b Daftary, Farhad (1998). A Short History of the Ismailis. Edinburgh, UK: Edinburgh University Press. pp. 34–36. ISBN 0-7486-0687-4.
- ^ a b c Azim A. Nanji (ed.), ed. (1996). The Muslim Almanac. USA: Gale Research Inc. pp. 170–171. ISBN 0-8103-8924-X.
{{cite book}}:|editor=has generic name (help) - ^ Daftary, Farhad (1998). A Short History of the Ismailis. Edinburgh, UK: Edinburgh University Press. pp. 36–50. ISBN 0-7486-0687-4.
- ^ a b c Daftary, Farhad (1998). "3". A Short History of the Ismailis. Edinburgh, UK: Edinburgh University Press. ISBN 0-7486-0687-4.
- ^ a b c Daftary, Farhad (1998). A Short History of the Ismailis. Edinburgh, UK: Edinburgh University Press. pp. 196–199. ISBN 0-7486-0687-4.
- ^ "Khoja Case before Justice Sir Joseph Arnould, High Court of Bombay, 1886". Retrieved 2007-01-08.
- ^ Fyzee (1965). Cases in the Muhammadan Law of India and Pakistan. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
{{cite book}}: Unknown parameter|fist=ignored (help) - ^ Nanji, Azim (1978). The Nizaril Ismaili Tradition in the Indo-Pakistan Subcontinent. Delmar, New York, USA: Caravan Books. p. 3. ISBN 0-88206-514-9.
- ^ a b c d Daftary, Farhad (1998). A Short History of the Ismailis. Edinburgh, UK: Edinburgh University Press. pp. 199–206. ISBN 0-7486-0687-4.
- ^ Daftary, Farhad (1998). A Short History of the Ismailis. Edinburgh, UK: Edinburgh University Press. pp. 206–209. ISBN 0-7486-0687-4.