In the eighth century, a dispute arose over who should lead the Shia community after the death of the Sixth Imam, Jaafar ibn Muhammad (also known as Jaafar al Sadiq). Those who followed the teaching of Musa al Kazim became the main body of Shi’ites, while those who followed the teachings of Musa’s brother, Ismail, were called Ismailis.
Ismail was excluded from succession for most Shiites because he allegedly drank wine. Ismailis are also called “Seveners,” because they broke off from the main body of the Shi’a community over this disagreement over the identity of the Seventh Imam.
According to the Ismailis, the Quran contained “inner” or “hidden” meanings which were secretly transmitted to Ali, and from him they passed down through the line of proper successors to the Imamate. The faith could gain access to these hidden meanings, but only after a careful initiation process and gradual teachings. The masses, however, had to remain content with the outer meanings.
According to Ismaili doctrine, history is divided into seven periods. Each period starts with a prophet who is followed by six infallible Imams. The first six prophets were Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad. An interpreter accompanies each Imam in order to teach the secret meaning of the Imam’s words to a small group of disciples.
The previous six interpreters were Seth, Shem, Isaac, Aaron, Simon Peter and Ali. The six Shia Imams (from al-Hasan to Ismail) followed Muhammad and his interpreter Ali. They do not believe that their seventh Imam, Muhammad, actually died. Instead they believe that he went into hiding and will eventually appear as the Mahdi. At that time, he will inaugurate a new era in which old traditions, even Islam, will become obsolete.
For his followers, Ismail became associated with various movements seeking not simply to overthrow the Abbasid caliphate, but also the entire social order. The goal was a wholesale reinterpretation of Islam which would incorporate various elements of Hellenistic Christianity which had been prevalent in the Near East before the advent of Islam.
One of the most successful popular revolts stemming from Ismaili beliefs was launched by the Qarmatians, named after their leader Hamdan Qarmat. They set up something along the lines of a community republic near Kufa, in Iraq, late in the ninth century CE, and they even gained control of present-day Bahrain eventually. All goods of “general utility” were owned in common, but in the name of the absent Imam.
Ismailis do not believe that any of their Imams have disappeared from the world in order to return later. Instead, they have followed an unbroken line of leaders, the most recent of whom was Karim al Husayni Agha Khan IV, an active figure in international humanitarian efforts.
