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Ismailism
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{{Short description|Branch of Shia Islam}} {{Redirect|Ismaili|people with the name|Ismaili (surname)|Ismaili}} {{About||the Egyptian city|Ismaïlia|the administrative subdivision of Iran|Esmaili District|the group related to [[Ishmael]] especially [[Ishmael in Islam|in Islam]]|Ishmaelites}} {{Use dmy dates|date=November 2020}} {{Infobox religion | name = Ismailism | native_name = {{langx|ar|الإسماعيلية}}, {{langx|fa|اسماعیلیان}} | image = Ismaili Center, Dushanbe, Tajikistan.JPG | imagewidth = 250 | alt = | caption = Ismaili Center in [[Dushanbe]], [[Tajikistan]] | abbreviation = | type = | main_classification = [[Shia Islam]] | orientation = | scripture = [[Quran]] | theology = [[Imamate in Ismaili doctrine|Imamate]] | polity = | governance = | structure = | leader_title = [[Imam]] | leader_name = [[Aga Khan V]]; current [[Imamah (Nizari Ismaili doctrine)|Imam]] of [[Nizari Ismailism]]<ref>{{cite web |title=Mawlana Hazar Imam Shah Rahim al-Hussaini Aga Khan |website=The Ismaili |url=https://transition.ismaili/ |access-date=5 February 2025}}</ref> | fellowships_type = Branches<br/> and sects | fellowships = [[#Branches|Branches and sects of Isma'ilism]] | associations = | area = Ismāʿīli communities can be found in Pakistan, India, Central Asia, Syria, Iran, Saudi Arabia, [[Eastern Africa]], and North America<ref name="Ismāʿīliyyah">{{cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Ismailite|title=Ismāʿīliyyah|date=20 January 2017|publisher=Encyclopaedia Britannica}}</ref> | headquarters = | language = | founded_date = [[9th century]]<ref name="Ismāʿīliyyah">{{cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Ismailite|title=Ismāʿīliyyah|date=20 January 2017|publisher=Encyclopaedia Britannica}}</ref> | founded_place = [[Middle East]] | congregations = | separations = [[Druze]]<ref name="Hunter 2010 33">{{cite book|title=The Politics of Islamic Revivalism: Diversity and Unity: Center for Strategic and International Studies (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown University. Center for Strategic and International Studies| first=Shireen|last= Hunter|year=2010| isbn=978-0-253-34549-3| page = 33|publisher=University of Michigan Press|quote= Druze – An offshoot of Shi'ism; its members are not considered Muslims by orthodox Muslims.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=The Oxford Handbook of American Islam| first=Yvonne |last=Yazbeck Haddad|year=2014| isbn=978-0-19-986263-4| page = 142|publisher=Oxford University Press|quote=While they appear parallel to those of normative Islam, in the Druze religion they are different in meaning and interpretation. The religion is considered distinct from the Ismaili as well as from other Muslims belief and practice... Most Druze do not identify as Muslims..}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Ismailite|title=Ismāʿīliyyah|date=20 January 2017 |quote=The Druze, who live mostly in Syria, Lebanon, and Israel, are also Ismāʿīlī in origin. |publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica}}</ref> | members = {{circa}} 2.5 million,<ref>{{cite book|title=Isma'ili Modern: Globalization and Identity in a Muslim Community| first=Jonah |last= Steinberg|year=2011| isbn=978-0-8078-3407-7| page = 35|publisher=University of North Carolina Press|quote=}}</ref> or between 5 million to 15 million<ref name="Ismāʿīliyyah">{{cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Ismailite|title=Ismāʿīliyyah|date=20 January 2017|publisher=Encyclopaedia Britannica}}</ref> }} {{Ismailism|all}} {{Shia Islam|Branches}} '''Ismailism''' ({{langx|ar|الإسماعيلية|translit=al-Ismāʿīliyya}}) is a branch of [[Shia Islam]].{{sfn|Spencer C. Tucker|Priscilla Roberts|2008|p=917}} The Isma'ili ({{IPAc-en|ˌ|ɪ|z|m|ɑː|ˈ|ɪ|l|iː}})<ref>{{Cite web|title=Definition of Ismaili|url=https://www.dictionary.com/browse/ismaili|access-date=2023-03-29|website=www.dictionary.com|language=en}}</ref> 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]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://iranicaonline.org/|title=Welcome to Encyclopaedia Iranica|first=Encyclopaedia Iranica|last=Foundation|website=iranicaonline.org}}</ref> 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 ({{transliteration|ar|[[batin (Islam)|batin]]}}) of the Islamic religion. With the eventual development of [[Usuli]]sm and [[Akhbari]]sm into the more literalistic ({{transliteration|ar|[[Zahir (Islam)|zahir]]}}) 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 manifestation of esoteric truth and intelligible divine reality, with the more literalistic [[Usuli]] and [[Akhbari]] groups focusing on divine law ([[sharia]]) and the deeds and sayings ([[sunnah]]) of Muhammad and [[the Twelve Imams]] who were guides and a [[Nūr (Islam)|light]] to God.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www-personal.umich.edu/~jrcole/ahsai1.htm |title=Shaykh Ahmad al-Ahsa'i |access-date=2007-04-25}}</ref> The Isma'ili accept Isma'il ibn Jafar as the sixth Imam. Isma'ili thought is heavily influenced by [[Neoplatonism]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.iep.utm.edu/ismaili/ |title=Ismaili Philosophy {{!}} Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy|website=www.iep.utm.edu|access-date=2016-04-01}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cambridge.org/us/academic/subjects/religion/islam/early-philosophical-shiism-ismaili-neoplatonism-abu-yaqub-al-sijistani |title=Early Philosophical Shiism |website=Cambridge University Press|access-date=2016-04-01}}</ref> The larger sect of Ismaili are the [[Nizari]]s, who recognize [[Aga Khan V]]<ref name="source">[https://apnews.com/article/aga-khan-rahim-alhussaini-8efb5353df62fd6f452ca2935507483c]</ref> as the 50th hereditary Imam, while other groups are known as the [[Tayyibi]] branch. The community with the highest percentage of Ismailis is [[Gorno-Badakhshan]],<ref name="source"/> but Isma'ilis can be found in [[Central Asia]], [[Afghanistan]], [[Iran]], [[Pakistan]], [[Yemen]], [[Lebanon]], [[Malaysia]], [[Syria]], [[India]], [[Saudi Arabia]], [[Jordan]], [[Iraq]], [[Kuwait]], [[East Africa]], [[Angola]], [[Bangladesh]], and [[South Africa]], and have in recent years emigrated to [[Europe]], [[Russia]], [[Canada]], [[Australia]], [[New Zealand]], the [[United States]], and [[Trinidad and Tobago]].<ref>{{cite web|author=Sarfaroz Niyozov|title=Shi'a Ismaili Tradition in Central Asia – Evolution, Continuities and Changes|url=https://simerg.com/literary-readings/literary-reading-shia-ismaili-tradition-in-central-asia-evolution-continuities-and-changes-2/|date=March 2010 |access-date=2012-03-20|website=Simerg}}</ref><ref name="DaftaryShort1998p1">{{cite book |last=Daftary |first=Farhad |title=A Short History of the Ismailis |year=1998 |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |location=Edinburgh |isbn=0-7486-0687-4 |pages=1–4}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |surname=Kalandarov |given=T. C. |title=Памирские мигранты-исмаилиты в России |trans-title=Pamir Ismaili Migrants in Russia |series=Исследования по прикладной и неотложной этнологии Института этнологии и антропологии РАН [Research in applied and urgent ethnology of the [[institute of Anthropology and Ethnography|Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology]] of the Russian Academy of Sciences] |place=Moscow |year=2005 |publisher=[[Nauka (publisher)|Nauka]] |language=ru |url=http://static.iea.ras.ru/neotlozhka/178-Kalandarov.pdf |isbn=5-201-13758-X}}</ref> {{TOC limit|4}}
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