Editing Ismailism (section)

===Karbala and afterward===

====The Battle of Karbala====
{{Main|Battle of Karbala}}
After the death of Imam Hasan, Imam Husayn and his family were increasingly worried about the religious and political persecution that was becoming commonplace under the reign of Mu'awiya's son, [[Yazid I|Yazid]]. Amidst this turmoil in 680, Husayn along with the women and children of his family, upon receiving invitational letters and gestures of support by Kufis, wished to go to [[Kufa]] and confront Yazid as an intercessor on part of the citizens of the empire. However, he was stopped by Yazid's army in [[Karbala]] during the month of [[Muharram]].<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.britannica.com/event/Battle-of-Karbala |title=Battle of Karbala' {{!}} Islamic history|work=Encyclopædia Britannica|access-date=2017-09-18|language=en}}</ref> His family was starved and deprived of water and supplies, until eventually the army came in on the tenth day and martyred Husayn and his companions, and enslaved the rest of the women and family, taking them to Kufa.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ismaili.net/histoire/history03/history348.html |title=Hussain bin Ali |access-date=2007-04-24}}</ref>{{primary source inline|date=May 2022}}

This battle would become extremely important to the Shia psyche. The [[Twelvers]] as well as [[Musta'li]] Isma'ili still mourn this event during an occasion known as [[Ashura]].<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/politics/2014/11/ashura-sunni-shiite-jurisprudence.html |title=Ashoura through the eyes of Sunnis |date=2014-11-09 |work=Al-Monitor|access-date=2017-09-18 |language=en-us}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://ajammc.com/2014/11/03/turkish-ashura-zeynebiye/ |title=Karbala in Istanbul: Scenes from the Ashura Commemorations of Zeynebiye – Ajam Media Collective |date=2014-11-03 |work=Ajam Media Collective|access-date=2017-09-18 |language=en-US}}</ref>

The Nizari Isma'ili, however, do not mourn this in the same way because of the belief that the light of the Imam never dies but rather passes on to the succeeding Imām, making mourning arbitrary. However, during commemoration they do not have any celebrations in [[Jama'at Khana]] during Muharram and may have announcements or sessions regarding the tragic events of [[Karbala]]. Also, individuals may observe Muharram in a wide variety of ways. This respect for Muharram does not include self-flagellation and beating because they feel that harming one's body is harming a gift from God.{{Citation needed|date=September 2017}}
[[Image:Ambigram - Muhammad and Ali2.svg|thumb|[[Ambigram]] depicting Muhammad and Ali written in a single word. The 180 degrees inverted form shows both words.]]

====The beginnings of Ismāʿīlī Daʿwah====
{{Main|Zaidiyyah}}
After being set free by Yazid, [[Zaynab bint Ali]], the daughter of [[Fatimah]] and [[Ali]] and the sister of Hasan and Husayn, started to spread the word of Karbala to the Muslim world, making speeches regarding the event. This was the first organized [[dawah|daʿwah]] of the Shia, which would later develop into an extremely spiritual institution for the Ismāʿīlīs.{{citation needed|date=May 2022}}

After the poisoning of [[Ali ibn Husayn Zayn al-Abidin]] by [[Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik]] in 713, the first succession crisis of the Shia arose with [[Zayd ibn Ali|Zayd ibn ʻAlī]]'s companions and the [[Zaidiyyah|Zaydī]]s who claimed [[Zayd ibn Ali|Zayd ibn ʻAlī]] as the Imām, whilst the rest of the Shia upheld [[Muhammad al-Baqir]] as the Imām. The Zaidis argued that any [[sayyid]] or "descendant of Muhammad through Hasan or Husayn" who rebelled against tyranny and the injustice of his age could be the Imām. The Zaidis created the first Shia states in Iran, Iraq, and Yemen.{{Citation needed|date=September 2017}}

In contrast to his predecessors, Muhammad al-Baqir focused on academic Islamic scholarship in [[Medina]], where he promulgated his teachings to many Muslims, both Shia and non-Shia, in an extremely organized form of Daʿwah.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.al-islam.org/kaaba14/8.htm |title=Imam Baqir |access-date=2007-04-24}}</ref> In fact, the earliest text of the Ismaili school of thought is said to be the ''[[Umm al-Kitab (Ismaili book)|Umm al-kitab]]'' (The Archetypal Book), a conversation between Muhammad al-Baqir and three of his disciples.<ref>[[Seyyed Hossein Nasr|S.H. Nasr]] (2006), ''[[Islamic Philosophy from its Origin to the Present: Philosophy in the Land of Prophecy|Islamic Philosophy from Its Origin to the Present: Philosophy in the Land of Prophecy]]'', State University of New York Press, p. 146</ref>

This tradition would pass on to his son, [[Ja'far al-Sadiq]], who inherited the Imāmate on his father's death in 743. Ja'far al-Sadiq excelled in the scholarship of the day and had many pupils, including three of the four founders of the Sunni [[madhhab]]s.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://al-islam.org/masoom/bios/6thimam.html |title=Imam Ja'far b. Muhammad al Sadi'q |access-date=2007-04-24}}</ref>

However, following al-Sadiq's poisoning in 765, a fundamental split occurred in the community. [[Isma'il ibn Ja'far|Ismaʻil ibn Jafar]], who at one point was appointed by his father as the next Imam, appeared to have predeceased his father in 755. While Twelvers argue that either he was never heir apparent or he truly predeceased his father and hence [[Musa al-Kadhim]] was the true heir to the Imamate, the Ismāʿīlīs argue that either the death of Ismaʻil was staged in order to protect him from Abbasid persecution or that the Imamate passed to Muhammad ibn Ismaʻil in lineal descent.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Shaykh 'Abd al-Hakeem Seth|first=Carney|date=2 October 2014|title=Succession of Ismail ibn Jafar|url=https://ismailignosis.com/2014/10/02/who-succeeded-imam-jafar-al-sadiq-seven-proofs-for-the-imamat-of-imam-ismail-ibn-jafar/|website=Ismaili Gnosis}}</ref>