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ISMA'ILIYYA
ISMA'ILIYYA, a major branch of the Shi'a with numerous subdivisions.
It
branched off fromthe Imamiyya [see ithna 'ashariyya] by tracing the imamate
through Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq's sonIsma'il, after whom it is
named.
History:Pre-Fatimid and Fatimid times.
After the
death of Ja'far al-Sadiq in 148/765 a group of his followers held fast to the
imamate ofhis son Isma'il, who had been named by him as his successor but
had predeceased him.
Some ofthem maintained that Isma'il had not died and
would reappear as the qa'im or Mahdi.
Othersrecognized Isma'il's son
Muhammad as their imam.
Nothing is known about the history of theIsma'ili
movement developing out of this nucleus until after the middle of the 3rd/9th
century,when it appeared as a secret revolutionary organization carrying on
intensive missionary effortsin many regions of the Muslim world.
In the area
of al-Kufa its propaganda was spread fromabout the year 264/877-8 by Hamdan
qarmat [q.v.], who was later aided by his brother-in-law'Abdan [q.v.].
Hamdan's followers were named after him qarmati, a name which came to
beapplied derogatorily also to other sections of the movement.
In the area
of al-Rayy the missionwas started about the same time by Khalaf, whose
followers became known as the Khalafiyya.
InFars a brother of 'Abdan was
active.
In Khurasan Nishapur and later Marw al-Rudh becamecentres of
Isma'ili activity (see S.
M.
Stern, The early Isma'ili missionaries in
North-West Persia and inKhurasan and Transoxania, in BSOAS, xxiii (1960),
56-90).
A convert of al-Nasafi [q.v.], one of theda'is of Khurasan and
Transoxania, was the first to carry the propaganda to Sidjistan, probablyin
the early decades of the 4th/10th century.
Presumably in the first half of the
4th/10thcentury, the qufs tribe in Kirman was converted by da'is from
Khurasan.
In the Yemen twomissionaries, 'Ali b.
al-Fadl and Ibn Hawshab,
known as Mansur al-Yaman [q.v.], in 268/881established themselves in the
area of the Jabal Maswar and succeeded in gaining strong tribalsupport.
In
270/883 Ibn Hawshab sent his nephew al-Haytham as a missionary to Sind.
Later
hesent Abu 'Abd Allah al-Shi'i [q.v.] to the Maghrib, where he arrived in
280/893 and won thesupport of the Kutama Berber tribe in western Algeria,
thus laying the foundation for Fatimidrule.
In 286/899 Abu Sa'id al-Jannabi
[q.v.], a follower of Hamdan qarmat and 'Abdan, foundeda qarmati state in
al-Bahrayn, from where he later conquered al-qatif, 'Uman and al-Yamama.
The
whole movement was centrally directed, at first probably from al-Ahwaz and
al-Basra andlater from Salamiyya in Syria.
Muhammad b.
Isma'il was
acknowledged as the imam, who haddisappeared and was about to reappear as
the qa'im and to rule the world.
The leaders of themovement in the absence
of the imam claimed the rank of hudjdjas [q.v.].
In the year 286/899,
after the succession of the future Fatimid Caliph 'Ubayd Allah al-Mahdi
tothe leadership in Salamiyya, a schism split the movement, provoked by the
claim of 'UbaydAllah to theqimamate for himself and his ancestors.
Hamdan
qarmat and 'Abdan, who may havepreviously drifted slightly away from the
doctrine propagated by the leadership, broke off theirsupport.
'Abdan
consequently was murdered by a subordinate da'i, Zikrawayh b.
Mihrawayh[q.v.], who at first pretended to be loyal to the leadership.
Zikrawayh and his sons organized the'qarmati" revolts among Syrian bedouin
tribes from the year 289/902 until his captureand execution in 294/907.
Doubts concerning Zikrawayh's loyalty, which soon turned out to bejustified,
induced 'Ubayd Allah to leave Salamiyya for the journey which ended with
hisestablishment as caliph in Raqqada in 297/910.
Though information
concerning the attitude of the various Isma'ili groups following the split
ofthe movement is scanty, the results can be summarized with some degree of
probability asfollows: The community in the Yemen at first remained faithful
to 'Ubayd Allah.
'Ali b.
al-Fadl,however, in 299/913 renounced his
allegiance to him and made war on Ibn Hawshab, whoremained loyal.
After
'Ali's death in 303/915 his party disintegrated rapidly.
The da'is in
theMaghrib and probably in Sind, having been sent by Ibn Hawshab, also
remained loyal.
Thereare indications that the da'wa in Khurasan generally
maintained its allegiance to 'Ubayd Allah,who was able to appoint some da'is
there, but there were probably also counter-currents.
Thecommunities in
'Iraq, al-Bahrayn, and western Persia refused to recognize the Fatimid claim
tothe imamate.
Among the qarmatis of 'Iraq 'Isa b.
Musa, a nephew of 'Abdan,
continued thelatter's work propagating the imamate of Muhammad b.
Isma'il,
who would return as the qa'im.
After 320/932 he was active in Baghdad.
He and
other da'is in 'Iraq ascribed their writings to'Abdan, thus stressing the
doctrinal continuity.
The da'is of al-Rayy were in close contact withthose
in 'Iraq and with the qarmatis of al-Bahrayn and like them were expecting
thereappearance of the Mahdi-imam for the year 316/928.
At least in the
twenties of the 4thcentury (1030-9) they controlled the missions in Mosul
and Baghdad.
They worked successfullyamong the Daylamis and won at least the
temporary allegiance of Daylami leaders like Asfar,Mardawidj and later of
some rulers of the Musafirid dynasty.
The qarmatis of al-Bahrayn, led byAbu
Tahir al-Jannabi, were predicting the appearance of the Mahdi-imam for the
year316/928.
In 319/931 they accepted a Persian prisoner of war as the
Expected One, and AbuTahir turned the rule over to him.
The early disastrous
end of the affair weakened theideological vigour of the qarmatis of
al-Bahrayn and their influence among the da'is in 'Iraq andPersia, but did
not generally lead to an expansion of Fatimid influence.
Soon afterwards
thegreat revolt of the Kharidji Abu Yazid [q.v.] under the Fatimid Caliphs
al-qa'im and al-Mansurstifled any Fatimid activity among the eastern
Isma'ili communities.
Only the fourth Fatimid,al-Mu'izz (341/953-365/975),
was in a position to lead an intensive campaign to regain theallegiance of
the schismatic Isma'ilis.
His efforts were partially successful, but failed in
regard tothe qarmatis of al-Bahrayn, whose hostility erupted, after the
Fatimid conquest of Egypt in358/969, in open warfare against the Fatimid
armies.
After concluding a peace with the Fatimidal-'Aziz in 369/979-80 and
a severe defeat by a bedouin tribe in 378/988, the qarmatis ofal-Bahrayn
were reduced to a local power unable to exert any ideological influence beyond
itsboundaries.
The movement still supporting the doctrine of the return of
Muhammadqb.
Isma'ilrapidly disintegrated about the same time.
The qarmati
state in al-Bahrayn survived until470/1077-8.
(See M.
J.
de Goeje, Memoire
sur les Carmathes du Bahraien2, Leiden 1886; idem, Lafin de l'empire des
Carmathes, in JA 9th ser.
v (1895), 5-30; W.
Madelung, Fatimiden
undBahrainqarmaten, in Isl.
xxxiv (1959), 34-88; S.
M.
Stern, Isma'ilis and
Qarmatians, in l'Elaboration del'Islam, Paris 1961, 99-108).
In the
time of al-Mu'izz a Fatimid vassal state was established in Multan in Sind.
The
Isma'ili da'ithere succeeded before 348/959 in converting a local ruler.
Multan became an Isma'ilistronghold where the hutba was read in the name of
the Fatimid caliph.
This success probablystrengthened the Fatimid cause also
in the neighbouring regions, for in Mukran the hutba wasalso read for the
Fatimids about the year 378/988.
The da'i Abu Ya'qub al-Sidjistani [q.v.],
whosupported the Fatimid doctrine at least from the time of al-Mu'izz on,
probably was active inSidjistan before his death in the second half of the
4th/10th century.
In Jiruft in Kirman aFatimid da'i was residing toward the
end of the 4th/10th century.
The Isma'ili state in Multanlasted until
401/1010-1, when Mahmud of َhazna annexed the town, took its ruler prisoner
andmassacred many Isma'ilis (see S.
M.
Stern, Isma'ili propaganda and
Fatimid rule in Sind, in IC, xxiii(1949), 298-307).
During the last
years of the reign of al-Hakim (386/996-411/1021) extremist Isma'ilis in
Cairobegan to proclaim the divinity of this Fatimid caliph.
Their leadership
soon passed to Hamza b.
'Ali [q.v.], who became the founder of the Druze
religious doctrine.
The official Fatimid da'waorganization remained
adamantly opposed to this movement, although al-Hakim at timesshowed it
favour.
After al-Hakim's death it was persecuted by the Fatimid government and
wipedout in Cairo, but succeeded in solidifying its hold over the
mountainous regions in Syria which,with some modifications, became the
permanent home of the Druze community.
The Druzereligion [see duruz], though
derived from Isma'ili doctrine, transformed its basic ideas to such adegree
as to be usually considered as falling outside the range of
Isma'ilism.
In Ifriqiya the Isma'ili communities were practically
exterminated by popular riots after theaccession of al-Mu'izz b.
Badis,
Zirid vassal of the Fatimids, in 407/1016.
The missionary effortsof the
Fatimids during their residence in Ifriqiyya had achieved the conversion of only
smallgroups of the urban population, while the masses, led by the Maliki
'ulama', were solidly opposedto Fatimid rule and Shi'ism.
Large numbers of
Kutama tribesmen, who traditionally furnishedthe main body of the Fatimid
army, left for Egypt with the Fatimid al-Mu'izz.
Most of the leadingda'is
also departed at that time.
The Sanhadja tribe, which supported Zirid rule, only
superficiallyadhered to Isma'ilism.
During the year 407/1016-7 the Isma'ilis
in al-qayrawan, al-Mansuriyya,al-Mahdiyya, Tunis, Tripoli, and other towns
were attacked and massacred by the populacewith the countenance of the
government.
Sporadic massacres took place also during thefollowing years.
The Isma'ili communities were thus extinguished long before al-Mu'izz
in440/1049 renounced his allegiance to the Fatimids and recognized 'Abbasid
suzereignty (see H.
R.
Idris, La Berberie orientale sous les Zirides, Paris
1962, 143-9).
During the reign of the Caliph al-Mustansir
(427/1036-487/1094) the Isma'ili cause achievednew successes in the Yemen
and India.
In the Yemen theqda'wa after the death of Ibn Hawshabhad suffered
major setbacks and survived only precariously, though in the
period379/989-387/997 it had gained the allegiance and support of the
Ya'furid amir 'Abd Allah b.
qahtan, ruler of San'a' and conqueror of Zabid
from the Ziyadids.
In 429/1038 'Ali b.
Muhammad al-Sulayhi, Fatimid da'i and
founder of the Sulayhid dynasty, rose in Masar in theHaraz region.
Through
the activity of the Sulayhids [q.v.] Fatimid sovereignty came to extendover
all of the Yemen and temporarily over other parts of Arabia like 'Uman and
al-Bahrayn (seeH.
F.
al-Hamdani, al-Sulayhiyyun, Cairo 1955).
The Sulayhids
also furthered renewed efforts atspreading Isma'ilism on the Indian
subcontinent.
Although parts of the Isma'ili community inSind evidently had
survived the persecution under Mahmud of َhazna and Isma'ilism seems tohave
been espoused by the Sumra dynasty of local Hindu origin (see A.
H.
al-Hamdani,
TheBeginnings of the Isma'ili Da'wa in Northern India, Cairo 1956), contacts
with the Fatimid da'wa faded.
The Isma'ilis in Sind may have drifted
partially back to Hindu practices and beliefs.
A newIsma'ili community was
now founded by Yemenite da'is in the area of Cambay, Gudjarat, whichhad
close commercial ties with the Yemen.
According to the traditional account an
Arab da'i,'Abd Allah, arrived with two Indian assistants in Gudjarat in
460/1068, sent by the Yemenitechief da'i Lamak b.
Malik.
Less than a decade
later the existence of a flourishing Isma'ilicommunity is confirmed by
official letters of the Fatimid chancery.
This new Isma'ili
communityremained closely tied to, and controlled by, the Yemenite da'wa and
was the nucleus of themodern Bohora [q.v.] community.
After the
middle of the 5th/11th century the Persian poet and philosopher Nasir-i Khusraw
[q.v.]was active as a Fatimid da'i in Yumgan in the Upper Oxus area for over
15 years.
Expelled fromBalh because of Isma'ili activity, he came to Yumgan
before 453/1061 and remained there untilhis death.
Several of his extant
philosophical and religious works were composed there.
Hebecame the founder
and patron-saint of the Isma'ili community of Badahshan in the widersense,
though it may have been changed in composition by later Isma'ili refugees (see
W.
Ivanow, Problems in Nasir-i Khosraw's Biography, Bombay 1956; A.
E.
Bertel's, Nasir-i Khosrov iIsmailizm, Moscow 1959).
In the last years
of the reign of al-Mustansir the Isma'ili cause in Persia was reinvigorated by
theactivity of Hasan-i Sabbah [q.v.].
After travelling widely and carrying
on propaganda in variousregions of the country, he seized the fortress of
Alamut [q.v.] in the mountains of Daylam in483/1090, thus opening a new
phase in the Isma'ili activity in Persia.
The clandestinemissionary work to
which the da'wa in Persia had mostly been restricted was replaced by a
policyof open revolt which, in the face of the overwhelming military
strength of the Saldjuqgovernment, was based on the seizure of impregnable
mountain fortresses and spectacularpolitical murder aimed at intimidating
the enemy's leadership.
In the following years other rockfortresses were
occupied in the Elburz range.
In 484 or 485/1091-2 Hasan-i Sabbah sent the
da'iHusayn qa'ini to quhistan to raise the revolt there.
In short order the
Isma'ilis seized control ofseveral towns in eastern quhistan, Tabas, qa'in,
Zuzan, Tun, and others.
Another da'i, AbuHamza, captured two castles near
Arradjan in the border region between Fars and Khuzistan.
After the death of
al-Mus-qtansir in 487/1094, a major split occurred in the Isma'ili
movementconcerning the succession to the imamate.
Al-Mustansir had
originally designated his eldest son,Nizar [q.v.], as his heir.
Later his
youngest son, Ahmad, found the support of the vizier al-Afdal[q.v.], who
after the death of al-Mustansir placed him on the throne with the title
al-Musta'li[q.v.].
Nizar fled to Alexandria, where he rose in revolt, was
defeated, seized and immured.
Hasan-i Sabbah and the Persian Isma'ilis upheld
the right of Nizar to the succession and refusedto recognize al-Musta'li.
In
the absence of the imam, Hasan-i Sabbah became the supreme chiefclaiming the
rank of hudjdja.
After his death the leadership continued with the rulers of
Alamut.
Beginning with the fourth ruler, Hasan 'ala dhikrihi 'l-salam
(557/1162-561/1166), they came to berecognized as imams.
Against numerous
Saldjuq attacks the Nizaris were able to hold andexpand their territories in
the Elburz mountains and quhistan.
The fortress Shahdiz nearIsfahan, which
they seized about the year 494/1100, was lost again in 500/1107.
Some
timeafterwards the Nizari fortresses near Arradjan were overcome.
Among the
Isma'ilis in Egypt andSyria there were also partisans of Nizar.
In Egypt
they were gradually suppressed.
In Syria,which fell largely outside the
Fatimid territory, they were soon organized by emissaries fromAlamut and and
seriously rivalled the supporters of the Fatimid caliphate, especially in
Damascusand Aleppo.
The Jabal al-Summaq and surrounding area north of Hamat
soon became astronghold of the Nizaris.
As in Persia they aimed at acquiring
fortresses, but failed in their firstattempts, and practised political
murder.
In 520/1126 Tughtagin, ruler of Damascus, ceded tothem the fortress
of Banyas on the frontier with the Franks and gave them official recognition
inDamascus.
His son Buri in 523/1139 encouraged anti-Isma'ili rioting in
Damascus in which theNizari community was virtually wiped out.
The fortress
of Banyas was consequently surrenderedby the Nizaris to the Franks.
Soon
afterwards they achieved lasting success in the Jabal Bahra'area west of
Hamat.
In 527/1132-3 they acquired the fortress of qadmus, and other
fortressescame into their possession during the following decade.
Masyaf,
the most important stronghold,was seized in 535/1140-1.
The Syrian Nizaris
continued to be ruled by agents sent by the lordsof Alamut.
The most famous
one, Rashid al-Din Sinan [q.v.] (557/1162-588/1192), showed signsof
independence, and there are reports that agents were repeatedly sent from Alamut
to kill him.
A complete break was avoided.
The imamate of al-Musta'li
was recognized by most Isma'ilis in Egypt, many in Syria, and by thewhole
community in the Yemen and that in India dependent on it.
A new schism
developed,however, among the Musta'lian Isma'ilis after the assassination of
al-Musta'li's son and successoral-Amir [q.v.] in 524/1130.
Eight months
before al-Amir's death a son, al-Tayyib, had been bornto him and had
immediately been proclaimed as his heir.
After al-Amir's death his cousin
'Abdal-Madjid was put on the throne in Cairo as regent, officially in
expectation of the delivery of apregnant wife of the late caliph Mention of
the infant al-Tayyib was suppressed, and nothing isknown about his fate.
Four days later 'Abd al-Madjid was overthrown and imprisoned byal-Afdal
Kutayfat [q.v.], who declared the Fatimid dynasty deposed and proclaimed
thesovereignty of the Twelfth Imam of the Imamiyya.
Kutayfat was overthrown
and killed in Muh.
526/Dec.
1131, and 'Abd al-Madjid returned to the throne
as regent.
In Rabi' IIq526/Feb.
1132he was proclaimed imam with the caliphal
title al-Hafiz [q.v.].
The succession of al-Hafiz, thoughin violation of the
accepted rule that the imamate could be inherited only by a
directdescendant, was supported by the official da'wa organization in Egypt
and accepted by themajority of the Musta'lian Isma'ilis in Egypt and Syria.
They were known as the Hafiziyya orMadjidiyya.
There were, however, some
Musta'lian communities in Egypt and Syria whichcontinued to support the
rights of al-Tayyib and were known as Amiriyya.
In the Yemen most ofthe
leaders of the established da'wa organization upheld the rights of al-Tayyib.
Encouraged bythe Sulayhid queen al-Sayyida they founded the independent
Tayyibi da'wa in the Yemen headedby a da'imutlaq.
The first of these was
al-Dhu'ayb b.
Musa, who was succeeded in 546/1151 byIbrahim al-Hamidi
[q.v.].
The Tayyibi da'is worked successfully despite the fact that after
thedeath of the Sulayhid queen in 532/1138 they did not have the support of
any of the rulers inthe Yemen.
The Hafizi da'wa was supported by the
Zuray'ids of 'Adan, who, beginning withMuhammad b.
Saba', were officially
appointed Fatimid da'is in the Yemen, and by at least some ofthe Hamdanid
rulers of San'a' (see S.
M.
Stern, The succession to the Fatimid Imam al-Amir
the claims ofthe later Fatimids to the Imamate, and the rise of Tayyibi
Ismailism, in Oriens, iv (1951), 193-255).
Thereare no reports as to whether
the Hafizi da'wa ever had adherents in India.
In any case thecommunity in
India, which continued to be closely tied to the Yemenite da'wa, soon was
solidlyTayyibi.
The post-Fatimid
period.
Hafiziyya:After the overthrow of the Fatimid caliphate in
567/1171 the Hafiziyya, no longer enjoyingofficial support, gradually
disintegrated.
Al-'Adid, the last Fatimid caliph, had appointed his sonDa'ud
as his successor with the title al-Hamid li'llah.
Da'ud was generally recognized
by theHafizis as the imam after al-'Adid.
He and all other members of the
Fatimid family werepermanently detained as prisoners by the Ayyubids.
As a
result of a pro-Fatimid conspiracy inCairo in 568/1172-3 many of the
supporters of the deposed dynasty were exiled to Upper Egypt,which became a
hotbed of pro-Fatimid activity.
In 572/1176-7 a pretender claiming to be
Da'udfound wide support in qift.
When the real Da'ud died as a prisoner in
Cairo in 604/1207-8, theHafizis asked the Ayyubid al-Malik al-Kamil for
permission to mourn him in public.
Al-Kamilgranted them permission, but used
the occasion to arrest their da'is and confiscate theirproperty.
After Da'ud
his son Sulayman mostly seems to have been recognized as the imam.
Sulayman
died without child as a prisoner in 645/1248, but some of his partisans claimed
thathe had a son who was hidden (see P.
Casanova, Les derniers Fatimides, in
MIFAO, vi (1897),415-45).
In 697/1298 a pretender appeared in Upper Egypt
who claimed to be Da'ud b.
Sulayman b.
Da'ud.
Still later, about the year
723/1324, Isma'ilis are mentioned in 'Usfun inUpper Egypt.
In Syria a Hafizi
community is mentioned at the same time in the Baqi'amountains near Safad.
In the Yemen the Hafizi cause also lost all official backing with theAyyubid
conquest.
The Tayyibi da'imutlaq 'Ali b.
Muhammad al-Walid (d.
612/1215) still
composedpolemical treatises and poems against the "Madjidiyya", but they
were alreadybecoming a rare minority.
Tayyibiyya [q.v.]:The
insignificant Tayyibi communities in Egypt and Syria, known as Amiriyya, are
only rarelymentioned in the sources.
Toward the end of the 6th/12th century
there is a vague referenceqtothe presence of Amiriyya in Egypt.
In Syria a
community of Amiriyya is still mentioned about theyear 723/1324 in the
Baqi'a and Zabud mountains near Safad.
These isolated communitiesprobably
did not survive much longer.
Only in the Yemen and India could the Tayyibi
da'wa,under the undisputed leadership of the da'imutlaq, establish itself
permanently.
After Ibrahimal-Hamidi the position of da'i mutlaq remained
among his descendants until 605/1209, when itpassed to 'Ali b.
Muhammad of
the Banu 'l-Walid al-Anf family, which was named after hisancestor Ibrahim
al-Anf, who was a prominent supporter of the Salayhids and a descendant
