List of Ismaili Imams
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This is a list of the Imams recognized by the Ismaili Shia and their sub-branches. Imams are considered members of the Ahl al-Bayt, the Family of Muhammad.
Contents |
[edit] Early Imams
Ismailis share the following Imams with the Twelver Shia:
1. ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib, died 661 CE
2. Hasan, son of Ali, died 670 (Disputed by Nizari, the largest Ismaili Tariqah)
3. Husayn, son of Ali, died 680
4. ʿAlī Zayn al-ʿĀbidīn, son of Husain, died 713
5. Muḥammad al-Bāqir, son of Ali Zayn, died 732
6. Jaʿfar aṣ-Ṣādiq, son of Muhammad, died 765
[edit] Splits
The Ismailis split with the Twelvers over the succession to the Imam Jafar, whose designated heir Ismail had predeceased him. Whereas Twelvers eventually settled for Ismail's brother Musa, Ismailis insist on the succession of Ismail and his son Muhammad ibn Ismail.
6. Ismāʿīl, Jafar's son and designated heir, predeceased his father in 755 but accepted as Imam by the Ismailis.
7. Muhammad, Ismail's son, died under the reign of Harun al-Rashid (786-809)
Several Ismaili groups believed Muhammad to be the Mahdi, who had withdrawn into occultation and would return again.
One group propagated their faith from their bases in Syria through Dāʿiyyūn ("Callers to Islām"), the first of which was Abdallah al-Akbar. In 899, the fourth Da'i announced that he himself was the Imam, starting the Fatimid dynasty. This caused a split between his followers and those disputing his claim and clinging to Muhammad. The Fatimid's most notable opponents were the Qarmatians.
[edit] Fatimids
In the Fatimid (and subsequently Ismaili) tradition, the Imamat was held by:
8. Wafi Ahmad, 1st Da'i of the Ismaili mission, according to Ismaili tradition son of Muhammad
9. Taqi Muhammad, son of Abdallah, 2nd Da'i of the Ismaili mission
10. Rabi Abdullah, son of Muhammad
11. ʿUbaydullāh al-Mahdī billāh, son of Hussayn, 4th Da'i of the Ismaili mission, openly announced himself as Imam, 1st Fatimid Caliph, died 934
12. Muḥammad al-Qāʾim bi-ʾAmrillāh, leader of the Ismailis, openly announced himself as Imam, 2nd Fatimid Caliph, died 946
13. Ismāʿīl al-Manṣūr, 3rd Fatimid Caliph, died 953
14. Maʿād al-Muʿizz li-Dīnillāh, 4th Fatimid Caliph, died 975
15. Abū Manṣūr Nizār al-ʿAzīz billāh, 5th Fatimid Caliph, died 996
16. Al-Ḥakīm bi-Amrillāh, 6th Fatimid Caliph, disappeared 1021.
- The Druze believe in the divinity of all Imams and split off after Hakim's disappearance, believed by them to be the occultation of the Mahdi.
17. ʿAlī az-Zāhir li-Iʿzāz Dīnillāh, son of al-Hakim, 7th Fatimid Caliph, died 1036.
18. Abū Tamīm Ma'add al-Mustanṣir bi-llāh, son of Ali az-Zahir, 8th Fatimid Caliph, died 1094.
- After his death, the succession was disputed. The regent Malik al-Afdal placed Mustansir's younger son Al-Musta'li on the throne. This was contested by the elder son an-Nizar, who however was defeated and died in prison, along with his sons. This dispute resulted in the split into two branched, lasting to this day, the Nizari and the Mustaali
[edit] Nizari
The Nizārī recognized as the rightful Imam:
19. Nizār ibn al-Mustanṣir billāh, son of al-Mustansir, died in prison 1094
- Some Nizari, later also known as Hashshashin (Assassins), occupied the fortress of Alamut and proclaimed the grand-son, who had reportedly escaped, and his descendants as hidden Imams:
20. Al-Hādī (escapted to Alamut with a Nizari Dai - Abul Hasan Saidi, remained concealed from public)
21. Al-Muhtadī (remained concealed from public)
22. Al-Qāhir (aka: Hasan I, remained concealed from public)
23. Hasan ala-dhikrihi as-Salaam (Hasan II) - son of Imam al-Qahir and the first Nizari Imam of Alamut to openly declare himself as such, died in 1166
24. Nūru-d-Dīn Muḥammad II, son of Hassan II, openly declared himself the Imam, died 1210
25. Jalālu-d-Dīn Ḥassan III, son of Muhammad II, died 1221
26. ʿAlāʾu-d-Dīn Muḥammad III, son of Hassan III, died 1255
27. Ruknud-Dīn Khurshāh, son of Muhammad III, surrendered to Hulagu Khan in 1256. He travelled to the court of Khublai Khan and was killed on the journey back.
After the fall of Alamut, the Nizari split into groups, each recognizing descendants of the Imams of Alamut:
28. Shams al-Din Muhammad
In Syria, some Nizari groups survived in their strongholds. Most notable among the Imams recognized by them was Shamsu-d-Dīn Muḥammad Shah, who in 1374 had temporarily regained Alamut. His descendants lived in Soltaniye, Azerbaijan until the Safavids in 1522 expelled Imam Shah Taher Hoseini. The Imam emigrated to India. The Syrian Nizari lost contact to their Imam in 1796. In 1887 they send messengers to India, but since they could not locate any descendants, most Syrian Nizari recognized Aga Khan III as their Imam. However, a small minority, located in Masyaf and the mountains of al-Qadmus, cling to the previous lineage.
In Iran, small Nizari groups survived and centred around Imams in the village Angodan near Mahallat. Since the end of the 15th century, the following Imams are known:
29. Qāsim Shāh
30. Islām Shāh
31. Muḥammad ibn Islām Shāh
32. Mustanṣir billāh II
33. ʿAbdu-s-Salām Shāh
34. Gharīb Mīrzā / Mustanṣir billāh III
35. Abū Dharr ʿAlī Nūru-d-Dīn
36. Murād Mīrzā
37. Dhu-l-Fiqār ʿAlī Khalīlullāh I
38. Nūru-d-Dahr (Nūru-d-Dīn) ʿAlī
39. Khalīlullāh II ʿAlī
40. Shāh Nizār II
41. Sayyid ʿAlī
42. Ḥassan ʿAlī
43. Qāsim ʿAlī (Sayyid Jaʿfar)
44. Abu-l-Ḥassan ʿAlī (Bāqir Shāh)
45. Shāh Khalīlullāh III
46. Ḥassan ʿAlī Shāh Āghā Khān I, died 1881
47. Āqā ʿAlī Shāh Āghā Khān II, son of Aga Khan I, died 1885
48. Sulṭān Muḥammad Shāh Āghā Khān III, son of Aga Khan II, died 1957
49. His Highness Shāh Karīmu-l-Ḥussaynī Āghā Khān IV,l grandson of Aga Kahn III
[edit] Mustaʿlī
The Mustaʿlī recognized as the rightful Imam:
19. Aḥmad al-Mustaʿlī, son of al-Mustansir, 9th Fatimid Caliph, died 1101
20. Al-Āmir bi-Aḥkāmillāh, son of al-Mustaʿlī, 10th Fatimid Caliph, died 1130
Amir died without an heir and was succeeded as Caliph by his cousin Al-Hafiz. The Mustaʿlī split into the Hafizi, who accepted him and his successors as Imam, and the Tayyibi, who believed that Amir's purported son At-Tayyib was the rightful Imam and had gone into occultation:
[edit] Hafizi
21. Al-Hafiz, 11th Fatimid Caliph, died 1149.
22. Al-Zafir, son of Al-Hafiz, 12th Fatimid Caliph, died 1154.
23. Al-Faiz, son of Al-Zafir, 13th Fatimid Caliph, died 1160.
24. Al-'Āḍid, son of Al-Zafir, 14th Fatimid Caliph, died 1171.
With him ended the Fatimid dynasty and the Hafizi branch.
[edit] Tayyibi
The Tayyibi branch continues to this day.
[edit] References
- Daftary, Farhad (1990). The Ismāʿīlīs: Their history and doctrines. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 551-553. ISBN 0-521-42974-9.</ref>:
- Halm, Heinz (1988). Die Schia. Darmstadt, Germany: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, 193-243. ISBN 3-534-03136-9.
