Concept

Ismailism

Overview

Ismailism, known historically and among practitioners as Batiniyya (lit. 'esotericism'), is a branch of Shia Islam. Like all Shia, the Ismailis emphasize a distinction between the exoteric (zahir) and esoteric (batin) dimension of Islam. However, unlike other Shia, the Ismailis are characterized by a unique emphasis on the esoteric.

The Isma'ili () get their name from their acceptance of Imam Isma'il ibn Jafar as the appointed spiritual successor (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 true Imām. In summary, the Isma'ili accept Isma'il ibn Jafar as the sixth Imam. Isma'ili thought is heavily influenced by Neoplatonism.

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 (batin) of the Islamic religion. With the eventual development of Usulism and Akhbarism into the more literalistic (zahir) oriented, Shia Islam developed into two separate directions: the metaphorical Ismaili, Alevi, Bektashi, Alian, and Alawite groups focusing on the mystical path and nature of 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 light to God.

The larger sect of Ismaili are the Nizaris, who recognize Aga Khan V 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, 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.

Overview adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0; see the article history for authors).

Possible passages

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But by sacred things one must not understand simply those personal beings which are called gods or spirits; a rock, a tree, a spring, a pebble, a piece of wood, a house, in a word, anything can be sacred. A rite can have this character; in fact, the rite does not exist which does not have it to a certain degree. There are words, expressions and formulæ which can be pronounced only by the mouths of consecrated…
Émile Durkheim, The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life
States what Ismailism is.
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For this reason, too, it is a legend universally believed, that Pythagoras, for instance, received his Philosophy from India and Egypt; the fame of the wisdom of these people, which wisdom is understood also to contain Philosophy, is an old one. The Oriental ideas and religious worship which prevailed throughout the West up to the time of the Roman Empire, likewise bear the name of Oriental Philosophy. The Christian…
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, Hegel's Lectures on the History of Philosophy
States what Ismailism is.
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iv. 7), as is distinctly said in the Law, “And the imagination of the heart of man is evil from his youth” (ibid. viii. 21). The good inclination, however, comes when the mind is developed. In explaining the allegory representing the body of man and his different faculties, our Sages (B. T. Ned. 32b) said: “The evil inclination is called a great king, whilst the good inclination is a child, poor, though wise”…
Moses Maimonides, The guide for the perplexed
States what Ismailism is.
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Philosophers who discussed Ismailism

Islam

Related ideas

Opposing perspectives

Ash'arism

Place in the tradition

Part of Gnosticism.

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