1 MW.'S r/f/''-
2 614
3 The Ismailians,
4 Rose, § 45.
5 destined to re-appe&r. The Ismailians on the other hand hold that the
6 last visible Im&m Avas Ismail, after whom commenced the succession
7 of the concealed Imams. And to go back for a moment the Nosairians
8 held that Ali was the last, as well as the first, Im4m, and it thus
9 appears that the Shi’a sects originated, historically, in divergent views
10 as to the personal claims of the Prophet’s natural descendants to succeed
11 to the Imamafce.
12 The Tsmailiana.—Vhe history of the Ismailians is of great interest
13 not only in itself but also in that the tenets of the sect are still a
14 living force in the Muhammadanism of this part of India. I he
15 sect was also called Sabiun because it acknowledged seven lm4ms,
16 ending with J a’far-us-SAdiq and Ismail; and yet it held that the
17 Imamate descended to Ismail’s son, etc.. History does not tell us
18 what became of the children of Ismail, but their' sacred character
19 lent itself to the foundation of one of the most remarkable and im¬
20 portant organizations known to history. The Ismailians were_ fh’®t
21 organised by Abdullah, a native of the Persian province of Khuzistim,
22 who retained or revived the organization of the sect into orders which
23 bad been introduced in the time of the fourth Im6m. His successors
24 however gave an entirelv new character to the sect. The descendant—
25 probably a spiritual not a natural descendant-of Abdullah the
26 Ismailian proclaimed himself the legitimate descendant of Ah and
27 Fatima, and assuming the title of Al-Mahdi, usually given to the
28 last Imam, founded the Fatimite dynasty in Egypt. Hia descendant
29 Muhammad-ibn-Ismail indeed went a step further and accepted the
30 doctrine that the Khalifa was an incarnation of the invisible Imam and
31 as such a god on earth, abandoning apparently the pretence ot actual
32 descent from Ali. To this teaching the sect of the Druses owes, in
33 some obscure way, its origin, and the idea that the Mahdi need no
34 necessarily be re-incarnated in a descendant of All was fruitful m its
35 results, for to it may he traced the claims of various Imams to that
36 title. In India Shaikh Alai of Agra claimed to bo Al-Mahdi and as
37 among his disciples was Shaikh MubArik, the father of Abdul Faiz,
38 the waztr of Akbar, it is probable that that emperor was greatly influ¬
39 enced by Mahdavi ideas. To the same teaching may be a scribed the
40 orio-in of the BAbi sect in modern Persia, whose doctrines appear not to
41 have penetrated to India, and various other movements m the Muham¬
42 madan world. ...
43 When the fortunes of the Western or Egyptian Ismailians were
44 on the wane, the sect was revived, in Syria, by Hasan Ibn Sabah/ who
45 was like Umr Khayyam a companion and prot%6 of Nizam-ul-Mulk,
46 wazir of Alp Arslan, Seljuk. Hasan reorganized the order, which he
47 divided into four2 grades, the fi'hoi, or ' consecrated, rajik, clai, and
48 * His full name was Ala-ud-Drn, Hasan, son of Ali, son of Muhammad, son of JAfar,
49 son of Husain, son of Muhammad, who claimed descent from us-SabbAh-ul-Hamain -.
50 Eavert& A nflmiT Ali says that the Eastern Ismailians (AlamtUias
51 * atSS had four degrees. He bribes the foundation of the Eastern
52 or Mn a ' . ibn Aiaimun a ft agian according to hisoacmiee, a descendant, of
53 Isnmihans to Abdulla bn Alaimutb a a »g s Manichaeans through the
54 Ali accordingly his followers. Amir ™ „ E ,.ptian pfcnitcs held that
55 Pauliclans. It Ag reippeared hr Obaidullah-a\-Mahdi, Abu
56 Qaramitaa (Qannatians), founded by Hamadan . pp, 803 7.