View source for Religion:Imamah (Ismaili doctrine)

{{hatnote |This is a sub-article to Imamah (Shia doctrine) and is specifically about the Ismaili [[Religion:Shia Islam|Shia]] concept of the term.}}

The '''doctrine of the Imamate in [[Religion:Isma'ilism|Isma'ilism]]''' differs from that of the [[Religion:Twelver|Twelver]]s because the Isma'ilis had living [[Religion:Imamate|Imams]] for centuries after the last Twelver Imam went into concealment. They followed [[Biography:Isma'il ibn Jafar|Isma'il ibn Jafar]], elder brother of [[Biography:Musa al-Kadhim|Musa al-Kadhim]], as the rightful Imam after his father, Ja'far al-Sadiq.<ref>Rise of The Fatimids, by W. Ivanow. Page 81, 275</ref>  The Ismailis believe that whether Imam Ismail did or did not die before Imam Ja'far, he had passed on the mantle of the imamate to his son Muhammad ibn Isma'il as the next imam.<ref name="IMAMATE IN ISMAʿILISM">{{Iranica|ismailism-xvii-the-imamate-in-ismailism|Ismaʿilism xvii. The Imamate In Ismaʿilism}}</ref>

== The Seven Imāms ==

=== Qarmatian - Imamāte of Seven Imāms<ref name="Rasūl">{{cite book|author=Daftary, Farhad |title=''The Isma'ilis: Their History and Doctrines''|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cSO9zh61AGEC&pg=PA698&dq=Hasan+al-Muthanna&hl=tr&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiOpML9qc3WAhUMxmMKHaQvDX4Q6AEIPTAD#v=snippet&q=and%20also%20a%20messenger%20prophet&f=false|editor={{wipe|Cambridge University Press}} |publisher=[[Organization:University of Cambridge|University of Cambridge]] |place=Cambridge |page=97 |year=2007 |language=en}}</ref> ===
According to some early Isma'ilis, the [[Sevener]]s, as well as the Qarmatians, a splinter group, the number of imams was fixed, with seven Imams preordained by God. These groups considers Muhammad ibn Isma'il, the foundation Imam of the Isma'ili branch of [[Religion:Shia Islam|Shia Islam]], to be the [[Religion:Mahdi|Mahdi]] and to be preserved in hiding, which is referred to as the Occultation.<ref>[http://www.ismaili.net/histoire/history04/history408.html MUHAMMAD BIN ISMAIL (158-197/775-813)]</ref>

Qarmatians believed that ''Muhammad ibn Isma'il was Imām [[Religion:Al-Qa'im (person)|al-Qā'im]] [[Religion:Mahdi|al-Mahdi]]'' and the last of the great messenger - prophets.<ref name="Rasūl"/> On his reappearance, he would bring a new religious law by abrogating the one conveyed by the Prophet Muhammad. Qarmatians recognized a series of ''Seven law-announcing prophets'' called ''ūlul’l-ʿazm,'' namely, Nūh, Ibrāhīm, Mūsā, [[Biography:Jesus in Islam|ʿIsā]], [[Biography:Muhammad|Muhammad bin ʿAbd Allāh]], [[Biography:Ali|Ali ibn Abu Tālib]], and Muhammad bin Ismā‘īl, who was the seal of the series.<ref name="Rasūl"/>

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| Imām || Personage || Period 
|-
| 1 || '''Ali ibn Abi Taleb'''<ref name="Rasūl"/><br />Imām and a messenger<br />- prophet ''(Rasūl)'' as well || (632–661)   
|-
| 2 || [[Religion:Hasan ibn Ali|Hasan ibn Ali]] || (661–669)    
|- 
|  3 || [[Biography:Husayn ibn Ali|Husayn ibn Ali]] || (669–680) 
|-
| 4 || Ali ibn Husayn Zayn al-Abidin || (680–713)    
|- 
| 5 || Muhammad al-Baqir || (713–733)  
|- 
| 6 || Ja'far al-Sadiq || (733–765) 
|- 
| 7 || '''Muhammad ibn Isma'il'''<ref name="Rasūl"/><br />Imām [[Religion:Al-Qa'im (person)|al-Qā'im]] [[Religion:Mahdi|al-Mahdi]] also<br />a messenger - prophet ''(Rasūl)'' || (775-813)
|- 
|}

=== Early beliefs ===
According to the early Ismāʿīlis, God sent Seven great prophets, known as ''nātiq'' "speakers", in order to disseminate and improve Islam. All of these great prophets has an assistant, the Sāmad (Silent) Imam. After six silent imams, a ''nātiq'' was sent to reinvigorate Islam. After [[Biography:Adam|Adam]] and his son Seth, and after six “Nātiq” ''(Speaker)'' – “Sāmad” ''(Silent)'' silsila<ref>[http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/dawr-1 Encyclopedia Iranica, DAWR (1)]</ref> (Noah–Shem), ([[Biography:Abraham|Abraham]]–Ishmael), ([[Biography:Moses|Moses]]–Aaron or Joshua), ([[Biography:Jesus|Jesus]]–Simeon), ([[Biography:Muhammad|Muhammad bin ʿAbd Allāh]]–[[Biography:Ali|Ali ibn Abu Tālib]]); the silsila of “Nātıqs and Sāmads have been completed with (Muhammad bin Ismā‘īl as-ṣaghīr (Maymūn al-Qaddāh<ref name="Öz">Öz, Mustafa, ''Mezhepler Tarihi ve Terimleri Sözlüğü (The History of madh'habs and its terminology dictionary),'' Ensar Yayıncılık, İstanbul, 2011. (This is the name of the trainer of Muhammed bin Ismā‘īl ibn [[Biography:Isma'il ibn Jafar|Jā’far]]. He had established the principles of the [[Religion:Batiniyya|Batiniyya]] Madh'hab, later.)</ref>) – ʿAbd Allāh Ibn-i Maymūn<ref>[http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/abdallah-b-maymun-al-qaddah-legendary-founder-of-the-qarmatian-ismaili-doctrine Encyclopaedia Iranica, "ʿAbdallāh b. Maymūn al-Qaddāḥ: Legendary founder of the Qarmatian-Ismaʿili doctrine and alleged forefather of the Fatimid dynasty"]</ref> and his sons).

Early Ismāʿīlis believed that hierarchical history of the mankind is created in ''Seven Eras'' of various durations each one inaugurated by "speaker-prophet" (known as ''nātiq''). In the first ''Six Eras'' of human history, ''nātiqs'' or ''ūlul’l-ʿazm'' had been Adam, Nūh, Ibrāhīm, Mūsā, [[Biography:Jesus in Islam|ʿIsā]], [[Biography:Muhammad|Muhammad bin ʿAbd Allāh]]. Qarmatians, on the other hand, originally included [[Biography:Ali|Ali ibn Abu Tālib]] instead of Adam in their list of law-announcing prophets.  Later substitution of Adam in place of Ali as one of the nātiqs, and the reduction of Ali's rank from a prophet level to that of Muhammad's successor indicate the renouncement of their extremist views. Furthermore, they believed that each of the first six nātiqs were succeeded by a spiritual legatee called ''wāsi'' or foundation ''asās'' or silent ''sāmit,'' who interpreted the inner esoteric ''([[Religion:Batin (Islam)|batin]])'' meaning of the revelation. Each ''sāmit'' in turn was followed by ''Seven Imāms'' called ''atimmā','' who guarded the true meaning of the scriptures and the laws.<ref name="Ismāʿīlis">{{cite book|author=Daftary, Farhad |title=''The Isma'ilis: Their History and Doctrines''|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kQGlyZAy134C&pg=PA94&dq=Al-Dibaj&lr=&as_brr=3&cd=11#v=onepage&q&f=false|editor={{wipe|Cambridge University Press}} |publisher=[[Organization:University of Cambridge|University of Cambridge]] |place=Cambridge |page=139 |year=1990 |language=en}}</ref>

== The first seven Mustaali and Nizari imams ==
{{main article|Religion:List of Ismaili imams}}

=== Taiyabi Mustaali and Nizari imams ===
The Nizari and Mustaali have several Imams in common; the Nizari consider [[Biography:Ali|Ali]] the first Imam and his son Hasan a [[Religion:Pir (Sufism)|pir]] while the Mustali label him ''al-Asās'' or "the Foundation" and call Hasan the first Imam.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
| Nizari || Musta'li || Personage || Period 
|-
| 1 || Asās/Wāsīh || [[Biography:Ali|Ali]] || (632–661)   
|-
| [[Religion:Pir (Sufism)|Pir]] || 1 || [[Religion:Hasan ibn Ali|Hasan ibn Ali]] || (661–669) Mustaali    
|- 
| 2 || 2|| [[Biography:Husayn ibn Ali|Husayn ibn Ali]] || (669–680) (Mustaali)<br />(661 - 680) (Nizari)    
|-
| 3 || 3 || Ali ibn Husayn Zayn al-Abidin|| (680–713)    
|- 
| 4 || 4 || Muhammad al-Baqir || (713–733)  
|- 
| 5 || 5 || Ja'far al-Sadiq || (733–765) 
|- 
| 6 || 6 || [[Biography:Isma'il ibn Jafar|Isma'il ibn Jafar]] || (765 - 775) 
|- 
| 7 || 7 || Muhammad ibn Isma'il || (775-813)
|- 
|}

===Imams after Muhammad ibn Isma'il ===
* Ahmad al-Wafi (Abadullah) ''(813-829)''
* Muhammad at-Taqi (Ahmed ibn Abadullah) ''(829-840)''
* Radi Abdullah ''(840-881)''

== References ==
{{reflist}}

{{Theology}}

[[Category:Shia Islam]]
[[Category:Ismailism]]
[[Category:Islamic terminology]]

{{Sourceattribution|Imamah (Ismaili doctrine)|1}}