Musta'li Ismailism

Musta'li Isma'ilism(Arabic:المستعلية,romanized:al-Mustaʿliyya) is a branch ofIsma'ilismnamed for their acceptance ofal-Musta'lias the legitimate nineteenthFatimid caliphand legitimate successor to his father,al-Mustansir Billah(r. 1036–1094/1095). In contrast, theNizari—the other living branch of Ismailism, presently led byAga Khan IV—believe the nineteenth caliph was al-Musta'li's elder brother,Nizar.

The Musta'li originated in Fatimid-ruledEgypt,later moved its religious center toYemen,and gained a foothold in 11th-centuryWestern Indiathroughmissionaries.

The Tayyibi and the Hafizi

Historically, there was a distinction between theTayyibiand theHafiziMusta'lis, the former recognizingat-Tayyib Abu'l-Qasimas the legitimate heir of the Imamate afteral-Amir bi-Ahkam Allahand the latter followingal-Hafiz,who was enthroned as caliph. The Hafizi view lost all support following the downfall of the Fatimid Caliphate: current-day Musta'lis are all Tayyibi.

Most Musta'li are Bohras, and the largest Bohra group is theDawoodi Bohra,who are primarily found in India. The nameBohrais a reinterpretation of theGujaratiwordvahaurau"to trade".

Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddinwas the 52ndDa'i al-Mutlaqof the Dawoodi Bohra community. After his passing in 2014, Syedna Mufaddal Saifuddin succeeded him and is serving as the 53rd Da'i al-Mutlaq of The Dawoodi Bohra community.

History

According to Musta'lī tradition, after the death ofal-Amir bi-Ahkam Allah,his infant son,At-Tayyib Abu'l-Qasim,about two years old, was protected byArwa al-Sulayhiwho died in 1138, wife of the chief Fatimid Da'i of Yemen. She had been promoted to the post ofHujjat al-Islamlong before by al-Mustansir Billah when her husband died and ran the Fatimid dawah from Yemen in the name ofImamAt-Tayyib Abu'l-Qasim.During her leadershipAt-Tayyib Abu'l-Qasimwent into occultation so she instituted the office ofDa'i al-Mutlaq.Zoeb bin Moosawas first to be instituted to this office and the line ofTayyibiDa'is that began in 1132 has passed from one Da'i to another up to the present day.Arwa al-Sulayhiwas the Hujjah in Yemen from the time ofImamAl-Mustansir Billah.She appointed theDa'iin Yemen to run religious affairs.Isma'ilimissionaries Ahmed andAbdullah(in about 1067 AD (460 AH))were also sent to India in that time. They sentSyedi Nuruddinto Dongaon to look after southern part andSyedi Fakhruddinto EastRajasthan,India.

Branches

• There is also a community ofSunni Bohrain India. In the fifteenth century, there was schism in the Bohra community of Patan in Gujarat as a large number converted from Musta'li Isma'iliShia Islamto mainstream HanafiSunniIslam. The leader of this conversion movement to Sunni was Syed Jafar Ahmad Shirazi who also had the support of the Mughal governor ofGujarat.
• In 1592, a leadership struggle caused the Ṭayyibi Ismailis to split. Following the death of the 26th Dai in 1591 CE,Sulayman bin Hassan,the grandson of the 24th Dai, waswaliin Yemen and claimed the succession, supported by a few Bohras from Yemen and India. However, most Bohras denied his claim ofnass,declaring that the supporting document evidence was forged. The two factions separated, with the followers of Suleman Bin Hasan becoming theSulaymanisnamed after Sulayman ibn Hassan and mainly located inYemenandSaudi Arabia,and the followers of Syedna Dawood Bin Qutubshah becoming the Dawoodi Bohra.Dawoodi Bohra,found mostly in theIndian subcontinent.
• A split in 1637 from the Dawoodi Bohra resulted in theAlavi Bohra.
• TheHebtiahs Bohraare a branch of Musta'li Isma'ili Shi'a Islam that broke off from the mainstream Dawoodi Bohra after the death of the 39th Da'i al-Mutlaq in 1754.
• TheAtba-e-Malakcommunity are a branch of Musta'ali Isma'ili Shi'a Islam that broke off from the mainstream Dawoodi Bohra after the death of the 46th Da'i al-Mutlaq, under the leadership of Abdul Hussain Jivaji in 1840. They have further split into two more branches:
  • Atba-e-Malak Badar– The current leader is Maulana Muhammad Amiruddin Malak Saheb.
  • Atba-e-Malak Vakil– Their current leader is Tayyebhai Razzak.
• TheProgressive Dawoodi Bohrais a reformist sect within Musta'li Ismai'li Shi'a Islam that broke off circa 1977. They disagree with mainstream Dawoodi Bohra, as led by the Da'i al-Mutlaq, on doctrinal, economic, and social issues.
• In 2014, following the passing ofMohammed Burhanuddin,there was asuccession dispute.The Bohra Sultan SyednaMufaddal Saifuddinwas established as the 53rd Da'i al-Mutlaq by his father, His Holiness Syedna Mohammad Burhanuddin. However, the Qutbi Bohra branch broke off from the original Dawoodi Bohra, falsely claiming the succession as theirs. This dispute was taken to the courts by the Qutbi Bohra, which denounced their claims as false, affirming Syedna Mufaddal Saifuddin as the rightful 53rd Da'i al-Mutlaq.

Note: Kaysani's Imam Hanafiyyah is descendant of Ali from Ali's wifeKhawlah

Musta'li Imams

According to Musta'li belief, the line of Imams, descendants ofAliand hereditary successors to Muhammad in his role of legitimate leader of the community of Muslim believers, follows:

1. Hasan ibn Ali625–670 (imam 660–670)
2. Husayn ibn Ali626–680 (imam 670–680 )
3. Ali al-Sajjad659–712 (imam 680–712)
4. Muhammad al-Baqir676–743 (imam 712–743)
5. Ja'far al-Sadiq702–765 (imam 743–765)
6. Isma'il al-Mubarak719/722–775 (imam 765–775)
7. Muhammad ibn Isma'il740–813 (imam 775–813)
8. Abadullah ibn Muhammad (Ahmad al-Wafi)766–829 (imam 813–829)
9. Ahmad ibn Abadullah (Muhammad at-Taqi)790–840 (imam 829–840)
10. Husayn ibn Ahmad (Radi Abdullah)(imam 840–909)
11. Abdallah al-Mahdi Billah(909–934)
12. al-Qa'im bi-Amr Allah(934–946)
13. al-Mansur bi-Nasr Allah(946–953)
14. al-Mu'izz li-Din Allah(953–975)
15. al-Aziz Billah(975–996)
16. al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah(996–1021)
17. al-Zahir li-i'zaz Din Allah(1021–1036)
18. al-Mustansir Billah(1036–1094)
19. al-Musta'li Billah(1094–1101)
20. al-Amir bi-Ahkam Allah(1101–1130)
21. at-Tayyib Abu'l-Qasim(1130–1132)

Imams 11–21 were caliphs who ruled theFatimid Caliphate.

The imams from Muhammad ibn Isma'il onward wereoccultedby the Musta'li; their names as listed by Dawoodi Bohra religious books are listed above.

Their ancestors and descendants according to Ismā'īlī-Mustā'lī Imāmah doctrine

See also:ImāmahandImamah (Ismaili doctrine)

Jāʿfar al-Sādiq (Imamāh‘Shi'ā)

Fatima bint al-Hussain'l-Athram bin al-ḤasanbinAli

Al-Aftāh (Aftāhīyyah)

Ismā‘il (Ismā‘il’īyyah)

Muhammad

Muhammed

Al-Wafi

At-Tāqī

Ar-Rāḍī

Mahdi Billāh

Fatimids(Ismailism)

Al-Qā'im

Al-Mansur

Al-Mu'izz

Al-Aziz

Al-Hakim

Al-Zahir

Al-Mustansir

Nizār al-Muṣṭafá(Nizārīyyah)

Muhammad

Al-Mustā‘lī(Mustā‘līyyah)

Al-Āmīr

AlamutCastle(Hassasin)

Al-Hāfiz(Ḥāfīzīyyah)

Aṭ-Ṭāyyīb(Ṭāyyībīyyah)

Al-Zāfīr

Yūssuf

Nizārī Imāmah

Al-Fā'īz

TayyibiDā'ĩs

Al-'Āḍīd

Nizārī Ismāilism

DawoodiDā'ĩs

Da'is

See also:List of Dai of the Dawoodi Bohra

Arwa al-Sulayhiwas the Hujjah from the time of Imam Mustansir. She appointed Dai in Yemen to run religious affair. Ismaili missionaries Ahmed andAbdullah(in about 1067 AD (460 AH))were sent to India in that time. According to Fatimid tradition, after the death of Al-Amir bi-Ahkami'l-Lah, Arwa al-Sulayhi instituted theDa'i al-Mutlaqin place of Dai to run the independentdawahfrom Yemen in the name of Imam Taiyab. The Dais are appointed one after other in the same philosophy ofnass(nomination by predecessor) as done by earlier imams. It is believed that God's representative cannot die before appointing his true successor. This is being followed from the time of 3rd Imam Ali al-Sajjad, the strong army of Yazid also could not think of killing him, although they did not spare even a child of six months,Ali al-Asghar ibn Husayn.

On the similar belief, the Musta'li think and their Da'i claim, that one day their Imam Tayyib's heir will again reappear as Imam (as happened with the eleventh Imam, Abdallah al-Mahdi Billah, who appeared after period of 150 years since the sixth Imam).

Under the fifteenth Imam,Al-Aziz Billah,the fifth Fatimid caliph, religious tolerance was given great importance. As a small Shi'i group ruling over a majority Sunni population with a Christian minority also, the Fatimid caliphs were careful to respect the sentiments of people. One of the viziers of Imam Aziz was Christian, and high offices were held by both Shia and Sunnis. Fatimid advancement in state offices was based more on merit than on heredity.

Al-Aziz Billah rebuilt theSaint Mercurius Church in Coptic CaironearFustatand encouraged public theological debate between the chief Fatimidqadiand thebishopsofOriental Orthodoxyin the interest ofecumenism.

Profession of faith

As is the case with the majority of the Shia, Ismailis conclude theShahadawithʿAliyun waliyu l-Lah( "Ali is the successor ofGod"). Musta'lis recite the following shahada:

ʾašhadu ʾan lā ʾilāha ʾillā l-Lāh,
waʾašhadu ʾan Muḥammadun ʿabduhun warasūlu l-Lāh;
ʾanna mawlāna ʿAliyun waṣiyuhu wawazīruhu;
I bear witness that there is no god but God,
and I bear witness that Mohammad is God's servant and His Messenger
and Ali is his successor and minister.

The first part of this shahada is common to all Muslims and is the fundamental declaration oftawhid.The wording of the last phrase is specific to the Musta'li.

The second phrase describes the principle ofProphecyin Shia Islam.

The third phrase describes the Musta'li theological position of the role of Ali.

• 
  Photo of theqiblaofal-Mustansir Billahin theMosque of Ibn TuluninCairoshowing theShahada
• 
  Photo of the Shahada atBab al-FutuhFatimid Cairo

Further reading

• The Dawoodi Bohras: an anthropological perspective,by Shibani Roy. Published by B. R. Publishing, 1984.
• Mullahs on the mainframe: Islam and modernity among the Daudi Bohras,by Jonah Blank. University of Chicago Press, 2001.ISBN978-0-226-05676-0.Excerpts
• A Short History of the Ismailis,by Farhad Daftary
• The Ismaili, Their History and Doctrine,by Farhad Daftary
• Medieval Islamic Civilisation,by Joseph W. Meri, Jere l. Bacharach
• Sayyida Hurra: The Isma‘ili Sulayhid Queen of Yemen,by Dr Farhad Daftary
• Cosmology and authority in medieval Ismailism,by Simonetta Calderini
• Religion, learning, and science in the ʻAbbasid period,by M. J. L. Young, John Derek Latham, Robert Bertram Serjeant

External links

• Dawoodi Bohras (operated by Mufaddal Saifuddin faction)
• Official website of Alavi Bohras
• Dawoodi Bohras (operated by Khuzaima Qutbuddin/Taher Fakhruddin faction)
• History of Ismailis
• The post-Fatimid period