Ismailis - Wiki slovník

Isma'ilism (Arabic: الإسماعيلية, romanized: al-ʾIsmāʿīlīyah) is a branch or sub-sect of Shia Islam.^[1] The Isma'ili (/ˌɪsmeɪˈɪli/)^[2] 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-Kadhim, the younger brother of Isma'il, as the true Imām.^[3]

Isma'ilism rose at one point to become the largest branch of Shia Islam, climaxing as a political power with the Fatimid Caliphate in the 10th through 12th centuries.^[4]^{[non-primary source needed]} Ismailis believe in the oneness of God, as well as the closing of divine revelation with Muhammad, whom they see as "the final Prophet and Messenger of God to all humanity". The Isma'ili and the Twelvers both accept the same six initial Imams; the Isma'ili accept Isma'il ibn Jafar as the seventh Imam.

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.^[5]

Isma'ili thought is heavily influenced by neoplatonism.^[6]^[7]

The larger sect of Ismaili are the Nizaris, who recognize Aga Khan IV^[8] as the 49th hereditary Imam, while other groups are known as the Tayyibi branch. The biggest Ismaili community is in Gorno-Badakhshan,^[8] but Isma'ilis can be found in Central Asia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, Lebanon, Malaysia, Syria, Iran, Saudi Arabia, India, Jordan, Iraq, Kuwait, East Africa, Angola, Bangladesh, and South Africa, and have in recent years emigrated to Europe, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the United States, and Trinidad and Tobago.^[9]^[10]

History

Succession crisis

Ismailism shares its beginnings with other early Shia sects that emerged during the succession crisis that spread throughout the early Muslim community. From the beginning, the Shia asserted the right of Ali, cousin of Muhammad, to have both political and spiritual control over the community. This also included his two sons, who were the grandsons of Muhammad through his daughter Fatimah.^[11]

The conflict remained relatively peaceful between the partisans of Ali and those who asserted a semi-democratic system of electing caliphs, until the third of the Rashidun caliphs, Uthman was killed, and Ali, with popular support, ascended to the caliphate.^[12]

Soon after his ascendancy, Aisha, the third of Muhammad's wives, claimed along with Uthman's tribe, the Ummayads, that Ali should take qisas (blood for blood) from the people responsible for Uthman's death. Ali voted against it, as he believed that the situation at the time demanded a peaceful resolution of the matter. Though both parties could rightfully defend their claims, due to escalated misunderstandings, the Battle of the Camel was fought and Aisha was defeated, but was respectfully escorted to Medina by Ali.^{[citation needed]}

Following this battle, Muawiya, the Umayyad governor of Syria, also staged a revolt under the same pretences. Ali led his forces against Muawiya until the side of Muawiya held copies of the Quran against their spears and demanded that the issue be decided by Islam's holy book. Ali accepted this, and an arbitration was done which ended in his favor.^[13]

A group among Ali's army believed that subjecting his legitimate authority to arbitration was tantamount to apostasy, and abandoned his forces. This group was known as the Khawarij and Ali wished to defeat their forces before they reached the cities, where they would be able to blend in with the rest of the population. While he was unable to do this, he nonetheless defeated their forces in subsequent battles.^[14]

Regardless of these defeats, the Kharijites survived and became a violently problematic group in Islamic history. After plotting an assassination against Ali, Muawiya, and the arbitrator of their conflict, Ali was successfully assassinated in 661 CE, and the Imāmate passed on to his son Hasan and then later his son Husayn, or according to the Nizari Isma'ili, the Imamate passed to Hasan, who was an Entrusted Imam (Arabic: الإمام المستودع, romanized: al-imām al-mustawdaʿ), and afterward to Husayn who was the Permanent Imam (Arabic: الإمام المستقر, romanized: al-imām al-mustaqar). The Entrusted Imam is an Imam in the full sense except that the lineage of the Imamate must continue through the Permanent Imam.^[15] However, the political caliphate was soon taken over by Muawiya, the only leader in the empire at that time with an army large enough to seize control.^[16]^{[non-primary source needed]}

Even some of Ali's early followers regarded him as "an absolute and divinely guided leader", whose demands of his followers were "the same kind of loyalty that would have been expected for the Prophet".^[17] For example, one of Ali's supporters who also was devoted to Muhammad said to him: "our opinion is your opinion and we are in the palm of your right hand."^[18] The early followers of Ali seem to have taken his guidance as "right guidance" deriving from Divine support. In other words, Ali's guidance was seen to be the expression of God's will and the Quranic message. This spiritual and absolute authority of Ali was known as walayah, and it was inherited by his successors, the Imams.^{[citation needed]}

In the 1st century after Muhammad, the term 'sunnah' was not specifically defined as "Sunnah of the Prophet", but was used in connection to Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, and some Umayyad Caliphs. The idea of hadith, or traditions ascribed to Muhammad, was not mainstream, nor was hadith criticised. Even the earliest legal texts by Malik b. Anas and Abu Hanifa employ many methods including analogical reasoning and opinion and do not rely exclusively on hadith. Only in the 2nd century does the Sunni jurist al-Shafi'i first argue that only the sunnah of Muhammad should be a source of law, and that this sunnah is embodied in hadiths. It would take another one hundred years after al-Shafi'i for Sunni Muslim jurists to fully base their methodologies on prophetic hadiths.^[19]^[20] Meanwhile, Imami Shia Muslims followed the Imams' interpretations of Islam as normative without any need for hadiths and other sources of Sunni law such as analogy and opinion.^{[citation needed]}

Karbala and afterward

The Battle of Karbala

After the death of Imam Hasan, Imam Husayn and his family were increasingly worried about the religious and political persecution that was becoming commonplace under the reign of Muawiya's son, Yazid. Amidst this turmoil in 680, Husayn along with the women and children of his family, upon receiving invitational letters and gestures of support by Kufis, wished to go to Kufa and confront Yazid as an intercessor on part of the citizens of the empire. However, he was stopped by Yazid's army in Karbala during the month of Muharram.^[21] His family was starved and deprived of water and supplies, until eventually the army came in on the tenth day and martyred Husayn and his companions, and enslaved the rest of the women and family, taking them to Kufa.^[22]^{[non-primary source needed]}

This battle would become extremely important to the Shia psyche. The Twelvers as well as Musta'li Isma'ili still mourn this event during an occasion known as Ashura.^[23]^[24]

The Nizari Isma'ili, however, do not mourn this in the same way because of the belief that the light of the Imam never dies but rather passes on to the succeeding Imām, making mourning arbitrary. However, during commemoration they do not have any celebrations in Jamatkhana during Muharram and may have announcements or sessions regarding the tragic events of Karbala. Also, individuals may observe Muharram in a wide variety of ways. This respect for Muharram does not include self-flagellation and beating because they feel that harming one's body is harming a gift from Allah.^{[citation needed]}

Ambigram depicting Muhammad and Ali written in a single word. The 180 degrees inverted form shows both words.

The beginnings of Ismāʿīlī Daʿwah

After being set free by Yazid, Zaynab bint Ali, the daughter of Fatimah and Ali and the sister of Hasan and Husayn, started to spread the word of Karbala to the Muslim world, making speeches regarding the event. This was the first organized daʿwah of the Shia, which would later develop into an extremely spiritual institution for the Ismāʿīlīs.^{[citation needed]}

After the poisoning of Ali ibn Husayn Zayn al-Abidin by Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik in 713, the first succession crisis of the Shia arose with Zayd ibn ʻAlī's companions and the Zaydīs who claimed Zayd ibn ʻAlī as the Imām, whilst the rest of the Shia upheld Muhammad al-Baqir as the Imām. The Zaidis argued that any sayyid or "descendant of Muhammad through Hasan or Husayn" who rebelled against tyranny and the injustice of his age could be the Imām. The Zaidis created the first Shia states in Iran, Iraq, and Yemen.^{[citation needed]}

In contrast to his predecessors, Muhammad al-Baqir focused on academic Islamic scholarship in Medina, where he promulgated his teachings to many Muslims, both Shia and non-Shia, in an extremely organized form of Daʿwah.^[25] In fact, the earliest text of the Ismaili school of thought is said to be the Umm al-kitab (The Archetypal Book), a conversation between Muhammad al-Baqir and three of his disciples.^[26]

This tradition would pass on to his son, Ja'far al-Sadiq, who inherited the Imāmate on his father's death in 743. Ja'far al-Sadiq excelled in the scholarship of the day and had many pupils, including three of the four founders of the Sunni madhhabs.^[27]

However, following al-Sadiq's poisoning in 765, a fundamental split occurred in the community. Ismaʻil ibn Jafar, who at one point was appointed by his father as the next Imam, appeared to have predeceased his father in 755. While Twelvers argue that either he was never heir apparent or he truly predeceased his father and hence Musa al-Kadhim was the true heir to the Imamate, the Ismāʿīlīs argue that either the death of Ismaʻil was staged in order to protect him from Abbasid persecution or that the Imamate passed to Muhammad ibn Ismaʻil in lineal descent.^[28]

Ascension of the Dais

For some partisans of Isma'il, the Imamate ended with Isma'il ibn Ja'far. Most Ismailis recognized Muhammad ibn Ismaʻil as the next Imam and some saw him as the expected Mahdi that Ja'far al-Sadiq had preached about. However, at this point the Isma'ili Imams according to the Nizari and Mustaali found areas where they would be able to be safe from the recently founded Abbasid Caliphate, which had defeated and seized control from the Umayyads in 750 CE.^[29]

At this point, some of the Isma'ili community believed that Muhammad ibn Isma'il had gone into the Occultation and that he would one day return. A small group traced the Imamate among Muhammad ibn Isma'il's lineal descendants. With the status and location of the Imams not known to the community, the concealed Isma'ili Imams began to propagate the faith through Da'iyyun from its base in Syria. This was the start of the spiritual beginnings of the Daʿwah that would later play important parts in the all Ismaili branches, especially the Nizaris and the Musta'lis.^[30]

The Da'i was not a missionary in the typical sense, and he was responsible for both the conversion of his student as well as the mental and spiritual well-being. The Da'i was a guide and light to the Imam. The teacher-student relationship of the Da'i and his student was much like the one that would develop in Sufism. The student desired God, and the Da'i could bring him to God by making him recognize the Imam, who possesses the knowledge of the Oneness of God. The Da'i and Imam were respectively the spiritual mother and spiritual father of the Isma'ili believers.^[31]

Ja'far bin Mansur al-Yaman's The Book of the Sage and Disciple is a classic of early Fatimid literature, documenting important aspects of the development of the Isma'ili da'wa in tenth-century Yemen. The book is also of considerable historical value for modern scholars of Arabic prose literature as well as those interested in the relationship of esoteric Shia with early Islamic mysticism. Likewise is the book an important source of information regarding the various movements within tenth-century Shīa leading to the spread of the Fatimid-Isma'ili da'wa throughout the medieval Islamicate world and the religious and philosophical history of post-Fatimid Musta'li branch of Isma'ilism in Yemen and India.^{[citation needed]}

The Qarmatians

While many of the Isma'ili were content with the Da'i teachings, a group that mingled Persian nationalism and Zoroastrianism surfaced known as the Qarmatians. With their headquarters in Bahrain, they accepted a young Persian former prisoner by the name of Abu'l-Fadl al-Isfahani, who claimed to be the descendant of the Persian kings^[32]^[33]^[34]^[35]^[36] as their Mahdi, and rampaged across the Middle-East in the tenth century, climaxing their violent campaign by stealing the Black Stone from the Kaaba in Mecca in 930 under Abu Tahir al-Jannabi. Following the arrival of the Al-Isfahani, they changed their qibla from the Kaaba in Mecca to the Zoroastrian-influenced fire. After their return of the Black Stone in 951 and a defeat by the Abbasids in 976 the group slowly dwindled off and no longer has any adherents.^[37]

The Fatimid Caliphate

Al-Hakim Mosque in Cairo, Egypt, erected by al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, an Ismāʿīlī Imām and Fatimid Caliph.

Rise of the Fatimid Caliphate

The political asceticism practiced by the Imāms during the period after Muhammad ibn Ismail was to be short-lived and finally concluded with the Imāmate of Abdullah al-Mahdi Billah, who was born in 873. After decades of Ismāʿīlīs believing that Muhammad ibn Ismail was in the Occultation and would return to bring an age of justice, al-Mahdi taught that the Imāms had not been literally secluded, but rather had remained hidden to protect themselves and had been organizing the Da'i, and even acted as Da'i themselves.^{[citation needed]}

After raising an army and successfully defeating the Aghlabids in North Africa and a number of other victories, al-Mahdi Billah successfully established a Shia political state ruled by the Imāmate in 910.^[38]^{[non-primary source needed]} This was the only time in history where the Shia Imamate and Caliphate were united after the first Imam, Ali ibn Abi Talib.^{[citation needed]}

In parallel with the dynasty's claim of descent from ʻAlī and Fāṭimah, the empire was named "Fatimid". However, this was not without controversy, and recognizing the extent that Ismāʿīlī doctrine had spread, the Abbasid Caliphate assigned Sunni and Twelver scholars the task to disprove the lineage of the new dynasty. This became known as the Baghdad Manifesto, which tries to trace the lineage of the Fatimids to an alleged Jewish blacksmith.^{[citation needed]} Zdroj:https://en.wikipedia.org?pojem=Ismailis
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