Ismailis,

Ismailis, a Mohammedan sect. Like the rest of the Shíah, or party of Ali, they held that the dignity of Imám, or head of the true faith, was inherent in the house of the Prophet and the line of Ali, the Prophet's cousin, son-in-law, and chosen lieutenant. They arose in Syria and Persia, taking their name from one Ismaíl, whom they regarded as the seventh and last of the Imáms, and who lived about 770 A.D. But the sect acquired its importance a century later from Abdallah al Kaddah, a Persian of Susiana, and son of Maímín. He was an oculist, a scholar, and an able juggler. The Ismaílís had then no visible Imám; indeed the Shíah lost its twelfth and last Imám in the mysterious disappearance of Mohammed in 879 A.D. The idea of a 'Hidden Imám,' destined to appear for the reformation of religion and of the world, thus became necessary for its existence. To undermine the whole empire, to prepare a great revolution and overthrow Islam was Abdallah's desire. His instrument was the faith in a 'Hidden Imám,' or 'Mahdi,' 'Guided or Inspired One,' styled by Abdallah the seventh prophet, Mohammed having been the sixth. His many widely-spread daís or missionaries taught their converts that this coming deliverer had opened up the true and mystic meaning of the Koran. The teaching of all previous prophets was abrogated by him. Converts passing through their nine stages of instruction learned to deny all positive religion. Prayers, tithes, pil- grimages, legal purity, and other religious observances were shown to have meaning and use for only the blinded crowd. A Demirgus was declared to be the world's maker. The resurrection, the end of the world, final judgment, and rewards and punishments were mere allegories. The universe was eternal. Finally, belief was made absolutely free. Mohammed, the Chief, Hidden Imám, Mahdi, or Seventh Prophet, son of Ismaíl, was, after all, not to appear but in his doctrine taught by his disciples and apostles; and the duty of all believers was to bring the world's sovereignty into the hands of these. Abdallah's son, Ahmed, succeeded him as Grand Master of the Ismailian Society. In his time a Babylonian peasant, Hamdan Karmat, joined it, became a missionary, a leader, and at length about 891 proclaimed a communitic system. For two centuries the Karmathians were the scourge of Islam and the East. An Ismailian missionary among the Berbers of Constantine called the people to arms in Ali's name. Obeidallah, a descendant of Abdallah al Kaddah, and Grand Master of the Ismailian Society, was put at the head of the revolution, before which the Aghlabite (809) and the Edrisite powers quickly fell; and, calling himself a scion of Ali, by Fatima the Prophet's daughter, was declared Calif and Mahdi. The rise of his dynasty, which is called the Fatimite, is the most remarkable example in history of the power of religious enthusiasm led by conscious imposture. Egypt (970) and Syria were added to its empire. The Karmathians recognised it and paid it tribute. Miserably decayed, it was supplanted in Egypt by Saladin in 1171. See also MAHDI.