Shia Islam A subsect of Shia Islam that takes its name from Imam Muhammad ibn Ismail, the Seventh Imam. Ismaili Shia doctrine closely resembled Twelver Shia Islam with regard to observance of the sharia but also included a system of philosophy and science coordinated with religion that proved the divine origin of the Imamate and the rights of the Fatimids to it. Ubaid Allah, al Mahdi, the founder of the Fatimid Dynasty, came to North Africa in the early tenth century and actively promoted the Ismaili faith. See also Shia.

Member of the Shiite branch called "the Seveners" because they recognized seven imams, the last being Ismail, as opposed to "the Twelvers" who recognized twelve. For both groups, the last imam would be the hidden imam, who would reappear at the end of time after his period of "occultation." The Ismaili school gave rise to the Fatimid movement of North Africa and Egypt.

an adherent of Ismailism; a member of the Ismaili branch of Shiism

of or relating to a branch of Shiism that is noted for its esoteric philosophy

The Ismāʿīlī (Urdu: اسماعیلی Ismāʿīlī, Arabic: الإسماعيليون al-Ismāʿīliyyūn; Persian: اسماعیلیان Esmāʿīliyān) branch of Islam is the second largest part of the Shī'a community, after the Twelvers (Ithnāʿashariyya). The Ismāʿīlī get their name from their acceptance of Ismāʿīl ibn Jaʿfar as the successor-Imām to Jaʿfar aṣ-Ṣādiq, wherein they differ from the Ithnāʿashariyya, who accept Musa al-Kazim, younger brother of Ismail, as their Imam.