Tayyibi Isma'ilism is the only surviving sect of the
Musta'li branch of
Isma'ilism
Isma'ilism ( ar, الإسماعيلية, al-ʾIsmāʿīlīyah) is a branch or sub-sect of Shia Islam. The Isma'ili () get their name from their acceptance of Imam Isma'il ibn Jafar as the appointed spiritual successor ( imām) to Ja'far al ...
, the other being the extinct
Hafizi branch. Followers of Tayyibi Isma'ilism are found in various Bohra communities:
Dawoodi,
Sulaymani
The Sulaymani branch of Tayyibi Isma'ilism is an Islamic community, of which around 70,000 members reside in Yemen, while a few thousand Sulaymani Bohras can be found in India. The Sulaymanis are sometimes headed by a ''Da'i al-Mutlaq'' from ...
, and
Alavi.
The Tayyibi originally split from the
Fatimid Caliphate
The Fatimid Caliphate was an Ismaili Shi'a caliphate extant from the tenth to the twelfth centuries AD. Spanning a large area of North Africa, it ranged from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Red Sea in the east. The Fatimids, a ...
-supporting
Hafizi branch by supporting the right of
at-Tayyib Abu'l-Qasim to the
Imamate.
History
Upon the death of the twentieth Imam,
al-Amir bi-Ahkam Allah
Abu Ali al-Mansur ibn al-Musta'li ( ar, أبو علي المنصور بن المستعلي, Abū ʿAlī al-Manṣūr ibn al-Mustaʿlī; 31 December 1096 – 7 October 1130), better known by his regnal name al-Amir bi-Ahkam Allah ( ar, الآمر ...
(d. ), his two-year-old child
at-Tayyib Abu'l-Qasim (b. ) was appointed the twenty-first Imam. As he was not in a position to run the
Dawah
Dawah ( ar, دعوة, lit=invitation, ) is the act of inviting or calling people to embrace Islam. The plural is ''da‘wāt'' (دَعْوات) or ''da‘awāt'' (دَعَوات).
Etymology
The English term ''Dawah'' derives from the Arabic ...
, Queen
Arwa al-Sulayhi, the
Da'i al-Mutlaq
The term Da'i al-Mutlaq ( ar, الداعي المطلق, al-Dā'ī al-Mutlaq; pl. , ) literally meaning 'the absolute, or unrestricted, missionary', is the most senior spiritual rank and office in Tayyibi Isma'ilism. The Da'i al-Mutlaq has hea ...
, acted as his
regent
A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...
. The Da'i had now been given absolute authority and made independent from political activity.
Da'i Zoeb bin Moosa
Da'i
Zoeb bin Moosa used to live in and died in Hoos, Yemen. His ''ma'zoon'' ("associate") was Khattab bin Hasan. After death of
Abdullah, Zoeb bin Moosa appointed Yaqub as the
wali ("representative" or "caretaker") of the Tayyibi organization ("dawah") in India. Yaqub was the first person of Indian origin to receive this honor. He was son of Bharmal, minister of the
Chaulukya
The Chaulukya dynasty (), also Solanki dynasty, was a dynasty that ruled parts of what are now Gujarat and Rajasthan in north-western India, between and . Their capital was located at Anahilavada (modern Patan). At times, their rule extende ...
king
Jayasimha Siddharaja
Jayasiṃha ( ), who assumed the title Siddharāja (), was an Indian king who ruled western parts of India. He was a member of the Chaulukya (also called Solanki) dynasty.
Jayasimha's capital was located at Anahilapataka (modern Patan) in pres ...
. Fakhruddin, son of Tarmal, was sent to western
Rajasthan
Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern ...
. One Da'i after another continued until the twenty-fourth Da'i,
Yusuf Najmuddin ibn Sulaiman
Syedna Yusuf Najmuddin bin Sulaiman () (died on 23 June 1567 CE or 16 Dhu al-Hijjah 974 AH, Taiba, Yemen) was the 24th Da'i al-Mutlaq (Absolute Missionary) of the Taiyabi Ismailis. He succeeded Mohammad Ezzuddin to the religious post.
Fam ...
, in Yemen. Due to prosecution by a local ruler, the dawah then shifted to India under the twenty-fifth Da'i, Jalal bin Hasan.
Sulaymani-Dawoodi-Alavi split
In 1592, the Tayyibi broke into two factions in a dispute over who should become the twenty-seventh Da'i:
Dawood Bin Qutubshah or
Sulayman bin Hassan
The 27th Da'i al-Mutlaq of Ismailism according to the Sulaymanis. His becoming a Dai' as per Nass-e-Shareef of Sayyidna, Dawood Bin Ajabshah led to a schism with a group who did not accept him primarily in India and elsewhere in Arab lands. Tho ...
. The followers of the former, primarily in India, became the
Dawoodi Bohra, the latter the
Sulaymani
The Sulaymani branch of Tayyibi Isma'ilism is an Islamic community, of which around 70,000 members reside in Yemen, while a few thousand Sulaymani Bohras can be found in India. The Sulaymanis are sometimes headed by a ''Da'i al-Mutlaq'' from ...
of Yemen. In 1621, the
Alavi Bohra split from the Dawoodi bohra community.
There is also a community of
Sunni Bohra in India. In the fifteenth century, there was schism in the Bohra community of Patan in Gujarat as a large number converted from Mustaali Ismaili Shia Islam to mainstream Hanafi Sunni Islam. The leader of this conversion movement to Sunni was Syed Jafar Ahmad Shirazi who also had the support of Mughal governor of Gujarat. Thus this new group is known as Jafari Bohras, Patani Bohras or
Sunni Bohra. In 1538, Syed Jafar Ahmad Shirazi convinced the Patani Bohras to cease social relations with Ismaili Bohras. The cumulative results of these pressures resulted in large number of Bohras converting from Ismaili Shia fiqh to Sunni Hanafi fiqh.
The
Hebtiahs Bohra are a branch of Mustaali Ismaili Shi'a Islam that broke off from the mainstream Dawoodi Bohra after the death of the 39th Da'i al-Mutlaq in 1754. The
Atba-e-Malak community are a branch of Mustaali Ismaili 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, the
Atba-e-Malak Badar and
Atba-e-Malak Vakil. The
Progressive Dawoodi Bohra is a reformist sect within Mustaali 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.
At present, the largest Tayyibi faction/sub-sect is the
Dawoodi Bohra, whose current leader is Syedna
Mufaddal Saifuddin
Mufaddal Saifuddin () is the spiritual leader and 53rd Da'i al-Mutlaq of one million Dawoodi Bohras, a subgroup of the Tayyibi, Mustaali, Ismaili Shia branch of Islam. He is the second son of the 52nd Da'i al-Mutlaq, Mohammed Burhanuddin, wh ...
.
Taher Fakhruddin is also a claimant to the title of Dai al Mutlaq since 2016, although it is widely accepted that Syedna Mufaddal Saifuddin is the leader of the Dawoodi Bohras, in all aspects and administration.
References
*''The Ismaili, their history and doctrine'' by
Farhad Daftary
*''Religion, learning and science'' by Lathan Young
*''Medieval Islamic Civilisation'' by Joseph W. Meri, Bacharach
*''Sayyida Hurra: The Isma‘ili Sulayhid Queen of Yemen''by
Farhad Daftary
*The ''Uyun al-akhbar'' is the most complete text written by an Ismaili/Tayyibi/Dawoodi 19th Dai Sayyedna Idris bin Hasan on the history of the Ismaili community from its origins up to the 12th century CE. period of the Fatimid caliphs al-Mustansir (d. 487 AH / 1094 AD), the time of Musta‘lian rulers including al-Musta‘li (d. 495 AH / 1102 AD) and al-Amir (d. 526 AH / 1132 AD), and then the Tayyibi Ismaili community in Yemen.
External links
The Hafizids and Tayyibids*
ttps://www.islamawareness.net/Deviant/Ismailis/ismailis.html History of IsmailisA visual chart of different Shia communitiesDoctrine of the Tayyibis
{{Authority control