After the death of the Prophet, Muhammad, the religion of Islam split over whom his successor will be and what type of leader he should be. The two major groups are the Sunnis and the Shi’is, the latter of which contains a subgroup called the Isma’ilis. The history of the Isma’ilis is far from being simple. In the beginning of Isma’ilism, they were a small sect, but they would eventually rise to become a major player in Islam during the Fatimid period. The Isma’ilis would have an internal conflict over the succession of an imam and would split into two groups. One movement was the Musta’lian Isma’ilis following al-Musta’li, the other followed Nizar. The group backing Nizar, would become infamous. The Nizari Isma’ili movement was on the extreme side. This particular group became known as ‘the assassins’. Of course, every story has two sides, and the Isma’ilis are no exception. It is important to understand the perspective of both sides, before coming to a conclusion about them. The book, The Ismal’ilis: their history and doctrines, by Farhad Daftary, looks at the Isma’ilis from a broad, outside- looking- in view, while the book, The Order of Assassins; the struggle of the early Nizari Isma’ilis against the Islamic world, by Marshall G. S. Hodgson, focuses on the assassin group and really tries to look at the situation from their perspective when possible.
Ismailimail 