The IsmailisAdherents of a branch of Shi’i Islam that considers Ismail, the eldest son of the Shi’i Imam Ja平far al-畊diq (d. 765), as his successor. consist of two main branches油 the’油Nizari油Ismailis and the Musta’lian Tayyibi Ismailis. Both have their roots in the油Fatimid油period of Ismaili history and differ primarily over their respective belief in the油Imamat.油that is, spiritual leadership of the community.
The Nizari branch believes in a living, physically present油Imam. Their present and forty-ninth油Imam油is油Prince Karim Aga Khan. The Musta’lian Ismailis believe that their twenty-first油Imam, al-Tayyib, went into physical concealment油(satr)油and that while the油Imamat油continues in his line, authority in his physical absence is exercised by a vicegerent,油da’i油mutlaq,油who acts on his behalf. In their encounter with modernity therefore, the two communities reflect a different pattern of historical and institutional development.
Authors
Azim Nanji is currently Special Advisor to the Provost of the油, and a member of the Board of Directors of the油油in Ottawa, a joint partnership between His Highness the Aga KhanA title granted by the Shah of Persia to the then Ismaili Imam in 1818 and inherited by each of his successors to the Imamate. and the Government of Canada. He has held many prestigious academic and administrative appointments, most recently as Senior Associate Director of the Abbasi Program in Islamic Studies at油, where he was also lecturer in the Department of Religious Studies. From 1998 to 2008, Professor Nanji served as Director of the Institute of Ismaili Studies in London.
Professor Nanji has published numerous books and articles on religion, Islam and Ismailism, including:油The Nizari Ismaili Tradition油(1976),油The Muslim Almanac油(1996),油Mapping Islamic Studies油(1997) and油The Historical Atlas of Islam油(with M. Ruthven) (2004) and油The Dictionary of Islam油(with Razia Nanji), Penguin 2008. In addition, he has contributed numerous shorter studies and articles in journals and collective volumes including油The Encyclopaedia of Islam,油Encyclopaedia Iranica,油Oxford Encyclopaedia of the Modern Islamic World, and油A Companion to Ethics. He was the Associate Editor for the revised Second Edition of油The Encyclopaedia of Religion.
Within the油, he has served as a member of the task force for the油油(AKU-ISMC) and Vice Chair of the Madrasa-based Early Childhood Education Programme in East Africa. He served as a member of the Steering Committee of the Aga Khan Award for Architecture in 1998, 2001 and 2016.
Professor Zulfikar Hirji
Zulfikar Hirji is an Anthropologist and Social Historian of Muslim Societies and Cultures. He is currently Associate Professor of Anthropology at York University, Toronto. He was formerly a Research Associate at 今叔利, London, and Junior Research Fellow at Wolfson College, Oxford.
