Isma`ilis

A minority subgroup of Shi`ites that integrates orthodox Islam with esoteric interpretations. The Fatimid dynasty that ruled North Africa in the 10th-12th centuries was Isma`ili. There are now two branches of Isma`ilis:

• the Musta`lis: in the Yemen, and in India where they are known as Bohoras.
• the Nizaris: Follow an imam known as the Aga Khan. They are known as Khojas in India.

Isma`ili teaching included the zahir, which is close to Imami Shi`i and/or Sunni practice, and the batin, which consists of a ta'wil (reinterpretation) of the Qur'an and Shari`a, and of a Neo-Platonic philosophical and scientific system integrated with orthodox Islamic tenets, alchemy, etc.: the world derives from emanations from God, and the soul can ascend from its entanglement in the transient world by associating itself with the Imam.