This is a sub-article to Imamah (Shi'a doctrine)

Imamah (Shi'a doctrine)

Imāmah is the Shia doctrine of religious, spiritual and political leadership of the Ummah. The Shīa believe that the A'immah are the true Caliphs or rightful successors of Muḥammad, and further that Imams are possessed of divine knowledge and authority as well as being part of the Ahl al-Bayt,...

.

The Ismaili view on the Imamah differs from the Twelver Shi'a

Imamah (Shi'a twelver doctrine)

Imāmah means "leadership" and it is a part of the Shi'a theology. The Twelve Imams are the spiritual and political successors to Muhammad, the Prophet of Islam, in the Twelver or Ithna Ashariya branch of Shia Islam....

 view, in particular because the Imam in Ismailism is the Noor

Noor (Sufism)

Noor is the link which binds being to knowledge in Sufism. The word itself means light. Each particle of light that is reflected of the "mirror of the heart" projects spiritual knowledge according to distinctive types of colors....

 of God

God in Islam

In Islamic theology, God is the all-powerful and all-knowing creator, sustainer, ordainer, and judge of the universe. Islam puts a heavy emphasis on the conceptualization of God as strictly singular . God is unique and inherently One , all-merciful and omnipotent. According to the Islamic...

 (Allah

Allah

Allah is a word for God used in the context of Islam. In Arabic, the word means simply "God". It is used primarily by Muslims and Bahá'ís, and often, albeit not exclusively, used by Arabic-speaking Eastern Catholic Christians, Maltese Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox Christians, Mizrahi Jews and...

). Ismailis believe that the Noor of God is present in the Imam, and that there is only a Ẓāhirī

Zahiri

Ẓāhirī , is a school of thought in Islamic jurisprudence and Aqida. The school is named after one of its early prominent jurists, Dawud ibn Khalaf al-Zahiri Ẓāhirī , is a school of thought in Islamic jurisprudence and Aqida. The school is named after one of its early prominent jurists, Dawud ibn...

 (exoteric) difference between each one. Therefore Ali

Ali

' |Ramaḍān]], 40 AH; approximately October 23, 598 or 600 or March 17, 599 – January 27, 661).His father's name was Abu Talib. Ali was also the cousin and son-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and ruled over the Islamic Caliphate from 656 to 661, and was the first male convert to Islam...

 and every Imam are one in essence.

Like other Shi'ites the Ismailis reserve the position of Imam for descendants of Ali, though they reserve a special status to Ali himself.

Ismailis consider Walayah

Walayah

Walayah means Guardianship.Walayah or Walaya, in the most literal form of the word, means "a person, community, or country that is under the direction and rule of another". It is an Arabic word derived from the root wly, which carries the basic meanings of “friendship, assistance”, and “authority...

 ("love and devotion") for God

God

God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....

, the prophets

Prophets of Islam

Muslims identify the Prophets of Islam as those humans chosen by God and given revelation to deliver to mankind. Muslims believe that every prophet was given a belief to worship God and their respective followers believed it as well...

, the Imam and the dai among their Seven Pillars of the faith.

According to Ismailis, externally the Imam is a pure personality and internally a light. Externally, the Qur'an

Qur'an

The Quran , also transliterated Qur'an, Koran, Alcoran, Qur’ān, Coran, Kuran, and al-Qur’ān, is the central religious text of Islam, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God . It is regarded widely as the finest piece of literature in the Arabic language...

 is the holy Book and internally (in the Imam) it is a light. This shows that externally Ali and the Qur'an are separate from each other, but internally they are not only together, they are one light.

Succession

The Ismailis split with the Twelvers over the succession to the Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq

Ja'far al-Sadiq

Jaʿfar ibn Muhammad al-Sādiq was a descendant of Muhammad and a prominent Muslim jurist. He is revered as an Imam by the adherents of Shi'a Islam and as a renowned Islamic scholar and personality by Sunni Muslims. The Shi'a Muslims consider him to be the sixth Imam or leader and spiritual...

. Ismailis contend that Jafar had designated his son Isma'il ibn Jafar as his heir, but Ismail predeceased his father. Ismailis consider the designation as binding and that the Imamah should pass through Ismail to his descendants rather than to his brothers. Therefore, Ismailis consider Muhammad ibn Ismail

Muhammad ibn Ismail

Muhammad ibn Ismail was the son of Ismail ibn Jafar and an Ismaili Imam. The majority of Ismaili follow his descendants through his son Wafi Ahmad / Abdullah ibn Mohammad who founded the Fatimid Empire, including the Nizari and Mustaali.- Biography :...

 the rightful Imam. In contrast to this, the Twelvers say Ismail's brother Musa al-Kadhim

Musa al-Kadhim

' was the seventh of the Twelve Imams of Twelver Shi'a Islam. He was the son of Imam and his mother was Hamidah Khātūn, a student and former Zanjiyyah slave...

 was the rightful Imam and successor to Imam Jafar all along.

In this context, Ismailis have set up the principle that, with the exception of the first two Imams Hasan ibn Ali

Hasan ibn Ali

Al-Hasan ibn ‘Alī ibn Abī Tālib ‎ is an important figure in Islam, the son of Fatimah the daughter of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and of the fourth Caliph Ali ibn Abi Talib. Hasan is a member of the Ahl al-Bayt and Ahl al-Kisa...

 and Husayn ibn Ali

Husayn ibn Ali

Hussein ibn ‘Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib ‎ was the son of ‘Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib and Fātimah Zahrā...

, the Imamah

Imamate

The word Imamate is an Arabic word with an English language suffix meaning leadership. Its use in theology is confined to Islam.-Theological usage:...

 can only proceed from the current Imam to a descendant, a view shared with Twelver Shia.

Position of the Imam

Old Ismaili doctrine holds that divine revelation had been given in six periods (daur) entrusted to six prophets, whom they also call Natiq (Speaker), who were commissioned to preach a religion of law to their respective communities.

Whereas the Natiq was concerned with the rites and outward shape of religion, the inner meaning is entrusted to a Wasi (Representative). The Wasi would know the secret meaning of all rites and rules and would reveal them to a small circles of initiates.

The Natiq and the Wasi are in turn succeeded by a line of seven Imams, who would guard what they received. The seventh and last Imam in any period would in turn be the Natiq of the next period. The last Imam of the sixth period however would not bring about a new religion of law but supersede all previous religions, abrogate the law and introduce din Adama al-awwal ("the original religion of Adam") practiced by Adam

Adam

Adam is a figure in the Book of Genesis. According to the creation myth of Abrahamic religions, he is the first human. In the Genesis creation narratives, he was created by Yahweh-Elohim , and the first woman, Eve was formed from his rib...

 (Adem) and the angel

Angel

Angels are mythical beings often depicted as messengers of God in the Hebrew and Christian Bibles along with the Quran. The English word angel is derived from the Greek ἄγγελος, a translation of in the Hebrew Bible ; a similar term, ملائكة , is used in the Qur'an...

s in paradise

Paradise

Paradise is a place in which existence is positive, harmonious and timeless. It is conceptually a counter-image of the miseries of human civilization, and in paradise there is only peace, prosperity, and happiness. Paradise is a place of contentment, but it is not necessarily a land of luxury and...

 before the fall, which would be without cult or law but consist merely in all creatures praising the creator and recognizing his unity. This final stage was called Qiyamah.

Natiq	Wasi	Line of Imams
Adam Adam Adam is a figure in the Book of Genesis. According to the creation myth of Abrahamic religions, he is the first human. In the Genesis creation narratives, he was created by Yahweh-Elohim , and the first woman, Eve was formed from his rib...	Seth Seth Seth , in Judaism, Christianity and Islam, is the third listed son of Adam and Eve and brother of Cain and Abel, who are the only other of their children mentioned by name...	... 7. Nuh
Nuh	Sem Shem Shem was one of the sons of Noah in the Hebrew Bible as well as in Islamic literature. He is most popularly regarded as the eldest son, though some traditions regard him as the second son. Genesis 10:21 refers to relative ages of Shem and his brother Japheth, but with sufficient ambiguity in each...	... 7. Ibrahim
Ibrahim	Ismail Ishmael Ishmael is a figure in the Hebrew Bible and the Qur'an, and was Abraham's first born child according to Jews, Christians and Muslims. Ishmael was born of Abraham's marriage to Sarah's handmaiden Hagar...	... 7. Musa Islamic view of Moses Musa , known as Moses in the Old Testament, is considered an Islamic prophet, messenger, lawgiver and leader in Islam. Moses is mentioned more in the Quran than any other individual, and his life is narrated and recounted more than that any other prophet...
Musa Islamic view of Moses Musa , known as Moses in the Old Testament, is considered an Islamic prophet, messenger, lawgiver and leader in Islam. Moses is mentioned more in the Quran than any other individual, and his life is narrated and recounted more than that any other prophet...	Harun	... 7. Isa
Isa	Sim'un as-Safa Islamic views on Peter Peter, known also as Simon Peter or Simon Cephas, was, according to Muslim tradition and exegesis, one of the original disciples of Jesus Christ. Although Jesus's disciples, as that of the other prophets, have not played a major role in Muslim theology, the disciples of Jesus are notable in that...	... 7. Muhammad Muhammad Muhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...
Muhammad Muhammad Muhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...	Ali Ali ' |Ramaḍān]], 40 AH; approximately October 23, 598 or 600 or March 17, 599 – January 27, 661).His father's name was Abu Talib. Ali was also the cousin and son-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and ruled over the Islamic Caliphate from 656 to 661, and was the first male convert to Islam...	... 7. al-Qa'im Al-Qa'im (person) Al-Qāʾim is a messiah-like figure in Shia Islam, sometimes referred to as the Mahdi, but distinctly of a Shiʿa tradition.-External links:* *...

Originally, a few Ismailis considered Muhammad ibn Ismail, as the last Imam who had gone into occultation

The Occultation

The Occultation in Shia Islam refers to a belief that the messianic figure, or Mahdi, who in Shi'i thought is an infallible male descendant of the founder of Islam, Muhammad, was born but disappeared, and will one day return and fill the world with justice. Some Shi'is, such as the Zaidi and...

 and would return as the Mahdi

Mahdi

In Islamic eschatology, the Mahdi is the prophesied redeemer of Islam who will stay on Earth for seven, nine or nineteen years- before the Day of Judgment and, alongside Jesus, will rid the world of wrongdoing, injustice and tyranny.In Shia Islam, the belief in the Mahdi is a "central religious...

 and Qa'im

Al-Qa'im (person)

Al-Qāʾim is a messiah-like figure in Shia Islam, sometimes referred to as the Mahdi, but distinctly of a Shiʿa tradition.-External links:* *...

. However, the Imamat continued among the descendants of Muhammad ibn Ismail who lived in secret for a century and a half. Throughout history the identification and concept of Imam has undergone many transformations, as can be seen in the list of Ismaili imams.