The Shia branch that followed the line of Ismail ibn Ja'far, carried today by the Nizari Imam, the Aga Khan, and the Tayyibi Bohra communities.
Ismaili Shi'ism divided from the Twelver line over the succession to Ja'far al-Sadiq and built the Fatimid caliphate in its first centuries. Its Nizari branch follows a living Imam, the Aga Khan, and its Tayyibi branches keep the Imam hidden and follow his representatives.
Sources
Primary
- The Fatimid-era Ismaili da'wa literature.
Secondary
- Farhad Daftary, The Ismailis: Their History and Doctrines (2007).