So guys now who are ismailis?
wat do they believe in? and what is the difference between Ahmadi and ismaili?
please don’t just give me a website and ask me to read it. but please write it down if u know who they are?
Are they considered to be muslims?
cause a friend of mine is and she said she pray 3 times a day… she is not alot in to religion that is why i couldnt ask her these questions … so i was a bit confuse.. Anyone ismaili in here please explain 
Re: Now who are ismailis?
They are a shia sect that split off from the shias after the death of the 6th imam, due to a disagreement over who should succeed him.
In short, Ismailies believe that the line of imams kept going through the centuries and that their leader, the Aga Khan, is the current imam. Their beliefs allow for him to make sweeping re-interpretations of Islam and this means that they have beliefs that are extremely different from every Muslim group in the world. I don't want to pass comment on whether they are or are not Muslims, though personally I find their beliefs extremely strange to say the least.
However, unlike Ahmadis, Ismailis are still legally classified as Muslims in every Muslim country. I'm not aware of any country in which there is currently an effort by anything other than a minority of ulema to have Ismailis reclassified as non-Muslims.
Re: Now who are ismailis?
What are their beliefs mAd_ScIeNtIsT? It will be interesting to know ...
Re: Now who are ismailis?
I’m hesitant to pass comment, because they are pretty secretive on their beliefs and from what I learnt my Ismaili friends suggest that Ismailis are not in total accord on their beliefs.
For example, fasting. The Aga Khan has ruled that fasting in Ramadan is not obligatory. My Ismaili friends used that as justification not to fast, but one of them acknowledged that this is controversial, and said that at his mosque they were some Ismailis who argue that the Aga Khan’s judgement in this case was wrong and that fasting is an obligation. My friends mother was one of these; indeed she took it to such an extent that when she was so sick that she could not get out of bed, she still insisted on keeping every fast.
Another, even more serious odd thing is that they only do salat, or namaaz in Urdu, in the conventional Sunni or Shia sense, on Eid. Their 3 daily prayers are simply dua. My ismaili friends were surprised that I would do namaaz 5 times per day.
In other ways, they have similarities to mainstream muslims. They do believe that Mohammad was the last Prophet, they hold alcohol and pork to be forbidden and they are supposed to eat only halal meat.
One thing that seems to have happened is their previous leader, the third Aga Khan, who was a leading member of the Pakistan Movement trying to achieve independence for Pakistan, tried to reform ismaili beliefs to make them closer to mainstream Ithna Ashari shias.
However, the current Aga Khan has apparently countered that and is taking their beliefs in a different direction.
Re: Now who are ismailis?
I normally don’t like believing what it out there on a lot of those websites - you have no way of telling if they are saying the truth or not. There are a lot of websites by Shias telling lies about Sunnis and a lot of websites by Sunnis telling lies about Shias. It would not surprise me if the same happens with Ismailies.
What I do know, from first hand questioning directly of Ismailies, is that they are VERY different from regular Sunni and Shia Muslims. Whether or not that is enough to make them non-Muslim, my knowledge of Islam is insufficient to pass judgement on.
In this case, I defer to the judgement of the majority of scholars; and what i see is the fact that Muslim governments have not faced united pressure to declare ismailies non-Muslim in the same way as they faced pressure from the ulema to declare qadiayanis non-Muslim.
Re: Now who are ismailis?
^ ok in that case then i will ask... as pakistan's government and Saudi's scholar's have said that Ahamdi or qadiyani's are not muslim then is there any judgement on Ismaili ppl as well ?
Re: Now who are ismailis?
Currently, no judgements by governments, though there are several independent scholars around the world who argue that Ismailis are non-Muslim.
For now, Ismailis are free to go to Makkah and Madina, and on the occasions when Saudi Arabia convenes the leading ulema in the land, they include Sunni, Shia and Ismaili ulema.
Re: Now who are ismailis?
very insightful posts maddy
Re: Now who are ismailis?
Thank you Mad_scientiest, I really liked the approach you had taken to respond on rational grounds. But, I want to share some of my thoughts as I have grown up with Agakhanis all my life. Some of the things that you had mentioned are not correct.
I found something interesting in the following thread …
http://www.paklinks.com/gs/showthread.php?t=140647&highlight=aga+khanis
Re: Now who are ismailis?
Thanks for your praise. I’m always open to correction of my knowledge … what did I say that was not correct?
Re: Now who are ismailis?
ismailis actually have two sub-groups, bohris and agha khanis. they both split from shias at the time of the 6th imam like maddie says. while agha khanis have become what maddie describes them as, bohris remain very observant and outwardly very regular Muslims (in my experience). The difference that emerged between bohris and agha khanis was that while agha khanis insisted that religious leadership is passed on from agha khan to agha khan by virtue of birth, bohris believe in a shia-like heirarchy of clerics that eventually leads upto one or more supreme leader. if you go to karachi in saddar, you'll often see pictures of a bald old man with a long white beard, thick chashma, looks very genial. hes their current rehnuma.
Re: Now who are ismailis?
What about just trusting that God is with all peoples?
That the worshiping God is also the intent of those who might differ from yourself?
Do you think God would condem a person for praying to him?
Just because he prays differently?
Re: Now who are ismailis?
^ well if you're accepting the word of a man who is interpreting the Quran for you...(which is a bit stupid to begin with IMHO)...and you're accepting the word of a man as equivalent to God's...
then I don't know if its the same as someone who just worships God.
Re: Now who are ismailis?
Well the intent was neither.
My point was this…
What does it matter what another believes about God? Why does is matter that some pray differently?
Do you think it matters to God how a person prays as long as he believes?
Even it does matter to God…(which I am of the belief it doesn’t)..
Why should it matter to anyone but God?
And why accept definitions or translations from any man?
Men are not infalible.
Why not listen to what your heart tells you?
And leave to other what their heart tells them?
We can listen to each other can’t we and talk of God without condemning each other. We can learn about each other. We can consider each others beliefs.
We can enlighten each other.
Re: Now who are ismailis?
when agha khan goes to pakistan in the jamaat khana virgin girls lay on floor belly down parallel spreading their hair to make carpet for agha khan walks thr on this carpet and these girls get blessings and may get married one day.
Re: Now who are ismailis?
Ismailis are a shia sect I think. They are mostly Gujrati and there are large numbers of them in Canada by way of East Africa, mostly places like Kenya and Uganda.
Famous Canadian "muslim" writer Irshaad Maanji was an Ismaili.
They are very good businessmen and yeah I've heard the thing about him walking on their hair as well
Re: Now who are ismailis?
Incorrect. Ismaili’s are not Shia Muslims, even if they regard themselves as such, anymore than you people will say that Ahmadi’s are Sunni Muslims.
Re: Now who are ismailis?
Even the Hindus and Christians and Jews believe in god and pray to “them” differently . Does that make them Muslims ?
Re: Now who are ismailis?
We ( non Ulema ) should not give fatwas based on subjective judgments on whose a Muslim and whose not. Its a great sin to call a muslim a Kafir.
Ofcourse it makes me sick to think that anyone who calls themselves muslims do all these things ( virgin girls laying there hair, haging pictures , skirts .. ) .
Its for the Ulema to decide whose a muslim and whose not. I'm just saying this cause its a sin to call a believer a kafir.
Re: Now who are ismailis?
wasnt Jinnah from an ismaili shia family?