I bought “The Mongols A History” by Jeremiah Curtin (ISBN:0-306-81243-6) to gain a clear understanding of the havoc and catastrophe unleashed by the Mongols which caused sudden changes in socio political norms of various Muslim ruling dynasties. On page 204 I came across this passage which describes the conditions that lead to the birth of Shia sect.
“In the ninth century, and contemporaneous with these horrors, there lived in Southern Persia, at Ahwas, a certain Abdallah, whose father, Maimun Kaddah, and grandfather, Daisan the Dualist, had taught him Persian politics and religion. This Abdallah conceived a broad system, and planned a great project to overturn Arab rule in his country and reestablish the ancient faith and Empire of Persia. This involved complete change in the structure of Islam, and all its present ideals. He could not declare open war against the accepted religion and dynasty, since all the military power was at their command; hence he decided to undermine them in secret.
From Ahwas he went to Bussorah and later to Syria where he settled at Salemiya, whence his teachings were spread by Ahmed, his son, by two sons of that Ahmed, and also by his Dayis, men who performed each of them all the various duties of spy, secret agent, and apostle. The most active of those Dayis was Hussain of Ahwas, who, in the province of which Kufa was the capital, instructed many agents in the secrets of revolt and in perversion of the teachings of Islam. Among these agents the most noted was one famous later as Karmath. This man delayed not in showing his character and principles ‘through torrents of blood, and destruction of cities.’”…
I have read of one Umayyad ruler “Umar bin AbdulAziz” (beginning of 8th century) who is said to have banned the “cursing of Ali” (for what reason is hazrat Ali being cursed is beyond me) after the Jum’ah prayers for the “first time”. As well, most of the “then contemporary” non-muslim/arab manuscripts (Coptic, Greek, Syriac etc) writings speak of a group called “Khawariji” leading uprisings against the Umayyads and there seems to be no mention of any group called “Shia” from what I have read.
As far as i know, Imam Jafar Sadiq initially appointed his son Ismail as the next Imam however, he died before Imam Jafir Sadiq, who then appointed Imam Musa Kazim as the next Imam. The Ismailis do not recognize Musa Kazim as the Imam but take Ismail as Imam and thereafter their Imams decsend from progeny of Ismail.
Establishment of a false dynasty was required to serve as a spring board against the Khilafat; while restoration of Persia was the ultimate goal, spread of dissension through out the Sunni Muslim world had to start somewhere. Although the sentiment that Prophet’s commandments were at best mere parables was first introduced by this Abdullah, this Karmath person was Abdullah’s disciple but only more vicious and grossly immoral. His followers not only spread devastation and destruction through out the lands but also desecrated and defiled Holy Kabaa and its surrounding: according to the traditions their actions caused the death of 30,000 Sunni Muslims while protecting the Holy Kabaa and their bodies were thrown into the Zamzam.
Again, the flaw is that the Fatimid state was Arab, not persian in nature.
It can't be denied that the goal was to stamp out Sunni Islam; the constant wars between the Fatimids and Abbasids and the refusal from the very start by the Fatimids to recognise the Sunni Abbasid Caliph attest to that.
Nonetheless, the Ismaili ruling class amongst the Fatimids were arabs and not persians - it makes no sense that a group of arabs would try and recreate persia.
The Ismaili-Sunni conflict is more logically explained by the fact that like all Shias at the time (except the Zaidi Shia sect) the Ismailies viewed the Sunni Abbasids and their followers as being usurpers of the power they felt their Imams should be given - hence the wars and the massacres.
It just so happens that the Ismailies were the first Shias to ever gain sufficient might to challenge the established Sunni order. This led to war and murder until Salahuddin was able deconstruct the Fatimid state.
The second time that ever happened was when the Ithna Ashari Shias took control of Persia; prompting the bloody series of wars between the Sunni Ottomans and the Shia Safavids.