complete prohibition of sex outside marriage, and
the banning of alcohol, prostitution, gambling,
and virtually all forms of Western movies, televi-
sion shows, magazines, books, images, and music.
Islamists believe that these cultural products
should be forbidden because they are anti-Islamic
in that they often promote sex outside marriage,
alcohol consumption, selfishness, and material-
ism, all of which contradict Islam.
Islamism is one of the most potent religious,
social, and political forces in the world today and
will have a substantial impact on many aspects of
global politics for the foreseeable future.
See also government, islamic; Jihad move-
ments; maWdUdi, abU al-ala; politics and islam;
qUtb, sayyid; terrorism.
Jon ArmajaniFurther reading: John L. Esposito, The Islamic Threat:
Myth or Reality? 3d ed. (New York: Oxford University
Press, 1999); Fawaz A. Gerges, The Far Enemy: Why
Jihad Went Global (New York: Cambridge University
Press, 2005); Bruce B. Lawrence, Shattering the Myth:
Islam beyond Violence (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton Uni-
versity Press, 2000); Ali Rahnema, Pioneers of Islamic
Revival (London: Zed Books, 2005); Malise Ruthven, A
Fury for God: The Islamist Attack on America (London:
Granta, 2004).
Ismaili Shiism (Sevener Shiism and Seven-
Imam Shiism)
shiism is a sectarian form of Islam, and Ismaili Shi-
ism is one of its major subdivisions. It is named
after Ismail (ca. 721–755), the elder son of JaaFar
al-sadiq (699–765), the sixth Shii imam. Ismailis
believe that Ismail was the rightful heir to the
imamate after Jaafar’s death, instead of Jaafar’s son
Musa al-Kazim (ca. 745–799), who is regarded as
the seventh Imam by the Twelve-Imam Shia. The
doctrines and law of the Ismailis are similar to
those of other major Shii sects, but they differ sig-
nificantly in their concepts of aUthority. They are
also known for the emphasis they place on the dif-
ference between outward (zahir) and inner secret
(batin) meanings of the qUran and other religious
texts and symbols. Because of periods of persecu-
tion in the past, they practiced taqiyya and dis-
guised themselves as Sunnis, Twelve-Imam Shiis,
Sufis, and Hindus. Although precise statistics are
lacking, some estimates say there are about 15
million Ismailis (compared to about 150 million
Twelve-Imam Shiis and about 1.2 billion Muslims
total). Prior to the 19th century, they resided
mainly in the Indian subcontinent, yemen, iran,
aFghanistan, and mountainous areas of Central
Asia. They established merchant communities in
east aFrica during the 19th century. Now they
can be found in many countries of the world,
including immigrant communities in the United
Kingdom, canada, and the United states.
Four major forms of Ismaili Shiism developed
during the Middle Ages. They all spread secret
Ismaili teachings by means of missionaries known
as dais who challenged the authority of Sunnis
and Twelve-Imam Shiis. The first form was that of
the Qaramatians, which appeared in southern iraq
in the late ninth century and spread to eastern
Arabia, Bahrain, and Yemen. It was named after
Hamdan Qaramat, who, together with his aides,
announced that Ismail’s son Muhammad was the
promised mahdi (a messianic savior) who would
abrogate the sharia and rule the world in JUstice.
Claiming they acted on his behalf, they recruited
converts from among the bedoUin tribes and orga-
nized small communities that practiced collective
ownership of property. Challenging the legitimacy
of the abbasid caliphate in the early 10th century,
they attacked cities in syria and Iraq as well as
pilgrim caravans. The Qaramatians plundered
mecca in 930 and carried away the kaaba’s black
stone. The second form of Ismailism was that of
the Fatimids, a movement based in North Africa
that broke with the Qaramatians on the basis of
their claim that Abd Allah (also known as Ubayd
Allah, d. 934), a leading Ismaili missionary, was
related to Muhammad ibn Ismail through a lineIsmaili Shiism 377 J