The second period of concealment occurred after the Nizari-Mustali schism of 1094 when the Imams, descendants of Imam Nizar b. al-Mustansir (d. 1095), remained concealed for several decades.
Upon the death of Imam Jafar al-Sadiq, three of his sons claimed the Imamat. According to many sources, the Imam had designated his second son Ismail, after whom the Ismailis are named, as his successor. Small groups pledged allegiance to Imam Ismail’s brothers, splitting the community into various groups.
Imam Ismaili’s son and successor, Muhammad b. Ismail (born around 738), left Medina and went into hiding in order to escape Abbasid persecution, initiating the dawr al-satr, or ‘period of concealment,’ in early Ismaili history.
Although the whereabouts of the Imams were known to a few trusted da’is, very little is known with certainty about the Ismailis and the Imams until the early ninth century. For almost a century after Muhammad b. Ismail’s reign, a group of leaders worked secretly to spread the da’wa and to unify the community. However, the Imams did not claim the Imamat openly for three generations, assuming code names in order to avoid persecution.
Imam Abd Allah al-Mahdi settled in Khuzistan (in southwestern Iran) where he disguised himself as a merchant, and began to organize the da’wa activities, sending da’is to various areas, or ‘islands’ including Sind in the Indian subcontinent. At an unknown date in the ninth century, the Imam sought refuge in Salamiyya, in Syria, where he established contact with some da’is and settled for a few years. Salamiyya served as the secret headquarters for the Ismaili da’wa for many years. In 905, Al-Mahdi settled in Sijilmasa in North Africa where he lived for four years.
By 893, the da’i Abd Allad Shi’i had been active in North Africa, laying the plans for Imam al-Mahdi to establish the Fatimid Caliphate in North Africa, ending the dawr al-satr period.
The Kitab Istitar al-imam wa tafarruq al-du’at fi’l-jaza’ir talabihi (The Book of the concealment of the Imam and the departure of the da’is to different ‘islands’ in search of them), composed by the Ismaili da’i Ahmad b. Ibrahim al-Naysaburi during the early eleventh century, contains historical information on the Imams during the dawr al-satr, particularly from the time of Imam Abd Allah al-Akbar (Wafi Ahmed) to the time when Imam Abd Allah al-Mahdi founded the Fatimid dynasty. Kitab Istitar al-imama tells of the hardship encountered by Imam al-Mahdi and efforts of the da’is to find him, as well as the setbacks the Imam encountered when he left Salamiyya for North Africa.
Sources:
Farhad Daftary, Zulfikar Hirji, “The Death of Ja’far al-Sadiq and the Early Ismailis,” The Ismailis: An Illustrated History, Azimuth Editions
Farhad Daftary, A Short History of Ismailis, Edinburgh University Press, 1998
Compiled by Nimira Dewji
Ismailimail 