Ismaili Invitation Organization and Its Role in Spreading the Ismaili Religion in the Indian Subcontinent

Benefiting from the invitation organization to spread the religion is one of the most prominent features of the Ismaili religion. The Ismailis, without any prejudice that led to the restrictions, were able to take full advantage of the positive features of all religions, sects and philosophies and to combine the result with their very clever and regular propaganda method and organization under the name of invitation organization. The fundamental question of the research is that in comparison with other factors such as the content of Ismaili teachings, what effect has the Ismaili Da'wah organization had on the establishment and continuation of the Ismaili religion in India? In this research, an attempt is made to study in a descriptive-analytical manner, the role of the Ismaili Invitation Organization and their intellectual system in spreading and spreading the Ismaili religion in the Indian subcontinent. It seems that despite the differences in religious duties and beliefs between the different sects of the Ismaili’s of India, they have components such as the pivotal role of the Imam in the philosophical system and the connection between history and Tran’s history, and this idea in propaganda methods and invitation organization has been fundamental.

The flying start point of Ismaili religion formation goes back to the dispute over the succession of Imam Ja'far Sadegh (AS) in 148 AH. The Ismailis could succeed in forming a government through their revolutionary activities and established the Fatimid Caliphate in 297 AH / 909 AD. They competed with the Abbasid Caliphate. The Ismaili invitation organization was successful in India and later became the main seat and base of the Ismaili religion. The Ismailis were divided in India, the most important of which were the Bohrah's and Khojas (modern-day Aga Khans).
The Ismaili religion is the one that includes an eclectic mix of religions, philosophies, realism, and attention to social discontent. Generally, the Ismailis were a group known as intellectuals in the Islamic world, and they sought to remove human reason from stagnation and lead them to freedom, which led to many hostilities between those who were unable to understand their beliefs. In the words of Aref Tamer: "People are hostile to things they are ignorant of" (Tamer, 164: 1991).
There exist different opinions about the quality of the spread and success of the Ismaili religion; for some, the Ismaili religion represented and revived the religions that Islam had destroyed. And now introduced into Islam in a way that would destroy Islam from within (Lewis, 1363: 107). This was one of the reasons for accusing the followers of this religion of atheism. According to Baghdadi, the Ismailis were heretical materialists who believed in the eternity of the world and the denial of the prophets and the whole law because they allow everything to grow naturally (Baghdadi, 131: 1388, and 130).
Based on some Ismaili religions, it is known as the Iranian movement against the Semites, which was not limited to the Iranians in the first place and intensified in the following centuries, among the Arabs or the Semitic lands of Iraq and Syria (Lewis, 108: 1363) It seems that the Ismaili movement was not originally heretical and had no goal to destroy Islam; In fact, there has been a progressive movement in Shiism to establish a truly divine and Islamic government (Hollister, 1373: 231).

The selection of research method is affected by the nature of the research subject. Since the present research is a historical study, the method of data collection is library and its tools are taking notes. In this way, both first-hand sources and new research were studied and filed. Because the subject of the research is to focus on a specific historical phenomenon in a specific time frame, it requires a qualitative study. Since each idea, based on its own fundamentals, produces its own method and analyzes events in its form, the present research method is a descriptive-analytical method that tries to relate concepts such as power, politics and ideology. Improve its analysis of the Ismaili Da'wah organization and its role in spreading the Ismaili religion in the Indian subcontinent.

Undoubtedly, one of the most vital factors in the success of the Ismailis in spreading their religion is the benefit of a strong and regular organization called the Invitation Organization, which dates back to the time of Muhammad ibn Ismail and his sons. The Ismaili propagated their religion through the Da'wah organization run by the Da'is, and to achieve their goals, the most important of which were to spread the Ismaili religion, gain power and sovereignty, and compete and overthrow the Abbasid Caliphate; that they tried.
On the other hand, it is not possible to know this organization except through knowing the ideological foundations of the Ismailis. Although these beliefs, especially in the field of Imamate and guardianship, are in line with the Twelver Shiites, on the other hand, their beliefs are accompanied and justified by philosophical organizations and poetic interpretations, and they tried to base their religious thought on the standards of logic and Theory and rational philosophy should be adapted to a specific species (Fadaei, 1392 440).
The area of India was one of the lands where the Ismailis were so successful that it later became the base and sanctuary of the Ismaili invitation organization. The Ismailis in India are divided into two main groups, the Bahr and the Khoja. The Transcendental-Tayyabi Ismailis of India, known for their interests, followed the Ismaili main invitation organization. In fact, the interests that followed the Fatimid caliphate and the Soleihites more or less followed the original Ismaili organization. The Khoja community also followed the main Ismaili and Nizari hierarchies and beliefs (cf. Fadaei Khorasani, 1362-35: 35). The difference is that the Khojas paid special attention to the religious beliefs of the communities that were to convert to Nizari religion and used Indian myths to explain some aspects of their teachings, especially the belief in the Imamate in the context of Hinduism. They made.

The Ismaili religion is, in fact, a religion that was able to achieve many successes and spread in different lands through a special belief and organizational organization called the Invitation Organization. In fact, it should be said that the special features of this propaganda movement, the hard and tireless and secret efforts of the claimants, revolutionary activities and also, most importantly, having a very accurate and regular invitation organization are among the main factors in this success. The ideological organization, which due to its eclectic and progressive nature and far from prejudice, gave more freedom to its followers, and on the other hand, the organization of a very regular and precise invitation that gave a special order to their activities is one of the main factors in the development of this religion. Doubt the Ismaili religion could not have survived for centuries without this advanced organization. The Ismaili da'wah organization had a two-way relationship with political and religious power, and one of its main goals is to legitimize the Ismaili Imam, which has become the central focus of their political thought. In a way that throughout Ismaili history is somehow full of this basic principle.
Accordingly, the Ismaili Da'wah Organization of India has some thematic features and a method that seeks to present a kind of sacred history in which the Ismaili Imam is at the center and the Da'wah Organization around him. It has created a method among the Ismailis of India that there is not much variety in the forms and methods of their presentation and the methods are aimed at proving the legitimacy of the Ismaili Imam.
Theoretically, the Ismailis consider Taqiyyah permissible and obligatory in certain circumstances, and on the other hand, they consider it conditional on the fulfillment of conditions and circumstances that did not occur so easily and its recognition depends on individuals. As we see, for example, they propagated a special form of the Nizari Ismaili religion in the time of Shah Tahir under the name of Twelver Shi'ism, but the Ismailis still followed their Ismaili Imam (Shah Tahir) and expressed their main religion in the envelope of his Twelver thought. The current was very influential in the relations between the Muslim rulers of India and the Safavid Shiites. The Ismailis of India have been able to continue their ideological and political life in the Indian subcontinent with these special methods and organizations.