In common with all major聽Shia聽groups, the IsmailisAdherents of a branch of Shi’i Islam that considers Ismail, the eldest son of the Shi’i Imam Ja士far al-峁⒛乨iq (d. 765), as his successor. believe that the聽Imamate聽is a divinely sanctioned and guided institution, through whose agency Muslims are enabled to contextualise the practice of their faith and to understand fully the exoteric and esoteric dimensions of the Qur’an. The聽Imamate exists to complement prophethood and to ensure that the divine purpose is fulfilled on earth at all times and in all places.
Author
Professor Azim Nanji
Azim Nanji is currently Special Advisor to the Provost of the聽, and a member of the Board of Directors of the聽聽in Ottawa, a joint partnership between His Highness the Aga KhanA title granted by the Shah of Persia to the then Ismaili Imam in 1818 and inherited by each of his successors to the Imamate. and the Government of Canada. He has held many prestigious academic and administrative appointments, most recently as Senior Associate Director of the Abbasi Program in Islamic Studies at聽, where he was also lecturer in the Department of Religious Studies. From 1998 to 2008, Professor Nanji served as Director of the Institute of Ismaili Studies in London.
Professor Nanji has published numerous books and articles on religion, Islam and Ismailism, including:聽The Nizari Ismaili Tradition听(1976),听The Muslim Almanac听(1996),听Mapping Islamic Studies聽(1997) and聽The Historical Atlas of Islam聽(with M. Ruthven) (2004) and聽The Dictionary of Islam聽(with Razia Nanji), Penguin 2008. In addition, he has contributed numerous shorter studies and articles in journals and collective volumes including聽The Encyclopaedia of Islam,听Encyclopaedia Iranica,听Oxford Encyclopaedia of the Modern Islamic World, and聽A Companion to Ethics. He was the Associate Editor for the revised Second Edition of聽The Encyclopaedia of Religion.
Within the聽, he has served as a member of the task force for the聽聽(AKU-ISMC) and Vice Chair of the Madrasa-based Early Childhood Education Programme in East Africa. He served as a member of the Steering Committee of the Aga Khan Award for Architecture in 1998, 2001 and 2016.