Ismaili.NET - Heritage F.I.E.L.D.

Mowlana Moez became the Imam of the Time at the age of 22 years. Under his leadership, a new capital near Fustat was established and came to be named al-Qahira (present-day Cairo). The great masjid of al-Azhar was also built at this time, and would eventually be extended to a university by the following Imam, Mowlana al-Aziz. This period in Ismaili history marks the lifetime of several well-known Ismaili dai's including Qazi Noman and Abu Yaqoob al-Sijistani (Aziz, 1974).

Imam Moez was born on the 21st of Ramazan, 318AH (930AD) in Mehdia. Tall, handsome, and wellbuilt, he was well-known for his kindness and generosity.

During his seven years of Imamate and Caliphate, Imam Mansoor as the third Fatimid Caliph, encountered many forces which were actively seeking to undermine the security of the Fatimid Empire, most notably the Kharijis, led by Abu-Yezid Khariji and later by his son Fazal, and the Umayyad ruler in Spain. Despite these pressures, the boundaries of the Fatimid territory were maintained and the Ismaili dawa, under the leadership of Pir Abdul Majid bin Pir Ghalibuddin, spread as far as Afghanistan (Aziz, 1974).

Imam Mansoor was born in 302AH (913AD) in Qairwan.

Imam Qaim succeeded his father to the Throne of Imamat at the age of 42 years, and his Imamate lasted for a period of 12 years in which he conquered Genoa, Sardinia, and Corsica in order to curb piracy at the Mediterranean Sea. He passed away in the city his father had founded, namely Mehdia (formerly known as Mehdavia), at the age of 54 on the 13th of Shawwal 334AH (946AD).

Imam Qaim was born in Salamiya in 280AH (893AD). During the Imamate of his father Imam al-Mehdi, he had been commander-in-chief of the army, and had built a naval fleet to secure the Mediterranean Sea, thereby making it safe for all marine traffic (Aziz, 1974).

Imam Al-Mehdi founded the Fatimid Empire, named after the Holy Prophet's daughter Fatima, in the year 910AD in the city of Qayrawan. During his rule as the first Fatimid Caliph, the dynasty spread as far as Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Sicily, Italy and Southern Spain.

Imam Muhammed al-Mehdi was born on the 15th of Ramazan, 245AH (October, 859AD).

The demise of Imam Razi Abdullah in Salamiya in the year 876AD marks the end of the concealment period known in Ismaili historiography as the dawr al-satr.

Imam Razi Abdullah was born on the 12th of Shaban, 210AH (825AD), in Mahmoudabad (formerly, Muhammedabad), near Rey (now Tehran).

Imam Taqi Muhammed was born on the 12th of Rajab, 174AH (790AD), in Muhammedabad.

Imam Wafi Ahmed was born on the 22nd of Shaban, 149AH (766AD), in Rey.

Prophet Muhammed (SAS) passed away on the first of Rabi-el-Awwal, 11AH (May, 632), at the age of 63. His body was bathed by Hazrat Ali, who subsequently buried him in a grave dug out in the house of Bibi Aysha (Aziz, 1974).

Imam Muhammed b. Ismail lived in a time that had become increasingly hostile to the Ismailis, and had to therefore live in disguise and in hiding from the governing bodies of those times, in particular from the Abbasid Caliph, Haroon al-Rashid. Despite the unfavourable conditions and his humble dwelling in a small town he founded called Muhammedabad in Rey, the movement of Ismailism spread as far as India.

Imam Muhammed bin Ismail was born on the 12th of Rabi-el-Awwal, 128AH (746AD), in Medina.

Imam Ismail passed away after ten years of Imamate, leaving behind two sons, Muhammed and Ali, the former of which succeeded him in his role as Imam-of-the-Time (Aziz, 1974). Imam Ismail was buried in Salamiya.

The sixth Ismaili Imam, Mowlana Ismail, was born in Medina in the month of Shawal 100AH (719AD).