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as an answer to the selfdestroying militancy that had led so many to their deaths in utterly hopeless rebellions.
The first half of the eighth century was a period of intensive activity among the extremist Shia. Countless sects and sub-sects appeared, especially among the mixed population of Southern Iraq and the coasts of the Persian Gulf. Their doctrines were variable and eclectic, and transition was easy and frequent from one sect or leader to another. The Muslim sources name many religious preachers, some of them men of humble origin, who led revolts and were put to death, and attribute to some of them doctrines which were later characteristic of the Ismailis. One group practised strangling with cords as a religious duty - an obvious parallel to Indian Thuggee, and a foreshadowing of the `assassinations' of later centuries. Even among those who were moderate in doctrine, there were militant groups who tried to seize power by force, and suffered defeat and destruction at the hands of the Umayyad and then of the Abbasid armies.

By the second half of the eighth century the early extremist and militant movements had, for the most part, failed, and had either disappeared or dwindled into insignificance. It was the legitimate Imams - moderate, pliant, yet resolute - who preserved and enriched the Shiite faith and prepared the way for a new and greater effort to win control of the world of Islam.
Despite these early failures, and despite the discouragement of the Imams themselves, extremist and militant elements continued to appear, even in the immediate entourage of the legitimate Imams. The decisive split between extremists and moderates occurred after the death in 765 of Ja'far al-Sadiq, the sixth Imam after Ali. Ja`far's eldest son was Ismail. For reasons which are not quite clear, and probably because of his association with extremist elements, Ismail was disinherited, and a large part of the Shia recognized his younger brother Musa al-Kazim as seventh Imam. The line of Musa continued until the twelfth Imam, who disappeared in about 873, and is still the `awaited Imam' or Mahdi of the great majority of the Shia at the present day. The followers of the twelve Imams, known as the Ithna `ashari or Twelver Shia, represent the more moderate branch of the sect. Their differences from the main body of Sunni Islam are limited to a certain number of points of doctrine, which in recent years have become ever less significant. Since the sixteenth century, Twelver Shi'ism has been the official religion of Iran.
Another group followed Ismail and his descendants, and are known as Ismailis (Isma`ilis). For long working in secret, they formed a sect which in cohesion and organization, in both intellectual and emotional appeal, far outstripped all its rivals. In place of the chaotic speculations and primitive superstitions of the earlier sects, a series of distinguished theologians elaborated a system of religious doctrine on a high philosophic level, and produced a literature which, after centuries of eclipse, is only now once again beginning to achieve recognition at its true worth. To the pious, the Ismailis offered respect for the Qur'an, for tradition and for law no less than that of the Sunnis. To the intellectual, they submitted a philosophical explanation of the universe, drawing on the sources of ancient and especially neoplatonic thought. To the spiritual, they brought a warm, personal, emotional faith, sustained by the example of the suffering of the Imams and the self-sacrifice of their followers - the experience of Passion, and the attainment of the Truth. To the discontented, finally, they offered the attraction of a well-organized, widespread and powerful opposition movement, which seemed to provide a real possibility of overthrowing the existing order, and establishing in its place a new and just society, headed by the Imam - the heir of the Prophet, the chosen of God, and the sole rightful leader of mankind.

The Imam is