Representing the second largest Shīʿī Muslim community after the Ithnāʿasharīs, or Twelver Shīʿīs, the Ismāʿīlīs have had a complex history dating back to the formative period of Islam. In medieval times, the Ismāʿīlīs established states of their own, the Fāṭimid caliphate and the Nizārī Is...