The Ismaa'eelis are an offshoot of the Raafidah (Shi'ah) and share some of their characteristics. Syedna Burhanuddin is their supreme leader and, in their view, has characteristics and attributes similar to those of Allaah.

During the rule of the sixth faatimid caliph, al-haakim bin Amril-laah (996-1021),an Ismaaeelee missionary by the name of ad-Darazee claimed that he did not die and a new sect was born under the name of the Haakimeeyah, later called the Druzes, Ad-Darazee and his followers were forced to leave Egypt and settled around Damascus in the mountains of Hawran and Lebanon, (Mustafaa Ghaalib, al-Harakaat,pp.184 and 242) On the death of the eighth Faatimid caliph, al-Mustansir (1035-94), his eldest son and original nominee, Nizaar, was deposed by his brother al_Mustalee ()1094-1101) . With that the Ismaaeeleeyah split into two new branches, the Mustalians and Nizaaris . Al-Hasan as-Sabbaah became one of the most infamous proponents of Nizaaris branch. With the collapse of the Faatimid dynasty, the Mustalians transferred their religious center to Yemen, where it remained in obscurity for about 500 years. Missionaries carried it from Yemen to India and the religious center was transferred to Gujarat in the early 17th century where they became known as Boharas. The Nizaaris community in Syria has continued till today though the last war with their ancient enemies the Nusayris, in 1919, caused them enormous losses inland and property, including almost all of their religious books. The Nizaaris found root in Persia But remained relatively concealed. However, their missionaries carried their doctrines to northern India (Punjab, Upper Sind and Kashmir) They later moved south to Gujarat under the Persian missionary , Imaam Shaah, Abdur-Raheem ibn Kabeer ad-Deen, who succeeded in converting large numbers of Hindus there at the end of the 15th century. His son and successor, Noor Muhammad Shaah, later proclaimed himself Imaam, thus causing a split in the community Its center is near Ahmadabad in Gujurat. The main body came to be known as Khojas, who became a wealthy trading community, Bombay, lower Sind, Gujurat, Zanzibar, and Kenya. Their leader is titled Aga Khan (Encyclopedia of Islam, pp 180-1,256)