Ismailism - Inclusion in Amman Message and Islamic Ummah

Inclusion in Amman Message and Islamic Ummah

The Amman Message, which was issued on 9 November 2004 (27th of Ramadan 1425 AH) by King Abdullah II bin Al-Hussein of Jordan, called for tolerance and unity in the Muslim world. Subsequently, the "Amman Message" Conference took place in Amman, Jordan on 04-6 July 2005 and a three-point declaration was issued by 200 Muslim academics from over 50 countries focusing on the three issues of:

1. Defining who is a Muslim;

2. Excommunication from Islam (takfir); and

3. Principles related to delivering religious edicts (fatāwa).

The three-point declaration (later known as The Three Points of the Amman Message) included both the Ja'fari Shia and Zaydi Shia schools of jurisprudence (madhāhib) among the eight schools of jurisprudence that were listed as being in the Muslim fold and whose adherents were therefore to be considered as Muslim by definition and therefore cannot be excluded from the world community of Muslims.

The Aga Khan, the 49th Imam of the Ismailis was invited to issue a religious edict for and on behalf of the Ismailis and which he did by a letter explicitly stating that the Ismailis adhered to the Ja'fari school as well as other schools of close affinity including the Sufi principles concerned with personal search for God.

The summarization by Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad explicitly delineates on page 11 the place of the Ismailis as being within the Ja'fari school as stated by the Aga Khan.