His intention in doing that was to establish the fact of...

His intention in doing that was to establish the fact of Ismail’s death to those who had thought that he was to succeed after al-Sadiq (as) and to remove any doubt regarding him still being alive.[^3] Many Ismaili and non-Ismaili sources report the story of how, before and during Ismail’s funeral procession, Imam al-Sadiq made deliberate attempts to show the face of his dead son to witnesses.[^4] Ismailis believe that Ismail was the 6th Imam and is highly revered by them.

Unfortunately, Ismaili sources such as the ‘Uyun al-Akhbar’ contain little historical information of any value concerning him. [^5] According to some Ismaili authors, Ismail survived Imam al-Sadiq (as). However, the majority of sources report that he predeceased his father in Medina, and was buried in Baqi cemetery. Hasan b.

Nuh al-Bharuchi, an Indian Ismaili author, relates visiting Ismail’s grave in Medina in 904 H/1498 AD.[^6] Ismail was popular among the radical Shias and was closely associated with them. Imam al-Sadiq (as) did not approve of these radical Shias who were leading his son astray.[^7] According to another report, Ismail was evidently involved in a militant anti-regime plot in collaboration with several others, including Bassam b. Abd Allah al-Sayrafi, another extremist Shia.

This is one of the occasions reported by the Imami sources, during which al-Sadiq expressed his strong disapproval of Ismail’s activities.[^8] Ismailis believe that Ismail {the oldest son of Imam al-Sadiq (as)} was the Imam who succeeded Imam al-Sadiq (as).

However, it is a known fact in history that Ismail died in the year 136 AH/754 AD[^9], whereas Imam al-Sadiq (as) died in the year 148 AH/765 AD.[^10] Moreover, one source actually places the death of Ismail in the year 133 AH/751 AD.[^11] How can an Imam be a successor if he is already dead? It does not make sense!

Some of the Ismailis claim that Ismail had not died, but rather gone into Ghaibat (occultation) – this belief cannot be true because this is a known fact in history that Imam al-Sadiq (as) led the funeral prayers of Ismail when he died. However, some of the Ismailis accepted his death, and therefore claim that his eldest son, Muhammed Ibn Ismail, was the Imam after Ismail.

This also does not make sense because if Ismail had died during the lifetime of Imam al-Sadiq (as), and hence was not an Imam, then how can his son Muhammed Ibn Ismail become an Imam?