Are Ismailies Muslim? (Agha Khanis) They claim to be Muslim, but as I understand their belief they do not believe in praying five times a day, fasting, or Hajj. Is this view correct?

All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

The Ismailites are hidden groups (Baatiniyah groups, which linguistically means secret, covered, mystic, concealed, etc.) which is said to be named after Imam Ismail Bin Jaffar Al Sadeq. It claims superficially to be a Shiite group defending the Aal Al-Bayt (the descendants of the Prophet's family).

However, the reality of this group is that it aims at destroying the true Islamic Aqeeda (creed).

This group is now divided into many sub-groups among which is the Agha Khaniya which appeared in Iran in the first third of the nineteenth century. Here are some of their beliefs, which show their disbelief and show that they have nothing to do with Islam.

• For instance, if they pray, they pray for their "concealed Imam".
• If they perform Hajj, they consider the Ka’bah a symbol of their Imam.
• In their reality, they deny the Islamic rituals, and they believe in reincarnation.
• This concealed (Batiniyah) group is a libertine and dissolute group. They follow Mazdek way of thoughts.

Imam Al-Ghazaali said about them: “It is reported from them that they apply an absolute libertinism, they give up the Hijaab, they make lawful to them all that Islam forbids, and they deny the rituals of Islam. But, they deny all of this when it is attributed to them.”

Anyway, it is common among Muslims that all the “Baatiniya” groups are non-Muslims.

Shaykh Ibn Taymiyyah said about them (the Baatiniyah): “Their form of disbelief is worse than that of the Jews and the Christians.”

The truth of their creed and their state of affairs which they struggle to keep secret has been revealed and made public by some people who left them and became Muslims and by some of their books.

Allah knows best.