The Ismā'īlī doctrine of
Imāmah differ from that of the
Twelvers because they had living
imams for centuries after the last Twelver Imam went into concealment. They followed
Isma'il ibn Jafar, elder brother of
Musa al-Kadhim, as the rightful Imam after his father
Ja'far al-Sadiq. The Ismailis believe that whether Imam Ismail did or did not die before Imam Ja'far, he had passed on the mantle of the imāmate to his son
Muḥammad ibn Ismā'īl al-Maktum as the next imam.