Imam Muhammed b. Ismail lived in a time that had become increasingly hostile to the Ismailis, and had to therefore live in disguise and in hiding from the governing bodies of those times, in particular from the Abbasid Caliph, Haroon al-Rashid. Despite the unfavourable conditions and his humble dwelling in a small town he founded called Muhammedabad in Rey, the movement of Ismailism spread as far as India.

Imam Muhammed bin Ismail was born on the 12th of Rabi-el-Awwal, 128AH (746AD), in Medina.

Imam Ismail passed away after ten years of Imamate, leaving behind two sons, Muhammed and Ali, the former of which succeeded him in his role as Imam-of-the-Time (Aziz, 1974). Imam Ismail was buried in Salamiya.

The sixth Ismaili Imam, Mowlana Ismail, was born in Medina in the month of Shawal 100AH (719AD).

This period begins with Imam Ismail bin Jafar al-Sadiq and ends with Imam Radi Abdullah.