Question: do ismailis believe in imam mahdi?
Answer: The Nizari Ismailis maintain that the Shi'a Ismaili Imams and Ismaili Muslim thinkers have explained that al-Mahdi is not a single person but actually a function undertaken by some of the hereditary Shi'a Ismaili Imams from the progeny of Prophet Muhammad and Imam 'Ali ibn Abi Talib.