The Ṭaiyabi Ismailis are the only surviving sect of the Musta’li Ismaili branch of Ismaili Islam. The other Mustaali branch, Hafizis are extinct. The Taiyabi have split into three major branches: Dawoodi, Sulaymani, and Alavi Bohras.
The Taiyabi originally split from the Fatimid Caliphate-supporting Hafizi branch by supporting the right of at-Tayyib Abu'l-Qasim to the Imamate.
Upon the death of the twentieth Imam, al-Amir bi-Ahkami'l-Lah (d. AH 526 (1131/1132)), his two-year old child at-Tayyib Abu'l-Qasim (b. AH 524 (1129/1130)) was appointed twenty-first Imam. As he was not in position to run the dawah, Queen Arwa al-Sulayhi, the Da'i al-Mutlaq, acted as his regent. The Da'i had now been given absolute authority and made independent from political activity.
Da'i Zoeb bin Moosa used to live in and died in Haus, Yemen. His ma'zoon ("associate") was Khattab bin Hasan. After death of Abdullah, Zoeb bin Moosa appointed Yaqub as the wali ("representative" or "caretaker") of the Taiyabi organization ("dawah") in India. Yaqub was the first person of Indian origin to receive this honor. He was son of Bharmal, minister of the Rajput King Jayasimha Siddharaja. Fakhruddin, son of Tarmal, was sent to western Rajasthan. One Da'i after another were continued until the twenty-fourth Da'i, Yusuf Najmuddin ibn Sulaiman, in Yemen. Due to prosecution by a local ruler, the dawah then shifted to India under the twenty-fifth Da'i, Jalal bin Hasan.