Batiniyya (Arabic: باطنية, romanized: Bāṭiniyyah) refers to groups that distinguish between an outer, exoteric (zāhir) and an inner, esoteric (bāṭin) meaning in Islamic scriptures.
[1] The term has been used in particular for an allegoristic type of scriptural interpretation developed among early Ismaili Shia groups, stressing the bāṭin meaning of texts.
[2] Batiniyya is a common epithet used to designate Isma'ili Islam, which has been accepted by Ismai'lis themselves.
[2] Al-Ghazali, a medieval Sunni theologian, used the term batiniyya pejoratively for the adherents of Isma'ilism.
[1] When the Islamic world of the Fatimid dynasty entered an Ismaili age in the 10th century, Batinya became less practiced.