en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batiniyya
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Batiniyya is a common epithet used to designate Isma'ili Islam, which has been accepted by Ismai'lis themselves.
"Bāṭiniyya" is not a neutral self-designation accepted by Ismailis; standard Ismaili and academic reference works describe it as a pejorative label used mainly by opponents.
Full reasoning
This sentence overstates the status of Bāṭiniyya in relation to Ismailis.
A standard reference from The Institute of Ismaili Studies—an Ismaili scholarly institution—defines Bāṭiniyya as "a pejorative term used by Sunni authors such as al-Ghazālī" for groups, especially Ismailis, associated with inner/esoteric interpretation. That directly contradicts the claim that the epithet was simply "accepted by Ismai'lis themselves."
Likewise, Encyclopaedia Iranica does not present Bāṭenīya as a self-chosen name for Ismailism. It defines the word as a generic term for groups that distinguish between outward and inward meanings, and explicitly notes the long tradition of polemics against the Bāṭenīs. In the same article, Iranica distinguishes between extreme Bāṭenīs and the Ismaʿili sects, which again shows this is a classificatory/polemical label rather than an unproblematic Ismaili self-designation.
So while the term has historically been applied to Ismailis by others, the statement that it has been "accepted by Ismai'lis themselves" is misleading.
2 sources
- Bāṭiniyya | The Institute of Ismaili Studies
"A pejorative term used by Sunni authors such as al-Ghazālī (d. 1111) to refer to those, especially the Ismailis, who recognise an inner level of meaning (bāṭin) in the Qur’an and the universe at large."
- BĀṬENĪYA - Encyclopaedia Iranica
"BĀṬENĪYA, a generic term for all groups and sects which distinguished the bāṭen and the ẓāher of the Qurʾān and the Islamic law..." The article also notes "Polemics against the Bāṭenīs" and distinguishes the Ismaʿili sects within this broader category.