Now to go to one crowd who see’s it as a wave and pushing them against the wall and telling them “Can you pick if what you see is right or what the other crowd see’s is right?” But as you just said they both are right. And its up to you what you want to see. And if you see it as a wave you will experience those great perfect/divine qualities and if you see it as a particle you will experience those qualities as well.
And I replied: I never denied that. What you’ve mentioned just reinforces my point though, videlicet, one person’s perception of your imam as imperfect (i.e. man seeing the electron as particle) is just as true as another person's perception of your imam as perfect (i.e. man seeing the electron as wave). Would you agree?
Arguing with you is like banging my head on a wall. Once again you are going in circles. Because I already told you that 1) The answer to your question is not a simple yes/no and 2) To be able to see the electron beyond a particle (as a wave) and to experience those qualities (not just as a perception but as a reality as you see the wave spectrum on a wall) must mean there is a added dimension to an electron. And similarly an added dimension to the Imam’s reality (as kmaherali mentioned in earlier post).
I said that before - binom is not here with an open mind to learn - he's here to try and prove ismailism wrong..he can not fathom why We have an Imam and he doesn't.
It is better to let him think that he's right and us that follow the Imam will go to hell - and we're happy with it...it's the we're happy with it part that he can't comprehend, because in his form of practice, the notion of the love the Imam has for his spiritual children and vice versa doesn't exist - there is no object of admiration or affection. Everything is based on either fear or reward - follow Allah or you'll go to hell on the day of judgement - there is no choice or permissibility of choice or freedom on how to practice one's faith.
I said that before - binom is not here with an open mind to learn - he's here to try and prove ismailism wrong..he can not fathom why We have an Imam and he doesn't.
It is better to let him think that he's right and us that follow the Imam will go to hell - and we're happy with it...it's the we're happy with it part that he can't comprehend, because in his form of practice, the notion of the love the Imam has for his spiritual children and vice versa doesn't exist - there is no object of admiration or affection. Everything is based on either fear or reward - follow Allah or you'll go to hell on the day of judgement - there is no choice or permissibility of choice or freedom on how to practice one's faith.
Shams
I am still not sure where is he going with his arguments. I know he is trying to "logically" prove ismailis wrong but so far its just going in circles and not really getting anywhere.
For quite some time I have noticed that you have been going in circles very angry, (and short of beign abusive), you have been criticizing Ismaili doctrines and in particular our Most Beloved Imam in a very offensive manner. It reminds me of Umrao the Kafir who had challenged the Prophet, and Ali stepped in. Umarao was a giant and Ali was a small man, but he destroyed Umarao with one stroke of his sword.. So you guys can be as big as Umrao and barking like him but in fact you are just empty vessels.
You have time and again said that you share same Shariah and prayers as the Sunnis. I have no doubt in my mind that you are an Ithana’Asheri. In fact I am 100% sure. If your Shariah was the same as the Sunnis, Sunnis would not be thirsting for your blood and vice versa. We see this all the time, especially in Mohorram. Your prayers are totally different from the Sunnis .
Shariah and Quranic injunctions were changed by Othman 13 years after the death of the Prophet. It has been posted on this site and if you need them, ask Brother Shams who had posted it.
So, if Ismailis follow Shariah, a little different from the Sunnis and Ithnas, because they have a living Imam, who determines what parts of Shariah should be modified according to times (as Umar did) so be it. If you have a problem, too bad. Don’t try to shove it down our throats. We love our faith and our Imam. You can never change that with your sophisticated language!
All this energy you are focusing on proving Ismaili beliefs wrong would be well spent on searching for your 1100 years old Imam who has been hiding from the Sunnis. Please tell him to come out and face the sunshine because Sunnis could not care less, as they have their own problems.
Sunnis and ItnaAsheris are focussing on killing each other and proving who is right or wrong. In the process they destroy Allah's creation. On the other hand, Ismailis follow true Islam under their Imam and try and save Allah's creation, His people, and follow what Qur'an emphasises more than prayers and Sharia, Good Amals. Qur'an and ahadith say, Allah loves people who do good deeds. He does not care who follows Shariah in name. Good Amals are way ahead of Sharia. Ismailis, under the leadership of their Imam have proved to world that they are following true Islam. Go look around the world. Their signatures are all over.
Ismailis are directed by their Imam to pray not only 3 times a day but throughout the day, i.e. every minute they are sitting idle in their cars, trains, etc. Remembrance of Allah S.W.T. throughout the day is mentioned in the Qur'an. This beats five times prayers!
Sunnis and Ithnas combined are in billions. Ismailis are only 15 million. Now compare your achievements vis-à-vis Ismailis. See how much Ismailis have to show to you all by following Islam as taught by their Imam. You guys, who have been following Shariah and Sunna and this and that, what do you have to show?
What do you guys have to show but your people roaming the deserts for the past 65 years, subjugation of women, suicide bombers, blood thirsty Mullahs and Ayatollahs who have taken it upon themselves to issue fatwas against fellow Muslims and others.
The sacrifice of young Nadia, the Iranian girl, is one proof of what Ayatollah decreed in favour of the tyrant Ahmedinajad wo claims to be communicating with the hidden Imam. He has been beseeching him to come out, but his pleas are falling on deaf ears. It seems his Imam does not care!
This is what happens when you do not have an Imam who is present. Imam in a cave is no Imam, only a coward.
Your Ayatollahs have their own science fiction these days. Women who shake their bosoms cause earthquakes. Give me a break.
Please go and put your own house in order first.
I suggest to all Ismailis in this forum to ignore this guy! You do not need to give him any more clarification. His mind is made up.
Imam has said to explain calmly to such diehards 3 times and if you do not succeed leave them to their own demented (demented is my own word) beliefs.
I said that before - binom is not here with an open mind to learn - he's here to try and prove ismailism wrong..he can not fathom why We have an Imam and he doesn't.
It is better to let him think that he's right and us that follow the Imam will go to hell - and we're happy with it...it's the we're happy with it part that he can't comprehend, because in his form of practice, the notion of the love the Imam has for his spiritual children and vice versa doesn't exist - there is no object of admiration or affection. Everything is based on either fear or reward - follow Allah or you'll go to hell on the day of judgement - there is no choice or permissibility of choice or freedom on how to practice one's faith.
Shams
I am still not sure where is he going with his arguments. I know he is trying to "logically" prove ismailis wrong but so far its just going in circles and not really getting anywhere.
It's not meant to go anywhere - because he doesn't have a leg to stand on. So to me, the best course of action is basically to say "okay you're right..i am wrong...but I am happy being wrong and following wrong.
As the Imam said in Chicago - try to explain your faith..if they don't understand, walk away.
I'll not comment whether Ismailis' Imam is a muslim or not, but I dare to share his great sacrifices for the ummah and humanity in general and try to compare others with the services of Aga Khan.
Ismailis Imam: Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN):
Aga Khan Education Services (AKES): Imparts quality education throughout the globe.
Aga Khan Health Services (AKHS): Serving the ailing humanity, irrespective of creed, caste, religion and ethnicity throughout the globe.
Aga Khan University and Medical Colleges (AKUMC): Training nurses and also an MBBS degree is given to males and females on an international standards.
Aga Khan Cultural Services (AKCS): Preserves the human culture and heritages, especially in the 3rd world countries.
Aga Khan Rural Support Programme (AKRSP): Striving to reduce extreme poverty throughout the world, especially in rural areas, where the masses have no excess to developmental activities, with the moto of savings, skill and rural development etc.
Aga Khan Sports Board (AKSB): Encourages youth to participate in the sports for their mental and physical health.
Aga Khan Social Welfare Board (AKSWB): Through this initiative social activities are being undertaken.
Aga Khan Councils are playing a role of arbitration among the masses especially making bridge within the main branches of Islam (Sunnis, Shias, Ismailis etc. etc.)
There are many more initiatives of the Aga Khan which I could not or unable to count.
But I wonder the other Muslim wealthy countries (Saudi Arab, Arab Emirates and Iran) are doing anything for the betterment of the humanity. Although God has gifted these countries with natural resources, such as oil, natural gas, gold etc. Instead of serving the poor humanity, Sunnis and Shias are busy in calling each other 'you kafir' and killing each others to enter into the heaven, exporting terror activities and extremism.
My hats off to you very well put, I wonder how many people here have really and I mean really read Quran the word of Allah from page o­ne to the last Sura and if they have done that where is the light that comes through by absorbing beleiving and practicing o­n the face of a muslim, its not Islam that is short changing mankind, as rightly put there are a lot of muslim in this world but very few have Islam in them, Go read Quran over and over again you will see why Ismailis and that too I mean true Followers of their Imam follow a path that was laid down through generation By Hazrat moula murtaza ali from the begining of time to last until the end of time. How many Sunnis and shia agree upon the great historical significance of Ghadir e Khoum, I can stand between a Sunni and an Isnathri and laugh at their bickering about who is right when they cant come to a conclusion they look for a scape goat, the o­nly way they can prove them seles right is by proving and bashing the other o­ne is wrong ... Is this what we are understanding from Quran and essence of Islam... o­n the day of Judgement will we be judged by how many times we tried to prove our way of Islam is right by killing each other or will we be judge by our amaal. sorry if I offended any o­ne but seek withen your selves the light or noor of Allah instead of bashing each other and trying to uplift yourself by denying others to find a sirat ul mustaqeem.
Many thanks brother! As I've already mentioned in this thread that two things are mandatory in the Holy Quran; Trust [Iman] and Deeds {Amal]. If there is fraction between these two things, as Allah (SWT) demands from the humanity, then nobody could claim that he/she is on the right path. As far as reading Holy Quran from Surah Al-Fatiha to Sura Na's is concerned, I think it's not enough, but understanding the true meaning of Quran is mandatory. As we are humanbeings and we are unable to understand the philosophy and true meanings of the Holy Quran.Thus Allah (SWT) says in the Holy Quran: Obey Allah, His Prophet and Ulil Amri Minkum [Sahib-e-Hukum]. On the first two, all faiths of Islam do agree and disagree on the third one i.e. Guide of the Time. OK, who should be the Sahib-e-Hukum? Sunnis say that Head of the state could be sahib-e-Hukum. IthnaAshris and Ismailis say that a guide must be from the progeny of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). I'm confortable with the faiths and claims of all, but what about a muslim living in a country where head of the state is non-muslim, i.e. in India, USA, Canada, China, etc. etc. IthnaAshris' Imam is no more on this planet and hiding somewhere. So the Ismaili sect of Islam is furtunate one that they've a living Imam from the progeny of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), from Hazrat Mola Ali (AS) to present Imam of the Time Shah Karim Al-Hussaini to guide them on the true and right path. Mola says that keep a balance between Deen and Dunya [faith and worldly matters]. Thus it's utmost duty of Ismailis to be true followers of the Allah (SWT), His Messenger Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and His Guide Imam of the Time. May God bless and shower His special blessings upon us and show us the true path [Siratal Mustaqeem], Ameen.
I applaud your comments , just to clarify , when I suggested how many of us have read Quran , it was not directed at any o­ne but just my personal opinion and experience about 6 years ago I decided to read interpretation of Quran searcing for answers as we must all do through our life, after reading it twice it dawned upon me that The word of Allah pages after pages is telling mankind in words as simple as o­ne can comprehend that if you want to know me , know me through Rasool and Ulil amr minkum, and here I am saying 3 times a day in my 18 rakat My Ulil amr a minkum is my Moula which is mentioned so many time in Quran light upon light, it may be hard for the rest of the world to accept but my world , universe lies under the feet of my Imam, so yes Quran clarifies the light of Allah o­n mankind until the end of time and beyond, those of you who have choosen a path other than Ismaili path are not to be criticize because thats what Islam has taought us but unlike some who play god and declare the rest of the world as unbelivers to you I say Go READ QURAN UNDERSTAND AND THAN SEEK HELP FROM YOUR ULIL AMR MINKUM who ever you feel he may be , could be ayatullah mullah umr bin laden or some other indivudual who is running you lives and you childrens lives...sure you can call me what you want to but after all is said and done search withen yourself the True light and may Allah grant his blessing all upon you.
2) To be able to see the electron beyond a particle (as a wave) and to experience those qualities (not just as a perception but as a reality as you see the wave spectrum on a wall) must mean there is a added dimension to an electron. And similarly an added dimension to the Imam’s reality[...]
To be able to see the electron beyond a wave (as a particle) and to experience those qualities (not just as a perception but as a reality (whatever that means) as you see when you “add a detector and try to make a determination as to which slit the electron is going through”) must mean there is a added dimension to an electron. And similarly an added dimension to the imam’s reality (i.e. that he’s not perfect).
However, whether or not there’s an “added dimension” to your imam is irrelevant to my point i.e. that all perceptions of him, since they’re subjective (according to you), are as true as any other.
(as kmaherali mentioned in earlier post)
And did you not read my reply to what Kmaherali said?
I am still not sure where is he going with his arguments. I know he is trying to "logically" prove ismailis wrong but so far its just going in circles and not really getting anywhere.
1) Do you know what it means to go in circles? And,
2) I’m not trying to disprove Ismailis. All I’m trying to show you is that since, according to you (and others i.e. Kmaherali), all perceptions of your imam are subjective, anyone of them is as true as any other. This means that if someone believes your imam to be imperfect (or anything else), he’s just as correct in his belief as you are in yours (i.e. that he is perfect, etc).
Instead of being overly concerned about the "subjectivity" of the Ismaili Imam based on your own fiction or imagination why don't you first explain to us the following:
In Ehtijaj-e-Tabrasi, which is among the most reliable books of Shias a saying of your ninth Imam, Mohammad bin Ali bin Musa, has been reproduced which says about the Last Imam that:
“One of the unique things about him will be that his birth will take place secretly and people will not know about it and he will not be visible to people. From the four corners of the world three hundred and thirteen companions will gather round him, exactly equal to the number of Muslims who fought in the Battle of Badr.
When 313 earnest and devoted persons will collect round him, God will reveal the Imam i.e., he will come out of the cave and begin his mission.
It is significant that the appearance of the Absent Imam having not taken place as yet can mean nothing in the light of the saying of Imam Mohammad bin Ali bin Musa, except that during all these eleven hundred and fifty years since 260 A.H., 313 truthful and sincere Shias have not been available who could stand up for the Absent Imam, otherwise he would have, surely, emerged from the cave.
It is worth asking whether people like Binom or Shia leaders and theologians like Khomeini, also, hold the same view or not?
You guys don't have just 313 momins to bring back the Imam? truly sad huh? and then you are chasing others in the market with your own idiosyncracies !
Noor is a light on its own and also gives light to others. The meaning that will be taken for Noor will be that which is apparent and makes apparent....and so a "hidden Imam" serves no purpose.... for this same reason the Prophets are called Noor.
They are guided and they are the medium for others to get guidance. In the Dua اللهم اجعلنى نورا the same is meant.
The names Noorudeen, Noorulislam, Noorullah are kept with the same purpose.
Noor comes in the Qur’an for guidance just as Dhulmat (darkness) comes for going astray. Allah Ta’ala says in the Qur’an:
He who is dead, then We granted him life and gave him a light by which he may walk among people better than someone like him who is a multitude of darkness from which he will not come out?(Al-Anaam-122)
For something to be Noor does not mean that it cannot be human also.
If this was the case then it would not be correct for a human to make this Dua اللهم اجعلنى نورا, because it would mean, O Allah take me out of the fold of humanity.
Rasullah (Sallalahu Alaihi Wasallam) was human as well as Noor. Allah Ta’ala says in the Qur’an:
Say (O Muhammad) I’m verily a human like yourselves. (Al-Kahf-110)
"And had WE made him the Prophet (an angel), WE would have certainly made him a man and disguised him before them in garments like their own" (6:9)....
‎Verily came to you from Allah Noor and the clear book. (Al-Maidah-15)
Many Mufassireen (Commentators of the Qur’an) have stated that by Noor here is meant Rasullah (Sallalahu Alaihi Wasallam).
The Prophet was Noor. He was guidance for the whole of mankind. Therefore, he was both Noor and human.///and now it is the Imams !
To say that Rasullah (Sallalahu Alaihi Wasallam) is made of Noor or made from the Noor of Allah and is not human is incorrect. Him being human is proven from the ayat of Qur’an.”
Fatawa Mahmoodia (1:102) Maktaba Mahmoodia
Ahsan Al-Fatawa (1:56) H.M. Saeed Company
Several verses in the Quran speak about the Light of God and Rope of Imamat which is a continuous chain (Hablillah) since Hazrat Adam, through all the Prophets including, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, Muhammad and after him through the hereditary Imams..even if there are only two people left on this earth, the Imam must be present as Imamat is a perpetual phenomena.
"Seest thou not how Allah coineth a similitude a goodly saying as a goodly tree, its root set firm, its branches stretching
into Heaven, Giving its fruits at every season, by permission of its Lord, Allah coineth the similitude for mankind in order
that they may reflect" Quran 14:24, 25
In the exoteric Twelver corpus of hadith, we find this same theme repeated again and again - the need for an infallible guide - if Binom you are so terribly concerned about the Aga Khan , why are you not so equally concerned about your own Imam who has not shown up for 1100 plus years and the Mullahs are running the show for you ? why haven't you questioned that?
The basic theology of Imamah is that all Shi'a sects agree upon: the need for an Infallible Guide,to show people the way towards Truth....yet you have settled for fallibility ...
Ismailis believe that their Imam is their infallible guide ! so why should it bother you any more ? why do you feel so much agitated ?
What is your agenda? what is your motive here? what is your desperation? kindly explain!
Imam as-Sadiq said: "The Earth is never devoid of the Imam: whenever the believers advance too far, he turns them back, and whenever they fall short, he completes them." (Al-Kulayni Al-Kafi 1:178)
Imam as-Sadiq said: "I swear by Allah, that the Earth is never devoid of the hujjah. He teaches the permissible and the impermissible, and calls the people to the Path of God." (Al-Kulayni Al-Kafi 1:178
So do you agree with what YOUR Imam is saying above?
The question is does any "Hidden Imams or having no Imams as is the case with others, fulfill any of these purpose I have outlined If these Imams have left their followers with nothing to go on but doubtful and fallible sources, and so how have they really enabled their folks including you to distinguish the true from the false?
Do please help us to understand your idiosyncracies and bias because you are sitting in a boat without any guide and so what basis you have to question anyone else, to begin with
Praise belongs to Allah. We ask Him for help, and we believe in Him,and in Him we trust.
We seek refuge to Him from the evil of our souls and the sins of our deeds.
Verily there is no guide for the one whom Allah leaves in stray, and there is none who leads astray the one whom Allah has guided....and so many of you are just like scattered locusts (as per the quran)
THE AGA KHAN: FROM CURZON TO HITLER :A MAN ALWAYS AT THE CENTRE OF HISTORY
AN INTIMATE TRIBUTE BY HIS HIGHNESS PRINCE SADRUDDIN AGA KHAN ON THE CENTENARY OF HIS FATHER'S BIRTH
My father, the late Aga Khan, was born 100 years ago on 2nd November.
Though he died in 1957 at the turn of what Winston Churchill aptly termed "this tormented half century", few today can separate reality from myth when looking back on his long and active life.To many in the West, he remains the religious leader who was weighed against precious stones, the race horse owner who won five Derbies or the man whose eldest son, Aly Khan, once married Rita Hayworth.
For those who are more familiar with the East, he was the most gifted hereditary religious leader or forty eighth Imam of some 12 million Ismaili Shia Muslims who are to be found from the Great Wall of China to the southern tip of Africa, a direct descendant of Prophet Muhammad and a true believer in the percepts of Islam.
Students of history or the older generations may recall The Aga Khan as a statesman, who was received by Queen Victoria in 1898, became the youngest member of Lord Curzon's Indian Legislative Council in 1902, presided the Muslim League from 1906 until 1912 and led the Muslim deputation to the Round Table Conference in 1930 which paved the way for the independence of the sub-continent.
In addition, 1937 saw him preside over the ill-fated League of Nations when he later visited Hitler in Berchtesgaden in a last-ditch effort to avert war.
For me, of course, he was all of these things and many more. It remains challenging but essential for the son of any great father to do away with the labels which are inevitably attached by history to the public figures of our time and to attempt an impartial assessment. This I hope to do in a book some day.
My father was, first and foremost, a deeply religious man who had no difficulty in integrating an active political and social life and everything it entailed in terms of formality and obligations in the post-Victorian era, with the close communion with God which is the aspiration of every practising Muslim.
The older staff at the Ritz in London or the Swiss strolling in front of the Hotel de Russie in Geneva in the thirties, might recall the Aga Khan facing Mecca at prayer time on one of the balconies, completely oblivious to the stares of surprised bystanders. Muslims who journey westward are no longer the exotic objects of interest which they were in those days.
It was this Islamic sense of unity in all forms of life which confirmed my father's faith in a God-governed order. He achieved a synthesis which enabled him to conciliate his faith in the Almighty as well as in Darwin's theory of the origin of the species which swept across Europe in his youth and generated such heated debate.
It was difficult for him to separate what he called protoreligion and protoscience: they made their journey like two streams, sometimes mingling, sometimes separating but running side by side. For him Marxism was a religion where matter is the supreme power.
He sought the company of scientists since the time when, against orthodox medical opinion, he had himself inoculated publicly at the age of 20 during the Bombay epidemic of bubonic plague in 1897. This prompted others to follow and many lives were saved as a result.
I have not forgotten his heated conversations with Professor Leakey in Nairobi when the first discoveries of the earliest remains of man were made in the Rift Valley, or his exchanges with Professors Bogomoletz or Niehans on longevity.
My father was a pragmatist when it came to politics. His main concern was the welfare and development of his community and as such, he deliberately chose to work closely with the administering power in the countries where the Ismailis lived. In 1914 and again in 1939, he resolutely threw in his lot with the British and spared no effort to ensure that Muslims everywhere should fight alongside the allies.
This nearly cost him his life in 1917 when the German Secret Service sought to assassinate him in Lucerne. This left him unshaken and he never chose to have any form of personal protection.
His optimistic faith in man and his desire to avert war had caused him to be swayed in the early Thirties by those of his friends - including the Clivden set - who advocated appeasement in the face of the mounting Nazi threat.
He thus mistakenly chose to support the Munich settlement and said so in a much criticised article in The Times. It was with a sense of bitter disappointment, therefore, that he vigorously denounced Hitler's aggression and at once issued a strong manifesto urging his followers to give their fullest support to Britain. This was the aim of his visit to India in 1939-40 when he persistently campaigned in favour of British war aims and endeavoured to act as an intermediary with Reza Shah of Persia.
His foresight in other spheres of political analysis was positively uncanny, however; long before the word "Commonwealth" came into use, my father advocated, at the beginning of the century, the creation, under British inspiration and guidance, of a South Asian federation of self-governing states extending from Malaysian peninsula to the confines of Egypt.
When the first world war ended, he endorsed the building up of a Federal Union of Arab States and Turkey with a single defence force and a united foreign policy. This could have achieved practical results in the security and stability of the Middle East far transcending, in my father's words, "anything that makeshift, haphazard policies of the years since the end of the conflict and particularly piecemeal withdrawal of political suzerainty by Britain have been able to effect".
While working for independence, he was concerned about the post-colonial vacuum and big-power rivalry in the Muslim world following the breakup of political entities through nationalism and violent change.
My father abhorred injustice and fought actively for both human and civil rights at a time when it was hardly a fashionable pursuit. He resigned from the exclusive St. Cloud golf club near Paris when some members objected to Sugar Ray Robinson - the black boxer - playing on the links.
In Aix-Les-Bains, one day, he rebuffed the pompous head waiter of the hotel Splendide who refused to seat a large group of Senegalese students and promptly invited them to a three star lunch.
He was deeply shocked by the ruthless and arrogant discrimination practised by whites in America, India and China. During his visit to China in 1906, he remarked: "Within the foreign settlements the general attitude towards the Chinese was little short of outrageous. All the better hotels refused them entry. From European clubs they were totally excluded. We hear a great deal about the colour bar in South Africa today. In China, in the early years of this century, the colour bar was rigidly imposed - not least offensively in discrimination against officials of the very government whose guests, under international law, all foreigners, were supposed to be. Is it any wonder that the Chinese intelligentsia long retained bitter memories of this attitude?".
Absolute power, if unenlightened, was equally despised: my father's comments on the Qajar Shah Musafaraddin - to whom he was closely related - are indicative in this respect: "He exhibited, in an especially lurid light, all the dangers of old-fashioned autocratic oriental monarchy. However incompetent, silly, or criminal such a despot was, not one of the able and intelligent statesmen of the world around him ever stood up to him and told him the truth about himself. The mysterious prestige surrounding kingship and the blood of kings induced a kind of mental paralysis even in good and sincere men, so that they were quite unable - in the interests of their king and their country, even in their own interests - to give true advice and guidance."
For my father, education was understandably a priority and his community exemplifies the success of his policies. Ismaili men and women, the latter amongst the first to shed the veil, are well equipped in this respect. Ismaili institutions have provided a net work of social, economic and cultural amenities which are unrivalled in many developing countries. These were made possible to a great extent by the wise administration of funds raised in connection with the traditional jubilee weighing ceremonies.
The community took up the lion's share of my father's time and attention. This was - as he put it - his job. Thousands of Ismailis were received every year and those who did not meet their Imam individually, were in contact with him when he visited their countries. He was highly accessible and seldom left a letter unanswered.
And yet he found time for journeys to centres of arts and culture and I recall the importance he attached to my visiting the great museums of Europe. He owned no collections of his own, cared little about the decor of his residences and spent a great deal of time in hotels - but loved the opera and the ballet. Serge Lifar, the great Russian dancer, will never forget the time when my father gave him a considerable contribution in cash - wrapped in newspaper - to get his company out of financial doldrums
If greatness there was, during his long and active life, then it rested on an oddly balanced mixture of Islamic faith and philosophy and Western logic and science born out of the industrial revolution; it allowed for reform and vision in both thought and action and, in retrospect, would seem to disclaim Kipling's famous pronouncement, as my father was truly the product of a meeting between East and West.
A centenary is a time to pause, look back establish a link between the prologue of the past and the realities of today.
My father undoubtedly left a deep and meaningful imprint on the Ismaili community and the Muslim world. In addition, he contributed in no small way to shape the course of recent history.
But for me, his message remains that of a tolerant and loving father, always at peace with himself, particularly in sickness and when life ebbed away, convinced, in his own words, that he "experienced moments of enlightenment and of knowledge of a kind which we cannot communicate because it is something given and not something acquired".
Courtesy The Times, 5th November, 1977. Copyright: Times Newspapers [/color]
amal_786 wrote:YAM fellow ismailis,
I am new here, and I am not sure if this is in the right forum, but I didn't know where to put it .
I was researching online about Ismailis, and i came across something that said that MHI was a Muslim, there was a picture of him praying at a masjid, and it had said that he even led the prayers. (sorry I don't have the site at the moment)
This reminded me of an earlier question which was whether MHI was Ismaili or not?
I asked an al-waezeen on this, and he told me that Hazar Imam wasn't an Ismaili but was a Muslim? he said something like if MHI was an Ismaili, then he would be believing in himself and following himself, so therefore he can't be an Ismaili. But then if he was Muslim, then doesn't he believe in Allah? which would somehow lead back to himself...
if I could have some clarification on this, as in what type of Muslim is MHI, and just the 'reasons' -for lack of a better word- as to why?
Thank you all,
Even I am wondering ....so he is a muslim and prays salat? What about princess Zahra and the princes ? They are Ismailis? They pray Dua?
Haysal wrote:
Even I am wondering ....so he is a muslim and prays salat? What about princess Zahra and the princes ? They are Ismailis? They pray Dua?
MHI is a muslim and he prays salat. Princess Zahra and the princes are Ismailis and they pray Dua.
WOW .............so the princes and princess go to khane? why they don't pray the same way as MHI ? for that matter why we don't pray the muslim salat?
WOW .............so the princes and princess go to khane? why they don't pray the same way as MHI ? for that matter why we don't pray the muslim salat?
Haysal...as I told you last time, you would never get any response for such type of questions on here....the answer you may find would be just like admin's answer @ why do some ismailis do not wash hands when they remove their shoes.
When in rome do the roman's....
PS - I personally think that none of them are ismailis [prince's or princess] because you can look at their marriage customs....Prince hussain was married as per islamic shariah law [which is often ridiculed on this forum]...the marriage was conducted by a mullah and not no ismaili mukhi or kamadiya.........and there are other things too.
if you know about Islam, you would know that Marriage in Islam is not a religious event like for Christian, it is a social contract. There is already a lot of discussion on this subject in the Forum, just click the search button.
And yes you are right, in Rome do as Romans else there are many countries in the world.
Come on...The Noorani family must be praying regularly as they are MHI's children and family, it must be either our Dua or the muslim salat! Why such a secrecy on their way of religion? shouldn't they be examples for us to inspire and motivate us to follow?? I sometimes dislike the ambiguous answers that our leaders give us as it confuses us more and makes us asks more questions.
I am not questioning just curious why the big secret? don't you think if everyone knew their practices that would motivate and inspire us? I agree we have to convince people around us for praying regularly specially kids born here but we get asked these questions we can't avoid the topic since we don't know and say what you said.
I heard in waez many times that prince Sadruddin used to keep Tasbih in his pocket and whenever he had little time he used to start reciting, Prince Amyn Mohd also keeps Tasbih in his pocket accrding Rai Abu Ali, he claimed in his waez that he had seen Prince Sadruddin and Prince Amyn Mohammad reciting tasbihats.
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