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Dear Binom1,

The Salat for Isma'ili Muslims is the Du'a which is the obligatory prayer of the Isma'ilis. It serves the same function as the namaz practiced by Sunnis and Twelver Shi'a. There is absolutely nothing heretical about the Isma'ili Dua and it is practiced 3 times a day in accordance with ...

Binom

It must also be noted that Shi'a Isma'ili theosophers articulated the transcendence and Beyond-Being aspect of the Divine Principle long before it was elucidated by Sunni/Sufi and Twelver/Irfani scholars.

Even S.H. Nasr acknowledges this in Anthology of Philosophy of Persia Vol II where he ...

Binom,

the Divine ESsence / Godhead is ultimately exalted above all names. He is nameless.

The point about the letters of Allah being contingent and therefore the name Allah referring to a contingent entity is still a valid argument in articulating the transcendence of the Divine Principle above ...

The true nature of tawhid is to recognize that the Divine Essence or Godhead transcends all names, attributes and descriptions. God is beyond being and is above both existence and non-existence. These principles have been elucidated by Isma'ili philosophers in the past.

The first originated being ...

The word ALLAH is composed of four not give letters:

Alif, Lam, Lam, Ha

The letters which make the name "Allah" are created and therefore contingent. Therefore, the name "Allah", in reality, cannot truly refer to the Divine Essence or Godhead, but refers to originated and created entities ...

According to several Isma'ili sources, including the Ghat Pat Du'a of Pir Sadr al-Din, the Diwan of Fidai Khurasani, the Asas al-Ta'wil of Qadi al-Nu'man, the Wajh-i Din of Nasir-i Khusraw, the Ash-Shafiya of Abu Firas, etc...

The Imam and Wasi of Hazrat Adam was Mawlana Shith (Seth). There were ...

"However, that Light manifests itself in various degress in each individual soul and thing in accordance with its isti'dad. It does not manifest itself to the same extent in all souls and things. The degree to which that Light manifests itself in my soul is far far less than the degree to which it ...

Dear Samir Noorali

Everything you have posted above with regards to Imamat and Piratan - I actually subscribe to.

If you look at my posts on this forum since the last many years, I have discussed the concept of Imamat and Piratan extensively.

Thus, I do not bear any ill will to the Khoja Ginanic ...

The book in question is rooted int he Indian Satpanth tradition of Ismailism which stems from the Ginans. This tradition is rich in symbolism and allegory and can be dangerously interpreted if one takes things at face value.

In my opinion, one should get a proper grounding in the Fatimid and ...

The position of Pir and Entrusted Imam are not the same thing. They are vastly different. The only Ismaili author who equates them is Abualy Aziz - while the Ismaili authors of the earlier periods never equated the two positions.

The Entrusted Imam, when appointed is the holder of authority over ...

Dear Arshad

Please note the "Fa" is a conditional conjunction and it is not the same as the "Wa" ("and").

I now want to take you through my logic in understanding the verse.

"O ye who believe. Obey Allah Obey the Messenger and those vested with authority amongst you. And if ye dispute in any ...

"First Command: Obey Allah
Second Command: Obey the Messenger
Third Command: And the holders of authority from amongst you."


Arshad,

There is no "third command" used in the verse. The Ulul-Amr are joined in obedience to the Prophet by the conjunction "wa". "Obey the prophet and (wa) the Ulu'l ...

In the Chanta and Du'a Karavi ceremonies, it is both God and the Imam who forgive sins.

When a murid commits a sin , he automatically sins against the Imam because whenever you disobey the Imam you are going against the bay'ah and thus sinning against the Imam.

When a murid commits a sin against ...

"Next, what I see in the above verse is THREE commands, however, TWO of them are unconditional commands, ie OBEY Allah and OBEY the Messenger, whereas those who hold authority are CONDITIONAL as Allah does not give emphasis on the ulil-amr. This is what I personally gather from it. If you have a ...

Dear Inquisitive Girl

Firstly, the Imam SMS farmans concerning Ithna Asharies were given in a specific context where a number of Ismailis khoja families left the Ismaili Jamat and tried to take a large number of Ismailis with them.

These families were also supporting the Haji Bibi case where the ...

Dear Shiraz,

Can you please reference where you got the above material from?

4:59. O ye who believe! Obey God, and obey the Apostle, and those charged with authority among you. If ye differ in anything among yourselves, refer it to God and His Apostle, if ye do believe in God and the Last Day: That is best, and most suitable for final determination.

The Arabic ...

59. O ye who believe! Obey A, and obey B, and C. If ye differ in anything among yourselves, refer it to A and B, if ye do believe in God and the Last Day: That is best, and most suitable for final determination.

Now, if I were to say Obey "A" and obey "B," and "C", and then say if you were to ...

"An important point that people often don't grasp needs to be made first. The Twelver Shi'i maintain that only the office of Imama is higher than that of Nubuwwa, not the person of the Imam himself. The person that is the Prophet, by virtue of being both a prophet and an imam, is ontologically ...

Dear Arshad1988

Your interpretation of the verse 4:59 about the authority of the Ulu'l-Amr is somewhat flawed. Please look at the verse again:

“O you who have faith! Obey Allah, and obey the Messenger and the holders of the [divine] authority among you (uli’l amr min kum). If you differ in ...

Dear Rafiq,

Ismailis do consider Hazrat Hasan as Imam. However, Ismaili theology holds two types of Imams - the Permanent Imam (al-imam al-mustaqarr) and the Entrusted Imam (al-imam al-mustwada). And Imam Hasan is of the latter type of Imam.

The Permanent Imam is the hereditary Imam whose Imamat ...

Regarding Hazrat Muhammad also being an Imam:

Nasir Khusraw states this in his Wajh-i Din and his section of the ta'wil of ablutions

There is also a letter of Imam 'Ali ibn Abi Talib preserved in a second century Shi'a source. This letter is quoted by Allamah Amini in a book called "al-Ghadir" on ...

Dear sir,

The Twelver Shi'a and the Isma'ili Shi'a believe that the rank of Imamat is higher than the rank of Prophecy (nubuwwa). One source is a hadith attributed to Imam Muhammad al-Baqir found in the Shi'a hadith book Usul al-Kafi compiled by al-Kulayni. According hadith, the Imam referred to ...

<P>The Ginans state that Prophet Muhammad is the Avatara of Brahma and that Imam 'Ali is the Avatara of Vishnu.<BR><BR>Therefore, the Nubuwwa is the manifestation of Brahma and the Imamat is that of Vishnu.<BR><BR>Shiva is the Destroyer - but not in the sense of evil, but in the sense of the ...

The following questions were posed by a Sunni Muslim in an Ismaili forum. We have tried to provide brief answers to these questions while referring readers to the appropriate source material for a comprehensive explanation.

Do Ismailis believe in a Day of Judgment?

Yes. The Day of Judgment has ...

"ome say the Catholic church invented Islam to fight
the onslaught of zealous Jews and Anglican Christians"

- Angelical or Protestan Christianity did not exist in the 7th century when Islam began.

The Catholic form of Christianity was not even present in Arabia during the time of Prophet Muhammad.

Furthermore, Khadija was not a catholic and her cousin - Waraqah was a Christian but of the Nestorian form.

The Quran also condemns the worship of Mary as a god alongside Jesus.

Bibi Fatima's ...

I would say that man has limited free will.

Certain things (i.e. big picture) is pre-destined (things like our birth, our death, etc.).

We have to remember that our free will exists only because Will is one of the attributes of GOd and we are made in His image.

Absolute freedom co-incides with ...

One interpretation of the Salwaat is that it allows the believer to partake and become in synch with the emanations of barakah and grace that flow over the Prophet and the Imams.

When we make salwaat, we tune into these divine vibrations, and through the Prophet and the Imams, the barakah reach the ...

All the verses that are TAKEN to imply facing the Kaba state do not mention the Kaba by name..

Intead the mention things like "Turn thy face towards the Sacred Mosque (al-masjid al-haraam)."

The question is: What is the Sacred Mosque (al-masjid al-haraam)?

a) the Kaba
b) the Murshid
c) the Imam
d ...