mahebubchatur wrote:Hazar Imam recently in India and USA made the whole Jamat as Dais and to share his message and blessings.
An article on meaning of a Dai
ismailignosis.com/2018/03/28/world-of-faith-the-imams-dais-and-the-ismaili-dawah/
Informative article but there are flaws and confusions. After reading article, it looks like Ismailignosis drifted away from Satpunthi ideology.
Regarding ' Be My Da'i', Imam did not elaborate or further explained," What he menat by 'Be My Da'i' or 'Every spiritual child is my Da'i". A Da'i's life was never bed of roses.In past Da'is has sacrified their lives in propagating Ismailism.
Now how and what can we understand, when Imam says,'Be My Da'i'. It can be convey my message of blessings, barakah and Farmans to murids who were unable to attend Darbars in various countries. Or, obey and act honestly on my ETHICAL Farmans and become a role model as a Da'i for others. Or, it can be elaborated as to recite Du'a regularily by understanding meaning properly three times daily, the reason is , in Arabic root letters of Du'a and Da'i are same. But again, question arises, since when he became Imam, Ismailis are reciting Du'a past 60 years but he never said to become a Da'i. In conclusion what can we understand is, there are three options;
1. Convey message as a Da'i
2. Be an ethical role model as a Da'i
3. Recite Du'a 3 times regularily.
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The Ismaili Da‘wah was self-consciously the instrument through which true religion – valid law and doctrine, proper belief and action, correct science and knowledge of the universe, rightful loyalty to God and His agent for human affairs, appropriate appreciation for the difference between appearance and reality, between the purely physical and the truly spiritual – was made known to mankind in general and to believers in particular.
Paul E. Walker,
(Early Philosophical Shi‘ism: The Ismaili Neoplatonism of Abu Yaqub al-Sijsitani,
CONFUSION: Gnosis quoted Paul Walker, question is, " Who is the agent of God for human affairs, I assume Paul is mentioning Imam as an agent of God.
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Ismaili gnosis wrote; "Throughout history, the Ismaili da‘wah consisted of a formal hierarchy of spiritual teachers and scholars working under the Imam of the Time. The most basic form of the Ismaili da‘wah hierarchy is as follows":
1. Imam
2. Bab (Gate)
3. Hujjah (Proof)
4. Da‘i (Summoner)
5. Ma’dhun Akbar (Senior Teacher)
6. Ma’dhun Asghar (Junior Teacher)
7. Mustajib (Respondent or Initiate)
CONFUSION: The above 7 stage model adopted and introduced by Da'is in Fatimid era is not applicable in modern times. Reason is that the 7 stages were transformed in 2 stages 150 years back and reduced into 2 institutions i.e Imamat and Piratan. Now adays these both institutions are merged togather for reasons Imam knows better.
Other argument is that Satpunthi Pirs never adopted the above 7 stage Fatimid era model formula.
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The Rank of Imam:
The Imam of the Time is the highest and greatest rank in the Ismaili Da‘wah. The Imam’s pure soul receives divine inspiration (ta’yid) and divine guidance from the eternal spiritual world of the Universal Intellect and Universal Soul through the medium of the Holy Spirit (ruh al-quddus). According to the Qur’an (97:1-5, 42:52, 26:193-195, 16:2, 40:15), God inspires the Prophets, the Imams and other chosen humans through the Holy Spirit. While Prophet Muhammad was the last human being to both receive divine inspiration (ta’yid) and convey it as prophetic discourse (tanzil), the Imams of his Ahl al-Bayt continue to be recipients of the Holy Spirit, through which they are able to convey God’s guidance (al-kitab) in the form of spiritual interpretation (ta’wil) and instruction (ta‘lim). God summons humanity to His recognition through the person of the Imam in every time and age:
CONFUSION: The above paragraph is completely going against the Satpunthi ideology. Does the Imam's pure soul receives divine inspiration and divine guidance from the eternal spiritual world of Universal Intellect and Universal Soul throuth the MEDIUM OF HOLY SPIRIT. It shows VISHNU is getting guidance through the medium of Holy Spirit!!! In other words, Imam is getting guidance from other source and then he conveys the message.
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The Rank of Bab:
The second rank after the Imam is the rank of Bab (meaning “Gate”); sometimes this rank is also called “great Hujjah” – because the Babs are the greater Hujjahs. There are 4 persons who hold the rank of Bab:
1 Bab is the Pir – like Pir Prophet Muhammad, Pir Shams, Pir Sadr al-Din, Pir Hasan Kabir al-Din, Pir Shihabuddin Shah, Pir Abu l-Hasan Shah (who was Pir while an infant); sometimes the Imam acts as his own Pir like in the present time;
1 Bab is the present Imam’s son and successor; for example, Imam Sultan Muhammad Shah was the Bab during the lifetime of his father Imam Aga ‘Ali Shah; Mawlana Hazar Imam was the Bab of Imam Sultan Muhammad Shah.
1 Bab is a female figure from the Imam’s family; for example, Hazrat Khadijah was the Bab of Imam Abu Talib; Hazrat Fatimah was the Bab of her husband Imam ‘Ali; Hazrat Zaynab was the Bab of her brother Imam al-Husayn b. ‘Ali; Begum Mata Salamat Lady Ali Shah was the Bab of Imam Sultan Muhammad Shah and later, his fourth wife, Begum Mata Salamat was his Bab;
1 Bab is an Ismaili murid who has reached the spiritual rank of Ahl al-Bayt and is equivalent to Salman al-Farsi during the Prophet’s time. The Prophet said to Salman: “You are from us, the Ahl al-Bayt.” Abu ‘Ali was the Bab of Imam al-Mahdi; Ja‘far b. Mansur al-Yaman was the Bab of Imam al-Mu‘izz; Khatkin al-Dayf was the Bab of Imam al-Hakim; al-Mu’ayyad al-Shirazi was the Bab of Imam Mustansir billah. There have also been Ismailis in modern times who reached the spiritual rank of Bab (spiritual member of Ahl al-Bayt) – including Pir Ismail Gangji, Wazir Muhammad Remu, Varas Basaria Fadhu, Wazir Rahim Basaria, and Pir Sabzali;
The Babs are in spiritual union or spiritual marriage with the Imams — for this reason, the 4 Babs are called the “Spiritual Wives” of the Imam; they receive direct inspiration (nurani ta’yid) from the Imam’s perfect soul. The Babs are also the Spiritual Mothers of the murids. They manifest the maternal and lunar attributes of the Universal Soul to the community of believers, complementing the Imam who manifests the paternal and solar qualities of the Universal Intellect. The Imam corresponds to the Sun and his Babs are like the Moon, as one of the Babs of Fatimid times explained:
CONFUSION: The above explanation of Bab is very confusing. The Ismaili youth and general jamaits shall be traped in mingled threads. Fine, Bab is Pir, now who were the Babs from Imam Baqir to Imam Raziuddin Abdullah, no trace!! Imam Ja'far said," Nahnu Babullah ", We are the gates to Allah, therefore Imam being gate to Allah can'nt be God himself.
Who is the Bab of present Imam from his male children? Because gnosis wrote," Bab is also the present Imam's son and successor".
Ismailignosis wrote," Bab is a female figure from the Imam's family". question; Can princess Zahra become a Bab?? Has Hazar Imam declared her as a Bab?
Was honorable Lady Ali Shah a Bab, she did not become an Ismaili, she remained Isna'ashiri and burried in Najaf Ashraf, Iraq.
Did MSMS declared Mata Salamat as Bab? Where is Farman or declaration?
Ismailignosis wrote," Bibi Khadijah was the Bab (Pir) of Imam Abu Talib. It is a great confusion, Bibi Khadijah was a Pir, then Prophet Muhammad in Satpunthi ideology is counted as First Pir. Now there were 2 Pirs at a same time, husband and wife in same house!! If Prophet Muhammad was first Pir then what was the number of Pir Khadijah? If infact Bibi was a PIR then why she was omitted from the list of Pirs in old Du'a. Same is the case with Bibi Fatimah, now Ismailignosis is mentioning 3 Pirs at the same time, Father, Mother, and Daughter.
What is the status of Hazrat Hasan, was he Bab or Imam Mastoudah? Very complicated theort!!
Was Pir Sabz Ali a Bab also??
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The Rank of Hujjah:
Below the rank of Bab is the rank of Hujjah (“Proof” or “Argument”). The Hujjah is the chief Da‘i over a network of Da‘is in a region, who uses “proofs and arguments” to establish the Imamat of the Imam and lead others to the inner recognition (ma‘rifah) of the Imam by providing the knowledge of philosophy, theology, and the ta’wil (inner meaning) of what is found in the Qur’an and practiced in ritual and law.
CONFUSION: Imam is the Hujjat of Allah according to Quran and fisrt part of Du'a, " WA 'ALA HUJJATIL AMR ". Bab is honarary Hujjat.
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The figure known as the “Pir” in the terminology of South Asian Ismaili tradition is one of the 4 Babs of the Imam, as noted above, and the highest of the Babs in formal authority, second only to the Imam. The status of the Pirs is described by the Ismaili Imam Shah Gharib Mirza (known also as Shah al-Mustansir bi’llah II) in his Farmans:
Confusion: In my opinion, there aren't categories of Babs or Pirs. As there is one Imam at a time so is only one Pir at a time. Was Imam Gharib Mirza Shah Mustansibillah 2nd or 3rd?? Gnosis has mentioned 2nd.
