Ismaili.NET - Heritage F.I.E.L.D.

After the era of Bayezid I who first left Ottoman gradual conquest policy that depended on negotiation and compromise with both local and imperial powers rather than direct centralized authority belonging to Sultan’s initiative, Ottomans faced first interregnum period in which each successor tried to gain power in their regions because of the defeat of Bayezid I in Ankara battle.

"The Risala dar Haqiqat-i Din, Treatise on the True Meaning of Religion" by Pir Shâhbûddin Shah Aga Khan is a must in Ismaili religious literature. In it, we find everything we ought to know about our faith and life. Pir Shâhbûddin Shah had written it for and at the request of the Ismailis before his death.

See complete text in Attachment here below!

This article provides a comprehensive examination of Farmans, or directives, made by the first two Aga Khans to the Nizari Ismaili community between 1850 and 1891. It highlights the historical and theological significance of these Farmans, delivered either by the Imams or their authorized representatives, including Pirs. The author discusses the challenges in preserving these sacred pronouncements, despite their central role in guiding the Ismaili community's spiritual and material life.

Medieval India seems to have been at the confluence of various grassroots religious/spiritual traditions. One of the important texts in this regard is Dasavatar credited to have been written Pir Sadr-ud-din, the founder of the Khoja Ismaili sect in the 15th century, in Sindh. The Dasavatar renames Kalki of Puranic literature as Nikalanak – the last messiah who is to come at the end of this era; acknowledges Vishnu, and also names Buddha as one of the avatars.

There are between 70,000 and 80,000 Shia Imami Ismaili Muslims (also known as Nizari Ismaili Muslims, or simply, Ismailis) in Canada. The largest settlements are in Toronto and Vancouver, with substantial communities (jamats; jama'ats) located in Calgary, Edmonton, Montreal and Ottawa. Ismaili migration to Canada .occurred in the 1950s, with significant increases taking place between the 1970s and 1990s.1 The expulsion of Ugandan Asians in 1972 was the cause of a notable growth in the
community.

This dissertation explores how ideas about cultural and religious difference motivate members of the Shi‘a Ismaili Khojas community in Mumbai to erect social boundaries around their community and reach out to others through volunteer service. As a minority within India’s Muslim minority, difference has been a particularly fraught issue for Ismailis throughout their history. Consequently, they have maintained strict boundary lines around religious institutions in their community, such as sharply restricting attendance at religious functions to Ismailis only.

The Ismailis represent the second largest Shi‘i Muslim community after the Twelvers (Ithna‘ asharis), and are today scattered as religious minorities in more than twenty-five countries of Asia, Africa, Europe and North America. Despite their long history and contributions to Islamic civilisation, however, they were until recently one of the least understood Muslim communities. In fact, a multitude of medieval legends and misconceptions circulated widely about Ismaili teachings and practices, while the rich literary heritage of the Ismailis remained inaccessible to outsiders.

Ismailis, make up the second largest branch of Shi‘i Islam after the Twelvers (Ithna ‘Ashariyyah). While all Muslims
recognize Prophet Muhammad as the last in a long line of Prophets and Messengers of God and the Qur'an as the
revelation of God's Word, there are differences of interpretation concerning the scope and locus of religious authority
after the death of Muhammad. Sunni Muslims vest religious authority in the Qur'an, the Hadith, and the interpretations
of these sources by the religious scholars (‘ulama) of the community; Shi‘i Muslims believe that the Prophet

On 29 September 1899 in Dar-es-Salaam, Imam Sultan Muhammad Shah said to the jamât when He was speaking about the origin of Adam:

To date, there have been two major bibliographies of secondary sources in Ismāʿīlī studies, namely Nagib Tajdin’s A Bibliography of Ismailism1 and Farhad Daftary’s Ismāʿīlī Literature: A Bibliography of Sources and Studies (hereafter referred to as Ismāʿīlī Literature).2 The present bibliography is an attempt to identify sources omitted by these two works within the limits specified below. The purpose of the bibliography, then, is to provide students, scholars, and specialists with organized access to the omissions, thereby supporting research, teaching, and learning

copyright 2000 The Institute of Ismaili Studies

Reference
Prepared for the Aga Khan Development Network by The Institute of Ismaili Studies London.
Keywords: AKDN mandate, din, duniya, ethical ideals
The AKDN Mandate

While the theological thought of Twelver Shiʿism during the 3rd/9th and 4th/10th centuries has been studied relatively well (as much as is possible on the basis of the few, mostly secondary sources that are preserved),1 little is known about its doctrinal
developments from the early 5th/11th century onwards.

Drawing extensively on the testimony of the Persian historians of the seventh-eighth hijri centuries (corresponding to the thirteen-fourteenth centuries of the Christian era), this article sketches a detailed picture of several personalities involved in founding the nascent Ismaili state centred at Alamūt in the fifth/eleventh century. This background sets the stage for analyzing a new manuscript source documenting Ismaili history and thought of this period, Khwāja Qāsim Tushtarī’s Recognizing God

a unique article with EXCLUSIVE PHOTOS, in which Prince Aly Khan exemplifies the true spirit of Islam, whether in wartime or in ordinary times. His untimely death was an inestimable loss to the Ismailis and humanity.

Download PDF of the article from the link BELOW.

By Mumtaz Ali Tajddin Sadiq Ali

The word gadi means "time", corresponding with the Koranic term, sa’a. During the Ancient times in India, day and night were measured in gadi instead of hours or minutes. According to the Holy Koran: "They are indeed in loss who give lie to the meeting with God until when the hour (al-sa’a) comes upon them all of a sudden." (6:31) Here, the hour (al-sa’a) stands for the gadi (moment) of death, which is also depicted in the following lines of a ginan:-

Sayan’ji mor’e dar lago ek din’ko