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

The term Hazar Imam means an Apparent Imam. It is the term specially refers to the Present Imam in the lineage of Ali bin Abu Talib. He is the legitimate Imam of the age according to the Ismaili tariqah. The word hazar means the present and apparent, which can be perceived physically in the world. Different terms are also used for the Hazar Imam, such as Imam-i Zaman, Imam ad-Dahr, Imam al-Asr, Imam-i Mubin, etc. The Present Hazar Imam or Mawlana Hazar Imam is the 49th Imam, Prince Karim al-Husayni, known as the Aga Khan IV.

Keeping in view the dearth of trained teachers and considering the quality of text-books, it seems all very necessary that we should resort to the modern method o teaching history. The benefits of taking into account all the audio-visual aids are the following:- (a) The modern visual and auditory aids make the methodology easy and more meaningful. (b) History being a record of the dead past, the reviving of which could only be enacted only by appealing through visual or auditory aids.

The word Imam al-Mubin occurred twice in the Koran (36:12 and 15:79). The word Imam (pl. a'imma) means a model, an exemplar, a teacher, a guide or a path. The word mubin means manifest, apparent, present, or visible. Besides, the word mubin has a special significance. In Arabic, mubin and the root b-y-n means readily apparent. Thus, Imam al-Mubin means manifest or apparent Imam.

It means, Your honour or Your majesty

HELL [see JAHANNAM ]

Muhammadi Tekri or Tekri (hill), a famous historical site, where Imam Sultan Muhammad Shah was born, which is generally known as Honeymoon Lodge. It is situated on the eastern outskirts of the city of Karachi at plot no. F.T.N. 3/1. It is an old fashioned, but spacious house, perilously perched on the top of the hillock at Korangi Road in the Defence Housing Society area, Karachi. This building was built soon after the British occupation of Sind in 1840. It was made available to the high government officials for their residence, known as Honeymoon Hall in 1841.

"It is evident that the Sunni historians had no basic idea of the Shi'ite concept of Imamate and arrayed hostility with the Ismailis in the light of their own sense of propriety. They dressed the baseless stories in their notion, and then used it a tool to defile Ismailism in aggressive and hyperbolic words. Under such derogatory attitude, Imam Muhammad bin Ismail is accused of claiming the prophethood and abolishing the Shariah of the Prophet!?

He was born on 23rd Rabi I, 375/August 14, 985 in Cairo, and was the first Fatimid Imam born on Egyptian soil. His name was al-Mansur Abu Ali, surnamed al-Hakim bi-Amrillah (He who governs by the orders of God). He acceded the throne in 386/996 at the age of 11 years, 5 months and 6 days. Makrizi writes in Itti’az (p. 386) that, "On the following morning the dignitaries assembled in the Grand Hall to await the new Caliph. Al-Mansur, wearing the diamond turban, entered the Hall and walked to the golden throne, the assembly bowing to the ground meanwhile.

Those who deviate only a little from orthodoxy are called ahl al-ahwa (people of desires), those who follow the devices and desires of their own hearts are called ahl al-bid'a (people of innovation) or mulhid (one who turns aside). Extremists of any sort are called ghulat (pl. of ghali), meaning boil or be expensive.

"In 6/628, the Prophet marched from Medina with 1400 Muslims for the purpose of performing pilgrimage in Mecca. They went unarmed, clad in the ritual dresses. When this peaceful caravan approached its destination, tidings came that the Meccans were bent on mischief, and might stop their entry into the town by force. So, the Prophet halted his followers at a place, called Hudaibia, and his men encamped round a well. From here he sent a message to the Qoraish of Mecca, saying that, "We have come on a peaceful and religious mission. We have come only to perform the sacred pilgrimage.

Bibi Tahira, commonly known as Syeda Imam Begum was the last known member of the Kadiwal family and the composers of the ginans in India. She was born most probably on 1199/1785 in Kera, Kutchh. The tradition has it that she was the daughter of Syed Hashim bin Syed Buzrug Ali bin Syed Mashaikh II bin Syed Muhammad Fazal Shah bin Syed Sadruddin bin Syed Zain al-Abidin bin Syed Abdul Hasan bin Syed Mashaikh I bin Syed Rahmatullah Shah bin Pir Hasan Kabiruddin. Syed Rahmatullah Shah (1422-1519) resided in Uchh and then made Kadi, Kutchh as his permanent residence.

The words halal means lawful, allowed or permitted, and haram means unlawful, forbidden or prohibited, and cognate terms from the trilateral roots h-l-l and h-r-m respectively, most often designate these two categories and are of relatively frequent occurrence. The Koranic declaration of lawfulness or unlawfulness are limited to a relatively few areas of the law as later elaborated by the jurists.

"The first veiled period (dawr-i satr) became benign climate for the enemies of the Ismailis to cultivate different wrong genealogies of the Imams. Thus, the ancestry of the Fatimids has confounded the students of history due to divergent accounts given by the historians, which had been developed round the persons of the "hidden Imams" (aima'i masturin) during concealment period. The widespread Abbasid propaganda, the derogatory attitude of Sunnite and Shi'ite authors make difficult to decide one way or the other about the legitimacy of their claim.

The penal law of Islam is called hudud in the hadith and fiqh books. This word is the plural of hadd, which means prevention, hindrance, restraint, prohibition, and hence a restrictive ordinance, or statute, of God, respecting things lawful and things unlawful. In Islamic fiqh, the word hudud is limited to punishments for crimes mentioned in the Koran or the hadith, while other punishments left to the discretion of the jurists are spoken of as ta'zir (chastisement).

"The two terms, mustaqarr and mustawda Imams often used by the Ismailis to denotes the type of Imams. These are the Koranic terms (6:98): "It is He Who produced you from one living soul, and then there is (for you) a lodging-place (mustaqarr), and a repository (mustawda)". Baidawi agrees that the word mustaqarr in this verse means the loins (sulb, pl.

"Hamiduddin Kirmani was born most probably in 352/933. His family hailed from Kirman as his name indicates, but it is not known where he was born. He first studied the esoteric science under Abu Yaqub al-Sijjistani (d. 360/971), and then went to Cairo for further studies.

The word for emigration, hijra is derived from h-j-r means cutting oneself off from friendly or sociable relation, ceasing to speak to others, forsaking, abandoning, deserting, shunning or avoiding (4:34, 25:30, 74:5). It also means departure from the desert to the town or villages and vice versa. Its most common meaning is to forsake one's own land and take up residence in another country. The Koran frequently uses the variations of the root kh-r-j to convey this sense (4:66, 8:30, 9:40, 60:1).

The word hujjat means sign or proof. It was a high rank in the mission hierarchy of the Ismailis to denote the chief representative of the Imam. The hujjat of the Imam is like the moon, which reflects the light of the sun, i.e., the Imam, and the hujjat acts on his behalf when the Imam is concealed.

The term hujjat Allah means the sign of God. According to the Shi'ites, the Imam is the sign or proof of God (hujjat Allah) on earth. He is the bearer of Divine Light dressed in different bodies in every age to guide his followers. Imam Jafar Sadik said, "The Imams are the proofs (hujjat) of God on earth, their words are the words of God, and their commands are the commands of God. Obedience to them is obedience to God, and disobedience to them is disobedience to God. In all their decisions they are inspired by God, and they are in absolute authority.

"Syed Imam Shah was a famous Ismaili da'i in India. His name was Imamuddin, surnamed Abdur Rahim. He was born in Uchh Sharif in 834/1430, and was the younger son of Pir Hasan Kabiruddin. The tradition has it that when Pir Hasan Kabiruddin died, his all sons were present at Uchh Sharif with exception of Syed Imam Shah. The tradition attests that he reached late during the interment of his father's body. Many traditions are recounted for his dissatisfaction, but all are legendary in character.

"The word hanif (pl. hunafa) is derived from hanf, meaning an inclination in the forepart of the foot or inversion of the foot. A person having this distortion of the foot is called ahnaf. The singular word hanif occurs 10 times in the Koran (2:135, 3:67, 95; 4:125, 6:79, 161; 10:105, 16:120,123, 30:30), and the plural hunafa two times (22:31, 98:5). It occurs once as a synonym of muslim (3:67) and also in juxtaposition with the verb aslama (4:125).