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

"Prince Sadruddin, the son of Imam Sultan Muhammad Shah and the late Princess Andree Aga Khan was born in the American Hospital at Neuilly, outside Paris on January 17, 1933. He received his early education in Switzerland before graduating in 1954 from Harvard University. After three years of post-graduate research at Harvard's Centre for Middle Eastern Studies, he followed a family tradition in international service established by his father, who had served two terms as President of the League of Nations.

The primary significance of saum is abstaining in an absolute sense (al-imsaku ani-l fi'l), and includes abstaining from eating or speaking or moving about; thus a horse that abstains from moving about, or from fodder, is said to be sa'im, and wind is said to be saum when it abates, and the day when it reaches the mid point. On two occasions in the Koran (9:112 and 66:5), those who fast are called sa'ih (from saha meaning he travelled) or spiritual wayfarers.

"The word shukr (pl. shukur) means thankfulness or gratitude. The verb to thank, to be grateful (shakara) and its various cognates, such as shukr occur 74 times in the Koran. A dominant feature of the concept of gratitude in the Koran is its use to describe the spiritual bond binding the believer to God. Gratitude has a very broad semantic field in the Koran with a strong theocentric character in the sense that shukr is owed chiefly to God, even if that means through what God has made and the offices he has appointed.

The term sa'f safa'i means neat and cleanliness, and the Sa'f Safa'i Committee (matahir or taharat khana) is a traditional institution in each Jamatkhana. It looks after the sweeping, washing and cleaning the premise. Islam emphasizes great deal of cleanliness and purification in every affair of life. The Prophet also said, "Purification is the key to prayer" (Tirmizi, 1:3), "Religion is built on cleanliness" (Ibid.) and "Purification is one half of faith" (Ibn Majah, 1:5).

"Imam Syed Ali was born most probably in Shahr-i Babak, where he passed his early life with his mother. He also came in Kahek after his father's arrival from Khorasan. He was also known as Shah Ataullah II among the Nimatullahi Sufi order. He was a popular figure as an amir in Shahr-i Babak and Kirman in the elites. He is also known as Rais al-Kirman (Lord of Kirman), an honour, which promoted him to the governorship of Kirman. He was also a leading landlord, and had acquired many lands in Shahr-i Babak and Sirjan.

The sahaba (pl. ashab) means the Companions of the Prophet. The plural "Companions of the Prophet" (ashab al-nabi), otherwise known simply as the Companions (sahaba) is derived from the root s-h-b. The phrase ashab al-nabi does not appear in the Koran. Nor does the plural form sahab occur there. Of the 94 times that the noun sahib and its plural ashab do appear in the Koran.

SECTS [ see FIRQA ]

SELF REALIZATION [ see KHUD SHANASI ]

The word asr means time or time to come. It is a spiritual or eternal hour, which is hidden in material age. The material age is zaman. In other words, asr is batin and zaman is zahir. The Imam is the Lord of the spiritual as well as the material hours.

The word sajda (pl. sujud) is derived from sajd means bowing down. It occurs 64 times in the Koran. The prostration or bowing down the head is an obligatory part of the prayers. The Koran says: "O you who believe! Bow down and prostrate yourselves and serve your Lord, and do good that you may succeed" (22:77) and "So make prostration to God and serve" (53:62).

Shab-i Barat or Lail at-Bara'a (night of quittancy) is a non-Koranic but a very popular feast of the Muslims. It is celebrated on the night of the full moon of 14th Sha'ban, and the people devote it to the commemoration of the dead. It is considered to be the night when the "writing conferring immunity is written in heaven" or, more generally, the night during which "the fates for the coming year are destined in heaven."

"Salamia was a small town in Syria in the district of east of the Orontes, and is located at a distance of 32 kilometers to the south-east of Hammah, or 44 kilometers to the north-east of Hims. It lies in a fertile plain, about 1500 feet above the sea level, south of the Jabal al-A'la and on the margin of the Syrian steppe, standing on the main entrance of the Syrian desert.

The word shafa'a is derived from shaf meaning the making a thing to be one of a pair, or the adjoining a thing to its like, and thus shafa'a signifies the joining of a man to another assisting him. In Islamic terminology, it means intercession. It is the intercession of a mediator with the right to intercede of the greater or more worthy on behalf of the lesser or less worthy. The word shafa'a occurs 29 times in the Koran.

The word salat (pl. salawat) is an Aramaic verbal noun s'lota (bowing or bending) had passed into several dialects with the meaning of prayer. This word was used by Armaic speaking Jews for the obligatory recital of the 18 benedictions. In Hebrew, the synagogue of the Jews was also termed as a salat, vide Koran, 22:40. It also means to walk behind anything constantly. In horse-race, the second horse runs just behind the first horse, is also called salla. Its meaning indicates to follow the divine law constantly.

The word shah didar or shah'jo didar means may (you bless with) Lord's glimpse. It is a taslim in the Ismaili tariqah, the believers greet each other at the end of the prayer, beholding face to face, both pronounce shah didar by shaking hand. This is an act of humble wish to refresh their spiritual relation. The Koran says, "Whosoever surrenders his face to God, being a doer of good, has verily grasped the firm hand-hold" (31:22)

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Fixation of five times Salat

"Momin Shah, the son of Imam Shamsuddin Muhammad was the hujjat in Syria. He died in 738/1337. His son Muhammad Shah (d. 807/1404) also operated the Ismaili mission in the village of Khwand in Qazwin. His son was Raziuddin I (d. 833/1429), who in turn was succeeded by his son Muhammad Tahir Shah (d. 867/1462). His son Raziuddin II had gone to Badakhshan in 913/1508, where he established his rule in the period of a certain Taymurid amir Mirza Khan (d. 926/1520). Raziuddin II was killed in the local tribal fighting in 915/1509.

The central theme in the Koran is the requital of human deeds by divine justice both in this world and the world to come. For those who do good deeds, God gives him some reward on earth and a far greater reward in the hereafter. Unbelievers and evildoers can be punished on earth and have to undergo eternal chastisement in the hereafter. The ultimate separation of the two groups will take place on the day of judgment.

"Abu Mansur al-Nizar, surnamed al-Mustapha al-dinillah (the chosen for God's religion), was born in Cairo on 437/1045. He assumed the Imamate on 18th Zilhaja, 487/January 6, 1095 at the age of 50 years. He had been however proclaimed as a successor in 480/1087 before the notables in the court by his father. His participation in state affairs is scant. In 454/1062, during the perilous period of Egypt, Imam al-Mustansir had however sent him to the port of Damietta with the Fatimid army to execute few assignments.

The word qadr and taqdir are derived from qada. According to Raghib, it means the making manifest of the measure (kamiyya) of a thing, or simply measure. In the words of the same authority, God's taqdir of things is in two ways, by granting qudra (power) or by making them in a particular measure and in a particular manner, as wisdom requires.