A HISTORY OF THE AGAKHANI ISMAILIS

(Section Two)

Continued from Section One

When did the "Khojahs" become "Ismailis"?

   If you happen to meet an Agakhani Ismaili whose roots are in India, and ask him about the conversion of his ancestors, he would very likely tell you that his forefathers were Hindus and converted as  Khojah Muslims. If you ask him how these  Khojahs  became Ismailis,  he will most probably tell you that as years went by, through change in
nomenclature the  Khojah Muslims  became known as  Shi'ah Imami Ismaili Muslims. Alternatively he may reply that the Pirs that converted the ancestors were sent to India bythe Nizari Ismaili Imams and the converts were Shi'ah Imami Ismailis since the day of their conversion, but were known as Khojahs.

  Is this is a legendary belief or a historical reality? Were these Pirs sent to India by the Nizari Ismaili Imams? If so, by which Imam and in what century? In the past, non-Ismaili authors had raised such questions and cast their doubts on the recorded data. But in the last two decades Ismaili scholars have discovered evidence that has obliged
them to raise these questions in their theses and articles. Furthermore, the data uncovered by these scholars comes from Ismaililiterature.The majority of Ismailis are unaware of these recent findings, and if they read them, they would be doing so for the first time.

Memoirs of Aga Khan and Shah Islam Shah

  In 1954, Aga Khan III published his Memoirs through Cassell and Company Ltd., London. On p. 181, he writes:

In India, certain Hindu tribes were converted by missionaries sent to them by my ancestor, Shah Islam Shah, and took the name of Khojas; a similar process of conversion occurred in Burmaas recently as the nineteenth century.

 Ismaili history tells us that his full name was Sayyid Ahmed Islam Shah and he was the thirtieth Ismaili Imam. Islam Shah died in Kahak in 1423 or 1424 (fifteenth century).Until recently, the birth year of Islam Shah
was not recorded by Ismaili historians. Mumtaz Tajdin, an Ismaili scholar from Pakistan, records in Genealogy of The Aga Khan(Karachi, 1990) the birth of Shah Islam Shah in Daylam in 1334 (fourteenth century).  While doing their dissertations on thesubject of Ginans, Ismaili scholars havediscovered that Pir Sadr-din and his mentor Pir Shams were living in the "thirteenth andtwelfth" centuries, whereas Shah Islam Shah was born in the "fourteenth" century. This
regression of 200 years casts a serious doubt on the authenticity of the aforementioned claim made by the Aga Khan.

  As for "a similar process of conversion"taking place in Burma, there is no evidence or record of any such process having taken place at any time in the history of Burma.There are hardly any Burmese Ismailis.

Noorum-Mubin -- a recommended history book

  In 1936, Aga Khan III completed 50 years of his Imamate (spiritual leadership). To commemorate this occurrence, Ismailis living in India and Africa collected funds and weighed their Imam in gold   first in India and thereafter in Africa. On this occasion of the Golden Jubilee celebrations in India, abook of Ismaili history was released with
fanfare. It was written in Gujrati by an Ismaili author and printed in Bombay (1935) by the press department of Aga Khan'sinstitution for religious propaganda, called Recreation Club.  Aga Khan personally
recommended that the members of his Jama'at read this book, which glorified him, his ancestors, and the Ismaili Pirs. This highlyrecommended book was called Noorum-Mubin (manifest light). The author, AlimohammadJanmohammad Chunara, has interpreted the
title of his book in English as The SacredCord of God and has described his book as "A Glorious History of Ismaili Imams." Noorum-Mubin is a voluminous book with over800 pages. It was revised and reprinted three times. It has now been out of print for the
last several decades and can be found in only a handful of Ismaili homes.

Pir Sadr-din was a disciple of Pir Shams

  Noorum-Mubin records that before Pir Sadr-din started his mission, he took his religious training in Multan from Pir Shams. It also records that Pir Sadr-din, with the help of two sons of Pir Shams, built the famous Mazar (mausoleum) of Pir Shams that is located near the city of Multan and is a historical landmark of Punjab.

  It is easy to establish the period of Pir Shams's mission in India since these records are preserved by the custodian of hismausoleum. Similarly, the faith Pir Shams preached can also be determined from his
followers living in Punjab, Kashmir, and Tibet. Once these two things are established, it is not difficult to know the period of Pir Sadr-din's mission and his persuasion.

  Awliya Shah Shams ad-Din, whom the Ismailis call Pir Shams, came to Multan from Afghanistan in 1201. He was a contemporary of Shaykh Bahaoddin Zakariyya (d. 1276) and Shaykh Fakhroddin Ibrahim al-Iraqi (d. 1289). Shah Shams died in 1276. His converts, as recorded earlier and acknowledged by the author of Noorum-Mubin are mostly Sunni
Muslims.

  Since Pir Sadr-din was a disciple of Pir Shams, it is inconceivable that Pir Sadr-din could have adopted and preached a Tariqah (persuasion) of Islam that would be diametrically opposed to that of his spiritual mentor. The relationship thatexisted between these two Muslim saints also supports the claim made by Sunni Khojahs in 1866, before Justice Arnould in the HighCourt of Bombay, that Pir Sadr-din came from
Multan (and not from Persia). He was a Sunni 'alim and his converts were Sunni Khojahs, not Ismaili Khojahs.

Hasina M. Jamani, an Ismaili scholar from
India

  It is very fascinating to read what Hasina Jamani has discovered during her studies at the Institute of Islamic Studies at McGill
University. In her thesis entitled Brahm Prakash: A Translation and Analysis, she writes (p. 24):

With regard to the period of Pir Shams' da'wa activities in the Sub-continent, there are apparently three versions. Thefirst is a Shajra <genealogical tree> found in the custody of the mutawalli[custodian] of the shrine of Pir Shams in Uchh, Multan. The Shajra says thatShams al-Din was born in Ghazni[Afghanistan] on the 17th Rajab 560/1165 i.e., about a hundred years before thefall of Alamut. The Shajra makes him come to Multan in 598/1201 and permitshim to live till 675/1276.
The second version is obtained from the ginans attributed to Shams al-Din himself.... Surbhan Vel, one of the longer ginans attributed to Shams al-Din, mentions his arrival in Samvat1175/1118. Yet, in another of his ginans, Chandrabhan Vel, his arrival inChenab is given as Samvat 1200/1143.
However, when we come across the name of the Imam on whose behalf Shams al-Din is supposed to have carried on da'wa activity, the name of Imam Qasim Shah [d. 1370] is mentioned. Imam Qasim Shahbelongs to the post Alamut period.
Alamut, as is well-known, was razed by the Mongols in 1256, and after that the history of the Nizaris and their Imams enters a new stage. The child of the last Imam of Alamut, Rukn al-Din KhurShah, is said to be Shams al-Din. In the Ismaili genealogy Qasim Shah is the name of the Imam who succeeded Imam Shams.
Thus, if Qasim Shah was the Imam of the time, then the period of Shams' activity would extend into the 14th century.

Pir Shams - author of 'Gujrati' compositions?

   Ismaili history records that Pir Shams was born in Persia. He came to Punjab via Badakhshan, Tibet, and Kashmir. He lived and died in Punjab (Multan). Ismaili historians have not recorded the Pir's residence in Gujrat, Kutchh, or Kathiawar, where the Gujrati language is spoken. Nonetheless, Ismaili literature has over 2000 verses of Ginans and Garbis, the authorship of which is attributed to Pir Shams. Almost all of them are in the Gujrati language with the exception of a few in Multani.

     The questions often asked by Ismailis are:

 1. Why did Pir Shams compose thousands of verses of Ginans and Garbis in Gujrati when his followers were mostly Punjabis, Tibetans, and Kashmiris, who did not speak Gujrati?

 2. Where and when did Pir Shams learn a language that is spoken only in Gujrat and Kathiawar?

 3. Who wrote down these Gujrati Ginans in Multan or transmitted them orally, generation after generation?

Pir Sadr-din was a Haji

    Professor W. Ivanow writes in his book The Sect of Imam Shah in Gujrat (p. 34): "He [Pir Sadr-din] is locally [at the place of his burial] spoken of as Haji Sadr Shah; the tomb is without any inscription."

   The title Haji indicates that Sadr-din Shah (Pir) had per-formed the pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina. It is a well-known fact that Ismailis do not perform Hajj. Karim Aga Khan's Didar (glimpse) is a Hajj for an Agakhani Ismaili. "According to Ismailian ta'wil, hajj or pilgrimage, was interpreted to mean a visit to the Imam." writes Hollister in The Shi`a Of India (p. 390). Continuing further he writes (pp. 391-92):

Pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina is almost never undertaken by Khojas.... In 1896 Agha Jangi Shah, an uncle of the present Agha Khan, and his son, were killed by assassins at Jeddah while they were on their way as pilgrims to Mecca. The murderers were said to be staunch followers of the Agha Khan. They were arrested and kept in custody in Jeddah, and were later found dead at their place of confinement, having taken poison. No information is available, but the incident has allowed the suspicion that it grew from opposition to this pilgrimage which the sect condemns.

Abdulaziz Sachedina - a Khojah scholar

Professor Abdulaziz A. Sachedina writes in Rahenajat (pp. 8-9):

...it is correct to say that from the time of their conversion to Islam from the Hindu Shakti Marg until 1860s because of the influence of the Sunni mullas, who had officiated at their marriages, deaths, and other such occasions, Khojas were responsive to the Sunni school of thought. The beginning of the "Khoja awakening" in the first half of the 19th century ushered the community to the revival of their religious identity as a consequence of their increased level of religious knowledge. 

...Before this period, as evidenced by the 1847 court case, the Khojas had no knowledge about their Shi'ism; nor did they know the difference between the Shi'i and the Sunni schools of thought. Thus, when Agha Hasan 'Ali Shah in 1861 required the Khojas to declare their Shi'ism, the community had no hesitation in signing the document declaring their Shi'ite identity. The Shi'i mulla had prepared the community for this declar-ation of allegiance. And, the Agha Khan and his son `Ali Shah, led the community in their prayers and commemorative gatherings to mourn the martyrs of Karbala, regularly. These and other Iranian religious practices were certainly based on the Ithna 'Ashri school of thought.

Mawlana Rumi and Shams Tabriz

   Mawlana Jalal ad-Din Rumi (1207-73) was a great mystic and dervish in Islamic history. At the age of thirty-nine, he became a student of Shams ad-Din at-Tabriz (d. 1247). Rumi is well-known for his Mathnawi, a six-volume work of mystical Sufi poems in Persian, many of which were written out of love for his spiritual mentor, Shams Tabriz. In his Farmans, Aga Khan III had quoted the philosophical messages of Mawlana Rumi and asked Ismailis to read Mathnawi to understand the philosophy of "our" religion.

   Quoting a verse from the Mathnawi, the author of Noorum-Mubin (p. 316, rev.ed., 1951) claims that the name "Shams" mentioned in the quoted verse refers to the twenty-eighth Ismaili Imam, Shamsuddin Muhammad. The author also claims (p. 309) that Shams Tabriz, the spiritual mentor of Rumi, was son of the twenty-sixth Ismaili Imam, Allauddin Muhammad.

   Ithna'ashri scholars have questioned these claims and pointed out that Mawlana Rumi and Shams Tabriz were both Ithna'ashries. Mawlana Rumi referred to the "Twelve Imams" of the Ithna'ashries in his Mathnawi. And, on his Mausoleum are inscribed the names of Ithna'ashri Imams.

   When Aga Khan III asked his followers to read the Mathnawi, to understand the philosophy of "our" religion, he was in fact promoting the ideology of the religion of his father and grand-father, who were Sufi Ithna'ashries.

Confidential Report, Canada - 1987

  In the last two decades, young Ismaili scholars and Waezins (missionaries) who have done extensive research on the subjects of the history of Ismaili Pirs, their Ginans and Ismaili beliefs have been refuting in their lectures the erroneous and baseless claims made in the past by Ismaili authors concerning the lives of these so-called "Ismaili" Pirs, the periods of their missions, the mythological concepts of equating 'Ali with Hindu deities that are associated with these Pirs, etc., whereas, elderly missionaries have been strongly advocating these ancestral beliefs.

   Most of these refutations are not published for public reading. One of the reasons is that the majority of these students/waezins are financed and/or sponsored by Aga Khan's Institutions. After the completion of their studies, many of these scholars look forward to joining these institutions or their affiliated organizations as full-time paid research scholars, teachers or missionaries. However, the refutations do surface from time to time, either in their theses or during question-and-answer sessions at seminars or private lectures.

   Mehboob Kamadia of Toronto published in 1987 a 175-page Confidential Report on Propagation of Anti Ismaili Elements by Scholars. He described the activities of a dozen or so young Ismaili scholars and missionaries. Copies of the report, with a covering letter recommending disciplinary action to be taken against the listed individuals, were mailed to various Ismaili institutions and the community leaders.

  Kamadia's frustrations mounted when his report and the subsequent reminders got no satisfactory response or action from higher authorities. The ultimate objective of the hierarchy has been to suppress, rather than to confront, such sensitive issues in public, especially when professors from Western universities are assisting these scholars in their research.

"Contumacious treason against God"
 

 Allah forgiveth not that partners should be set up with Him;
but He forgiveth anything else, to whom He pleaseth;
to set up partners with Allah is to devise a sin 
most heinous indeed.           Holy Qur'an 4/48

 Just as in an earthly kingdom the worst crime is that of treason, as it cuts at the very existence of that State, so in the spiritual kingdom, the unforgivable sin is that of contumacious treason against God by putting up God's creatures in rivalry against Him. This is rebellion against the essence and source of spiritual life. It is what Plato would call the "lie in the soul." But even here, if the rebellion is through ignorance, and is followed by sincere repentance and amend-ment, God's Mercy is always open (iv. 17).

DEVIATION FROM THE TEACHINGS 
OF SADR-DIN

Ginans - the only link with Islam

  Ismaili historians have recorded that Pir Sadr-din's profession was to write and sell copies of the Holy Qur'an. The profession was also carried on by his descendants. This tells us that the Pir and his descendants were well versed with the teachings of the Holy Qur'an. After learning the local dialects, they began composing devotional songs in the local tongue and reciting them. The knowledge of Islam and the messages of the Qur'an were thus brought to the converts in their own native language, through Ginans (devotional songs) and Garbis (choral dance songs). These songs were transmitted orally, from generation to generation.

   Writing and marketing of the religious songs composed by their ancestors became a profession of some of the descendants of the Pirs. These descendants were respectfully called Sayyids (literally, liege lord). The profession supplemented their income and complemented their mission of conversion. Later on, unknown Sayyids, poets, philosophers, teachers and others began adding their own compositions (songs) to the original collection.

   In the late 1940s, a Head Master (head teacher) of my religious night school in Bombay, whose name was Hussein Gulamhussain Hussaini (pen-name “Musst”; literally, in high spirit), added his own composition to the collection. The Ginan is entitled Par karo beda Guruji. This questions an affirmation made by Ismaili scholar Azim Nanji in the Ismaili magazine Hikmat, of July 1991 (p. 27), that “By the early part of this century, the corpus of the ginan tradition, having accu mulated over several centuries, became stabilized and no new compositions have since been added.”

   A collection of canonical and non-canonical Ginans has been the base of Agakhani Ismailis' Islamic beliefs and traditions. This was their only link with Islam in their own native tongue. Even today, it serves well for the vast majority of Ismailis who do not have the inclination to read the Holy Qur'an or its translation. In the religious classes, usually conducted within the premises of the Jama`at khanas, Ismaili children are taught to recite and memorize verses of the Ginans rather than the verses of the Qur'an.

  Because corpus of the Ginans, accumulated over several centuries, has been the primary media of proselytizing, it is essential to study the history of the accumulation and publication of Ginans, the various categories of the Ginans, and the process of editing of these Ginans in the early part of this century in order to understand the second and third phases of proselytizing.

 Today, looking at the past, one can well imagine the possibilities for proselytizing a community whose only link with Islam was through a secondary source (Ginans) that was in circulation by oral transmission over a period of several centuries. Ashiqueali H. Hussain, President of the Ismailia Association for Pakistan (1983), writes in the foreword of Ginans of Ismaili Pirs by G. Allana that it was only in the seventeenth century that the first hand-written documents and manuscripts of the Ginans were available.

Three categories of Ginans

The Ismailia Association for India, which has been a pioneer in the research of Ginans, has classified the authorship of the Ginans into three categories:

 1. Authorized Ginans composed by appointed Pirs
 2. Devotional Songs composed by known Sayyids
 3. Devotional Songs composed by unknown Sayyids

The last classification tells us that Songs (not Ginans) composed by unknown authors have been added to the corpus of the Ismaili Ginans.

  Next to the obedience of Imam's Farmans comes the compliance with the preaching of the Ginans, for an Ismaili. Abiding by the verses of Ginans, whose authorship is not known, is an unconventional, strange custom.

Caution for the readers of the Ginans

  In 1969, the Ismailia Association for India published a Gujrati series entitled Collection of Ginans. In its introductory notes the publisher has issued an astounding caution to the readers:

 It should be borne in mind that many Ismaili poets, philosophers and 'Bhagats' [devout] have written songs and propagated the true path of Ismailism. Similarly, Sayyids have also composed Ginans and propagated the faith. These compositions have been preserved in our religious literature. We have only to adopt the preaching that are within these compositions. But, the Ginans of these composers cannot be given the same “weight” as those composed by the authorized Pirs that were nominated by Imam-e-Zaman.

Editing of the Ginans

  In the last two decades, the Ismailia Association for Pakistan has published several collections of Ginans after editing the verses and making them conducive to the climate prevailing in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. The office-holders of the Ismailia Association for Canada have objected to this practice of her sister association. The Ismailia Association for Pakistan has mentioned in the introductory notes that the work of editing was officially entrusted to them at a conference in Paris (1975) that was chaired by Karim Aga Khan and maintains that the editing has been done in accordance with the guidelines provided at the conference.

   After a generation or two, the Ginans that will survive will be fully edited to confirm with the present Ismaili beliefs and, the others will be lost for ever.

Ivanow's work went “out of print”

  Professor W. Ivanow is regarded by Western scholars as one of the leading authorities on Ismaili literature and history. After his migration to Bombay from St. Petersburg, Russia, Ivanow devoted his time to research and travel looking for primary documents and manuscripts on Ismaili history and doctrine.

  In his Farmans to Ismailis, Aga Khan III lavishly praised Ivanow, “a Christian cleric” and Asaf Ali A. Fyzee, “a Sulaymani Bohra” for their research and study of Ismaili literature. Professor Ivanow's works were mostly published by the Ismaili Society, founded in Bombay in 1946. In those days the professor was in the good books of the Aga Khan. Ivanow had translated into English a short (unfinished) treatise in Persian on the spirit of the fundamental principles of Ismailis, written by Aga Khan III's elder brother (Pir) Shihabu'd-din Shah al-Husayni.

  In 1957 and 1958, Ivanow was financed by a private “Study Group” in Mombasa, Kenya, headed by C. K. R. Paroo and M. H. Rashid, in exploring the historical site of Alamut. The aim of the expedition was to uncover the mystery surrounding to the founder of Alamut, Hasan bin Sabbah (The Old Man of the Mountain), and his successors, especially the enigmatic Grand Master, Hasan `ala dhikrihis- salam (Hasan II).

   Professor Ivanow's independent research, published in Tehran in 1960, did not support Ismaili beliefs. The publication was entitled Alamut and Lamasar. Ivanow wrote (p. 25):

  It would be too long to go into details of the story, but when Kiya Muhammad, the son and successor of Kiya Buzurg-Ummid [successor to Hasan bin Sabbah], died in 557/1162, he was succeeded by the person, who was officially regarded as the son of Kiya Muhammad, but later recognised as the Imam, Khudawand Hasan 'ala dhkiri-hi's- salam.

  This kind of reporting, specifically the one that had challenged the genealogy of their Imam, was unacceptable to the community leaders. When Ivanow continued to write unfavourably about Ismaili history and literature, most of his publications suddenly went “out of print.”

   We learn from Professor Ivanow's later publications that some of the manuscripts that he had translated as Ismaili literature were in fact plagiarised Ithna'ashri documents, passed on to him by Ismailis as works of their Pirs and Imams.

“Ginans composed at much later date” — Ivanow

  On the subject of Ginans, W. Ivanow writes in one of his out-of-print books, Ismaili Literature, published by the Ismaili Society, Tehran, 1963, under the heading “The Literature of the Khojas and Sat-panthis in India” (p. 174):

 It is quite possible to think that what is now in existence is the result of a process of selection which was at work for a long time. The gnans, of which it chiefly consists, were never built into a “canonical version,” respectfully preserved. Creation of new compositions is suggested by oral tradition, the new good ones were apparently accepted, and the inferior old ones were allowed to fall in oblivion.  A great majority of gnans are the creation of anonymous authors. Apparently quite a considerable proportion of those attributed to the authorship of Great Pirs probably have nothing to do with them, and were composed at a much later date. This particularly applies to the gnans about various pirs, their miracles, their sayings.

Note: The term Batiniyat means an esoteric doctrine which is “inward” and therefore often kept secret. It also means a doctrine that is of a dubious nature. The term Shari'at means a doctrine based upon prescribed Laws. It means the canonical Laws of Islam that were revealed to Prophet Muhammad, upon whom be peace.

Dr. G. Allana's critical notes on Ginans

  The Ismailia Association for Pakistan has published in 1984 a book entitled Ginans of Ismaili Pirs, by Huzur Vazir Dr. Ghulamali Allana. On page 51 of Volume I, we find an interesting observation by the author, who after quoting a verse of a Ginan which is said to have been written by an Ismaili Pir named Nooruddin, writes:

 The above ginan has been written in Hindi. It is interesting to point out that it is generally believed that the earliest poets [sic] in Hindi was Amir Khusroo, born in Uttar Pradesh, India, in the year 1253 a.d. and who died in the year 1325 a.d.

  After quoting verses from Pir Sadr-din's Ginan and a famous Sindhi poet's work, Allana writes (pp. 90-91):

 Pir Sadruddin was born in 1300 a.d., and Shah Abdul Latif in 1688 a.d. Both wrote poetry, among other languages, in Sindhi. It is interesting to note that in the above refrain, Pir Sadruddin has written in the last line; in Sindhi, thus: [quotes two lines in Sindhi]. Shah Abdul Latif, three hundred and ninety years after Pir Sadruddin, has put same thought, in about identical words, as follows [quotes two lines in Sindhi].

The original Ginans taught the “Path of the Prophet”

  When the Ginans were first reduced into writings they were written in the Khojki script. The alphabet of this ancient form of Sindhi writing is the same as that of the Gujrati language, but the script is totally different. In the religious night schools of India, when I was a student, the students were taught to read and write this secretive Khojki script. Today, hardly one percent of Ismailis can read this secretive Sindhi script of their ancestors. The ancient Ginans that were written in Khojki script have virtually disappeared. What the Ismailis have today is a puny collection of selected short Ginans that can be easily memorized and recited from the transliterated English, French, and Urdu scripts.

   Upon close scrutiny of some of the so-called old Ginans, which have survived in their original forms, one discovers that these ancient Ginans firmly advocated Sunni Tariqah of Islam. In other words these Ginans were addressed mostly to Sunni Khojahs. A few verses from one such old Ginan, entitled Booj Niranjan, are quoted below. The name of the composer, mentioned at the end of the Ginan, tells us that it was composed by Pir Sadr-din:

 Jo nafsaniyat ku nakhe
 sab roze Ramzanke rakhe
 man thi hoi shahadat bhakhe
 tab lizzat Islamki chakhe

  Char mazhab burhaqq kari mane
  char kitabku sahi pichhane
  aur Nabi sab haqq kar jan
  tab tuj hove durrast iman

 Wajib farz jo sat kari jane
 sab ehkam arkan pichhane
 roz qiyamat sahi kari mane
 sab kahuku manme thane

  Pade Qur'an Kitaba booje
  to tuje rah Nabi ki sooje
  jo mukh Ahmed kera booje
  rah Niranjan ape sooje

 Jo booje marag Pir Sadar'din kera
 Jo hai sada kabool reh
 Sab Nabiyoke Sartaj hai
 Soh dule Nabi Rasul reh.

Translation:

 If [you] can control your instincts,
 keep all the fasts of Ramadhan,
 recite Shahadah with belief,
 then can relish Islam.

  When [you] truly accept the four
  religions [of four Prophets],
  truly acknowledge the four books
  [of four Prophets], and truly
  recognize all the Prophets,
  then you can have upright faith.

 Admit the obligatory duties as Truth,
 comprehend all the [Qur'anic] Commands
 and [Five] Pillars,
 sincerely believe in the Day of Judgment,
 keep all these things in mind;

  Read the Qur'an, understand the Book,
  then you will visualize the path of
  Nabi [Prophet].
  If [you] comprehend the mouth [teachings] of Ahmed [Muhammad],
  the pathway to invisible [Allah] will manifest itself.

 Understand the path of Pir Sadr-din
 which is always an accepted path.
 The crown of all the prophets is
 that beloved Nabi Rasul [Muhammad].

  The text of the above Ginan tells us that the composer (Pir Sadr-din) was a practising Sunni Muslim. He was preaching what he himself had been practising. He advocates for the teachings of “Ahmed” and not of the “Imams.” He solicits his converts, who were Sunni Khojahs, to “visualize the path of Prophet” and to “comprehend the teachings of the Prophet.”

Post-Alamut teachings and Pir Sadr-din

  The preaching and pronouncements of the above Ginan also tells us that Pir Sadr-din could not have been sent to India by an Imami Ismaili Nizari Imam of the post-Alamut period. Imam Qasim Shah and Islam Shah were both from the post-Alamut period. Here are the reasons for this contention:

  During the Alamut period, at the pronouncement of their leader Hasan 'ala dhikrihis-salam, the Nizari Ismailis had abolished the Islamic Laws of Shari'a. Ismailis were officially exempted from the keeping of the fasts during the month of Ramadhan.

  Even today the practice is carried on by the Agakhani Ismailis who would justify their stand by arguing that they practice Batini (inward) spiritual fasting (i.e., controlling of the human instincts), instead of Zaheri (outward) physical fasting, as per the Farmans of the late Aga Khan.

  If Pir Sadr-din was an authorized Ismaili Pir sent by a post-Alamut-period Nizari Imam, he would neither have propagated “Shari'at” nor asked his converts to “keep all the fasts of Ramadhan,” a practice abolished by the Nizari Imams since 1164.

“Break your fast and rejoice”

  The vast majority of Ismailis who declare “We are Batini and Sunnis are shari`ati” are not aware of the origin of this concept in the history of the Ismaili Imams. They do not know how, when, and why this religious revolution was instituted (“declared”). There are several books written by university professors under the subject of “Assassins” giving detailed accounts of “The Great Declaration,” also known as “The Great Resurrection.” The Declaration was made in the fortress of Alamut, in the month of Ramadhan, in the year 1164, on the anniversary of the murder of Hazrat 'Ali ibn Talib.

 To make it more convincing for Ismaili readers, who may be sceptical about the historical documents recorded by non-Ismaili authors, I am quoting a passage from a history book written by a senior Ismaili missionary, Abualy A. Aziz, entitled A Brief History of Ismailism, p.73:

 Mowla'na Ima'm Hasan Ala'Zikrihis Salaam declared the Youm-el-Qiya'ma, the Day of Resurrection, which was held on the nineteenth of Ramaza'n, 559 a.h. (10th of August, 1164). Thousands upon thousands of Ismai'ilis came from all corners of the world to attend this important day of resurrection of the holy faith. The Holy Ima'm declared...
“Today I have explained to you the Law [shari'at] and its meaning. I make you free from the rigidity of the Law and resurrect you from the bondage of the letter to the freedom of the spirit of the Law. Obey me and follow my farma'n.... Break your fast and rejoice. This is the day of utmost happiness and gratitude.”

  History records that it was a Friday in the holy month of Ramadhan. Hasan descended from the minbar (pulpit), offered two rak'at of prayers and asked his followers to break their fasts in the middle of the day and join him in the afternoon banquet, which included drinking of wine. Followers broke their fasts and joined Hasan in merrymaking. The Shari`ah laws were abolished from that day, and every year the 17th (19th, according to Abualy) of Ramadhan was celebrated as 'id-i Qiyamat, the Festival of the Resurrection.

  It is essential to know the foundations and roots of such enigmatic perceptions if we are to fully understand the process of the second and third proselytizing of the Khojahs of India by the Aga Khans, who claim to be the direct descendants of Hasan 'ala dhikrihis- salam.

“We are Batini — Sunnis are Shari'ati”

Professor Bruce Borthwick of Albion College, Michigan, writes in his article “The Ismailis and Islamization in Pakistan” (p. 6):

 But for Ismailis the basis of religious authority is located in the Imam. He possesses divine knowledge (`ilm), he carries the light (nur) of God, and he is the “Speaking Koran” (al-Qur'an al- Natiq). Since Ismailis have a living authority, someone who repeatedly interprets to them through firmans the faith and gives advice about life's many practical everyday problems, they have no real concern for the Sharia and its application in law and everyday life. They have no real need for a special class of legal experts (fuqaha), nor for a special science of the law (fiqh), which simply do not exist in the contemporary Ismaili tradition, as expressed in a statement I heard made by an Ismaili woman: 
“We are batini. Sunnis are shari'ati.”

  Readers who are familiar with the history of the Apostle Paul and his preaching, especially the one identified by Christian theologians as “Pauline Justification,” would find a similarity with the declaration of “The Great Resurrection” by Hasan II. Paul had liberated Christians from the observance of the Command ments of Moses — the Law — by saying that “faith in the Resurrected Jesus Christ” supersedes the Law. The worship of the resurrected Jesus became the worship of God. The love of Jesus — the resurrected Son of God — meant the love of God the Father.

  Hasan II, while liberating Nizari Ismailis from the “rigidity of the Law” said: “Obey me and follow my farma'n.” In other words, disregard the revealed laws of Allah and obey my laws. Today, the a majority of the Agakhani Ismailis are doing exactly that because they believe it to be the essence of their faith. Missionary Abualy A. Aziz writes in the Preface of his book: “Isma'ilis have always kept their love for their Ima'me' Zama'n above everything.”

Aga Khan resurrects “The Great Resurrection”

  On 20 February 1910, at Rajkot, India, Aga Khan III made the following “Secret Declaration” before his followers. The text is published in a book called Khangi Farman meaning “Secret Pronouncements.” The Farman is written in Khojki, a secretive script. Here is a translation of that Declaration:

 Do not at all reflect about the future and do not at all think about whether you shall receive the Heaven or the Hell in the afterlife. Because, all things — the Heaven and the Hell — [to give] is in my hand.

“Total and unquestioning obedience”

  Professor Bernard Lewis of the Annenberg Institute in Philadelphia is a long-term member of the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton University. One of his well-known subjects of research has been the history of the Assassins of Alamut, and their mystical doctrines. On page 27 of The Assassins — A Radical Sect in Islam (Weidenfeld and Nicholson, London, 1967; reprint, Al Saqi, London, 1985), Bernard Lewis has very briefly but in scholarly terms explained the base of a belief that requires total and unquestioning obedience from the followers.

 The Imam is central to the Ismaili system — of doctrine and of organization, of loyalty and of action. After the creation of the world by the action of the universal mind on the universal soul, human history falls into a series of cycles, ....The imams, in the current cycle the descendants of `Ali and Fatima through Isma'il, were divinely inspired and infallible — in a sense indeed them selves divine, since the Imam was the microcosm, the personification of the metaphysical soul of the universe. As such, he was the fountainhead of knowledge and authority — of the esoteric truths that were hidden from the uninformed, and of commands that required total and unquestioning obedience.

  An interesting article on the Ismailis by Professor Peter B. Clarke, a lecturer in History and Social Science at the University of Ibadan, appeared in the December 1976 issue of the British Journal of Sociology, Volume 27, no. 4. Dr. Clarke writes (p. 486):

 The Qur'an is of importance to Ismailis, but not so important to them as it is to Sunnis. Ismailis have the word of God Incarnate in the Imam: 'It is the word of holy firman of Imam-i-Zaman, which is the one, the only and the whole basic principle of Ismailism.' The authoritative statements of the Imam's — the firmans — are binding on Ismailis and take effect immediately.

The new Ginanic preaching

   When Pir Sadr-din converted Hindus as Sunni Khojahs, he gave them Sat-panth, meaning “A path of truth.” The entire foundation of that path (faith) was based upon the Qur'anic Commands and the teachings of the Prophet, as seen from the verses of his Ginan Booj Niranjan, quoted heretofore.

   The so-called “new good Ginans,” written centuries later, made Khojahs deviate from the “Path of Truth.” These plagiarized Ginans indoctrinated the descendants of the Sunni Khojahs into practising Gnosticism (a Dualistic form of Shi`ism). The aim of it was to identify Hazrat `Ali as the Creator of the Universe, as clearly evident from the verses below of a Ginan entitled Moman Chetamani (warnings for believer). The authorship of this Ginan has been attributed to a Sayyid. The quoted dialogue is between the Prophet Muhammad (upon whom be peace), and a leader of the angels who has descended to this earth to pay homage to Hazrat `Ali, who has just been born:

 Aji tare Nabi Muhammad em boliya
 Bhai Mala'ik, tamne kahoo vichar,
 Amne pote olkhaviyo,
 eh chhe srusthino sarjanhar.

Translation:

 And then Nabi Muhammad said,
 Brother Angel, let me tell you my thought,
 [`Ali] himself has made known to me,
 He [`Ali] is the Creator of this universe.

  Any one who has read the history of the Prophet's life would substantiate that he heard the voice of angel Gabriel for the first time, when he received the very first Revelation of the Qur'an. The Prophet was in a kind of shock to hear the voice of Gabriel because he had not heard any such voice, prior to that date. This happened at the age of forty, that is eleven years after the birth of Hazrat `Ali.

   This shows that the claim made by the author of the Ginan that “Nabi Muhammad” had a dialogue with “Brother Angel” eleven years prior to that date, the day when 'Ali was born, is totally out of question. The purpose of this manufactured Ginan, under the name of a Sayyid (a descendant of the Prophet), was to establish that the Prophet of Islam had himself acknowledged the Divinity of 'Ali.

   Even with such glaring contradictions, the enigmatic perceptions have survived. Ismailis proudly recite the above verses in the Jama`at khanas and the missionaries proudly propagate the theme of this Ginan. Since Moman Chetamani is officially published, printed, and circulated by the Ismailia Association, no Ismaili would dare to challenge the authenticity of the recited verse or verses in writing, unless he is prepared to face the consequences under Article Fourteen of the Ismaili Constitution.
   In my previous publication Understanding Ismailism (to read the book, click HERE) published in 1988, I had quoted the above verse and pointed out the incongruity, but the Ginan has survived and so has the belief associated with it. Plagiarized or not, such compositions when propagated in the name of a descendant of the Prophet (Sayyid), to establish the Divinity of a person (`Ali), who had never in his lifetime claimed himself to be any other than a humble servant of Allah, reflects adversely on the concepts and idealogy of Shi`ism in general.

And buoyed them up with false hopes

 Those who turn back as apostates after Guidance was clearly shown to them, — The Evil one has instigated them and buoyed them up with false hopes.  This, because they saidto those who hate what Allah has revealed,  “We will obey you in part of (this) matter”;  but Allah knows their (inner) secrets.
      Holy Qur'an 47/25-26

 Such men are entirely in the hands of Evil. They follow its suggestions, and their hopes are built on its deceptions. They have become so impervious to facts and truths, because, without the courage to oppose God's Cause openly, they secretly intrigue with God's enemies, and say that they will follow them part of the way, and by remaining partly in the other camp, they will be far more useful as spies and half-hearted doubters than by going over altogether. If they think that this game will be successful, they are mistaken. All the inner secrets and motives of their hearts are known to God.

Please click  HERE   to read Section Three