(Section Six) THE COMPASSIONATE Continued from Section Five UNFORSAKEN ANCESTRAL RITUALS AND BELIEFS "Caught within the meshes of Hindu Law" It is an undisputed fact that the converted Khojahs had been observing Hinduistic as well as Islamic rites and rituals, even after their conversion. Many of these converts believed it was in their social and business interest to hold on to their former Hindu identities and continue their trade and cultural relationships with their former kinsmen. Hence, many of them accepted Islam but did not adopt Islamic names or change their dresses. Even today, one comes across Khojah families whose last names are Ramji, Shamji, Kanji, Govindji, and so forth. John Norman Hollister, quoting from Hamid Ali's work, Customary and Statutory Law, Islamic Culture, XI (p. 355), writes in The Shi`a of India (pp. 399-400):
When a civil suit was initiated by two Khojah sisters for a share in their deceased father's estate against Aga Khan I, he "upheld the rules of female inheritance as laid down in Islamic law," records Dr. Farhad Daftary (p. 514). When a suit was filed against Aga Khan III, he went against the Muslim law and favoured Hindu custom. Dr. Hollister writes (p. 400):
In 1945, under the chairmanship of the late Aga Khan, a conference of Agakhani missionaries was held in Dar-es-Salaam. Aga Khan strongly criticized those who wanted him to eliminate the names of Hindu manifestations (Avatars) and the phrase "'Ali sahi (truly) Allah" from the Ismaili Du'a. Aga Khan explained to his missionaries that such terms and phrases have symbolic significance and, as such, should not be tampered with. Diamond Rattansi has given details of this Mission Conference in his thesis for the M.A. degree at McGill University. He records that as a result of the above decision there appears to have been sporadic manifestation of some opposition to the Aga Khan from the Ismaili splinter groups and the Sunni Muslims. "The Kur'an is considered the last of the Vedas" Under the heading "Ismailis," the Encyclopedia of Islam says:
The so called "Badakhshani Ismailis" living in the remote mountain enclaves of northern Pakistan and Central Asia; the "Arab Ismailis" living in Syria; and the "Persian Ismailis" living in Iran, who also recognize Karim Aga Khan as their Hazar (present) Imam and spiritual father and mother, do not fall within the fold of this group of "Khojah Ismailis." Unlike the Khojah Ismailis, their ancestors were not Hindus. They refuse to recognize Hazrat 'Ali ibn Abi Talib as the tenth Avatar (incarnation of a Hindu deity called Vishnu). They strongly resent this dualistic Khojah belief. Any attempt, legitimate or otherwise, to associate or connect physically or spiritually, the Shi'ah concept of "Imamate" with the Hindu doctrine of "Incarnations" would be a heresy in Islam. And they would have no part in it. "Das Avatar" (the ten incarnations) Today, the younger generation of Khojah Ismailis, living under the influence of Islamic culture within the Islamic State of Pakistan, do realize and admit that this legendary union of Hazrat `Ali with Shri Rama and Shri Krishna, and the linkage of Revealed Books of the Middle East with the Hindu scriptures, is a heresy. In Pakistan, because of social and political pressure, a curtain has been officially dropped by the Ismaili Tariqah and Religious Education Board on these deluded convictions. Recitation of Ginans containing Hinduistic elements is strictly banned in the Jama`at khanas of Pakistan. But that is not the universal standard for the Ismailis. Many Khojah Ismailis living outside of Pakistan are holding on to this fallacious certitude. For them these ancestral beliefs, based upon epic stories, are bona fide truth and the founding concepts of their religion. The Ismaili Tariqah and Religious Education Board in Canada, for example, has been promoting Hindu elements in its seminars, expositions, preaching, and teachings. Below are some of the reasons why the Khojah Ismailis refuse to forsake their ancestral rituals and beliefs: 1. Until the mid-1950s, Khojah Ismailis living in India and Africa recited in their Du'a (prayer) the names of all the major and minor incarnations of Vishnu, the names of characters from the Hindu scriptures and epic tales. 2. Until the 1950s, the recitation of a Ginan called "Das Avatar" by an upstanding congregation, once a month on a new-moon night called Chandra`at, was a ritual strictly observed in all the Ismaili Jama`at khanas of the world. The book of "Das Avatar" in Gujrati and English, published by the religious institutions of the Aga Khan, was sold throughout the world. 3. Until the 1960s, the verses from "Das Avatar" were invariably recited during the final moments of a dying Ismaili and thereafter at funeral ceremonies. The verses of "Das Avatar" communicate that listening to this Ginan rewards the listener with eternal salvation. An advocate of Avatar theory may argue: How can the founding concepts of a religion be forsaken? How can the Tenth Incarnation of Rama and Krishna suddenly cease to be an Incarnation after one generation or two? Hence, the Ginans with Hindu elements that lead us to "our heritage" must be preserved, learned, and recited. Aga Khan's perceptions of "Krishna, and Ram" Quoted below is a passage from the Memoirs of the Aga Khan (page 174):
The Ismailia Association, published a syllabus in winter 1986 called the SMREC Student Binder, coordinated by Mrs. Khurshid Allahdini, an Ismaili scholar at the Institute of Ismaili Studies, London. According to the Confidential Report published by Mehboob Kamadia (p. 105), the syllabus preaches to the mission class students of grade 7 as follows:
Bhagavadgita and Aga Khan's birth in India In the mid-1940s, after graduating from a religious night school in Bombay, I joined a special Mission Class consisting of young graduates, initiated to raise a young breed of Ismaili missionaries. These classes were conducted by one of the Aga Khan institutions named the Recreation Club — the predecessors of today's Shi`ah Imami Ismaili Tariqah and Religious Education Board. The so-called "Recreation Club" was in fact a "Propaganda Club." and was located in one of the Jama`at khanas of Bombay. We, the next generation of propagandists, were expected to memorize a few of the selected verses from various scriptures in their original languages. Here is a verse in Sanskrit from a Hindu scripture that the students were required to memorize:
Whenever, whenever, there is disintegration of religion in India, and anti-religious activities prevail at that time I take birth to protect saints and ameliorate through religion. We were taught that in accordance with the recited verse, the long-awaited physical manifestation of the final incarnation had already been born in India. Aga Khan III, the only Imam (a manifestation of Allah in the Ismaili concept) that had been born (manifested) on the soil of India (Karachi, 1877), was the one that would fulfill the words of the quoted scripture. Aga Khan would ameliorate the world and unite Hinduism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Aga Khan III died in 1957 without ameliorating India or integrating religions. Ten years before his death, India was partitioned into India and Pakistan. Hindus and Muslims grew further apart than they had been when Aga Khan was born. 'Ali becomes "Eli" of the Bible Before the advent of the Fatimid Dynasty, a strange doctrine had evolved. Ismailis believed that each and every Prophet that had come upon this earth had had an intimate companion called Asas ("foundation"). Since the Prophet communicated with the members of his community he was called Natiq (a speaker). The companion of a Prophet — an Asas — was called Samit (a silent one). The Asas silently assisted the Prophet in his mission. Adam's son Seth was an Asas with the
Prophet Adam; Shem was an Asas with the Prophet Noah; Ishmael was an Asas
with the Prophet Abraham; Aaron was an Asas with the Prophet Moses; initially
John the Baptist was an Asas; and later on Simon Peter was an Asas with
the Prophet Jesus; 'Ali ibn Abi Talib was an Asas with the Prophet Muhammad
(peace be upon all the Prophets). Every Asas is labeled
The above explanation is necessary to comprehend the philosophy of Ismaili missionaries, who misinterpret the desperate cry of Jesus Christ "Eli, Eli" from the cross and the desperate call "Ya 'Ali adrikni" by Prophet Muhammad, upon whom be peace, on the last day of the battle of Khaibar. According to them, both these calls for assistance by the speaking Prophets were for their silent companions. The deliberate confusion created by the Ismaili missionaries is totally based upon similar sounding words "Eli" and "'Ali." The Aramaic phrase that Jesus Christ uttered was "Eli, Eli, lama sabachtani?" which translates "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken me?" (Matthew 27/46). As for the call by the Prophet for 'Ali is based upon a mythological account of the battle of Khaibar recorded by the author of Noorum-Mubin for which there is no historical evidence. As for an example, Noorum-Mubin records (p. 4) that 'Ali uprooted the heavy iron gate of the fort with his bare hands and placed it over the trench. The gate was short to cover the trench from one end to the other, and Hazrat `Ali held the other end of the gate in his hand. The Muslim army crossed over the gate and conquered the fort. Prince Aly Khan would ride "Dul-dul" In August 1930, Aga Khan sent his eldest son, Prince Aly Khan, to visit Syrian Ismailis. He also dispatched a special Farman to his Syrian Jama`at. This Farman was recorded by A. J. Chunara, the author of Noorum-Mubin. (p. 531).
In our Mission Class, we were told by the senior missionaries that Prince Aly the future forty-ninth Imam would, during the period of his Imamate, manifest himself before the world as Hazrat 'Ali, the first Imam. On the day of his Zahurat (manifestation), Aly Khan would wear an all-white Arab dress and ride the legendary white horse "Dul-dul." In his right hand would be Zulfiqar, the undefeated sword of Mawla 'Ali. To support their speculation, our teachers would quote a Ginan in Gujrati: Dul-dul gode Ali chadseh Shah.... Setback number 1 for Zahurat On the 25th day of May 1955, Sir Sultan Mahomed Shah Aga Khan, G.C.I.E., G.C.S.I., officially signed his last will at the Hotel Ritz, London. In this document (p. 6), Aga Khan stated:
On 12 July 1957, the abovementioned will of Aga Khan III was read in his villa in Geneva. It stated (p. 6):
"Spiritual father of his own father" Biographer Willi Frischauer records in The Aga Khans (p. 210):
"Shah Aly Khan Hazar Imam Zindabad" A majority of the Syrian Ismailis and a few Khojah Ismailis of Punjab revolted at this unprecedented designation. They refused to recognize the appointment of a grandson as their Imam. The group acknowledged Aly Khan as their forty-ninth Imam. To avoid a possible split in the community, Aly Khan went to Syria, met the leaders of the revolting Ismailis, and explained that his father had chosen his son Karim as the next Imam. In Karachi, the leaders of the group gathered outside the residence of Amir Ali Fancy, President of the Federal Council for Pakistan, and began shouting "Shah Aly Khan Hazar Imam Zindabad," meaning; "Long live the majestic Aly Khan, the present Imam." Aly Khan met the leaders of the group and assured them that he too had accepted his son Karim as the rightful Imam. The revolting Ismailis were left with no other choice but to accept Karim Aga Khan as their forty-ninth Imam. In Ismaili history, Prince Aly will be remembered for his generosity by accepting his humiliation without protest. Later on, a story began to circulate among his close associates that the Prince had been talking to few of his trusted friends about making a clean breast and testifying before the Jama'at about "divinity and the divine power of the Ismaili Imams," after his initiation. The news may have reached the ears of the late Aga Khan, who might have changed his decision about his son. Aly Khan's pre-nuptial affair during April 1935 at the Hotel Ritz in Paris with Mrs. Thomas Loel Guinness, the mother of Karim Aga Khan; his marriage to actress Rita Hayworth; and his friendship with Lise Bourdin Bettina, Juliette Greco, Gene Tierney, Kim Novak and other Hollywood personalities might be some of the social reasons for the change of heart of the Aga Khan. A recent note:
Aly Salomone a child of Mut'ah In his Memoirs published in 1954, Aga Khan III writes (p. 104):
In the year One thousand nine hundred and eight I was married to CLEOPE TERESA MAGLIANO according to the Muta form of marriage....On the twenty-third day of January One thousand nine hundred and twenty-three I went through the permanent form of marriage with my said wife CLEOPE TERESA MAGLIANO in Bombay observing the ceremonials which are customary among Shia Moslems. Having insisted in his Memoirs published just before his death, that he had married Mlle. Magliano "in accordance with the Muslim Law" the Aga Khan shortly afterwards in his Will admitted that he was married to her "according to the Muta form of marriage" and that fifteen years later he "went through the permanent form of marriage," in Bombay. Mut'ah "a marriage of pleasure" Biographer Willi Frischauer writes in The Aga Khans (p. 75):
Setback number 2 for Zahurat In December 1983, an interview with Karim Aga Khan was prominently published by Life magazine, which is widely circulated throughout the world in several languages. In the opening paragraph of the interview, reporter Margot Dougherty wrote: "To 15 million Muslims in 25 countries, he is a living god, direct descendant of Mohammed and the spokesman for almighty Allah." To the vast majority of Aga Khan's followers, these assertions by Life were a kind of worldwide acknowledgment of their concealed beliefs. For the fundamentalist it was a primary step in the right direction for the public declaration Zahurat. Photocopies of the published interview were prominently displayed on bulletin boards of the Jama'at khanas. Copies were widely circulated among Ismailis throughout the world. To avoid a backlash of negative publicity from the Islamic Ummah (Universal Brotherhood), Karim Aga Khan immediately disavowed these assertions publicly, through his secretariat. In the February 1984 issue of Life, there appeared a letter from the Secretariat denying in the strongest possible terms both of the above assertions as the most serious misrepresentations by Life and a serious affront to all Muslims. This was a second setback for the propagandists of the Zahurat. A recent prediction based upon the Qur'an In spite of this public denial and explicit repudiation by Karim Aga Khan's Secretariat, Ismaili missionaries continue their mission of propagating the legendary beliefs about the Imam's Zahurat. A well-known Ismaili, Da`i Allamah Nasir al-Din `Nasir' Hunzai of Pakistan, has recently made a most outrageous prediction in his Urdu book Imam — Shinasi. Claiming that the word "Nur" meaning "Light" has been mentioned 49 times (it has not) in the Holy Qur'an, the author goes on to unashamedly equate this with the 49th Imam (as per Ismaili claim) and the dawn of the atomic age. By any standard, this so called "dawn" ushered in mainly by the United States and not by Ismailis is one of the greatest threats facing mankind starting off with Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic holocaust. The book has been translated into English by an Ismaili scholar, Khan Muhammad, under the title Recognition Of Imam. The prediction reads as follows:
Karim Aga Khan's view on Fundamentalism On 12 August 1991, an interview with Karim Aga Khan was published in the Financial Times. The interviewers were William Dawkins and Edward Mortimer. Here is an extract from the published interview:
If one were to examine Karim Aga Khan's own ability to deal with the modern world — managing Europe's leading thoroughbred racing and breeding business, managing first-rate hotels that provide all amenities and luxuries to foreign tourists — one would understand the difference between Modernism and Islamic Fundamentalism. The later forbids gambling, bans the drinking and serving of intoxicating liquor, eating and catering pork, prohibits seductive stage shows, and so on. As an ardent defender of the Islamic laws, the government of Saudi Arabia had not in the distant past raided Aga Khan's Jama'at khana in Riyadh, filmed the ceremonies conducted therein, jailed the participants and thereafter deported all his followers from the country, as personae non gratae or non-Muslims, hence, one may be inclined to say, this mourning and death wish! Causes of the Muslim downfall On 18 August 1991, an interview with Karim Aga Khan in Granada, Spain, was published in the Guardian Weekly of England. The interviewer was Akbar S. Ahmed. Here is an extract from the published interview:
The Imam's Farmans have indeed changed the concepts of Ismaili faith and as a result Ismailis have discarded the ancient preaching, including those that are prescribed in the Qur'an, such as ablution before praying, facing in the direction of Mecca while praying, fasting during the month of Ramadhan, pilgrimage to Ka'bah, reciting noon prayers on Fridays, greeting each other with "As Salaam Alaykum" meaning "Peace be upon you," and so on. Should the Islamic Brotherhood follow the footsteps of Ismailis to prevent their down-fall? However, there is one exception. When the question arises of discarding the Ginanic preaching prescribed nearly seven centuries ago Ismailis defend them as "our heritage." They are not Dr. Azim Nanji, an Ismaili scholar, writes in his article "The Art of the Ginan Narrative," published in the Imamat Day Issue of the Ismaili magazine Hikmat in July 1991 (p. 27): "[Ginans] continue to be preserved, learned and recited as part of a living legacy and an uninterrupted expression of religious teaching and devotion." Whenever there appears a news item in the media relating to Ismailis, Karim Aga Khan is shown as a religious head of 12 or 15 million Muslims. The figure is grossly over exaggerated. Whoever are feeding this information are either not aware of the true facts or are trying to keep up with the traditional pride of exaggerating the number. From 20 million to 1 million followers Harry Greenwall has quoted extracts from several articles written by the Aga Khan III in the British media during the early years of his Imamate. In one such article, quoted on page 46, Aga Khan wrote:
In a special "Birthday" issue of Ismaili weekly published on 19 January 1942, the population of those who worship Aga Khan is shown to be 20 million. The figure, which should have multiplied, remained the same after one generation. Today, after two more generations, the figure published in the media has dropped to between 15 to 12 million followers of Karim Aga Khan. Enno Franzius writes in History of the Order of Assassins (p. 227):
"Ismailism is the Islamic parallel to Gnosticism" Under the heading "Isma'ilis," The Concise Encyclopedia Of Islam (Harper and Row, 1989, p. 194) says:
Isma'ilism is the Islamic parallel to Gnosticism (the alternative Dualist form of Christianity), and is related to Hellenistic pagan Gnosticism, and Manicheism. Those who pervert the Truth in Our Signs
Commentary by A. Yusuf Ali: Pervert the Truth in Our Signs: either by corrupting the scriptures or turning them to false and selfish uses; or by neglecting the Signs of God in nature around them, or silencing His voice in their own conscience. Everything is known to God. Why not work for the true salvation at the final Judgment? Please click HERE to read Section Seven
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