(Section Seven) THE COMPASSIONATE Continued from Section Six THE PRACTICE OF RECOVERING RELIGIOUS TAXES Sat-panthi Imam-shahi Khojahs Nearly two centuries after the death of Pir Sadr-din, one of his descendants, Imam al din `Abd al Raheem became a favourite teacher of the local king, Mahmud Begada (1459-1511). (Imam was his name and not a title or status). He founded his own faith in Gujrat. He became known as Sayyid Imam Shah and his followers as Sat-panthi Imam Shahi Khojahs. Professor Ivanow and several other historians have recorded that it was Sayyid Imam Shah's son, Sayyid Nur Muhammad Shah, who founded the Imam-Shahi faith. Many historians have used the term "Khojahs" exclusively for the converts of Pir Sadr-din and his son, Pir Hasan Kabir al-Din; and the term "Sat-panthis" for the converts of Pir Imam Shah and his son. But the Ginanic literature tells us that the faith (panth) established by Pir Sadr-din was called "Sat-panth" and hence the converts of Pir Sadr-din were also known as Sat-panthi Khojahs. Imam Shah died in 1512 at Pirana. His son Nur Muhammad introduced the practice of collecting religious taxes from his followers and keeping the money for his personal use. Pir Sadr-din and his sons would write and sell copies of the Holy Qur'an to meet their personal expenses. John Norman Hollister records in The Shi`a Of India (p. 359), that these followers of the Imam-Shahi faith "accepted for all practical purposes their Pir as an Imam, by their willingness to have him receive the dassondh." The term Dassondh means religious tax or tithe. Ismaili historians have recorded that Nur Muhammad Shah had declared himself Imam and changed his name to Nar Muhammad Shah. When this newly founded religious group of Imam-Shahi Khojahs of Gujrat assimilated with the mainstream Khojahs of Pir Sadr-din, the Ginans written by Imam-Shahi Sayyids became canonical Ginans for the Khojah Jamat. It is suggested that the practice of collecting religious taxes (Dassondh or Bukkus) from the converts in the names of Pirs and Sayyids could have also been introduced among the Khojahs at that time. After the death of Nar Muhammad Shah, several splits occurred in the community. Some of the Imam-Shahis reverted back to Hinduism or adopted Hinduistic rituals, others become Sunnis or Ithna'ashries. Today, the Dassondh is collected and distributed among the descendants of Sayyid Imam Shah. Many of the Imam-Shahis maintain that Pir Hasan Kabir al-Din and his ancestors were in fact Twelver Shi`as and not Imami Nizari Ismailis. Khojah Momnas of Gujrat The Momnas of Gujrat are another offshoot of the Khojahs. There are Ismaili, Ithna'ashri, and Sunni Momnas as well. The term Momna or Moomna is derived from the word Mu'min (a religiously devoted person). Momnas were often addressed as Mooman Bhai (devoted brother). Most of the Ismaili Momnas, who migrated to Bombay in the early part of the twentieth century, were very poor. Khojah Ismailis had socially segregated them. There were hardly any intermarriages between Ismailis and Momnas. There were two major groups of Momnas, Mochi Momnas and Khedwaya Momnas. One of the descendants of Pir Sadr-din, who was known as Pir Mashayikh, was the head of the community in Gujrat, during the seventeenth century. Pir Mashayikh died in 1697 in Ahmedabad as a Sunni Muslim. He in fact sided with Mughal emperor Aurangzeb in his battle with the Shi`i ruler of Bijapur. Like Imam-Shahi Pirs (who were also descendants of Pir Sadr-din), Mashayikh collected religious taxes from his followers and kept them for himself. He had no alliance with the Nizari Imams of Persia. Ismaili scholars say that the Pir was professing Sunnism as a taqiyya (dissimulation). Pir Dadu of Sind In the middle of sixteenth century, a man named Daud or Dadu of Sind claimed that he was authorized to act as a Pir. He took charge of the work of Da`wah and collected religious tax. While going through the list of authorized Pirs of the Ismailis, published by Abualy A. Aziz, we do not find the name of Pir Dadu, hence he could have been one of the unauthorized Pirs. Hollister records (p. 361) that Pir Dadu moved from Sind to Jamnagar in the middle of the sixteenth century. From Jamnagar he moved his headquarters to Bhuj in Kutchh, where he performed miracles. He is particularly remembered by the Khojahs for making it rain at Bhuj. Pir Dadu is supposed to have laid down the three periods of prayers, according to Dr. Hollister (p. 386). Agakhani Ismailis recite three prayers in a day. Historical data are unavailable Ismaili historians claim that the descendants of Pir Sadr-din and the members of the Khojah community used to undertake the hazardous journey from India to Persia to see the ancestors of the Aga Khans and receive their blessings. According to these claims, the practice of sending money to the Imams in Persia through Rais (messengers), in leather bags called Jowlis, had been in operation since 1430. It is indeed very surprising that on the one hand Ismaili historians assert that all the authorized Pirs of the Khojahs that came to India were personally appointed and deputed by the ancestors of the Aga Khans and that these Pirs and Khojahs have made regular visits to Persia since 1430; whereas on the other hand, the same historians express their inability to produce records or dates of the essential social and family events from the lives of these ancestors of the Aga Khan during that period. Ismaili historians do not know the years when these ancestors were born, to whom and when they were married, how many children they had, or when those children were born. The only record the historians have is of the years in which these ancestors died. Today, we find that even that solitary data is erroneous. The recorded data do not match with the period during which the historical events associated with some of the recent ancestors did take place. In one case the date inscribed on the tombstone differs from the data recorded, by nearly a century. Under these circumstances it is next to impossible to entertain claims made by Ismaili historians about the visits of their Pirs to Persia, to obtain the necessary authorizations for "Piratan" from these ancestors, and thereafter regularly handing over the Dassondh money to them; and the frequent visits by the Pirs' converts, the Khojahs, to receive the blessings from their Imams, from 1430 A.D. onwards. Below are a few examples of some of the major controversies that are to be found. The evidence presented are conclusive and as such they raise serious questions about the authenticity of the data recorded and propagated. 1. According
to the genealogical chart of the Aga Khan's ancestry published by Ismaili
historians and reproduced by Willie Frischauer,
In The Ismailis (p. 498), Farhad Daftary reproduces a photograph of the tombstone of Imam Shah Nizar II in Kahak and writes: "Imam Shah Nizar II died, according to the inscription of his tombstone, in Dhu'l-Hijja 1134/ September 1722, shortly before the Afghan invasion of Persia which extended also to Kahak. His mausoleum is still preserved at the western end of Kahak." The difference between the two sources is nearly 93 years. 2. According to the genealogical chart published by Ismaili historians and reproduced by Frischauer, the thirty-ninth Imam of the Ismailis, Shah Khalilullah II,died in 1585. Farhad Daftary writes (p. 498): "Khalil Allah II, the thirty-ninth imam of this line, died in 1090/1680." The difference between the two sources is 95 years. 3. According to the genealogical chart published by Ismaili historians and reproduced by Frischauer, the forty-second Imam of the Ismailis, Shah Hassan Ali, became Imam in 1661 and died in 1694-95. Farhad Daftary writes (p. 499): "It was during Hasan 'Ali's imamate that Nadir Shah expelled the Afghan invaders from Persia, and then overthrew the Safawid dynasty and proclaimed himself king." Daftary has recorded that Nadir Shah was murdered in 1747 and thereafter Imam Hasan `Ali was killed in 1758-59. The difference between the two sources is 64 years. 4. According to the genealogical chart maintained by Ismaili historians and reproduced by Frischauer, the grandfather of Aga Khan I, the forty-fourth Imam of the Ismailis, Abul Hasan Ali, died in 1780 in Mahalat. Farhad Daftary narrates in great detail (p. 502) the incident of Sufi Mustaq 'Ali Shah's death by stoning as an infidel at a mosque in Kirman. The incident happened on Friday in Ramadhan 1206/May 1791, during Imam Abul Hasan and Sufi Master Nur `Ali Shah's absence from the city. Imam Abul Hasan died one year after the above incidentin 1792. The difference between the two sources is 12 years. 5. Willie Frischauer writes in The Aga Khans (p. 46): One of the Aga Khan's ancestors, Imam Nizar Ali Shah (1585-1629),...joined forces with Nadir Shah of Persia who was Turkish by race and a Sunni.... They fought side by side in many campaigns. Historical records show that Nadir Shah was born in 1688. He became king of Persia in 1736 and conquered Afghanistan in 1738. He conquered a part of India in 1739 and was murdered in 1747. The above dates tell us that Nadir Shah, who was born 69 years after the death of Imam Nizar, could not have "fought side by side" with the Imam. Ismaili scholars discredit Ismaili historian The following are two typical examples of Ismaili scholars discrediting their fellow historians and authors. Example 1: 1. Ismaili historian Alimohammad J. Chunara recorded in Noorum-Mubin (p. 94) the tenth Imam's death in 268 a.h. (882 a.d.). 2. Ismaili missionary Abualy A. Aziz recorded the tenth Imam's death in A Brief History of Ismailism (p. 52) in 262 a.h. (876 a.d.) 3. A Syrian Ismaili scholar, Dr. Moustapha Ghaleb discredits both the above accounts by writing in The Ismailis of Syria (Beirut, p. 25): "He [Raziuddin Abdullah, the tenth Imam] was dead in Salamiah [Syria] in 289 a.h. [901 a.d.] and was buried in the middle of the [Mosque]. His tomb is still existing...." Ismaili Contributions to Islamic Culture, published in 1977 by the Imperial Iranian Academy of Philosophy, Tehran, and edited by Seyyed Hossein Nasr, records (p. 259) that Radi-u-din `Abdullah (Husain) died in 289 a.h./901 a.d. Example 2: A Brief History Book of Ismaili Imams, published in Gujrati by the Ismailia Association for Pakistan in 1974 and reprinted in 1975, 1977, and 1980, records (p. 188):
When Na'dir Shah invaded India, in January 1739, he requested the Holy Ima'm [Shah Abul Hassanali] to accompany him in order to bring good luck. The Holy Ima'm went with the Shah but returned home after the conquest of Lahore. Since the above two accounts confute each other, the question asked is, which of the two accounts is to be trusted? Peter Lamborn Wilson writes in Scandal: Essays in Islamic Heresy (Autonomedia, Brooklyn, 1988, p. 54): "Ismaili history is not to be trusted...." Aga Khan's attempt to collect religious taxes In 1829, an attempt to collect religious taxes from the Khojahs, similar to the one made by Pir Nur Muhammad Shah and Pir Mashayikh, was made by the Aga Khan while he was in Persia. He sent his maternal grandmother, Miriam Bibi, accompanied by his special agent, Miran Abdul Kassim, to Bombay to collect the religious taxes from the Khojas. The lady presented herself in the Bombay Jama`at khana as a representative of the "Murshid" but the converts of Pir Sadr-din refused to pay this energetic lady the compulsory dues, in the name of religion. Having failed in her mission, she returned to Persia. A case was instituted in the Supreme Court of Bombay to get a decree enforcing these payments. The suit was finally dropped in July 1830 because of technical difficulties. Aga Khan denied that the suit was instituted with his permission, records Hollister. However, there are some historical records from the early nineteenth century that tell us that his followers from Persia and a few from India used to visit Shah Khalilullah in Kehk and offer gifts that they had brought with them. It is not known what percentage of the Khojahs, if any, undertook that kind of journey and what was their concept of Shah Khalilullah. These followers "often embellish him with the pompous title of Caliph," writes Dr. Bernard Lewis. Shah Fateh-Ali Qajar, who ascended the throne of Iran in 1798, was the first emperor to recognize Aga Khalilullah, the father of Aga Khan I, as a religious head of one of the groups of Shi`ahs. Shah Fateh-Ali also gave his daughter in marriage to Aga Khan I, who was practising the Ithna'ashriyya faith. Fateh-Ali died in 1834, and the Qajar Dynasty in Persia came to an end in 1924. Religious tax becomes obligatory It is not known when the practice of collecting religious tax called Dassondh from the Ismaili families became obligatory, but it was so until the practice of maintaining records of the payments was discontinued in the 1940s. The minimum payment of religious tax is 12½ percent from the gross income of an individual. It is called Dassondh. Many Ismailis pay 25 percent from their gross income. It is called One-fourth. Dassondh is one of the six fundamental pillars of Ismailism and it replaces the Islamic pillar of Zakat. It is a religious duty of a murid (follower) to pay this amount diligently to one of the representatives of his Hazar Imam in cash in the Jama`at khana, every month. The majority of Ismailis pay their Dassondh on Chandrat (night of the new moon). Ismailis quite often argue that this is not a compulsory religious tax, that it is a voluntary payment and that there are many followers of Karim Aga Khan who do not pay Dassondh. True, but there are Farmans that speak of calamities that will fall upon those who would keep back Imam's money, the Dassondh. "My" (Imam's) money is like a fire and even a cent if kept with "your" (follower's) money, it would burn "your" money. "I" will come to "you" as a doctor or as a lawyer and collect "my" money. These are the Farmans of the late Aga Khan and they hold good until withdrawn. Until the 1940s, the records of Dassondh paid (and unpaid) by every Ismaili family were maintained in the Jama`at khanas of their jurisdiction. At the time of marriages or deaths in family, these records were inspected by the Mukhis and Kamadias and the ceremonies of "Nikah" (marriage) and "Dafan" (burial) were held up, until the arrears were paid by the head of the family. I distinctly remember the marriage of my elder brother at Noor-baugh in Bombay. The expensive jewellery, new furniture, appliances, utensils, clothing, etc., received as dowry and gifts from relatives of both parties were physically inspected, evaluated, and taxed at 12½ percent by a salaried Kamadia Ibrahim Jaffar Rattansi of the Chief Jama`at khana, Bombay. My father, who prepared for the occasion by carrying cash with him, immediately paid the agreed amount to Kamadia. After counting the money and putting it in his bag, Mr. Rattansi gave the official permission to recite the "Nikah." Thereafter the wedding ceremony began and the marriage was officially registered by the Jama`at. Ismailis bury their dead in Muslim graveyards In the past, there have been instances in which Ismailis who had been in arrears of their Dassondh payments have had to bury their dead in non-Ismaili (Muslim) graveyards. Once in a while, the sordid episode would then appear in the community magazines, followed by readers' comments. Reading these agonizing reports of a poor bereaved Ismaili going from one Jama`at khana to another, and thereafter from one graveyard to another, was heart-breaking. Some Muslim communities in India and Pakistan do not recognize Agakhani Ismailis as Muslims, and the leaders of those Jama`at would refuse to bury a dead Ismaili in their graveyards. Today, the new generation of Agakhani Ismailis are not aware of these facts because the missionaries who know of these facts do not want speak of their unpleasant past. Religious taxes become optional The practice of maintaining records of religious taxes was finally discontinued when Aga Khan's Estate Office in India developed a serious problem with the tax departments of the newly independent Indian Government. The wealth acquired by Aga Khan III from his followers and the funds donated became a taxable item in the books of the newly formed government. When relations between the minister in charge and Aga Khan became strained, the late Aga Khan decided not to visit India, until the matter was settled by his close relative and chief Estate Agent, Captain Majeed Khan. The matter could not be resolved during Aga Khan III's lifetime. He died in Europe and was buried in Egypt. An undisclosed amount in cash and kind was paid to the Indian Government by the agents of the present Aga Khan. Since the Dassondh money was and is collected from across the world in cash, large sums are transferred from various parts of the world to Europe. There are instances in the past as well as present, where Aga Khan's Mukhis and agents have been caught and imprisoned for illegal money laundering. "Money laundering" from Syria In 1901, three Syrian Ismailis were arrested in Tripoli as they were leaving for Bombay. They were carrying letters and money for the Aga Khan. Following the arrests in Tripoli, Mukhi Sheikh Ahmad and other twelve leading Ismailis were arrested in Salamiyya. More money and correspondence with the Aga Khan were seized from their homes. Emir Tamir Mustafa Tamir evaded capture and was tried in absentia. The prisoners were tried in Damascus in 1903. They were charged with murder, attempted murder, and the use of violence for collecting money for the Aga Khan, record Douwes and Lewis. These accusations were coupled with others that arose from the religious beliefs of the prisoners and from their connection with the Aga Khan. Three of the prisoners "renounced the doctrine of Sheikh Ahmad." In the late summer of 1903, Sheikh Ahmad was sentenced to death, and the other prisoners to three, ten, or fifteen years' imprisonment with hard labour. In May 1905, the Damascus court reconsidered the case and issued a new verdict condemning all the accused to life imprisonment in a fortress. Sheikh Ahmad and two of his companions died in prison. In August 1908, all the surviving prisoners were released under the amnesty proclaimed on 24 July 1908 following the constitutional revolution, write Douwes and Lewis. "Money laundering" from the United States More recently, in June 1989, United States Federal Agents arrested three groups of Agakhani Ismailis in Dallas, Seattle and New York, on charges of running an illegal money-laundering that stretched from United States to London and Switzerland, as well as from United States to Canada, London and Belgium. A total of thirteen Ismailis, eleven men and two women, were charged. Mukhi Nazimudin Alibhai and four other Ismailis pleaded guilty to conspiracy, three days before they were scheduled to go on trial in Dallas. British authority had discovered that Alibhai had illegally taken more than $30 million in currency out of the United States between 1985 and 1987, reported Lee Hancock in the Dallas Morning News. The officials from the U.S. Customs and Internal Revenue Services stated before the local news media that: "The three cases represent the largest money-laundering operation ever uncovered in North Texas and one of the largest nationally." Mukhi Alibhai's lawyer, Vincent Perini, said that the sect's members are required to give 12 percent to 25 percent of pre-tax income to the Aga Khan, a billionaire resident of Paris. Mr. Alibhai did not report the money to U.S. authorities only because his religion prohibited revealing how much he was carrying. "Traditionally, members of the community literally take the money in the form of cash to the Aga Khan, and traditionally there was secrecy involved." Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson, a law firm of Washington, D.C., in their letter of 8 March 1990 to Bruce Pagel, the trial attorney, wrote: "Our client [the Aga Khan] does not direct or control the system of offerings. The contributions, and their collection, have always been conducted by volunteers from the Ismaili community interested in serving the Imam. These practices date back 1400 years." In the ranks of those who lose But it has already been revealed to thee,
Commentary by Yusuf Ali: The Message of Unity, renewed in Islam, has
been the Message of God since the world began. False worship means that
we run after fruitless things, and the main purpose of our spiritual lives
in [sic] lost.
GENEALOGICAL CHART OF THE ISMAILI IMAMS One name substituted with a generic term According to the Ismaili Constitution and Ismaili doctrine, tradition, interpretation of history, Karim Aga Khan's claim for temporal and spiritual leadership of the Ismailia community is based upon his being a bona fide, lawful, direct lineal (physical) descendant and a designated successor of the Prophet's son-in-law, `Ali ibn Abi Talib, and Bibi Fatima (the Prophet's daughter). Ismaili historians claim that starting with `Ali ibn Abi Talib, there have been a total of forty-nine Imams and fifty descendants upto the last Imam, the present Aga Khan. The names of these forty-nine Imams are daily recited by the Agakhani Ismailis in the end part of their Du'a. Hence, no Ismaili scholar or historian can dispute or raise a question about their number, their chronological order or the names of these recorded generations. However, there is one generation whose name does not appear in the Du'a. The name of Hasan II, the enigmatic twenty-third Imam, has been removed from the Du'a and it has been replaced with a common term "Ala-Zikrihis-Salam." Professor Ivanow writes in Alamut and Lamasar (p. 28):
Dr. Hollister writes in The Shi'a of India (pp. 331-32):
Data unknown One may notice from the genealogical chart given below that data concerning the year of birth of nearly one third of the Ismaili Imams is unknown. Furthermore, Ismaili historians are in disagreement about the year of birth of some of the ancestors of Karim Aga Khan. Not surprisingly, the major differences in the birth years are for Imams 11, 23, 24, and 25, whose legitimacy in the Imamate has been often questioned by non-Ismaili historians. The Ismailia Association, which has been renamed the Shia Imami Ismaili Tariqah and Religious Education Board, is an international Ismaili institution authorized to propagate Ismailism and publish religious literature. The three sources quoted below are either published or recommended by the Ismailia Association. 1. A Brief History of Ismailism. The book has been "highly recommended to High School students by the Ismailia Association for Tanzania," writes the author Abualy A. Aziz. The data compiled are from the third edition, published in 1985 in Toronto, Canada. 2. A Concise Text of History of Ismaili Imams (Gujrati). The data compiled are from the third edition, published in July 1980 by H. R. H. The Aga Khan Ismailia Association for Pakistan, Karachi. 3. Noorum-Mubin (Gujrati). The data compiled are from the third edition, published in 1951 by the Ismailia Association for India, Bombay. Note: In the following chart, under columns 2 and 3, spaces are kept blank when the recorded year is the same as in column 1. The names of the Imams are taken from a book of Ismaili Du'a published by the Ismailia Association for Africa (1963). No. Name of Imam Year
of Birth Recorded by (1)
(2) (3)
Is there any way out? They will say: "Our Lord!
Holy Qur'an 40/12-12 Commentary by Yusuf Ali: When exclusive devotion is not rendered to
God, there is no true understanding, in the mind of a creature, of his
own true position, or of the wrong of the Divine Will and Purpose. How
can he then hope to achieve the purpose of his life, or obtain God's Mercy,
which is the only way to obtain release from the consequences of Sin?
May Allah guide everyone to the right path. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I am greatly indebted to all the authors, publishers, and scholars whose works I have quoted in this book. I gratefully give them my sincere thanks and recommend that their works be read to learn more about the subject. I have generally quoted passages from the most recent works of these authors, but there are other publications by the same authors written over a period of time. Years of research, hard labour, extensive travelling, and persistent efforts have produced some magnificent works on the history of the Ismaili Imams, Pirs, and Da`is and their preaching, especially by authors like Professor W. Ivanow in the past and by Dr. Farhad Daftary, a distant relative of the Aga Khans, in the present. Finally, I would also like to express my gratitude to Ismaili friends and well-wishers from around the world, who have lent books and extended moral as well as financial support during my research and publication. Also, to Professor Bruce Borthwick of Albion College, Michigan, and other Ismaili and non-Ismaili scholars who, with a fear of sanctions from community leaders, wish to remain unidentified, for reading the manuscript and offering their supportive comments and scholarly assistance. And to my wife for her continued support and help. Jazakum Allahu Khairan. Author
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