Of course one must also be aware that what one mentions in a published/printed form can be different than what he actually thinks especially in matters of faith.tret wrote: But the author clearly spells it out.
Please give specific references and quotes when you make such statements. It is not good enough to say that Tusi and Khusraw said this and this. Provide specific examples.tret wrote:On the contrary, I find it not inline with the philosophy of creation from Ismaili perspective, as expounded by Tusi and Khusraw.
Yes the prophet (nabi) is not the same the messenger (rasul). The rasuls are the lawgivers and are a subset of the prophets. All rasuls are also the prophets but all prophets are not rasuls. There were 124, OOO prophets and there were between 310 to 315 rasuls. If one googles 124, 000 prophets, these are some of the statements:tret wrote: fist of all -- as I said before in some other threads -- Prophet is not same as Messanger.
Prophets [espicially in this context, Natiq] are the Prophets who have revelations from God and have shariat to people. Messengers don't have revelation or Shariat and act as Guide. that's the difference between 124,000 messengers and 6 natiqs. Prophet Mohammad being the final Natiq, meaning that there won't come any other Prophets who will have any revelation from God; however the Divine guidance --as we know-- is passed on to the Imams. According to Islam, Adam was the first Natiq.
- Almost all scholars say there were 124,000 prophets sent by Allah.
- 313 were sent as messengers according to popular hadith beliefs.
I think you have got it incorrect. Please revise your knowledge.
There is no explicit mention of the 6 natiqs anywhere. It is a very subjective basis. The constitution mentions that the prophet was the final prophet and not the messenger.
MSMS has clearly stated in his Memoirs that Adam was not the first prophet. There were prophets before Adam as well.
Again provide specific references to prove your point. One of the inconsistencies is with respect to pre-Adam Imams/Pirs. How does the model explain these? Adam was not the first prophet. I hope you are not implying that creation was 6000 years ago! Also how do you treat the 313 messengers? There were not only six.tret wrote: What's the difficulty and inconsistency you are referring to? Pre-Adam prophecy? what else? As I said, according to Islam, Adam was the first prophet, therefore, there's no inconsistency and difficulty from Tusi and Khusraw point of view.
Please be specific. What is the essence of the faith in the constitution?tret wrote: What's permanent doctrine? On the contrary, the Constitution actually indeed reflects the essence of our faith, should you contemplate and reflect.
Just ponder over the bibliography he has provided in his book about the history of the Pirs. How many books on Ginans has he mentioned?tret wrote:This is again your assumption and speculation.kmaherali wrote: Abually was a staunch follower of the Ginans and he must have implied the verse of the Ginan:
You should be able to elaborate on your own statement. Do not depend on someone else to support you. All I am asking for is an example to clarify your point of view. Again I ask you based on your own explanation of the Imam Mustawda vs Hujjat, in what sense was Imam Hasan Imam Mustawda and in what sense was he a Pir-Hujjat?tret wrote: I will let someone like ismailignosis to comment on that.
I already explained the different role of Imam Mustawda [Trustee Imam] vs Hujjat.
The metaphysical hierarchy is not constant. It is subject to change according to the intellectual/philosophical outlook of the time. MSMS does not mention the Universal Soul as a creative agent in his Memoirs. MHI does not mention Universal Soul in his Farmans: “Allah creates when he wishes how He wishes…” The Ginans do not mention the Universal Soul.tret wrote:So, yo completely removed Universal Soul from the equation? This is definitely not the metaphysical hierarchy according to Ismaili Dais and Pirs. Please do some more research on that. Universal Soul is the cause of the universe [matter] and all return of individual souls are to IT. You can not remove Universal soul from the picture.
According to the science of today there is no distinction between matter and spirit/soul. MHI has said that matter and spirit are one. In one of his Farman he said: “The soul is created and given a physical form.” We can extend the notion of the individual soul to Universal Soul as being the creation itself.
I find it odd when you say that all souls return to the Unversal Soul. Please elaborate.
OK in that case please explain, how does the constitution reflect the eternity of Imamat which is the essence of our faith? How does the constitution reflect the Farman of the Imam which states that our faith is based on thousands of years of history? Please be specific and do not use vague terms such as zahir and the batin. Be specific. What is the zahir and what is the batin?tret wrote:Not at all. There's nothing in the constitution that contradicts the essence of our faith. The constitution is laid down by the Imam of the Time and it is considered as a Farmaan. No Farmaan of the Imam is contradictory to the essence of our faith. This, directly depends on one's faith and conviction to the Imam. As I said before, we need to understand the esoteric ta'wil of zahiri elements [not reject them all together].kmaherali wrote: If we strictly adhere to the constitution, are we to restrict our history to 1400 years? What about the continuity of the Imams even before Hazarat Ali? What about the Farman which states that our faith is based on thousands of years of history?
Surely we need a batini version within the Jamat to understand our history in its completeness.
MSMS mentions in his Farman which I quoted before, that Prophet Muhammad appointed Imam Hasan to be the Pir, so it is automatically implied that he was appointed by the Imam Hazarat Abu Talib as the Pir. (Ismailignosis has reference to it).tret wrote: So, tell me this: According to your understanding --from abualy-- Prophet is Pir and Mauwla Ali is Imam. Also we agree that Imam appoints Pir. So, tell me, where did Mauwla Ali appointed Prophet as Pir? On the contrary, Prophet Mohammad raised Mauwla Ali to be his successor.
As I mentioned before the event of Ghadir was an ‘external’ event to declare Hazarat Ali as the Imam to the people. It was not an appointment within the Jamat. The revelation of Islam was meant for the mankind and it was not meant for the Jamat (although the Jamat benefited from the Message). The Jamat already had the line of Imamat and Piratan which has existed since creation.. Hence Hazarat Aly was not the first Imam, but the first manifest Imam. The majority of those who accepted Hazart Aly based on the event at Ghadir ended up with the wrong Imamat, because the majority did not understand the essence of Imamat which is Light upon Light since creation. They all thought that Imamat began from the Prophet.
First of all from the batin nobody appoints the Imam. The Imamat is a self-appointed and self-perpetuating institution. In reality there is no interchange of roles. The lineage and function of the Imam is distinct from all other linages as per Tusi. The Hazarat Aly assumed the role of the wasi with respect to the society but not with respect to the Jamat. From the Jamat’s perspective Hazarat Aly was an Imam who was appointed by his father through nass.tret wrote: This is what I am trying to explain, that Prophet as [last] Natiq, appointed his [Wasi / Legatee] successor. Mauwla Ali after lifetime of the Prophet, moved to the rank of Natiq and first Manifest Imam, for the cycle of last Natiq. And this chain of Imamate shall continue till Qaim-ul-Qiyamat. .
The fact that it was not part of the Khoja tradition implies that the event of Ghadir was not regarded as the same as other Shia communities. Hence there was a difference which entailed taking a compromised approach. As I mentioned before, for the rest of the Shias HA was the first Imam whereas for Satpanth Ismailis he was not the first Imam hence no significance attached to Ghadir.tret wrote: First, it's not a comprise. Please re-read what I wrote to your reply. Ghadir-e-Khum [and Idd Ghadir] has always been significant in all Shia communities, especially Ismailis. Like I said, maybe it has not been emphasized in our khoja community before, but that doesn't change the fact.
I am not contradicting anything. Status-wise a murid can be one with the Imam. However functionally there can only be one Imam at a time. Just be aware of the distinction between status and function. I have not made up anything. I have said it all along that there can be only one functional Imam but there can be many individuals who have attained the status of the Imam by virtue of being Fanna.tret wrote: kmaherali - You are contradicting yourself, by saying this. On some other thread, you said that anyone who attain the status of fana, becomes 'as Imam'. And you gladly give the analogy of drop joins the ocean. And you say also 'murid becomes murshid' so according to you, there's no distinction between the status of someone and the Imam, should they attain fana. Now, you are saying we need to make a distinction between Prophet and the Imam not to compromise the status? I mean, can you clarify where do you really stand? As I said before, you dont need to make things up, as you go along, because you will never know when you will contradict yourself.
MSMS is his Memoirs has indicated that there were more than 6 natiqs. The Ginans also don’t mention the idea of 6 natiqs.tret wrote:Again, this is not my opinion, this is the teachings of our Dais and Hujjats. And the knowledge and teachings of Hujjats are the knowledge and teachings of the Imam and Imams know the truth. This is the true doctrine of Ta'lim. Having said that, you are most welcome to adhere to any ideology that you wish. After all, there's no compulsion in faith.
The 6 Natiqs do not include the prophets of other lands beyond Arabia/Israel. That’s what I find not in line with the Imam’s message of universality and hence contradictory.tret wrote: Tell me, where is the contradiction of the notion of 6 Natiq with what the Imam says? .