tret wrote:
Can you please repost the two farmaans of 1966?
How can you conclude from Paris conference resolution that "Mazhar of Allah" [locus of Manifestation of God] is Allah?
If Mazhar of Allah was indeed Allah, then why the use of Mazhar?
You have asked me to post the Farmans twice! I wonder if you read them at all. Here we go again….
tret wrote:
Please put it here. I can't find'em!
I am reposting what I mentioned in my previous post to Mazhar.
As you are a staunch Ismaili and who follows the Farman of the Imam, consider the following Farmans:
"I would like any spiritual child who is here present, who attends religious night school, to answer to Me what is the meaning of Malikin naas. You know the Sura which says Kul A 'uzu bir Rabin naas,Elahin naas. What does Malikin naas mean? Which is the spiritual child here who can tell Me the meaning of Malikin naas?
(One spiritual child gave the meaning of "Malikin naas Master of the People The Imam "; Hazar Imam was very pleased )
Good, very good."
If the Imam himself says that he is Malikin naas, does it not imply from the Quranic Ayat that he is also Rabin naas (the Lord of the People) and Elahin naas (God of the People)?
In another Farman explaining the notion of Esoteric Islam (Sufism) MHI said:
"Do you know who was Al Hallaj? Which is the spiritual child here who can tell Me who was Al Hallaj?
(One spiritual child answered, Mansoor Al Hallaj ) Hazar Imam asked
"What was his main aim in life?"
(The same spiritual child replied, To be one with Allah and further added that Mansoor achieved the status of Fanna fillah and said An al Haq )
My beloved spiritual children,
The question I asked was difficult. It was a very difficult question because it did not concern our history, but it concerned a concept. A concept of the practice of Islam which is close to our concept, which is the concept of spirituality and Al Hallaj became a martyr because he believed that he had elevated his soul, that he had sufficiently eliminated all worldly matters, so that his soul should be identified with the Oneness with the Universal Unity, and he claimed publicly, An al Haq which means I am the Truth, and the Muslims of the time treated him as a heretic and he was put to death as a heretic. The reason I asked this question is that I want My spiritual children in the years ahead to understand the two concepts of Islam; the spiritual concept which is ours, and those of certain other branches of Islam, namely those who say no, there is no esoteric form to Islam, there is but an exoteric form. This is why I asked who was Al Hallaj, and I am very happy and I congratulate the spiritual child who knew who was Al Hallaj. Khanavadan"
If Mansur could elevate himself and become one with Allah, don't you think that the Imam whom we consider as the Pure in our Dua would not be one with Allah as well? Try to understand Sufism, then you will realize the status of the Imam. [/quote]
Below is the discussion wherein I explained how the Mazhar of Allah is Allah from a practical point of view.
kmaherali wrote:tret wrote:Then how do you come to conclusion that Imam is Allah/The Transcendent?
If we say that 'Mr X has skills and knowledge of a teacher manifest in him' and if we say 'Mr X is a teacher'. From a practical standpoint what would be the difference?
Similarly if we say the ''qualities' of God (Essence) are manifested in the Imam' and if we say 'Imam is God (Essence)'. Is there any difference?
Nasir Khusraw has said in Kalame Pir: "The Imam is the Hujjat or Proof of God and it is for this reason some Imams have said, "What is said about God refers also to us.".
I hope the notion of Mazhar is now clarified. [/quote]
Mazhar is used because Imam has a physical form. That is the acknowledgement of his physical aspect. We as humans are all mazhars of our souls depending upon the level of advancement. The Imam being the mazhar of the highest attainment is the Mazhar of God as per constitution.
The other reason would be that if we called Imam Allah, then we would be offending other Muslims, but if we called him the Mazhar of Allah then it would sound reasonable at least.
tret wrote:
kmaherali wrote:
The Pir intercedes and prays for his murids who are alive and who are also in the spiritual domain after death.
Please elaborate. This is interesting. ?
Before elaborating on this, I would like to know whether you read my recent post about consoling the bereaved at:
http://www.ismaili.net/html/modules.php ... 1&start=30
If yes then I will elaborate on it if needed. If not then I insist that you read it because it does explain the role of the Pir in both worlds.
tret wrote:
kmaherali wrote:
Sometimes the presence of an elevated soul is enough to bring about changes in the world and the community without uttering a word.
So, in other words you are saying that status of Pir is also by nass and is heredity, same as Imam?
It does not necessarily imply that. You can have an elevated soul who is not appointed through nass. MSMS says in his Memoirs:
“Roumi and Hafiz, the great Persian poets, have told us, each in his different way, that some men are born with such natural spiritual capacities and possibilities of development that they have direct experience of that great love, that all-embracing, all-consuming love, which direct contact with reality gives to the human soul.”
Of course in the case of Pirs, they are nurtured and trained for the position of Piratan being born as Ahl al-Bayt.
tret wrote:
the story of Jesus is not relevant to Pirs. Jesus was one of the Prophets of Ulul-Azm [Natiq]. Pirs are appointed by Imam, they are not pre-distant to be Pir by birth. It's the sole prerogative of the Imam of the time who to appoint as His Hujjat and if to appoint HIS Hujjat.
The story of Jesus is relevant as an illustration of the possibility of spiritual elevation right from birth. The Pirs are required to function as intercessors and therefore they are required to be ‘qualified’ for that role, they are the Murshids of our Tariqah. Of course it is up to the Imam to determine who is the most qualified for the role. In this case the Imam determined that the infant was most qualified for the role.
tret wrote:
I read what you said, all right. From philosophical point of view, then please explain your understanding of creation? The metaphysical hierarchy, from Supreme God/The Transcendent form the sublime realm to this dense and physical realm... I'd like to know your framework of belief system to which school of thought do you subscribe? Please...
I don’t subscribe to any philosophical/metaphysical systems. I derive my understanding from the statements of the Imams and Pirs. In my framework, there are three metaphysical concepts – the Essence, the Divine Intellect and Creation.
Allah creates and sustains his creation continuously through the application of his will and thought as reflected in the Divine Intellect.
tret wrote:
So is Universal Soul the creation? That's it? What about the physical realm? What about cause and effect? What's the cause and what's the effect, in this context? Is The supreme God the cause of all things? These are some important questions you need to wrap your head around, if you want to contradict the doctrine of ismailies that elite theologians, Hujjats and Dais of ismialis crystallized, which are being research and studied not only within our own community but also world wide by other communities.
As I said before according to the current sciences there is no division between matter and spirit. Hence there is no distinction between the physical and spiritual aspects of creation. As I said, I pay more attention to what the current Imams says. I don’t pay much attention to the Hujjats and Dais of the past regardless of whether they are regarded or not. Generally I do not like idle speculation of philosophers. Rumi hated it!
Metaphysics is in flux. It is not static. One system may reflect a particular outlook and time and can be irrelevant for another context and time.
tret wrote:
kmaherali wrote:
The Universe that the Imam mentions here is equivalent to Universal Soul that he mentions in the statement that you provided. The Universe is the form of the Universal Soul just as our bodies are the forms of our souls as per the Farman of the present Imam.
I entirely agree with your interpretation!
So, the Universal Soul creates individual soul.
Actually I would like to revise my above views. I had a re-read of the Memoirs. MSMS made two statements below.
“Once man has thus comprehended the essence of existence, there remains for him the duty, since he knows the absolute value of his own soul, of making for himself a direct path which will constantly lead his individual soul to and bind it with the universal Soul of which the Universe as much of it as we perceive with our limited visions one of the infinite manifestations.”
“Every individual, every molecule, every atom has its own spiritual relationship with the All-Powerful Soul of God.”
The statements above imply that the Universal Soul is an expression of Divine Essence as the universe is one of its infinite manifestations and everything has a relationship to it.
So in this respect the Universal Soul creates the individual soul but itself it is not created, it is the Creator.
tret wrote:
So, if we agree that in the presence of Imam Mustaqar --When Imam being the Pir, as our current MHI-- there's no need of Imam Mustawda, then tell me why do we need an entrusted Imam when the office of Pirship is delegated to a person other than the Imam of the time?? Imam of the time [Imam-e-Mustaqar] is still present and fully functioning and has the command of the office of the Imamate. That's the logical conclusion that in the presence of the Imam Mustaqar, there's no need for Imam-e-Mustawda.
The Imam Mustaqar is not fully functioning after the delegation. He does not perform the role of piratan. It is the Imam Mustawda who does it. Hence for example the Imam Mustaqar will not be responsible for making Farmans. It would be the role of the Pir (Imam Mustawda) to perform it.
tret wrote:
http://ismaili.net/heritage/node/10407
The author makes a clear distinction about the role of Imam Mustawda, but yet regards it as a permanent office. I guess it can be still agreed upon, if by "Office of Imam mustawda" is referenced to office of Pirship [Hujjatship]; but, I it should be rather referenced as such, instaed of using the term "Mustawda", as you can wee from the explanation he gives about entrusting of the office of the Imamate
temporarily.
Yes it becomes a permanent office once the appointment is made. The Pir remains in the office for the rest of his life. Perhaps then Mustawda may not be appropriate as per your suggestion which is reasonable.
tret wrote:
This is a risky assumption you are making. You assume that because it's hard to find information in this forum, therefore, for a non-regular visitor it would be impossible to find anything in this forum.
If one really wants to find information, then of course he will find it. However as I said the information in the forum is difficult to find. Generally for the public at large it is hidden. It is a matter of weighing the risks against the benefit of promoting understanding. In today’s world even what is said in the private space of a JK does not remain confidential. So how are we going to articulate and understand the batini side of the faith?