zznoor wrote:For Majority of Muslim that perfect guide is Quran and Authentic Sunna of the Prophet SAW.
"The Prophet died without appointing a Caliph or successor.
Astonishing admission! Is it not? ]
No it is not in the context of the whole passage.
zznoor wrote:
And still some of umma is trying to prove succession by smoke and mirror method. The Prophet had ample opportunity to say that "Ali and his progeny will lead and guide umma till quayamat!". Also Allah had opportunity to state something like "O Muhammad you have to appoint leader who will guide umma after you" which would have been recorded in Quran]
There is discussion on this subject here...
Hadiths about Hazrat Ali,Ahl-e-Bait,PanjtanPaak
http://www.ismaili.net/html/modules.php ... ogeny+book
zznoor wrote:
The Shia school of thought maintains that while direct Divine inspiration ceased at the Prophet's death,
not Nizari Ismaili Shia branch.
They believe their Imam is nearly Allah, He has original un-edited Quran. He can change Salat, Fast, and Hujj, 3 essential foundation of Islam. Etc.
Yes, the essence remains the same but the form can change according to the time.
zznoor wrote:
Well Hz Ali RA was leader of Umma nearly for five years and he was not able to convince majority that him and his progeny will always be there to provide this guidance. Just look at different factions of Imamat. Majority of Shia believe in Imam who is thousand year old and guides Mullas by some kind of Ilham.
For the majority HA was not the spiritual guide. He was only a temporal leader, hence it would not be possible to convince the majority who did not consider him as the authority on religious matters. Islam is a diversity and there is strength in pluralsim. It was not meant to be a monolithic faith.
zznoor wrote:
We are in the month of fasting and to fast or not to fast is perrinial debate for Ismaili Muslims. Where is that guidance from Imam?
In his Memoirs, MSMS states:
"
Reasonable fasting for a month in every year,
provided a man's health is not impaired thereby, is an essential part of the body's discipline-through which the body learns to renounce all impure desires."
What is reasonable and what is healthy varies from individual to individual and from one place to another. For one person it would be reasonable to fast for 2 hours whereas there are some yogis who can live without food. There are people dying as a result of fasting and there are people who find it difficult to earn their livelihood and support their families. In some countries people sleep during the day and work and feast at night during Ramadhan. This is not possible for all Muslims.
So it is impossible prescribe an exact method and duration of fasting applicable universally. However our Imams have always emphasised the intention or the spirit behind the fast - to learn to renounce all impure desires.