50. What do you mean by that?
Well, when virgin Mary was the talk of the town and accused of immoral conduct, which holy book came forward to defend her honour? None!
There's no holy book of any faith in which either Mary or Jesus are mentioned except the Bible and the Quran. Can the Bible defend her, today? No, because the Bible has no credibility. For effective testimony, you need a credible witness. Just as any altered testimony or hearsay account is inadmissible in any court of law so also should it be with the Bible! The Bible is too weak to defend Mary's honour! In a recent ABC TV broadcast, Peter Jennings ran a documentary called THE SEARCH FOR JESUS in which it was claimed that a good number of present-day Bible scholars believe Jesus was illegitimate. Most Christian scholars, archbishops, and priests, themselves do not believe in the virgin birth of Jesus, and yet, strangely enough, all the one billion Muslims at this hour implicitly believe, in the virgin birth and Jesus' miracles. Why? Because the Quran endorses them.
The Quran has been termed authentic by Western scholars and scientists, such as Maurice Bucaille, and it has credibility among the learned. According to a Quranic verse, it was Jesus himself, while still a babe in his cradle, that responded to the accusing townsfolk. Upon seeing a babe, speaking like an adult, the townsfolk could not but back off and, eventually, believe in Mary's honour. Even today and since its revelation, it is the authentic Quran and not the interpolated Bible that has been found credible and effective enough to vindicate Mary. For Christians, the Quran is a sanctuary from slanderous attacks against Mary when skeptics, both Christian and non-Christian are questioning, like their forebears did, the truth of the virgin birth and Jesus' miracles.
51. What was it that babe Jesus said to the accusing townsfolk as per the Quran?
Something quite amazing! He said:
1. 1 am the servant of God.
2. He gave me the Book and made me a Prophet. .3. He made me blessed wherever I might be.
4. He enjoined on me the Prayer and Almsgiving as long as I am alive. 5. He enjoined on me to be kind to my mother
6. Peace be on me the day I was born, the day I die, and the day I will be raised up again..
And as for my converting to Islam, let me clarify that I am a better Christian now, more enriched than ever. I have not distanced myself from Christ by accepting Islam, but instead I have come closer to him. In the same way any Jew who accepts Christ, gets closer to Moses. But any Jew who accepts Muhammad gets closer to Christ and Moses, both, for all these prophets form a chain of the brotherhood of prophets in which each prophet is a link. Therefore, just remember:
Any Christian denying Muhammad his prophrthood is no different from any Jew denying Jesus his prophethood just as every Christian is a better Jew, so also every Muslim is a better Christian. To put it simply: Christianity is the extension of Judaism, and Islam is the extension of Christianity and Judaism, both.
52. Very well put, indeed!. Quite a few non-Muslim scholars such as Gandhi and Michael Hames have highly commended Islam for racial equality and international brotherhood. Can you support this with any example from the life of the Prophet or your Imam?
Certainly! The most striking example is about the Prophet's companion, Bilal, who was a black slave whose freedom the Prophet had bought off from his Jewish master. Once free, he always stayed by the Prophet's side, an unprecedented honour for any person. The Prophet conferred upon Bilal the honour to call worshippers to prayer by sounding the call (Azan) from the top of the mosque. Some racist Arabs resented this, so the Prophet delivered a sermon in which he said:
"All men are divided into two categories.
1. The pious and God-fearing who are estimable in Allah's eyes.
2. The transgressors and hard-hearted who are lowly and contemptible in the eyes of Allah.
3. All humanbeings are the progeny of Adam, and Allah has created Adam out of clay. Prejudice has no room at all in true Islam. You asked for only one example, but I have one more. This one from the guidance of our 48th Imam. In the early fifties, our Imam Sultan Mohamed Shah, who was also once President of the United Nations, advised his Ismaili followers in East Africa to adopt one African child and raise him/her like their own. The Ismailis were new immigrants from India and were still struggling to settle in that British occupied country, so only those who could afford to feed an extra mouth adopted African children. Being a caucasian convert myself, first I thought all those black Ismaili Muslims, now in their fifties, were new Afro-American converts. Later, I found out that they were adopted children of Ismaili parents and as good as born Ismailis.
53. Truly amazing! You Ismaili Muslims could be the torch-bearers to guide our troubled world to the haven of peace. But, how did you first become acquainted with the Shia Ismaili Muslim faith?
Initially, I had embraced Sunni Islam, but stayed frustrated for months because I ended up with more unanswered questions. I found Sunni Islam more at odds With logic, reason, and the Quran. I also lost my sleep over the most vital matter concerning the tithe (zakat) which I gave to different recipients every month while beset with doubts if they (recipients) were legitimate or not. Just then I noticed the amount of attention Islam was getting here in America and Canada through the Ismaili Imam, His Highness the Agakhan IV. Twelve years ago, I was amazed to see that the same Islam which-was being maligned, on the one hand, by the western media for the political activities of some Muslim countries, was being celebrated, on the other hand, in our several North American universities where the Shia Ismaili Muslim Imam, Karim Agakhan, was being received and honoured amid recitations of the verses of the Quran in packed convocation halls. Verses of the Quran in predominantly Christian or non-Muslim universities! This was unprecedented and unbelievable! Ismaili Islam caught my attention, then.
Later in that year, I travelled extensively. In the course of my travels, when I was in Spain, I was just astounded by the relics of the glorious past of the Ismaili I Muslims Who ruled in Spain for, over 200. years in the 13th century. This period of their rule was known as Fatimid period, named after Fatima, the Prophet's daughter. Then, I critically analyzed some of the historical accounts of the activities of the Ismaili Imams and I found what they promoted and practised was universal brotherhood. During their rule, 10th century (AD) onwards, there flourished all kinds of learning, all kinds of Sciences, Philosophy, Mathematics, Art, Architecture, and Culture.
During the medieval period, when the West was still living in the "dark age", the Ismailis were founding centres of learning and education. During this period, 1000 years ago, there came into existence, AI-Azhar, the world's well-known university in Cairo, Egypt, followed. by Dar-es-Sana College of Industry in Sicily; Dar-ut-Tib, Medical College at Palermo, Sicily; University of Cordova in Spain. Some of the largest libraries were established in Alexandria, Egypt; Cordova, Spain with 400,000 volumes; at the Academy called Fatimid Bait-ul-Hikmat at Cairo with books estimated at 2 million volumes; the library at Tripolis in Syria had about 3 million volumes.
It would be quite appropriate to say that while the enemies, of Ismaili Muslims always looked for opportunities to wage wars against them to destroy them and their work, the Ismaili Muslims themselves stayed preoccupied with waging wars against the social ills by trying to eradicate illiteracy, disease, and poverty.
Never have I ever heard the West acknowledge the debt we westerners have owed Islam, but instead I have seen Galileo of the 16th century, A.D., and others given undeserved credit for the legacy left to us by the Ismaili Muslims. I think we are simply pathetic, more so because our spiteful urge to discredit Islam under any pretext available to us never seems to abate.
When in Egypt, I learned about all their glorious past and positive contributions to the society of the time. "Kahira" was the name of Egypt's capital. Later it became corrupted to "Cairo." Kahir was the name of the Ismaili Imam around that time, and the capital had been named after him as "Kahira." At this time in history as I said earlier, Europe still lived in the dark ages. Later, I also discovered that it was the Holy Quran that held a special fascination and attraction for European and other scholars that came from everywhere to attend Muslim institutions of learning. I also learned that this fascination stemmed more from the plethora of accurate scientific data which this Muslim holy book contained apart from other reasons. To cite a few examples:
1400 years ago, the Quran told us, clearly, that the sun was luminous while the moon wasn't and that it (moon) borrowed its light from the sun. Did the West know about this then?
It told us that every heavenly body was surrounded by an encircling line which was its boundary and which it was not supposed to step out of. We call it the "orbit'. In fact, the heavenly bodies are considered better Muslims because they abide by and surrender to the laws of Nature, without fail. Imagine the chaos, both at NASA and in the heavens if the heavenly bodies stepped out of their orbits! The Quran Insists the believer observe such signs in the universe and reflect on them. As a creation with intellect, we humans should be better aware of our duties not to overstep or transgress the divinely set boundaries ( laws) that are in place for our own temporal and spiritual good. This is the message for us from those heavenly bodies! Why is there so much pain and very little happiness in our lives, today? It's because we live an unlslamic way of life, breaching every code of moral and ethical conduct in the name of individual freedom.
1400 years ago, the Quran said every heavenly body including the sun was in motion. The West knew nothing about it until recently.
The Quran says all life has aquatic origin. Did the west know about this 1400 years ago? I could go on and on with astounding scientific secrets that the Quran has held for 14 centuries and is still holding for those with open minds to fathom them.
Owing to time constraints, I shall desist from discussing astounding revelations that the Quran made, 1400 years ago, about human conception and a stage-by-stage development of the human embryo the information on which became available to the West through modem technology only 70 years ago. 1400 years ago the Quran stated our most recent theory of the Big Bang as a fact. First scientists said the universe was a one time event. Recently, they revised their theory and said the universe, was continuously expanding. 1400 years ago the Quran said the universe was continuously evolving. What leaves an inquiring mind amazed is the fact that all these Quranic revelations were conveyed through the lips of Muhammad who was an literate man, at a time in history when there were no microscopes or telescopes. Like Maurice Bucaille, I also wondered how could a single man have tackled so many, and such varied subjects at a time of scientific obscurantism! How could he have so skilfully eliminated everything from the secular knowledge of his time, that centuries later, was to be shown up as being totally inaccurate! Contrarily to the Quranic statements, the Book of Genesis (The First Testament) tells us it took God six days to create the universe, detailing what was created on each day. For example:
the creation of the earth (on the third day) came before that of the heavens (on the 4th day) when it is a known fact that our planet comes from its own star, the sun
-the creation of light on the first day before the creation of the stars which produce this light
-the existence of an evening and a morning before the creation of the earth
While, the Quran merely says that God only has to say "Be' and it happens, thus attesting to God's omnipotence.
In chapter 7, verse 54, the Quran also does say that God created the universe in six days, but it doesn't go further than that.
54. Isn't the Quran, then, contradicting its own verse? On the one hand it says Allah has only to say "Be" and it happens, while, on the other hand it says it took Allah six days!
Not at all! Unlike the Bible, the Quran stays clear of listing what was created on each day over those six days. This verse has an esoteric interpretation which only "those authorised" such as the designated Imam's from the progeny of the Prophet can explain. Remember that quite a few Quranic verses are allegorical and Allah speaks in parables and a lot of verses with hidden meanings need to be explained by the Imam of the time. According to the Ismaili esoteric interpretation, the six days are not the periods of 24 hours as we know them, but they are "long periods" or "ages". Each day or an age or a long period refers, esoterically, to an era
of each of the six great prophets -Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad- all of whom came with a mission to prepare the mankind spiritually and intellectually for them (mankind) to accept All ibne Abu Talib as Allah's "mazhar" (manifest representative) or Divine Reality on this earth. According to the Ismaili teachings, with each one of those six prophets, Ali was present but not manifest for mankind to know him yet.
Prophet Muhammad was the more honoured one during whose mission Allah decided to have Ali declared as the manifest Imam and thus end the era of prophethood. In fact, all the six major prophets, and all the other over one hundred thousand prophets that came to this earth were sent for the sole purpose of preparing mankind, spiritually and intellectually, for it (mankind) to know and accept Ali in his manifest aspect as Allah's Divine Reality on earth.
55. You said Ali was present but not manifest with each prophet. Can you explain?
Certainly! With Adam, his own son Seth was All. With Noah, it was his own son Shem who was Ali. With Abraham, it was his own son Ishmael who was Ali. With Moses, his own brother, Aaron, was Ali. With Jesus,
Simon Peter, his Companion, was Ali. With Muhammad, his own cousin and son-in-law All, was Ali, under the same name. There is a tradition of Prophet Muhammad where, one day, he said to Ali, "0 Ali, you were present, but unrevealed, with all the prophets before me, while during my mission, you have been present and manifest, both."
56. Remarkable, indeed! You have convincingly shown me the beginning of Allah's faith, its continuity, and its present, status - the Ismaili Islam. But, how could Simon Peter be Ali, a Divine Reality, on earth when we all know he denied Jesus three times after Judas, betrayed Jesus to his enemies? Didn't we all see this desertion of Jesus by Peter In the film JESUS OF NAZARETH?
The film was based on the Bible. But, haven't we already talked about the incorrect historical and scientific data in the Bible? Haven't we already talked about the 50,000 errors found by Christian scholars in the Bible? Therefore, isn't it quite obvious that the portrayal of Peter, based on the Bible, which has been revised and re-revised, is also based more on fiction than fact? The Bible says Jesus was crucified, but the Quran says he was not.
57. What!! Do you mean to say the whole Christian world - about 4 billion strong - are wrong for their belief in crucifiction? Your statement may hurt a Christian believers feelings!
That's what the Quran says! The Quran can't be inaccurate! You will appreciate that fourteen centuries ago in the absence of our modem-day scientific advancement, it would have been much harder for the Quran to be accurate on the complex matters relative to the scientific principles and the laws of Nature than the matters relative to simple historical data such as the fate of Jesus! And yet, we see the Quran is right on. So, if the Quran is right on the complex matters relative to the creation of the universes and the laws that govern them, then it can be many times more likely right on a simple historical data such as the fate of Jesus! Wouldn't you agree? And guess what! It's the Quran that told us, 1400 years ago, that there were universes and not just one universe. Our scientists discovered this fact just recently.
As for a Christian believers feelings, I must emphasize, the Quran stresses the use of reason and logic and not emotion in the matter of faith. That is why Islam is, today, attracting, not recruting intellectuals and scholars, by hundreds and thousands. All I have done is use reason and logic, and don't forget I was, myself, a devout Christian once, and the truths from the Quran have never hurt my feelings. On the contrary, I feel that I am a better Christian now. Our Imam once said that truth does not diminish but ennobles its seeker.
58. So, was it only the scientifically accurate data in the Quran that attracted you most to Islam?
No! It was the teachings of the Quran! The Quran touches every aspect of human life and guides its follower like a loving parent guides his kid, and, that is why Islam is said to be a way of life. There is guidance on every matter that pertains to human life. The do's and don'ts in the Quran define the scope of human rights and responsibilities, and they are based on universal morals, ethics, and laws to protect the rights and dignity of everyone. Here's what it says about our duty to our parents:
"Your Lord decreed that you serve none save Him, and that
you show kindness to parents. If one of them or both of them
attain old age, do not say, "Fie" to them, nor repulse them,
but speak to them a gracious word
.
"And lower to them, the wing of submission through mercy,
and say., "My Lord! Have mercy on them, as they cared for
me when I was little " (17 : 23, 24)
About business ethics:
"And fill the measure when you measure, and weigh with the right balance. That is better and fairer in the end. (17: 35)
About humility:
"And do not walk on the earth in haughtiness, for you can never rend the earth, nor will you rival the mountains in their loftiness. " (11 : 37)
About sanctity of life:'
"And do not Nil the soul which God made sacred. save with a tight." (17:33)
About freedom of worship:
"No compulsion in religion. The tight direction has been made distinct from error." (2.-256)
"Do not insult those to whom they pray besides God, lest they, in aggression and ignorance, insult God." (6. 10
Against rumour-mongering:
"0 you who believe! If a wicked person brings news to you, verify it, lest you hurt some folk in ignorance, then you regret what you did." (49:6)
About truth and justice:
"0 you who believe! Stand up for justice! Witness for God! Testify even against yourselves, or your parents, or your kin." - (4: 135)
The Prophet said against prejudice:
"'No Arab has -an advantage over a non-Arab, nor a non-Arab over an Arab, nor a white over a black, nor a black over a white except in piety. All of you have come from Adam, and Adam came from dust."
59. Incredible! Now I know why intellectuals are turning to Islam! What else apart from the glorious past of the Ismailis attracted you to this faith?
My desire to *be guided by the Imam of the time - Imam-e-Zaman. The Shia Ismaili sect alone has an ever living Imam from the progeny of the Prophet.
60. Was there anything in the Quran to indicate that the Ismaili faith was the only right answer?
Yes, indeed! I'll re-quote the verse I quoted earlier: Allah did choose Adam and Noah, the family of Abraham, and the family of Imran above all people - a line of descendants, one succeeding the other, and Allah heareth and knoweth all things" (3: 33, 34)
There's another verse in the Quran where Allah says:
"0 ye, who believe, obey God and the messenger and those in authority amongst you" (4:59)
Once I was convinced that Muhammad was Allah's last and final prophet, Islam His final message, and the Quran His final book in which all His previous messages and messengers had been acknowledged, all I had to do was to look for a living guide or Imam that was both from the progeny of Imran and the Prophet. The Quran says that Ale-Imran (the progeny or descendants of Imran) will be on earth till the day of Judgment. Ali, the son-in-law and cousin of the Prophet, was the son of Imran who was popularly known as Abu-Tallb. Imran (Abu-Talib) was the Prophets paternal uncle and guardian. As for any other Shia sects, there is no living guide in them, so my task to locate the Ismaili sect became quite easy. My task was further made easy when I read one Mr. Akberally Maherally's writings.
61. What was so special in his writings?
Mr. Maherally, based in Vancouver, BC, is bitterly virulent against the Ismaili faith and our Imam. He claims he is a Sunni Muslim and yet he spares no effort to vilify another Muslim sect and its head whose blessings the whole Muslim world has been enjoying for years.
It is $in (kufr) and also very unlslamic to vilify other Muslim sects or religions. He is known to have embarked on a smear campaign against the Ismaili Imam who is received by the Western heads of state amid recitations of the Quranic verses and with admiration for his humanitarian work around the globe. Such an honour for a Muslim leader is unheard of in a predominantly Christian nation and society.
Now in the fold of Sunni Islam, he is bringing reproach to scores of Sunni Muslims who believe maligning other sects of Islam is like the Quran says "eating the flesh of your own brother." One Sunni brother said to me: "Mr. Maherally is a bane to mankind, let alone Islam!"
He wilfully misquotes Quranic verses to support his writings against the Ismaili faith. Thanks to him, I read the Quran minutely at least 25 times in the last 9 years. He is at pains to grab at anything unauthentic to disprove the Ismaili Imam's claim to direct descent from the Prophet. He is well aware that the Ommayads, Abbassids, Mongols, and the Christians in Spain during history massacred the Ismailis and destroyed their precious literature, manuscripts and libraries. He also knows that in place of the authentic accounts cropped up unauthentic accounts written by and propagated by the enemies we listed above. Marco Polo also reported what he learnt from the enemies of Ismailis.
Until the turn of the twentieth century, Western writers portrayed Islam as a cult and Prophet Muhammad as an epileptic, or magician, or duplicator of the Judeo-Christian scriptures, and what not. We did not like it. I am sure Mr. Maherally did not like it, either. It was only in the recent past that we found some Western historians acknowledging Islam as Allah's last faith and Muhammad (A.S.) as His true prophet. Does he agree with those hostile Western writers regarding the Prophet? If not, why? Those hostile writers are also part of history. Why can't they be believed? Here, he is prepared to distinguish between right and wrong; he is prepared to separate spiteful historians from genuinely fair-minded ones, and so, he carefully denounces and rejects the historians hostile to the Prophet whom he seems to have nothing against. But, when it comes to the Ismaili Imam, he is not ready to use the same yardstick; he refuses to be objective. His overwhelming personal enmity - he was excommunicated from the Ismaili faith - drives him to vilify the Ismaili Imam by wilfully resorting to unauthentic, hostile historical accounts and material. Recently, there hag been so much research to prove the unbroken line of the Ismaili Imam's direct descent from Prophet Muhammad and yet, he wilfully persists in citing references from hostile unauthentic historical accounts, and thus labours under the delusion that he has succeeded in misleading the truth seekers. But our Ismaili Imams did better than having to depend on any manuscripts or historical records to ensure the authenticity to their claim.
62. And what was that?
During the life-time of the Prophet, an especially privileged group of select believers were made aware of Ali's exalted status with Allah, and this group would gather together in private and participate in a special ritual prayer (salat) which was different from the Namaz that they commonly offered with all the Muslims in the mosque. The first three Khaliphs, Abu-Bakkr, Omar, and Othman were not part of this select group though history has falsely named them as the Prophet's close companions. The select group consisted of people who were intellectually and spiritually capable of transcending the plain exoteric interpretation of the Quranic scriptures. In this prayer Ali's name was also recited for supplication to Allah. The same prayer then had his successor, Hussain's name, added to it when Hussain succeeded his father as the next Imam. Later, when Hussain passed away, Hussain's son Zainul's name got added to the list. Thus three times a day, the believers would recite in their prayer all the listed names while supplicating to Allah for His mercy. Down the road, the names of more successors got added, and the list gradually grew bigger as years and decades went by. Today, we have 49 names memorized altogether that we recite three times a day, and we seek Allah's mercy under those names. For 1400 years, Ismailis have recited their Imams' memorized names three times a day without fail. 15 million Ismailis recite these names three times a day in our Jamatkhanas everyday. We do not need any research analysts, historical records, or manuscripts to show or prove to us our Imam's genealogy. Although the text of our Dua (salat) has changed a few times, the genealogy of our Imams has stayed as part and parcel of our traditional prayer, and this centuries-old practice has not only rendered our Imam's genealogy doubt-proof, but has also precluded any necessity to depend on historical records or manuscripts for its authenticity. Please note that every departing Imam names his hereditary successor in his will, and then immediately the new Imam's name gets added to the bottom of the list of the names of the Imams in our ritual prayer. It is this unbroken line of Imams that Allah is referring to in the, Quran when He urges Muslims to hold on to "The rope of Allah" and not become divided. As long as this universe is in existence, the names of our 49 Imams and all the succeeding Imams in the future will continue to be recited in our prayer. Down the road, many more mischief-mongers like Mr. Maherally will arise to foment trouble but Ismailism, as always, will continue to shine as per Allah's promise in the Quran.
63. Fantastic!! How ingenious! But was it this impregnable proof (memorized names) of your Imam's genealogy that first convinced you of the authenticity of your Imam's hereditary claim?
No! That only helped strengthen my conviction further. What first convinced me was the fact that there never arose a counter-claimant in the last 1400 years. On a rare occasion, when someone did make a false claim, he died without an offspring to succeed him, which was Allah's way of showing that his claim was bogus. In the case of our Imams, there has been no hitch whatsoever. Seed after seed as Abraham was promised, the line of our Imams has continued unbroken.
For instance, to validate my point further, our 48th Imam Sultan Mohamed Shah, bypassed his own son Prince Aly Khan and named his grandson Prince Karim, our present 49th Imam as his successor. We all know our present Imam is not the son of our 48th Imam but he is still his heir and direct descendant. It's likely someone like Mr. Maherally may arise a 100 years from now and present his cooked up research to the people of his time with a malicious intent to mislead them, affirming that our 49th Imam was never the descendant of our 48th Imam or the Prophet on the basis that he never was the son of our 48th Imam. Would we, then, in our graves agree with that writer? Certainly not! We are the contemporaries of our 49th Imam and we do know that his grandfather, our 48th Imam bypassed his own son which does not make him his descendant any the less. Three of my very learned Christian friends first turned Sunni and then Ismaili thanks to the writings of Mr. Maherally. We came to know one another when we first met during the Imamat day celebrations. One of them, a genetic engineer, made a very sensible comment on Mr. Maherally during the feast.
64. What was that?
He said Mr. Maherally could have served Islam better by investing his fervour, time, and effort more productively by trying to search out and then present to the Muslim world his version of the genuine Ale-Rasool (true descendant of the Prophet) instead of vainly maligning the Agakhan. Twelve years of smear campaign is a lot of precious time wasted! To this, my other partner laughed and said the present Imam, genuine or not, has so much credibility around the world and among his adherents, that now it would be too late for the supposed genuine one to turn up and be accepted with no track record such as this Imam and his predecessors have in terms of humanitarian works.
65. King Hussain of Jordan claimed to be a descendant of the Prophet. What's your comment?
He might very well be one! But he never claimed he was a hereditary successor to the office of Imamat. For example, Queen Elizabeth has several descendants but Prince William is the only hereditary future successor, and not his uncles, Andrew or Edward, neither his cousins, Fergi's daughters. For that 'Matter, there could be scores of such descendants of the Prophet out there and may not even know about it. The present queen of England was reported to be the Prophe's descendant, too. What's critical Is the hereditary succession to the office of Imamat from the progeny of not just Muhammad but also Ale Imran, that is, Ali, and, happily for us, the Quranic verse about Ale-Imran is found fulfilled only in the Shia Ismaili sect of Islam.
66. But, why did Mr Maherally's polemics- have on you a positive and not negative effect?
Because, my dad used to say, "Son, when you hear someone being unrestrainedly maligned, check the victim out and you Will be surprised to find him (victim) noble and honourable." His polemic writings raised questions in my mind! I decided to check the Ismaili Imam and his work out before conversion. Every new finding on the Imam, on his work, and on the work of his adherents, was consistent with their history in Egypt, Spain, Iran, India, Pakistan, East Africa, Canada, and U.S. It seems they live and have lived on this earth only to serve mankind with their material resources, with their physical labour, and with their heart full of compassion. In the Ismaili philosophy, humanitarian deeds supersede Allah's worship. Just as the Quran says that the most pious in the sight of the Lord is one whose actions are good. This is what the Ismaili Islam thrives on. Besides, their capacity to forgive their tormentors and detractors is without parallel. While in an American lawcourt, the winning plaintiff in a libel or slander lawsuit walks away triumphantly with millions in compensation, the Agakhans would always choose to forgive their detractors once they have won the lawsuit., One such example, in the recent past, was the case in a British court against one Mr. Mir. Bose.
67. I noticed that you used a very compassionate tone when talking about Mr. Maherally. There was not the slightest trace of rancour or animosity. Why?
Because he was one of our spiritual brothers who was blessed to be born in the Ismaili faith but has unfortunately gone astray. He needs our prayers so he may see the light again. And, is it not him I partly owe the debt of finding the Ismaili faith?
68. Was there anything else that appealed to you most when studying the Ismaili faith?
Yes! The fact that it is a faith of the intellect. Intellect is another facet of
the Ismaili faith and true Islam.
Moreover, if you go through the teachings of the Ismaili Imams, you will notice that every word they speak is full of wisdom. If you listen to their speeches and teachings, you will sit in wonderment because of their spiritual profundity. I have always heard wise men say that a person's worth can be gauged or measured by not how he looks or dresses, but by what he says or when he speaks.
69. Can you quote one example to support this?
Certainly! Off the top of my head, we all know how we, in the west, have thrown away our moral values and succumbed to a way of life which in the Bible can compare with that of Sodom and Gomorrah, all of which for our individual freedom. When addressing a large Muslim audience in Karachi, Pakistan, not yet tainted by the western moral degradation, our present Imam said:
......... I have observed in the Western world a deeply changing pattern of human relations. The anchors of moral behaviour appear to have dragged to such depths that they no longer hold firm the ship of life: What was once wrong is now simply unconventional, and for the sake of individual freedom must be tolerated. What is tolerated soon becomes accepted. Contrarily, what was once right is now viewed as out-dated, old-fashioned and is often the target of ridicule. Elsewhere, in the same speech, he reminds the audience of the Prophet's noble life-style which should be a guideline for every Muslim.
70. Suppose a non-Ismaili wanting to convert to the Ismaili faith says that he doesn't like the idea of tithe, but he will follow all the other tenets, rites, and rituals. What would be your response?
I'd address it in two ways. My first approach would be based fully on the Quran. I'd say to him:
"Sir, it is you who are looking for spiritual salvation and want to embrace Ismailism. And, Ismailism is the Prophet's Islam, in its essence and truest sense. The Quran, a divine revelation, is the basic book of our faith. Its teachings, only when followed faithfully and with conviction, will bring forth desired spiritual and material benefits.
Allah says in the Quran that everything in the Creation belongs to Him, including the human race. Therefore, all that I own also belongs to Him. In Islam and Ismailism we surrender everything to Him. Whatever we get to keep is considered gift from Him.
If you wish to benefit fully from Ismaili Islam, then you have to follow its tenets and not question them. You cannot benefit one bit from Islam if you seek to reform the teachings of the Quran to suit your likes or dislikes. The Quran has set down tithe- obligatory "zakat"- as the fundamental principle of the faith. Listen to this verse from the Quran:
Of their (believers) goods take zakat, so thou mightest purify and sanctify them, and pray on their behalf Verily, thy prayers are a source of security for them. And Allah is One Who heareth and knoweth." (9:103)
For us to be purified and sanctified, we need to pay zakat (tithe). Who can continue to purify and sanctify the believers during the physical absence of the Prophet? The answer is the hereditary Imam of the time from the progeny of the Prophet. It would be irrational and hence unlslamic to suggest that the blessing of being purified and sanctified was only limited to those who lived during the time. of the Prophet. This blessing is available till eternity to all those who are in the fold of Imam-e-Zamaan. The Ismaili faith resolved for me the issue of my zakat (tithe) going into the wrong hands, anymore. The issue of zakat constantly plagued me when I was in the Sunni fold.
Here's another verse pertaining to money:
"Who would lend God a goodly loan, and He would multiply it for him, and for him will be a rich reward. ?' (57. 11)
Is Allah a beggar? Is He poor? Is He broke? Why else is He asking for a loan? He is Noor! (spirit). What has He got to do with money, a material thing? Ismaili Islam is the faith of the intellect. Any intelligent thinker will agree that most good deeds can't be done without money or material resources; there can't be spiritual rewards, or say dividends, unless first we dig in our pockets and invest. Material rewards also require monetary investment. Why should we then expect spiritual rewards that are eternal to accrue to us without any material investment? Since we live in a material world we have to make material investments or sacrifices, such as charity, to gain spiritual benefits. Isn't money something that we love most? So, sacrifice it for the love of God to prove to Him that you love
Him more. It's as simple as that!
One very young Ismaili Micro-Biologist said to me, "Tom, since we resent parting with our money, I have a different perspective from others when I pay my tithe. Since everything I own belongs to Allah according to the Quran, everytime I hand in one eighths of my net income, I say: Thank you, Lord, for letting me keep the remaining seven eighths. This perspective makes me a receiver and not giver, and therefore there is humility instead of pride or resentment at the time of giving."
The Quran says the best in God's sight are those who are righteous. Our present Imam said in his interview:
"My role, first of all, is to interpret and integrate the faith with worldly life. A faith, which for all Muslims, is not separate from our daily existence. Our duty dictates that we must try to help our fellow man. My function also leads me to attempt to ameliorate the quality of life of all classes of society and to manage, based on economic and social plans, the institutional sectors of the Imamat including the Agakhan Trust I& Culture, of which the activity is the Agakhan Award for Architecture, presented every three years.
Good deeds involve charity and social programs. If you check what the Agakhan foundation and all the other Ismaili initiated programs are doing with the tithe paid to the Imam, you will be convinced we are doing all in our power to live up to the above Quranic verse.
Now, here's my second approach to answering your above question. Let me reproduce here my conversation with All, a young Ismaili dentist just before I converted.
Tom: I'd like to convert to your Ismaili faith, but I don 7 like the idea of tithe as one of its tenets!
Tom, what you're looking for is a custom-made faith, not an existing one!
It is you who are in search of a faith. Our faith has not invited you to join it nor is it recruiting converts, and therefore you can't have it on your terms nor can you seek to modify it to suit your needs or whim. Tithe and the three regular prayers are the fundamentals of our faith and there's no compromise on that!
If you want a product on the market, then you can have it on a seller's terms, not yours. There are quite many spiritual products - I mean religions - out there. It is you who are looking for a religion to benefit from and not vice-versa. I'm not aware of any custom-made religions out there, and if there is one, Ismailism is certainly not one.If you think the Ismaili faith is the tight product for your spiritual salvation, then you can request, not ask or demand, to be considered. If successful, you will be making a contract to abide by its tenets so that you benefit from the faith. And, note the word contact is straight from the Quran. In the Ismaili faith, which is true Islam, an in-coming convert is making a contract which he and Him both have to honour. Tithe is the fundamental of that contract.
Tom: What, if a young Ismaili earning a good income protests he will not pay the tithe and that it is not his fault he was born in the faith.
Ali. No child born in the Ismaili faith is automatically a born Ismaili till his parents get him baptized. Later in life, when of age and economically productive, as a true believer, he is obligated to pay the tithe as part of the contract. If he has any objection, then he is free to quit the Ismaili faith; he is not stuck! He can leave the faith any time. Our Imams say that anyone is free to leave any time they want, which means there will be no compromise on the fundamentals of the faith, no one can stay in this faith and seek to reform it. This faith is for true believers and not for reformers or innovators. This faith is for true believers who are in it because they want to be in it, no one has forced them to be here, and therefore they cannot have the audacity or rather impudence to suggest reforms. It is the Ismaili faith that's enriching and ennobling them and not vice-versa. This faith Is existence and survival is not dependent on its followers. It is there to serve its followers. It is as old as the Creation itself and it will survive and endure even without its adherents.
The tithe is the foundation of the faith. Just as a building can 't stand without a foundation so also no piety, worship, or charities can bring forth benefits without the tithe.
Since there is no policing with regards to the tithe, anyone can hypocritically practise the faith and avoid paying the tithe, and no one but Allah will know about it. But, will he ever benefit spiritually or materially? No, he won't He will be the loser! Moreover, he will also be in breach of the forementioned contact for which, I'm sure, Allah will spell out consequences. - It is much better to leave the faith in honesty than practise it with hypocrisy. The Quran has prescribed hell-fire for hypocrites.
71. What do you aim to achieve from the Ismaili faith?
The ultimate union with Allah, my Creator! I wish to break loose from the cycle of birth and re-birth. The esoteric character of the Ismaili faith will help me achieve this and I have not an iota of doubt about that!
72. Can I be accepted in the Ismaili faith right away if I wanted to convert?
No! ismailism is a faith of the intellect. It does not encourage blind belief. You would want to read and study the faith for some time. Once you are convinced, based on reason, that it is the right answer for you, then you can apply through the Ismaili Council in your area. You would then be tested on your knowledge of the faith. Always remember that Ismailism is a faith of conviction and not convenience.
73. In all sincerity, please tell me if you really believe the Quran is authentic!
Yes, I do! Though, thanks to Caliph Othman, its verses are not in the order they were revealed, I do believe it is not interpolated and that is why what it tells us about the universe and its laws tallies with the present scientific data. But, if you ask me if the Quran that we have in the book form is total and complete, then I personally believe it is not! I believe all verses directly referring or pertaining to Ali have been eliminated by Khaliph Othman. And here's why I say so.
Immediately, upon the Prophet's death, Abu-bakkar, the first Khaliph made known his intention to launch the task of compiling the Quran. Whereupon Ali presented himself before the Khaliph and offered a copy of a compiled Quran to him. Abu-Bakkar rejected the copy and said they would compile their own. Several years after the death of the Prophet, the Quran that the Muslims have today was compiled by Othman, the third Sunni Khaliph, who was corrupt to the core and totally devoted to please the Ommayad clan whose head at that time was Muawiya. Muawiya, then governor of Syria, hated Ali and his family so much that he made it his mission to see the progeny of the Prophet vilified, maligned, and reviled in public addresses given to congregations after Namaz in all the mosques by accomplished orators who were highly paid to do this job. Those who would be readily believed were paid by Muawiya untold amounts of money to fabricate slanderous lies against Ali and his family. Can you imagine a place of worship being turned into a platform to vent hostilities against the saviour of Islam? Othman condoned all these activities and supported Muawiya's hostility against Ali. The state treasury was depleted of hundreds of thousands of dirhams that Othman showered upon his kindred and friends. Othman was a king of nepotism and bribery. Such was the anarchy in his time. Under such an environment where hostility against Ali was celebrated, it would be but illogical to expect that the verses of the Quran in favour of Ali would be preserved in the Holy Book by an unscrupulous man such as Othman.
History tells us that self-seeking Muslims after the Prophets demise coined their own hadiths (sayings) and ascribed them to the Prophet just to serve their own ends. Bukhari, a reliable Sunni hadith analyst only found 4000 of the 600,000 hadiths to be authentic. Why should I then believe the Quran has not been tampered with?
I have often wondered why Ali has not been mentioned so openly and as often in the Quran as he was in the speeches of the Prophet. History tells us that every time Islam came close to being wiped out, Ali turned up to save it, and although the Prophet said, "Ali was with the Quran and the Quran was with All," and although he called Ali "the gate to the city of knowledge," hardly do we see Ali openly and directly mentioned in the Quran. It's my personal belief that Othman ensured every verse pertaining to Ali be removed. Why would he or his predecessors, Abu-Bakkar or Omar, want Ali's name appear as part of divine, revelation when they were the ones who first usurped caliphate from him (Ali) and even broke the allegiance they had paid him in front of the Prophet? And how often do we speak well of those we bitterly hate? How often do we give credit to our enemies for anything? Ali was looked upon with utmost jealousy and hostility by them, and there was no way the power hungry Othman would have retained in the Holy Book any verse that was directly referring to Ali. The verses with hidden meanings referring to Ali were retained because Othman knew not what they meant, one such example being the verse I quoted twice about Ale-Imran.
Another such verse Othman presumably knew not who it was referring to was:
"Oh Apostle! Deliver what hath been revealed to you from your Lord. And verily if you did not do this, you have not delivered His message, and Allah will protect you from the people. Surely Allah will not guide the unbelieving. " (5:67)
The above verse came at a time when the Muslim. community was returning home from Mecca after the Prophet's last pilgrimage. The revelation came as a reminder of some previously revealed command not yet carried out by the Prophet. God had never used such stem words when addressing His beloved Prophet, and here He clearly threatens to wipe out his total prophethood and mission of 40 years If he failed to carry out a certain command.
What was that previously revealed command that the frightened Prophet was hesitating to convey to the people? Why was he afraid of the people from whom Allah assures him divine protection? He was commanded to declare AM as his successor and master of Me Muslim community The Prophet was keenly aware of the jealousy and hostility among his own companions against Ali. He was also dreading an adverse community reaction because Ali happened to be his cousin and son-in-law. But, Allah's angry threat caused the frightened Prophet to waste no more time. Although not In his nature to cause any hardship or inconvenience to anyone, the Prophet ordered immediate rounding up of the homebound pilgrims lest Allah should carry out His threat against him. Those who had gone ahead, were called back. An assembly of about 140,000 people was gathered at Gadir-e-Khuum, an oasis in the desert. Ali on his side, the Prophet got up on a make-shift platform made out of saddles and declared Ali as his heir, successor, and their master. The huge: audience acknowledged Ali as their master. Omar was the first to congratulate and pay his allegiance. to Ali but broke it as soon as the Prophet passed away.,
As soon as Ali was declared his successor, Allah sent a revelation to say that He had perfected the Prophet's religion and was pleased to name it Islam.
Allah has skilfully kept out Ali's name from the above verse, thus successfully throwing the mischief-mongers off track. The Prophet knew who the verse was about but Othman didn't. We know who it is referring to from the immediate reaction of the Prophet who rushes to declare Ali and also from Allah's reaction who perfects the imperfect religion as soon ,as Ali has been declared: Sunni experts have advanced different illogical interpretations of "Today I have perfected your religion. None of them have made sense to me. As I said before, anything that doesn't make sense is unlslamic to me.
Had Othman known the verse referred to Ali, he would certainly have dropped it from his compilation. It was this verse that ended the era of prophethood and launched the beginning of the era of Immamate.
Remember, we talked about the six days God took to create the world? The Prophet symbolizes the sixth day. Ali's declaration symbolizes the seventh day, in which culminated the mission of all those 124,000 prophets whose primary mission was to prepare mankind to eventually receive Ali as Allah's manifest representative (mazhar) or Divine Reality.
Othman would never have tolerated an open mention of Ali's name in the Quran. This sort of intrigue in politics is similar to what happens even in our civilized North America during election time. When do our political candidates speak well of their contestants? Therefore, I believe the Holy Book is incomplete, though to me as an Ismaili, it is immaterial because "Ali is with the Quran and the Quran is with Ali", and as every hereditary Imam from I the progeny of the Prophet and Imran is All who Is the embodiment of. the essence of the Quran, who himself is the "speaking Quran" as claimed by Ali, himself, on the battlefield of Siffin. We have a complete Quran in our Imam-e-Zaman, and therefore, the incompleteness of the Holy Book is inconsequential to me. Just as I explained right at the outset that the map of the New York city was of no significance or consequence to us when we had, a live tour guide to drive us around as opposed to my friend who settled for the city map and ruined his own trip. The Quran is secondary to the Imam just as the city map was secondary to the tour guide.
74. Thank you for answering the questions in such depth. Ismaili Islam is, beyond all question, a faith of the intellect, which you have proved -with examples, and my hat off to Ismaili Muslims and the Agakhan! I must say I admire you for your knowledge and logic. I hope we'll be able to do another session like this in the future!
Inshahlah! And thank you for your kind words, but before we part, I have a question for you.. to reflect on: "Does it make sense to you that God's trusted and beloved Prophet Muhammad could have, left hismision of such grave nature unfinished and incomplete so Othman could finish it for him?"
