Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib Hazrat Hasan ibn Ali Imam Husayn ibn Ali Imam Aga Hasan Ali Shah Imam Aga Ali Shah Imam Sultan Muhammad Shah
Mawlana Shah Karim al-husayni Imam-i Zaman! " # $% &" '( #) # " * + &" + ' '!" % ( * &, +"" %$!, #-
Explanatory Notes: i Mawlana Hazar Imam was declared as the successor of his grandfather, Mawlana Sultan Muhammad Shah, the 48 th Imam. The last Will of Imam Sultan Muhammad Shah reads:./" " # "" "" " " "" " " " "" 0 "" " """"" &' "" " 0 "% 1 #&1 "" #1!&2 ii God s Friend (wali Allah) is one of the titles of Imam Ali. The word wali has many different connotations and meanings such as friend, master, lord, confident, etc. In the specifically Shia sense, every Imam is the wali Allah (Friend of Allah) as well as the wali (master, lord) of the believers. The walayah (divine proximity and authority) of Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib is based upon, among other things, verse 5:55 of the Holy Quran and the sayings of the Prophet Muhammad such as:.*#3 4 2 - Prophet Muhammad, (quoted in Ahmad al-nasai, Sunan, pp. 106).% # 2 Prophet Muhammad at Ghadeer Khum iii Since the time of Prophet Muhammad and the first Imam, Hazrat Ali ibn Abi Talib there has been a continuous line of Imams from among the male descendants of Hazrat Ali through his marriage to Bibi Fatima the daughter of the Prophet. The Ismailis trace the line of Imams through Hazrat Ismail ibn Jafar as-sadiq. To this day, there have been 49 Ismaili Imams and this Imamat will continue until the Day of Judgment. The notion of a continuous lineage of Divine Guides from the family of the Prophets finds support in the following verse of the Holy Quran:.#"3 # 4#5 3 4# 3 4 3 4" 3 4 (## 0 2- Holy Quran 3:33-34 The Imran mentioned in the above verse can be identified with Hazrat Abu Talib the father of Hazrat Ali; Imran was his proper name and Abu Talib ( father of Talib ) was his title or kuniya. iv The Throne is a reference to the Quranic verse:.6-6+",*" *2 - Holy Quran 7:54 According to Ismaili tawil (esoteric interpretation), the six days are a reference to the six great Prophets of our cycle Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad. The Throne is a reference to the institution of Imamat which is introduced during the sixth day (the mission and cycle of Prophet Muhammad) and brings the week of religion to a close upon the dawn of the seventh day. On July 11, 1957 Mawlana Hazar Imam ascended upon the Throne of Imamat at the age of 20 upon the death of his grandfather, Imam Sultan Muhammad Shah. v When a new Imam assumes the Throne of Imamat, it is customary for members of the Ismaili community to give their bayah or pledge allegiance to him. This was done when Mawlana Hazar Imam ascended the Throne in 1957. The practice goes back to the time of Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib when the Muslims took his bayah after the Prophet Muhammad declared Ali as their mawla at Ghadeer Khum. The Muslim community also performed a bayah at the hand of Prophet Muhammad which the Quran refers to in Quranic verse 48:10 where the Prophet is referred to as the Hand of Allah (yad ullah):
.6-78 #* # &0 0 9 : 0" # 2 Holy Quran 48:10 vi The teaching and instruction which the Imam imparts to his murids is called farman which literally means command or order. Upon making a bayah to the Imam, the murid promises to obey the farmans of the Imam. In return, the Imam promises to guide the murid in this world and the hereafter. This implies the existence of the spiritual bond between the murid and the Imam which transcends the bounds of time and space. Metaphysically, according to Ismaili esoteric literature and theosophy, the Imam of the Time is the mazhar (locus of manifestation) of God s primordial and eternal Word (kalima) or Command (amr) from which all spiritual and material things are created, and thus the Imam s farman is a reflection or locus of manifestation of God s Command or Will. vii Ahl al-bayt means People of the House. In the Islamic context, the Ahl al-bayt of the Prophet includes Imam Ali, Bibi Fatima, Imam Hasan and Imam Husayn along with the Prophet himself. Along with these individuals Shia Muslims include all the holy Imams in the Ahl al-bayt as they are the descendants of Prophet Muhammad and Imam Ali through Bibi Fatima. The Holy Quran speaks of the Ahl al-bayt as being purified by God from all impurity and defilement:.# 3$4 " " 2) Holy Quran 33:33 viii Karim is the personal name of the Imam of the Time and means Generous Karim also being one of the ninety-nine names of Allah in the Islamic tradition. It is interesting to note that Imam Shah Karim, even from his material activities, clearly manifests the realities and meanings associated with the divine name al-karim. ix The Ismaili Imams, through their descent from the Prophet and Hazrat Ali, are also direct descendants of Prophet Abraham the biblical patriarch and father of the three great monotheistic traditions Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. The reference to your father is more meaningful in light of the following verse of the Holy Quran which says:.*3 4 #34 0& 3 4 % $ #! " %3 4#! 3 43 42 - Holy Quran 22:78 According to the commentary on this verse by Imam Jafar as-sadiq, this verse is specifically addressed to the Imams of the progeny of the Muhammad and Ali. These Imams are the muslims named by Abraham in his prayers (see Quranic verse 2:127-128)..*; $ ":" 0 <0*# " "# 2 - Imam Jafar as-sadiq, (quoted in al-kulayni, Usul al-kafi, Hadith # 478, Chapter 9) x In early Shiism, the Imam was called the Divine Sage (alim). The Prophet Muhammad, according to the Sunni and Shia traditions, is reported to have said:.*&3 4! 2 - Prophet Muhammad, (Sahih Bukhari, Kitab al-ilm, 10; Sahih Abu Dawud, Kitab al-ilm) According to Imam Muhammad al-baqir, the Imam-Sage (alim) and his disciples will appear together on the Day of Judgment:.* &3 4 "" : =" 0 " 2- Imam Muhammad al-baqir, (quoted in Mohammad Amir al-moezzi, The Divine Guide in Early Shiism, pp. 78)
The appearance of the Imam of the Time with his followers on the Day of Judgment is also supported in the following Quranic verse cited frequently by Shia Muslims:.+" 3 4> > 3 4( "3$ 4 3 4? <! 2 - Holy Quran 17:71 xi In early Shia doctrine, the Imam was known as the Proof (hujjah) of God on earth. According to Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib, the world has never been without a Hujjah of God:.*!3& 4 02 - Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib, (quoted in Nahj al-balagha, ed. Al- Salih, Beirut, 1967, pp. 497)