Ismaili.NET - Heritage F.I.E.L.D.

From an historical point of view, Shiism is based on the doctrine of the spiritual pre-eminence of Ali, the cousin and son-im-law of the Prophet. Shiites quote many sayings of Muhammad in support of this, and point out that the Prophet gave his only daughter, Fatimah, to Ali in marriage. Ali is to me as Aaron was to Muses, except that there is no prophet after me. I am the City of Knowledge and Ali is the Gate; do not enter the City except through the Gate. According to the Shiites, the Prophet expressly appointed Ali as his heir (wasiy) and spiritual successor (khalifah). In the year before he died, Muhammad gathered certain Muslims at Ghadir Khumm after the Pilgrimage. There, he asked the crowd, Am I not the Messenger of God?; they answered, whom I was the (spiritual) master, hence-forward Yeah (bala), and he continued, Those over help him and abandon those who abandon him.Ali is their master. May God help those who

According to a belief accepted by all Muslims, Shiite and Sunni alike, Muhammad is the last prophet. After the end of the cycle of prophecy does the possibility of the divine communication with mankind therefore come to an end? Shiites (and Sufis) maintain that it does continue through the cycle of initiation or sainthood (wilayah). Morever, every divine messenger in addition to his function as law-giver has the deeper function of sainthood, which is either manifested (as in the case of Jesus) or hidden (as with Moses). The function of sainthood in a prophet is no less significant than his function as law-giver. After the end of the cycle of prophecy no new revelation is transmitted to mankind and consequently there is no new Divine Law (Shariah), but this does not mean that initiation, direct contact with the divine, also comes to end. The end of the cycle of the prophecy is the beginning of the cycle of sainthood. Ali is the saint par excellence, the starting point of the new cycle, and he is also the rightful successor of the Prophet in the sense of temporal ruler. The combination of these two functions constitutes the Imamate as the Shiite conceive it, and Ali is the first Imam. After him, this function remains within the family or Household of the Prophet, his descendants through Ali and Fatimah.

There are several branches of Shiism, the two major ones being the Ismailis and the Ithna asharis or Twelvers. Both branches insist on descendants of Ali as Imams, but diverge after the sixth Imam, Jafar al-Sadiq. The Ismailis recognised Ismail, his eldest son, as Imam. The Ithna asharis followed the younger son, Musa. For the Ithna asharis there are only twelve Imams; the last one, Mahdi, went into occultation and will return at some moment to this plane, bringing with him the reign of universal justice. For the Ismailis, however, there must always be an Imam present in this world; the present Aga Khan is the 49th Imam.

In Ismaili doctrine, God is envisaged in the two aspects of transcendence and immanence. In the first, He is beyond and qualification or description; even to call Him the Absolute is to determine and limit Him. There is nothing like unto Him (Qur. IX-42). The Divine Essence as such is beyond any quality, description or determination. God can only be known through His manifestations in the world, His Theophanies or Divine Perradiations. Everything in the Universe describes a Divine Name, or rather is the manifestation of all the Names. Man is the comprehensor of these Names, and himself a total manifestation or microcosm, the vicegerent of God on earth.

The cosmology and cosmogony of Ismailism is explained by the emanation of a hierarchy of intelligences which are ten in number. These are the cause of the creation of this world, the transmitters of knowledge and the vehicle of Divine Grace and guidance. The hierarchy is matched by a corresponding spiritual hierarchy in this world.

As already mentioned, Ismailis have often been called batiniyyah or esoterists. The word batin designates the inner essence or spiritual gist of religion. The whole doctrine of Ismailism is based on the idea of tawil, exgesis or hermeneutic interpretation. Every dogma in religion has two aspects, one exoteric and outward, which is understood and followed by the majority; the other esoteric and inner, within the exoteric truth, superior to it, hidden from the majority and revealed only to the elect. Tawil, is the only method of unveiling this esoteric truth; the word itself means taking something back to its primordial origin.