Nooran-ala-Noor!
Light upon Light!
Bismillah-hir-Raheman-nir-Rahim.
In the name
of Allah. The Most Compassionate. The Most Merciful
Allah is the Noor (Divine Light) of heaven and the earth. The
similitude of His Noor (Divine Light) is as a Niche in which is a Lamp. The
Lamp is in a Glass. The Glass is as it were a star shining bright. Lit from a
Blessed Olive Tree, neither of the east nor of the west. The Oil whereof almost
glows forth (of itself) and (even) though fire touches it not. Noor-an ala-Noor
(Light upon Light) Allah guides unto His Noor (Divine Light) whomsoever He
wills, and Allah sets forth parables for men. Allah is aware of all things.
The Holy
Qur'an, Sura Noor Ayat 35
Above Ayat of the Holy Qur'an,
is interpreted by many people in many different ways. My understanding and
explanation is clearly based on My Faith
and my belief in The Institute of Imamah.
When we try to understand the above Ayat
of The Holy Qur'an, we are faced
with the mystery of creation that is so complex and yet so beautifully
explained in this Sura-tul-Noor. It starts by
"Allah
is the Noor
(Divine Light) of heaven and earth."
Here it gives the explanation of
Who is The Creator. Although He is
invisible from the physical eyes, His
Noor (Divine Light) is always manifest to guide us from the darkness of
ignorance to the path of righteousness. This
Noor (Divine Light) is ever present for the whole Universe (heaven and
earth). The question here is where is this Noor
of Allah? We know that The Creator is The
Most Compassionate and The Most Merciful. Because of this He has always provided the right
guidance for His creation. Trough His Prophets He has always shown The Right Path to His Creation. The Holy
Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) is the last Messenger of Allah. Allah in His
infinite mercy can never leave His
creation without guidance. So where is this guidance at present? The answer to
above is in the second sentence of the above Sura. The second sentence says,
"The
similitude of His Noor (Divine Light) is as a niche in which is a lamp."
Let us examine this statement. When we visualize the heaven
and earth. It encompasses the whole universe. Our globe happens to be a tiny
niche in that vast universe. It is obvious that The Noor, (Divine Light) emanates from a lamp that is in this
niche. This lamp is without any doubt representing Allah's Noor (Divine Light). How can we find this lamp? Let's
continue further to examine the above Sura.
"The
lamp is in a glass. The glass is as it were a star shining bright."
Is this lamp in form of a sun, a
moon or some star? Although the metaphor used here is of a star shining bright,
obviously this can't be the case in the literal sense, as the only light
capable of guiding must have the necessary intellect to do so. The highest
intelligent being in this universe can be no one else but a human being. The Noor (Divine Light) is in the
spiritual form. Here the metaphor of glass is used to explain the outer cover
or the physical body. Clearly This Noor (The Divine guiding Light)
has to be manifesting in a human body. Where and how do we find this person?
There are countless religious sects on this earth. There are many similarities
between all these different Religions. They all preach goodness and condemn
evil. They all value moral and ethical behavior and oppose all kind of
destructive behaviors. All of them have
one or more leader or guru to guide them on the fundamental principles of that
faith. Many of them claim to be having the divine authority. How do we know the
Real Guru who is bestowed with This Noor (Divine Light) mentioned in
the above Sura?
All these sects hold the same
values of human decency because the original founders of the faith were The Prophets of Allah of their time.
After their demise, many things were added to their original teachings. Also
many things got inserted that were in the interest of people who were in power
after them. Thus although many of the basic values remained, many new customs
and beliefs got added to it. Every time a new Prophet came, he brought new commandments to follow because greed
and ignorance had tainted the previous scriptures. Those that agreed to follow
the new Prophet formed their own
group and a new faith was born. The same pattern of additions and alterations
continued and The Lord Almighty in His infinite mercy,
kept sending more Prophets to guide His creation
on The Right Path. Islam
believes this number to be 124000.
Fortunately, many of these Major
Prophets gave predictions of future events and of the guidance to come in
future. These predictions were helpful to recognize any rightful claims to
divine guidance. Despite of intentional changes made in the original guidance
of The Prophets of God Almighty. There
are many indications in various scriptures of the coming of The Final Messenger of Allah; our Holy
Prophet Hazrat Nabi Muhammad Mustafa Rasul Saleh Allaho Allehi WA Salaam.
I'll give a few examples below.
PROPHECIES
FORETOLD IN VARIOUS SCRIPTURES ON COMING OF THE MESSENGER OF GOD, OUR HOLY
PROPHET MUHAMMAD (May
peace be upon him.)
Extracts
from the GOSPEL OF BARNABAS: -
Chapter
41 paragraph 12,13.
`Then said GOD:
"Depart, cursed one, from my presence!" Then Satan departed.
Whereupon GOD said to Adam and Eve, who were both weeping:
"Go ye forth from paradise, and do penance, and let not your hope fail,
for I will send your SON in such
wise that your seed shall lift the dominion of Satan from off the human race;
for HE who shall come, MY MESSENGER,
to HIM will I give all things."
`GOD hid HIMSELF, and the angel Michael drove them forth from paradise.
Whereupon Adam turning around saw written above the gate, "THERE IS ONLY ONE GOD, AND MUHAMMAD IS THE MESSENGER OF GOD." Whereupon, weeping, he
said: "May it pleasing to GOD,
O my Son, that Thou come quickly and draw us out of misery."
Chapter
42 paragraph 5,6,7,8.
Then
said they: `Who are thou? Say in order that we may give testimony to those who
sent us.'
Then
said Jesus [May peace is upon him]:
`I am a voice that cries through all Judea, and cries: "Prepare the way
for THE MESSENGER OF THE LORD."
even as it is written in Isaiah.'
They
said: `If thou are not the MESSIAH
nor Elijah, or any prophet,
wherefore do thou preach new doctrine, and make thyself of more account than
the MESSIAH?'
Jesus answered: `The miracles which GOD worked by my hands show that I
speak that which GOD wills; nor
indeed do I make myself to be accounted as him of whom ye speak. For I am not
worthy to unloose the ties of the hosen or the latches of the shoes of THE MESSENGER OF GOD whom ye
call "MESSIAH" who was
made before me, and shall come after me, and shall bring the words of truth, so
that his faith shall have no end.'
Jesus
answered, `HE will not come in your
time, but will come some years after you, when my gospel shall be annulled,
insomuch that there shall be scarcely thirty faithful. At that time GOD will have Mercy on the world, and
so HE will send HIS MESSENGER, over whose head will rest a white cloud, whereby he
shall be known one ELECT OF GOD, and
shall be by HIM manifested to the
world. He shall come with great
power against ungodly, and shall destroy idolatry upon earth. And it rejoices
me because that through HIM our GOD shall be known and GLORIFIED, and shall be known to be
true; and he will execute vengeance against those who shall say that I am more
than man.
Note: Barnabas was one of the 12 disciples of Jesus. Gospel of Barnabas was
accepted as a canonical gospel in churches of Alexandria till 325 AD. In 325 AD, the Nicene council was held,
where for political reasons it was ordered that all original gospel's in Hebrew
script should be destroyed. An edict was issued that anyone in possession of
these gospels will be put to death. A copy of the Latin text has survived
despite all the efforts to erase it from the face of the earth. The Latin
manuscript passed through various hands until in 1738 it found its way into the
Hofbibliothek in Vienna. There it now rests. The Latin text was translated into
English by LONSDALE and LAURA RAGG and was printed at Claredon press in Oxford.
Oxford University Press published it in 1907. This English translation
mysteriously disappeared from the market. Today, only two copies of this are
known to exist. One is in the British Museum and the other is in the Library of
Congress, Washington D.C. Recent
publication of it was made possible from one of the above manuscript's micro
film and can be obtained from: -
BEGUM AISHA BAWNY WAQF, 3rd Floor, Bank House
No.1, Habib Square, M. A. Jinnah Road, Karachi, Pakistan
********************************************************************
THE OLD TESTAMENT
Duet,
[Torah] xviii: 15-18
"15.
The LORD thy GOD will raise up unto thee a prophet from the midst of thee, of
thy brethren, like unto me; unto him shall ye hearken. 16. According to all that
thou desire of The LORD thy GOD in Horeb in the day of assembly,
saying, let me not hear again the voice of THE
LORD MY GOD, neither let me see
this great fire any more, that I die not. 17. And The LORD said unto me. They have well said that which they have
spoken. 18. I will raise them up a prophet from among their brethren, like unto
thee, I will put my words in his mouth;
and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him."
Evidently
PROPHET MUHAMMAD is foretold here,
for GOD declared to all Israelites
that He would raise a prophet from amongst their brethren. The phrase
"brethren of Israel" clearly refers to descendants of Ishmael (the
Arabs). It is a known fact that revelations to the prophets of Israelites were
not made in the words as found in the scriptures, but only their purport, which
were delivered to the people in their own language afterwards. But The
Holy Qur'an, was revealed to PROPHET MUHAMMAD word by word as is a well-known
fact, which makes the expression "and will put My words in his mouth"
applicable only to PROPHET MUHAMMAD. (Peace be upon him.)
In
promising to raise a prophet GOD
tells Moses that "I will raise up a prophet from among their
brethren." There can not remain a single doubt that the promised prophet
must have been from among the Ishmaelites and not Israelites.
**************************************************************************
Prophecy of the prophet Isaiah
(Translated from the original Hebrew text): -
685
Jesaia cap. 21.22 / Isaiah xxi. 7.
"He
saw two riders one of them was a rider upon an ass and the other rider upon a
camel, he hearkened diligently with much heed." (Isaiah xxi: 7)
Above passage is the faithful translation of the
Hebrew text. However, in English Bible it is thus translated: "He saw a
chariot of asses and a chariot of camels, etc." The Vulgate bible has it
as follows: " He saw a chariot of two horsemen, a rider upon an ass and a
rider upon a camel, etc."
There can be no doubt that of the two riders
represented by prophet Isaiah, as being the restorers of true worship of GODHEAD, the rider upon the ass is
Jesus Christ, because he made his entry into Jerusalem upon an ass, and the
rider upon the camel is a reference to The
HOLY PROPHET MUHAMMAD of Arabia, in which country a camel happens to be the
characteristic of convenience.
***************************************************************************
SONG OF SOLOMON 5:16
Hikko
Mamittadim Vikullo Mahamadim
Zehdudi Vezam Raai Benute Yapus Halam.
True
English translation of the above is: -
"His
mouth is most sweet; yea, he is MUHAMMAD altogether lovely.
This is my beloved and this is my friend. O daughter of Jerusalem."
******************************************************************************
PROPHECIES
IN THE NEW TESTAMENT: -
THE AHMMAD OF MASSIAH,
Translated from the original Greek text.
John
14:15.
"If
ye love me ye will keep my commandments. v.16. And I will pray The Father and he shall give you
another Parakletos (comforter)
that he may be with you forever. v.25. These things have I spoken unto you
while yet abiding with you. v.26. But the Comforter
(Parakletos) which is the spirit of truth whom The Father will send in my name he shall teach you all things and
bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I said unto you."
John
16:7
"Nevertheless
I tell you the truth. It is expedient for you that I go away, for if I go not
away, the Comforter (Parakletos)
will not come unto you, but if I go, I will send him unto you. V.8 And he, when
he is come, will convict the world in respect of sin and righteousness and
judgement. V.12 I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye can not bear
them now. V13. Howbeit when he, the Spirit of Truth is come, he shall guide you
into all the truth for he shall not
speak from himself, but what
things whatsoever he shall hear, these shall he speak and he shall declare unto
you the things that are to come."
********************************************************************
PROPHECIES
IN HINDU SCRIPTURES
Bhavishya purana. Parv 3,
Khand 3, Adhya 3, Shalok 5-8.
A
malechha (a foreigner speaking a foreign language.) spiritual teacher will
appear with his companions. His name will be Muhammad. Raja (Bhoj) after giving this Maha Dev Arab (of angelic disposition) a bath in the `Panchgavya'
and Ganges water, (i.e., purging him of all sins) offers him the presents of
his sincere devotion and show him all reverence say, `I make obeisance to thee.
O ye! The pride of mankind, the
dweller of (marusthal) desert, Ye have collected a great force to kill
the devil and you yourself have been protected from the malechha opponents.' `O
ye! The image of The Most Pious GOD The
biggest LORD, I am a slave to thee, take me as one lying on thy feet.'
ATHARVA VEDA, khanda 20, sukta
127, mantra 1-3.
"O
people, listen this empathetically! The
man of praise (Muhammad) will be raised among people. We take the
emigrant in our shelter from sixty thousand and ninety enemies whose
conveyances are twenty camels and she camels, whose loftiness of position
touches the heaven and lowers it. He gave to Maharishi hundred of gold coins
ten circles, three hundred Arab horses and ten thousand cows.
************************************************************************
J.P.
Rupani in his Gujrati book `Hirak Mohotsva Granth.' quotes a British author
Mclaughlin who in doing research of the names of Naklanki Avatar and his family as foretold in Sanskrit, came to the
conclusion that these have the same meaning in Arabic with the names of our Holy Prophet and his family.
************************************************************************
PROPHESIES
IN PARSI SCRIPTURE:
ZAND AVASTHA and DASATIR.
Translated from the original pahlavi into modern
Persian and then into English.
"When
the Persians should sink low in morality, a man will be born in Arabia whose
followers will upset their throne, religion and everything else. The mighty
stiff-necked ones of Persia will be overpowered. The house which was built
(reference to Ka'ba built by Abraham [Hazrat Ibrahim].) and in which
many idols have been placed will be purged of idols, and people will say their
prayers facing towards it. His followers will capture the towns of Parsies and
Taus and Balkh and other big places round about. People will embroll with each
other. The wise men of Persia and others will join his followers."
This prophecy is contained in the book that has
always been in the hands of Parsies, and its words do not admit of two
interpretations. The coming man is to be an Arab. The Persians would join his
faith. Fire temples would be destroyed. Idols would be removed. People would
say their prayers facing Kaaba. Can
this prophecy be for any one else but OUR
HOLY PROPHET MUHAMMAD?
*************************************************************************
Above
evidence clearly shows that The holder of the key to The Right Path can not be any other then our Holy Prophet Nabi Muhammad Rasul (S.A.W.) The Holy Qura'n says he
is the last and final Prophet of Allah.
After him His Noor will guide Allah's
creation. Let us continue to examine this Ayat further.
"Lit
from a Blessed Olive Tree, neither of the East nor of the West."
The
olive here symbolizes purity. A tree that is pure can be The Family Tree in whose genealogy all the Major Prophets were chosen. This family could be only the family of Hazrat Ibrahim as all
the Major Prophets were from it. Hazrat
Moosa, Hazrat Dawood and Hazrat
Issa were from this lineage through Younger son Hazrat Issac. While the Last
and Final Prophet, Hazrat Nabi Muhammad Mustafa Rasul S.A.W. was in the
lineage of Hazrat Ibrahim's Elder
son Hazrat Ismail. Apparently the
holder of this Noor has to be from
this pure family. Islam is a
universal faith and everyone is equal in God's
presence. Whether rich or poor, Prince or beggar, irrespective of color or
creed is on the same level. It is not
restricted to time, place or geographical boundaries. Thus it is neither of the
East nor of the West.
"The
Oil whereof almost glows forth (of itself) and (even) though fire touches it
not."
One
needs fire to light a lamp. Here the lamp is the lamp of guidance. Usually
people follow a leader who is in power. They follow his guidance and expect him
to guide them on the right path. We might say that to acquire this position of
leadership one has to have one of the following qualifications (fire). 1. He is
chosen 2. He is nominated. Or 3. He gains that position by force. All these
methods are the fire that lights their lamp of guidance. The bearer of Allah's Noor does not need being
elected by any of the above methods. The Lord Almighty has already decided on
the method of his leadership. He does not need the qualifying vote of a
selection process of any overseeing body. The people in position in the
community need not nominate him. He does not need a fire (a qualifying vote).
He is a direct descendent of the family tree that is purified by The Lord Almighty.
"Nooran
ala Noor (Light upon Light)."
The
Glass, which is the physical form of the Lamp changes periodically, while the
Noor (Light) of the Lamp, remains the same and manifests eternally. The bearers
of The Noor are The Imams of the
time who change physically like changing Glasses of the Lamp. Nooran ala Noor (Light upon Light) one
after the other in the lineage of the family of Hazrat Ibrahim (Abraham) will continue till infinity.
"Allah guides unto His Noor (Divine
Light) whomsoever He wills, and Allah sets forth parables for men. Allah is
aware of all things."
Not
everyone is fortunate to get the recognition or manifestation of This Bearer of The Noor. Only a group of a selected few are shown The Right Path. Only the deserving
souls among this group will be spiritually guided to His Noor (The Divine Light).
Since we know that our Holy
Prophet Nabi Muhammad Rasul S.A.W. is the last and final Prophet of Allah, it is evident that the
bearer of this Noor (Divine Light)
has to be from his family. The Holy
Qur'an clearly guides those that are sincere in their search of this Noor. There are several Ayats that give indications on this.
"Bismillah
hir Raheman nir Rahim.
In the name of Allah
The Most Compassionate The Most Merciful.
Allah has chosen Adam,
Noah, and the descendents of Abraham and the descendents of Imran above the
universe."
Sura AL-e-IMRAN, Ayat 32.
Since the time of Prophet
Ebrahim, several thousand years have passed. It is obvious that his
generation has multiplied and anyone can claim to be his descendent. However, The Holy Qur'an gives precise
clarification on the subject so no misunderstanding can arise from it. In
another Sura of The Holy Qur'an Allah says to The
Prophet Ibrahim:
"Bismillah
hir Raheman nir Rahim.
In the name of Allah The Most Compassionate The Most
Merciful.
Verily I make thee Imam for
mankind"(Ebrahim) said, "And
of my offspring"? He (Allah) said, "My covenant reaches not the
unjust."
Sura Al-Baqarah, Ayat 124.
Above Ayat is
self-explanatory. This and other supporting Ayats shows the rightful Messenger
of Allah being our Holy Prophet
Muhammad Rasul (S.A.W.). Rasul-E-Karim Hazrat
Nabi Muhammad during his lifetime had in many an occasion declared Hazrat Ali his cousin and son in law to
be his successor. Any serious scholar of Islamic
history of Prophet Muhammad's era
will find that Hazrat Ali was the
major force in the spread of Islam.
He together with Bibi Khadija, Prophets
first wife was the first ones to accept Hazrat
Nabi Muhammad's Prophet hood. They were the first ones to embrace Islam. Hazrat Ali was at Prophets side each and every time there
was any problem. He was the grand hero feared by the enemies of Islam. He was envied by many of the Prophet's close companions who thought
that The Prophet was favoring Hazrat Ali because he was related to The Holy Prophet. The following Ayat of The Holy Qur'an is sufficient
for people with open mind and sincerely earnest to know the truth:
"Bismillah
hir Raheman nir Rahim.
In the name of Allah The Most Compassionate The Most
Merciful.
That
is of which giveth Allah the glad tidings unto His servants who believe and do
good deeds. Say thou (O' our Apostle Muhammad!) 'I demand not of you any recompense for it (the toils of apostleship) save the love of (my) kith & kin.' And
whosoever earneth good, We increase for him good therein, verily Allah is
Oft-Forgiving, The Most Merciful."
Sura Ash-Shura Ayat 23
The question here arises, who are The Ahlul-Bait (Kith and Kins) of The Holy prophet? Obviously all the relatives of The Prophet must have been overjoyed at
the revelation of the above Ayat.
However, it is evident from the historic facts that many of the so-called
relatives of The Prophet were
amongst the enemies of The Prophet.
Hence above Ayat can never be
applied to them. When asked as to who were his relatives referred to in the
above Ayat? The Holy Prophet replied,
'They
are Ali, Fatima and their issues.'
On one occasion The
Holy Prophet gathered under his mantle Ali,
Hassan, Hussein and Fatima when
the following verse of The Holy Qur'an
was revealed:
"Bismillah
hir Raheman nir Rahim
In The Name of Allah The Most Compassionate The Most
Merciful
Verily,
Allah intendeth but to keep off from you (every kind of) uncleanness, O' ye
People of the house, and purify you (with a thorough Purification)"
Sura Al-Azhab Ayat 33
Bibi Ayesha, who in spite of being The Prophet's wife was not included, confirmed this incident. Bibi
Salma also another of the wife of The
Holy Prophet even tried to join the group under the mantle, but The Prophet did not let her do
that.
In another incident, when Christian of Najran did not
yield to any of the reasonable arguments proving Islam to be the religion prescribed by The God Almighty. The following Ayat was revealed:
"Bismillah
hir Raheman nir Rahim
In the name of Allah The Most Compassionate The Most
Merciful
And
unto him, who disputeth with thee therein after the knowledge hath come unto
thee, Say! (O' Our Apostle Muhammad!) [Unto them] 'Come ye, let us summon our
sons and ye summon your sons. And our women and your women and we summon
ourselves and you summon yourselves and then let us invoke and lay The Curse of
God on the liars!' "
Sura Al-e-Imran Ayat 60
The Holy
Prophet
came with His Ahlul-Bait; Ali, Fatima,
Hassan and Hussein and challenged the adversaries to do the same. This
incident is recorded as 'Mubahila' in History. When
the Christian of Najran saw Panjtan Pak
together before them, they withdrew from the challenge for the fear of invoking
the wrath of Allah upon them.
There are many Hadiths recorded both by Shia and Sunni
sources that confirm the legitimacy of Hazrat Ali.
"Innal Qur'an onzilla ala sab'atu ahrofin ma
minha harfon illa Wallahu Zaheron WA Batanon WA inna Ali ibne Abi Taleb, indahu
minho Zahero wal Batin."
[Verily The Holy Qur'an has been revealed on seven
letters of which there is no letter which has not a Manifest and a Latent
meaning. And Verily Ali ibne Abi Taleb, with him is the Manifest and the Latent
of it.]
"Ali is of me and I am of Ali"
"Ali is with The Qur'an and Qur'an will be with
Ali"
"Ali is with the Right and the Right will be with
Ali."
"The Qur'an and the Ahlul-Bait are the two
inseparable entities, each perfect in itself reflecting the other."
"Ana Madeenatul Ilm WA Aliyun Babuha."
[I am The City of Knowledge and Ali is The Gate.]
"I and Ali are of the same Noor [Divine
Light]."
"O' Ali! Thy flesh is my flesh, thy blood is my
blood."
"O' Ali Thou art to me as Aaron was to Moses."
These and many other Hadiths indicate
that Nabi Muhammad (P.B.U.H.) had
during his lifetime chosen Hazrat Ali
(A.W.S.) as his successor. He had on many an occasion tried to make this
clear to The Muslim Umma indirectly.
Although he had not made a formal declaration of this for the fear of creating
a split in the Islamic Umma. Finally
he received the following revelation:
"Bismillah hir Raheman nir Rahim
In the name of
Allah The Most Compassionate The Most Merciful
O' our Apostle Muhammad Deliver Thou What hath been sent
down unto Thee from Thy Lord, and if Thou dost it not then (it will be as if)
Thou hast not delivered His Message (at all) and surely Allah will protect Thee
from (the mischief) of men. Verily Allah guideth not an infidel people."
Sura Al-Maidah, Ayat 67
The Holy Prophet was returning from His last Pilgrimage accompanied by a large number
of Muslims when the above Ayat was revealed at a place called Gadir-e-Khum
(valley of Khum). This place is the main junction from where everyone would
split in various directions to continue on their way home. People had already
scattered and on their way to different direction. The Holy Prophet sent runners after them to call them back. A
temporary platform was prepared by stacking saddles of camels. When all of them
arrived back, The Holy Prophet Muhammad
climbed on the platform with Hazrat Ali
by His side and delivered the above revelation. People were still wondering of
what Message Allah referred to in
the above Ayat? When The Holy Prophet took Hazrat Ali's hand and raised it very
high so that everyone could see clearly and formally made the following
declaration.
"I live two things
after me. The Holy Qura'n and my Ahlul-bait (Progeny). They are bound by a long
rope, if you will follow them both, you will never go astray." Then he introduced Hazrat
Ali to the Ummah, " For those of you who consider me as their Mawla
[Master], Ali is their Mawla [Master] too."
Then he raised hi
both hands in prayer and said,
"O' Allah! Love
those who love Ali and hate those who hate Ali. Help those who help Ali"
The total number of Muslims is believed to be hundred
and twenty thousand at this gathering. The
Holy Prophet asked the congregation to declare allegiance of Hazrat Ali. The first one to perform
the Baiyat (Allegiance) was Omar who
is reported to have addressed him congratulating loudly he announced,
"Bakhakhin bakhakhin laka yabna
Abi-Talib, asbahto Mawalee WA Mowlil kulle Momineen WA Momininat."
[Meaning: Hurrah, hurrah O son of Abi-Talib you have become my Master
and the Master of every faithful man and faithful woman.]
Hearing the way Omar felicitated Hazrat Ali, The Holy Prophet commanded him not to
address Hazrat Ali as son of Abu-Talib but as Amir-ul-Momineen (The Lord commander of the
faithful.) All, who were present there, came one after the other and
performed Amir-ul-Momineen Hazrat Mawla Murtza Ali's Baiyat. Immediately
after this the following Ayat of The Holy Qur'an was revealed.
"Bismillah hir Raheman nir Rahim
In the
name of Allah The Most Compassionate The Most Merciful
This Day I have
perfected for you your Religion, and have completed My favors on you, and
chosen Islam to be The Religion for you."
Sura Al-Maidah Ayat 3
Allah
thus perfected The Religion of Islam
only after The Holy Prophet declared
the formal announcement of Hazrat Ali's
succession. With the end of era of the Prophet-hood,
Imamat started with Hazrat Ali as The First Imam. The
Institute of Imamat will
continue in the descendents of Hazrat
Ali one after the other till eternity.
Imamat is divinely decreed by
The Almighty Allah not any and every descendent of Ali is an Imam. The Imam-E-Zaman (Imam of The Time)
himself chooses his male successor.
Just as the advent of Prophet Muhammad is foretold in the
previous scriptures, so is The Authority
of Hazrat Ali mentioned.
In various Hindu scriptures the 10th
Naklank Avatar is supposed to come
in the present era known as Kal-yug. The name Nakalank is made up of two words, Na means without and Kalank
means sin. That is some one who is
without sin.
As we saw before, the incident when The Holy Prophet after gathering His Ahlul-Bait under his mantle said that
these are my Kith and Kin, The following Ayat
was revealed.
"Bismillah
hir Raheman nir Rahim
In The Name of Allah The Most Compassionate The Most
Merciful
Verily,
Allah intendeth but to keep off from you (every kind of) uncleanness, O' ye
People of the house, and purify you (with a thorough Purification)"
Sura Al-Azhab Ayat 33
Thus Ahlul-Baits were purified by The
Almighty Allah. In Indian dilate they became Na-Kalank or without sin.
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At the time when Hazrat Ali took the office of the 4th Khaliph of Islamic
Ummah, in a sermon presenting his credentials to the people he said,
'Fi Ismi fi
Torat-e-Eliah fil Inzil-e-Elie, va fil Qura'n-e-Aliyul-Azim, va ind Ummie
Haidera, va ind Abi Sabder va ind Nabi Murtaza, va ind Musalmin kararin gayr
farar.'
Translation:
My name in The Torah is Eliah. In The Bible it is Eli. In The Holy
Qura'n it is Aliyul-Azim. My mother calls me Haider. My father calls me Sabder.
The Holy Prophet used to call me Murtaza. And the Muslims know me as the brave
that never turns away from a battle out of fear.
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The Bible says in the chapter of
Matthew 27.
41.Likewise also the chief priests
mocking him, with scribes and elders said, 42. 'He saved others, himself he
cannot save. If he were the king of Israel, let him now come down from the
cross, and we will believe him. 43. He trusted in God, let him deliver him now,
if he will have him. For he said, I am the son of the father.
46. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli,
Eli la'ma sa-bach'tha-ni?
That is to say Eli, Eli why hast
Thou forsaken me?
47. Some of them that stood there,
when they heard that said, This man calleth for Eliah.
Some people argue that the name Eliah in Torah and Eli in Bible are the
names of God and can not be
attributed to Hazrat Ali.
However, a Christian Priest of St.
Paul church of London, England named J.B.Glendon who is the author of, 'A
Notebook on New and Old Testament of Bible'. William A. Harold
published it in 1908. He writes on page 427 of this book. "In the oldest and present
language of Hebrew, the word Eli or Eliah is not in the meaning of God or
Allah, but this word is showing that in a next and last time of the world any
one will come nominated Elie or Eliah.' Evidently, there has to be no doubt that these names must refer
to Hazrat Ali who was nominated by The Holy Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W.) by the
order of Allah.
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AMAZING ARCHEOLOGICAL FIND IN THE VALLEY OF KIEV (Kohe
Kaaf).
Prophet Noah
(peace be upon him), invokes Allah
with Blessed Names of Panjtan Pak:
In
July 1951, while a group of soviet archaeologists were digging in an area in
the valley of `Kiev' (Kohe Kaaf), they discovered scattered pieces of
ancient wood touched by termites. This great discovery made them dig deeper and
deeper, till they discovered another group of stony ancient wood that were
further deep in the earth. Amongst these, was a block of wood 14 knots long and
10 knots wide. What made those archaeologists puzzled most, was the
unchangeable shape, ineffectual of termites and it deed not scatter like the
other pieces of wood, nor turn stony.
In
later 1952, the investigation regarding the archeological group of ancient wood
had been completed. They had concluded that the above mentioned block of wood
was part of Prophet Noah's ark. They'd observed some letters
engraved on it, which goes back to the most ancient language that, is believed
to have ever evolved on the surface of the earth. In 1953 the digging
operations had finished and the Russian Government had formed a committee of
seven scientists (archaeologist and linguistic); some of which were:
1.
Sawlot Naoev, professor of Moscow University. 2. Tanmova Kourov, professor of
Linguistics at Kevenzo College. 3. De Racon, professor of Archaeology at Lenin
Institute. 4. Mr. Taumol Goru, Teacher, Cafezud College. 5. Major Cottor,
Stalin College. 6. Mr. M. Ahmed Colad, Zitcomen Research Association. 7. Prof.
Ifa Han Kheeno, Lu Han College, China and others.
After
eight months of research and study of that block of wood and the letters
engraved upon it, they agreed that this block of wood was made of the same
material which Prophet Noah's ark
was made of. And that Prophet Noah
(PBUH) had placed this block of wood in his ark for blessings and
protection during his journey with his companions and family during the flood.
The letters engraved upon the block of wood were in the Semitic Language which
was translated into English by the British scientist; Aief Max, professor of
ancient tongue at Manchester University, England. The letters stated the
following: -
"Oh
my God, my helper, in your mercy and generosity help me. And for the sake of
those holy souls; Muhammad, Elia, Shoppar, Shappair and Fatima who are all
great and blessed. The universe is there for them, help me in their names. Only
You can guide us to the STRAIGHT PATH."
It's
obvious dear reader that Elia, Shoppar,
Shappair are names in Semitic language and their Arabic rendering is Ali, Hassan, Hussein. The mysterious
and ambiguous thing which the committee couldn't understand were, that it did
not scatter or turn stony like other pieces, despite the fact that thousands of
years had passed upon it. It can be seen and observed at the "Museum of
Archaeology", in Moscow, Russia. The translation was documented in the
following newspapers: -
1.
Weekly Mirror; UK, 28/12/53, 2. Star of Britain: London,
1/54, 3. Manchester Sunlight; Manchester, 23/ 1/ 54, 4. London Weekly Mirror,
1/2/54, 5. Bathrah Najaf; Iraq,
2/2/54, 6. Al-Huda; Cairo, 31/3/54.
Source: Al- Zahra Magazine
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Many have claimed to be the descendents
of the house of The Prophet. Many have traced their claim through Prophet's in laws or his closest
companions. Others may claim to be of the Hashimite descendent, Or even of the
Quresh clan of which The Hishimites were a part. Any such genealogy doesn't give them a right to the claim of Imamat. It is a known fact that amongst
the enemies of The Prophet was his
relatives of Quresh and Hashimite descent.
Imamat is a divine institution as proclaimed by The
Holy Prophet by the order of Allah.
In accordance with God's command
given in The Holy Qura'n, a believer
must 'Obey Allah and obey His Messenger (Prophet Muhammad
A.W.S.) and those with authority amongst the believers (The Imam of the time). If The
Prophet chose Hazrat Ali as His
Successor, which we know he did, then Hazrat
Ali is The Ulil Amr (holder of
authority) mentioned in The Holy Qura'n.
Only a male offspring of Hazrat Ali, can be an Imam-E-Zaman.
Again the next Imam can only be
chosen by The Imam-E-Zaman from His
offspring. Because of this, even a descendent of Hazrat Ali can hold the legitimate office of Imamah, only if he is chosen by the preceding Imam-E-Zaman. Over the years many have made false claims for this
Office. Many were Imam's own
children. In some incidents even some of His
Murids have tried to proclaim themselves to the office of Imamat. Those that followed these false imposters were grossly
misled and went astray.
PS This
article is for the benefit of Ismaili youth only. It is written with intent to
educate and enhance the knowledge of their faith. The purpose is not to get into
argument with others or influence them in any way. Please print it out and hand-over
to as many Ismaili kids as you can. E-mail it to others. May Rahemat of Mawla
Ali descend on you!
Author: Unknown.