For Thy Love and The Love of Ali-ibne-Taleb

Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim
In the name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful

Ya Ali Madad, Yawm-e Ali Mubarak! On the occasion of the birthday commemoration of our first Holy Imam, Amir al-mu’minin, Noor Mowlana Murtaza Ali (alayhi salaam) , we would like to extend heartfelt felicitations to the global Jamat.

On this day, may Noor Mowlana Shah Karim Al-Hussaini Hazar Imam, the 49th direct lineal descendant of the Holy Prophet (s.a.s.), grant peace, prosperity, happiness, barakat, higher spiritual enlightenment, spiritual & luminous tayid (help) and empowerment to the global Jamat as we go through this difficult period. Ameen.

Allâhumâ salli alâ Muhammadin wa âle Muhammad
(O Allah! Bestow Peace on and through Muhammad and his Descendants).

Introduction

This post has six headings and has quotations which guide us to the Right Path:

1. Two Ayats from Surah Az-Zukhruf and Commentaries on these Verses;
2. The Status of Noor Mowlana Murtaza Ali (a.s.);
3. Teaching of Noor Mowlana Sultan Muhammad Shah (a.s.);
4. Teaching of Noor Mowlana Hazar Imam;
5. Profound Teaching of Noor Mowlana Murtaza Ali (a.s.);
6. Global prayers and Three Grand Aspirations.

1. Ayats from Surah Az-Zukhruf and Commentaries on these Verses

Ayat 43:43

This ayat reads as follows:

“Therefore,²²³⁵ hold thou fast what hath been revealed unto thee, Verily, thou art on the Right Path.”

Holy Quran Ayat 43:43

Explanation of Ayat 43:43

Here is the footnote from S. V. Mir Ahmed Ali’s translation of the Holy Quran:

Footnote 2235

Jabir ibne Abdallah-e-Ansari reports that after returning from ‘Hajjatul-wida (i.e., the Last Hajj) the Holy Prophet used to, very frequently, admonish and warn the people about holding fast to the command of Ali set up at Ghadeer-e-Khum where the Holy Prophet under the command from God had declared ‘Of whomsoever I am the Lord {Mawla], this Ali is his Lord [Mawla].’ Rnv. 5:67, on the declaration of which, depended the completion of the mission of the apostleship of the Holy Prophet and the perfection of the faith as a duly regulated religion for mankind (Rnv. 5:3). (See Munaqib-ibne-Magha-zali, Fagihe-Shafayee). The concluding words of the verse indicate that to acknowledge Ali in the place of Holy Prophet and to follow him is the Right Path.

Footnote 2235 S. V. Mir Ahmed Ali, pp. 1466-1467.

Ayat 43:44

This ayat reads as follows:

“And²²³⁶ verily, it is a reminder for thee and for thy people, and ye shall be questioned (about it).”

Holy Quran Ayat 43:44

Explanation of Ayat 43:44

Here is the footnote from S. V. Mir Ahmed Ali’s translation of the Holy Quran:

Footnote 2236

The question would be as to how much the Holy Quran wa honoured in practice, in the daily life. The Holy Imam Muhammad ibne-Ali and also Holy Imam Jafar ibne Muhammad As-Sadiq said, “Zikr is the Holy Quran and we are those who would be questioned about.”

According to ‘Tha’alabi’, one of the renowned Sunni commentators, the Holy Prophet said that ‘On the night of Me’raj (Ascension) when I was in the heavens among the souls of the apostles of God, and angels, at the command of God desired me to ask the apostles with what basic object they had been sent into the world.’ When I asked them, they all unanimously declared, saying, ‘We were sent for thy love and the love of Ali-ibne-Abi-Taleb’ i.e., for the faith, devotion to God and the virtues personified in Ali.

Footnote 2236 S. V. Mir Ahmed Ali, pp. 1467-1468.

2. The Status of Noor Mowlana Murtaza Ali (a.s.)

Let us read the following Hadiths of the Holy Prophet:

The holy Prophet said to Hazrat Ali: “He who obeys me, indeed obeys Allah and he who disobeys me, indeed disobeys Allah and he who obeys you, indeed obeys me and he who disobeys you, indeed disobeys me.”

al-Mustadrak, III, 121

The holy Prophet said: “Among you is the one who will fight for the tawil (inner meaning) of the Quran as I fought for its tanzil (outward revelation).” When the Prophet was asked who he was, he indicated it was Mawla Ali.

Kawkab-i Durri, p. 168

3. Teaching of Noor Mowlana Sultan Muhammad Shah (a.s.)

The following is an excerpt from the Platinum Jubilee Irshad:

I have explained in my Memoirs for the whole world to understand there are two worlds … the world of material intelligence and the world of spiritual enlightenment. The world of spiritual enlightenment is fundamentally different from the world of material intelligence and it the pride of Ismailis that we firmly believe that the world of spiritual enlightenment has come as a truth from the inception of Islam to this day with the Imamat ….

Platinum Jubilee Irshad, Cairo, 20th February 1955. (Dr. Alidina Memorial Library and Ismaili Archives)

4. Teaching of Noor Mowlana Hazar Imam

Let us reflect on how our path and our return journey to our Origin:

And it through the Light of Hazrat Ali that you seek to come closer spiritually to He who is above all else. And throughout your lifetime you carry that search, that search for spiritual elevation and light, that search which, if you are successful, will give you that inner strength which is the result of the individual murid searching in his own right for that light.

Dar-as-Salaam 7th October, 1988

5. Profound Teaching of Noor Mowlana Murtaza Ali (a.s.)

Let us assess our potential from the following teaching:

Your cure is within you, but you do not know,
Your illness is from you, but you do not see,
You are the “Clarifying Book”
Through whose letters becomes manifest the hidden.
You suppose that you’re a small body
But the greatest world unfolds within you.
You would not need what is outside yourself
If you would reflect on ‘self’, but you do not reflect.

[cited by Sadr al-din Qunawi (d. 1274), a disciple of Ibn al-‘Arabi, in his book Mir’at al-arifin fi multamas Zayn al-Abidin. The citation from Qunawi is translated by William C. Chittick and quoted in his book, Sufism: A Short Introduction, supra, at page 84.}

M. Ali Lakhani, (2006). The Sacred Foundation of Justice in Islam. p.58

6. Global Prayers and Three Grand Aspirations

Through the barakat of recitation of Holy Quran, Qasidas, Holy Ginans and voluminous prayers and Angelic Salwat by many, many individuals of the global Jamat, O Noor Mowlana Hazar Imam, bless the global Jamat with:

1. Spiritual and luminous tayid (help) to advance materially, spiritually and intellectually;
2. Sunshine in our spiritual hearts and actualization of the inner vision of the Truth;
3. Empowerment to present a Material Nazrana of time, knowledge and financial resources;
4. Empowerment to present a Spiritual Nazrana in the form of a pure heart which is in a state of constant dhikr; and
5. Empowerment to present a Luminous Nazrana in the form of a sound heart (qalb-i salim) which is in a state of constant dhikr and enlightenment.

Al-Hamdu lil-lahi Rab-bil Aalamin (All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the worlds).

Yawm-e Ali Mubarak!

Angelic Salwat Supplication

Let us now start supplicating with angelic salwat, Allâhumâ salli alâ Muhammadin wa âle Muhammad (O Allah! Bestow Peace on and through Muhammad and his Descendants) to our beloved NOOR Mowlana Shah Karim Al-Hussaini Hazar Imam for mushkil aasan for material and spiritual upliftment.

Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim
In the name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful

Haizinda — Qayampaya
(Our Present Imam is Living and His NOOR is Eternal)