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SHAH DIDAR

The word shah didar or shah'jo didar means may (you bless with) Lord's glimpse. It is a taslim in the Ismaili tariqah, the believers greet each other at the end of the prayer, beholding face to face, both pronounce shah didar by shaking hand. This is an act of humble wish to refresh their spiritual relation. The Koran says, "Whosoever surrenders his face to God, being a doer of good, has verily grasped the firm hand-hold" (31:22)

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  • Encyclopedia Topic
    Encyclopaedia of Ismailism by Mumtaz Ali Tajddin

    The term sa'f safa'i means neat and cleanliness, and the Sa'f Safa'i Committee (matahir or taharat khana) is a traditional institution in each Jamatkhana. It looks after the sweeping, washing and cleaning the premise. Islam emphasizes great deal of cleanliness and purification in every affair of life. The Prophet also said, "Purification is the key to prayer" (Tirmizi, 1:3), "Religion is built on cleanliness" (Ibid.) and "Purification is one half of faith" (Ibn Majah, 1:5).

  • Encyclopedia Topic
    Encyclopaedia of Ismailism by Mumtaz Ali Tajddin

    The word sadaqa is derived from sidq meaning truth, and comes to signify a charitable deed, occurring 14 times in the Koran. Sometimes the terms zakat and sadaqa are wrongly used in the same sense. Sadaqa denotes a voluntary alms. According to Koran (9:14): "Take from their property alms (sadaqa) in order thus to purify them (tuzakki'him)." Sadaqa is a mere generic term applying to the alms.

  • Encyclopedia Topic
    Encyclopaedia of Ismailism by Mumtaz Ali Tajddin

    "Pir Sadruddin, one of the best known and revered hujjats in India was born in Sebzewar probably in 700/1300. His name was Muhammad, the son of Pir Sahib'din bin Pir Nasiruddin bin Pir Shams Sebzewari. His early education followed customary lines at home. He was a man steeped in a thorough understanding of the mystical teaching and the Islamic science of tawil. He also visited Mecca several times on pilgrimage, and seems to have acquired a good command in Arabic. Pir Sadruddin is said to have visited India in 734/1335, and joined the mission of Pir Shams.

  • Encyclopedia Topic
    Encyclopaedia of Ismailism by Mumtaz Ali Tajddin

    "Prince Sadruddin, the son of Imam Sultan Muhammad Shah and the late Princess Andree Aga Khan was born in the American Hospital at Neuilly, outside Paris on January 17, 1933. He received his early education in Switzerland before graduating in 1954 from Harvard University. After three years of post-graduate research at Harvard's Centre for Middle Eastern Studies, he followed a family tradition in international service established by his father, who had served two terms as President of the League of Nations.

  • Encyclopedia Topic
    Encyclopaedia of Ismailism by Mumtaz Ali Tajddin

    The sahaba (pl. ashab) means the Companions of the Prophet. The plural "Companions of the Prophet" (ashab al-nabi), otherwise known simply as the Companions (sahaba) is derived from the root s-h-b. The phrase ashab al-nabi does not appear in the Koran. Nor does the plural form sahab occur there. Of the 94 times that the noun sahib and its plural ashab do appear in the Koran.

  • Encyclopedia Topic
    Encyclopaedia of Ismailism by Mumtaz Ali Tajddin

    The word asr means time or time to come. It is a spiritual or eternal hour, which is hidden in material age. The material age is zaman. In other words, asr is batin and zaman is zahir. The Imam is the Lord of the spiritual as well as the material hours.

  • Encyclopedia Topic
    Encyclopaedia of Ismailism by Mumtaz Ali Tajddin

    The word sajda (pl. sujud) is derived from sajd means bowing down. It occurs 64 times in the Koran. The prostration or bowing down the head is an obligatory part of the prayers. The Koran says: "O you who believe! Bow down and prostrate yourselves and serve your Lord, and do good that you may succeed" (22:77) and "So make prostration to God and serve" (53:62).

  • Encyclopedia Topic
    Encyclopaedia of Ismailism by Mumtaz Ali Tajddin

    "Salamia was a small town in Syria in the district of east of the Orontes, and is located at a distance of 32 kilometers to the south-east of Hammah, or 44 kilometers to the north-east of Hims. It lies in a fertile plain, about 1500 feet above the sea level, south of the Jabal al-A'la and on the margin of the Syrian steppe, standing on the main entrance of the Syrian desert.

  • Encyclopedia Topic
    Encyclopaedia of Ismailism by Mumtaz Ali Tajddin

    The word salat (pl. salawat) is an Aramaic verbal noun s'lota (bowing or bending) had passed into several dialects with the meaning of prayer. This word was used by Armaic speaking Jews for the obligatory recital of the 18 benedictions. In Hebrew, the synagogue of the Jews was also termed as a salat, vide Koran, 22:40. It also means to walk behind anything constantly. In horse-race, the second horse runs just behind the first horse, is also called salla. Its meaning indicates to follow the divine law constantly.

  • Encyclopedia Topic
    Encyclopaedia of Ismailism by Mumtaz Ali Tajddin

    Also called salat al-subh. When any person could perceive his neighbour at near distance in darkness at dawn. (Bukhari, muwakit, p. 21). Its time begins with "the true dawn" (al-fajr al-sadik) when the faces can still not yet be recognized, and extends until the daybreak as such before the sun appears. It should be noted that the Arabs designated the early morning as the dhanab al-sirhan (the tail of the wolf), and this is when the light gradually begins to get brighter at the place where the suns is about to rise like the light of a lamp.

  • Encyclopedia Topic
    Encyclopaedia of Ismailism by Mumtaz Ali Tajddin

    Also called salat al-atama (salat of black night), and salat al-layl (night prayer). When the people felt need of burning lamp in early night. (Ibid. p. 24). Its time begins soon after the disappearance of the twilight and extends until the end of the first third of the night.

  • Encyclopedia Topic
    Encyclopaedia of Ismailism by Mumtaz Ali Tajddin

    It was offered and ended when an arrow was shot from a bow and could be seen at sunset ((Ibid., p. 27). Its time begins when the sun disappears beneath the horizon, and normally continues until disappearance of the twilight radiance.

  • Encyclopedia Topic
    Encyclopaedia of Ismailism by Mumtaz Ali Tajddin

    (continued from SALAAT)
    Fixation of five times Salat

  • Encyclopedia Topic
    Encyclopaedia of Ismailism by Mumtaz Ali Tajddin

    The Arabic word salat is for the prayer provided the action comes from the man. The phrase salla ala means to pray for is found for example in the Koran (9:103), where the Prophet is told to pray for misdoers, who have at length entered the fold of Islam. It also means the blessing or effusion of grace (or salawat), if the action comes from God, such as, "Verily, God and His angels call down blessing on (yusalluna ala) the Prophet. O ye who believe!

  • Encyclopedia Topic
    Encyclopaedia of Ismailism by Mumtaz Ali Tajddin

    The Persian word sal means anniversary and girah means knot, thus salgirah refers to an anniversary added on to a string kept for the purpose. Imam Sultan Muhammad Shah said, "Life is a great and noble calling, not a mean and a grovelling thing to be shuffled through as best as we can but a lofty and exalted destiny." Hence, the day of birth, for every soul, is of supreme importance.

  • Encyclopedia Topic
    Encyclopaedia of Ismailism by Mumtaz Ali Tajddin

    It means peace be upon him. When the name of the Prophet or Imams are mentioned, the listeners demonstrate their respect and devotion by bowing their heads slightly and touching with their forefinger the lips and/or the bridge of the nose and the forehead in a bipartite or triparite gesture with the chanting of salla'llah alaihi wa sallam.

    SALVATION [ see NAJAT ]

    SATAN [ see SHAITAN ]

  • Encyclopedia Topic
    Encyclopaedia of Ismailism by Mumtaz Ali Tajddin

    The word satara is a corrupt form of satada, which is a formation of two words, i.e. sat (seven) and dahada (days). Its synonmous are satado, satado or satrata. The satara or satada denotes a spiritual exercise (riyazat) of the faithful at midnight or day, such as the practice of i'tikaf. For removing hindrances in spiritual progress, or to remove interruption in the practice of worship, the Ismaili hold the majalis of Satara as the seven nights of supplication.

  • Encyclopedia Topic
    Encyclopaedia of Ismailism by Mumtaz Ali Tajddin

    "The mission in Gujrat goes back to the period of Jaylam bin Shayban, who had established a Fatimid rule in Multan and extended his influence as far as Gujrat, whose informations are scant. Later, in 461/1068, Ahmad bin Mukarram, the second ruler of the Sulayhid dynasty in Yamen, had written a letter to Imam al-Mustansir in Cairo, when there was certain missionary activities in Gujrat. He reported in his letter that the envoys of the da'i of India had brought him a letter, asking that permission be granted to them to pass through verbal propaganda to the use of force.

  • Encyclopedia Topic
    Encyclopaedia of Ismailism by Mumtaz Ali Tajddin

    The primary significance of saum is abstaining in an absolute sense (al-imsaku ani-l fi'l), and includes abstaining from eating or speaking or moving about; thus a horse that abstains from moving about, or from fodder, is said to be sa'im, and wind is said to be saum when it abates, and the day when it reaches the mid point. On two occasions in the Koran (9:112 and 66:5), those who fast are called sa'ih (from saha meaning he travelled) or spiritual wayfarers.

  • Encyclopedia Topic
    Encyclopaedia of Ismailism by Mumtaz Ali Tajddin

    "Imam Syed Ali was born most probably in Shahr-i Babak, where he passed his early life with his mother. He also came in Kahek after his father's arrival from Khorasan. He was also known as Shah Ataullah II among the Nimatullahi Sufi order. He was a popular figure as an amir in Shahr-i Babak and Kirman in the elites. He is also known as Rais al-Kirman (Lord of Kirman), an honour, which promoted him to the governorship of Kirman. He was also a leading landlord, and had acquired many lands in Shahr-i Babak and Sirjan.

  • Encyclopedia Topic
    Encyclopaedia of Ismailism by Mumtaz Ali Tajddin

    SECTS [ see FIRQA ]

    SELF REALIZATION [ see KHUD SHANASI ]

  • Encyclopedia Topic
    Encyclopaedia of Ismailism by Mumtaz Ali Tajddin

    Qadi Noman mentioned the shares of inheritance, and then took up the question of their mathematical calculation in certain circumstances.

    The share laid down by Ahl al-Bayt belongs to two cardinal groups: (I) the shares are fixed by the Koran, and the residue (ma baqiya) is to be distributed in accordance with certain rules; and (II) the shares are fixed by the Koran, and the residue returns to certain heirs in definite proportions.
    PRINCIPLE ONE

  • Encyclopedia Topic
    Encyclopaedia of Ismailism by Mumtaz Ali Tajddin
  • Encyclopedia Topic
    Encyclopaedia of Ismailism by Mumtaz Ali Tajddin

    Shab-i Barat or Lail at-Bara'a (night of quittancy) is a non-Koranic but a very popular feast of the Muslims. It is celebrated on the night of the full moon of 14th Sha'ban, and the people devote it to the commemoration of the dead. It is considered to be the night when the "writing conferring immunity is written in heaven" or, more generally, the night during which "the fates for the coming year are destined in heaven."

  • Encyclopedia Topic
    Encyclopaedia of Ismailism by Mumtaz Ali Tajddin

    The word shafa'a is derived from shaf meaning the making a thing to be one of a pair, or the adjoining a thing to its like, and thus shafa'a signifies the joining of a man to another assisting him. In Islamic terminology, it means intercession. It is the intercession of a mediator with the right to intercede of the greater or more worthy on behalf of the lesser or less worthy. The word shafa'a occurs 29 times in the Koran.

  • Encyclopedia Topic
    Encyclopaedia of Ismailism by Mumtaz Ali Tajddin

    The word shah didar or shah'jo didar means may (you bless with) Lord's glimpse. It is a taslim in the Ismaili tariqah, the believers greet each other at the end of the prayer, beholding face to face, both pronounce shah didar by shaking hand. This is an act of humble wish to refresh their spiritual relation. The Koran says, "Whosoever surrenders his face to God, being a doer of good, has verily grasped the firm hand-hold" (31:22)

  • Encyclopedia Topic
    Encyclopaedia of Ismailism by Mumtaz Ali Tajddin

    "Momin Shah, the son of Imam Shamsuddin Muhammad was the hujjat in Syria. He died in 738/1337. His son Muhammad Shah (d. 807/1404) also operated the Ismaili mission in the village of Khwand in Qazwin. His son was Raziuddin I (d. 833/1429), who in turn was succeeded by his son Muhammad Tahir Shah (d. 867/1462). His son Raziuddin II had gone to Badakhshan in 913/1508, where he established his rule in the period of a certain Taymurid amir Mirza Khan (d. 926/1520). Raziuddin II was killed in the local tribal fighting in 915/1509.

  • Encyclopedia Topic
    Encyclopaedia of Ismailism by Mumtaz Ali Tajddin

    The word shahid (pl. shuhada) is derived from the Arabic verbal root shahada, meaning to see, witness, testify or become a model and paradigm. In different grammatrical forms the words used in the Koran are ish'had, shahid, shahadah, shuhadam shahud, mashud, mashad, etc. A shahid is a martyr, who witnesses as if a martyr witnesses and see the truth physically and thus stands by it firmly. The English word martyr comes from the Greek martyrs, meaning witness.

  • Encyclopedia Topic
    Encyclopaedia of Ismailism by Mumtaz Ali Tajddin

    The word shaitan (pl. shayatin) is derived from the verb shaana, meaning to detain someone in order to divert him from his intention. Another view suggests that the word is rooted from the Hebrew, satan, meaning a cord. The word shaitan is used 70 times in the Koran in the singular form, including six times in the indefinite (4:117, 15:17, 22:3, 37:7, 43:36, 81:25), plus 18 times in the plural, shayatin, which is always definite.

  • Encyclopedia Topic
    Encyclopaedia of Ismailism by Mumtaz Ali Tajddin

    "Pir Shams was born most probably at Sebzewar, a town in Khorasan, lying 64 miles west of Nishapur. His father Syed Salauddin had been deputed in Baltistan by Imam Kassim Shah, who most probably came into the contact of Taj Mughal in Badakhshan. Kamaluddin Mujahri of Sebzewar writes in Malfuz-i Kamalia that Pir Syed Muinuddin Hasan of Sebzewar of Ajmer had a meeting with Syed Salauddin in Sebzewar in 560/1165. It is recounted that Pir Shams had gone to Badakhshan with his father at the age of 19 years, and thence he proceeded to Tibet and returned back to Sebzewar.

  • Encyclopedia Topic
    Encyclopaedia of Ismailism by Mumtaz Ali Tajddin

    "Imam Shams al-Din Muhammad is said to have born in 646/1230 in the fortress of Maimundiz. He was known as Agha Shams in Syria and Shah Shams in India. He is also known as Shamsu'l Haq in few Iranian poems. Poet Nizari Kohistani (d. 720/1320) called him Shamsuddin Shah Nimroz Ali and Shah Shams, also known as Shams Zardozi due to residing in the village, called Zardoz in Azerbaijan, but another tradition suggests that he had adopted profession of embroidery, the term zardoz (embroiderer) became his epithet.

  • Encyclopedia Topic
    Encyclopaedia of Ismailism by Mumtaz Ali Tajddin

    Shariah is an Arabic term used to designate Islamic law. It originally referred to a path trodden by camels to a water source, a course to the watering place or resort of drinkers. Hence, it means the clear path or the highway to be followed.

  • Encyclopedia Topic
    Encyclopaedia of Ismailism by Mumtaz Ali Tajddin

    "The word shi'a (pl. shi'ya, ash'ya) is derived from musha'ayah, which is synonymous with following a person and obeying him. Its second letter in the root is sha'a, shia'an meaning a person who follows his peer group. According to Lisan al-Arab, al-Shi'ah means a group which is formed on the basis of a certain agreement, and every group thus formed is called Shi'ah.

  • Encyclopedia Topic
    Encyclopaedia of Ismailism by Mumtaz Ali Tajddin

    He was born most probably in 1268/1851 in Baghdad. He is also called Khalilullah and Shah Badin Shah. Imam Aga Ali Shah had married to Marium Sultan in Iraq, who bore two sons, Pir Shihabuddin Shah and Aga Nur Shah. These two sons were brought up in Hasanabad, Bombay. Aga Nur Shah was a good sportsman and fell down from his horse while riding and sustained serious injuries, which proved fatal and died at the age of 30 years.

  • Encyclopedia Topic
    Encyclopaedia of Ismailism by Mumtaz Ali Tajddin

    The Shoes Company is an institution in the Jamatkhana, where the shoes of the visitors are deposited. The word company means an assemblage, collection or multitude of things. The Arabic word na'al (pl. ni'al) means sandal, khuff means boot and ahdhiya means shoe. The primitive shoe or sandal was a flat sole of leather, wood or matted grass with loops attached, through which the shoe-latchet, a leather thong, passed and strapped in the foot.

  • Encyclopedia Topic
    Encyclopaedia of Ismailism by Mumtaz Ali Tajddin

    "The word shukr (pl. shukur) means thankfulness or gratitude. The verb to thank, to be grateful (shakara) and its various cognates, such as shukr occur 74 times in the Koran. A dominant feature of the concept of gratitude in the Koran is its use to describe the spiritual bond binding the believer to God. Gratitude has a very broad semantic field in the Koran with a strong theocentric character in the sense that shukr is owed chiefly to God, even if that means through what God has made and the offices he has appointed.

  • Encyclopedia Topic
    Encyclopaedia of Ismailism by Mumtaz Ali Tajddin

    Horse is an important and valuable member of the mammalia. Among the earliest evidence of the importance of the horse to human culture are the unearthed wall paintings in the caves of Lascaux, in southern France, dating around 30,000 B.C. The horse first became useful in welfare sometimes before 1500 B.C. when Mesopotamian people began to use horses to pull their chariots. There is however a question rose by Canon Taylor in his Origin of the Aryans (p.161), whether the horse was at first used for drawing chariots or for riding.

  • Encyclopedia Topic
    Encyclopaedia of Ismailism by Mumtaz Ali Tajddin

    It is also pronounced as sebha, means rosary. The English word rosary is derived from the Latin, rosarium, meaning rose garden. In Persia and India, the rosary is known among the Muslims as tasbih, in Egypt, subha, meaning to praise or exalt. Among the Indians, it is called japa-mala, meaning muttering chaplet, or samarani, meaning remembrance. It is a string of beads or knotted cord, designed as an aid to the memory, providing convenient method for counting the recitation of the attributes of God.

  • Encyclopedia Topic
    Encyclopaedia of Ismailism by Mumtaz Ali Tajddin

    "Apprehensive of Muawiya's designs against him, Ali considered Kufa suitably situated to check any encroachment in Iraq, therefore he made it his capital in 36/657, as topographically it was in the centre of his dominions. In Syria, disorder and incitement to commotion continued unabated. Uthman's shirt, besmeared with his blood and the chopped-off fingers of his wife, Naila, were exhibited from the pulpit. In this manner, Muawiya raised the entire country of Syria against Ali.

  • Encyclopedia Topic
    Encyclopaedia of Ismailism by Mumtaz Ali Tajddin

    In 1982, the Ismailis celebrated the Silver Jubilee of the Present Imam. Jubilees are momentous occasions. The three jubilees celebrated by the 48th Imam resulted in the establishment of major new institutions for the material benefit and progress of the Ismailis. The Ismaili communities throughout the world looked forward to the Present Imam's first jubilee with much enthusiasm. Unlike his grandfather, the Present Imam did not wish to be weighed in silver.

  • Encyclopedia Topic
    Encyclopaedia of Ismailism by Mumtaz Ali Tajddin

    The word sirat means path, occurring 45 times in the Koran. The word sirat is said to be a loan word from Latin, strata. The word mustaqim means straight, is more frequent in the Koran, being used either with sirat for 21 times or with tariq means path. The way of God is also termed as sirat sawiyy (19:43, 20:135) or in the genitive phrase, sawa al-sirat (38:22) or sawa al-sabil (28:22, 60:1).

  • Encyclopedia Topic
    Encyclopaedia of Ismailism by Mumtaz Ali Tajddin

    "It is also called Sirat al-Jahim. It is a bridge of hell. In the world to come, the sirat is the bridge stretched over hell, which all human beings are said to traverse in order to reach paradise. The Koranic word aqabatun (pl. aqabat) is translated as a mountain-road difficult of access. It means the difficulties or obstacles, which men will have to encounter stage by stage before the actual entry into paradise or hell.

  • Encyclopedia Topic
    Encyclopaedia of Ismailism by Mumtaz Ali Tajddin

    In social development, the Network is particularly active in health, education, housing and rural development. The purpose of the Aga Khan Foundation (AKF) is to promote creative and effective solutions to problems that impede social development. AKF provides funding and technical assistance for many social development projects carried out by both Network institutions and other agencies. The Aga Khan University (AKU) is an international institution whose Faculty of Health Sciences and Institute for Educational Development are in Karachi, Pakistan.

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    Encyclopaedia of Ismailism by Mumtaz Ali Tajddin

    The principal sources of revenue in Islam are ushr, jaziya, zakat and khums.

  • Encyclopedia Topic
    Encyclopaedia of Ismailism by Mumtaz Ali Tajddin

    The later Muslim historians acquired their information from the following sources:- Sira (biography), Maghazi (expedition), Ansab (genealogies), Tabaqat (classical sketches), Akhbar (information) and Tarikh (annals).

  • Encyclopedia Topic
    Encyclopaedia of Ismailism by Mumtaz Ali Tajddin

    "Tabari (5:267) relates from Ibn Abbas that the Israelites in one of the town of Syria were afflicted by the epidemic of plague. They were 4000 people who left their town fleeing the plague. They said, "Let us go to a land which is free from death." They arrived at Dawardan near Wasit in Iraq. As they reached the place, God said to them, "Die!." They were so badly afflicted by a calamity that death struck them.

  • Encyclopedia Topic
    Encyclopaedia of Ismailism by Mumtaz Ali Tajddin

    July 26, 1957 : Given title of His Highness by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

    August 12, 1957 : Awarded the Brilliant Star of Zanzibar by the Sultan of Zanzibar.

    October 24, 1959 : Conferred His Royal Highness by the King of Iran.

    October 27, 1960 : Conferred the honour of Grand Cross of the Order of Prince Henry by the Portuguese Government.

    August 4, 1965 : The President of Ivory Coast decorated with the highest order of the nation, the Grand Cross of the National Order.

  • Encyclopedia Topic
    Encyclopaedia of Ismailism by Mumtaz Ali Tajddin

    What was at first a fairly private movement of like-minded people in the early Islamic centuries eventually grew into a major social force that permeated most Muslim societies. In the theorical manuals of the 10th century was followed by the growth of many circles of teaching, initially in the central areas in Iraq and Persia, but soon reaching to the frontiers of Spain, East Africa, Central Asia and India. List of eminent Sufi Orders is given below: -

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    Encyclopaedia of Ismailism by Mumtaz Ali Tajddin

    The true meaning of the word sufi has been much discussed and many books has been composed on the subject. The word sufi is derived from safa means purity, because the foremost need in Sufism is to purify the heart. Another view suggests that the Sufis are in the first rank (saff'i awwal); others say that the Sufis claim to belong to the ashab'i suffa (the Companions of the Prophet). Some assert its derivation from suf (wool) because of wearing woolen garment (jama'i suf).

  • Encyclopedia Topic
    Encyclopaedia of Ismailism by Mumtaz Ali Tajddin
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