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  MARCH 1998
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Isma’ilis Their Beliefs and Practices Continued from the February issue. Some extremists among the Isma’ilis believe that every seventh Imam introduced a new shariah as radical changes could have taken place within the period which elapsed between every seventh Imam. Renewal of shariah becomes necessary after the lapse of such a long period. But this concept of renewal of shariah was not accepted by most of the Isma’ilis or was abandoned later. All Must’alian Isma’ilis, particularly the Bohras in India follow the Islamic jurisprudence meticulously. Their jurisprudence is quite close to that of other Muslims. Sayedna Qadi al-Nauman who was the chief Qadi during Imam Muiz’s time was a great Isma’ili jurist. His book Daaim al-Islam is the standard book of Isma’ili jurisprudence. Many other books were also written but this remains the most important and fundamental book of Isma’ili jurisprudence. We would like to throw some light on the Ismai;ili concept of jurisprudence. Daaim means pillars. Thus Daaim al-Islam means pillars of Islam. As far as Sunni Muslims are concerned there are five pillars of Islam i.e. Salat (prayer), Saum (fasting), Zakat (annual tax on net wealth), Jihad (holy war in defence of faith), and Haj (pilgrimage to Mecca). However, the Isma’ilis believe that there are seven pillars, not five. They have accepted all five and add two more i.e. Walayat (love to the prophet and his family ahl-al-bayt) and Taharah (physical and spiritual cleanliness). Among the seven pillars, walayat has special significance. Love and faithfulness to ’Ali is of great significance for the Isma’ilis. ’Ali though second in rank after the Prophet, is a central figure in the Sh’ia Islam and particularly in the Isma’ili sect of the Islam. No one is considered mumin (faithful) without believing in ’Ali’s love (walayat). Without ’Ali’s love no one can achieve salvation, according to the Isma’ilis. In fact the concept of walayat was later extended to not only ’Ali and the Prophet’s family but also all the Imams. It was also stipulated in the Isma’ili teachings that real love of ’Ali and ahl-al bayt also includes hatred of their enemies. It is interesting to note that the Isma’ilis were often target of the Sunni ulema in the history of Islam. They were condemned as Vatini ‘heretics’. Some went to the other extent and depicted them as Jewish agents bent upon destroying Islam from within. They were also described as rafids (rejected of and deviators from the true Islam). There were several reasons for that. Firstly, there were so many Isma’ilis holding varied beliefs and because of strict secrecy about religious beliefs it was difficult to know the truth about their beliefs (hiding true beliefs on account of religious persecution became a doctrinal requirement among the Isma’ilis as also among other Sh’ia sects). To be continued in the next issue. |
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