Al-Aziz Billah
Abu Mansur Nizar al-Aziz Billah, commonly known as al-Aziz was the fifth Caliph of the Fatimid Caliphate. Since Abdallah, the heir to the throne, had died before his father Al-Muizz li-Din Allah, under Al-Aziz, the Fatimid Empire stretched as far as Palestine and Syria. Mecca and Medina acknowledged the suzerainty of the Fatimids, the reign of Al-Aziz was primarily significant for the strengthening of Fatimid power in Egypt and Syria, which had only very recently been conquered. In 975 al-Aziz took control of Baniyas in an attempt to subdue the anti-Fatimid agitation of the Sunni Mahammad b. Ahmad al-Nablusi, the bedouin Tayy tribe under Mufarrij ibn Daghfal ibn al-Jarrah was defeated in Palestine 982 and finally subjugated at Damascus 983. Towards the end of his reign Al-Aziz sought to extend his power to northern Syria, the fact that they were under the suzerainty of the Byzantine Empire resulted in the outbreak of war with this great power, a conflict which would not be resolved until the reign of al-Hakim.
Another notable development during al-Azizs reign was the introduction of foreign slave armies, when the Berber troops from the Maghreb continued to be successful in the wars against the Carmathians in Syria, Al-Aziz began setting up units composed of Turkish slave soldiers, or Mamelukes. Through the expansion of the bureaucracy the foundations were laid for the power of the succeeding Caliphs. His appointment of a Jewish governor over Syria/Palestine, led to grumbling by his Muslim subjects, as a result, Al-Aziz ordered his Christian and Jewish officials to employ more Muslims in their offices. The Egyptian economy was nurtured, and tax revenue thereby increased, through the expansion of streets and canals, the general economic well-being was apparent in an elaborate building programme. The reign of Al-Aziz was culturally significant and his grand Vizir Yaqub ibn Killis founded the al-Azhar University in Cairo which went on to become the most important centre of learning in the Islamic world.
Likewise a library with 200,000 volumes was built in Cairo, according to Professor Samy S. Swayd Fatimid missionaries made their Dawah in China during the reign of Al-Aziz. Al-Aziz died on 13 October 996 and his son Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah succeeded him as Caliph. Details of all Ismaili imams are available in List of Ismaili Imams
History of Nizari Ismailism
The History of Nizari Ismailism from the founding of Islam covers a period of over 1400 years. A few months before his death, Muhammad who resided in the city of Medina made his first and final pilgrimage to Mecca, atop Mount Arafat, he addressed the Muslim masses in what came to be known as the Farewell Sermon. After completion of the Hajj pilgrimage, Muhammad journeyed back toward his home in Medina with the other pilgrims, O God, befriend whosoever befriends him and be the enemy of whosoever is hostile to him. This is known as the event of Ghadir Khumm, which is remembered in the hadith of the pond of Khumm, following Muhammads death the Shia or Party of Ali believed he had been designated not merely as the political successor to Muhammad but his spiritual successor. And looked toward Ali and his most trusted supporters for political and spiritual guidance. Alis descendants were the descendants of Muhammad as Ali had married Muhammads only surviving progeny. Through the generations, the mantle of leadership of the Shia passed through the progeny of Ali and Fatimah, the Ahl al-Bayt, embodied in the head of the family, the Imam.
Both Ismaʿili and Twelver Shia accept the same initial Imams from the descendants of Muhammad through his daughter Fatimah and therefore much of their early history. The modern Nizari faith refers to itself as a tariqa or path, Jafar al-Sadiq was acknowledged leader of the Shia and head of the Ahl al-Bayt. During a period of change, when Muslims no longer threatened were beginning to concern themselves with questions like what does it mean to be a Muslim. His answer was Jafari jurisprudence, a school of jurisprudence distinct to the Shia. This period marks the founding of the religious views of both the Shia and the Sunni. Jafar al-Sadiq was married to Faṭimah, herself a member of the Ahl al-Bayt, together they had two sons, Ismāīl al-Mubarak and his elder brother, Abdullah al-Aftah. Following Fatimahs death, Jafar al-Sadiq was said to be so devastated he refused to ever remarry, however, it is controversially believed that Ismāīl predeceased his father. However, the sources report Ismāīl being seen three days after in Basra.
His closest supporters believed Ismail had gone into hiding to protect his life and he claimed a second designation following Ismāīls disappearance. While some had already accepted him as the Imam following the death of Jafar as-Sadiq, Ismailis argue that since a defining quality of an Imam is his infallibility, Jafar as-Sadiq could not have mistakenly passed his nass on to someone who would be either unfit or predecease him. Therefore, the Imam after Ismāīl was his eldest son Muhammad ibn Ismāīl, muhmmad al-Maktūm was himself several years the senior of his half-uncle, Musa al-Kadhim
Isma'ilism
Ismāʿīlism is a branch of Shia Islam. Ismailis believe in the oneness of God, as well as the closing of divine revelation with Muhammad, the Ismāʿīlī and the Twelvers both accept the same initial Imams from the descendants of Muhammad through his daughter Fatimah and therefore share much of their early history. Both groups see the family of Muhammad as divinely chosen and guided by God to lead the Islamic community, Ismaili thought is heavily influenced by neoplatonism. There are a significant number of Ismāʿīlīs in Central Asia, Ismailism shares its beginnings with other early Shi‘i sects that emerged during the succession crisis that spread throughout the early Muslim community. From the beginning, the Shia asserted the right of Ali, cousin of Muhammad and this included his two sons, who were the grandsons of Muhammad through his daughter Fatimah. Soon after his ascendancy, the third of the Prophets wives, claimed along with Usmans tribe, the Ummayads, ‘Ali voted against it as he believed that situation at that time demanded a peaceful resolution of the matter.
Both parties could rightfully defend their claims, but due to escalated misunderstandings, following this battle, the Umayyad governor of Syria, staged a revolt under the same pretences. ‘Ali led his forces against Muawiya until the side of Muawiya held copies of the Quran against their spears, ‘Ali accepted this, and an arbitration was done which ended in his favor. A group among Alis army believed that subjecting his legitimate authority to arbitration was tantamount to apostasy and this group was known as the Khawarij and ‘Ali wished to defeat their forces before they reached the cities where they would be able to blend in with the rest of the population. While he was unable to do this, he defeated their forces in subsequent battles. Regardless of these defeats, the Kharijites survived and became a problematic group in Islamic history. The Entrusted Imam is an Imam in the full sense except that the lineage of the Imamate must continue through the Permanent Imam. However, the caliphate was soon taken over by Muawiya.
Even some of Ali’s early followers regarded him as “an absolute and divinely guided leader who could demand of them the kind of loyalty that would have been expected for the Prophet. ”For example, one of Ali’s supporters who was devoted to the Prophet said to him, “our opinion is your opinion. The early followers of ‘Ali seem to have taken his guidance as “right guidance” deriving from Divine support, in other words, ‘Ali’s guidance was seen to be the expression of God’s will and the Qur’anic message. This spiritual and absolute authority of ‘Ali was known as walayah and it was inherited by his successors, the Imams. In the first century after the Prophet, the sunnah was not specifically defined as “Sunnah of the Prophet” but was used in connection to Abu Bakr, ‘Umar, Uthman. The idea of “Hadith” or traditions ascribed to the Prophet was not mainstream nor was Hadith criticism, even the earliest legal texts by Malik b
Fatimid Caliphate
The Fatimid Caliphate was an Ismaili Shia Islamic caliphate that spanned a large area of North Africa, from the Red Sea in the east to the Atlantic Ocean in the west. The dynasty ruled across the Mediterranean coast of Africa and ultimately made Egypt the centre of the caliphate, at its height the caliphate included in addition to Egypt varying areas of the Maghreb, Sicily, the Levant, and Hijaz. The Fatimids claimed descent from Fatima bint Muhammad, the daughter of Islamic prophet Muhammad, in 921 the Fatimids established the Tunisian city of Mahdia as their new capital. In 948 they shifted their capital to Al-Mansuriya, near Kairouan in Tunisia, in 969 they conquered Egypt and established Cairo as the capital of their caliphate, Egypt became the political and religious centre of their empire. The ruling class belonged to the Ismaili branch of Shiism, as did the leaders of the dynasty, the existence of the caliphate marked the only time the descendants of Ali through Fatimah were united to any degree and the name Fatimid refers to Fatimah.
The different term Fatimite is sometimes used to refer to the caliphates subjects, after the initial conquests, the caliphate often allowed a degree of religious tolerance towards non-Ismaili sects of Islam, as well as to Jews, Maltese Christians, and Egyptian Coptic Christians. The Fatimid caliphate was distinguished by the role of Berbers in its initial establishment and in helping its development, especially on the military. During the late eleventh and twelfth centuries the Fatimid caliphate declined rapidly and he founded the Ayyubid dynasty and incorporated the Fatimid state into the Abbasid Caliphate. The Fatimid regime lasted until the twelfth century, though its leaders made little headway in persuading the Egyptian population. The Fatimid Caliphates religious ideology originated in an Ismaili Shia movement launched in the 9th century in Salamiyah, Syria by their eighth Imam and he claimed descent through Ismail, the seventh Ismaili Imam, from Fatimah and her husband ʻAlī ibn-Abī-Tālib, the first Shīʻa Imām.
Thus his name was al-Fātimiyyūn Fatimid, the eighth to tenth Imams, remained hidden and worked for the movement against the periods times rulers. According to legend and his son were fulfilling a prophecy that the mahdi would come from Mesopotamia to Sijilmasa. They hid among the population of Sijilmasa, an independent emirate, for four years under the countenance of the Midrar rulers, al-Mahdi was supported by dedicated Shiite Abu Abdullah al-Shii, and al-Shii started his preaching after he encountered a group of Muslim North African during his hajj. These men bragged about the country of the Kutama in western Ifriqiya, and the hostility of the Kutama towards, and their independence from. This triggered al-Shii to travel to the region, where he started to preach the Ismaili doctrine, the Berber peasants, who had been oppressed for decades by the corrupt Aghlabid rule, would prove themselves to be a perfect basis for sedition. Instantly, al-Shii began conquering cities in the region, first Mila, Sétif and eventually Raqqada, in 909 Al-Shii sent a large expedition force to rescue the Mahdi, conquering the Khariji state of Tahert on its way there.
After gaining his freedom, Abdullah al-Mahdi Billah became the leader of the state and assumed the position of imam. The Fatimids existed during the Islamic Golden Age, the dynasty was founded in 909 by the eleventh Imam ʻAbdullāh al-Mahdī Billah
Cairo
Cairo is the capital and largest city of Egypt. Cairo has long been a center of the political and cultural life. Cairo has the oldest and largest film and music industries in the Arab world, as well as the worlds second-oldest institution of higher learning, Al-Azhar University. Many international media and organizations have regional headquarters in the city, with a population of 6.76 million spread over 453 square kilometers, Cairo is by far the largest city in Egypt. An additional 9.5 million inhabitants live in proximity to the city. Cairo, like many other mega-cities, suffers from high levels of pollution, Cairos metro, one of only two in Africa, ranks among the fifteen busiest in the world, with over 1 billion annual passenger rides. The economy of Cairo was ranked first in the Middle East in 2005, Egyptians often refer to Cairo as Maṣr, the Egyptian Arabic name for Egypt itself, emphasizing the citys importance for the country. In Coptic the city is known as Kahire, meaning Place of the Sun, possibly referring to the ancient city of Heliopolis, the location of the ancient city is the suburb of Ain Shams.
The ancient Egyptian name for the area is thought to be Khere-Ohe, The Place of Combat, sometimes the city is informally referred to as Kayro. The area around present-day Cairo, especially Memphis, had long been a point of Ancient Egypt due to its strategic location just upstream from the Nile Delta. However, the origins of the city are generally traced back to a series of settlements in the first millennium. Around the turn of the 4th century, as Memphis was continuing to decline in importance and this fortress, known as Babylon, remained the nucleus of the Roman, later, the Byzantine, city and is the oldest structure in the city today. It is situated at the nucleus of the Coptic Orthodox community, many of Cairos oldest Coptic churches, including the Hanging Church, are located along the fortress walls in a section of the city known as Coptic Cairo. Following the Muslim conquest in 640 AD the conqueror Amr ibn As settled to the north of the Babylon in an area became known as al-Fustat. Originally a tented camp Fustat became a permanent settlement and the first capital of Islamic Egypt, in 750, following the overthrow of the Ummayad caliphate by the Abbasids, the new rulers created their own settlement to the northeast of Fustat which became their capital.
This was known as al-Askar as it was laid out like a military camp, a rebellion in 869 by Ahmad ibn Tulun led to the abandonment of Al Askar and the building of another settlement, which became the seat of government. This was al-Qattai, to the north of Fustat and closer to the river, Al Qattai was centred around a palace and ceremonial mosque, now known as the Mosque of ibn Tulun. In 905 the Abbasids re-asserted control of the country and their returned to Fustat
Salah
Salah, called namāz in some languages, is one of the Five Pillars in the faith of Islam and an obligatory religious duty for every Muslim. It is a physical and spiritual act of worship that is observed five times every day at prescribed times, in this ritual, the worshiper starts standing, prostrates themself, and concludes while sitting on the ground. During each posture, the worshiper recites or reads certain verses, the word salah is commonly translated as prayer but this definition might be confusing. Muslims use the words dua or supplication when referring to the definition of prayers which is reverent petitions made to God. Salah is preceded by ritual ablution, Salah consists of the repetition of a unit called a rakʿah consisting of prescribed actions and words. The number of obligatory rakaʿāt varies from two to four according to the time of day or other circumstances, prayer is obligatory for all Muslims except those who are prepubescent, are menstruating, or are experiencing bleeding in the 40 days after childbirth.
Every movement in the salat is accompanied by the takbir except the standing between the ruku and sujud, and the ending which has a derivation of the Muslim greeting As-salamu alaykum, Salah is an Arabic word whose basic meaning is bowing, worship, prayer. In its English usage, the reference of the word is almost always confined to the Muslim formal, Muslims themselves use several terms to refer to salah depending on their language or culture. In many parts of the world, including many non-Arab countries such as Indonesia, the other major term is the Persian word namāz, used by speakers of the Indo-Iranian languages, as well as Turkish, Chinese and Albanian. In North Caucasian languages, the term is lamaz in Chechen and this is a book, there is no doubt in it, a guidance for righteous. Those who believe in unseen and offer Salah and spend from what we have given to them, and those who believe in what We have revealed to thee and what We revealed before thee, and on hereafter they believe. They are on guidance from their lord and they are successful, and offer Salah and pay Zakah and bow along those who bow.
Guard your Salah and middle Salah, and stand before God devoutly obedient, if you fear on foot or riding, when you become secure remember God as he has taught you that which you did not know previously. And offer Salah at the two ends of day and at the approach of night, indeed good deeds remove bad deeds, offer Salah at the decline of the day until the darkness of night, and Quran at dawn, indeed Quran at dawn ever is a witness. And at night pray Tahajjud an extra for thee, it is expected that your lord raise you to praised station. ) Say call God or call Merciful, by whomever you call, He has good names, and offer Salah and pay Zakah and obey Messenger so that you may receive mercy. And recite that is revealed to you as a book and offer Salah, indeed Salah prohibits immorality and wrongdoing, and remembrance of God is great, ) The chief purpose of salah is to act as a persons communication with and remembrance of God. By reciting The Opening, the first sura of the Quran, as required in daily worship, the worshiper can stand before God and praise Him, under the Hanbali School of thought, a person who doesnt pray five times a day is an unbeliever
Alavi Bohras
The Alavi Bohras علوي بھرۃ are a Taiyebi Mustaalavi Ismaili Shii Muslim طیبي مستعلوي اسماعیلي شیعۃ مسلم community from Gujarat, India. Two major splits during this period resulted in the formation of three groups of Bohras, Alavis and Sulaymanis. e. From 1st Dai Saiyedna Zoeb bin Saiyedi Moosa till 23rd Dai Saiyedna Mohammad Izzuddin, in Sindh and India too Wali-ul-Hind ولي الھند were appointed by these Duaat دعاۃ one after another until Wali-ul-Hind Maulaai Jafar, Maulaai Abd ul Wahab and Maulaai Qaasim Khan bin Hasan. The last three wali were of help in the era of the 21st to 24th Dai i. e. Saiyedna Husaamuddin, Saiyedna Shamsuddin, Saiyedna Izzuddin. Following the death of the 26th Dai Saiyedna Dawoodji Burhaanuddin bin Saiyedi Ajabshah in 997 AH/1591 AD in Ahmedabad, Sulayman bin Hasan, the grandson of 24th Dai, was wali in Yemen and claimed the succession, supported by the other Yemeni Bohra. However, the Indian Bohra denied his claim of nass, declaring supporting documentation to be forged, the two factions separated, with the followers of Sulayman becoming the Sulaymanis, and the followers of 27th Dai Saiyedna Dawoodji Burhaanuddin bin Saiyedi Qutubshah becoming the Dawoodi Bohra.
Saiyedna Ali, the 29th Alavi Dai was born in the city of Vadodara in Fakhri Mohalla. His father Saiyedi Ibrahim died during his childhood and he was born on 8th Rabi ul-Awwal 1379 AH/10-9-1959 AD, Thursday in Vadodara. He is the actual Dai of Alavi Bohras. After this Hierarchy comes the Status of 24 Hudood, Vadodara City is the Headquarters of Alavi Bohras where Saiyedna saheb stays along with the family members at Devdi Mubaarak. It is the place right from 32nd Dai stayed and imparted knowledge to their subjects in their respective periods. It has now become the hub of Ismaili-Taiyebi branch of Learning, as it houses the Islamic Personal Library of Rare Books and the Unique Personal Collection of MSS pertaining to Ismaili Taiyebi Literature. Under strict supervision and permission Saiyedna saheb himself manages the Library affairs, during the seclusion of Imam, his deputy-Da’i performs this act of succession whom he finds eligible for the status of Da’i. He might not be from his sons, unlike the succession of Imam where an Imam always appoints his successor from one of his sons, after Mohammad this rank is on the 6th position and after this comes Mazoon-مأذون and Mukaasir-مکاسر.
In Yemen, after the seclusion, Da’i was given Itlaaq-إطلاق or a free conduct and absolute religious and social authority and his command is regarded as a final decree guided by the divine support of Imam and this is the reason he is called Da’i al-Mutlaq. Saiyedna Haatim Zakiyuddin is the 45th Da’i al-Mutlaq of Alavi Bohras in the line of succession of these Da’is in which 24 are in Yemen,7 are in Ahmedabad,1 is in Surat and 12 are in Vadodara. At any cost he always assists and obeys his superior and his Master and his prime responsibility is to conduct teaching sessions and make them understand the basic things of Isma’ili Taiyebi faith. In the absence of Da’i he acts as his legatee, Da’i may appoint his Mazoon as his successor. And if not Da’i can appoint someone more learned and efficient for the post of Da’i after him, as the respectable post of Mazoon is necessary for the completeness of Spiritual Hierarchy
Dawoodi Bohra
The Dawoodi Bohras are a sect within the Ismāīlī branch of Shia Islam. Bohras mainly reside in the cities of India and in Pakistan, Yemen. The main language of the community is Lisan ud-Dawat, a dialect of Gujarati with inclusions from Arabic, Urdu, a Bohra woman wears a two piece dress called a rida. The Dawoodi Bohra follow a sort of Shia Islam as propagated by the Fatimid Imamate in medieval Egypt. They pray 5 times a day joining both afternoon prayers Zuhr & Asr and both evening prayers Maghreb and Isha, fast in the month of Ramadan, perform Haj and Umrah, the Dawoodi Bohras, being Ismailis and thus Jafaris, were included as Muslims in the Amman Message. There are some criticisms of the Amman message, the word Bohra comes from the Gujarati word vehru, in reference to their traditional profession. The term Dawoodi comes from the given to Dawood Bin Qutubshah during a schism that the community faced in 1592 when there was a leadership dispute. The Dawoodi Bohra sect is a Shia sect referred to as the Tayyabī Mustalī Ismāīlī sect, the Ismailis were split from the now mainstream Ithna Ashari Shias over the succession issue of Imam Jafar Al-Sadiq.
The Ismailis took Ismail bin Jafar as their Imam whereas the Twelvers took Musa Kazim bin Jafar Al-Sadiq as their Imam, the Ismailis split into Druze and mainstream Ismailis due to a succession issue and further down the line they again split into Nizari and Mustaali branches. The Mustaali branch to which Dawoodi Bohra trace their legacy continues until the 21st Imam Al-Tayyab and his direct descendent is considered as the current Imam and remains in seclusion. While the Imam is in seclusion, the governance of the sect has been entrusted to the Dai al-Mutlaq, splinter groups of the Bohras have subsequently emerged over the succession dispute of the preceding Dai. The role of Dai was created by Queen Arwa bint Ahmed of Yemen and it should not be confused with other offices that exist in the Imamate such as Dai-ad-Duat and Dai al-Balagh. Zoeb bin Moosa is the first Dai-al-Mutlaq and they believe that Muhammad chose Ali as his successor and publicly declared this while he was returning from his first and last Haj in 632 CE.
Dawoodi Bohras, in keeping with all Shia believe that after Muhammad, Ali had been the rightful wasi and caliph, Ali was the final Rashidun Caliph from 656-661 CE, the Imamate and caliphate were united in this period. After Hasan and his family and companions were killed at the Battle of Karbala, Dawoodi Bohras believe that Husains head was buried first, in the courtyard of Yazid, transferred from Damascus to Ashkelon, and to Cairo. The first through the fifth Ismāʿīlī Imams - until Jafar al-Sadiq - are commonly accepted by all the Shia and Nizari Ismāʿīlīs treat Ali as Vasi and Imam Hasan as first Imam whereas Twelvers number Ali as the first. The followers of Jafars son, Ismail ibn Jafar, became Ismailis, Twelvers believe that Musa al-Kadhim was heir to Jafar instead, their Imams diverged at that point. During the period of Jafar, the Abbasid Caliphate replaced the Umayyads, due to strong suppression by the Abbasids, the seventh Ismāʿīlī Imam, Muhammad ibn Ismail, went into a period of Occultation
Jihad
Jihad is an Arabic word which literally means striving or struggling, especially with a praiseworthy aim. It can have many shades of meaning in an Islamic context, such as struggle against ones evil inclinations, in classical Islamic law, the term refers to armed struggle against unbelievers, while modernist Islamic scholars generally equate military jihad with defensive warfare. In Sufi and pious circles and moral jihad has been traditionally emphasized under the name of greater jihad, the term has gained additional attention in recent decades through its use by terrorist groups. The word jihad appears frequently in the Quran with and without military connotations, Islamic jurists and other ulema of the classical era understood the obligation of jihad predominantly in a military sense. They developed a set of rules pertaining to jihad, including prohibitions on harming those who are not engaged in combat. In the modern era, the notion of jihad has lost its jurisprudential relevance, while modernist Islamic scholars have emphasized defensive and non-military aspects of jihad, some Islamists have advanced aggressive interpretations that go beyond the classical theory.
Jihad is classified into inner jihad, which involves a struggle against ones own impulses, and external jihad. Most Western writers consider external jihad to have primacy over inner jihad in the Islamic tradition, gallup analysis of a large survey reveals considerable nuance in the conceptions of jihad held by Muslims around the world. Jihad is sometimes referred to as the pillar of Islam. In Twelver Shia Islam jihad is one of the ten Practices of the Religion, a person engaged in jihad is called a mujahid. The term jihad is often rendered in English as Holy War, in Modern Standard Arabic, the term jihad is used for a struggle for causes, both religious and secular. The Hans Wehr Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic defines the term as fight, jihad, nonetheless, it is usually used in the religious sense and its beginnings are traced back to the Quran and words and actions of Muhammad. In the Quran and in Muslim usage, jihad is commonly followed by the expression fi sabil illah, in the path of God.
Muhammad Abdel-Haleem states that it indicates the way of truth and justice, including all the teachings it gives on the justifications and it is sometimes used without religious connotation, with a meaning similar to the English word crusade. The context of the Quran is elucidated by Hadith, of the 199 references to jihad in perhaps the most standard collection of hadith—Bukhari—all assume that jihad means warfare. He said, The best jihad is the one in which your horse is slain, Ibn Nuhaas cited a hadith from Musnad Ahmad ibn Hanbal, where Muhammad states that the highest kind of jihad is The person who is killed whilst spilling the last of his blood. According to another hadith, supporting one’s parents is an example of jihad and it has been reported that Muhammad considered well-performing hajj to be the best jihad for Muslim women. The practice of raids by Bedouin against enemy tribes and settlements to collect spoils predates the revelations of the Quran
