Interviewer: You are called the living Imam, what exactly does that mean? Aga Khan IV: Well the Shia history has followed the same sort of historical developments all hereditary offices have followed, where there have been differences of opinion on who was the legitimate successor to the predecessor, whether it was a secular or religious office. In the case of the Shia Muslims, the Shia branch of Islam split and one branch of the Shia Muslims accepted the concept of the Imam in hiding, the invisible Imam, because the twelfth Imam disappeared as a very young child, and our branch of Shia Islam, in that particular generation of the family, accepted the legitimacy of the eldest son, Isma‘il, as being the appointed Imam to succeed and that is why they are known as Ismailis. And that branch of the family has continued today hereditarily and that is why there is a living Imam for the Ismaili Muslims. Interviewer: What makes the Ismailis different from the mainstream Shiite Islam? Aga Khan IV: Probably that there is a living Imam who traces his family back to Hazrat Ali. The majority of the Shia today are known as the Twelver Shia and they believe in the hidden Imam. The leadership is hereditary, handed down by Ali’s descendants, and the Isma‘ilis are the only Shi‘a Muslims to have a living Imam, namely myself. The other Shia — the Twelvers — revere a “hidden” Imam who will return on the Day of Judgement to take part in the final judgement. It is the presence of the living Imam that makes our Imamat unique. Imam Shah Karim al-Husayni Aga Khan IV, (“The Power of Wisdom”, Politique Internationale, March 1, 2010) nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/9473/ In time, the Shia were also sub-divided over this question, so that today the Ismailis are the only Shia community who, throughout history, have been led by a living, hereditary Imam in direct descent from the Prophet.
Posted on: Fri, 03 Oct 2014 08:38:59 +0000
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