The Mirza Khan 🇮🇷

In 1813-14 Oman and Yemen used to pay tribute to H.I.M Fath-Ali Shah Qajar and sought Iranian protection. The Shah answered and crushed the Wahhabis and the early House of Saud.

@KhalilAndani Someone this small is not worthy of your attention Professor

This is a great example of a Sunni wannabe academic policing a real academic because I, an Ismaili Muslim, belong to the “wrong sect” of Islam. You should stick to day job posting on Instagram.

@Rashiq__Shahzad Shame on you.

This guy is more polemical than analytical. Imagine Criticizing Orientalism & Christian polemicist than calling a islamic thinker “theologically schizophrenic” because of sectarian difference is the living proof that even academic muslims don't Practice what they preach.

This is a different subject and not one I am especially familiar with. My point is about tawhid and the contradiction of the concept of a literal Shaytan existing. I do not believe there is some literal independent evil rival to God. If you want to rephrase what you said I would be happy to give you an answer cause I’m not understanding what you said.

On what rational basis are you extending the cause and effect mechanisms of the universe beyond the universe? That there are relations grounded in the universe doesn’t imply the universe is necessarily grounded in them.

@BalaamAndDonkey There is no such beings as Shaytan or Jins. You are already thinking under Persian dualistic influence. Shaytan is a metaphor for a state of being distant from God who is the source of all perfection, truth, and love.

There is no persian dualism in Islam. Shaytan is the opponent of mankind, not Allah. I have a misanthropic streak so I support Shaytan against rival jinn and my enemies. But I am in a constant state of submission to Allah.

I thought I explicitly explained the concept of designation and the succession in the Imamate which even the Quran lays out so I'm not sure why you bring up "millions of descendants" It's like Queen Victoria has hundreds of living descendants today but only Charles sits on the British throne. The verses and hadith aren't weak they are literal principles read them as they are it's you who for example makes vague interpretation of them such as denying what happened in Ghadir and thinking the Prophet stopped 100,000 people to declare Ali, his close relative, was merely his friend.

@Iraninous That's why Allah mentions Shirk in the quran a lot and want us to not do it, that's why he mentions Salat, Zakat, Hajj. You assume Allah want us to follow your imam yet mentioned 'Abraham descendents' which are potentially millions, it's far fetched

I believe King Charles is an Ismaili Muslim practicing taqiyah. He has given bay'ah to the past & Present Imam.

The Quran is not a register listing every Prophet and Imam by name but it gives the principles I believe in as I said before such as the principle of divinely appointed Imam. In the Quran Allah makes Imamate a covenant in Abraham's lineage. So that's precedence already. And that logic would extend to the Prophet's family because Imamate continues after Prophethood. Lets look at hadith: At Khumm the Prophet said he leaves behind the Quran and his Ahlt Bayt. In Ghadir he designates Imam Ali as Mawla and in Hadith al Manzilah the Prophet said "You are to me as Harun was to Musa, except that there is no prophet after me" once again declaring Imam Ali as his successor and bearer of his authority after him and therefore the Imamate. So with that which is not the best explanation but a very simply one is where I can conclude that in Islam there is the theology of divinely appointed Imam that continues through Nass from each Imam to the next.

@Iraninous Ok but what made you believe in this designation? Assuming Ali should have been the successor, and we should follow his designations until now, how come this is not explicitly mentioned in Quran or Sunnah? Could it be because it's actually not true?

@BalaamAndDonkey Based

Sadly I don’t find this to be true. Because the Abbasids weren’t just a rival dynasty, they were ideologists who created ortho Sunnism and ortho Shi’ism as state cults. They are responsible for all this numerology about 4 caliphs and 12 imams.

@xodoxy Here is our Imam’s family tree.

Do you understand the concept of appointment / designation? Because there is a chain of appointments in that lineage. Because of what we call giving ‘Nass’. You could be descendant of some King but you are not in the succession line nor are you the designated Heir unless the King designates you. What we have with our Imam is that chain from Imam Ali who appointed the next Imam and that Imam appointed the one after him.

It is if you read the Quran Allah blessed Abraham and his progeny to lead as Imams of their community and also Allah blesses Ahl al bayt similarly in the Quran. What backs this is the claim Imam Ali and his progeny made as well. I don’t believe they to be deceitful liars and I take from the Quran too.

@Iraninous Why do you assume Allah almighty who mentioned all the central things of Islam in the Quran would miss that? Well, because it's not really central and is based on far-fetched assumptions and personal interpretations & efforts. Otherwise, Sahaba wouldn't have missed it

@xodoxy Because he isn't in the line of Imams. The next Imam is given nass by the present Imam and only assumes the Imamate if they have nass. Imam Ali - Imam Hussein - Imam Zayn al Abidin - Imam Al Baqir and so on.

@Iraninous King of Jordan is a descendent, he at least speaks Arabic, why not follow him instead? His connection to the prophet is more reliable at least since his father and grandfathers were in Mecca and well known among local populations

@xodoxy Because I believe in the Imamate of Imam Ali and I believe in hereditary leadership passed down to his successors. I follow that line instead of following scholars.

@Iraninous I will follow your Imam if you give me any actual solid proof, but there isn't any, it's merely a tradition that got carried forward with followers and it doesn't make any sense when being evaluated, he is not the only descendent btw, why not follow others as well?

@xodoxy Being Prophet/Imam is not about how beautifully you can recite or write Arabic though it's through divine legitimacy.

@Iraninous I don't think his Arabic is sufficient to understand the Quran or even properly pronounce it. The closest to the prophet are the ones who are closest to following him. Otherwise, we would prefer his Uncle Abu Talib or Abu Jahl over african Bilal but we don't

We are not Ghulat. We do not believe the Imam is some supernatural being who can miraculously speak every language with a perfect native accent. The Ismaili Imams have not lived in the Arab world since the fall of the Fatimid State. They lived in Persia, then in the Indian subcontinent, and now in Europe, because the Ismaili Imamate is global. Naturally, their language reflects the languages spoken by the community, and their Arabic is fully sufficient for reading and speaking. Perhaps Professor could give a firmer answer @KhalilAndani.

@Iraninous The logic is very simple, in order to have the slightest claim that you are who should be followed after the prophet, you need to at least speak the language of the prophet to underatand his teachings, if you don't, you are basically delusional along with your followers

@xodoxy Of course he does. And if you describe hereditary leadership in such disrespectful way then you are going against Quran where Allah granted divine leadership through Abrahams progenies and later to Ahl al Bayt.

@Iraninous Does he speak Arabic or memorize the Quran? If not, how can someone be the true Imam after the prophet while not even understanding the language of the prophet and thus his teachings? Do you think it's some kind of magic blood that goes through his veins?

You have not made a single theological argument proving the Imam is false. All you have shown is envy of his wealth and his wife. First, that wealth is not some private vanity project it is the wealth of the Ismaili Imamate, which spends around 1 billion dollars every year uplifting people across the Greater Middle East and Africa more than any religious leader, and more than anyone else in the Muslim world. Second, the Ismaili Imams were not always wealthy. Their position changed with the transformations of the 20th century, as the community migrated, became global, and successful. And in any case, the Prophet and his descendants, the Imams, were also wealthy.

@Iraninous Except the prophet lived among Muslims, and he didn't cherry pick a model and convert her to Islam. I bet your Imam doesn't even speak Arabic or deeply understand the language of the Quran, the prophet didn't have billions and went around in Yachts and Palaces, this Imam is fake

@S0ulArchitect @xodoxy Prophet married a Jew Imam Hussein Married a Zoroastrian Persian Princess even Ottoman Caliphs married European Christians Etc

@xodoxy @Iraninous Hmm didn’t prophet muhammad married khatidja who was a non muslim and after 15 years became muslim? Those non muslim models are converted to muslims at the time of marriage. They also get a new name.

@xodoxy The Ottoman Caliphs married Europeans. The Prophet married a Jewish woman. Imam Husayn married a Persian princess, and the next Imam was born from that marriage. Islam is a universal religion and allows marriage outside your ethnicity and culture. It's not about Caste system.

@Iraninous Lol, Imams who marry non-Muslim models, have billions of dollars, live in the west and act like them, how brainwashed you must be to believe that this is an actual Imam who is following the footsteps of the prophet?

@LAldyn43792 Deal with it.

@Iraninous " Ismaili Muslim "

@abuseyfain Neo Fatimid Caliphate

@Iraninous He should abdicate to Imam Rahim in the near future... then he will take back Canada and Australia; this will be the beginning of the global Shi'a empire.