The followers of Karim Aga Khan, the “Agakhani Ismailis,” are spread out in various parts of the world. They constitute the vast majority, and comprise a controversial group, within the various sub-sects of Ismailis, who in turn form a small minority within the various groups and sects of the Islamic brotherhood. Thus, the Agakhani Ismailis represent a minute proportion, some 0.1 percent, of the Muslim world. However, their fame and profile far exceed their numbers, due primarily to the prominence of the Aga Khan and his family members through their international political, economic, and social status.
Of significance has been their long association with thoroughbred horse racing in Europe; Aga Khan III's weighing in gold, diamonds, and platinum as a gift from his followers; the marriage of Prince Aly Khan Karim Aga Khan's father to renowned actress Rita Hayworth and his role as a leader of Pakistan's delegation to the United Nations; the service of Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan in the United Nations as High Commissioner for Refugees; and, most recently, Karim Aga Khan being named Commander of the French Legion of Honour for eminent services to humanity.
It is a common belief that the ancestors of the Agakhani Khojah Ismailis were Hindus and that approximately seven centuries ago they were converted to the Ismaili faith by Pirs (authorized preachers) that came from Persia. The questions often asked are: Were these Pirs Imami Nizari Ismailis? Were they sent to India from Persia by the Ismaili Imams (spiritual leaders)? What was the Islamic Tariqah (persuasion) adopted by these converts at the time of their conversion?
The faith practised by Ismailis during the golden era of their history the Fatimid period of the Caliphate in Cairo was within the spectrum of the various sects, denominations, and schools of thought that exist in mainstream Islam. This meant that they observed the Shari'ah laws at the peak of their glory. Fatimid Imams built the first
university in the world, al-Azhar, which became an institute of repute in the Muslim world, to study the Qur’an and Islamic jurisprudence, among other subjects. Fatimid Ismailis recited the canonical Islamic prayers in mosques five times a day, as opposed to conventional Ismaili prayers three times a day at present in the Jama`at khanas (literally, place of assembly; in Ismaili terminology, place of worship). During the congregational noon prayers on Fridays, the names of the prevailing Fatimid Imams were mentioned in Khutba (an exhortation or sermon) in Egypt. Like other Muslims, they observed the Fast during the holy month of Ramadhan and performed the pilgrimage to Mecca (Hajj).
It is interesting to learn how the dramatic change occurred that absolved the sect from the requirements of certain edicts of the revealed laws after the fall of the Fatimid dynasty, in the Alamut period. The roots of the Fatimid Ismailis were in theregion of the Middle East where Islam was born. On the other hand, the roots of the majority of the Agakhani Ismailis, who are the Shia Imami Khojah Ismailis, are in the Indo-Pakistan subcontinent, and their conversion from Hinduism has gone through various phases of proselytization. During the past one and half centuries, the religion ofthese converts has undergone such drastic changes that the present generation of Agakhani Ismailis is almost totally ignorant of the practices of their forbears only two,
three, and four generations ago in the Indo-Pakistan subcontinent and Africa. The Agakhani Ismailis have made significant progress in the fields of education, commerce, and industry. Spiritually, however, the propagation of esotericism has left the community virtually bereft of the fundamental precepts and concepts of Islam.
Today, only a few elderly Khojahs (Ismaili, Ithna'ashri, and Sunni Khojahs) who have read the literature published during the nineteenth century, such as Ibrat-afza (an autobiography of Aga Khan I in Persian) or its Gujrati translation published in 1861, orthose who have heard from their elders the accounts of the second and thirdproselytizing, can trace back the trails and rediscover the lost heritage.
A study of primary as well as secondary documents, some of them rare and others that have been withdrawn from circulation or that were written for internal circulation in the ancient form of Sindhi script called Khojki, reveals that the process of proselytizing has gone through three distinct stages. The last two are only a century and a half old.
A few Agakhani Ismaili scholars who have compiled a bibliography of Ismaili literature, and others who have access to these documents, are well aware of the fact that the conversion of Hindus to the Ismaili faith has not been firsthand and has gone through more than one phase. But these scholars are also cognizant of the fact that under Article 14 of the Constitution of the Shia Imami Ismaili Muslims (1986), any Ismaili who prints, publishes, or circulates any material or makes any statement or
convenes a meeting or assembly purporting to be on behalf of, or in the name of, or relating to, the Imam, the Ismaili Tariqah, the Jama`at (a congregation or community), and any Ismaili Council or Institution without the written permission of the National Council within whose jurisdiction he or she resides shall be liable to disciplinary action, and the offender can be expelled from the community. It is high time that these kinds of stipulations and restrictions are lifted and that Ismaili
scholars have the encouragement and support of community leaders in publishing their findings.
In 1947-48, a couple of Ismaili students and I met the Russian professor Vladimir Alekseevich Ivanov (1886-1970), popularly known as W. Ivanow, and Vice-Chancellor Asaf Ali Asghar Fyzee (1899-1981), a Sulaymani Ismaili, who were the founding members of the Ismaili Society in Bombay, to obtain their permission to translate one of their publications into Gujrati.
In 1946, the Ismaili Society was founded with the aim of promoting independent and critical study of all matters connected with Ismaili faith, which included their literature, history, and philosophy. The Ismaili Society functioned with the financial support and patronage of the late Aga Khan III.
The Society had undertaken a bibliographical survey of Ismaili literature. One and a half decades later, when the work was finally published by the Society in Tehran in 1963, it was in an abridged form. Professor Ivanow scrutinized 929 works, and his analysis of these many documents was published in just 180 pages. Asaf Fyzee, the founding member of the Ismaili Society, wrote, "Everything connected with Ismailism seems to be enveloped in a cloud of mystery and secrecy."
Sixty-three years ago, I was born into an Agakhani Ismaili family where every member of the house over the age of five was made to recite his or her Du'a (a designated ritual prayer) in Gujrati three times a day. A prayer in which one would repeatedly prostrate oneself before a photograph of the Aga Khan and affirm with firm conviction that the photographed mortal was the physical manifestation of Allah upon this earth.
His Highness Sir Sultan Muhammad Shah, Aga Khan III, came to see my mother at a hospital in Southend-on-Sea, England, where I was born. He personally gave me the name by which I am known today. The late Aga Khan was well-known for his wit and uncanny ability to provoke laughter. While giving his blessings, he wittily appointed me as a Kamadia (assistant steward cum accountant) and my (late) elder brother Abdulali who was also born in England as a Mukhi (chief steward cum treasurer) of his London Jama`at. The year was 1928.
As a devout follower of the Aga Khan, my father donated Rs.300,000.00 -- practically eighty percent of his entire wealth -- to the Aga Khan's Diamond Jubilee fund. Half a century ago, that was an enormous sum of money. Being the highest donor from India, he received the singular honour of weighing His Highness the Aga Khan (putting plastic boxes full of rented diamonds on the weighing scale) in Bombay, on 10 March 1946. Thereafter, contrary to the general expectations of every believing Ismaili, the downfall of our family began.
My father, who had been in the carpet and textile business, suddenly had to face charges arising out of a small business transaction. He had sold goods meant forexport, locally. I was a student at that time but became an accessory for having acted as a delivery boy. Our entire stock of textiles was confiscated by the authorities, who were
acting under instructions from the newly independent Indian government. Communal tensions were running high and anti-Muslim sentiments were visible inside and outside of the court house.
Aga Khan had his own tax problems with the government. The authorities were demanding a large sum as taxes on his revenues and funds collected from the Ismaili community. Donors who had donated substantial sums for the Diamond Jubilee were individually investigated and taxed. Aga Khan decided to stay in Europe till the matter was settled by his agents, which did not happen during his lifetime.
The court proceedings were slow and the hearings dragged on for several years. To start a fresh life, I moved to West Pakistan in 1949 with a few hundred rupees in my pocket. A few years later, morally depressed and financially depleted, my father migrated to East Pakistan. After the partition of India, the Aga Khan had predicted in his private Farmans (authoritative and binding pronouncements) that Dacca and Chittagong would become London and Paris of the East. After losing a portion of his investments, my father moved to East Africa. From there, under the guidance of the Aga Khan, my family relocated to Belgian Congo. Aga Khan's prognostication that Congo would be the last colony in Africa to get its independence was wrong, and within a few years my family had to get out, following the turmoil in that country after independence.
From 1949 to 1975, during my domicile in Pakistan, I diligently served the Ismailia community in various capacities. I kept up the Jama'ati tradition of serving the Hazar (present) Imam with Tan, Man, and Dhan (Body, Mind, and Money). In 1972, I was appointed President of the Ismailia Regional Council for Karachi and Baluchistan by Karim Aga Khan. I held that position till I emigrated to Canada in 1975.
Towards the end of 1982, I published in British Columbia my first book on the ancestry of the Aga Khans. It was entitled From Abraham to Aga Khan. As the years went by, I continued research on the subject of Ismaili literature and history. At the same time I augmented my studies with the revealed messages that are to be found in the Qur'an and the Bible. By the grace of Allah, I got out of my tunnel vision. I could now see my beliefs from a wider perspective. A perspective whose outlook was panoramic and not restricted by inherited, imposed or prescribed thinking. I could now compare with an open mind what I had studied in the past with what I was learning in the present. Ibegan asking questions in private as well as in public, by writing memoranda and pamphlets.
My doubts were strengthened when I discovered that a large number of Ismailis had similar doubts and difficulties in under
standing what they were asked to practise. But most of them were observing a double standard. To express their doubts or endorse
their feelings in the open was too risky. It could lead to expulsion from or rejection by the Jama`at, which none could afford because
of their family ties and business contacts within the community.
My frustrations germinated, but I alsostayed within the community. I did not refrain from seeking answers from Agakhani scholars and missionaries at public gatherings as well as in private. I flew to Paris after communicating with Karim Aga Khan's personal secretary hoping to getanswers from the highest authority, the Aga
Khan, but the promised interview did not take place.
The real change in my attitude came when Idiscovered to my utter surprise that the Aga Khan is not a direct descendant of the
Prophet Muhammad, upon whom be peace, through the Fatimid Imams, but is a descendant of Hasan, a son of Da`i Muhammad of Alamut, who
had proclaimed a kind of spiritual filiation with the Fatimid Imams. I intensified my research on the subject, and compared thedata recorded by Ismaili and non-Ismaili historians. My findings got more and more
support as I went through fresh documents.
Finally, I decided to write a book based upon my discoveries. Understanding Ismailism A Unique Tariqah of Islam was published at
the end of 1988. It was printed and distributed from British Columbia, Canada, a country that promotes and guarantees itscitizens the freedom of conscience and religion; freedom of thought, belief,
opinion, and expression, including freedom of the press and other media of communication, under its Charter of Rights and Freedoms. I was expecting rejoinders in the form of books or memoranda challenging my research, but that did not happen. Instead, something else
transpired.
Hardly a week or two passed after the above publication when an announcement was read in all the Jama`at khanas of Canada,
asking the members of the Jamaat not to support the author, etc. Shortly thereafter, in December 1988, the honorary secretary of the Aga Khan's Ismaili Council for British Columbia filed a Complaint before the Aga Khan's Conciliation and Arbitration Board for British Columbia. The complainant asked the Board to recommend my expulsion from the Jamaat, under Article 14 of the Ismaili
Constitution ordained by Karim Aga Khan.
My lawyers advised me that without going into the merits of the book or its content, the mere fact that I had written a book on Ismaili faith and Aga Khan without obtaininga written permission from the Ismaili Council was sufficient cause for obtaining an order for expulsion from the community under theordained Constitution. I had not been a
practising Ismaili for the last several years. Professor Peter Lamborn Wilson mentioned in the opening sentence of hisreview, which was published in the book, that I was a former Ismaili.
In March 1989, I publicly withdrew my oathof allegiance to Karim Aga Khan and at the same time invited him through the media, as
well as by a letter, to have an open forum or a public debate at the Royal Albert Hall in London, either personally or throughrepresentatives. The offer was not accepted.
At the end of 1989, I wrote 'Understandingthe Bible - through Koranic Messages'. It was published at a time in the history of the
Middle East when there was a greater need for Jews, Christians, and Muslims the three children of Abraham to re-examine their own
roots and unite as brothers. The book was reviewed by Tom Harpur, a former professor of the New Testament. Several months later, I
was interviewed by Tom Harpur in his nationally televised series Heaven and Hell.
In the middle of 1990, I began collectingbooks and documents that would assist me in discovering the roots of my inherited beliefs. As a teacher of a religious school,I had heard almost all the Farmans pronounced by the Aga Khans, recited hundreds of Ginans (hymnlike devotional songs that are recitedin the Jama`at khanas), and read practically every book of Ismaili history that was ublished by the Ismailia Association for India. They all led me to believe that the
conversion of my ancestors to the Ismaili faith was direct. The Pirs who performed the onversion were Ismailis.
The data I had now collected told me a different story. I decided to look outside and approached a few families of Sunni Khojahs and Ithna’ashri Khojahs whose ancestors were also converted from Hinduism. They provided me with documents and facts hitherto unknown to me and probably to most Ismailis. A History of the Agakhani Ismailis will serve as the most explicit account of
the history of the followers of the Aga Khan and their religious life today.
This book of history is in particular addressed to the mundane everyday readers the laity. I have therefore chosen to furnish
bibliographical data for the quoted passages before each quotation, rather than have a consolidated list at the end. The book may
also prove to be of interest to non-Ismaili readers and scholars who have, in the words of a professor, “run into a stone wall” or
“gotten the run-around” while doing their research on the Ismaili community.