Narration of Events of Golden Jubilee of Beloved Sultan Muhammad Shah (s.a.s.) 1937
Events of Golden Jubilee of Beloved Sultan Muhammad Shah (s.a.s.) 1937
Ya-Ali-Madad to All.
Maherunissa Dhirani in a Story Telling Session in West Jamat Khana, Social Hall, narrated the following stories on Saturday November 1, 2008.
Whilst we are in process of celebrating our beloved Hazar Imam Shah Karim's Golden Jubilee, let us remember the stories of Mawlana Sultan Muhammad Shah's Golden Jubilee – some 70/72 years ago.
To celebrate 50 years of Imamate, Mawlana Sultan Muhammad Shah (s.a.s.) was weighed against actual gold twice, once in Bombay, India; and the second time in Nairobi, Kenya.
The scheduled date for Golden Jubilee in Bombay was January 21, 1936. All arrangements were made according to the schedule, but all of a sudden Mowlana Sultan Muhammad Shah (s.a.s.) brought the Jubilee date forward to January 19th. Jamats and leadership were surprised, however, they obeyed and the Jubilee was celebrated two days ahead on January 19, 1936.
Many dignitaries from different countries were invited and so was King George V, the King of British Empire. King George V sent a personal message to Mowlana Sultan Muhammad Shah (s.a.s.) that he could not attend due to his ill health and would send his personal representative.
Mowlana Sultan Muhammad Shah (s.a.s.) arrived for Jubilee celebrations wearing a green turban (wrap-around-type). With Mowlana Sultan Muhammad Shah (s.a.s.) was his Begum Rani Mata Caron, wearing green and red sari. The jubilee scale was gold in colour.
The jubilee celebrations began with prayers and messages. Then Mowlana Sultan Muhammad Shah (s.a.s.) sat on one side of the scale and gold was placed on the other side. All the gold bars were placed but the scale did not tip. Mowlana Sultan Muhammad Shah (s.a.s.) was testing murid's love.
It was a tense moment. Ismaili ladies, who were sitting in front, immediately took out their gold ornaments and gave to volunteers to place them on the scale on top of the gold bars. With just a few gold ornaments weighing only a few ounces placed on gold bars, the scale tipped. Mowlana Sultan Muhammad Shah (s.a.s.) was proving that nobody or nothing could ever weigh Imam, but it is the love of his murids that allowed Imam to be weighed.
A similar example took place during the time of Lord Krishna. King Shibi was very wealthy. He claimed he had so much wealth that he could weigh Lord Krishna with his wealth. The challenge was taken and a date was scheduled for the ceremony. The public arrived to witness Lord Krishna's weighing ceremony against King's wealth. The ceremony started and the wealth, which was brought to the court for the ceremony, was placed on the scale. The scale did not tip. Then more and more wealth was brought from King's treasury but the scale would not tip. Finally, all the wealth had been placed. Then a pious lady got up. She was wearing a rose in her hair. She pulled out a petal of the rose and placed it on top of all the wealth, and then the scale tipped. So it was the love of a murid which allowed Lord Krishna to be weighed, and not the King's wealth.
Just as Mowlana Sultan Muhammad Shah's (s.a.s.) jubilee ceremony was coming to an end, Mowlana Sultan Muhammad Shah's (s.a.s.) green turban started to unravel. Pir Sabzali who was standing behind Mowla, raised his hand to try and tuck the end of the turban back into place. Mowla asked him to leave it alone because right now the Crown of the World is falling down. That was the time that King George V. passed away. King George V. was the King of British Empire, which was ruling many parts of the World. It was then that it was realized why Mowla brought the jubilee date forward by two days. By the time the news of King George V.'s death reached Bombay, the actual jubilee ceremony was over, but the entertainment programs, which were to follow, were cancelled to mourn the King's death because India was under British rule at that time.
Around that time period, many Muslims believed that all non-Muslims will go to hell after their death and they were eagerly waiting to see what kind of message Mowla would send for the King who was a Christian. Mowlana Sultan Muhammad Shah's (s.a.s.) message was: The way Prophet Muhammad (s.a.s.), prayed for the soul of King of Iran who was a believer of Fire, I pray for the soul of King George V. that it may rest in eternal peace. So the Muslims got the message.
To Ismailis, Mowlana Sultan Muhammad Shah (s.a.s.) said, for 50 years you have been My Spiritual Children and I have been your Spiritual Father. This relationship has existed without pressure from anywhere. Inshallah, it will continue for other 50 years and more. My dear members of audience, we are actually witnessing this today!
In Nairobi, the Golden Jubilee was scheduled for March 1, 1937. East African Railways were running special trains called Aga Khan Specials, taking Ismaili travellers to Nairobi for the Jubilee. These trains were decorated with flags, khushiyali music was on and the fare was a special rate.
Before and after the Jubilee, Mowlana Sultan Mohamed Shah (s.a.s.) visited many places in East Africa and made farmans for the progress of the community.
For Nairobi Golden Jubilee ceremony, Mowlana Sultan Mohamed Shah (s.a.s.) wore white sherwani with golden colour turban. The Begum Saheba Rani Mata wore green and red sari. The Jubilee message from All Africa Ismaili community was presented in a very beautifully carved ivory casket. Kenya's Acting Governor placed the 1st gold bar on the scale and the whole jubilee ceremony was serene and beautiful.
The Ismaili community collected funds of Rs. 335,000 for Bombay Jubilee and Sterling Pounds 22,900 for Nairobi Jubilee. Gold in the value of the said amounts was presented to Mowlana Sultan Mohamed Shah (s.a.s.) as an unconditional gift which Mowla accepted with pleasure and doubled it up by matching Pound to Pound and Rupee to Rupee; and returned it back to the Ismaili community to be utilized for their progress. In India, the fund was used for the benefit of the community through committees appointed by Mowlana Sultan Mohamed Shah (s.a.s.). In Africa, Jubilee Insurance Company was formed which gave loans at a low interest rate to Ismailies who wanted to start or expand their business.
Dear Listeners! This was a major step in laying the foundation of the community's economic strength.
Throughout the Jubilee ceremonies, both in India and Africa youths played a very important role. Guiding and Scouting were very popular and so were the Ismaili volunteers. Plus, there were many other youth societies who performed lots of seva (volunteerism) to make jubilee celebrations successful.
Let us all pray that may Mowlana Hazar Imam shower his blessings upon us so that we can enjoy our Hazar Imam's Golden Jubilee both in spiritual and worldly manner. Amen. Thanks.
P.S. As a part of Golden Jubilee celebrations, Mowlana Sultan Muhammad Shah (s.a.s.) led Idd Namaz on February 22, 1937 in the Nairobi pavilion, which was erected for the occasion of His Golden Jubilee. Approximately 4000 Ismailies attended this event. Mowlana Sultan Muhammad Shah (s.a.s.) arrived at the pavilion with Rani Mata at 10.00 a.m. The band played the Ismaili anthem then Mowla proceeded inside the pavilion and led the Idd Namaz. After the Idd, Namaz, Mowla conveyed Idd Mubarak to the jamat and made Farman that for momins, it is a day of Idd on each and every day. He then blessed the jamat and proceeded to Nairobi Jamatkhana with Rani Mata.