kmaherali wrote:shiraz.virani wrote:
Maherali bhai im confused now !!!!......H.Adam[as] was a prophet[as] and not a Imam....H rasool[saw] was a prophet[as] and not a Imam.....Sri Krishna and Sri Ram were prophets and Imams ???
How it is that some prophets[as] can also be imam's[as] of their time where as few prophets[as] aren't ???
All these years I used to think that rasool[saw] was shah/pir during his time i.e until the day he proclaimed H.Imam Ali[as] as the imam[as]
Not all prophets are Imams. Hazarat Isa was not an Imam. Hazarat Musa was not an Imam.
The Imams can assume any role or function in this world. Sometimes they are little known and sometimes they are widely known. Sometimes they can assume the role of a prophet as well.
Our 48th Imam made the following Farman:
"When Nabi Mohammed Mustafa departed from this world he appointed Pir Imam Hasan as his successor to carry on the work. Similarly, Murtaza Ali appointed Imam Husayn as the Imam after him." (Gujrati Farman book 'Kutchh na Farman' pages 8-9.)
It is quite clear from the above Farman that the Prophet was a Pir who appointed Hazarat Hasan to carry out this role.
I agree that all Prophets are not Imams. However I disagree that Hazrat Musa (a.s.) and Hazrat Isa (a.s.) were not Imams. A Messenger of Allah (swt), before becoming a Messenger is an Imam.
Da'i Ahmed b. Ibrahim al-Naysaaburi writes:
"..the messenger arrives first at the rank of the imamate. Then, if the times require the establishment of a [new] religious law,..the imam occupies the place of the messenger in his age and time. The messenger before arising to declare the religious law, is one of the imams having assumed command from a previous imam. After finalizing the religious law, he hands over the command to the [next] imam. The imam is [therefore] present in the world at all times; the world is never deprived of him."
(Kitab ithbat al-imama/degrees of excellence)
By this definition, Prophet Muhammad (s.a.a.s) was the Imam before Imam 'Ali (a.s). Only then can he say "Do I not have more right on the believers than they've over themselves?" To which the people replied "Yes, O Rasulullah", after which he said- "Of whosoever I'm Mawla (i.e. the one who has right over you), 'Ali is his Mawla".
Moreover, the role of Pir and Imam are interchangeable at times (not always). The forthcoming Imam can become a Pir of the current Imam. Hazrat Hasan (a.s.) was a Pir after the demise of Rasululullah (s.a.a.s) and a trustee Imam after the demise of Imam 'Ali (a.s.).
Imam 'ala dhikrihi al-salam (a.s.) addresses Hazrat Hasan (a.s.) as Imam and explains the types of offspiring of an Imam as follows:
"It must be known that the offspring of the Imam are of four kinds. One is his physical offspring, like Must'ali; one is his spiritual offspring, like Salman; one is his offspring both physically and spiritually, like Imam Hasan (a.s.), who is called the trustee Imam (imam-i mustawda ); and one is his offspring physically, spiritually and in reality, all three, like Mawlana Husayn (a.s.), who is called the permanently established Imam (imam-i mus-taqarr)."
-Imam Hasan 'ala dhikrihi al-salam (a.s.)
(Epistle on the Recognition of the Imam)
Pir Nasir Khusraw (r.a.) addresses Hazrat Hasan (a.s.) as Imam and explains the difference between Mustaqarr (hereditery) Imam and Mustawda (trustee) Imam as follows:
"Now we have to explain the difference between the real hereditary Imam, mustaqarr, and the trustee Imam, mustawda. The difference between them exists only in so far as the question of inheritance is concerned, as in the case of Imam Hasan (a.s.) and Imam Husayn (a.s.). The trustee Imam, mustawda, is a son of the Imam ... who also knows all the mysteries of imamate, and so long as he discharges his duty he is the greatest of all people of his time. But he is not endowed with the privilege of transmitting his imamate to his descendants, who can never become Imams, only Sayyids. The hereditary Imam, mustaqarr, is endowed with all the privileges of imamate, and transmits them to his successors"
-Pir Nasir Khusraw (r.a.)
(Kalam-i Pir)
Mostly, the need for this provision is so that the Mustaqarr (hereditery) Imam can be protected by Mustawda (trustee) Imam.
One more example is of Imam Mu'minShah (a.s.), who is known as Pir Shihab al-Din Shah (r.a.).
Imam Mu'minShah (a.s.)'s name appears as Imam of that time in Khojki manuscript script number 22 in the Harvard University collection which contains a register of the Imams transcribed during the imamate of Imam Khalil lillahi 'Ali (a.s.). It includes Mu'minshah's name between Imam Shams al-Din Muhammad (a.s.) and Imam Qasimshah (a.s.). However, manuscript number 19 of the same collection, which contains a register that apparently dates to immediately after the death of the Imam Aga 'Alishah (a.s.), omits his name.
(The Isma'ilis in Middle Ages by Dr. Shafique N. Virani)