Critique
A Short Critique of Meherally’s
“A Brief History of the Aga Khans”
Meherally has devoted an website to propagate information he feels will damage the Shia Imami Ismaili Muslim faith. It is from this website that naive anti-Ismaili Muslims get the files that they then post to various newsgroups. Most Ismailis have been very reluctant to engage him in debate since he has separated himself from their faith by violating his oath to the Imam of the Time, Imam Karim Aga Khan IV. Since I am not an Ismaili, tho I am sympathetic to its beliefs and practices, I have no problem taking this critic on. The following are just a few notes concerning Meherally’s text on the History of the Aga Khans (which is actually a short summary of Meherally’s two books attacking the Ismaili faith and its Imam).
One thing right off I noticed about Meherally is his envy over the wealth of the Imam and the Ismaili community. Page after page in his books and articles show an envy that borders on the pathological. He appears to resent having to pay tithes in cash to his religious institutions and feels that other should do the same. Yet all faiths collect funds from their believers in order to maintain their institutions and clergy. He fails to show how these funds are being misused. He merely shows how he dislikes the way they are collected. Considering how much the Imam spends on Third World development, the world would be a much better place if all religions would spend their monies in the same way (see Akbarali Thobhani’s Islam’s Quiet Revolutionary: The Story of Aga Khan IV).
Meherally states that “the Emperor of Persia” did not give the title “Aga Khan” to the current Imam’s great-great-grandfather since he was “an unsuccessful insurgent.” However, all histories, except for Meherally’s , all show that the Qajar ruler did bestow that title to him and even gave him one of his daughters in marriage. He also made him the governor of the City of Qumm. All of this was in compensation for the murder of his father the 45th Imam in 1817 CE. The Aga Khan I did resist the Qajar State in 1837, when an attempt was made to replace him from his acquired governorship of the province of Kirman, by armed struggle. There is evidence that his removal was related to a power struggle within the Iranian Sufi community with the Aga Khan supporting a faction that the ruling Qajar did not. He was pardoned for his revolt, however, and lived in peace for about two years. Then politics forced his hand (and one needs to keep in mind that Persia had numerous other rebellions during this period) and he led a failed uprising and was forced to go to India (this was in 1841 not in 1840 the date Meherally gives). So Meherally gives a very inaccurate account of Aga Khan I’s activities in Iran.
I find it very interesting that Meherally likes to quote Sir Richard Burton even after calling him an “orientalist” and “British Spy.” As for Burton’s comments that the Aga Khans revolt was “ridiculous” that is his opinion and not facts. The Aga Khan was forced to revolt or be murdered like his father.
Meherally makes a big deal that Aga Khan I assisted the British in their colonial undertakings. Many Muslims did the same during that time and the defenders of Sunni Orthodoxy, the Saudi’s, were British and American puppets.
He states that the British gave the Aga Khans a hereditary title of “Highness”. This is not true. This title must be given to each new Aga Khan upon their succession to the Imamate and is not automatically given (this is covered in Akbarali Thobhani’s “Islam’s Quiet Revolutionary: the Story of Aga Khan IV”).
Meherally makes the claim that the Khojah’s were originally Sunni Muslims before the Aga Khans were given authority over the Khojah community by the British Court in 1866. My question to Meherally is if the Khojah’s were Sunni why did they recite ginans in their services? These ginans can be traced back in written form to the 15th-16th centuries and contain religious teachings which Sunni’s would never have recited. Meherally tries in other texts to claim that the ginans were made up or revised to the current state during the last century thus they did not have the Hindu elements before the Aga Khans came. However, the history of the ginans is well documented and their contents can be confirmed as reflecting the true faith of Khojah Ismaili community. There were many split off groups from Khojah Nizari Ismailism ( which split off before the First Aga Khan came to India) and these groups preserved their own ginans which many are identical to the Nizari ones. The ones that are the most identical are those which present Islamic ideas within Hindu metaphors and myths. Of course, Meherally doesn’t like the ginans as they were the main evidence that the Khojah’s were Ismaili and this was confirmed by several court cases in India.
The Khojah’s used Sunnism during the period before the Aga Khan arrived as taqiyya (concealment of one’s true beliefs to prevent oppression). Also the Aga Khan I was practicing taqiyya when he practiced Sufism and Twelver Shiism. Taqiyya has been a historical Ismaili practice and Meherally is well aware of it. He chooses to ignore it to suit his own purposes. In Ismailism the outer form is always an illusion; the center of the faith remains the same. Taqiyya was ended only during the Imamate of the 3rd Aga Khan due to the spread of religious freedom under British rule. The Aga Khan III did not induces new doctrines and practices, he restored to some communities practices that were forgotten during the period of taqiyya. All of the doctrines and practices that the Aga Khan restored can be found in the ginans and in the Iranian Nizari literature on the Imamate written during the late Middle Ages.
I will end my critique now but I could go on and on pointing out the numerous errors which litter Meherally’s texts. I would suggest that those who are interested in Ismaili history to ignore Meherally and study the work of real Ismaili’s. Meherally, while once an Ismaili, is no longer one. Furthermore, he has a major axe to grind against his former faith and therefore is extremely bias against Ismailism. I would suggest reading the already mentioned book by Thobhani as well as anything by Farhad Daftary.
Sajjad said,
September 20, 2006 at 2:36 pm
hi,salam, ya ali madad
too good article & we need a text to refuse Akber’s wrong allegations.
i hope to read more errors in Akber’s writting.
thanks, & regards,
RHP said,
October 12, 2006 at 4:54 pm
Yaa Ali Madad
great ,great article
moez said,
April 28, 2007 at 11:48 am
meherally in his website mentions that he and his wife gulbanoo once had the opportunity to visit the then hazar imam ..Imam sultan mohammed shah, during this visit meherallys wife gulbanu was expecting their second child after 3 months , and they requested the imam to name their child…the unborn child was named ABBAS….Abbas is the second son of meherally . isint it obvious to meherally that only the imam could name an unborn child….there are allso many other instances where after scientific proof of the gender of the unborn child the imam has named an unborn child opposite of the clicinal scientific tests….meherally is stupidly fighting a lost battle
Mohamed said,
July 6, 2007 at 12:26 am
Mehrally makes some good points and unfortunately gets in to petty criticisms which undermines his stance. His point about divinity and Hindu practices need to be discussed asmany of us ask similar questions. Ismailis do not need to fear criticisms. The only way to progress spiritually and intellectually is to question and debate. We can not criticise fundamentalists for not questioning beliefs whilst taking on a fundamentalist position.
By the way the author of the blog is wrong about the ginans – ginans are more likely of 18th and 19th Century ather than written by Pirs from the 12th century onwards.
shak said,
July 6, 2007 at 1:24 am
Ginans have a lenghtly oral history way before they became texts. Handed down by singer to singer they adapted to the language of their listeners until they became fixed by their textual form. Oral texts are fluid and adapted to change while written texts become fossilized. Thus the ginans of Pir Shams can contain more modern words because their singers were able to use new words to convey original meanings. This process stopped when the ginans became a written text.
ANITA said,
October 12, 2007 at 12:42 pm
hi… i do not agree here as i was ismaili too n was very punctual in my rituals and ceremonies but when i came across to read i had same confusions as meher alli stated in his article…lyke ther is nothin unto wateva lyke ALLAH none comapre to allah and in ginans imams r clearly stated to be allah…lyke haq tu pak tu rab tu rehman….
how can ginan contradict wid quran…quran is divine word of ALLAH say who can forgive sin except Allah n den we pray to imam for forgivness…n there are hundreds of ayats saying contradicting with ismaili faith….quran also says truth stands clear from error how can u ignore words of allah n follow ismailism….?????????????
Shak said,
October 12, 2007 at 1:26 pm
All of creation is a divine word of Allah which is manifest unity.
I find it interesting that no one has proved wrong a single point of my critique…they merely state their belief that Meherally is right.
BTW, the ginans at lvery least go back to the split of the Shami’s from the Khoja’s in the the late 1400’s because they preserve a ginanic tradition that uses many of the same ginans. Which still disproves Meherally thesis that they were produced by the Aga Lhans after they entered India in the 1840’s.
Due to the nature of the medium of conveying the written word in Inda most manuscripts are only a few hundred years old or slightly more. They had to be repeatedly copied. Even the RigVeda the oldes of Hindu scriptures and dates back to the 1200 BCE only exists in manuscripts no later than the 1700’s before being perserved by Westerners and printed on paper instead of palm leaves.
ali khan said,
December 15, 2007 at 2:27 pm
i as a muslim fully agree withthe commentsd and openions of Mr.A.Meharlai and i wouldike to say that aga kah and his mushrik followers r not muslims and never will be muslims .They prostratye the aga khan as a living god, and they say thataga kahn is walking and talking
ali khan said,
December 15, 2007 at 2:29 pm
i as a muslim fully agree withthe commentsd and openions of Mr.A.Meharlai and i wouldike to say that aga kah and his mushrik followers r not muslims and never will be muslims .They prostratye the aga khan as a living god, and they say thataga kahn is walking and talking quran hell to him and his followers who bow before THE PHOTOO OF AGAKHAN ISMAILIS DONT HAVE NAMAZ,ZAKAT,FAST,HAJJ KALAMA ETC. THEY R PURE THAN QADIANIS JEZAK-ALLAH
ismailism said,
December 15, 2007 at 5:02 pm
Once again no refutation of my article just re-hash of crap already stated.
Idetrorce said,
December 15, 2007 at 6:17 pm
very interesting, but I don’t agree with you
Idetrorce
ismailism said,
December 15, 2007 at 7:41 pm
How am I wrong?
Suleman shah said,
December 30, 2007 at 11:26 am
THERE IS NO DOUBT that ismailis r pure than qadianis, they r Muslim only in name. but in fact they and his so called imam agakhan a illegitimate child of a white man whose mother was pregnant when she married prince ali khan so called father of present agakhan.-!!!!!1? Agakhanis ismailis say that agakhan is WALKING AND TALKING QURAN.- They offer total devinety to agakhan prostrate before his photoo,they dont have namaz,dont keep fasting in ramdan,they pay monthly Tex dasont 12 percent to agakhan dont pay zakat,thet say that to see glimpse of aga khan is hajj 4 ismailis . They SHOULD BE DECLARED NON MUSLIM KAFARS IN OPEN PUBLIC IN PAKISTAN .Agakha !s grand father once said in his holly nonsense fermans sermons that HELL AND PARADISE IS IN MY HAND HELL TO HIM AND HIS FOLLOWERS ISMAILIS
imran said,
March 15, 2008 at 6:36 pm
Suleman shah I am a sunni muslim and must defend ismailism for i have learned alot about them and come to a conlusion that they are infact muslims. This conclusion has been made for several reasons. I cant go into all the details but i will cover the main ones. Ismailis believe in the hadith “I am leaving behind two things the quran and the ahl al bayat follow these two and you will never go wrong”. This hadith says that if you follow the ahl al bayat you cant go wrong and the ismailis believe they are following the ahl al bayat. With that being said lets examine the five pillars.
imran said,
March 15, 2008 at 6:43 pm
1)hajj- the ismailis believe in hajj but they believe there are some requirments before going on hajj. You must have the money, your family obligation must be fullfilled, you cant be in debt, if you leave for hajj your family must be able to survive and the most important one is that if you know some on who needs money more then you you must give it to them. The last one the ismailis say is the most important and that if one person is whithout food and you go on hajj the hajj wont be accepted but if you give the hajj money to somme one who needs food or needs the money it is like going on hajj. If there isnt any one who needs the money only then you can go.
2.roza- they believe in roza and in fact some do fast on Ramazan BUT THEY BELIEVE IN A YEAR LONG ROZA ALSO. SEEING NO EVIL, SPEAKING NO EVIL, TALKING NO EVIL AND HEARING NO EVIL
imran said,
March 15, 2008 at 6:48 pm
3- PRAYERS- Ok this one i had a heard time understanding on what they are doing but i finally understood. They do say salat of course it has been sortened to three times a day besides five times. OUR BELOVED PROPHET MOHUMMAD PRAYED THREE TIMES A DAY WHEN HE DIDNT HAVE THE TIME. Also they believe that the imam of the time has the right to change the salat and the numbers because there is a quranic verse that gives Prophet Abrahim and his desendents to do this. forgot the ayat number.
zakat- they do believe in zakat and give the most 12.5% of there full income.(wow a big chunk).
shahada- they believe in it.
RKD said,
April 14, 2008 at 2:02 am
About the fasting: I was raised as an Ismaili and have left the faith, and all other faiths. Haven’t read the critique in question but I would like to say this much. As a child, I attended religious education classes every weekend (very common for Ismailis), and about halfway through class, we were given a lunch time snack. Except for during the month of Ramadan.
Khadim said,
May 21, 2008 at 10:03 pm
First i like to thank the person who wrote the above article for pointing out and questioning the pet pee points of Merhallys objections.
I had an unfortunate experince of knowing and meeting Merhrally and his family. Even to-day his wife and some member of his family go to JK. This is right out of the horses mouth. This whole thing of Mehrally converting from Ismailisim to Sunni faith( not Shia) was caused by his jealousy of money collected by the Isamilis and spending for the the projects of the AKDN foundation and let me explain before he converted to Sunni faith he was the teacher of religoius school and had a concept of how and what should be taught there and in order to do that he wrote a book which he wanted the council to approve it and fund it for printing( he caould have asked his family in Pakistan to print it for him he owned a printing press)
But he was so pissed that he was rejected to meet with the Aga Khan and present his case that he approched the Saudi for funding to discredit the Ismailis and for sometime he got that funding but then his paymaster refused untill he converted to Sunni faith so he made the jump from Shia Ismail to Sunni(Wahabism)This is a short history of his miserable life and also dont forget that he is a cult leader of his own group of disoriented navie people.
RAY said,
May 25, 2008 at 4:45 am
I AM ISMAILI TOO AND I’M NOT AGREE WITH THAT GUY WHOMEVER HAS PROBLEM. AND I JUST READ SOME ARTICLES FROM SOME OTHER GUY AND AFTER THAT I REACHED SOME POINT THAT HE WENT TO SHAH SULTAN MOHMMAD SHAH AND NAMED HIS SECOND CHILD BY THAT HE SHOULD HAVE MORE FAITH THEN HE HAD, AND IM PRETTY SURE THAT IMAM NAMED HIS SECOND CHILD NAMED AS SUNNY BECOSE HE NEW WHTES GONE HAPPEN.
TO BE HELL WITH MAHERALI AND ALI KHAN MAHERALI AND ALI KHAN SHOULD NOT USE NAME ALI A PAAK AND PAVITRA NAME OF ALI WHOS PANJTAN PAAK WITH PROPHET MOHAMMAD AND THEY’V SOULD REMEMBER OF PROPHET MOHAMMADS WORD ON GADIR-E-KHUMM WHERE THE 124000 PEOPLE TOGETHER
ONCE AGAIN GO TO HELL ALL OF YOU WHOME EVER HAS PROMBLEM
ray said,
June 8, 2008 at 2:14 pm
as an ismaili i would like to say something to anita whos even ismaili too.
anita i dont know that you ever gone read this article from this web site but i still like to say something the artivle you wrote above,
AS a IASMSILI you should know that our hazar imam is true leader and hes the only one who own this world and hes sinless hes purely clean he never ever comited any sin hes been very mrcy on us and hes been and if still have confusion than tell you what that nothing left for you but i have somethin for you every single moment as many time you can resite than E-MAIL me on rozirizu@gamil.com
AA said,
June 28, 2008 at 12:48 am
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I extend my hand as well and invite you to my blog, common over, it is no spam, and I won’t be preaching you any religion, you may enter paradise upon landing on this page, it is really cool.
http://clipmarks.com/clipper/arifsali/
Abdu ar-Rahman said,
July 2, 2008 at 5:33 pm
Why was my comment deleted? There was nothing insulting in it, simply the truth. It was better and more polite than some of the stuff that is left on here.
ismailism said,
July 2, 2008 at 11:08 pm
Abdu, your comments were deleted because they had nothing to do with the topic on hand.
AA said,
July 3, 2008 at 4:52 am
Please delete my comment as well. Thank you. Glad to see some facilitation here, keeping unmoderated comments on religious blog is never advisable.
Haroon al-ameri said,
April 1, 2009 at 11:12 pm
The origin story of
Mr. Akberally Mehrally lives in Vancouver. He was once the member of a committee in Bombay to awaken the Ismailis for midnight bandagi. His father was a generous and was the biggest donor in the Diamond Jubilee of Imam Sultan Muhammad Shah in Bombay in 1946. His grandfather had gone to Central Asia with Pir Sabzali in 1923.
He came in Karachi and continued his khidmat in the Jamatkhana. He was the Mukhi of Life Dedication Mandali, the President of the Regional Council and the Chairman of the Ismailia Youth Service in Karachi. He was the owner of two printing press, one of which he gifted to the Tariqah Board in 1975 when he left Karachi for Canada. Soon after his arrival in Vancouver, he entered into the the jamati politics and disputed with the leaders and at last he started propaganda against the leaders through leaflets. Ultimately, he began to speak against our ceremonies and went as far as against our beloved Imam.
It is said that the anti-Ismaili camp cooperated with him, especially the Saudi Arabia. He was financed in his campaign against Ismailis and wrote many books for this purpose.
In 1989, the Council of British Colombia excommunicated him officially, whose announcement was made in the world Ismaili Jamatkhanas. This is the brief account of Akber Mehrally.
Akbarally, the son of Mehrally or Akbarally Mehrally is the owner of a shoes store in Vancouver, just behind the residence of late missionary Abu Aly. He is over 70 years old and suffers with diabetic. He is virtually blind by one eye. He came in Vancouver about in 1975 and was then a staunch Ismaili, but due to his dispute with the leaders of the Canadian Council (I dont know nature of his dispute), he began to rebuke him verbally and then through leaflets. It was actually a trial period of his faith (iman), but he did not control himself and began to broadcast his anti-propaganda against the Ismailis and then openly against our faith and Imam. At least he was outcast from the community in 1989.
If one has faith, it does not mean that he is a true follower of the Imam. Faith can be dwindled during the trial, therefore, the Imam emphasised upon us to pray for the strength of the faith daily. A building cannot be raised without a long program of its construction, but the same built building can be easily demolished. Likewise, faith cannot so easily be strong, but it needs time, but it breaks in twinkle of eyes. Regards.