Ismaili Dai Traits

:: Trait No. 8: The Dā'īs Must be Agents of Good ::

Friday, Mar. 7, 2025

Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim
In the name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful.

Ya Ali Madad and Ramadan Mubarak. This post consists of five parts

Enlightenment teachings from the Holy Qu'ran;
Excerpt(s) from 'A Code of Conduct—A Treatise of the Etiquette of the Fatimid Ismaili Mission';
A dhikr tasbi for each night;
Angelic salwat which is the anchor tasbi for the project; and
Ardent Global Prayers

Part 1: Enlightenment Teachings from the Holy Qu'ran

Part 2: An excerpt from 'A Code of Conduct—A Treatise of the Etiquette of the Fatimid Ismaili Mission'
In 'al-Risāla al-mūjaza al-kāfiya fī of Ahmad b.Ibrāhīm al-Naysbūrī has written the following gem:

"[§11] But God has said: 'Let there come from you a community that guides to be good and commands the acceptable and prohibits the reprehensible; they are ones who succeed.'¹⁷ This verse describes the imams and makes it clear that the dâ'î must follow their sunna and be an agent of good, commanding the good and prohibiting the reprehensible, and he himself must act in accord to the good they have ordered and forbid the unacceptable they have prohibited. It is as Ja'far b. Muhammad al-Sâdiq has said: 'Be for us silent dâ'îs, and they asked, 'How can we make the appeal, O son of the messenger of God, if we are silent? He replied, 'Act in accord with what we commanded you to do with respect to obeying God and forbid what we forbade you to do.' It is not possible to be someone who commands the good and not do that himself. It is as God says: 'Do you order people to act righteously but forget to do so yourself?'¹⁸ This verse just cited explains clearly that anyone who has this characteristic is an adversary of success and aims instead of perdition."

(Source: Klemm, V. and Walker, P. E., A Code of Conduct—A Treatise of the Etiquette of the Fatimid Ismaili Mission, pp.40-41)

Footnotes

17. Qur'an, 3:104
18. Qur'an, 2:44.

Part 3: Dhikr Tasbi
Let us perform the dhikr of 'Ya Ali Mowla Ali':

Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim
In the name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful

Ya Ali, Mowla Ali
O Light of Eternal Ali, O Noor Mowlana Shah Rahim Al-Hussaini Hazar Imam

Recited by Noorallah Juma

Al-hamdu lillahi rabbil 'alamin.
Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds!

Part 4. Angelic Salwat
Let us recite angelic salwats to invoke Divine grace and mercy.

Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim
In the name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful

Allâhumâ salli alâ Muhammadin wa âle Muhammad:
O Allah! Bestow Peace on and through Muhammad and his Descendants

33 beads recited by Noorallah Juma

101 beads recited by Noorallah Juma

Al-hamdu lillahi rabbil 'alamin.
Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds!

Part 5. Ardent Global Prayers

O Noor Mowlana Hazar Imam:
bless the global Jamat with spiritual and luminous tayid (help) to advance materially, spiritually and intellectually;
and create sunshine in our hearts and bless all of us with the inner vision of the Truth.

Haizinda — Qayampaya
(Our Present Imam is Living and His NOOR is Eternal)

Traits of an Ismaili Dai

Article by Dr. Noorallah Juma