Modern Resurrection of Nizārī Ismaili Islam
A Review of Dr. Khalil Andani’s article, “The Modern Resurrection of Nizārī Ismaili Islam: The Reforms of the Aga Khans”
The following is a transcript of a video presentation reviewing a section of Dr. Khalil Andani’s article, “The Modern Resurrection of Nizārī Ismaili Islam: The Reforms of the Aga Khans”, published in The Oxford Handbook of Islamic Reform. As the presentation was for prepared for an event commemorating the 145th Birth Anniversary of Imam Sultan Muhammad Shah⁽ᶜ⁾, Aga Khan III, only one section of Dr. Andani’s article — that which focuses on the 48th Shi‘i Ismaili Imam and his role in the Modern Resurrection — is included in the review.
While images of the slides used during the video presentation are interspersed between the text of the transcript below, they may be difficult to read on personal devices with smaller screens. However, one need not worry as these images are being included, more or less, for aesthetic reasons. For those who wish to review the slides properly, a PDF download is included at the bottom of this post, after the transcript, along with a PDF download of the full — in fact, extended — version of Dr. Andani’s published article. One will also find at the end of this post a YouTube video of this presentation of the review which can be played directly from this page.
I am reviewing Dr. Khalil Andani’s article, “The Modern Resurrection of Nizārī Ismaili Islam - The Reforms of the Aga Khans”, published in The Oxford Handbook of Islamic Reform. Selected material from the article will be presented, providing an overview of long-standing reforms within the Ismaili community enacted by Imam Sultan Muhammad Shah⁽ᶜ⁾.
Dr. Andani presents evidence of radical changes in Ismaili religious identity and ritual practice, and argues that “the Ismaili Imams authority is rooted in classical Ismaili understandings of the Imamate and the qiyāma – two doctrines that effectively naturalize the ideas of reform and continuous reinterpretation as something inherent to the Ismaili tradition.”
We are reminded that according to Ismaili belief, the Prophet’s religio-political powers continue in the Chain of Imamat, such that every Imam is God’s vicegerent with divine authority over legal, ritual and spiritual dimensions. Without the Imam, Islam would remain incomplete, as it is the Imam’s ta’wīl that unveils the bāṭin, thereby completing the Prophet’s tanzīl or Revelation. While the work of prophets is centered around establishing the sharīʿa, the work specific to the Imams is to bring the sharīʿa to perfection, culminating in the cycle of Qiyāma, wherein great transformations take place. Summarizing Ismaili teachings on this point, Dr. Andani writes: