The Ismaili Constitution gives a unifying structure of governance to all Nizaris and their religiously-based institutions, who are established in more than 25 countries and territories around the globe. Due to the differing social, economic, and political realities faced by the Nizari diaspora, the constitution has built-in flexibility, allowing various communities the ability to propose rules and regulations unique to individual communities, while retaining the overall unity of framework with all other communities, through detailed provisions within the constitution.
Book: The First Aga Khan: Memoirs of the 46th Ismaili Imam
The First Aga Khan: Memoirs of the 46th Ismaili Imam, by Daniel Beben
This book offers a new Persian edition and the first English translation of the Ibrat-afza, the memoirs of Hasan Ali Shah, the 46th Imam of the Nizari Ismailis and the first Ismaili Imam to bear the title of Aga Khan. The Ibrat-afza was composed in the year 1851, following the Imam’s departure from Persia and his permanent settlement in India.
The text recounts the Aga Khan’s early life and political career as the governor of the province of Kirman in Iran, and narrates the dramatic events of his conflict with the Qajar establishment in Iran and his subsequent travels and exploits in Afghanistan and British India. The Ibrat-afza provides a rare example of an autobiographical account from an Ismaili Imam and a first-hand account giving a window into the history of the Ismailis of Iran, India and Central Asia at the dawn of the modern era of their history. Consequently, the book will be of great interest to both researchers and general readers interested in Ismaili history and in the history of the Islamic world in the nineteenth century.
You can view an introduction and table of content of the book at this link to a PDF file.
Interesting Reading by Laura Navajas Espinal
An article we encourage you to read has a daunting name and a daunting description, but it is actually very interesting information.
Titled FROM THE QUMRAN MIQDAŠ ‘ADAM TO THE ISMAILI TEMPLE OF LIGHT (HAYKAL NURANI), its author, Laura Navajas Espinal, writes:
The purpose of this paper is to present the Qumran conception of temple (eschatological temple and miqdaš ’adam) as an intermediate stage between the understanding of temple in Jewish eschatology and the Ismaili innerness of the “temple of light.” All of it in the frame of the conception of temple as Garden of Eden based in the “alternative memory” yielded by parabiblical priestly traditions.
Keywords:
Qumran; Ismailism; Judaism; Temple; Mysticism; Gnosi
I.A.D.C. USA 