Ismaili Heresy: Prophet Concealed the Truth and was Sinful

 بِسۡمِ اللّٰہِ الرَّحۡمٰنِ الرَّحِیۡمِ

In the Name of Allah, the Rahman, the Merciful

الصلاة والسلام عليك يا رسول الله

The narrative of the heretical Ismailis is that since an Imam is required at all times for the world to sustain, the Imam prior to the raising up of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, was his uncle Abu Talib. It was he who granted Nubuwwah (Prophethood) to the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, and also entrusted him with the responsibility of designating Ali bin Abi Talib, may Allah be pleased with him, as the Imam after him. 

However, according to this blasphemous narrative, the Prophet, peace be upon him, failed to fulfill his duty, as he himself desired to be the Imam, and this was reckoned as a sin of the Prophet!

The 10th century CE Ismaili missionary, Jafar bin Mansur al-Yaman, taught that Prophets are not infallible or sinless:

ان سے گناہ صادر ہوئے کیونکہ انھوں نے ایسے مراتب طلب کئے جن کے وہ مستحق نہ تھے۔وہ سب غیر معصوم تھے۔ان میں آنحضرت صلعم بھی شامل ہیں

“Sins were committed by them [Prophets] because they sought after ranks which they were unworthy of. They were all fallible, including the Prophet Muhammad PBUH” (Hamare Ismaili Mazhab ki Haqiqat aur uska Nizam, p.70)

Explaining the Ayah of the Quran:

لِّیَغۡفِرَ لَکَ اللّٰہُ مَا تَقَدَّمَ مِنۡ ذَنۡۢبِکَ وَمَا تَاَخَّرَ

That Allah may forgive you what preceded of your error and what will follow

(Surah 48, Ayah 2)

the Ismailis say:

تمھارا گناہ یہ ہے کہ تم نے شریعت کے ضمن میں حق اور حقیقت کو چھپا دیا جس کی وجہ سے شکوک پیدا ہوگئے اور حقائق کا علم مخفی ہوگیا۔

تمھارا حقیقت کو تمام لوگوں سے چھپانا ایک گناہ تھا جسے ہم نے معاف کیا۔

آپ کو یہ گمان پیدا ہوا کہ ابو طالب کے بعد میرے سوا کوئی امام نہیں ہے۔اس گمان کی وجہ سے اُن مواد روحانیہ میں جو آپ کو حدود علویہ کے ذریعے پہنچتے تھے فتور پڑگیا اور ان کا سلسلہ ٹوٹ گیا۔یہ آپ کا پہلا گناہ ہے۔کیونکہ آپ کے نفس نے ایک ایسا رتبہ حاصل کرنے کی کوشش کی جو آپ کا نہ تھا۔پھر آپ کو معلوم ہوا کہ اس میں تو اللّٰہ تعالیٰ کا ایک راز ہے اور حقیقی امام دوسرا ہے۔آپ صرف مستودع ہیں یعنے آپ کے پاس امانت کے طور پر رتبہ رکھا گیا ہے۔

“His [Prophet Muhammad] sin is that he concealed the truth and reality with the Shariah, which created doubts and concealed knowledge of the facts.

His concealment of the truth from all people was a sin that We forgave.

He conceived the idea that there is no Imam after Abu Talib except me. Because of this idea, the spiritual material that reached him through the elevated limits was suspended and its chain was broken. This was his first sin. Because his ego tried to achieve a status that was not his. Then he came to know that in this is a secret of Allah and the true Imam is another. He was only a trustee, that is, a status had been placed with him as a trust.” (Hamare Ismaili Mazhab ki Haqiqat aur uska Nizam, p.532)

In other words, according to the Ismaili narrative, the cause of the suspension of Wahi—divine revelation—to the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, during the early Meccan phase of the Sirah, was that the Prophet, peace be upon him, began to think that he was the true Imam after Abu Talib and no one else! The Ismaili doctrine is that the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, was only entrusted with the Imamate in a sort of caretaker role but that its true heir was Ali, may Allah be pleased with him.

Another Ismaili missionary, al-Khattab bin al-Hasan, said:

رسول اللّٰہ کا پہلا گناہ یہ ہے کہ آپ نے اپنے وصی کے امر کو اس کے وقت کے قبل ظاہر کر دیا اور پچھلا گناہ یہ ہے کہ آپ کو جب حکم دیا گیا کہ آپ اپنے وصی پر نص کریں تو آپ نے توقف کیا۔

“The first sin of the Messenger of Allah was that he revealed the matter of his Wasi before its time, and the other sin was that he became silent when he was ordered to designate his Wasi.” (Ibid, p.533)

Needless to say, this is a bizarre and illogical view, but more importantly, it is blasphemous and plain kufr.

The Ismailis essentially believe that the reason Abu Bakr succeeded the Prophet instead of Ali, may Allah be pleased with them, was because the Prophet, peace be upon him, in defying Allah’s instruction, failed to identify and designate Ali as his successor.

The Ismaili scholar, Dr. Zahid Ali, says:

ہماری تاویل کو چھپانے کی ایک وجہ یہ بھی ہے کہ اگر اہلِ ظاہر یہ باتیں معلوم کرلیں تو ہم کو مسلمان نہ کہیں گے۔

“One reason for hiding our interpretation is that if the literalists learned of these matters then they would not call us Muslims.” (Ibid, p.535)

Indeed, it is true that the ones whom Ismailis refer to as people of Zahir, or literalists, meaning us mainstream, orthodox Muslims, would never consider them fellow Muslims if their actual doctrines and teachings were made public. This is why the Ismaili esotericists keep their actual beliefs and practices secretive and are generally forbidden from disclosing them to outsiders.

Among those heretical beliefs of the Ismailis is that Abu Talib possessed authority to grant Nubuwwah or Prophethood, and that he was the one who gave it to his beloved nephew Muhammad, peace be upon him:

مولانا ابو طالب مستقر امام تھے اور چاروں مراتب نبوت، رسالت، وصایت اور امامت کے مالک تھے آپ نے آنحضرت کو قائم کر کے یہ کہا کہ آپ کے پاس وصایت اور امامت کا رتبہ امانت رکھا جاتا ہے اس کا اصل وارث میرا لڑکا علی ہے۔

“Our master, Abu Talib, was a permanent Imam, and owner of the four ranks of Nubuwwah, Risalah, Wisayah and Imamah. He established the Prophet Muhammad and said to him that the ranks of Wisayah and Imamah are given into your custody as a trust, its actual heir is my son Ali.” (Ibid)

The fourteenth Ismaili Imam was al-Muizz (d. 975 CE), who was also the fourth Fatimid ruler. He apparently taught:

مولانا مُعز نے آنحضرتؐ کی شریعت کی وضع کو ایک گناہ قرار دیا ہے۔کیونکہ آپ نے اس کے ضمن میں حق اور حقیقت کو چھپا دیا۔اگر آپ کا یہ فعل گناہ ہے تو گویا اللّٰہ تعالیٰ نے آپ کو گناہ کرنے کی ہدایت دی۔اس سے صاف ظاہر ہے کہ ہماری اسماعیلی تحریک کا اصل مقصد نبی اور ان کی شریعت کی شان گھٹانا اور وصی اور ان کی تاویل کی قدر بڑھانا ہے۔

“Our master, Muizz, has declared the formulation of the Prophet Muhammad’s Shariah a sin because he concealed the truth and reality with it. If this act of his is a sin, then it is as if Allah has instructed him to commit a sin. This clearly shows that the real aim of our Ismaili movement is to diminish the glory of the Prophet and his Shariah and to raise the value of the Wasi and his interpretation.” (Ibid, p.536)