About

The Ismaili Web was established in 1994 under the domain name Amaana.org, which means the Trust. I took this task of trying to portray this wonderful faith of ours, Islam, especially the Shia Ismaili version of Islam as it had a scant presence on the world wide web then and I chose to fulfill this need by creating a website explaining my understanding of the practice of my faith.

This website has grown organically over the years, as I have, to be a wonderful portrayal of spirituality and technology, art and faith whilst connecting me to my community and religion at many levels. Alhamdulillah! I consider it a Divine Trust that I have taken from our Lord and I hope I can fulfill this Amaana from Mowlana (our Lord) and serve Him, my brothers in kind and humanity at large! Amen!

“O Ye who believe, do not betray God and the Apostle and do not betray your trusts while you know” Quran 8:27

“Surely We offered the trust to the heavens and the earth and the mountains and they refused to bear it and feared from it, and man bore it” Quran 33:72

When man undertakes to fulfill this trust, he expands to become larger than the heavens and the earth, which could not bear this trust. Then, God, Who cannot be contained by the heavens and the earth, manifests His glory in the heart of man.

“The Holy Prophet said that Allah stated, ‘I cannot be contained within the heavens and the earth, but it is strange that I can be in the heart of a true believer. So if you want to find Me, look for Me inside that heart.’ ” – Rumi

Man is hard-wired or impelled by the Creator to seek to rise, to find the real purpose to his life, his Fitra to return to wherefrom he came – inna li-Llahi wa inna Ilaiy-hi Rajeoon (We have come from Allah and to Him is our return.)

The position of man, the Ashraf ul-Maqlukaat (the finest of creation), by God’s Grace, when loaded with pious work including virtuous deeds, prayers, ethics, service and trust, can reach Him and one can be rightly guided back to Him.

“Guide us to the right path, the path of those upon whom Thou hast bestowed favors” Quran 1:5-6

God is Merciful, Ar-Rahman, and he sent a Guide to every nation.

“And thus We have made you an exalted nation that you may be the bearers of witness to the people and (that) the Messenger may be a bearer of Witness to you.” – Quran 2:143

The Messenger had been ordained as bearer to deliver a Witness to us. The Messenger was Prophet Muhammad (s.a.s.), who is the Witness?

“But, God bears witness to the truth of what He has bestowed from on high upon thee, out of His own wisdom has He bestowed it from on high, with the angels bearing witness thereto – although none can bear witness as God does.” – Quran 4:166

Who is the Witness and who is the Present (Hazar), Living (Maujood) Guide, the Hujjat-il Amri – the Proof of the Command? In our Dua we say everyday –

wa `alal-a’immatil athar, wa `ala hujjatil-amri Sahibiz-zamani wa’l `asri Imaminal haziril- mawjud, Mowlana Shah Karim al-Husseini. [O Allah, send blessings on Muhammad, the Chosen, on Ali, the Favorite,] on the Imams the Pure and on the Proof of Your Command, the Lord of the time and age, the present Imam, Mowlana Shah Karim al-Husayni.

You will find these answers on my Intro pages on my website. Inshallah!

I am porting my website to a more interactive format transitioning in July 2012 and so please visit often to see updates. The old website will remain at http://www.amaana.org/ismanew.html while we are in this transition mode.

Thanks and warm greetings of peace, Ya Ali Madad!

Nina Gafoor
Editor and Publisher the Ismaili Web
http://www.amaana.org/ismaili/

March 9, 2024 – From my newsletter:

Ya Ali Madad Everyone!
Ramadan is starting on March 11, 2024!
Here’s the Ramadan 2024 article I promised in my last newsletter! I have included Mowlana Hazar Imam’s discussion on fasting in his interview with Nicolas Tomalin! Also included are  Mowlana Sultan Mahomed Shah’s remarks. Do not miss it!
We have been told by Prophet Muhammad and Imam Hazrat Ali:
Whoso knows himself knows his Lord – man ‘arafa nafsahu faqad ‘arafa Rabbahu.
Let us strive to receive the Light and the Peace, Aamin, so we can know ourselves and know our Lord! This Maarifa – spiritual knowledge, gnosis, is the goal of every believer and we have a Living Guide to help us, how divine!

At Amaana.org, my website database was compromised for a while, I had to update everything as the issues were not only due to the complex design elements of my website but also the server side would not support the older versions of the PHP code thus creating a lot of the database issues. So, it took me a journey to fix the issues. I’m still trying to revise the design but I’m happy that the articles are now visible. Alhamdu’Lillah!

I have been growing, learning and writing and so my pages will never be perfect. I must say, I am truly blessed to be able to serve in this small way and share with our community the valuable gifts of our faith and if I can inspire to rededicate ourselves to this wonderful path, then it will have been my TKN – Time and Knowledge Nazrana and I hope our Lord accepts it from me as my way of serving His creation, Inshallah!

As you know, I was especially blessed at the Diamond Jubilee Didaar when Mowlana Hazar Imam asked us who knew what the meaning of ‘Qul’ was and I raised my hand high! Alhamduli’Lah! Read the Farman here — Nowruz Persian New Year Navroz Mubarak!

As always, please forward this newsletter to your friends and family or do send me a list of names and email addresses so I can include them for the next post. Your feedback is appreciated, please let us know how we can improve and what kind of articles would be of interest to you. You may comment on the individual articles and pages or send me a note at info@amaana.org.

Thank you and wishing you Ramadan Mubarak, right after Chandraat and the Baraqah of our Imam-e Zamaan always! We will be celebrating a Universal Jubilee soon!

Rejoice! Be kind to everyone!

Nina N Gafoor
Editor and Publisher, Ismaili Web Amaana.org