Esoteric Meaning of Little Angels (Shining Stars) in Ismailia
by Noor-e-Rahim
Noor Maulana Shah Karim Al Hussaini Hazir Imam our beloved Hazir wa Maujood Imam is the 49th Imam in succession to the Imamat entrusted by Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) to Maula Ali. As Shia Imami Ismaili Muslims it is our belief that Imam of the time is the Nur (light) of Allah sent to us to enlighten our souls spiritually as well as our physical lives.
As Shia Imami Ismaili Muslims when we say Nur (light) is from Imam-e-Zaman (A.S.) then we must understand and believe in it too. Just like the Light in its physical form enlightens the surroundings. It ensures that darkness is removed to ensure things can be seen in its physical forms due to the reflection of light. This reflection allows us to see things in their true colors in reality. In a similar manner when as murids of Imam we believe in Imam’s spirituality and Nur (light) then we must understand that Imam’s Nur (Light) allows human spiritual soul and intellect to rise from darkness of seeing and perceiving things only in their physical and materialistic form. It allows human soul to connect firstly with themselves and then later it allows one to connect with things that are present in nature and lastly with other human souls present.
To understand how Imam-e-zaman (A.S.) Nur (light) works in each and every murid we will have to understand the blessing that Imam always bestows to the Jamat. Whenever Imam-e-Zaman (A.S.) blesses us with any farameen, taliqah or speech to Ismaili Jamat gatherings the first words always are:
“My Beloved Spiritual Children”
These words hold a lot of spiritual significance and must be understood in its spiritual sense.
When the King of Spirituality Imam (Nur) says to his children that you all are my spiritual children then we have to understand and believe what the Imam means by these words.
In Surah Qaf Ayat 16 Quran 50:16 Allah says:
يهدي به الله من اتبع رضوانه سبل السلام ويخرجهم من الظلمات إلى النور بإذنه ويهديهم إلى صراط مستقيمWherewith Allah guideth all who seek His good pleasure to ways of peace and safety, and leadeth them out of darkness, by His will, unto the light, — guideth them to a path that is straight.
Allah is all knower and knows what is within human soul because he resides within us and we all are his manifestations thus we also say in Quran at another instance in Surah e Baqarah Ayat 156 Quran 2:156:
Who say, when afflicted with calamity: “To Allah We belong, and to Him is our return”
and when we understand this Quranic verse in relation to Farman of Imam Sultan Muhammad Shah (Fidahu Arwahuna) that:
“Death is a day of happiness/festivity for a Momin”
At another instance Imam Sultan Muhammad Shah made the following Farman:
“Happiness is never a negative affair; it is to be won by men who are fully alive, full of joy of living” [1] which can be read further in the article on The road to Happiness and the Concept of Life.
Thus as murids of Imam-e-Zaman (A.S.) we must believe and understand this blessing that Imam bestows us as a gift every time, again and again, making us all as humans realize the same concept that Maulana Rumi in his Masnavi once said:
I died as a mineral and became a plant,
I died as plant and rose to animal,
I died as animal and I was Man.
Why should I fear? When was I less by dying?
Yet once more I shall die as Man, to soar
With angels blest; but even from angel-hood
I must pass on: all except God doth perish.
When I have sacrificed my angel-soul,
I shall become what no mind e’er conceived.
Oh, let me not exist! For Non-existence
Proclaims in organ tones, ‘To Him we shall return.[2]
Thus we all should understand that death and reunification within Imam’s Nur (light) is not an affair of after life. It is an affair that has to take place in this life. It is human souls desire to go beyond their own human nature of things and thus for this reasons when Allah bestows humans with a child it is the trust [Amaana] of God that has been bestowed to them in this physical world where by physically as humans Allah has created and made humans as parents making them realize their responsibility but at the same time these little angels are the Spiritual souls of Imam-e-Zaman (A.S).
In another Surah Al Hadid 57, Ayat 12 in Quran 57:12 Allah says:
“Upon the day when thou seest the believers, men and women, their light running before them, and on their right hands. ‘Good tidings for you today! Gardens underneath which rivers flow, therein to dwell for ever; that is indeed the mighty triumph.’” Translated by A.J Arberry
Thus it is important for all the Murids of Imam who are little angels, shining stars not only in their physical forms but also in their Spiritual forms to understand the reality and understand why Allah has created them in the first place and what trust they hold by Allah because when a man or a women is able to understand and realize the importance of thyself then one will be able to understand Allah thus Maula Ali (A.S) said:
Wa tahsabu annaka Jirmun Sagir wa-fika’n tawa’l-alamu’l-akbar
You think you are a small body while the great cosmos is contained in you.
[1]. Taken from lectures of Saheb Allama Nasir uddin and Faquir Mohammad Hunzai (Samsam e Ilmi)
[2]. Literary Reading: Sir Sultan Muhammad Shah, Aga Khan III – The Road to Happiness and The Concept of Life http://simerg.com/literary-readings/literary-reading-sir-sultan-muhammad-shah-aga-khan-iii-the-road-to-happiness-and-the-concept-of-life/
[3]. Jalal ed-Din Rumi (1207-1273) Translated by A.J. Arberry This comes from the webpage http://www.angelfire.com/rnb/bashiri/Poets/Rumi.html
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