RouseWorld | Main -- Ismailism followup

Subject: Information on Ismailism

Dear David,

It was a pleasure browsing through your Internet website (http://www.rouseworld.org) entitled 'RouseWorld'. I happened to do a search on the name 'Ismailism' and found the following search results:

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April 23, 2002
Ismailism

I've begun to notice a trickle of strange emails. It started in November of 2001 with an email entitled
"AGA KHAN CLAIMS INCARNATION" and contained nothing but this image.
At the time I attached no significance to the picture or email. We get lots of odd emails, after all.
But who is this Aga Khan supposed to be, and what is he an incarnation of?

Then in January, we received another email with an all-caps subject line: "AGA KHAN AS A 'HOST' IS SEEN SITTING
BESIDES HIS LEFT WITH ACTOR PETER SELLERS" — this email contained this image.
The email was not from the same person that sent the first message. Now we know that Aga Khan is an actual person
(as long as we can accept the existence of Peter Sellers). But the subject (which is longer than I've quoted here)
seems hostile to Khan somehow, just who is this guy?

A look on google for Aga Khan and Karim (from the Sellers picture) turns up these
two sites in particular. Aga Khan then is a title, it seems, for the
principal religious leader of sub-branch of Islam known as Ismailism. From an
introduction to Ismailism by Dr. Sheikh Khodr Hamawi:

Ismailism paid more attention to philosophy of religion starting from the theory of one
unified unity of the universe, the unity of religions, aiming at a united humanity.

But I can't really find any photographs that look like the guy in the middle of the Sellers photograph. Most of the people
pictured as serving as Aga Khan look older than the guy in that picture. I'm assuming that it is an old photograph
of the 49th Aga Khan. So are the messages I'm getting an attempt to
discredit the Aga Khan? Certainly we don't expect someone associated with a peaceful religion to be associated with a
publication like
The Weekly Jihad Times.

In April we got this message with the subject: "UNIQUE MESSAGE OF AGA KHANI RELIGIOUS WORSHIPS". This message contained
this text.

Now what?

Posted by David at April 23, 2002 12:01 PM

Reference: http://www.rouseworld.org/archives/000149.html

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May 04, 2002
Ismailism followup

Well I've gotten some interesting responses to the puzzle put forth in the last "Notes". I've been emailed twice,
once by "Missionary Mufti," who says the Ismailists are blasphemous and one from
"Kamaluddin Ali Mohammad," who says Ismailism is a true religion practiced for centuries. As a non-Islamic I'm
not qualified to make a judgement, but I did want to pass along the two messages so that readers see them for themselves.

Missionary Mufti's email

Kamaluddin Ali Mohammad's email

Both emails apparently originated in Pakistan and both, oddly enough, were sent by people using Windows 98 and
Netscape Communicator 4.7 as an email client.

Posted by David at May 4, 2002 12:01 PM

Reference: http://www.rouseworld.org/archives/000148.html

<<<<

I would like to comment that I have received the same emails in the past, and they are from a single person or people, organization, who are trying to discredit His Highness the Aga Khan IV and the Ismaili (Shia Imami Ismaili - Nizari - Muslim) Community. I would like to share with you some official Internet website links about the Aga Khan, Ismailism, & Ismailis.

His Highness the Aga Khan
http://www.iis.ac.uk/hhak/hhak_l2.htm
http://www.akdn.org/hh/highness.html

Ismailism, Islam
http://www.iis.ac.uk/hhak/imamat_intro.htm
http://www.akdn.org/imamat/imamat.html

Ismailis
http://www.iis.ac.uk/ismailis/ismailis_l2.htm
http://www.akdn.org/imamat/community_history.html

Aga Khan Development Network
http://www.akdn.org

Institute of Ismaili Studies
http://www.iis.ac.uk

Hope this information helps.

With regards,

Sameer Shah

Posted by: Sameer Shah | August 11, 2003 02:14 AM