Imamat Day: Did the Nur of Imamat 'transfer' to Mawlana Shah Rahim? (5 Min. Read)

An Explanation of how the Nur of Imamat manifests in the new Imam on Imamat Day

---

Q. Did the Nur of Imamat “transfer” from Mawlana Shah Karim to Mawlana Shah Rahim on Imamat Day (4 February 2025)?

Technically speaking, the Nur of Imamat does not literally “transfer” from one Imam to the next Imam in the sense of a material asset or “baton” being transferred from one body to another. This is because the Nur of Imamat, as the primary and eternal creation of the absolutely transcendent God, is a spiritual or metaphysical reality; it is not a physical object. Physical things are confined to a particular space, place and time; when they move to a new place or location, they depart their original location and are no longer present there. But this is not the case with the Nur of Imamat. Spiritual realities such as the Nur of Imamat, the Universal Soul, the Angels, and even human souls are not confined to one place or another and can be omni-present. Therefore, the Nur of Imamat does not literally “transfer” to the next Imam; the next Imam already bears the Nur of Imamat in his pure soul long before the passing of the prior Imam. What actually “transfers” and is “handed over” upon the death of one Imam to the next Imam is the “authority” or amr of the Office of Imamat.

The truth of this matter is that the Nur of Imamat is present, reflected, and manifested within all of the Holy Imams simultaneously – past, present, and future – by being reflected within their perfect souls. The pure souls of the Imams were created before the creation of the physical world. The perfect souls of the Imams, by their very nature, are the mirrors or loci of manifestation (mazahir) of the Nur of Imamat, even prior to their births in the physical world. This is explained by our 23rd Imam, Mawlana Hasan ala-dhikrihi al-salam⁽ᶜ⁾ as follows:

“The Imams, both outwardly and inwardly, both exoterically and esoterically, issue from the pure line and loins of the Imam, one after another. The Imam is perfect when still in the form of sperm in the loins of his father and the pure womb of his mother. An Imam is always an Imam and always perfect. Otherwise, why should he say, ‘The Imam knows from drop of sperm the Imam after him will come?”

Imam Hasan ‘ala-dhikrihi salaam⁽ᶜ⁾,
(Nasir al-Din Tusi, The Paradise of Submission, 125)

The special tasbih – recited by Ismailis on the 80th birthday and Diamond Jubilee of Mawlana Shah Karim⁽ᶜ⁾ and on the Takht-nishini day of Mawlana Shah Rahim⁽ᶜ⁾ – invokes the salawat upon the “Pure Imams” of the past, present, and the future:

“O Allah, send blessings upon Muhammad the chosen, and upon ‘Ali the favored, and upon the Pure Imams and those among them who are waiting to come until the Day of Judgment (wa ‘ala l-a’immati l-tahirin wa l-muntazirin minhum ila yawm al-din), and upon our Present and Living Imam, Mawlana Shah Rahim al-Husayni⁽ᶜ⁾.”

The above salawat refers to the future Imams as “those among them [the pure Imams] who are waiting to come” – which means the future Imams already exist as pure souls and as Imams before they are born in the physical world. The future Imams are already the bearers or mazhars of the Nur of Imamat; but their status as Imams is not known to the public.

The future Imam during the lifetime of the present Imam is called a “silent Imam” (imam samit) while the Imam of the Time, his father, is called a “speaking Imam” (imam natiq). The Imam of the Time – the speaking Imam – has the sole authority or command (amr) to exercise the office of Imamat and lead the Jamat while the silent Imam remains under the authority of the speaking Imam. However, both the speaking Imam and silent Imam are bearers or mirrors of the Nur of Imamat; even when the status of the silent Imam is not known to the Jamat or the public.

There are numerous examples in Ismaili history where the speaking Imam, the Imam of the Time, was accompanied by one or more silent Imams. Ismaili sources always refer to the silent Imams – the future successors – as “Imams” in their own right. Imam al-Mahdi⁽ᶜ⁾ and his son, Imam al-Qa’im⁽ᶜ⁾, were always accompanying one another and were “co-rulers” of the Fatimid Caliphate. During this time, Imam al-Qa’im⁽ᶜ⁾ was the silent Imam and Ismaili Da‘i Ibn al-Haytham referred to al-Qa’im⁽ᶜ⁾ as “the shining moon and the glittering light” and the “light of the world” (tr. Wilfred Madelung and Paul E. Walker, Advent of the Fatimids, 166-7).

In one famous account, Mawlana Imam al-Mahdi⁽ᶜ⁾ – who was the speaking Imam – gathered three silent Imams, his son Imam al-Qa’im⁽ᶜ⁾, his grandson Imam al-Mansur⁽ᶜ⁾, and his great grandson Imam al-Mu‘izz⁽ᶜ⁾, with himself under a cloak and proclaimed that “there is not a majlis more illustrious on earth than this one, as four Imams are gathered here” (Jiwa, Towards a Shi’i Mediterranean Empire, 29). In another moving account, Imam al-Mahdi⁽ᶜ⁾ confided to al-Qadi al-Nu‘man that his son al-Qa’im⁽ᶜ⁾ and grandson al-Mansur⁽ᶜ⁾ were also Imams: “He (al-Nu‘man) said: ‘O Commander of the Faithful, three Imams in one age?’ the [number] astounded him. Then Imam al-Mahdi bi’llah showed him al-Mu‘izz li-Din Allah⁽ᶜ⁾ who was a babe in his cradle and said, ‘And this is the fourth of us, O Nu’man!’ (Imad al-Din, tr. Shainool Jiwa, The Founder of Cairo, 52).

When the Imam of the Time passes away, what “transfers” to the next Imam is only the authority (amr) of the office of Imamat, not the Nur of Imamat. The Nur of Imamat is already present in the next Imam and is always present in every Imam – the Imams of the past, present and future.

For a more detailed explanation of the Imamat Succession, see the following:

---

Support Ismaili Gnosis in Publishing New Articles